A Grand Day With The Turtles in Grand Cayman

 Our ship anchored by St. Georges Grand Cayman

 Looking at the turtles

 Holding the baby turtles

 Seth's turn.  Look how nuturing

 Savannah showing Seth how to hold the turtle

 Savannah rubbing the baby turtles neck

 Seth analyzing the baby turtle

 My all time favorite picture of Seth with the baby turtle

 We got to swim with the turtles. Savannah went first and then she got one for Seth

 Both kids holding their turtles

 Seth got very attached

 Savannah bringing her turtle over to see Seth's turtle.  She said they were friends and love each other and made the kissing sound.  Seth is not letting go of his turtle for anything.

 Highlight of the trip

 Savannah letting her turtle go swim

 She played with all the turtles where Seth got attached to one

 Playing with the turtles

 Savannah holding her turtle to flap and swim

 Laughing at her funny turtle

 Seth and the turtles

 This was so awesome

 Such fun and a once in a lifetime experience

 You could also swim in the lagoon with turtles and fish

 Savannah loving the water swimming with the reptiles

 Can't get enough of Seth and his turtles

 Two week old turtles are amazing

 First time Savannah held the turtle (Seth was sleeping).

 She was VERY excited

 Swimming with the turtles

 Our ship from shore

Seth and I hung out every morning on our balcony with coffee (me) and danish (him) and watch the ship come into port or just relaxed with it sailing.  I will miss that morning routine

Our last stop was Grand Cayman.  I loved this stop and location.  The town was awesome, clean and safe.  There were so many tours to do and things to see, but I chose Turtles, Turtles and More Turtles Deluxe so we would get to swim with the turtles.  Both of my kids adore turtles and are not afraid of them.  There were also tours to swim with dolphins or sting rays which we heard were amazing, but I knew my kids would be afraid.  We definitely chose the right excursion.  The place was incredible with a fresh water pool, lagoon, snorkeling, restaurant, store, and turtles, turtles and more turtles.  The tour started with viewing the giant turtles and the beach where they lay their eggs.  The tour guide was excellent and explained how tame giant green turtles are and how the staff here digs up the eggs, puts them in an incubator and determines the gender of the turtle by the temperature in the room where the eggs are.  Turtles bury their eggs and never go back.  Baby turtles I meant to fend for themselves.  He also said that if one of us fell in the water the giant turtles would scoop you up on his shell and carry you back to the beach.  Next we went to a tank where you could touch, feed, and hold young turtles and then the two week old babies.  This was amazing and the kids loved it.  They wanted to swim in the pool with the turtles but it was really crowded and there was a line so we went in the lagoon and swam with turtles and fish.  Rich did snorkeling, Savannah did swimming and Seth went in the water a little bit but mostly played on the beach.  Then the skies opened up.  The only rain we had all week was five minutes when we got to Cayman Islands, 5 mintues on the beach and then about 10 minutes while we were eating lunch.  So with the rain we went to eat lunch and then took the kids back to the turtle tank to swim with the turtles.  It was perfect timing.  The guide was there and there was just one other family with two kids.  Seth went in the water without hesitating this time. Savannah was already in so he saw what she was doing.  This was the true highlight of the trip.  They loved holding and nurturing the turtles and being one with them, just swimming along.  Seth got very attached to one and it hugged him as he held on and he would not let go.  Having to catch our bus was difficult and Seth threw a fit.  He said, "Where's my turtle."  For some reason, he thought that was his turtle and he would get to take it home.  I explained to him that we were just visiting the turtles and that they had to stay in the pool with its family.  He seemed to understand and settled for a stuffed turtle that says "Cayman Islands" on it. 

We then had 3 hours before we had to tender back to our ship.  We walked around the great and clean and safe town and went to Hard Rock, Margaritaville, Ron Jon and into some shops and got some souveniers.  It was really fun and we end our time in town with awesome sorbet/gelato from a pink shack called Sugar.  It was so crowded and rightly so.  Some of the best ice cream ever.  The cherry on top to a grand day.

Grand Cayman was our last stop in our island hop.  The destination on this trip were some of the best ever.  I really enjoyed both the ship and the destinations.  It was a near perfect vacation.

Isla Roatan--A true Paradise

 Just got off the ship and it is hot, hot, hot in Isla Roatan

 Better on the beach in the shade under an umbrella

 Jump right in and dig away

 Just perfect

 Can I live here at the Parrot Tree Resort?

 Daddy and Savannah cool off in the lagoon

 Seth chooses to stay put in the shade and the sand

 Sitting in the shade

 The swimmers

 Getting ready to kyack from the first time.

 And they are off and Daddy does all the work

 Put your feet up and relax while Daddy gets the job done

 Seth's turn.  At first he did not want to go, then threw a fit when Savannah went.

 Hooray for Daddy and Seth

 Finally Seth decided to go in the water

 My three favorite people in the world

 Back on the ship saying good by to Roatan way too early.  We were only there from 8-3.

 Reading is the thing to do on the deck of the ship

 Views of Roatan

 The have a chair lift to take you to the beach across the way

 Very welcoming

 We are here and are trying to stay cool.  90 plus degree day.

 Checking out the water right away

 Mommy loved the 5 interconnecting pools at the resort

 Seth actually went in the pool too

 Loved swimming with my babies

 There was nobody else in the pool and she could swim freely in her life jacket and shallow water

 Keep going daddy

Checking out the driver

When people say "What was your favorite port?" it is hard to answer, because I really loved each one and what we did there.  But there was something very special, very beautiful, and very relaxing about Isla Roatan, Mohagony Bay, Hondorus.  I really did not know what to expect from this port, except that as soon we docked you saw lush gardens and mountains and the beach in front of you.  It was 90 degrees at 7 a.m., but we fell in love with the clean, safe town, beautiful beaches, friendly people, and atmosphere of Roatan.  It may not be a place I return to with lots to do and see, but deefinitely the most relaxing and serene, get away from it all place we visited.  I enjoyed it very much and wished we stayed longer than 8-3.  I would have loved to walk around the town, but the tour got back 5 minutes before all aboard.  Felt very jipped, but had a fabulous day.

Again, I had changed my original plan of an excursion here in Roatan due to past guest reviews who raved about going to the all-inclusive Parrot Tree Resort.  This place was massive, gorgeous, relaxing, and top notch in every way.  The best thing was that it was two hours earlier in Roatan than ship time, so our 9:00 a.m. tour was really 7 a.m. in Roatan so there was nobody but us around.  We had the beach and the pool to ourselves.  This place was truly like a Sandals or Beaches resort.  They have all types of water sports, activities, restaurants, and entertainment.  My favorite were the five pools that all interconnected and looped around and had waterfalls and a small water slide at the end and a kiddie pool too, even though the pool never went over 5 feet.  The beach had all types of equipment to rent, including a kyack that Rich and the kids took out for the first time.  The nice thing was that the swimming area on the beach was protected by a break wall from the Caribbean Sea so the swimming area was wave free, shallow, and warm.  But you could go under the bridge for more of a challenge.  You could also snorkel.  We spent the day at the beach and pool and had lunch.  They played music and did line dancing and it was just a great day.  We totally relaxed and unwound.  It would be a nice weekend getaway to forget about everything.  Stress free for sure.

Our tour guide gave us the low down on Roatan.  He said the West End has lots of restaurants and night life.  There is even an Applebees (for Savannah), but he doesn't recommend it.  There is no Starbucks though.  But, we did sample Hondorian Coffee and it was quite good.  I loved visited Hondorus, again, so close to Guatemala, but a very different feel.  On Isla Roatan everyone speaks English and it is their first language and it is very upscale.  Even Tiger Woods has a place that he frequents on Isla Roatan, so it is more of a paradise for the rich and famous and we thoroughly enjoyed sampling it for a day.