The Honeymoon

Before we were engaged, Ryan told me once that he had always wanted to go on a cruise for his honeymoon. Since I had no arguments against that, shortly after we became engaged our 7-day Caribbean Cruise was booked! We had the opportunity to go to Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Mexico during that week. Many adventures were had! While we were there I kept a travel journal, and will now use those entries to describe to you the wonderfulness of it all! Don't worry, there are pictures to keep you entertained throughout.

Day 1: Flew into Miami airport. Oh my, the humidity! Took a taxi to the seaport.
Boarded the ship and found our cabin. No windows. Perfect! - No joke. Ryan had wanted a balcony, but I knew that my weak stomach wouldn't be able to handle looking out a window on the moving ship!
Strolled around looking for food - NOTHING IS OPEN and we're STARVING! Make a dinner reservation for ASAP.
Have an amazing dinner of prime rib for Ryan, pork for Chantal.
Went to a show. A woman twirled 25 hoola hoops. Mean comedian. We left.
Laid out under the stars. Beautiful reflection of the moon on the water.

Day 2: On the Ocean
Had breakfast brought to our room at 9:30 AM. Ate and went back to sleep until 1 PM; it was wonderful! That no window thing sure makes this room dark! (Maybe the fact that we had been working our butts off planning the wedding the last 2 months also had something to do with it...)
Put on swimming suits and went to the Windjammer (buffet) for lunch. Then went to the pool to soak up some rays.
Came back to the room, made dinner reservations. Were going to go rock climbing - fell asleep for 1 1/2 hours instead.
Woke up at 6 PM, took showers and headed to dinner. Dress was formal. Tried escargot. Not bad!
Walked around ship - tried on some perfumes. Got to feeling very tired again. Realized it was the motion sickness pills!
Went to the Honeymooner's Night at 10:15. Had strawberry daiquiris. Virgin, of course.



Day 3: Labadee, Haiti
Woke up at 9 AM. Much more reasonable! Got ready and headed to shore!
Bought some souvenirs, grabbed lunch, and changed into our swimming suits. Made our way to the ocean.
Very rocky in the water. Not fun at all. Ryan got stung by a sea urchin. Got back on the boat about 2:45. Haiti wasn't great - wished we got to travel further inland. Oh well, now we can say we've been there.
Had dinner; had a strawberry gazpacho that was to die for.
Bed!


Day 4: Ochos Rios, Jamaica
Had signed up for a sea kayak excursion and hike up Dunn's falls. Lots of Chinese people who seemed confused. Ryan and I kayaked together... the Chinese people were way slow and we kept stopping to wait for them. Many waves. Finally reached our destination after about an hour.
Held hands in a train. Hiked up the 1,000 foot waterfall. Way fun!! Rode a noisy (as in, party) little boat back to the other pier.
Walked around town, bought a few things and went back to the ship.
Had dinner with 4 other people and realize that we enjoy eating alone more. Food wasn't impressive.
Went to a Love & Marriage game show. We totally would have won.
Bed!


Day 5: Georgetown, Grand Cayman
Woke up, got ready and headed to shore!
We hadn't booked an excursion, so we decided to explore. It was not great weather - it started to pour. I was grateful for the umbrella that my mom gave to us!
We walked 2 - 3 miles and found the 7 - mile beach. Gorgeous sand and water. MUCH better than Haiti. Took a taxi back to the port and shopped.
Ryan couldn't find the plastic bag with our cash, his driver's license, and credit card. A small amount of panic ensued. Found the bag in our back pack. Heart attack avoided.
Prime rib and lobster for dinner. Yum.
Danced to some latin music and went to a show kind of like Cirque du Soleil, only weirder. There were men in mermaid outfits.
Stopped in the arcade. Totally beat Ryan in 2 racing games, but he kicked my trash at air hockey.
Watched The Bourne Ultimatum and had room service delivered. Yummy cheese plate!

Day 6: Cozumel, Mexico
Woke up and headed to shore.
Had signed up for a snorkel and beach combo ($30 off for being honeymooners - go us!). We rode a boat for about 45 minutes to our location. Took a little getting used to breathing through a long tube. Saw lots of pretty fish, a shark, and barracuda.
Snorkeled for a bit over an hour, got back on the boat, and headed to Playa Mia beach. Had a little lunch and pina coladas on the beach. The water was beautiful.
Went back to Cozumel.
Rented a scooter! Rode around town. Very fun! Went into some shops - picked up a few souvenirs. And some sunburns.
Came back to the boat and had dinner. Lasagna and creme brulee! Yum!
I have two blisters and many fun memories from today. And now I want a scooter.

Day 7: At sea
Spent the morning sleeping - got up around noon.
Played putt putt. Not sure who won, but there was some serious windage!
Slept.
I worked out on the elliptical machine for about 35 minutes. Had to fit it in somewhere! Humidity makes me sweat.
Got cleaned up, went to dinner. Seafood tempura, potato gnocchi, and steak.
Went to a variety show. Great piano player, funny comedian, weird hoola/unicycle woman.
Laid out under the stars and watched an amazing lightning storm in the distance.
Went back to the room and packed.
Tomorrow is an early rise and shine (5 AM), plane ride to Atlanta and then to Denver.
The honeymoon was great - very memorable - but Ryan and I are excited to go home.

Little tidbit: It's called a honeymoon because it is believed that the first month of marriage is the sweetest.