On February 1st, we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. I can’t believe it’s already been that long but then at the same time, I’m wondering how it’s only been that long, haha. A few weeks after our actual anniversary and a few days after our youngest’s first birthday, we left the kids and boarded the ship for our relaxing Caribbean vacation!
Last year, we decided we really needed a decent vacation since it seemed like it had been non-stop work with no break. Especially with my husband basically working two full-time jobs with no end in sight, we both knew we needed some sort of break so we planned it for our 5th anniversary. We also planned it for this year since we knew shortly after, my husband would be going full-time in his automotive business meaning he would no longer be working two full-time jobs! So this will probably be our last vacation for awhile.
With our anniversary being in February, it was easy to choose where we wanted to go for a vacation. This year especially has been so rainy and cold that we desperately needed to go somewhere that had better & warmer weather. So we decided to go on another Royal Caribbean cruise on the Liberty of the Seas. We had been on this same ship about 3 years ago and my husband loved it so much, we decided to go again but at a different time, with a different itinerary. We love cruises so much because not only is all the food included, but there is so much to do on the ship, and then you also get to go to three different Caribbean locations which have their own activities and excursions.
We chose Royal Caribbean over the ever-popular Carnival because we believe it is a slight step up and it also has less kids. Carnival is cheaper but seems to be more kid and party friendly or so we have heard (probably because it’s cheaper). We were getting away from the kids (not that we don’t love them but we aka I needed a break) and wanted an environment without a ton of drunk party people. One of these days we might try Carnival but the husband promises he never will, haha.
The cruise we chose was a 7-day cruise that took us to Cozumel, Mexico, Georgetown, Grand Cayman, and Falmouth, Jamaica. Every other week, the Liberty goes to different Caribbean locations. Last time, we went to Cozumel, Belize, and Roatan, Honduras.
After 1.5 days at sea, we arrived in Cozumel, Mexico. I booked most of our shore excursions ahead of time so this year in Cozumel, we snorkeled in an underground river Cenote aka cavern. While we loved our Cozumel excursion last time, I think this ended up being our least favorite cruise stop this time. The weather was not cooperating as it ended up being cold and rainy. Of course, I didn’t know this when I booked the excursion and I guess it didn’t matter since we were underground anyway but it still made for a miserable day.
After our cruise ship docked, we had to board a ferry to Playa del Carmen which is the mainland and has the caverns. Since the weather was bad and the ferry was not a v-bottomed boat, the waves were pretty high and the 35 minute ferry ride was miserable with the ferry rocking back and forth. So many people got seasick on the ferry. We were lucky to not get too sick but we definitely weren’t looking forward to the ride back. We have never gotten sick on a cruise ship because the ships are sooo big (14+ decks) that you can’t feel it. You could definitely feel it on this ferry ride and I doubt we will ever do that again, haha.
Anyway, we got to the mainland and rode to the caverns in the excursion-provided van while it rained the whole time. It’s amazing to see how different Mexico is compared to what we are used to in the US. Roads, cars, people, houses, the list goes on, they are all sooo different. Once we got to the caverns, we got dressed in our swim clothes and descended into the underground. Really, we just went down a few flights of stairs and got our helmet, life jackets, and flashlight.
The water was collllllldd, sooo cold. I think our guide said it was 73 degrees but we were all shivering especially with it being about the same temperature and rainy outside. I mean, the caverns were cool to see but I would rather do that when it’s a little warmer and can be enjoyed more. Maybe the temperature of the water is why they had free tequila tasting afterwards. They also provided us with a freshly-cooked Mexican meal of tacos, tamales, beans, and rice. I thought authentic Mexican food was supposed to be amazing but this wasn’t really any more than ordinary. It was definitely nice to have warm food and I wasn’t complaining but I was expecting a little more tastiness, I guess.
I didn’t get any pictures because I didn’t want to bring my phone in the water and I wasn’t going to pay $40 for the CD of pictures that they were trying to sell us, haha. Before long, we got back in the vans (in the pouring rain), and took the 1 hour long trip back to the port and local shopping center. We did some shopping and got some cool and affordable souvenirs for the kids (and a huge bottle of Mexican vanilla for super cheap compared to the US) and headed back to the ferry.
The ferry ride back was even more miserable and I think everyone was counting down the minutes but we survived and made it back. We were so thankful to get back on our safe, huge cruise ship that never lists and makes people sick like the ferry did.
The next day we were in Georgetown , Grand Cayman. I didn’t book an excursion for this day since I wasn’t really fond of any I saw and I’m glad I didn’t. We just used the relaxing day to do some shopping on our own time. We even stopped at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville and had lunch. I had no idea they had a pool at the restaurant too!
We had some time of spicy shrimp and Jerk chicken/pork tacos and they were sooo delicious. I keep thinking about them and want to go back and get more, haha. 
We just had to get a souvenir cup with a Pina Colada too! 
They drove on the opposite side of the road here but look at that sunny day! 
We spent the remainder of the day on the ship. Matthew played soccer and accidentally kicked the soccer ball off of the ship, oops! The next day was Valentine’s Day and the day we were in Falmouth, Jamaica.
The excursion I had booked for Jamaica was climbing the Dunn River Falls, the same waterfalls that my parents had climbed on their honeymoon twenty-something years ago. The water was a little chilly but at least it wasn’t freezing cold and non-stop raining like Mexico.
This was our view from the ship at breakfast. Royal Caribbean built their own port in Jamaica so only their ships can dock here. We actually met our excursion driver at that little white tent. 
There were a ton of people at the Falls. You had to make a human chain to climb up so you wouldnt fall. It was cold but a cool things to do. We can check that off of our bucket list now! 
This was at the very top of the Falls. It was such a nice little, peaceful & tropical park.
After the Fall’s and trying to avoid every Jamaican trying to sell us something, we met our driver to the second half of our excursion. P.S. Yes, Jamaicans will bombard you and try to get you to buy something. They will ask for your name and carve it into something they made so you basically have to buy it. It was incredibly annoying and I had to keep telling people that we had no money. They left us alone then, haha. In reality, I really had basically no more money, especially after spending a fortune on cigars in Grand Cayman for a friend. I needed the rest of the cash I had for the rest of the excursion anyway. Honestly, it was fine though so I wouldn’t spend any more than we had.
The second half of the excursion was at a different location where we got on some tubes and tubed down a very cold river to the sea. It was called tubing down river rapids and there were really some rapids! Then near the end, when the tubes couldn’t go any further, we got on a small raft to go the reminder distance to the beach where lunch was waiting. The boat that was pulling our rafter wouldn’t start for about 10 minutes so we were really getting worried but then the Jamaican “captain” said to say a prayer and tried again and it started! Phew, that was a close one.
We were grateful when we got to the beach as the water was so much warmer and we had a meal waiting for us, along with some punch. The authentic Jamaican jerk chicken, rice, and pasta was delicious and definitely hit the spot after the day in some cold water. Next, we headed back to the port to get back on the ship after we did a little shopping, including shopping for a soccer ball since the husband lost the last one. We found some delicious Jamaican rum along with a few more souvenirs for the kids and an awesome wind chime.
The remaining 2.5 days of our cruise were spent at sea on our huge ship. The ship has so much to do on those off days that you don’t get bored at all. My husband brought his ice hockey skates since he loves ice skating and went ice skating whenever it was available. The ice rink on the ship isn’t very big but he enjoyed it!
Meanwhile, I played Bingo (Matthew joined me at some point) and was so close to winning but sadly didn’t end up with any prize. I still enjoy Bingo though! I would enjoy it more if it wasn’t so expensive on the ship.
They also had volleyball and soccer tournaments on board so I also enjoyed watching those while my husband played. He ended up winning gold with his soccer team.
Being awarded his gold medal with his team. 
They had a ton of nighttime entertainment such as karaoke, comedy shows, live shows, ice skating, musicals, etc. We had a set dinner time every night and got served whatever we wanted to order. There were also two formal nights. It’s always nice to be able to dress up every once in awhile.
I tried curling my hair with a straightener but that didnt really work. Matthew then tried helping me but it wasnt working for him either so he decided to braid my hair. I think he re-did it three times before he was semi-satisfied, ha. Im grateful he attempted to help although I may have lost some hair in the process. 
This was Valentine’s Day and my hair was braided all day until it was time for dinner. Obviously, the curls didn’t last very long.
This was some type of steak. I don’t remember the exact cut. 
Roast duck. 
Creme brulee for dessert one night. 
Lamb with butternut squash. 
Some other type of steak with veggies and baked potato. 
Mini apple pie with ice cream for dessert. 
I dont remember what dessert this was but Matthew said it was really good and it looked pretty.
Those are just some of the meals we had. We had so many things to choose from. The food is basically what you would expect for being mass produced for over 2k people (not all at the same time). It doesn’t has as much flavor as you would like it to but there’s only so much they can do when they make it so many times. There were also a few restaurants on board which you could pay for if you chose to and I heard that the food there was super delicious. One day, we will try those restaurants, but for now we like free best.
Like I mentioned above in one of the pictures, we also got our room decorated for our anniversary by the Royal Caribbean steward assigned to our room. With that package, we also got some chocolate covered strawberries and our own chocolate cake that was delicious.
I don’t know why they put our beach towel upside down. 
If you’ve ever been on a cruise, then you know that occasionally you get towel animals. 
It was an awesome cruise and a very relaxing vacation. We will definitely be doing it again at some point, we aren’t sure if it will be with some of the kids or not. We definitely won’t take kids until they are a little older and can enjoy having fun with other kids in the kid’s camps. I’ve already started looking at the cruises and the new, bigger ship that may be coming to Galveston in a couple years. We actually met someone on the ship who had only had a week break between their cruises. If only we could take vacations that often!
When we got back, it was cold and rainy and we were hoping spring would have arrived but unfortunately it still has not. It is cold and wet and we desperately need it to dry out so we can get cars in the shop to work on them. Monday starts the first day of being full self-employed and going fulltime with Matties Auto Repair.
