Caribbean Getaway

Back in January I got a mass e-mail from my favorite cruise travel agent, Peggy Webb. She lives in Utah (and is actually Sally Teichert's sister for any Cokevillians), and e-mails out hot cruise deals once or twice a year, and only sends seriously hot deals.

 

Well, this time was no exception...on her list was a 7-day Caribbean cruise out of Galveston, Texas, for $445 inside, $545 balcony. Now, $545 for a 7-day cruise is a good deal for even an inside cabin on a 7-day cruise, but for a balcony cabin!? And for a balcony cabin to only be $100 more than an inside cabin? Unreal. Usually balconies are around double the price of an inside room. This was definitely a screaming deal. So I called Heather, and the price and the sailing dates were perfect. So we immediately booked ourselves a cabin. Then we recruited our two best girlfriends to join us, Ashley and Hillary, and booked another cabin. Then I told my parents about it, and they wanted in, so add one more cabin. Then Heather had two newly-wedded gay couple friends from SLC who were in the market for a honeymoon vacation...so add two more cabins! Five cabins in all. Party ship, here we come!

 

I look back on that week in paradise and I have nothing but fabulous, happy, hilarious, carefree memories. These fun girls make me so happy.

 

Hillary, Heather, Me and Ashley on our first flight to paradise.

 

Cole, Sawyer, Hillary, Heather, Me, and Ashley...first day on the ship!

 

Our first port was Cozumel, Mexico. We rented scooters ($60 per scooter, so $30pp since we rode double...could have gotten some for $35 per scooter outside the main gate!? Argh!?! Next time...) and scootered ourselves around the island. Thirty minutes into our ride we stopped off at a random beach bar to get some beverage refreshment. We had the most amazing pina coladas and strawberry daiquiris I'd ever had (virgin, of course), and we all sprung for a plate of nachos, salsa, and guacamole. AND we all got $10 fifteen minute massages on the beach. It was an amazing way to spend a morning. Complete paradise!

 

On the other side of the island we stopped at the amazing Coconuts Restaurant and Bar and continued our pina colada and nacho tour...such amazing food! Coconuts was so much fun...I definitely recommend a stop there if you're ever on the island of Cozumel. It's up on a hill, so you climb a stone staircase through beautiful jungle and vegetation and hilarious signs, and at the top is the most beautiful views of the water and the island, which you enjoy while you eat in the entirely outdoor space.

 

The island of Cozumel is absolutely beautiful. The water is the most beautiful clear turquoise, and the lush, green, scenery is gorgeous, as well as diverse, from one side of the island to the other. We had so much fun on the scooters exploring the island and enjoying the amazing scenery. Cozumel stole all our hearts that day.    

 

 

 

Our second port was Grand Cayman, where our entire group of ten bartered for some tickets to Sting Ray City and snorkeling.  We ended up paying $30/pp, which was a steal compared to the pre-booked tour price of $60/pp.  Everyone loved the stingrays and we all kissed one so that we'd have 7 years of good luck. Then we snorkeled and swam, and saw endless amounts of coral and fish, and even a  barracuda!? Then I made the girls hop off the bus at 7-mile beach, so they could experience my favorite beach in the world. Beautiful, white, sandy beaches and clear, turquoise water...complete with another pina colada. This is paradise!

 

 

Our third and final port was in Falmouth, Jamaica. Heather really wanted to do the Dunn's River Falls, so we did. We found ourselves a taxi driver and he drove us all over the island. We climbed Dunn's River Falls, which everyone loved. It's a series of cascading pools and waterfalls that you can climb up. And it's absolutely beautiful. And it's so much fun. We all loved it.

 

Then, since we had lots of daylight left before we had to be back on the boat, we had our cabi, Maurice, take us over to Montego Bay, famous for it's beautiful beaches and scenery. Well, when we got to Montego Bay you could see a storm rolling in off in the distance. So our time was limited (a whopping 30 minutes before it started raining!?), as was our scenic view, as clouds and rain were already blocking the far view of the bay. The beach Maurice took us to was not the beach Montego Bay is known for. It was small, a bit dirty, and the water was a bit murky for my liking. We were the only tourists in sight, and there were a dozen or so Jamaican kids taking a bath in the bay. Maurice obviously just knew people there, which is why he took us there...that sneaky cabi! Heather and I got another $10 massage, while Hillary and Ashley made friends with Jamaicans in the men's bathroom. Ooh boy! :)

 

 

I don't have many pics from our port in Jamaica, as the best part of the day was spent in the water hiking the falls...snapping pics with Hillary's waterproof disposable camera that has to be developed. Hopefully I'll update if those fun pics ever surface!? :)

 

Our life on the boat was so much fun! Since four of our five rooms were right by each other we were able to open all our balcony partitions for one giant four-room balcony. It was fabulous! Definitely worth the extra money. Our boat had a rock wall, and a flow rider, which was super fun. And we all got together for dinner, and entertainment, and dancing each night. I watched three in-cabin movies, I worked out twice, hot tubbed twice, spent hours on the balcony, read one book, and never had to cook or wash a dish. It was a week of pure heaven! So many fun memories.

 

 

Proof that my parents were there! Love them! 

 

Our hilarious shuttle ride to the airport from the cruise ship...we were packed like sardines... 

 

These fun girls, on our flight home... 

 

Pina Colada Heaven...

 

We sailed on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas. While the ship was over ten years old, it had been in dry dock for a month this last spring getting refurbished. They did an amazing job, as this was by far the fanciest, nicest, most luxurious boat I'd ever been on. It was beautiful and the food was fabulous. The dining room food is always great, but even the buffet was to die for. So many options, all of which looked and tasted amazing, and never a line, even during the busiest of times. Our cabin was the best cabin I'd ever had. It was your usual cabin with modest space and tiny bathroom, but the additional storage this room had was unreal. Two grown adults females with all their clothes and accessories and toiletries couldn't even fill all the storage space available to us. It was amazing. And we also loved the flat screen tv with pay-per-view movies. The only downside (and a minor one at that), was no self-serve laundry facilities. When traveling anywhere over 5 days (especially with kids!), I like the option of doing some laundry. Luckily I had no kids in sight, so I made do, though I still would have loved to have done a load.  

 

Ashley and I frequently got asked how/why our husband would let us go on vacation without them!? One answer we gave was, "We have no idea!? We sure wouldn't let them leave on a 7-day cruise without us!?" But the other answer we gave was "Because they are freaking amazing!!" Seriously, we have the best husbands in the world. Eric is my usual go-to vacation partner, and I absolutely love traveling with him, however, leaving the hubby behind has its perks...#1 being that I know my kids are in the BEST possible hands. I hate leaving my kids behind. I worry about them, AND I worry about the sanity of grandma and grandpa!? I know they're fine and dandy and safe and all, but I still worry...it's what mom's do!? So leaving them at home with their dad eliminated 99.9% of the mommy guilt associated with leaving my kids behind. I knew that with their dad around, they'd probably not even notice I was gone. Such peace of mind was priceless! The #2 perk was that my time was all mine. No kids. No husband. No compromising. Just selfish, do what you want when you want to do it, indulgence. I didn't have to play shuffleboard once!? 

 

So, the big question is, how did we afford all this fun!? Eric and I had plenty of Southwest points between us after I signed up for two cards and Eric signed up for one (160,000 to be exact). But after flying to Vegas (10k) and Seattle (12k) we had 138,000 points left between us. We used 17,000 points +$10 in fees for my roundtrip flight to Houston. And since I have a Southwest Companion Pass, I designated Heather as my companion and her flight was free (her graduation present from me), except for that $10 in fees. So, two roundtrip flights cost us 17,000 points and $20 in fees. And Eric and I still have 121,000 points left to use for future flights. Not bad.

 

So with flights taken care of, I needed to figure out a way to subsidize our actual cruise cost. Hello Barclay Arrival. The Barclay Arrival Card was offering a 40,000 point sign-up bonus after spending a mere $1000 on the card within 3 months (you now have to spend $3,000 within 3 months to get the same bonus). Those 40,000 points ended up being worth $475 in statement credits when reimbursed for travel related expenses. So, Heather and I both picked up one of those cards. Our cruise ended up totaling $635 per person once taxes and fees were added in, but by using our points, we each got a $475 statement credit for the cruise purchase, making our final cost only $160 each for the cruise. So, for the cruise and flight, the total cost came to $160cruise+$10flightfees=$170.00...not too shabby.

 

Now, of course we had other incidental charges...there were shuttles to ride, cruise tips to pay, excursions to experience, and pay-per-view movies to watch. But when your main vacation cost is so minimal, the rest is no big deal.

 

The only thing better than a 7-day luxury cruise vacation? A 7-day luxury cruise vacation that doesn't break the bank!