Caribbean Cruise

The beginning of our long vacation started in Tampa, FL.  Ben and I flew down there on June 2nd, the day before our cruise left on Sunday June 3rd.  All 44 people in the Smoot family boarded the ship and we set sail!  As you can imagine it was a party all the time with the 44 family members including cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces/nephews, etc.  

Our first stop was the beautiful Cozumel, Mexico.  A group of about ten of us traveled to the ancient Mayan civilization ruins of Tulum.  The history and buildings there were quite remarkable, not to mention the gorgeous beaches. 

The next day our ship stopped in Belize.  Ben went scuba diving with his uncle, sister, cousin, and twin brother Doug.  Sadly their underwater camera ran out of batteries just before entering the water.  Ben said it was beautiful as he saw all sorts of sea life.  I'm sure he would also want to mention that he did not throw up this time!  Hallelujah!

Ben & nephew Callin

While Ben was busy underwater I went with the rest of the family to Belize City.  We traveled by van to see some different ruins and then went cave tubing through a Belize rainforest river! 

It was a blast with our few "tube chains" made up of all the family members.  We went through beautiful caves and enjoyed getting wet on a hot day!

 

 The nighttime was always a blast with karaoke, shows, Mafia, and other such activities.

Stop number three was Roatan, Honduras.  We relaxed at the beautiful beach there and played a lot of sand volleyball. 

Last but definitely not least was our stop at the Cayman Islands.  

Everyone stuck together this day as we took a boat out on the beautiful water.  

We did snorkeling, boating, and of course visited the sting rays.  

They were definitely a little creepy at first but we got used to them quickly.  

Ben kissed the sting ray for good luck.  I stuck with the back massage instead! 

It was pretty tough deciding which pictures to choose out of 1,000, but it was quite the trip! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the amazing experience Grandma & Grandpa Smoot!