Florida Fun with Papa

It was great to spend a couple of days with Dad once we arrived in Miami.  

Here was our view on Friday morning

June 24, Friday

I got up this morning at 5:45 AM. As I was getting ready, Michael and the kids went to get breakfast at the Windjammer. Room service wasn’t an option today. We were supposed to leave our rooms at 7:45 AM and we finished just in time. The kids were all ready to go and so was Michael. It was too hard to get an elevator so we just went down the stairs with the suitcases. I had run back to the room really quickly to get the luggage tags that said our number on them but nobody asked for them so I think that was a waste of time. There was a long line through the main dining hall to get out but it wasn’t too bad. Dad kept calling us and I tried to tell him we were trying to get off the ship and I would call him when we got off. The line to get through customs was very very long if you had a birth certificate instead of a passport. For the passports, we breezed past everyone and there was no wait. They already had our pictures so it was done by facial recognition so that was nice. We finally made it out and saw Dad. He had been waiting for us for a while and had parked in the garage. He had driven to Miami yesterday and stayed at the Best Western last night. We got to his truck and put some of the suitcases in it. Michael and Emily and Jonny kept a couple suitcases with them and got an Uber. The directions to get to the rental car place at the airport were confusing. I had Andrew and Daniel with me and I was trying to navigate for Dad. We missed the turn and ended up at a different Enterprise that wasn’t at the airport so we had to turn around and it was only a mile away. Michael and Emily and Jonny got there before us in the Uber so I don’t know what route we were going but it was not the quickest one. By the time I got there, Michael was at the front of the line so it didn’t take us very long to sign for the car. We had a choice between two minivans and we chose the one that had only seven seats instead of eight and seemed to have a bigger space in the back for the bags. We decided to go straight to the airboat ride. I drove and Michael navigated. The airboat ride place only had Porta potties so that was disgusting. We took a little time putting on sunscreen and then we went to the back for an animal show. They had baby alligators and they let us touch them and hold them and I got some cool pictures.

Then it was time for the airboat ride. There were two ladies and a father and son with us on the ride. The tour guide told us some cool things about the sawgrass and the other plants, but we never saw any alligators so that was a huge disappointment. Luckily, we had seen some alligators in the canal on the drive over. 

We quickly got out of there and drove to Florida City where our hotel room is. We ate a nice lunch at Golden Corral. 

Then we headed over to the Best Western to see if we could check in early. By then, it was about 1:45 PM. The lady said she was going to give us four rooms right together but they weren’t ready yet so we decided we should go ahead and see the movie now. Andrew had been begging to go see Jurassic World with Papa on this trip so that’s what we did. The theater only had five rows and they were huge reclining seats. When we first got there, we were the only ones in the theater. 

Then right before the movie started, everybody started arriving. A group of three people came in after the movie had already started and they were talking very loudly. Michael kept shushing them and then I was shushing them. Finally, they were quiet. Halfway through the movie, the older lady with them got a phone call and started talking on the phone. We told them to hang up the phone and put away their phone and they looked at us like we were being completely unreasonable. The old lady gave me a look like she wanted to kill me. It was so bizarre. I don’t think we’ve sat next to ruder people in a theater. We have the worst luck no matter where we go, no matter what state were in. The movie theater was in a cool place, kind of like Fat Cats. They had an arcade and bowling. After the movie, we headed back to the hotel. It took a few minutes but they gave us the keys to the four rooms that the lady said we could have. Unfortunately, the keys that Dad were given were to a room that was already occupied. It’s always disturbing when hotels do that because that means that they could give your key to somebody else. This was the Best Western Gateway to the Keys in Florida City. They clearly didn’t have it together. I was so angry. We went down there and the best they could do is put him in a room two doors down from us. That wasn’t such a big deal, until I realized that the room Dad was going to be in would’ve been a third connecting room. They could’ve put us in three rooms that were connecting and then Dad could’ve had the separate room. Everyone was exhausted so they went to their rooms and rested. Emily and Jonathan slept for like two hours. I think Jonathan actually slept for three. I even took a little nap. Michael woke me up to tell me that Andrew was asking to go get food. So, we all met up together and tried to decide where to go eat. Nobody had any better ideas, so I suggested Waffle House and everyone was OK with that. The service was pretty bad but everyone was happy with their food. We stopped over at Krispy Kreme across the street. Jonathan wanted to go in and look at the donuts but it was only open for drive-through. We came back to the hotel and I gave dad his Father’s Day gift. We read a chapter in the Bible and had prayer and ate our donuts and everyone went to bed. 

 

June 25, Saturday

We had to get up by 6:30 AM today to get ready so we could make sure the kids ate a good breakfast so we could leave by 8 AM. Poor Andrew burnt his hand on the waffle maker at breakfast so that set us back a little bit but we finally left at 8:15 AM. Michael drove and Dad navigated and we got there right about 8:45 AM for our 9 AM fishing trip. We started right on time. 

We spent about 30 to 45 minutes going out into the ocean. The first few places we stopped, nobody was catching any fish. He had to move the boat to a different location about three different times. By about 11 AM, the kids were looking pretty miserable. Nobody had caught anything and it was hot and they were all very tired. I asked Daniel how he was doing, and he said, “nothing but broken hearts and crushed dreams.” 

The kids were really excited today at the opportunity to catch a fish. Finally, the last two places we stopped, we started catching fish. Emily was the first one and she caught a white grunt. 

Jonny caught one shortly after that. 

Then Michael caught one, then Andrew, then Daniel. They all caught white grunts as well. 

We watched a lady catch a shark. It was pretty big, but not super big. 

Another catch for Andrew

Michael caught an eel and a fish together, then the eel ate the fish. He says that counts as two and Dad agreed. The fisherman on the boat who was helping us shook them off the hook so I never got a picture or video. Andrew caught two more fish, a schoolmaster and a yellowtail snapper. Daniel caught a second white grunt. Michael caught five fish total. He also caught two yellow tail snappers. Jonathan caught a second fish, a schoolmaster. 

Emily only caught the one. I still hadn’t caught a fish so I kept trying and Dad and I caught one at the same time. He got a schoolmaster and I got a white grunt. 

I was pretty happy that everyone was able to catch a fish. Soon after that, we headed back. I had fun standing at the bow of the ship and doing the “king of the world” pose. I couldn’t get Andrew to do it with me or any of the other kids. The guy driving the boat was laughing at me, not in a mean way but he was. 

We arrived back just a few minutes before 1 PM. We got a quick picture and then figured out what to do for lunch. 

I had researched and found three different options for lunch. We ended up going to Sharkey’s Sharkbite grill since it was close. Everyone was hot and tired and wanted to go somewhere with air-conditioning so Dad went in and double checked and it was good so we all went in. I got the fish and chips but exchanged the fries for veggies. Emily got shrimp tacos. Andrew and Daniel got chicken tenders. Jonathan got calamari for his meal and added fries to it. We also got a pork nacho appetizer and calamari appetizer. Dad got a blackened mahi burger and Michael got a shrimp and scallop burger, with shrimp and scallops mashed up into a patty. He really liked it. 

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel. We all went back to our rooms and rested and took naps. Actually, I don’t think any of the boys took a nap but I’m pretty sure Emily did. It was raining and storming but I did get a nap. At about 7 PM, we all headed over to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. We took two cars because the boys have been whining about being squished in the back of a minivan. I had called Texas Roadhouse to see what the wait time was and I was shocked to hear that there wasn’t a wait so we went right over there. It did annoy me that they put us at a booth for six people with a chair on the end. We were pretty cramped. I wanted to try something different this time so I got the barbecue chicken and sirloin combo and I ordered the sweet potato as a side. Everyone loved the food, as usual. Michael ordered a ribeye but got a sirloin but he decided just to eat it because he didn’t want to wait for them to make a new one. We also got dessert this time. Dad really wanted the bread pudding that was advertised and Andrew and I got the cheesecake and Michael got a brownie with ice cream. 

We came back to the hotel and read half of a very long chapter and had family prayer. Then we all got ready for bed. 

 

June 26, Sunday

I’m so grateful we got to go on this trip!! It was another morning of getting up crazy early. I set my alarm for 5:45 AM. I think I hit snooze once. I got all ready for the day by 6:45 AM and started packing. By 7 AM, Dad and most of the kids had gathered in our room. By about 7:20 AM, Michael and the kids loaded the car and everyone went to breakfast and I did a final check on the rooms. I met everyone at breakfast. Then we got the receipts and turned in the keys. We said our goodbyes to Dad and got on the road. By the time we dropped off the car and walked inside, it was about 8:30 AM which was perfect timing. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 10:30 AM. We took the tram over to the airport and checked our bags. The bag drop was really weird because once we tagged our bags, they didn’t have any agents to take them and weigh them so the lady just said to leave them in a big group of suitcases. That really bothered me. I like to know that it’s going down the belt and nobody can mess with my stuff. Security was interesting, also. They didn’t make us take off our shoes and they didn’t make us take out our liquids. Our flight was blissfully uneventful. We made it home safely but everyone was tired. It was a fantastic trip and I’m so glad we were able to go!!!!

Royal Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas, Part 3

June 23, Thursday

Our plan was to be ready at 7:45 AM again. We slept in a little bit and I didn’t get up until 6:30 AM. We finally woke the kids up at 7 AM so they could go to breakfast at the Windjammer. The kids all gathered in our stateroom and we had a family prayer and left our cabin to get off the ship at about 8:15 PM. We got off very quickly and easily. However, the walk to get out of the port was very long. There were three cruise ships docked and we were the furthest one so it took us over 10 minutes just to walk to the point where we could get a taxi. We very quickly got a taxi to Atlantis. They only charged us five dollars per person. He dropped us off and it immediately started raining. It took us a minute to figure out where to go, but we went to the ticket window so we could get our wristbands. I had already paid for the passes. She warned us that once we get our wristbands, we can’t get a refund because of the rain and we decided to go for it. It ended up all working out. We had to walk through the fancy shops and the casino to get to Aquaventure. It kind of reminded me of Las Vegas. 

It was still pretty, even in the rain!

We meandered around for a while and finally ended up at a pool that had some umbrellas so we got under an umbrella so we could stop and figure out what to do next. When we checked in, she told us that the waterslides don’t even open until 10 AM. I did not know that.  I thought they opened at 9 AM. She said all of the pools were open at 9 AM, though. Since it was raining, it was not like we were in the mood to go in the pool. By now, it was about 9:15 AM. We decided to go use the bathroom and find a locker to put all of our stuff in. The large lockers were $28 apiece so that was ridiculous. It took us forever to get our sunscreen on and get all organized. I told everybody to go get to the water slides while I put everything away. I was barely able to fit all the backpacks into the two lockers and then I went to the bathroom and headed over to the waterslides. I decided this was my chance if I ever wanted to go on the Leap of Faith waterslide. That’s the one Andrew was most excited about. I headed over there and Emily and Daniel and Jonathan had just finished the Challenger waterslide. Michael and Andrew had gone to the Leap of Faith first thing. Michael’s sunburn from yesterday was so bad that it hurt his back so he had to take a break and Andrew left him behind accidentally. I told the kids I was going to do Leap of Faith and nobody wanted to go with me so I headed into the line and they walked to the other side so they could watch me. I got up there and there were only a couple people in front of me so I started immediately getting nervous. I knew it was going to be kind of a freefall drop and I wasn’t thrilled about that. It’s a 60 foot almost vertical drop. The guy in front of me was with his little girl who was probably about eight years old. I expected him to go with her and he just stepped aside so that I could take my turn. I thought I was at least going to watch him go down but I didn’t. I wasn’t quite ready. I saw Andrew come up because he was going to go on the Challenger slide which is right next to the line for Leap of Faith. I asked him to go with me but he didn’t want to but the ride operator guilted him into it. I was still not ready to go and these two girls came up. They were in the Challenger line and they decided to switch over to the Leap of Faith and I asked them to go in front of me. They could tell I was really nervous but they said how awesome it was. I figured there was no going back. I went for it. I was super nervous but I sat down and he gave me the instructions and I crossed my legs and crossed my arms and went for it. It was like one big whoosh. I was supposed to be able to see a shark-filled lagoon behind glass but the ride was so fast you couldn’t see it. Next thing I knew, I was in the pool at the bottom and I had to get out. It hurt the back of my head, but otherwise it wasn’t too bad. Apparently, while the kids were waiting for me, those two girls who went ahead of me were talking to their friends and saying how there was a lady up there who was really nervous and they didn’t think she was going to do it and they were going to watch and see if she does. The kids said what the girls said was, “Wait we have to watch and see if this lady behind us goes because she looked really scared.” Well, it was me and I did it! I was pretty proud of myself. I think the kids were impressed, too. I know Andrew was. He went after me. We still didn’t know where Michael was but we headed over to another ride we wanted to go on called The Surge. You sit in an inner tube and go down the slide and then it shoots you through some river rapids and into the River Rapids lazy river. We still didn’t know where Michael was, but we thought maybe he was going to wait for us there so we went ahead and went on that ride together. All of the kids went on it with me. As we were standing in line, we asked a lady what time it was and she said 10:30 AM so I told the kids we didn’t have much time left. I didn’t enjoy The Surge. The instructions were to make sure that your butt wasn’t down too far so it didn’t touch the bottom but it was hard to keep your butt up. There was one part that had these rubber things and I hit my butt on the bottom. It also hurt my neck. It took me a while to get down the rapids because I kept getting stuck. When I finally did, I was done for the day. There was a waterfall that you had to go through that splashed a ton of water in my face. It was going down really hard. It was a while before I could even see. I got out and went to the lockers and started getting the stuff out to get it organized. In the meantime, Emily and Jonny went down the lazy river a little bit. Andrew and Daniel went on the ride called The Abyss. It said it was a five-story drop in the darkness and then you get to see part of the lagoon. While Michael was missing, he took a little break and then went on The Abyss and then went on the lazy river. Luckily, we all met up at the lockers at the same time. It was perfect timing because we got all of our stuff together and started walking out around 11 AM. It was raining again, so that worked out perfectly because it had stopped the whole time we were going on the waterslides. Here is a quick video I took on our way out.

When the taxi driver dropped us off this morning, I had given him a pretty big tip because I was trying to pay him quickly and he looked surprised. I had rushed off to avoid the rain and get to where it was dry, and Michael remembered that I had said we needed to find out how we get a taxi ride back to the ship so he handled that. Our driver found another driver who would be able to take us back at 11 AM like we requested. So, we were running late when we were trying to walk out of there and get to the taxi. As it turned out, we didn’t need to worry because there were plenty of other taxis to take us. We got through security at the port and had to show our passports for the adults and then we walked over to the ship. It’s a very long walk. We had to go through security to get on the ship so we could go to the bathroom and then we left again right away to get in line for our excursion. We were way at the back of the line so I don’t understand why they gave us wristbands that were for the 1 PM VIP dolphin swim. Obviously, we were going to be on the last ferry. Our ferry didn’t leave until about 12:20 PM, even though our meeting time was 11:45 AM and we were there on time. We stood in line for a long time and had to put on our wristbands and everything. I was getting very concerned that we were going to be late for our dolphin swim, but the lady assured me they could adjust the time if necessary. We sat in the top level of the ferry and everyone was already tired. We got there and rushed over to where we needed to go and put our stuff in lockers. They walked us over to our own area with just the six of us so it was really great to have the trainer there just for our family and have the dolphins to ourselves. There was a photographer there to take pictures and video the whole time so that was really nice. 

Our dolphin’s name was Zig. The trainer had us get right into the water. The first couple times, we just put out our hands out and the dolphin swam under our hands. Once we got comfortable, he had us do multiple different things with the dolphin. 

Michael went first and gave the dolphin a hug. Then the dolphin gave him a kiss on the mouth. Then the dolphin did a little dance where he stands up out of the water and you put your hands on his pectoral fins. Kind of like you’re dancing with him. Then, the dolphin comes up and gives you a kiss on the cheek. 

Then it was my turn, then Emily’s, and then the boys. 

Jonathan didn’t want to do it. Andrew and Daniel took their turns and I basically told Jonathan he was going to do it. He looked terrified and didn’t want to, but I wasn’t going to let him get away with not doing it because I knew he would regret it. He knew that too, he admitted later. I asked him what convinced him to do it, was it me basically commanding him to do it and he said yes. Michael got an extra kiss when the dolphin went to him instead of Jonathan. 

Next, we each took a turn with the dolphin push. Emily went first. You had to straighten your leg and hold it stiff and then the dolphin comes up to your left foot and pushes you and you go really fast like a rocket. The only problem was, we were all facing the wrong way and so we all ended up in the wrong place. They even made Michael go a second time because he was facing the wrong way for the pictures. This time, Jonathan didn’t question it he just went ahead and did it and I was so proud of him. 

Here is a video of our dolphin swim

Once we were done, we all got out of the water and then he had the dolphin give us a little private show of him jumping up and flipping and putting his tail in the air and shaking it. It was kind of funny because the trainer blew the whistle and the dolphin started shaking his tail fin and the dolphin kept shaking his tail fin until he blew the whistle again. He made a comment that if he doesn’t blow the whistle a second time the dolphin will just keep doing that. The first dolphin’s name was Zig. He was the one that hugged and kissed us. Then, when we did the dolphin push, he got a different dolphin that was a little bit older named Sal. Sal is also the one who gave us the little show at the end. I heard the guy with the other group saying it was because the one dolphin was older than the others. We gathered our things and gave him a tip and headed to lunch. The ticket for lunch said it was served from 12:30 PM to 2 PM and it was already past 2 PM so we were concerned, but the sign on the restaurant said it goes until 3:30 PM so we didn’t need to worry. I got some barbecue chicken and grilled chicken and vegetables. The food was very basic and there was no dessert. After that, Michael wanted to go to the other beach that was on the other side of the main lagoon area and he swam around in there for quite a while. I think you could’ve done snorkeling but I didn’t know where you would rent the equipment. Emily was really tired and wanted to sit and rest so she found some chairs that were under an umbrella and we put all our stuff there. The boys played on the beach a little bit and relaxed and I went to go purchase the pictures from the dolphin swim. We finally gathered everybody and lined up to go back to the ship. We stood there for quite a while waiting for the next ferry. 

We were supposed to leave the island at 3:45 PM and I think we didn’t leave until after 4 PM. I didn’t really pay attention to the exact time. All I know is we barely made it back to the ship in time, but they couldn’t leave without us anyway since we were on a Royal Caribbean-sponsored excursion. I know it was 4:35 PM when I took a picture next to the ferry and we were supposed to be on the ship by 4:30 PM. 

One more photo op before dinner

Delicious desserts

We had a wonderful dinner, as usual. It’s always my favorite part of the day to get cleaned up and go sit at dinner and just enjoy time with the family. 

When we were talking at dinner, this is what everyone said was their favorite thing about the cruise:

Jonathan: unlimited soda and mini golf

Daniel: pool with Andrew, mini golf, dolphins, Coco Cay slingshot, Atlantis Abyss

Andrew: Mom going on leap of faith waterslide, dolphins, Daredevil’s Tower

Emily: Messing around and playing mini golf with her brothers, slides at Coco Cay

Christine: dinner together in the main dining room every night and the dolphins

Michael: being with my family, snorkeling, swimming in the ocean, dolphins

Jonathan got almost the exact same thing again for dinner. He got the shrimp cocktail and Emily, Daniel, and I got the coconut shrimp, Michael got a garden salad and some other starter that I can’t remember, and Andrew got the Caesar salad. For entrées, Andrew requested two: cheese tortellini and the New York strip steak. Jonathan also got the steak again. Michael ordered the lamb and Emily, Daniel, and I all got the prime rib. I thought it said ribeye in the description, but oh well. For dessert, Andrew, Emily, and Michael got the dark chocolate brownie, I got the Apple Blossom à la mode and cream puffs, and Daniel and Jonny got the chocolate cake again. We had fun talking about our favorite things about the cruise. Emily was also doing this thing about her favorite movies and we had to pick our top four favorite movies. Our waiter’s name was Cherry and the assistant waiter was Bryan. We gave them a nice tip for the week. Cherry made a comment that we all looked European and they thought I looked like somebody on TV and they thought I was a celebrity. I assured them I wasn’t but that I have been on TV briefly. She also offered to take our picture on the stairs by the piano so that was cool. 

The kids all wanted to go to the arcade so we headed up there. We were able to pay for one game for Daniel and Emily but the cards didn’t work after that. Even Andrew’s card, who had bought the first game, kept saying denied. So, there was one more reason I had to go to guest services. We gave up on the arcade since nobody could pay for any games and I stood in line for guest services and the rest of them went to the gift shop to look for T-shirts. Emily didn’t like any of the choices so they met me in the line right when it was my turn.  I found out that Dad could just pick us up wherever the taxis and Ubers are and it shouldn’t be a problem. I pointed out to the lady that they had a thing in the app warning us about Miami construction and how it can take an extra hour and ride shares are taking a long time but she didn’t seem to know much about that. Maybe that’s just old information. I also asked her why our cards didn’t work and she said that they were deactivated and the account was closed or something. I can’t remember what she said. Anyway, she opened it back up. I don’t know why that’s happened two nights in a row. It really doesn’t matter that much right now but the kids wanted to play at the arcade. So, after that everyone went back to the room to change into more comfy clothes.

Another cute towel animal 

We read scriptures and had prayer. We read two chapters in Come Follow Me. Then Michael and the kids went to try the arcade again. The cards still weren’t working. I was at the photo gallery trying to figure out all the digital photos and he kept texting me about it but I couldn’t help him because I had to get the photos done by tonight. I could tell I was missing some photos so I asked the guy to help me and he linked all the photos from all the rooms and there were only actually three that were missing. I narrowed it down to 50 pictures out of 79 pictures. Then I told them that I had been told to buy a package for each cabin and could I get a refund on two of the cabins. They said they would do that. He explained that that’s only true if the people in the other cabins are adults but since they are all my children under 21 years of age, we could all be on the same account. I spent forever trying to narrow the pictures down and taking care of all that. By the time I finished at the photo center and went upstairs, Michael was still standing in the guest services line trying to fix the problem with the card. They had tried to buy ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s and it still didn’t work even though I had gone and they said the account would be opened. He said it was the third time he had been there so that makes four times that we went to guest services tonight to get that problem fixed. I walked over to Ben & Jerry’s and tried my card and it still didn’t work. The Ben & Jerry’s guy had to call the guest services and they opened it and he was able to charge us. What a mess. I wanted to try some pizza but they didn’t have any of the ham and pineapple pizza I saw the other night so I just got some cheese pizza. Emily and Daniel got some too. Jonathan, Emily, and Michael had all got ice cream and then Jonny also got some soda and we sat and ate our food. Then we decided to head back to the rooms because it was getting late. Andrew was at the Social 033 club. Michael kept talking about the watches so I finally said if you want a watch, let’s get you a watch. So, we went over there and saw a really nice one so we bought it for him. Of course, the card didn’t work so we had to use a credit card.  I wanted to get one last cookie at Café Promenade but it was already closed. That card issue wasted too much of our time. When I was buying the watch, I had to use my credit card and it took the manager some time to approve it or whatever. Anyway, we all came back up to the rooms. Andrew came back came up a little later and brought some pizza.