Powell Family Christmas Caribbean Cruise: part 2

The next day we arrived in the Cayman Islands. 

Evidently at the end of the rainbow is the Cayman Islands!! Having been there before, we knew what to expect. We boarded a small tender boat 

and then traveled ashore. We arrived about an hour early so we were able to walk around the port a bit and do a little sight-seeing. 

Our excursion was hand selected by Jansen...a submarine ride. At first, I was very hesitant, but it turned out great. I only had one brief moment of panic, but thankfully, they had drinking water aboard that helped calm me down. 

After the ride, we went walking downtown, and found another Margaritaville that we went to eat lunch at. It was more fun than the Jamaican one! Buckets-o-nachos, dancing, water parks, music. 

It was fun! As we arrived back on the boat, it began raining. Staying inside for us was the plan. We sat under a covered area at the outdoor theater and enjoyed a Billy Joel concert!

The next morning we arrived in good old Cozumel. We were super excited to get here because we had an all inclusive excursion to Chakanaab park and I wanted to do a bunch of shopping at Puerta Maya. But, as fate would have it, it began to rain shortly after we stepped on the pier. 

We found our guide and waited for it to clear up...which only took about 15 minutes. But off in the distance, we could clearly see some major storm clouds. 

As we waited, we took advantage of the brief stoppage of rain and took a few pics. 

We jumped in a bus and headed to the park. We checked in and headed to the beach while it was sunny. 

Caleb and Jansen played in the sand while Dad got the snorkel gear ready. 

Caleb actually snorkled with Josh!

Then we started back to get tickets for the dolphin experience Jansen wanted. I told him I would do it with him, and as soon as we bought tickets, it began to pour. We froze in the pouring rain on that pier but we had our dolphin experience. 

Because of the rain, things were delayed, so by the time we were done, it was time to return to the boat. We didn't even get to eat! We were soaked and starving!!!

It was such a long walk back to the ship in the pouring rain and I was so disappointed that I didn't get to do any shopping there. Dang. 

After boarding the ship and taking showers, we headed for dinner, the magic show, some bingo, and some dessert. 

We spent the last day on the ship just relaxing and playing in the casino while the boys played in the camp. 

While we got on each other's nerves, while it rained, while things didn't turn out as we had hoped, we got to do things we had never done before. We spent time as a family. We had fun! It was a good vacation all in all.