Grand Cayman

( click on collage to see pictures better)

Grand Cayman was our second stop on the cruise (after a day at sea).

For our excursion on this island we did the ever-so-popular String Ray Swim/Snorkel. We went way out in the middle of the ocean and the water all of the sudden became crystal blue. We stopped our large boat and anchored in this Sand Bar (literally in the MIDDLE of the ocean). We got out and all of the sudden saw these large grey masses gliding below us. After a quick safety lesson (we didn't want any "Steve Erwin's") and with the fish food out the large String rays came out to play!

These are such interesting creatures, they are like the gliding vacuums of the sea. We would hold some raw squid in our hands like an ice cream cone and these rays would come right up and SUCK it out. Chris even got a little bit of like a hickey from the ray sucking! We also got to pet them (just like lil puppy dogs) and take pictures with them- which my mom still has. It was pretty neat. I learned that the Female Rays are MUCH larger than the males and that their stingers are actually in the middle of their tail, not the end... who knew? After this we went snorkeling a little way off. This was much better snorkeling than in Key West with lots of variety of fish and coral.

After some lunch in the rowdy Jimmy Buffett Margarittaville (which had it's very own WATERSLIDE), Chris and I took a stroll to the Havaiana's store (the Brazilian Flip Flops) and got ourselves a pair. Overall it was a great stop, just wish we would have had some more time to explore the island.

Key West

(I decided to break our cruise up into a couple different posts... so here is the first)

Our first stop was KEY WEST.

Key west was a cute little place with fun little shops, cobblestone streets and quite a bit of character. However, we did not spend our time in the city... we spent it on the OCEAN. Our "excursion" this stop was spend the day on a large Catamaran. We first made a stop to snorkel, which wasn't the best but Chris and I did catch a glimpse of a nurse shark. We then ate lunch and lounged on the boat while they drove us to the next stop. Here their was a dock (out int he middle of the ocean) that had ski-doos, water slide, water trampoline and a banana boat thing. We had fun just playing on all the things, the boys especially like wrestling on the tramp and throwing each other off. Chris and I went on the ski-doo which was fun but when we stopped it to switch places... it stalled on us. We were temporarily DESERTED at sea! But the highlight of it all was we got to PARASAIL. I have always wanted to do this and who better to share this adventure with than my husband! It was actually quite relaxing being up there so high, I loved it!