Caribbean Cruisin'

On Jan. 13, in the midst of some crazy cold and wet weather, we boarded the Carnival Magic and took to the open sea. And, I guess that ship really is magic, because when we woke up the next morning the cold and wet were gone and had been replaced by blue skies and sunshine! The 14th was a "Sea Day," so we spent that day enjoying all the features the Magic had to offer: water slides, lounge chairs, jogging track, a wide variety of music, gigantic chess board, mini-golf, sport court, Foosball, food and drink aplenty, towel animals, shows and so much more. We came in to port at Key West, FL on the 15th, where we were scheduled for a snorkeling adventure. That was a little wild at times, but mostly, we had a great time. The kids were ready to get back to the rope course and water slides onboard the ship when it was over. On the 16th, we came in to port at Freeport, on Grand Bahama Island. The port wasn't much to look at, since it was primarily an industrial area, but we took a short bus ride over to the Garden of the Groves, which was beautiful and relaxing and lots of fun for everyone. We also did a little shopping while we were ashore and took ourselves over to a pristine beach, so we could get our toes in the luxurious sand and the crystal clear water. Then, it was back to the ship for more crusin' fun. We arrived in Nassau, Bahamas on the 17th, where we hopped on a bus for a short tour of the city. Then, we switched transportation modes and boarded a water taxi, which took us past some amazing vacation homes and yachts of the Rich and Famous (like Oprah Winfrey, Tom Cruise, Mick Jagger, and Chuck Norris) on our way to meet a mini-sub for an underwater ocean tour. We all really enjoyed getting to see the sea life up close and personal. We saw some beautiful tropical fish, several sea turtles, a couple of nurse sharks, some sand-covered crabs, and lots of lovely coral. When the tour was over, we had lunch at a fun, local Bahamian restaurant. The next two days were "Sea Days," so we spent our time relaxing on the ship and nursing a couple of sick kiddos. Ruth and Max developed sore throats and started running fever, but the onboard medic was able to start them on some antibiotics, and by the time we disembarked in Galveston yesterday, they were both feeling quite a bit better. I am happy to report that the intense sea sickness I felt on the last cruise (when I was pregnant with Clay), was almost non-existant on this cruise. And, even despite some of the kids being sick the last couple of days, we all had a wonderful time, and we would definitely recommend a cruise like this for other families looking for a family-friendly vacation. I took almost 400 pictures, so obviously, I cannot share them all. Instead I will leave you with just a few photo highlights.

water slide fun

a splahin' good time

getting in a round of golf

up above the sea so blue

towel animals take over the pool deck

all dressed up for dinner

posing with Mimi and Grandpa

"Cruise Elegant"

snorkel queen

"Let's do this, Baby!"

geared up, but not quite prepared for the rough water

working the labyrinth at Garden of the Groves

Paradise

lots of fish to see from the mini-sub

Cruisin' Cutie

cruise face