Caribbean Cruise with Friends

In October 2003 we organized our first group vacation with some friends and decided that a cruise would be a perfect idea since they are said to be more fun when traveling in a group. It is also something that I had never done, and Andrew had not done since he was a child, and is a pretty reasonably priced vacation. We chose Carnival's Triumph cruiseship and the western Caribbean itinerary that stopped in Cozumel, Mexico; Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Accompanying us on the trip were Mark and Heather Ferrence, Steve and Amy Kriebel, Chad and Aimee Saunders, and Ray and Missy Greenley.

Here's our ship (well, some of it!). It is hard to imagine just how big a cruiseship is until you are standing next to it!

Our first night onboard, we went to the Captain's Welcome Dinner, which was one of our two formal nights. It started as a complimentary cocktail hour followed by dinner in the main dining hall. We all dressed up in our finest threads and enjoyed a great first night at sea!

Our first port stop was in Cozumel, Mexico and the Saunders, Greenleys and we decided to take one of the Carnival excursions to visit the Ruins at Tulum. It was a fairly long bus ride followed by some time at the ruins before we headed back. It was a good experience and something both of us had always wanted to see, but hot is not even the right word to describe just how "warm" it was inland in Mexico. And this was in October, we couldn't even imagine what it would have felt like had we been there in the summer.

Some photos of the ruins:

The neat thing about the Ruins at Tulum was that they are located on a cliff overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. So, the scenery was phenomenal and the contrast between the ancient ruins and the picturesque seascape made for some really neat photos.

Our next stop was on the Cayman Islands and this was by far our favorite port stop. Grand Cayman is breathtaking - perfectly clear blue water, white sand, one of the cleanest cities you can visit. We took an outside excursion on Captain Bryan's Tours, which included a catamaran cruise to the famous Sting Ray City and some time to go snorkeling as well. Here's one photo of the sting rays. They are SO slippery and fast-moving, but really rather friendly. They like to brush up against your legs just like a friendly dog would. They're not quite as cute though!

Our last port stop was in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and here we walked around on our own and also went to Dunn's River Falls to climb up a waterfall. For some reason I can't seem to find our photos from Dunn's, and am thinking that we may have used (God forbid!) a regular 35mm camera for these photos since I do have them scrapbooked. Here, though, is a photo of some random parrots we met in town. We thought it was funny that they were just hanging out around the city.

Finally, our last night onboard was really a fiesta in the dining hall and the cruiseship went all out to make our final dinner on the Triumph a memorable experience. There was entertainment and a special dinner and dessert. We had THE best wait staff during our time on the Triumph so here we are posing with them.