Cruisin the Carribean

For spring break, the whole fam went on a 5 night "Celebrity" Cruise to Key West, Florida and Grand Cayman Island. This was our first cruise we have ever been on and needless to say...



FUN WAS HAD BY ALL.

Our ship left out of Miami, which is a place I would love to spend more time at one of these days...



Our first destination was the quaint little island of Key West, Florida. It is 2 miles by 4 miles and there are palm trees, shops, restaurants, bars, live music, and aqua blue water everywhere you look. It was a happenin' place!







We ate some of the best key lime pie I have ever eaten from this little place called Kermit's Key Lime Shop.



A picture is worth a thousand words.



We walked over the whole island (which isn't very far) and we can all officially say we have stood at the "southernmost point of the United States."



We ate lunch outside while listening to live music, ate sorbet from a charming little ice cream parlor, slipped in and out of shops, drooled over all the yachts, and just had a good time.

When I was researching what cruise line we should go on I was told that Celebrity had the best food and they were right. Every night we would eat dinner in the Grand Restaurant and let me tell you something- we ate like Kings and Queens. The food was absolutely unbelievable and was definitely the highlight of my cruising experience. It was a French menu which made me giddy every time I looked at it! I mean for once I could actually interpret a fancy menu! In previous posts I have expressed my newfound love for French food and every meal we ate on the ship was full of it!! I cannot even begin to tell how many pastries, croissants, creme brulees, and anything else french that you could think of that we ate! I loved tasting some of the same dishes I have made at home. They were presented so beautifully and tasted fabulous. We all agreed that we ate more this past week than we have ever eaten in our entire lives. I took a few pictures but not as many as I should have:



Yes I know... no one, except mom, ever ate just one dessert. How could you pass these up??



I ate caviar for the first time and I was pleasantly surprised!



They even had some Italian food on the menu! This was the best Tiramisu I have ever tasted and the little espresso bean for decoration is gold! They paid attention to every exquisite little detail.

After dinner every night we would go to the shows. We saw dancing, singing, and some great comedy.





Our second visit on the cruise was to the Grand Cayman Island. We got to snorkel on two different coral reefs and we swam with stingrays... Now as most of y'all know, I do not do ocean creatures. So to swim around in that huge ocean (the water was crystal clear so that made it less scary) and to touch and KISS a stingray was a huge accomplishment for me. I was most definitely not going to kiss the poor slimy creature but Aaron picked me up (with his one good arm) and physically FORCED me to. It was quite a sight to see.

I wish our underwater camera pictures were developed but they're not yet so these will have to do for now.



The snorkeling was one of the highlights of the trip because of all the beautiful coral and colored fish we got to see.



So after everyone had seen all they could see we get back in the boat to catch some rays... so where's Aaron? He's still snorkeling! We were cracking up at him... he loved it.



On our way back to Miami we sailed along the coast of Cuba... and that's as close to Cuba as I ever want to be. It was a good view for laying out on the ship though.





We had the time of our lives and we have all decided that we are going to be cruisers. The fact that you can see multiple exotic places, eat all the fine food you want, and soak up the sun in a relaxing atmosphere is unbeatable in my opinion. This was Aaron's very first official family vacation and he had a blast. We all decided that adding Aaron to the mix made it the most fun family trip ever!







This has been a VERY long post so if you're still here thanks for reading! :)