By this point in our trip, the end of vacation blues were starting to come on in full force, but I couldn't complain that much. I mean, we had 3 full days in Puerto Rico and already loved 3 ports of call on the cruise. All that was left was our last port (Barbados), a day at sea, and then a day in Puerto Rico before boarding a couple of flights and heading back into the dregs of winter.
And after full day excursions in Antigua and St. Lucia, our Barbados excursion would definitely be more low key, and only about 3.5 hours long. That was sure to offer the boys a little fun on the cruise ship itself. So we rose while still coming into port, and the way the ship was angled, we couldn't really get a good view of Barbados. I was pretty excited though. On paper, of all the ports we were visiting, Barbados had the biggest "aura" around it. I mean, it's Barbados. That's as Caribbean Island as you can get, right?
We headed up to Deck 9 to walk over to Cabanas for breakfast, and who did we see on the way? Do you remember Sam's best friend? Steve? The one that had delivered cookies to the room on our first day thanks to Sam playing him a song on his trusted ukulele? Yep, here he was, and I was delighted that he indeed greeted Sam like an old friend. He even commented that Sam was missing his instrument! Sam told him how much the cookies meant and added "thanks for being my friend!" As we walked away, I could tell that Steve was just entranced by Sam. I even spied him typing something into his phone, so I wondered if more treats were on the way.
We headed into breakfast and, once again, took advantage of the outside tables. And while Sam had been very consistent in his eating habits at Cabanas, I had to admit that I was starting to run out of unique things to eat. I'd done regular eggs, omelets, Eggs Benedict, no eggs. Today, I went back to an omelet because it had been a few days, but I think I was wearing a little thin on the Cabanas breakfast. That, coupled with my overall lack of love for breakfast anyway probably made me the only one.
Being on the deck of Cabanas did offer our first view of Barbados, and I have to admit, I was completely underwhelmed. From our view, it just looked like a regular metropolitan city that happened to be on an island. I hoped that once we got away from port, my mind would be changed, as Judy (our server) was from Barbados and obviously raved about her home as well as the excursion we were planning to go on.
Speaking of excursions, we had a later morning, so it was nice to go back to the room, turn on a Disney movie, and just chill for a little. Today's excursion didn't start until about 10:15, and was only scheduled to last about 3 hours or a bit more. We were skipping various ocean activities (I think we all had our fill of catamarans) and were going inland. Barbados has a natural cave you can explore - Harrison's Cave. I was looking forward to the change of pace.
We did eventually pack everything up and head out, and it was definitely weird to NOT be in a swimming suit. We had practically lived in them for the last week. We went down to one of the Disney Wonder clubs, joined our crew, and headed out. Similar to St. Lucia, we didn't have to go far to get to our van shuttle. And I must admit that I was pretty hesitant to board one of these. I made sure that Sam and I had seats closer to the front, and I crossed my fingers and toes that there wouldn't be twists and turns.
And I shouldn't have worried. Barbados is flat. And bland. Again, I don't want to sound dumb because I was in the Caribbean and - duh - that's awesome. But Barbados just never enthralled me like the others did. There was not a lot of scenery to look at, and down on the ground, it was painfully clear that this was just a big city. I mean, when the "highlight" of the drive is seeing the street that Rihanna grew up on, that should tell you something. Oh, and interesting fact - they named that street after her, and she would come up again on this excursion. Stay tuned. I know your riveted.
After a pretty calm and vanilla drive, though, we did arrive at Harrison's Cave. We were to go in, get our tickets, and then we could head to the cave when our number was called. We all took a quick restroom break and grabbed our tickets. As we proceeded, we realized that we needed to take an elevator down to the main level and entrance to the cave. It was pretty cool and pretty descending in the glass walled elevator, and Elisa was immediately interested in the shopping that was nearby. So off the elevator, we all window shopped and found some cool things. In particular, I wanted this really cool hand painted bottle and Elisa liked a dress. But before the cave expedition kicked off, it was Sam that had collected the souvenir. He had found a Barbados hand woven bag and he was in love. Later on, Elisa would get some priceless pictures of Sam posing with his bag. We was so proud. I wondered how long it would be before it became a carrier for his ukulele.
And with that, our tour time hit and we headed into the main visitor center where the cave entrance was. We walked through some pictures and descriptions of how Harrison's Cave was discovered, and then we were ushered into a theatre to watch a small video on the cave itself. Near the end of the video, Elisa leaned over to me and informed me that the kid in front of us was sick. He was hacking terribly and she heard one of the parents say something about a fever.
Okay, soap box moment here. Parents - please listen. I know you paid money for a cruise and excursions. Cool. But if your kid is SICK and has a FEVER, do the parental thing and stay in your room on the ship. Don't get other people sick. Your enjoyment of an excursion should not come at the price of making others sick. Stahhhhpppp.
Okay, soap box put back in the closet. Needless to say, once I knew this, I made it my goal to stay as far away from the kid as we could. I had no interest in any of us getting sick. We walked down to some trams (this tour of the caves was not a walking one! Yay!) and got in. We were definitely not close to sicko kid and parents of the year. And off we went into the cave. It was beautiful. Definitely a Timpanogas Cave vibe, but warmer and more enjoyable with the trams. It was a slight adventure, trying to take pictures and video and keep my camera dry from the falling water.
We were able to get out a couple of times on the tour. The first one took us into a large cavern that felt like a rotunda at the Capital Building. We walked around and marveled at the view and then got back in the tram. And then - splash. We all looked up, and realized quickly that fever kid had thrown his hard hat from the tram and into one of the cavern pools. Sadly, it had floated to where the tram guides couldn't get it, and so it was left there. I wish I would have taken a picture of the tour guide's face. She was....not pleased. And my annoyance at the fever family only grew.
The tour itself lasted about 45 minutes, and everyone did enjoy it. I definitely liked the change of pace, and the beauty underneath the surface gave me a new, better impression of Barbados. But soon, we were out of the cave and back to the shopping. We did have a few minutes, which allowed me to get that hand painted bottle and Elisa to get her dress. Oh, and Sam to get those fantastic posed pictures with his Barbados bag.
We headed back up the elevator and got back in the van shuttle. And waited. And waited. And waited. We were missing a family. At one point, even the driver went looking for them. Anyone want to guess WHICH family we were waiting for? Do I even need to tell you? That's right! Fever Family for the win. I was, at this point, tempted to start tossing spit wads at the back of their necks. But they did finally get on board and we headed back to port.
The drive back was more bland than the first drive. I mean, I fell asleep. That's how exciting the drive was. Though, when we got close to the port, the driver did point out the massive estate that Rihanna owns on the island. Yes, she clearly "moved up" in the world. I mean, it had armed guards for crying out loud.
Once back at port, we all kind of realized that port shopping was now at an end, so we definitely did some damage. A bunch of cool shirts and I stood in a long line for a large bottle of rum punch mix. My Dad was buying some bourbon (?) ahead of me in line and I told him under no uncertain terms that once we got home, he needed to procure all of the ingredients for homemade Havanas Bananas. Days later, I was still craving that damn frozen wonder.
Back on board, my Dad and I waited in the world's longest line to check our alcohol, and then we ate a quick lunch up at the quick service restaurants. Since it was only 2pm, we still had plenty of time and the boys were itching to swim. So back to the room we headed. And when we arrived, sure enough, Steve had delivered once again. A HUGE plate of cookies awaited us. This only solidified the fact that Sam and Steve were best friends. As I write this, our vacation has been over for over a month and Sam still talks lovingly of his best friend Steve. And he still reads the cards Steve left too. So cute.
Once the crew was properly back in swimsuits (hey, it's like we never left them!), we headed up for some swimming fun. The boys primarily stayed in the Goofy Family pool, where we got to watch a movie. And let me tell you, it doesn't matter what the movie is. The kids are going to swim and watch it as though in a trance. Don't believe me? The movie on the screen was Tinkerbell and all about saving the season of Spring or some nonsense. My three boys just kept watching, despite them constantly saying that they "weren't really paying attention."
After swimming, it was time to go get showers, though, as we had a big night ahead of us. You see, Disney, on select cruises, has a pirate night. This includes dressing up as pirates if you choose, a themed dinner, a pirate show, and then fireworks over the ocean. I mean, how cool is that? Fireworks on a cruise ship? I can only wonder how awesome it would have looked to a passing cruise ship. And for those worried about the environment? Don't be. Disney knows their stuff. They had found a way to ensure that the pieces of firework that fall to the sea are edible to fish. I mean, wow. That's going the extra nautical mile.
So everyone was showered, and we headed out. I think we were going to explore a bit, and Lukas definitely had designs to go to the D Lounge, where they have family game show time, so we headed to the middle of the ship. As we turned to head down the stairs, Sam was with Elisa and I and Lukas was with my parents and Connie. Miles, right behind us, stopped and said he would rather walk with my parents, so he ran back and we continued down. And then, catastrophe. Sam dropped his little Del Sol color changing ring down the stairs. So here I went, all the way down, all the way up, all the way down...all looking for a little plastic ring. Sam was pretty upset, so I wanted to give my best effort. By the time I gave up the search, I was exhausted.
But I was also suddenly panicked. I looked around at the group (everyone had congregated) and there was no Miles. Apparently, when he left us and ran back down the hall, he never found my parents. Talk about your stomach dropping. Off I went, trying to retrace our steps. I was just scared and angry and didn't know how it happened. I went all the way back to our room and there was no Miles. I had hoped he had gone back there to stay, and I was suddenly kicking myself for not having a plan for the kids if one of them got lost. As I turned back down the hall to search elsewhere, one of our cruise neighbors stepped out and told me that Miles had indeed come back to the room and was knocking on our doors to no avail. He was crying, and she was nice enough to take him to Oceaneer Club. Apparently, that's what you do on a Disney Cruise.
I thanked her profusely and nearly ran to Oceaneer Club. When I got there, Elisa was already waiting in line. She had the idea to check there, and my phone buzzed with a text that Miles was in the Club. My legs felt weak, but I was so thankful that he was safe. I was still trying to chill out, so Elisa went into the club and found Miles. He was indeed crying pretty hard. Elisa took care of him while I tried to track down my Dad, who was no where to be seen - undoubtedly he was searching the ship for Miles.
And then, before I knew it, I looked over and Elisa had calmed Miles and had him getting his face painted for pirate night. Yep, that was definitely the right distraction. I got Lukas and Sam and checked them in so they could get their faces painted too, and while they were, Miles came out and I held him tighter than I have before. I know he was never "in danger", but having a lost kid sucks. Having a lost one in the middle of the ocean with lots of railings? Worse. But he was safe.
After face painting (and finding my Dad), it was time for dinner. We all headed down, but I couldn't even remember, as I typed this, what I ate. To be fair, I'm sure I ate fine, but I spent the majority of the meal just staring at Miles and giving him hugs every chance that I got.
After dinner, we had time to kill before Pirate night (Elisa headed off to rest, but had hoped to make it to fireworks) so we finally headed to D Lounge. I think Lukas had hoped we would get selected, but dinner had run late, so by the time we arrived, the game had already started. We sat down in the back and watched. The first question was about farting. Ohhhhkay. The kids were answering whether or not the parent took responsibility when they passed gas. And the first kid said that her dad always blamed it on a duck. Because it sounded like a quack? Ohhhhkay.
Between answers, the people running the game show liked to call upon people in the audience and get their answers to the questions being asked, so you can only imagine my horror when they asked for kids to raise their hand and Sam was selected. Yeah, this should be good. I was quite convinced Sam had no idea what the question even was or what was happening. But here the MC came back to us. He sat in front of Sam and asked him "when your Dad breaks wind, does he fess up or does he blame it on someone else?"
Sam's response? "Ice cream." Now it was the MC's turn to stare and say Ohhhhhkay. When he asked Sam for clarification, Sam added "ducks". There you have it, folks. When I break wind, apparently I blame it on ducks and ice cream. Like any sane father would. Yep.
And after THAT question, and a room full of laughing people that had to think Sam had lost his mind or that I had some weird ass fetishes, we departed. Soon enough, it was time to head up to Deck 10 where we could watch the pirate show and the fireworks. Sam was pretty tired and sleepy, but the other boys really liked the show. Even Sam warmed up to it. I was only so-so on it. Lots of Disney characters dancing to popular music. I did laugh when Miles and Lukas asked how Goofy could dance so well considering how clumsy he is. That, my friends, is one of life's greatest unanswered questions.
And then, on the darkness of the Deck of the ship, Pirate Mickey showed up and we were treated to about 7 minutes of fireworks. It was really cool to have that happening while we were sailing over the ocean. I even looked around to see if there were any other passing ships, but couldn't spot any. I wondered how far away other ships could see the fireworks.
And then, we were done. As I tucked the kids in, I hugged them all a little extra, but especially Miles. For all the fun that we had on this day, I was still stuck in losing him for that brief moment.
Next time, we have a day at sea, Lukas pines for Mary Poppins, the kids are fish, we have our final big dinner, and I finally answer the most important question from the whole blog - did Sam get a Golden Mickey or not?!
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