Cruisin the Caribbean :)

Warning Picture Overload!!!   I am warning you now that there are a lot of pictures.  I was having a hard time deciding what pictures to post so I tried to chose some from each day, but believe me there are a lot more too choose from so I hope you enjoy.  

Like I posted in the previous post Carrson and I went on a cruise.  We went with his parents and sisters and their significant others, to celebrate his parents 50th wedding anniversary.  We had a lot of fun.  Thanks to my sister (Jennifer) for coming and taking care of the kids and her husband (for letting her come), we were able to go and enjoy ourselves.  We cruised the Western Caribbean on the Norwegian Sun and stopped in Cozumel, Mexico; Grand Cayman Islands; Ocho Rios, Jamaica and an island in the Bahamas called Great Stirrup Cay (I believe it is owned by the cruise lines). 

Friday night (November 11, 2011) Carrson and I set off for Port Canaveral, Fl to meet his family and get on the ship.  I was a nervous mess just thinking about being on a boat for seven days.  I don't do well with motion and I was a little queasy.  I had been battling a sinus infection for the last month and was on my second set of antibiotics and was worried about how I would feel.  I ended up being more excited as I was getting on the ship. 

The view of the front of the ship from the terminal.  Ooh the nerves were going but I was excited.

 The view of the Kennedy Space Center from across the bay, on the back deck of the ship.  I learned that the flag on the building is the largest flag in the country, it is three football fields in size, each star is six feet from point to point (there are fifty) and each stripe is wide enough to drive a bus down it.  I thought that was pretty cool and some fun information. 

Once we were on the ship we went to the buffet and the outside deck to await the time till we could go to our rooms and drop our carry ons off.  Notice the thumbs up by Carrson's dad, it is a good thing.  We were getting excited to meet up with the rest if his sisters and their significant others (thirteen of us total) and set sail.  Oh and by the way there is an all you can eat ice cream bar (for those of you that like that, and yes the Draper's are big ice cream fans).

Waiting for the ship to set sail.  We had just finished the lifeboat drill and were waiting around on deck 6 for the ship to leave.  I did rather well (better then I thought I would do) watching the boat leave the dock.  I did get a little light headed but it was good.

Carrson's parents

Happy Anniversary Clark and Audrey!!!

Sunday...was a cruising day.  We just took it easy, slept in, ate breakfast, walked around the ship, ate lunch, relaxed, ate dinner, went to one of the shows and then I was ready for bed.  I had an okay day but with all the pressure in my head I had to lay down to see if I could get it to stop, also by the time the show was over it was 10:30.  I figured if I wanted to feel good for our first stop I needed to get some rest.

I have never seen the water so blue, I was so amazed at how blue it is.  It was so beautiful out there on the ocean.  It is funny how vast the ocean is and how small you are even on a ship as big as we were.

Cozumel, Mexico... (Monday 11/14/11) is in an island in Mexico where we took a ferry to the mainland to catch a bus to go up to the Tulem Mayan Ruins.  It was an awesome trip.  Our tour guide was amazing with a background and a lot of information on the Mayans that I never knew.  I am sooo glad we chose to do the tour.   

The ferry we took to the mainland.

  (Oh talk about seasick, by the time we got to the mainland I was so ready to get out and get on land).  I did better on the way back, I slept or tried to.

Our tour guide telling us about the Mayan calendar.

The group that went to the ruins.  We were missing three of Carrsons sisters. 

One of the original openings.  Notice how short it is, the Mayans used it for defensive purposes.

Carrson and his mother

Rebecca, Carrson and Jennifer

These were everywhere.  We thought they were iguanas but Clark (the younger) says they look like komoto dragons.  Not sure but they were everywhere. 

The Grand Cayman Islands, British Isles... Tuesday (11/15/11) We just walked around and shopped.  We hung around with Jennifer and Alan and had a lot of fun going around to the shops.  Everyone else had shore excursions to do. 

Carrson giving is brother in law a hug for the picture.  

(if I remember right he was supposed to give him a kiss on the cheek when his sister counted to 2 and then she would snap the picture)

Once we got there we realized when we saw the "Tortuga" sign and saw all the pirate paraphernalia we realized "Pirates of the Caribbean".  Tortuga is where Captain Jack Sparrow went to get his crews.  Kind of exciting.

YUM!!!

Yes, even in The Cayman Islands if there is a Dairy Queen we have to stop for a blizzard.  Price for a blizzard in The Cayman Islands, US money $6.24 there money $4.99

The best shot of the Norwegian Sun that I have

Coming back on the tender. 

Ocho Rios, Jamaica... Wednesday (11/16/11) We decided to do a zipline/tubing shore excursion with Jennifer, Alan, Rebecca and Bob while we were there.  We also have a missionary from our ward (Carrson and Clark are the families home teachers) that his mother was going to let him know that we were going to be there if he had a minute.  He ended up not being able to say hi, due to he was on splits two hours away, but that was okay because we didn't have much time before we took off for our excursion.  We all loaded on a bus and we were off.  I really liked Jamaica, it was green and beautiful.  I felt bad looking at their housing and schools (thinking ours are bad) nothing compared to theirs.

Getting ready to zipline.  ScArY!!!

I decided that if Clark and Ryan could do it when they were eight I could do it

Our group. Aren't we just so cute.

Waiting!!

Sorry, I had to post this.  This was overhead while we were waiting to go down the zip line.  Our guides told us it wasn't poisonous but I think they were just saying that.  Oh, it was ugly and gross/disgusting looking, it just sat there taunting us while we went by, or so I felt.

We were up in what is called the canopy of the forest.  I couldn't take too many pictures seeing as I was going down.  Talk about nerves, once I got hooked up I didn't want to go.  I did go and when I got to the bottom I thought I was done nope there was more.  By the time I was done I was shaking like crazy but happy with myself for doing it.

After zip lining we piled back in the van and headed up to the drop off so we could to tube down the river.  We found out the bridge (above) was built in the 1638, and look how clear the water is, (I think that is why it is called the White River).  With tubing and no waterproof camera (Jennifer had one but not digital) so we had to buy pictures of us going down the river.

We had a blast going down the river our guides were great/hilarious and they made it so much fun!!  We had a spot in the river where there were some rapids and Carrson lost his tube and I almost lost mine but I held on and didn't fall WAhOO, yea for me!!!

Having a blast!!!

Thursday...was another cruising day.  Another day to take it easy.  We got up for breakfast, visited with the Zundel's, relaxed,  had lunch, took a nap, got up in time to see the sunset, visited, had dinner, went to one of the shows, watched the rest of the Broncos (Thursday night football) ate buffalo wings and then went to bed.  Yes, another exciting day at sea.

We had beautiful sunsets every night!!  This one was from Thursday night.

 The family at dinner

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Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas...Friday (11/18/11) We arrived at a very small island in the Bahamas for our Friday adventure.  Knowing when we got off the ship that there was a storm coming and the captain just might cut the excursion short we decided to go anyway and we went and got on the tender and set out for the beach.  We walked around and got our legs wet (the water was cold, not what I was expecting for being in the Bahamas) and just relaxed on the beach.  We set out with one of Carrsons sisters and her husband and met up with the others by chance and had an enjoyable morning relaxing.  We had been there for a couple of hours when we had gotten word that the Captain wanted us back on the ship two and a half hours earlier.  We decided we would get back on the ship and have lunch instead of lunch on the island, so we set out for the tender.  For the most part we all made it on the same tender back. 

While we were waiting on the tender the storm was getting worse the pictures don't do it justice but the wind was getting worse and the waves were getting bigger.  Here I am thinking I am going to be sick.  We started off to the ship and the first wave out of the cove drenched us.  We were sitting on the top of the tender and the waves were huge, and they kept coming (it was more fun than a ride at an amusement park).  When we started out we were dry but by the time we got off we were drenched.  It was good, I didn't get sick till we were just sitting waiting for the tender in front of us to finish loading, but all in all it was good.

This was the tender that we were on.  I took this picture a good 45 minutes after we got off.  It took forever to unload.  From what I understand there were lots of people getting sick and actually throwing up.  Glad I was already off or it wouldn't have been pretty.  We actually had a lot of fun!!!

Notice the sailboat, it was out in the storm.  I don't know how they were enjoying it but I would be sick.  The waves were huge.

 Notice the ice cream.  He found out there is a self-serve soft ice cream machine on Thursday.  Like I said the Draper's like ice cream and yes he has taught his kids well.

Well there are the highlights of our Cruise.  I hope I remembered what I wanted so didn't forget.  Yes, I had a great time and would probably go again.  I think the hardest thing is coming back home and having to clean and cook.  Boy, were we pampered for a week.  Thank you so much for inviting us to partake in the fun!!!!