The past few months have been a little rough, exhausting, and a lot... Back in November I saw a Black Friday deal for a Royal Caribbean cruise and within minutes it was a done deal!
Mike and I just got back from a few days in the Caribbean. 🔆
The CRUISE itself:
I've been on a Celebrity Cruise, Viking Cruise, Norwegian Cruise and now Royal Caribbean.
(I've also been on a Chinese river cruise and Icebreaker cruise to Antarctica, but I don't count either of those as "official.") I think Royal Caribbean has been my favorite of the cruises.
I don't remember Celebrity well enough- I think I liked it, but that was 20 years ago so I'm not an expert on it by any means. Viking was okay... again, geared towards older crowd 65+ which had its pros and cons. Norwegian was decent, but some of the shows were a little raunchy and I didn't care for that aspect of it.
Independence of the seas is the ship from RC we just came off of and I enjoyed the amenities on board. They had a flowrider which we didn't do, but we did do the water slide, rock climbing, shuffle board, putt putt, escape room, basketball, pools, and ice skating.
About our destinations...
Grand Cayman:
We chose the excursion which included a visit to Stingray City.
Stingray City is a series of shallow sandbars found in Grand Cayman. It's a tourist attraction where you will see many stingrays and visitors can pet and interact with them. These stingrays are still in their natural habitat which is nice! The guides are very hands on and ensured both the humans and stingrays were comfortable during the encounter.
Our next stop was Dolphin Discovery. I am always wary about place like this, but this place has claimed to have high standards for animal welfare and are internationally certified for their marine mammal care. I did ask one of the staff members about the dolphins - if I understood correctly, it sounds like some of the dolphins were rescues while others at the facility were born there.
Just so everyone knows- I HATE any form of mistreatment to any animal and only want the best for them... so the jury is still out on this excursion. I know people will debate back and forth about whether or not the dolphins are happy in captivity. The dolphins are super sweet and smart.. and the dolphins that were rescued got used to humans and can't be released back in the wild. I can go back and forth all day on the subject so my only advice is do your research and ask questions before booking any kind of animal excursion.
Jamaica:
Mike and I were in Jamaica a few years ago with the Viking cruise and had a horrible excursion. It was very upsetting- so much so that I didn't want to even claim Jamaica as a "been to"country... thankfully, we got a RE-DO and it was so much better this time around!!
Dunn's River Falls
"Dunn’s River Falls is an astounding flowing falls that extends across more than 183 metres or 960 feet and is one of the most well-loved travel destinations on the island and a ‘must-do’ bucket list item." Dunn's River is one of the few rivers that actually flows directly into the Caribbean Sea. The Falls is natural and every crevice and natural pool of water was created by the flow of the water's current. Climbing up the falls is a popular activity for locals and tourists. I might have slipped a couple times, but no worries! We made it!
Blue Hole is a series of natural pools made out of limestone. Travelers visit Blue Hole to swim in the pools, cliff dive, rope swing, and more. We did many jumps, tried out the rope swing, and had an enjoyable time. There were guides with us every step of the way ensuring our safety