Suzanne and I been talking about taking a cruise for a while now; finally we spent this past spring break visiting Caribbean on Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas. We were first-time cruisers– so everyone was excited, especially the kids. For the parents, it was our second time visiting the Caribbean, but first time for western Caribbean.

On our second morning, we docked at the island of Cozumel. Katelyn went on a submarine ride with her cousin Malia while Suzanne & I took Allison to downtown for a bit sight-seeing and shopping. I had originally booked an excursion hiking to the Mayan ruins at Tulum, but canceled the last minute to spend time with Suzanne & Allison instead. It would have been a good trip with lots of photo ops. Oh well, next time…

In Grand Cayman, we visited Stingray City– a famous sandbar in the middle of the ocean where stingrays congregate. The excursion was over-booked and so we were first sent to a beach with beach chairs packed like sardines. I took the opportunity to test my new water-proof case for Suzanne’s camera. An hour late, we finally boarded the boat. The boat ride to the sandbar was enjoyable, the water was aqua and just beautiful. No doubt that Grand Cayman is the playground for the rich– huge spectacular mansions dotted along its shorelines as far as the eyes can see.

Many boats already anchored there by the time we arrived. The water was waist-deep at the sandbar. We were given chunks of squid to feed the stingrays. While putting on my snorkel one huge ray swam up and rubbed my legs– I was startled but that was really cool. Suzanne was also at first a bit nervous at their “friendliness.” It was real neat to see all these rays all around us and be able to touch them. The coolest thing was feeding the rays, as they swim over your hand and their mouths sucking away the squid from your hand like a vacuum. No wonder the guide asks us not to stick our thumbs our while feeding!

I tried taking pictures and videos of the rays under water but let’s just say my first stab at imitating Cousteau wasn’t a success– among the excitement and all the action, I managed a total of 1 decent underwater photo. 🙂 The videos were crude but still pretty neat. All in all, it was a very cool experience. It would’ve been even better had it’d not been so crowded.

Next, we visited Dunn’s River Falls and its cascading waterfalls. It’s apparently a very popular tourist attraction in Jamaica. A local guide would take a group climbing the water falls. The climb wasn’t very treacherous but enough danger to make it exciting. It was overly crowded but Suzanne & I had fun anyway. There were lines like Disneyland.

The last port was Labadee, Haiti where we spent the entire day with the kids on the beach. The place was secluded and very pretty. Because it was private property it lacks the tourist traps and commercialism. I really enjoyed my time there.

The dining on the cruise was great. We enjoyed the service of our friendly Indian waiter named Freddy. But by the 5th day I had enough of fine dining– would’ve happily traded my steak or lobster for a bowl of pho. I guess there’s only so much of fine food a simpleton like me can take!

There were plenty of activities on the ship.The kids naturally enjoyed the pools the most. Suzanne & I tried wall climbing. I participated in a volleyball tournament– our team placed 2nd. There was a surf machine that makes artificial waves, but I never braved the crowds to use it. The whole family tried ice-skating. We were depleted most nights after a day of fun activities.

One nice thing about cruising is minimal planning: either for food or activities. It’s all inclusive. Each night, we look forward to a nice sit-down dinner and a show afterward. I even got to try some new food like parfaits. It’s not as good as Donkey made it out to be (there’s a scene in Shrek where Donkey says “parfaits gotta be the tastiest thing on the whole damn planet“). The nightly variety entertainment was top notch Vegas-quality– I enjoyed everyone I saw. I was surprised at the quality production the cruise line was putting up.

With food and entertainment factored in, cruising can be reasonable in terms of cost. Another big plus is the activities for kids, basically free childcare while the grown-ups go on their excursions. I think cruises attract those who’s looking for doing most activities, visiting as many visited places, being most entertained and eating as much fine food, within a span of time. In essence: it’s all about efficiency. You can’t really beat that if that’s what you’re looking for in a trip.

The downsides to cruising, I find? First and foremost, it’s the crowds. For me, it’s hardly relaxing when I keep running into people wherever I go. Lines everywhere. Second: minimal local interactions. You’re constantly hit with tourist traps when you leave the ships. I must admit that I’m the low key back-country type of guy when it comes to vacationing. I don’t particularly enjoy overly-commercialized places. I rather chill out in a quiet place. I find our last trip to north shore of Hawaii a tad more relaxing.

All in all though, everybody had a great time. I wished I had more camera time. I failed to find enough free time to take my camera through the paces whenever I vacation with the kids. They just keep me too busy. I didn’t get up early enough to capture the sunrise as I intended– not even once. On the other hand I got tons of family photos of the wife and kids which is just fine with me.

Here are some of the photos.