Day three was spent with another dark gray and overcast day at sea (see photo of another ship next to us). 
The start of this fabulous day was around 6am with Jack and I took him up to the lido deck to help curb his anxiety-filled morning as the partiers continued to come home at all hours of the night again.
This time, I met company. As we all know, misery loves company and I met Tally with two children at 6am. She, like me, was bedecked with brown circles under her eyes, unbrushed hair, and sweat pants. We looked like the ugly sisters. She told me how she was on the cruise with two other friends and their respective kids and all the husbands were ready to throw themselves overboard to end their miserable time on the Fun Ship. I laughed as we commiserated and shared horror stories from the three-day cruise.
Not everyone was like us. We sat next to a couple with their 1 and 3 year olds at dinner and they seemed to always be having a good time. I looked at them with envy and smiled like I knew what they were experiencing.
On day three, Eban, of course, got kicked out of Camp Carnival and thus had to hang out with us (at least he got his face painted and was good enough until then to do it!). 
On this evening, Tutu took both the boys and had a picnic in the room while we had an adult night out at the boat’s steak house. It was a great meal. 
Of course, we went home to see our little tykes. Tutu and I decorated our doors for the holiday door competition. We had fun and I’m sure some of the partiers ate some of the chocolate on her door as they returned at the wee small hours of the evening and needed a quick munchies. 
On another note, the kids loved the towel decorations. 
Jelly, our Romanian guest services attendant for the 9th floor, would always create some sort of animal for the kids. The kids loved coming back to the room to see what animal would be there and I loved it because they loved it. 
On day four, we arrived in Grand Cayman in the morning. We departed the cruise ship in a torrential downpour. At every stop, the cameras are out to take happy pictures of the cruise goers and one lovely Asian man barked at the photographers, “DO NOT TAKE A PICTURE OF ME AS I’M IN A GARBAGE BAG.” I guess he didn’t have a rain coat and compromised with a garbage bag. I totally wanted to take a picture of him with his pouty smirk and his off-white garbage bag. It was awesome.
Eban was ecstatic as the puddles were SO COOL. 
We could only look at each other and say it was the best vacation of our lives in the most sarcastic tone. Eventually, we found our way to a taxi cab where she said she’d take us around the west end of the island. As soon as we took off, the sun started to shine. We couldn’t believe our eyes. SUN - - for the first time on our vacation. Our driver took us to the Georgetown square, 
took us to a little area where the iguanas run rampant, took us to see the wild chickens, and then she took us to the fire station. The fire station had three trucks and only three men. 
So each man would have to drive a truck to the fire. Talk about short staffed? They were very nice and even pulled the fire truck out of the garage while we were in it. The boys couldn’t get enough of it! They were so excited! I love the Cayman Islands Fire Department.
From here, 
we went to Hell - - a little place that looks like volcanic rock, but it’s not. 
I forget what it is, but it’s an interesting place to see for five minutes.
Then we visited a rum factory - - we didn’t buy anything as it’s all so Americanized. 
Finally, we went to a turtle farm where the boys’ eyes lit up. They loved petting the baby turtles and watching them swim. 
Across the street was a dolphin encounter place where we walked in and just watched the dolphins. 
The boys liked that too. And we saw another crab - although this one wasn't yellow. But it was still a crab! 
Finally, because it was sunny, we ended up on a beach where we ate and we finally went swimming in the sun.
The boys loved it - - Eban was in the crystal clear water most of the time with papa while I hung out making sand castles with Jack. Ryan lost his wedding ring in the white sand shores of Cayman Island - - the first time his lost his wedding ring was washing the dogs in the backyard. I wonder how many times I can lose my wedding ring?
Anyway, we got back to the boat begrudgingly. This evening, Eban didn’t get kicked out of Camp Carnival. We celebrated this minor accomplishment! On the next morning, Christmas Eve, we landed in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Again, the crowds of 20 passenger vans did not interest us.
Instead, we had a nice older gentleman as our taxi driver and 
asked him to take us to the closest fire station. He was happy to oblige and off we went to the Ocho Rios Fire Department. The firemen were delightful and had Eban in the driver’s seat while they ran the lights and honked the horns. Our taxi driver was really wonderful. He went over and beyond anything we expected. He took us to the fancy part of the city (where the mansions overlooked the ocean) and to the shanty towns. He was kind and warned us of all the many peddlers who were on every street. The thing about our visit to Jamaica was that we saw the disparities between the classes very easily. In the other islands, the “haves” and the “have nots” weren’t so apparent and in Jamaica, there was a clear delineation of who was in which class. It was probably the most interesting culturally for me, but a place where I didn’t wish to return as I didn’t feel safe.
Even when I was in the poorest country in South America, I felt safe (Bolivia). But in Jamaica, there was simply something in the air that I can’t quite put my finger on. Our taxi driver even took us to a place where he picked herbs and flowers for us. It was really something else. We went up to the top of the mountain called the Fern Gully road, which was an amazing three-mile stretch of an “S” drive through the rain forest. The canopy under which we drove was almost dark and you couldn’t see the sun peering through the leaves as it was that thick. This is the road that the Jamaican bobsled team trained on for their win at the Olympics - - said the taxi driver. I didn’t get a picture of this although I wish I had.
We finally landed for lunch on a crowded beach of tourists. 
We had Jamaican jerk chicken and it was delicious. All was well, but we were with 100s of people like us. We could also see that boat which we never wanted to see again in our lives. 
At one point in the day, Ryan wondered how much it would cost for five one-way tickets from Jamaica to Miami as thinking about getting back on the boat gave all of us heartburn. At least the kids didn’t feel this way.
Eventually our taxi driver came back and took us to a secluded beach where we finally relaxed. 
Everyone relaxed but me as I was too afraid of the undertow or rip current. I forget which one was at this beach, but I didn’t get in as that stuff makes me nervous. I remember being in an undertow at a beach in the Bahamas on Great Exuma and I’ll never do that again. It still terrifies me to this day thinking about it. Papa and Eban swam around while Jack and I hung out on the beach. Just like Grand Cayman. Tutu just sunned herself.
We went back to the boat knowing we had one more full day at seas – Christmas. That evening, Eban and Jack read the Night Before Christmas around 15 times. 
It was a book that you could hear Uncle Steve’s voice and he included their names in it and they loved it. 
We also asked the cook to prepare some cookies for us so Santa wouldn’t be without cookies on his special night. We also grabbed some carrots for the reindeer.
On the morning of our sixth day, Eban and Jack woke up to find some presents for them. 
They loved it as Santa found them on the cruise boat. Eban was also quick to point out that Santa didn’t like his cookies and put them in the trash – as seen below in the this picture.
I let Tutu know with some nonverbal cues that I wasn’t impressed with that fact. Hint-hint. At least Eban was smart enough to realize that Santa didn’t like the ships cookies. On this day, we hung out as a family. We listened to Carols in the lobby area. Eban didn’t get kicked out of Camp. So the overall tally for the trip was getting kicked out 5 of the 7 days. I guess that can be impressive?
We docked in Miami on the 26th and got off the boat as soon as we could without looking back. We dropped Tutu off at her hotel so she could wind down for a day before returning to Chicago. I know she needed it.
We chose to spend the next two days in Orlando and we kept our fingers crossed that this choice would redeem the trip.
VIDEO in the taxi in Georgetown (Grand Cayman) on the FOURTH day of rain- check out Jack's wet hair. We looked like wet dogs the whole cruise
Our sweet taxi driver going over and beyond...just so sweet
Jamaican Fire Station - Eban is pushing the buttons
