Jamaica, Mon

For our honeymoon Jordan and I went on a Carnival cruise to Jamaica and Grand Cayman of the Cayman Islands. We were sup-POSED to go to Cozumel, Mexico too but thanks to the lovely Swine flu, that port was canceled. The trip was wonderful- we got tan and gained about 6 pounds each! haha.

The ship that we went on was called the Carnival Conquest. It was an amazing ship! The interior of the ship was based off of different artists, there were TONS of places to go, there was a waterslide and three pools, and yes, the food was amazing!

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday: "Fun on the Ship"
You may think three days stuck on a boat would get boring, but the first three days were so much fun! Each morning (after our HUGE breakfast buffet) we were given an agenda of all the activities and shows happening on the boat for that day. The entertainment on the cruise was great! There was a comedian, a hairiest man contest (SO funny!), karaoke, and more! Each night, there was a big show for everyone to attend. One night it was a Motown singer, another night it was a magician, and also a ventriloquist...it was so cool!

Wednesday: Montego Bay, Jamaica
(Warning: Sonja has no make-up on in these pictures)


We were so excited to go to Jamaica! All the excursions for Jamaica for really expensive so Jordan and I decided to go to the closest beach and then explore for a while. As soon as step off the ship, there were TONS of taxi drivers and bus drivers yelling, "You need to go to the beach? You need to go to the beach?" We must have shook our heads at one of them because next thing we know we were being lead to a little van/bus. The bus was full of tourist and one women in a uniform. We loaded us in the bus and off we went. I got to sit shotgun, which was awesome because....
It was backwards! In Jamaica, they are under the British influence so they drive on the left side of the road. It was the first time I had been in a car like that so it really cool to sit up front. I was probably annoying the driver because I kept giggling the whole time.

They dropped us off at a beach called Doctor's Cave (we later learned from a local that it was called Doctor's Cave because during Jamaica slavery times, the Jamaican "good witch" would heal lashed slaves in its water. He also told us that there was a "bad witch" but the locals killed her...rip off of Wizard of Oz, much?). Doctor's Cave was a private beach so we had to pay money to go inside. We were ok with this though, because the beach was clean and looked safe. There weren't any locals trying to sell you anything...or take your many in any other ways. The water was soooo warm. It almost felt like a bath. It was totally clear too. We loved the beach! They stayed there for three hours, swimming and sunbathing.
Though we didn't go on any excursions, we apparently got tickets to the gun show!

After we swam and relaxed at Doctor's Cave, we decided to head out and explore the town around the beach. As soon as we stepped out of the water, it started to sprinkle....then rain ....then POUR! It went from beautiful sunshine to typhoon within two minutes! Everyone on the beach started scurrying around frantically under their umbrellas. Jordan and I figured we were already wet, and the rain was actually warm , so we headed out and explored in the downpour!




While walking through town, every single car, whether or not they looked like a taxi, would either honk at us or pull over and ask if we needed a taxi. It was really different from the US where you have to go out of your way to flag down a taxi. In Jamaica, you practically have to hide from them if you DON'T want one. I'm pretty sure we got honked at at least 50 times, no joke. One taxi driver was pretty funny. He pulled over and asked if we needed to get back to the boat (they all asked that. I guess the majority of tourist in Montego Bay are cruisers) and we told him we didn't need to get back to the ship yet. He then said, "It's ok, I'll wait for you!" We told him that we would need to return to the ship for several hours, to which he gave us his business card and said, "whenever you need to get back to the ship, you call me and I will pick you up!" Uh, yeeeeah. We will ignore the other 20 taxi cabs within the block of us, go to a phone to call you, and wait for you to pick us up, which would also make us continually shoe away all the other passing cabs. Whatever you say! haha. Needless to say, we didn't call him.

Going through town was really cool. Besides the beach and Margaritaville, there were not too many touristy places near the port, so we didn't see a single white person throughout the town. We definitely stood out. Many people were "friendly" to us, but in the end they just wanted to sell us something. Sometimes it was fruit, sometimes it was a tour of the town, but mostly they would candidly ask if we wanted weed! They would just be like, "Hey, welcome to Jamaica, mon! You need some marijuana?" yeeeeahno. Another funny thing about the locals was that every time Jordan would introduce himself, they would say, "Ah! Like Michael Jordan!" They also all say, "Respect!" randomly throughout their sentences and "Jamaica, no problem!"

Here is a picture of a local that we met who, of course, lead us to his sister's store.

Does he not SCREAM Jamaica?? I thought dreadlocks was a stereotype but SO many people had them! It was awesome!


We also saw tons of students walking home from school in their cute uniforms. I wanted to take a picture with them, but I was too shy to ask. Some of them weren't shy at all. When we were passing all the high school kids, the boys would say things like, "Hello, baby!" to me (right in front of Jordan!! No shame!) and some of the girls would make flirty hissing sounds at Jordan and start giggling. One group of teens walked passed us and said, "Hello, white people!"

Finally, another cool ting about Jamaica was how tropical it was. We were walking down the road and there would be fruit trees growing everywhere. It was soooo green and pretty- aside from all the trash. And an hour after the pouring rain started, it was sunny all over again!

Thursday: Grand Cayman, Cayman Island

Grand Cayman was 100% different from Jamaica. Instead of being the only tourist in sight, I couldn't see any natives! There was no trash, the crosswalks worked (I feared for our lives when we crossed the busy streets of Montego Bay!) no one was trying to sell us anything. I didn't even feel like I was in a different country. It felt more like a theme park, partially due to the numerous pirate statues all over the island.

It was like Pirates of the Caribbean...

Meets The Stepford Wives
The coolest thing we did in Grand Cayman was our snorkeling excursion. We went out to the Barrier Reef and saw TONS of fish. We even saw a small baracuda and some crazy looking squid. On the way to and from our excursion, we got to ride on a cool double decker boat.
The only thing that made us feel like we were actually in a different country, aside from the snorkeling and beautiful clear blue ocean water, was the wild iguanas!

Friday and Saturday: Boat days
We loved being back on the boat, where we were able to eat until we wanted to vomit (and once Jordan did, but the puke was later after the meal).
(these four plates were just my dessert alone...I know...it's AMAZING!)

We also got to tattoo watch. SO many people on the ship had tattoos, and most of them were really dumb. We was everything from wings tattooed on shoulder blades, a huge bugs bunny down the arm, and lots of stupid barbed wire bands. This one lady I sat next to had tons of stupid little tattoos all over her body. This was one of them:

I'm not 100% against people getting tattoos. I just think people reeeeaaally need to think things through before heading to the parlor. Yeesh!

Overall, the trip was an A+. I would recommend a cruise to anyone! Jordan and I want to go on more cruises. Family reunion, anyone??

For moer pictures, you can check my facebook. I'll be posting them soon...ish. Sigh. Being a housewife is hard work! haha.