Months ago, my brother-in-law reached out to me to let us know their family was going on a cruise for Spring Break and he was inviting not only us, but also my parents, both his sisters and their families, as well as his parents to go on the same cruise. I have been wanting to take the boys on a cruise and after a little coercion, I convinced Shane it would be a great time so we went ahead and booked. It ended up being a total of 31 of us in our group, including those listed above as well as Mason's (my nephew) girlfriend as well as her dad and step-mom, Melissa and Shawn's good friends, Ben and Emily, and my parent's good friends, Scott and Debbie (who my parents actually met through Shawn's parents years ago when they all used to go camping together at the Frio River every summer). Our big group may not all actually be blood related family, but everyone feels like family.
On Sunday morning, we headed to Galveston to board Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas. It is currently the largest cruise ship on the ocean and really is an amazing ship. With 18 decks, multiple pools, 2 flow riders, a rock wall, an ice skating rink, a zip line, 9 hole mini golf, great entertainment, a boardwalk, bars and multiple restaurants and shops, there was always something for everyone to do.
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| Dad, Scott and Debbie waiting to board the ship. |
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| Paula, my boss's secretary, was also boarding the ship. |
Once boarding the ship, we ate some lunch, found our room, found my parent's room then the boys changed into their bathing suits. They both tried out the Flow Rider and swam a bit before we got ready for dinner.
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| Shane and my room |
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| The boys' room |
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| Lunchtime |
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| The view from Grandma and Grandpa's balcony |
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| Pulling away from the dock |
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| Shane and I waiting for the boys to ride the Flowrider |
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| Camden |
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| Casen |
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| The boys needed ice cream after all their hard work |
The first nights dinner menu consisted of American favorites, including escargot. Both boys tried it and liked it!
At midnight, they had a celebration in the promenade with a balloon drop that the boys wanted to attend. So since we were on vacation and had nothing else better to do, we went.
Monday was a sea day and we started our day with breakfast with my parents, Scott and Debbie. I think Casen was in hog heaven getting to eat anything and everything he wanted.
After breakfast, Camden, Grandma and I went to napkin folding (per Camden's request). It was fun learning different creative ways to fold a napkin.
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| The single candle |
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| The lotus |
Afterwards, Shane and I hung out on deck by the pool most of the day while the boys played in the pools, ate ice cream, and just had fun.
The first night was the only night we ate dinner by ourselves. The rest of the trip we ate with my sister and her family, Grace and her parents and Ben and Emily. We were always divided into two tables, so the boys got to hang out with Mason and Braden every evening, which they really enjoyed. Monday night was formal night and while at dinner, Camden was able to learn yet another napkin folding technique from our waiter and our table learned a new magic trick.
We had reservations for Oceanaria Aqua Show after dinner and the guys decided they wanted to change clothes prior to going. When we arrived to our rooms, our room attendant, Budi, had a surprise waiting for us.
The show was great, with wonderful diving, flips, tricks, etc. It was very entertaining!
Tuesday was another sea day, and since we stayed out late, Shane decided to sleep in while the boys and I decided to go eat breakfast. We then headed to the pickleball court to play some pickleball. Luckily, Shane was up and at 'em in time for us to play as a family.
We then changed into our bathing suits and met up with Grandma, Grandpa, Mason, Braden and Grace for a fun game of putt putt.
The rest of the day consisted of relaxing, eating, and hanging out. After dinner, the boys wanted to see the Oceanaria show again, so Casen and I watched it from Grandma and Grandpa's balcony, while Shane and Camden watched it from the aqua arena. We then headed to bed to get ready for our first day back on land.
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| The boys posing in Central Park before dinner |
Wednesday we had our first port of call in Roatan, Honduras. We had an excursion planned where we would hold sloths, zip line and go to the beach.
We all piled in a van with our guide, Aaron, and our first stop was to hold the sloths. I was excited to hold them but the actual experience was better than I was anticipating. They were so dang cute and had the most pleasant little faces!
We were pleasantly surprised when we learned that we would be interacting with more animals than just the sloths, including macaws and monkeys. The monkeys loved Shane! We were all surprised that the little monkeys had the softest feet!
While waiting to go ziplining, our tour guide took us to a chocolate factory where we learned all about the cocoa bean and their process of hand making each chocolate bar they sell. A great bonus was all the taste testing we got to do!
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| Walking to the chocolate factory |
Our next stop was ziplining. This was the thing I had been most looking forward to since Roatan was the first time I had ever previously ziplined. Camden had been nervous for weeks to try this new adventure, but decided he was ready and was excited as well. We all had a great time!
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| Geared up ready to go! |
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| Everyone ready for their instructions |
Those of us that wanted were allowed to hang upside down.
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| Mason |
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| Braden |
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| Melissa |
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| Casen |
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| Camden |
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| Grace |
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| Shane |
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| Me |
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| Mason |
On one of the take offs, we were given the option of doing a front flip off the platform. While I did not attempt that, several of our group did. Braden did the best flip out of he, Mason, Shawn, Ben and Casen.
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| Braden |
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| Shawn |
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| Casen |
One of the final ziplines, they had us go in pairs of two, so Casen and I went together, and then Shane and Camden followed.
We then headed to a nice all-inclusive beach, where the boys and I walked up and down the beach and people watched while Shane relaxed on a. We then headed back to the ship so we could shower and get ready for dinner.
After dinner, we had reservations to see Mamma Mia. The cast did a great job and I spent the night singing all the songs.
One we arrived back to our room, we had more cute towel animals, courtesy of Budi.
On Thursday, our port of call was Costa Maya. We did not have anything specific planned, so just went into port with my parents as well as Scott and Debbie. Casen had been wanting a fish pedicure and talked Grandpa into getting one with him.
Once we got back on the ship, the boys and I went to the pool area and enjoyed some pina coladas while Shane took a nap.
That night was 'white night' so we all got dressed in our white and headed to dinner. As we did most every night, we ended our evening at a cafe on the promenade deck that served coffee, sandwiches and cookies. The boys enjoyed having hot chocolate and cookies while Shane had his coffee.
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| Camden having escargot again. |
Our last port of call on Friday was Cozumel. All 31 of us made our way to Mr. Sanchos, where we hung out on the beach all day, relaxing, talking, eating and drinking. The boys had fun playing on the obstacle course in the water, as well as playing sand volleyball with all the cousins (Mason and Braden and all their cousins).
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| The boys had fun playing on the water obstacle course |
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| Mason, Braden and all their cousins (plus Grace) |
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| Casen definitely won't get pinched today! |
The boys tried lobster at dinner that night, and surprisingly, neither of them liked it!
We took family pictures, relaxed at the cafe and then once we arrived back to the room, we were met with our final fun towel animals.
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| Happy St. Patrick's Day Paula! |
Saturday was our last sea day. It was very gloomy and rainy outside and the seas were a bit rough. The boys, Grandma and I went to another napkin folding class where we learned to make a bit more intricate designs.
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| The Texas Boot |
After napkin folding, they had cotton candy in the promenade, so of course the boys had to partake. We then headed to the boardwalk where the boys rode the carousel and mom and I had fun taking pictures in the funny mirrors. The boys wanted chocolate shakes, so we stopped at Johnny Rockets and enjoyed some good ol' chocolate shakes. The boys and I then ran into Mason, Braden, Grace and her parents who were playing Uno, so the boys joined in and played a few rounds with them.
We enjoyed a nice dinner, took more pictures, then headed to to the room so I could work on getting us all packed up.
This morning, they were having some technical difficulties with one of the gangway exits, so we had to wait a bit longer than normal to disembark. Once we go off of the ship, it was so cold, rainy and getting to our vehicle in the nasty weather was not very welcoming, especially after all the beautiful weather we had while on vacation.
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| Waiting to disembark |
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| A gloomy morning in Central Park |
Of course, we couldn't stay away from baseball too long. Casen's team had a tournament this weekend and won their first game earlier this morning. Shane contacted Casen's coach to let him know we were back in town in case he needed Casen. Coach was thrilled that we were back in time since one of our kiddos hurt his arm so couldn't pitch. We showed up for the game and Casen pitched really well, however the team ended up losing. :( Until next time!
