The Tide is High

The final 3 stops on our cruise were lovely, and I have to say, Barbados was the sleeper destination of our trip. The ocean there was the most sublime shade of blue!

I think I said at least 500 times that I had never seen anything like it. It was like swimming in a beautiful blue mixed drink...but with sea turtles and tropical fish.

I didn't think that visiting several of the more frou frou islands in the Caribbean during high season would be possible, but we were able to do so via the cruise. 

                                                                            Chef Teague

                          We watched flying fish out on the open ocean for hours. 

                                              Leaving Martinique


                                         Our last stop: Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

                                         Bye, Caribbean! Hope to see you again.

St. Thomas

National Geographic voted Magens Bay one of the ten most beautiful beaches in the world. Naturally, we wanted to see if it lived up to its ranking. As the photos show, the quiet secluded beach was absolutely horrid. Not at all paradise-like.

                             The pelicans landed right next to us; no personal space issues at all.

Later in the day we took the tramway up to Paradise Point to see panoramic views of St. Thomas and toured the city.

Some of the nearby homes had this as a view. Can you imagine?

We had to investigate all of the incredible yachts.

Political billboards Virgin Islands-style.

                                Beautiful church on Governor's Hill.

Loved the main square area, so quaint.

St. Lucia

                 Jake "On the Wings of Love" Pavelka contemplating excellency from Jade Mountain

I have the train-wreck of a reality TV series "The Bachelor" to thank for our time in St. Lucia. Jake's end of show proposal and several episodes leading up to it took place at a beautiful resort in St. Lucia called Jade Mountain. I was instantly smitten...with St. Lucia. Luckily, not long ago, the show (sadly, I'm still tuning in) and another unimpressive bachelor spent several weeks filming in St. Lucia. This renewed my want to see Anse Chastenet beach, Sugar beach and St. Lucia's breathtaking pitons in person. 

It was paradise. Jade Mountain Resort is phenomenal. I didn't want to leave.

               You see what I did there with the Piton brewery bottle and the Pitons?

                                 Even the island's runway is beautiful!

                                                  Beautiful Marigot Bay

                                        No rose ceremony for Teague

Why we choose to cruise

                                     South American cruise, Chilean Fjords (age 3)

We never thought we'd be "cruise people", but we have found cruising to be the easiest way to travel to faraway places with a young child. Being aboard a floating hotel means that though we visit multiple countries, we don't have to schlep our luggage from place to place. Plus, we know we have potable water and recognizable meal options anywhere we go.

                                             Brazil cruise, Ihla Grande (age 4)

We've now been on 4 cruises, and I can safely say that we are always the youngest family on board. By several decades. It's ok with us, we actually prefer the shuffle boarders to the party atmosphere.  We select our cruises specifically for the itineraries, but I'd be lying if I didn't say it was for the Kid's Club, too. We love traveling with our boy, but having the option to drop him off at the play center while we enjoy dinner together is awesome! An added bonus, the kid's program and the fancy dinner are both included in the cost of the cruise. I'm by no means a cruising expert, but these are some reasons why it can be a great way to travel with a child.

1. Kid's Club Most cruise lines have a Kid's program. This option is included in the cruise cost but requires that a child be potty trained and at least 3. Typically during days when the ship is at sea they offer morning and afternoon drop-off hours as well as a block of time every evening. A total of 9-12 hours a day of unadulterated Kid's Club time, if you so choose.  The programs we've encountered are impressive, they're not run by bored adults checking their phones but are planned kid's programming. Teague's recent experience included cooking classes in the Culinary Center, treasure hunts and arts and crafts projects. Many cruise lines offer kid's programs during port days, too--great if there are excursions, like scuba diving, which don't allow children. When selecting a sail date, the adult to child ratio is key. We like kids, however, the thought of a cruise FULL of kids doesn't appeal to us. For this reason, we choose cruise dates before or after major school holidays. Our last cruise had 4 children in the Kid's Club and 2 adult attendants. Thus, there were 3 kids his age to play with and he received crazy amounts of playtime/help/attention from the staff. The attendants told us that the cruise after ours, over Christmas expected over 200 kids. Yikes. 

2. Non-ship excursions can be tailored to your family's needs The ships do make it easy--they offer plenty of packaged port tours which can be booked and charged to your ship account. However, these trips are at a minimum 4 hours in length. For a young child in a group setting, this can be an eternity! The ship tours are limited to the ability level of the others in the group (think walkers and canes) and cannot end early/start late to work around a child's eating schedules and naps. Researching each port prior to your cruise allows you to book alternative excursions with local companies. We've found that we can plan out exactly what we want to do, rather than what the ship's tours think we want to do. This enables us to decide the length of time spent at each activity and to find more kid-friendly/adventurous alternatives. Prices with locals are almost always less expensive than the ship's packages. 

3. On board activities Before my first cruise, the images I had were of endless buffets and smoky casinos. Not necessarily.  Ships offer a variety of options, they have a gym, a spa, comedy shows, cooking classes, Broadway-style shows and, surprisingly, a huge library complete with librarian and current NY Times bestsellers. I actually stopped bringing my Kindle aboard because there were so many great books I wanted to read. They also have a decent kid's book section along with puzzles and board games. In addition, our ships have had "ShipFlicks", a dvd catalog of recent movies and tv series for check out. And if you want to smoke like a chimney and gamble, there's that, too.

4. Pools Our kid is part fish. He's also high energy. For this reason, we love having access to a pool when we travel. Many ships offer a family pool and an adult pool, and some have splash pads, too. We've yet to find one that isn't heated. Our Costa cruise had a fantastic water slide which made it difficult to do pretty much anything else with our son. He spent hours on that slide! 

5. Seeing several countries without flying  Airport travel with a child is not for the weak. I often wonder why game shows like Fear Factor don't have this as a category-- I know I'd much rather sit in a container of hissing cockroaches than take a child through 24 hours of plane travel! The benefit to cruising is that you can visit several different cities without any of the airport time. On a boat, the traveling is done mainly while you're sleeping. Each morning, a beautiful new location greets you, minus the TSA pat downs and flight cancellations.

Tacky decor and bland mass-produced meals are no longer the norm. I think as destinations are becoming more exotic, the diversity of the passengers and programming will continue to change. We'll standby, with our shuffleboard sticks poised and ready.

                         Eastern Caribbean Cruise, Barbados (age 7)

Cruising through the Panama Canal (age 6)    

                     

2015?!

                                                        Favorite photo

Our Traveling Circus favorites for the year 2014 are a bit late, but I couldn't possibly start out the new year without them. They include:

Favorite Song
Mandy-Thinking Out Loud, Ed Sheeran
Sean-Bailando, Enrique Iglesias
Teague-Everything is Awesome, Teagan and Sara

Favorite Movie or TV show
Mandy-House of Cards
Sean-The Walking Dead
Teague-Lego movie

Best Purchase
Mandy-Teague's karate classes
Sean-trip to Grand Cayman
Teague-Lego movie DVD

Miami Favorite
Mandy-everything
Sean-everything but the commute
Teague-swimming at the beach

The new year is here and we've started out with a bang! Movers are scheduled in less than 6 weeks, a house hunting trip is complete and our new home is secured...let the pre-move madness begin. 

I'm not a fan of New Year resolutions but I do have many hopes and dreams for this coming year. Mostly I hope that Teague's transition from beach to mountains is a good one. Sean and I, military brats ourselves, both moved in the middle of the year early in our elementary school years, so at least we have some understanding of how it feels. It's scary and uncomfortable, but it didn't scar either one of us for life. (Though it came at a price--that was the year I chose to be a hall monitor.)

Wishing a belated Happy New Year to all. I hope all of your wishes and dreams come true in 2015.