Cruising to Aruba, Bonaire and Grand Turk

We took a cruise this Spring Break to celebrate our birthday's. This was the longest Cruise we have ever been on. It was 9 nights. We were aboard the Carnival Valor, and it left from Port Canaveral, FL. We went our friends the Holloway's who also have 4 children almost the same ages as our own. We had a great time. We left the night before the cruise and spent the night in Jacksonville. We got up Friday morning, had breakfast and headed to Port Canaveral.

We boarded the boat and ate lunch, and watched from the top deck as we sailed away. I only found 2 of the 4 kids to get  a picture with. This would be the same scenario all week. I pretty much only saw Kennedy and Kevin! We had 2 full days at sea before we arrived at our first port, Aruba. We enjoyed laying out by the pool and relaxing. The kids were busy in Camp Carnival meeting new friends and enjoying all the activities.

Day 4 of the cruise we arrived in Aruba, but not until about 12:00. We were in port at Aruba from lunch to 10 pm.  We got off the ship and found the local bus station. We took the bus to a beach called Boca Catalina. It was supposed to have the best snorkeling on the island. I have snorkeled many places, and this was not one of the best. But we did see fish and starfish and sea urchins. The land on Aruba is dry and full of cactus and aloe. It almost never rains there, so the terrain is desert like.

Beautiful Boca Catalina

Cactus on the beach.

Starfish Maggie saw while snorkeling.

Sea Urchins all over.

Aloe plants on the beach.

More cactus on the beach!

                                                                            

                                               

After our day at the beach snorkeling, we took the bus back into town. We did a little shopping and found a local seafood restaurant for dinner called The Old Fisherman. The food was delicious! Kennedy didn't make it through dinner that night, she was so tired!

Their signature corn bread bites and  fish nuggets for appetizers!

Kennedy fell asleep before she even ordered!

Day 5 brought us to our next port, Bonaire. Until I booked this cruise I had never even heard of Boanire. It, along with Aruba, are part of ABC islands known for their excellent scuba diving and snorkeling. This was a beautiful island with mountains off in the distance and gorgeous blue waters. We decided to take a water taxi to the secluded, natural preserve called Klein Bonaire. This is an island right off the coast of Bonaire with no amenities, not even running water. It's lined almost all the way around with the most amazing reef and allows for a perfect drift snorkel. Me and the kids would walk way down the beach, find a break in the coral to enter and snorkel our way back down the island. This was by far one of the most amazing snorkeling trips. Not number one, but a close second! We saw beautiful fish in every color, and huge coral! On our last trip down, Maggie and I saw the biggest fish I have ever seen. They were bright blue, yellow and green. We got pictures of them, but it's hard to tell how big they are.  After a day of snorkeling and beach, we took the water taxi back to Bonaire and walked around the shopping area. We didn't see a good place to eat, so we ate back on the ship.

The water taxi to Bonaire gave us a good look at the scenery on the secluded island! 

Mountains on the other side of the island

The lighter colored area around the island is more shallow water. Where you see the dark is a huge drop off. So deep you can't see the bottom. Between the two is an amazing coral reef wall all the way around the island. This is where we snorkeled. Just on the other side of the reef where the water was deep. Absolutely breathtaking!

Frying on the beach..

Shopping in Bonaire.

Pictures could never do snorkeling justice. They take away the size, color and natural beauty. I wish the pictures accurately showed how beautiful these reefs and fish were!

Day 6 was another sea day. Once again we enjoyed relaxing by the pool and the kids had a great time in their kids clubs. We always went to dinner every night in the main dining room. We enjoyed our wait staff and the entertainment. The kids enjoyed dancing with them every night! We also celebrated everyone's birthdays different nights. The wait staff brought each of us a cake and candle and sang happy birthday. The highlight of dinner every night was what Kennedy and Silas were going to do. They kept us thoroughly entertained to say the least!

Breakfast with a monkey!

The kids dinner table.

Celebrating Carter's birthday

Celebrating Jada's birthday!

Dancing at dinner!

We arrived in Grand Turk on Day 7. This is a really cool port, because your boat docks right beside a beach! There was also a Margaritaville right behind the cruise port which had a massive swimming pool, live DJ and great food! We spent the whole day at the beach and at Margaritaville. The kids had a ball at the pool. The snorkeling off shore was even good. I saw 4 squid and lots of fish. This was my birthday, and it was a great day! We ate lunch at Margaritaville and after lunch, met up with some friends who were on another Carnival ship docked in Grand Turk the same day. We did not want to leave. We made it back to the boat at exactly 3:30 (our cut-off time to be back on the ship).

It's hard to tell, but the waitress carried the huge tray full of food on top of her head!

The pool at Margaritaville.

Welcome to Grand Turk!

Relaxing at Margaritaville!

Headed back the ship, Kennedy made a friend

Day 8 was spent at sea. We started the day with the Cat and Hat Green Eggs and Ham breakfast! It was so fun. The little girls loved it!!

Thing 1 and Thing 2 visited the table!

They also signed autographs!

Green Eggs and Ham!

Sam I Am!

Awesome Cat in the Hat ice sculpture!

The real life Thing 1 and Thing 2!

The rest of Day 8 we had a good time lounging around, then spent the evening packing up 9 days of clothes!! We enjoyed our last night in the casino until late and the kids spent the evening telling their friends goodbye and exchanging Instagrams and Snapchats.
Day 9 we woke up early and had breakfast on the Lido Deck. We managed to get off the ship around 10 and we were on our way by 11. However, the Hawkins family was not quite ready to head home. As we headed up I-95, we decided to travel on into Savannah and spend the last night on River Street watching the big ships and eating seafood for dinner. We finally made it home Sunday, 11 days later... What can I say, this family loves to travel!