Oh yeah...

I got all my hair cut off and I am loving short hair. Made my life super easy on the cruise. I think I am going to let it grow out a little as it is just a tiny bit too short but still love it. Just in case you didn't notice in the following pictures, that's me with short hair!

Spring Break Caribbean Cruise of 2008

We are back and we had a blast! Of course, too many pictures to post them all but I will try to give you an overall taste of all the good times.

We landed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and then drove down to Miami and saw the Miami Ink shop and then AJ and I saw the Atlantic Ocean in Miami in the rain. The next day we got on the ship and headed off to sea for Key West, Florida. We had not planned an excursion that day so AJ and I set off to explore and shop. We had a lot of fun and picked up AJ some very nice sunglasses. Back to the ship and off towards Cozumel.

The next day we got off the ship in Cozumel and headed toward our Eco-Jeep driving tour of the island. I drove our red Jeep all over and in the middle of the trip we snorkeled down the barrier reef for about a hour. It was a blast and a great first snorkel trip. For anyone who doesn't know me, I have hated swimming for a large majority of my life, but I am getting better and my fear of water is lessening so I was able to relax and snorkel! It was fantastic and beautiful to see all the coral and fish that AJ at various different times has had in his fish tank.

The day four we headed off the ship to the Grand Cayman Island. The ocean was pretty rough that day and we had heard from the captain that morning we may not be able to get off, but they decided to go forward with letting people off. This port was a tender port meaning we had to take tenders, boats, into the dock. They don't dock their big ships but rather anchor them out in the ocean. Very cool to ride a much smaller boat through the ocean. There were four other boats in the ocean that morning so it made for an interesting morning. None the less, we made it in and they also had cancelled all water excursions for the day, thus we would not see the stingrays as planned. Oh well, as the Crocodile Hunter and another story I had heard of recently were going through my mind. We visited a Green Sea turtle farm and tried some rum cake and rum, went to Hell and then had lunch at Paradise. What a day!

Day Five was Montego Bay, Jamaica and for that day we all had various excursions planned. Al and Jana took a wooden raft gondola ride down a river and got to enjoy some local experiences. AJ and JJ took a two hour ride to Appleton Rum Estate and saw how they grow sugar cane and then harvest it and turn it into rum and also got to try some. Lori and I went to a Sandals All Inclusive Resort to lay on the beach, and enjoy some Jamaican sun. Needless to say, we were not impressed with that all inclusive, just so ya'll know not to go to that one.

Day six was all day at sea and I enjoyed lots of time by the pool and in the sun. I needed to get as much as possible as I knew once I got back to Oregon it was going to be typical cloudy spring weather. We enjoyed fantastic meals every night and had amazing desserts and drinks. Fun was had by all and we didn't let any opportunity for more fun to pass us by.

Enjoy the pictures below!

Our Radiance of the Sea-Royal CaribbeanOn the beach in Fort Lauderdale. I am in the Atlantic Ocean, Easter morning at 9:30am and the water is warm!

Miami Ink shop-they have since moved down the block to a bigger location and have changed their name to Love/Hate Tattoo and I went in to see if I could see Ami or Chris from the show but of course they weren't there. Had they been, who knows, maybe I would have gotten a tattoo but still cool none the less.
Miami Beach in the rain!

One of the Key West Islands, a tiny one. Wouldn't mind living there!

A Mayan ruin in Cozumel. Very cool story behind it but too long to type.

Cozumel Snorkeling! We bought a new digital camera that is waterproof. Pretty cool!

Green Sea Turtle Farm

Hell! This is coral that has now been exposed as the water level has dropped and now it is in the middle of the island. We saw a couple of cool iguanas there!

We had lunch in the Grand Cayman at a place called Paradise right on the beach and fantastic food!

Nice shades!Dinner formal night!
Jamaica Sandals Montego Bay Resort

AJ and JJ at Appleton Rum Estate in Jamaica.

Part of the Rum making process.