Sunday, September 12, 2010

Sprained ankle

Later on that night after Ocho Rios we went swimming in the Terrace Pool at the end of the ship. As I was walking down the last step after swimming I rolled my ankle. Now I've done this before (I roll from the outside of my foot and then in when I walk) but NOTHING LIKE THIS! It hurt so stinkin' bad. And of course our room is at the front of the ship! So I hop back (literally, I couldn't put any pressure on it at all!), and the nurse in me kicked in. RICE (rest- lay down, ice- sent Than for it in one of our baggies that we brought), circulation - sent him to look for an ace wrap after the ice, and elevate- up on a pillow), cap refill was a little slow but not bad, can wiggle my toes (bearly but with pain), nice and pink, no gross deformities noted (so most likely not broken). Talked with RN on board (I had just gotten a tour yesterday, since I was curious about all of it being in the medical profession myself) and we'd have to pay out of pocket since we didn't get insurance for on the ship (little did we know that the insurance that we bought before the cruise in case we couldn't go for what ever reason then we could get all of our $ back DID cover us! Grrrrr!), I decided I could survive till we got home to be seen. But it hurt so bad! I cried most of the night! I've had 2/4 kids with no epidural and never cried, but I sure did with this! Plus I was sooo upset and felt like I ruined our vacation! Here we are in the room doing nothing, when we could be downstairs having the time of our life! But my wonderful husband kept telling me that he was just concerned about me, and as long as he was with me, it would be a great vacation! I love this guy!
I finally decided that I needed to go in the next am to be seen since I couldn't even walk on it (we had to get me a wheel chair) and they wouldn't give me crutches without seeing me, so I sucked up my pride and went in. They were all very nice, did x-rays, and found no break, just a bad sprain. They gave me a (huge) air cast that went up to my knee (very limited on sizes on the ship) to have, which I was able to put a little pressure on it then (but still with pain!) so I could kinda walk! And over the next couple days the pain was more tolerable in walking and didn't have to lean on Than so much!
In Cozumel 2 days later as I'm hobbling around the city shopping, there must have been 10 or more locals yell out to me, "No more tequila!" "No more tequila for you!" One boot sales man kept saying as I passed him several times going back and forth, "I give you a boot for the other leg!" Ahhh memories!
But our trip didn't get ruined like I first in visioned! Than actually said later that he was kind of relieved! I was running him ragged doing this and that, taking the stairs everywhere to work off all the delicious food (sometimes 6 flights at a time). It slowed me down which he was grateful for!
So needless to say I can survive a fast moving waterfall, but wooden stairs are my kryptonite!


2nd port; Ocho Rios Jamaica

Our second stop, on our third day (2nd day was at sea all day) was Ocho Rios Jamaica. It had beautiful vegetation! Full of rolling hills (reminded us of home!). Our excursions where to ride a chair lift up the mountain, then ride a bobsled down, ride the bobsled on an elevated tram back up the mountain, then ride the chair lift back down, then be transported to Dunn River Falls to climb up the falls. The chair lift was so fun to see all the vegetation of Jamaica, very beautiful! The bobsled was fun, wish it would have been longer, but hey we can say we rode in a Jamaican bobsled! And the falls were really cool! Most of the pictures from the falls are on a disposable water camera that we haven't developed yet, but there's a few on here! After the falls we had to trek through some local vendors in their little huts! Wow are they pushy! Than got suckered in, and bought a cane (which he did want to get one on our trip, since he collects them), along with a few other little trinkets. Oh well! Then went shopping in the town, but mainly got our freebies only from our Port Shopping coupon book (TOTALLY worth the $25!). It was a good experience and minus Than being asked if he wanted a joint/smoke about 10 times buy the locals (told you they are pound of their weed!) it was a great day!


Monday, September 6, 2010

1st port; Princess Cays

There is an island in the Bahamas that several cruise companies own a chunk of the island/beach, so our first stop just such a place called Princess Cays. And believe me it was a place right out of a post card! It was so beautiful! There was no place to dock, so we had to tender in (get on smaller boats, holding 100 people, and ride on it to shore). Than was supposed to go deep sea fishing, but it got canceled due to "mechanical issues" so he ended up renting snorkel equipment like I did. We saw quite a few fish (sorry, haven't got the water cameras developed yet) but it took me a while to get used to it. I'm paranoid in the water anyways, and learning to breathe out of my mouth only, sent me into a near panic attack the first time I tried it in knee deep water! But after a bit I got used to it, but still couldn't stay under very long before needing to come up for "real air." But it was fun just bobbing on the top looking down. The water was soooo clear I could see everything just fine! Being on the beach that Princess owned, the food at lunch was FREE which was nice. A big BBQ buffet! So yummy! This was the only day we got burned! Didn't reapply sunblock as often as we should have! Luckily I got it less! So my fake 'n' bakin' before we left payed off! That day also seemed the hottest, which was really hot! But looking back it was only 86 degrees, but had 99% humidity! We are used to the dry heat. None the less, we still had a blast playing in the water, snorkeling, and relaxing!



Entertainment

There was SO MUCH to do on the ship! Every night there where people performing; the Princess Dancers, comedians, musicians! The singers and dancers were probably my favorite performers to watch! A very talented group of people! We also went to several "Movies Under The Stars" were around one of the pools (all blocked off) on the big screen they'd play an almost or just released movie on DVD twice after dark (some during the day also, but it was too hot then, but the pool was also open then too). We watched Clash of the Titans, Iron Man 2, and Loosers. Even while I wasn't injured, there wasn't enough time in the day to do everything there was to do, so you just had to pick and choose. But there truely was something for everyone!


The Food!

So before we left, I told Aleksia that I would take a picture of every plate of food (because she was curious as to what kinds of foods we would eat). WOW was that a lot of pictures! Here are some of the yummier foods. And by the way, the food was AMAZING! We choose the Anytime dining, which we really liked. We could still eat in the dining rooms with the set time dinners, but had SO MUCH more flexibility! We weren't always hungry at a certain time, so it really worked for us. We tried out 2 of the 3 dining rooms (repeating them both) and ate from the buffet, and various other areas. There was 2 buffets, which at peak times where both open, but one or the other was ALWAYS open! So if we wanted a little something before going to bed at midnight, you'd just go down to the buffet and there ya go! And it was all really good food to! Especially at Sabatini's, the Italian restaurant, that we went to for our "Anniversary" dinner. More courses then we've ever had, and the food is probably thee best we've ever had!!
I'm afraid to get on the scale after returning! Between the yummy food and then not being able to be as active (exercising in the am and taking the stairs instead of the elevator) after I hurt my ankle..... YIKES! Oh well, so incredibly worth it!