Excursions

 Part of the fun of being on a cruise is going off the ship on excursions.   Our first stop was Nassau, Bahamas.   We chose an excursion to The Blue Lagoon, which included a dolphin encounter.  We got onto a ferry and were transported over to the Island, where there were lots of lounge chairs, a small restaurant and places you could rent water toys.

They also had blow-up slides and rock-climbing walls for the kids, and kayaks and paddleboards to use.

As they say, this picture does not do justice to the aquamarine blue of the water.   It was pretty exciting to actual swim in the ocean water in April!  We've never done that in New England!

We swam around, and Tag got to do one of his favorite things....nap!

The highlight of the excursion ws the dolphin enounter.   We stood on a platform about waist deep, and our dolphin (named Sean, which is pretty funny as that's the name of our future son-in-law!) swam up close so we could pet him.  Then each person could get a hug and kiss from the dolphin.  When the dolphin kissed my cheek, Tag joked, "Hey! That's my wife you're kissing!"  and the dolphin turned and gave him a raspberry!   Tag thought that was hilarious! 

Finally we each got to "dance" with the dolphin, while he opened his mouth to sing!!  As you can see, it was very funny!!

Our second time off the Ship was at Grand Cayman Island.   This was a "tender" day, meaning we didn't have to be on an excursion, but could just take the tender to the shore for the day.   I was somehow under the impression that the beach was right there when you got off the ship, so we dressed in bathing suits and brought our towels for a beach day.

When we got ashore, we were in the little village area, and found out you needed to take a shuttle to the public beach.  And that the shuttle was $6 per person, each way.  And tht we had only brought $20 with us, because we didn't want to be walking around with a lot of cash in a strange country.   Luckily, the shuttle drives are willing to barter, so we were able to get a ride for $5 apiece each way.

Again, the water was gorgeous, the weather was sunny and we enjoyed swimming in the ocean.

Our third time off the ship was in Cozumel, Mexico.  We docked and went into Cozumel from the ship.  The first thing we see:

We were then taken in a nice coach bus to the Playa Mia Beach Resort and water park.  I think this was my favorite excursion.  The beach was absolutely beautiful.   We got there just as they opened so got beach chairs and umbrella right at the water.  

This excursion included a buffet lunch and unlimited drinks.  I sucked down a bunch of Frozen Strawberry Daiquiris.  I don't think they had much liquor in them because I didn't get tipsy!

It was the second-to-last day on the cruise, and it was a great day of swimming, playing, eating, drinking and relaxing.

When we got back from the bus there was this really cool Cozumel sign with our Cruise ship right behind it.  Perfect photo op.....except for the guy peaking out through the "O". 

We always get earrings for me when we go on a trip. And we also like to collect refrigerator magnets.  At one of the little kiosks, we found a magnet and bought it.  When I inquired if he had any earrings, he said he did not but escorted us over to his friend's store.  Such service!  LOL

I chose a pair of earrings, which the store owner said were 60 dollars. Tag very honestly told him we only had $26.  The guy counters with 40. "We really only have $26 dollars on us".   He comes back with $30!   Finally he gave in and let us buy the earrings for $26.   He must have thought we were pretty good negotiators.....when really we just didn't bring a lot of cash with us!

And we were serenaded on the way back to the ship.

Our final excursion was after we got off the ship in Fort Lauderdale. The ship docks at 7am....you need to be off the ship by 9am.  And our plane was leaving at 4:30pm.  The cruiseline people are no dummies...they know a lot of people are in the same predicament.  So they offer an excursion that takes us from the pier, to the Everglades, and then brings us to the airport!  Perfect!

We were greeted at the entrance by some peacocks!

Our Air boat was piloted by Crocodile Dundee...."We gonna find us some critters!"

We saw quite a few alligators, all in the water.  The boat driver had names for some of them!

Tag liked it when the guy went really fast.   The guy says, "I like to go back and forth....driving in a straight line is boooooooring!"

At the end was a short show with an alligator handler doing things like putting his jaw in the alligator's mouth!

That pretty much sums up our cruise experience.   I do have a bunch of randoms pictures that I'll post tomorrow.