Christmas Caribbean Cruise Vacation

We've taken a vacation every summer since Brenna's been born... except this past summer.  Our summer was consumed with the move, temporary living, and building the house.  I knew trying to squeeze in a vacation would be a lost cause, so in early May I booked a cruise for our next school break; Christmas.  At the time, I didn't know that we'd be spending Thanksgiving in the Smoky Mountains with the other McAlister's or that Jacob would be in Dubai the week before the cruise was scheduled.  The end of the year was travel laden to say the least, but given the tough year we'd had with the move, Hurricane Harvey, and losing the cats, this turned out to be a nice break for just the three of us.  

We decided not to tell Brenna about the cruise and save it as a Christmas surprise.  I love vacation planning, and this was the biggest secret I've ever had to keep from her.  There were several moments over those 8 months that I almost let the secret slip or just wanted to give it away anyway.  But I stayed strong, and as Christmas approached a small gift wrapped box appeared under the tree.  We told Brenna it was the only Christmas gift she would received from us this year, and while she tried to be a good girl and say she was fine with it, I could see her emotions bubbling up.  She was crazy curious!

On the last day of school, before the winter break, Jacob took off early and we attended Brenna's class Christmas party.  After the party, she came home with us and we sat her down and gave her a choice.  Since she was only getting the one present, she could open it now, to enjoy during the winter break, or she could leave it until Christmas morning and do things the traditional way.  Just as I expected, she jumped at the chance to open the gift.  Her overall reaction was much more subdued than I expected.  Once reality set in, she was thrilled about the vacation, but slightly disappointed that I didn't include her in the vacation planning like I usually do.

We immediately packed up and flew out that afternoon.  The next morning we boarded the Norwegian Epic in Port Canaveral.  It was a beautiful departure day.  We shared the port the Disney Fantasy and the Carnival Magic.

Passing Coco Beach, Florida as we make our departure.

Once onboard, we followed our usual cruise routine and grabbed a bite a eat, explored the ship, and then headed back to our cabin to unpack.  There were lots of Christmas decorations and a very impressive gingerbread display.

Our elf Shelby even showed up on the vacation!

The first few days were smooth sailing and laid back.  We enjoyed the arcade, putt-putt golf, and the pools.  We attended our first escape room, Escape the Big Top, which was really fun.  A mad magician casts a spell that leaves you invisible and unable to escape.  Only by solving the riddles can you uncover the magically phrase that breaks the spell and unlocks the doors.  We weren't smart enough to figure the way out, but it was really fun trying!  We also enjoyed another great Cirque Dreams performance onboard, which is always amazing to see so close up.  Brenna especially loves the game shows onboard and we played Deal or No Deal several times throughout the cruise.  During one session, she actually had enough matches to win a free photo, which was just as exciting as cash money for her.

We watch Cuba float by as we made our way to the Jamaica.  We've been to Jamaica more times than we can remember, so we decided to stay onboard during this port day and take advantage of an empty ship.  We spent the better part of the day on the water slides going down as many times as our legs were willing to carry us up.

Cuba in the distance.

We always enjoy the dinner show at Teppanyaki.  It's one of Brenna's favorite restaurants onboard.

Views of Falmouth, Jamaica from the top of the slides.

Our next port was Grand Cayman.  We've also been to Grand Cayman more times than we can remember, but we really like this island.  We decided to revisit the Turtle Farms.  Brenna visited once when she was very young and barely remembered it, so we wanted her to experience snorkeling with the sea turtles again.  We took the tour of the farms, spent some time in the tanks with the turtles, and then moved on to the natural lagoon to snorkel.  It was a fun day and one of our favorite places on the island.

The NCL Epic anchored in Grand Cayman

Our last port day was at Norwegian's private island Great Stirrup Cay.  We had perfect weather for a beach day and the water was incredibly clear and blue.  We were some of the first passengers off the ship and enjoyed the day building sand castles and snorkeling.

Brenna's favorite part of a cruise is by far the kids club and this cruise was no different than any of the others.  She quickly made friends with two other girls and they stuck together for remainder of the cruise.  Even now they continue to text and keep in touch.  They enjoyed the circus act at the end of the cruise with a thrilling duo on the devil sticks that wowed the crowd.  

It was a fun vacation and definitely a happy way to cap off what had been a tough year.  Also, since this was our first time cruising over Christmas vacation, it was even nicer to come back to another week off at home to rest and recover from all the excitement.