Wednesday, September 19th:
St. Thomas day. We booked another excursion for this port, this time we booked a catamaran/snorkel trip at Buck Island. Of course we had the dreaded early wake up call early in the morning so that we could meet at the Walt Disney theatre and clear customs. It was early but not too bad and went extremely fast. We ate breakfast then headed to meet for our excursion. We boarded the 65 ft catamaran and headed towards the net. Last year Chris and I had so much fun sitting on the net so I knew this was the place to head for. Unfortunately on this one we were not able to sit on the net, but it was still fun as we had a clear view as we sailed off to Buck Island. They passed out water, snorkel gear, and life jackets and taught everyone hoe to snorkel. An hour later we made it to Buck Island which is where we would be snorkeling through shipwrecks. This place is in a National Park so they were very careful about what you could and couldn’t do. We saw a lot of fish and the shipwrecks were so cool to look at. Thankfully no jelly fish like last year so I could relax!! They explained a lot of things and my dad held a baby sea urchin, I wasn’t that brave…I know what those things look like grown!!! I could have snorkeled there longer, it was so beautiful. Back on the ship and heading back they handed out Rum punch. My mom swore there wasn’t any rum in the punch so we kept letting them refill our glass. Stupid us, drinking rum punch in the sun for an hour means getting up will be a lot of fun. As soon as we got up to get off the boat, the rum punch hit us. My mom and I were giggling like little kids. I couldn’t stop laughing at my mom and she couldn’t stop laughing at me. Many many memories later (like me not able to get out of the bathroom) we decided to go shopping. I had to buy my mom a shirt just so every time she wears it we remember that time. We picked up a tank top for me, t-shirt for Chris, souvenirs for the girls and more sunblock as I had underestimated how much we needed. I am sure the store owners were glad when we left. Somehow we made it back to the ship in time.
This is the night that Chris and I went to Palo. I LOVE Palo and will never pass up there calamari. I had the best pasta dinner ever and I think Chris wished he ordered the same. They also now offer pizza’s which I took advantage of and had the Margarita pizza which was so good. Next time I am going to get about 5 serving of calamari for myself!!! Our waiter was Sasha and he was excellent.
Thursday, September 20th:
Day at sea. See above….spent time at pool, playing with babies at the pool, etc. Today was Semi-Formal night. Tyler fell asleep at the table, the poor guy was exhausted. I think this was the day that Joey started to get sick.
Friday, September 21st:
Yay, we made it to
Castaway Cay. Chris and I were eating breakfast outside at Topsiders when we got a warning that rain was coming in 3-5 minutes. We thought, ugh-oh as we were fast approaching CC. It just sprinkled, not really rained. When we got to the adult beach, we walked in the ocean and it was up to our knees so we decided to catch the tram back and check out the new Bahamian Merchandise stores (new to us, not sure if this has always been there) and find my sister’s family to see if they made it to the beach. We found them near the edge playing in the water and joined them. We had fun playing in the deeper water. We ate lunch at cookies which was nasty and I am still not impressed and then my sister and her family went back to the ship while we went to play in the ocean. We swam for awhile and then my dad and Chris went snorkeling while my mom and I got floats. I love CC, it is usually the best time of the entire cruise. My mom and I lounged on the floats, floating all around and having a good time. Once the guys got back from snorkeling we decided to pack up, go shopping and head for the boat. We had already packed the night before so we didn’t have to rush back to the ship or rush back from dinner. Had dinner and said goodbye to our dining team. Lots of hugs, exchanging emails, they were wonderful.
Saturday, September 22nd:
Had to get up and realize we were back at the Port (blah). Went to Topsiders for breakfast, met up with Stacey and the family which we were trying to avoid (didn’t want to say goodbye, too many tears) but we ate together. Joey made it a little harder when we left because she was with grandma and didn’t want to go to Stacey so she was crying which in turn made my mom tear up and then me, my sister left stating she wasn’t going to look at us (because she didn’t want to cry!!)….our poor guys putting up with these emotional girls!!! Amazingly enough they opened up the ship early and we got off at like 7:15…no waiting in the lobby which was nice.
Picked up a rental car and
Avis and headed to Downtown Disney. I was so excited to see they had popcorn so my mom and dad treated us!!! We did our shopping there, had the traditional lunch at McDonalds and then headed off to the Premier Outlet store to go the Character Premiere (WDW outlet store). Found a few things and then headed to the airport.
Overall, the trip was amazing. I so enjoyed traveling with all of my family and being able to experience the stuff with Joey and Tyler. The weather was great. Our room was terrific and of course I have the Eastern Panama Canal cruise booked for next year and I have a dummy date to be moved to 2009 to go on a 4 day with the girls and Chris’s family. I am glad Chris got bit by the cruising bug so I can continue with my addiction!!!
She REALLY wants to come on the cruise!!! Oldest ds would love to come on the cruise but, he doesn't have the money right now.....
He was WONDERFUL to her! I talked to her Thursday morning...... I am just heart broken. They live North of Grand Rapids and there is probably not going to be a way for me to get up there for the funeral. I remember from when her mom died 6 yrs ago that it is nearly impossible to get a flight into Grand Rapids and to drive there would be 2 FULL days of driving there and then 2 back. Jon can't take the time out right now and I can't make that trip alone. 
