Family vacations can be tricky when trying to accommodate everyone’s various interests. This is certainly the case for me now that I have a son in college, two high school students, and a daughter who’s barely into elementary school. The perfect solution — a cruise. On a cruise ship, there are many different activities for all age groups, and exploring different ports of call and exposing your children to different cultures is an added bonus.
Years ago, my husband and I travelled to Jamaica and had a wonderful experience. I wanted to introduce my children to this amazing Caribbean country. We recently took a five-day cruise that stopped in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, as well as Grand Cayman. Here’s what we did!
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Nothing but deep, blue sea makes for a wonderful backdrop for a photo with Bliss and my husband, John.
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15-year-old Peter has waited all his life to try to look this cool on the pool deck.
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The family enjoyed breakfast on the ship’s veranda before disembarking to our port of call in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.
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Bliss (7) with her big brothers John (20), Everett (16) and Peter (15) enjoy a water excursion at the Blue Hole in Jamaica. We all walked to the top of a waterfall then jumped into deep blue holes of water at each plateau until we reached the bottom. Thrilling!
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We hired a driver/tour guide for our day trip in Jamaica. As we toured the island in a minivan, we stopped along the side of the road at a fruit and vegetable stand to sample native fruit and talk to locals.
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That’s our ship, the Carnival Sensation, in the distance as we stopped at a breathtaking scenic lookout in Ocho Rios.
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Bliss giggled at meeting Thing 1 and Thing 2 at the Dr. Seuss at Sea breakfast, which is a fun attraction on all Carnival Cruise ships. The kids clubs on ships offer fun activities for every age group. Kids can drop in for an hour or all day.
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16-year-old Everett was the reigning ping-pong champion on board. Seriously, he beat everyone who challenged him.