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Published: April 22nd 2011
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The month that I've declared will be the greatest month onboard ever has gotten off to a great start! This last week, my sister, Alexis, and brother-in-law, Kevin, came to cruise with me - for the first time!
I was so excited to see them the day they arrived. I couldn't sleep the night before because I was so excited! I was like a little kid.
We really packed our port days with fun. First, in Cozumel, we went to Park Royal, the resort that I love going to with the crew. A couple of my friends - Duain and Nicole - joined us. We spent the day lying in the sun, hanging in the pool, eating, drinking and doing the odd activity run by the resort staff. The highlight of the day was the water aerobics class which Nicole and I did. It was the most bizarre water aerobics class ever . . . I think I got more exercise from all the laughing we did.
The following day we were in Belize and we went cave tubing. I used to do this tour all the time my first contract as it was the tour I offered
the teens. But I love it and it's my favourite thing in Belize, so it was my must-do recommendation to the family. I was pretty worn out, so I won't lie, I slept through the whole bus ride and all the tour guide's spiels - but I needed the sleep and I'd heard all the stories many times before. Once we got to the location, we had a small hike through the jungle, then we were tubing. It's a different section of the river/caves than what I used to go along, so it was different for me. We went through two different caves and the second one in particular was awesome - really cool rock formations and a small waterfall too. Great tour day.
Next we were in Roatan. In the morning, we went zip lining. Unfortunately, Alexis didn't go as she wasn't feeling well. But Kevin and I went and again Duain and Nicole joined us. The course is right across from the cruise ship terminal. The other three had never been ziplining before, so was the expert of the group. Crazy to think back to my first contract, how terrified I was to go and now how
much I love it! I especially liked the final zipline that took you out into the open over water and the trees to the side open up to a view of the ship and the ocean.
After ziplining, Alexis re-joined and Nicole left us to go to work. We headed off to Las Palmas, a new discovery we made 2 weeks ago when we were last in Roatan. It is a relatively new beach resort that has opened up to bringing in the ship crew. It is only minutes from the ship, on a beautiful stretch of beach. They have cheap drinks, cheap food, wifi and snorkeling right off the beach. AND NO GUESTS! So we crew pretty much fell in love with this place and I decided it was the beach I had to take Lex & Kev to. After a few hours on the beach, they headed back to the ship to do some shopping and then to go rest. I stayed back with crew friends . . . and it turned into quite the party! It was a crazy afternoon on that beach and it continued back at the pier when we went to Fat Tuesdays,
one of the tourist bars. I need to protect the innocence of my friends so I won't get into too much detail of that afternoon!
We had one more port day - Costa Maya - but unfortunately, I had to stay back on the ship to do our monthly safety drill, while Alexis and Kevin went on a beach tour. It was disappointing, but at least I still had time on the ship with them.
Throughout the week, I got to join them in the dining room for dinner. Mmmm . . . yummy guest food! I'd also gotten permission to bring other crew to join us, so every night a different friend came to eat with us. It's always fun for us crew to have family onboard to join us in our regular craziness. Alexis and Kevin did a good job keeping up with us too! They came out to the disco with us - even closed the disco and went for pizza the first elegant night. There was a crew party they came out to. And all of this in addition to everything we did in port and all of the guest activities they participated in!
The last night of the cruise, they arranged a little surprise for me, along with help from Duain. They threw a little pre-birthday surprise for me in Duain's teen club. A few friends came along to surprise me. They'd ordered a cake (and it was SO good!) and they got my a gift - a bracelet and gorgeous amber earrings. It was so sweet and unexpected.
I'm so happy that they finally decided to come cruise with me and get a look at my life onboard. I was pretty sad today to see them go. But I've got more exciting things this month still to come!
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