Hyenas on Holiday: By Sea

After a few days chilling in Fort Lauderdale, it was time to board our cruise boat!

We got a suite with a balcony, and that was pretty much the best idea ever. We spent quite a bit of time reading and relaxing out there! And of course, you can't beat the view in the morning.

Once the ship had set sail, our first stop was Key West!

We were set to go parasailing first thing in the morning so we could have the rest of the day to wander around Key West and go to the beach.

Soon, we were on our little boat with one other couple, ready to get some air!

We got strapped in to the parachute, then the rope started to slacken and the Hyenas were up and away! 

(following four images courtesy of Fury Water Adventures)

Originally, Mr. Hyena was so gung-ho about parasailing, and I was scared, but it turned out to be so. cool. It wasn't scary at all, it just felt like floating. The water was so clear and you could look straight down into it. We saw a big sea turtle from way up there!

Mr. Hyena freaked out a tiny bit since we were so high in the air!

After a little while, it was time to come back down to earth, but we sure had a blast!

After we were safely back on land, we walked around Key West to take in the sights and stopped to get lunch at this little semi-outdoor Mexican restaurant, Amigos, which had deelish nachos. At Mr. Hyena's request, we also found Mile Marker 0, which is where Interstate Highway 1 begins.

Then it was time to find the beach! We headed to Fort Zachary Taylor Beach and state park. The beach was quiet and nice, if not a little rocky, and the water felt so good after all our walking!

 Shade! Hallelujah!

Back on the ship, we took our afternoon nap before heading out to a late dinner. On Carnival cruises, if you're planning to eat in the main dining rooms, you decide ahead of time whether you prefer the early seating or late seating, and then you sit with other people at a larger table. We chose the late seating, and were seated with four other young couples, three of which were also on their honeymoons! We got to chat weddings and had an awesome time listening to and telling wedding blunder stories. On the first night, all the waiters sang "Happy Honeymoon" to all us honeymooners, and we got an extra dessert as long as we didn't stop kissing our spouses until the song was over!

I was bad and didn't take any food pictures, because I was too busy stuffing my face and trying weird things, like escargot and octopus. :) But here's a cute picture of me and the mister before dinner one night, and I promise the food was always delicious and fancy.

Since our dinner was so late in the evening, by the time we got back to our cabin each night the waitstaff had turned down the bed and left us a different adorable towel animal, and I became really obsessed with them.

I have no clue what that last one is. Any ideas?

After a day at sea, our next port was Grand Cayman. We had signed up to do a snorkel with two stops; the first was a giant coral reef, and the second was swimming with stingrays!

We got to pet a stingray as well. It felt very soft, like a wet mushroom. :)

Our final stop was Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We went to visit the Coyaba Botanical Garden first, up a winding little road onto a big hill. It was very beautiful; there were a lot of plants that I had never seen before, including one that looked like lobster claws! The garden was gorgeous, and from certain points you could look out and see the city below.

Next we decided to hike Dunn's River Falls. We were under the impression that we were going to be climbing up the side of the waterfall, and when we got there we found out we'd be climbing up the waterfall itself! It was a welcome surprise, and we had a blast!

"Yah, mon." They had us say that like 50 gazillion times. :) 

See how everyone is holding hands and climbing together? That's how we got up the whole thing. Parts were slippery and it was good having other people to hold me up!

Whew! We made it!

View from the top.

One more sea day to get back to Florida, and our honeymoon was over. We were sad to leave, but ready to get back home!

Would you rather relax or have crazy adventures on your honeymoon? And seriously, does anyone know what that last towel animal is?? I'm going crazy over here!