Saturday, April 17, 2010

Caribbean Cruise!

For my parents 40th anniversary, they took our family and my brother/sister-in-law and nephew on a cruise to the Eastern Caribbean! It was such a fun vacation! Here is a small "scrapbook" of some of the highlights of the cruise!

Click to play this Smilebox scrapbook: Sunshine Getaway
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We went on MSC Cruises which is a cruiseline based out of Italy so LOTS of authentic Italian food- sometimes it was even TOO Italian with some weird seafood selections, but I can't complain- cheesecake, creme brulee and cannolis that were out of this world! We ate and ate and ate and ate! My favorites were filet mignon, lobster, pork scallopini, and Cajun tilapia. HUGE buffets for breakfast and lunch and then six course meals for dinner! (appetizers, salad, soup, pasta, main dish and dessert) They had some kiddy pools that the kids just loved, a playground, miniature golf and a whole kids club that the kids could participate in. The entertainment was amazing- magicians, dancers, gymnasts... very very cool! We went to Puerto Rico first and Jeff, Lisa, Jeff and me (Mom and Dad watched the boys) took this excursion where we kayaked through these small mangrove channels with big iguanas on the branches. The coolest thing was we did this at night and there are these tiny microorganisms in the water that glow in the dark as a defense. They light up similar to fireflies. When you put your hand or paddle in the water and spash, the water GLOWS! They are microscopic, but there are billions of them so its hard to see individual ones- they are about the size of a pin head, but with so many the water just glows around the kayak or around your hand. There are only 5 places in the world that have these organisms- Puerto Rico has 3 lagoons with them, but where we were was the brightest concentration. It was so amazing. If a fish swam by, they glowed! It was cool doing it in the dark too! Truly amazing! We also went to St. Marten where we rented a car and drove around the island. Then we went to Virgin Gorda which is part of the British Virgin Islands and we all went to this beach called the "Baths" with HUGE boulders everywhere. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life!! The water was turquoise and formed tidepools and caves everywhere. Finally, we went to the Bahamas and our whole family took a glass bottom boat ride and a tour of the harbor. The weather was high 80's to mid 90's everyday. One day it actually hit 107, but with a nice ocean breeze it was still wonderful! We had sun everyday- not even one cloudy day! It was great! I'm already thinking about when we should do our next cruise!!