Levi and I went on a cruise!
It was a big surprise for Levi. We booked close to our sail date, so I decided not to tell him. I packed everything up in the car the night before, and told Levi we were going to a bakery and to run errands. We drove by the port, and stopped to "look at the ships" and then got out and handed him his sailor outfit and suitcase. He was so surprised!
This was our first cruise with just the two of us. Because we've sailed Royal Caribbean before, we got to go in a "faster" line, but we got to the port early, so there was hardly anyone there anyway. We were in the second row of chairs for getting on board.
DAY 1:
Here is Levi waiting: (his hair was insane!)
Walking to the ship: We sailed on Enchantment of the Seas
and onboard!
When we got on the ship, there weren't many people on board yet
We had lunch at Windjammer. Levi had unusual lunches there because of his allergies, but the staff was good about helping us figure out what he could eat. We both loved the fresh fruit you could get any time of the day.
This bridge was where they added to the ship - At some point they cut the whole ship in half and added an extension. The pool deck is really big because of this too!
I noticed recycle bins all over the place, which I love. I just hope people actually use them!
The tail of the ship:
We went to the dining room and figured out our dining plan to deal with Levi's allergies. They did a great job the entire cruise of making sure he had plenty to eat, even making him special deserts so he wouldn't be left out.
This pic is mostly the bottom floor, we were upstairs though (my time dining)
We went to see where our room was around 2pm, and were pleased to see that not only was it ready, but that our bags had arrived. So Levi got changed and went for a swim in the hot tub.
When he was done, he got dressed again and then we walked around some more. The casino floor near the entrance is see-through with fish inside (not real ones!). Levi enjoyed checking this out.
We played shuffle board, this and the hot tub are Levi's favorite cruise activities - even with so much to do he really likes the simple activities.
Next, it was time for the muster drill. Boring as usual, but required. Josef, one of the dancers was our muster leader and he did attempt to entertain us a bit so it didn't seem as long. Afterwards, we stopped off at our room and Levi insisted on trying on the life jacket.
And then Levi danced at the Sail Away:
We had some time before the evening show, so we tried the trampolines. I was surprised that throughout the cruise we hardly saw anyone on these or the climbing wall. We never had to wait for the trampolines, and only had to wait for 1-2 people once in a while on the climbing wall. Both are a lot of fun and a good workout with a great view!
Awful picture of me taken by Levi, but I had to prove I did it!
And the beautiful sunset:
The pool deck glowed!
Levi found this vent thing, I have no idea what it was for but it always was blowing air. Every time we went by he had to stop and get his hair blown around!
Night time climbing, we were the only ones on the wall! Levi made it to the top every time, and was very quick to get up there. He had a great time with the staff as well (Jenna in particular).
And then we went to the show! By the way, he got his lanyard from Adventure Ocean, the kids program. It was a nice way to keep his key-card handy. I wish I had brought a lanyard for myself, or bought one on the first day, but I didn't remember to do so.
Our first dinner. Levi had veggies, rice and a potato.
The starter he chose was a raspberry watermelon fruit soup. He liked it so much that he asked for another one for desert. Our waiter brought him a huge glass of it with a straw, and Levi drank the entire glass! I had creme brule.
DAY 2: Coco Cay
We got on one of the first tenders to Coco Cay, it was just a quick ride to get there. Last time we were on a RC cruise we went to Labadee instead, so this was our first time here.
We found a nice spot on the beach, under a tree for shade. My sister went to Coco Cay a few weeks later and found another spot on the other side of the island - they found chairs there with no one else around, so even better! But we were happy with a good spot on the snorkel beach where Levi could play with other kids and we both could snorkel.
The water was very clear and pretty!
We went snorkeling for a while, no coral but a lot of fish including one the same size as Levi!
Then we went on the nature trail. Apparently people pay money to do this as an excursion, but I don't see the point - they have a lot of signs telling what all the plants are. It was fine as a self guided walk. We even saw some chickens!
Levi decided to snorkel some more.
Then we went to have lunch. There was a hula hoop contest going on, so we joined that. Then we watched some crazy "Island Games" relay races. Finally we ate!
We went and looked at Adventure Ocean on the island, and found that it was just a small fenced off area with nothing in it but a couple tables. It did not look fun at all and only one other kid was in there, so Levi decided not to go. We went back to the beach and found some people feeding fish, so we got in the water to watch. There was a quinceanera (15th birthday celebration) for a whole bunch of girls on our ship from Argentina - they tend to wear very little clothing hence the butt in this picture.
View from the tender boat back to the ship:
We had to do some more rock climbing.
And it was formal night, so we got all dressed up. This is the suit I custom made for Levi.
And then it was time for dinner, rice and beans, Levi's favorite!
We found our first towel animal, a dog I suppose?
DAY 3: Nassau:
We decided to go to the pirate museum. There was a "real" pirate outside who directed is to where to get tickets, put Levi in the stocks, and then showed us the way into the museum. He was very much in character the whole time! The museum had all kinds of neat stuff in it. Levi was a bit intimidated by the dark entrances, he is terrified of haunted houses and similar and I guess this gave him the same feeling. Once inside each section he was fine, and we did learn a lot about pirates. I enjoyed it anyway.
We went to the straw market, and bought the obligatory "walking turtle" for Levi and a couple more for gifts for his friends. He also chose a carved dolphin. I got a sarong for me, a shot glass for my sister, rum cake for everyone else, and a magnet for Grammy.
This giant feathery thing is near where you get off the ship. I took Levi's picture with this the first time we went to Nassau, but I can't find it now!
We got back to the ship and had some Ben and Jerry's (because Levi can eat the lemon sorbet!)
Levi tested out the jogging track, which isn't anything special, just a different color strip of paint around the deck.
This one was taken when I stood on one bridge, and he on the other.
Some pictures of Nassau:
The show was a magic show, Levi was so impressed that he whooped and hollered after every trick. I love seeing him so amazed. Watching him was even better than watching the show!
Dinner:
Levi had vegan french onion soup, one of his favorites.
And then they kept bringing food! He had a HUGE plate of beans and rice, a plate of rice and veggies and three kinds of gluten/dairy/oat free bread. I had vegan "chicken" sweet and sour which was quite good.
And I had pear crisp for desert, which was not crisp at all and didn't taste like much, it looked cool though! Levi had a special merang.
We found an elephant on the bed!
And then went up to the pool deck for round 2 of dinner. WAY too much food that night, it was crazy! They had a huge fruit carved sculpture with more carvings all over. There was all kinds of appetizers, deserts, and fruit kabobs.
Levi's favorite:
And Levi really wanted a "light up cup" (which always look so much cooler at an event than when you get them home), so I got him a fruit smoothie drink. It was very tasty, kind of a pina coloda with berries in it.
And Levi danced some more!
DAY 4: At Sea:
The last day of the cruise was just a day at sea. There were quite a few activities to do on board, so we joined in!
This was a cake decorating contest, the captain was one of the "chefs"
We did spend some time wandering around the ship too, it was such a nice day!
We learned how to fold towels, and then we learned how to fold napkins. Levi tried this a few times at home too.
Levi played in the pool with some kids, the water was pretty cold in the pools.
Adventure Ocean had a "family science" class. We made alien slime (borax, water and glue), and then used a straw to blow it up.
We found our last towel animal, a monkey!
The kids did a pirate show, which was super cute.
And then we went to a late evening activity, "Quest". It is super crazy, and a lot of fun! Our team won second place, Levi helped by being the top of a pyramid and giving up his shoelaces. The team captains decided to give Levi one of the baseball caps and medals, which thrilled him!
Afterwards, I asked if Levi wanted to do one last walk around the deck before bed time. I think thats when he realized we were getting off the ship the next morning! He was so sad!
This thing, by the way, is an interactive screen that had the cruise compass, things to do, dining, and even a bathroom finder. Very helpful tool for finding your way around the ship.
And home again! Port Canaveral
We had a great time together! The weather was perfect the entire time - smooth seas, nice warm (but not too hot) sunny weather. There were less on board activities that our previous two cruises (i.e. smaller day time/late evening shows, classes, etc), but still plenty to do together. Levi enjoyed the kids room, but liked hanging out in the hot tub, rock climbing, jumping on the trampoline and playing shuffleboard even more!
Getting on board as soon as we possibly could was a good call - no long wait for lunch, and time to explore the ship before it got crowded. The food was not as good as I remembered it being on Freedom of the Seas, and they only had 1 vegetarian option every night (besides boring plain pasta), so I didn't have a choice on meals. But they did handle Levi's allergies better than our other two cruises (i.e. his only reaction was to sunscreen, no food issues!).
Our room was an inside cabin on the 8th deck - I've heard people don't like to be right under the pool area, but I found it very convenient if we forgot something, it was just a quick jog downstairs to grab it.
Overall we had so much fun on this trip! We missed having family there, but it was also nice to not feel the need to "coordinate" where everyone was on board, we could do our own thing and not think about meeting up. Levi loved the cruise so much that he was a hot mess when it was time to get off, very very sad to have to get off the ship.
