We didn't book any excursions in Ocho Rios as there was nothing that looked easy or appropriate to do with kids our age. 
In retrospect, I may not have even gotten off the boat with them. Once we got past all the independent excursion people and out of the port, it just got worse. Vendors here were more aggressive than anywhere else, to the point where they follow you down the street. 
I absolutely HATE that kind of stuff but was trying my best to be polite and simply say "No thank you," to each of them. The kids wanted to souvenir shop and we had to make our way through the gauntlet of harassment to get to the "Island Village," where we were told the harassment was fairly benign. 
This turned out to be true. Once at the Village, you could walk in and out of stores without being jacked with constantly. We spent some time there, then went back to the ship. We got a little bit of the same treatment on the way back, but not nearly as bad. 
Still, I don't have great things to say about Ocho Rios. 


Ocho Rios

My wife and I had been to Grand Cayman on our last cruise and we really enjoyed it. I think it was my wife who was the one who really wanted to go, but she convinced me we should go to the turtle farm this time since the kids would like it. 
I'm not big into such things, but have to conceded that it was kinda neat. Rather expensive; the "cheap" tour was $18 for adults and $9 for kids, so a 60 minute visit cost $54, plus a whopping $88 in round trip cab fare ($48 for 4 of us going out; two $20 trips back, one from the turtle farm to the beach, another from the beach to the port). 
If you like turtles, sea creatures, zoos, or other things like that, you'd no-doubt think the turtle farm was cool. Personally, now that I've seen it, I wouldn't go back, but my wife and kids say it was one of the coolest things they saw. To each their own! 
On the way back, we stopped at Sea Grape beach, which was just as awesome on this day as it was when my wife and I were there two years ago. Beautiful white sand beach and warm, crystal clear water. In my mind, it is the beach by which all other beaches are measured. We spent a couple hours there before the kids got restless and we headed back to the ship. 


Grand Cayman (Georgetown)

Of all the ports we've visited in the past, Cozumel was probably my favorite. In the interest of full disclosure, this is primarily because I've found that in Mexico, the drinks are big and the drinks are cheap. :) 
On our prior visit, we stumbled upon a place called Mr. Sanchos purely by accident. We ended up spending the entire day there, drinking 2' high margaritas that were $3 and Dos Equis bottles for $1. We ate and drank (WAY too much!) all day, enjoyed the beach, and paid less than $40. It was a blast. 
Obviously, with the kids in tow, we had no intention of throwing caution to the wind and tying one on in Mexico, so we simply took a cab downtown. It was hotter than blazes on Cozumel last Friday, so our kids weren't out of the cab for 5 minutes when the complaints started to roll in. 
The pestering by vendors in Cozumel is present, but unlike Ocho Rios, they'll take no for an answer and leave you alone. We walked for a while before doing an about-face and retreating to the opposite side of the street - on the water and away from all the shops. 
Because I couldn't leave Cozumel without imbibing in at least a couple cold ones, we made our way back across the street to a place called Las Palmas. It appeared to be a chain type of place and didn't exactly reek of authenticity, but we ordered up soft drinks for the kids, a plate of appetizers, and my wife and I lived vicariously through ourselves and stayed thirsty with a couple cold Dos Equis (surely some of you will get that joke). 
After that, some quick souvenir shopping, back into a cab, back to the port, and that was it for Cozumel. Part of me says, "You were a good dad and did the right thing." The voice on my other shoulder says, "Man, you should've checked the kids into Adventure Ocean and gone back to renew acquaintances with Mr. Sancho." 


Cozumel

We'd spend all day together, then we'd go to dinner at 6:00 PM, and made arrangements for the kids to be picked up outside the dining room at 6:45 by Adventure Ocean staff.My family of four - me (37), my wife (34), and our two boys (7 and 5) - just returned from a Western Caribbean cruise aboard the Freedom of the Seas.

Freedom of the Seas Review

Freedom of the Seas - August 16 - 23, 2009

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