Trips, Pics, and Tales

Back to our day at Labadee! After Alex and Keith came back from the wave runner excursion that never was...they ate the lunch that we brought back for them, that by now was cold, but still better than nothing! But, backing up just a bit, when we went over to the Dragon Coaster, we walked past all of the vendors in the Artisan's Market... The vendors all stay back behind that stone wall and definitely call out to everyone passing to come in and check out their merchandise. For the first couple of yards its not too bad, but by the time you get to the end of the walk, it is a bit frustrating. If you are just passing through to get from one side of the area to another and have no intention of looking or buying anything, it's quite annoying. I'm not one to be rude and I do try to always say "no thank you". But how often can you say this on a walk? I can't imagine if I did want to shop, I would feel that it's much too aggressive of an environment for ...

So, Labadee....I just loved it! We were the only ship in port, and I have to say, I can't imagine another ship there with us! It certainly wasn't overcrowded, but the 6000 people on the Allure definitely took up the space! When you're on the ship, you're confined and you don't really notice how many people there are. But put that many people on a spread out area and WOW - that is a lot of people! But, back to Labadee - it was beautiful! These couple of pictures are from when we were still on the ship - looking out towards the beach area...and yes, it bugs me that they're out of order! But, what can I do now!  So after hanging out in the water for a bit, we decided to check out the other activities. I knew the kids wanted to do the water inflatable things as some point, and they probably wanted to do the Dragon Coaster. I'm sure Alex had his eye on the zip line, but at $99 for one zip - not really happening unless he wanted to pay for it himsel...

Today was already day 3! Our first port day, Labadee. Of the cruises we'd been on before, this was the first time we'd ever been to one of the cruise line's own ports. I can't really say island, because Labadee isn't an island. But we were looking forward to today! Typically we're not beach goers on cruises. We're more of active excursion people. Not that we mind some time on a beach, and as you might guess, by Keith's missing day yesterday, he could spend an entire day parked on a chair at the beach, but when we're out at a destination, especially with the kids, we usually prefer a somewhat active type day. So this was a totally different type of day for us! So, way, way back in the fall, or maybe it was late summer, I can't really remember when, I got caught up in the hype and booked a cabana for us. There was a super short window of opportunity to book them online and I was able to get a beach cabana. So, we were off the ship fairly early and ...

So, we made our way out to the pools...we walked by the Beach Pool...which by the way, we loved! Just the whole set up there. The chairs, the umbrellas, the design...but no Keith. Ok....we went to the Sports Pool. Nope, didn't see him there either. Was he by the family pool? Is that even what it's called? Nope. Up to the next deck....was he just sleeping in the sun? Didn't see him. We walked and walked and looked and looked. Maybe he went to the Solarium? I did a quick walk through, but didn't see him. Fine - he's on his own, we're going to the pool!  We got towels, I got a chair and the kids went in the pool. To be honest, it wasn't the warmest or sunniest of days. There were plenty of open chairs to be found and before long I got a great spot right in front of the pool. For the most part, Alex and Megan were the only two in the pool. There was some Caribbean music by the pool...very nice! At some point the kids must have left to go ge...