Cruise Day 11-Bonaire, November 11th

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Cruise Day 11-Bonaire, Tuesday November 11th

Today dawned bright and sunny! We started out our morning in the MDR for breakfast then headed off the ship about 9:20. I wasn’t sure which beach we wanted to go to so I went to an information booth to ask their opinion. They recommended Sorobon Beach so I said let’s do it! It was on the opposite side of the island from where we were docked in Kralendijk but it was only about a 12 minute drive via taxi.
View of the port from the ship



Once we got out of town, we were driving down a desolate road. Our driver gave us a bit of information as we drove. He said the area we were driving through was a protected space because of the salt fields. A lot of salt is harvested from this island to be used in chemicals and additives though not used for consumption. He said 300 years ago, slaves used to have to harvest the salt. (we could even see some of the previous slave huts!) It’s also a very windy island so there are HUGE windmills (the kind that a wind farm would use, the technical name escapes me.)



We arrived at Sorobon around 9:45 and were just in awe of the water!! Bonaire is one of the top 3 islands in the world for underwater diving and I can see why! The water was unlike any we have seen in the Caribbean! Unfortunately, we didn’t do any snorkeling or diving while here as it would’ve been difficult with Ava & Olivia. Maybe someday if we return we will do that.


At this specific beach, you could walk almost a mile off shore and the water was no higher than your waist if that! There were some roped off areas of coral that you had to avoid that were right off shore but once past that, there was tons of open space to walk or float. Way out in the distance was a reef that broke the waves so the water was very calm. Since it was so windy out, there were many windsurfers out on the water.

Bonaire
The dark spot is a protected coral reef, but do you see how far out people are?? Yep, barely water up to their waist! And look how beautiful & clear the water is!

We bring some small float rings with us to the beach when we cruise, so I took one and went out and floated around for a while. It was so relaxing! We ran into a gal who hung out with us in Barbados so we spent some time catching up.

O & A floating

We experienced 2 small rain showers while there that lasted about 10 minutes each, then the sun came right back out. While it was raining, it felt warmer to stay in the water then get rained on!

One of our floats is a kiddy one that the girls can sit in. Kevin took Olivia offshore for a bit in it and when he came back, she had fallen asleep in it! It made for an adorable picture! Nothing better than napping while floating on the water.

No worries, everyone was within arms reach of her during this photo, she slept for quite awhile like this!

The view from our beach chairs.

Panoramic photo of part of the beach.

Around 3 we headed back to the ship to shower and get ready for dinner. We met up with 3 other couples, friends of ours from previous cruises, after dinner for a while. This afternoon after boarding the ship, we heard the Alpha call go over the intercom which is never a good thing. It’s the equivalent to 911. Our friends said they saw a body bag being carried off. We felt bad for the poor lady they saw walking off with ship crew behind them. In talking with crew, this happens most cruises at least once. You figure the amount of people on a ship and a long cruise like this where the average age was 50-70+, it's bound to happen. (if we hadn't been in port when this happened, there is actually a morgue on the ship!)

My sweet Ava cheesing it up, playing with playdough while waiting for her meal at dinner.

My salmon appetizer tonight (I forget what it was called but it was good!) In the background you can see our handmade, personally requested, braided loaf of challah we got each night.

Since there were no activities going on this evening, it was a pretty quiet night. Because of our short stay in Aruba tomorrow (7am-1pm), we wanted to get to bed at a decent time so we can make the most of our time there since it’s our last island to visit this trip.
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All photos can be clicked on to enlarge. The photos I am sharing are a combination of ones I took as well as my kids and husband on a variety of cameras and iPhones, hence the varying quality.

Cruise Day 10- Curacao, November 10th

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Cruise day 10, Curacao, Monday November 10th

Today we arrived in Willemstad, Curacao. (ok I always pronounced it kur-AH-coe, apparently it’s pronounced cur-uh-SOUW, who knew!!) This country is known for its very colorful buildings. Hannah did a research project on this country before our trip and the reason for the colorful buildings is because people would get headaches from the white buildings due to the bright sunlight!

We were in port from 8am until 8:30pm so we took our time in the morning getting ready then had a laid back breakfast in the MDR. Today was a chocolate themed breakfast! Some of the options were chocolate waffles with a caramel-banana sauce, chocolate chip pancakes, chocolate milkshake, chocolate cream cheese trifle, chocolate banana bread, etc.

Us by the welcome sign.

When we got off the ship, we caught a taxi to Mambo Beach which was about 10 minutes away. Our first impression as we drove there was how much more sophisticated this island was compared to many Caribbean islands we’ve gone to. It didn’t have the third world country feel that many of the previous islands had.

The view by the shops looking down on Mambo Beach.

We got dropped off at the beach and were quite impressed by the surroundings.  We walked past a lot of nice shops before we walked down steps to the beach. There were 2 levels of shops & restaurants that lined the beach, nicer than the boardwalks at home actually! On the beach were also some small hut-type of buildings that had grilled food & drinks. There was even a nice volleyball court right behind us.



The beach was beautiful! There was a reef out a little distance that broke the waves so the water right by us was perfectly calm which was great for the little ones. The water here was clear & beautifully warm! We could see lots of little fish swimming by our feet. There was also one of those big, floaty trampoline for the kids to jump off of into the water.



We could even see our ship in the distance from where we sat. We saw several pelicans dive bomb into the water right by us for fish. One of them came within a few feet of the kids and made them jump as they truly come out of nowhere! I went for a little walk up the beach and came across a HUGE iguana. The thing was over 2 feet long from head to tail and walked out about 5 feet in front of me. Thankfully I had my phone on me and snapped some pictures.


Olivia playing with the kids snorkel gear.

This beach was one of our favorite due to how clean it was as well as the calm water. We stayed here until almost 4pm then headed back to the ship to get ready for dinner.

The view of our ship from on top of a bridge we crossed.

This was the first time when we docked that we entered & exited on the side of the damaged life boat so we were able to get a closer view of the destruction.

The head waiters weren’t on the floor tonight like they typically are so Olivia was bummed she hadn’t seen her “buddy” yet (that’s what she calls him). So we told our waiter as we finished dinner that Olivia was asking about her buddy. He immediately said “I’ll go get him”. Didn’t our head waiter come out bearing plates of chocolate chip cookies and in his words, it was for her to pack to take to the beach the next day! He spent time talking to her which made her night! Out of all 4 cruises we've done, this by far has been the best wait staff we've ever had!

My appetizer and main course!

Ava cheesing it up on the left and Olivia carrying her napkin rabbit & hat. Hmm I can see why people asked if they were twins!

A view of Curacao from the ship.

Later on in the evening, a few friends & I went to one of the big lounges for a musical dance game. The room was divided into 2 teams. The person in charge would play a song that has known dance moves to it (like the chicken dance, macarena, gangum style, etc). Whoever knew the dance moves had to go out on the dance floor and do them. Whichever team had the most people out doing the song, won that round. It was a lot of fun! While I was participating in this, the older 4 kids were at the teen club and Kevin was watching the Eagles football game (one of the few live programs we get on the ship) while the little ones slept. Everyone had a great evening!

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All photos can be clicked on to enlarge. The photos I am sharing are a combination of ones I took as well as my kids and husband on a variety of cameras and iPhones, hence the varying quality.

Cruise Day 9- Sea Day November 9th

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Cruise day 9- Sea Day, Sunday November 9th

 Today was a much needed break from port hopping. We had a lazy morning and decided just to grab a quick breakfast in the windjammer (buffet style) around 8:45. At 9, Kevin headed up to the sports deck to sign up for the ping pong competition. The girls and I took the little ones to the play area they have set up for my girls on Deck 14 as the gal in charge does organized activities with them for an hour. Today was music themed. She had a bunch of instruments for them to play and she did some guided activities. She also had some music she played that they did motions to as well as played their instruments. When she was done, the girls just free played for a bit while I worked on writing up our trip reports.

The girls & I playing. These are the ONLY 2 children on this ship that qualify for this program (they are the youngest on board) yet they still set up all these toys & did the activities with them. Talk about great service!!

Ava being pushed by Luna

Later in the morning, Kevin came back from the ping pong competition with 3rd place and a little medal. He said he ran into some people from the town near us back home. They said they know of a lot of people from our County that are also on board. After he came back, we decided to take Ava & Olivia to the kiddie pool & waterslide.

Olivia is too short to go down by herself so one of us always had to take her down. This day I think we went down about 30 times in a row since no one was around to use it!

I love the smile on her face here, she loved the waterslide!

 Ava technically can’t go in it since she isn't potty trained so I brought along a small blow up pool for her to play in. I love that the kiddie pool & slide are in the shade so I didn't have to worry about putting sunblock on them.

Yes, the child had a chocolate ice cream cone before sitting in here! ha

Once they were done playing, we headed back to the room so I could get them changed while Kevin went for some food for himself & the girls. We find they eat better back in the room where it isn’t as distracting as eating in the windjammer. I was going to attempt lunch in the MDR as I know they have this awesome salad buffet but I just missed it before they closed.

When the girls were done eating, Kevin took Ava for a walk in the stroller so she would fall asleep and Olivia went to hang out with the older kids. I went for lunch ALONE in the Windjammer. I was about to sit at a table when 2 ladies also came up to the same table and said I could sit with them. They looked at me and said, wow you are alone! HA they aren't even from our roll call but said they have seen me around the ship with the kids so they recognized me. I originally thought I was going to eat alone & read a book but I had a good time chatting with them. Turns out they are retired teachers from Virginia. They really enjoyed asking me questions about homeschooling and surprisingly they were fully supportive and thought it was great that we do it.

As I was finishing up lunch, the kids found me in there (gee, I can’t hide huh?) They all came in to show me what Olivia had made. The other night in the teen club, Susan won a certificate for a “Pet at Sea” which is basically like build-a-bear so they took Olivia to make her own stuffed animal. She got a “birth certificate” for the animal and on it, she gave her husky puppy the name Ava, HAHA!
Olivia made her "Pet-at-Sea"

I was able to sneak about half an hours’ time sitting out by the pool deck in my swimming suit, reading a book and soaking up some sun. Ahhh, I could live on a cruise ship! Nothing better than blue skies, warm temps, reading while listening to a live Caribbean band playing familiar music.

Nothing beats the view of endless sea while feeling the gentle rocking of the ocean under the warm sun!

Sarah & some of the teens playing soccer with the teen leader giving instructions.

All too soon it was time to get ready for dinner. Tonight was our 2nd formal night. One formal night each cruise, I try to color coordinate our outfits for a family photo. They have photographers on board that do portraits on formal night. Everyone looked adorable and they got many comments on being dressed up. Ava & Olivia wore matching dresses that Sarah had made for them.

Ava eating her fries & mac'n'cheese

Dario Pirsa
Olivia and Dario our head waiter whom she nicknamed as "her buddy". 

Dario Pirsa
He totally spoiled her this entire trip! By far the best head waiter we've ever had on a cruise!

Ava was SO not into taking this photo! ha

Take 2. This time Ava wasn't crying! We also have one of the professional photos of the kids & family but I'll share that in the music video I am creating. ;)

We have now established a routine of meeting up with friends for a bit after dinner while the kids all hang out together so that’s what we did after dinner tonight. Because we go to Curacao tomorrow, everyone went to bed at a decent time. We definitely enjoyed the quieter pace today being at sea!

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All photos can be clicked on to enlarge. The photos I am sharing are a combination of ones I took as well as my kids and husband on a variety of cameras and iPhones, hence the varying quality.

Cruise Day 8- Barbados, November 8th

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Cruise Day 8, Barbados, November 8th

Today we docked in Bridgetown, Barbados. This was our 3rd time to this island. Kevin & I honeymooned here back in 1998 and we stopped here on our first cruise in 2008. I knew which beach we wanted to head to, Lobster Alive. It’s only about 5 minutes from the ship and has a small restaurant with bathrooms and a quiet section of beach. We enjoyed our time here during our last cruise.
Barbados-Explorer of the Seas


We took our time getting ready and even went to the MDR for a laid back breakfast. We got off the ship about 9:30 and saw it was overcast. After getting into the taxi and waiting for it to fill up, we saw how dark the sky was and second guessed if we should've gotten off the ship. By the time the driver headed out, it started down pouring. When we got to Lobster Alive, we hung out for a little while on their covered porch hoping the rain would stop. It did so we went & set up our blanket on the beach.

The view of Lobster Alive from the beach

The water was AMAZING!! By far the clearest we have seen this trip yet. It was as warm as bathwater. There were gentle waves (and I say waves but more like gently rolling water) and you could go out up to your shoulders and have no worries about undertow. Plus, you could still see your feet clear as day!
The littles weren't thrilled to have been stopped from playing for pictures lol


3 of the kids playing in the water

Unfortunately we never saw the sun while sitting on the beach. I still got photos that show how beautiful the water was but if the sun had been out, you could’ve seen an even deeper shade of aqua. 

These 2 can be such hams when the camera comes out!

We had told our driver to come back around 2. About 1:30 it was getting dark again so we started gathering our stuff just as it started raining. Our driver showed up shortly after, so we sadly headed back to the ship which was a good thing considering it continued to rain off & on the rest of our time in port. The time we were on the beach was the only time all day it didn't rain so we were fortunate in our timing. In all our stops to the islands over the years, I think this is the first time we've been about rained out. Then again, a warm rainy day in the Caribbean is better than a cold sunny day back home, so I’m not complaining!! ;)

Me! :)

We had a leisure time of getting ready for dinner this late afternoon since we were back on ship so early. It’s hard to believe we are half way through vacation! I am trying not to think where we will be next Saturday. It’s funny, SO many people are asking if Ava & Olivia are twins. I am about ready to just start saying yes instead of explaining that they are just similar size and our twins are much older. I bet I could pay for another cruise if I got a dollar for every person who has asked us that this last week!

After dinner tonight, we met a few friends in the lounge that overlooks the pool deck. The kid’s teen clubs don’t start back up until 8:30pm, so we recently started a routine that the older kids hang out with the littles for a bit after dinner so we can have some down time. As my friend and I left the lounge, I saw the captain was also there so we stopped by to talk to him. He is very funny & quite personable. He relayed to us how he was sleeping when the rogue wave hit and how his staff notified him that a life boat was laying on deck 4. He was quite confused when they woke him he said. I had asked him in all his years as a captain if he had ever experienced a rogue wave before and he said never!! Pretty crazy!!

Tonights towel animal we found on one of the kids beds

Since tomorrow (Sunday) is a sea day, the kids wanted to stay out late with the teen club so we are letting them. We've met several of the kids & their parents and it is a well-run program with a leader who organizes activities. Shoot, I don’t think I've been up later than 9:30 on this cruise yet and am in bed before they all return to their room! I’m glad though they are having a blast! We are looking forward to a laid back day at sea tomorrow. Estimated temps will be around 90 with sun, yay!!!

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All photos can be clicked on to enlarge. The photos I am sharing are a combination of ones I took as well as my kids and husband on a variety of cameras and iPhones, hence the varying quality.