Our 8 Day Caribbean Cruise!

Woot! We had such a BLAST on our 9 day jam packed vacation! Our cruise was out of Galveston, TX, so we flew to Houston the day before and stayed in a hotel.
We visited Cozumel (an island off of Mexico), Grand Cayman, and Montego Bay, Jamaica and every port was seriously incredible! We already knew the excursions we wanted to do in each port- so we wasted no time getting our tickets!

Little backstory: 11 years ago while we were on our honeymoon, our cruise director was talking (then) about all the exciting things to do in the ports we were going to (on that cruise)- but she ALSO mentioned like a million times so many awesome things about a place called Cozumel (a place we were NOT going on that trip) ... she spoke of it so much, I told John that I was making a mental note about Cozumel and that I hoped one day we could go there since it sounded so amazing! Well over the years we'd heard even more about Cozumel and felt even more compelled to go there some day.

We've heard that it is the number one place on the globe to swim with dolphins and the only place in the world that offers an "extreme dolphin adventure" and so much more... so when we were booking a cruise in the Caribbean- you KNOW that Cozumel was one of the first ports we'd choose!

We also chose Grand Cayman based on similar reasons: hearing about the Stingrays on the Sandbar- Yep, that had our name all over it! And Montego, Jamaica- well that was another easy choice! With that itinerary locked in- we knew we had nothing but fun adventures ahead!!

We always approach our vacations with a few simple "rules"... Wait? Rules for vacations? Aren't there no rules? Of course we have no real rules, more like our philosophy, but saying rules makes it sound official...

Pollard Rules for Vacations:
1. Have fun, like crazy fun!
2. Do something we've never done before. (be adventurous and try new activities, even if a little scary)
3. Do something exclusive to where we are. (activities not offered anyplace else)
4. Try new foods. (eat something exclusive to location, or just new)
5. See number 1 again

Having this philosophy or mindset has really helped us create so many unforgettable memories that would never have been possible if we just did normal everyday things on vacation- plus our vacations would all seem the same in distant memories. Instead each vacation is distinct, vivid, and extremely memorable!

Itinerary, check!
Mindset for new adventures, check!
Do you want to see everything we did?
Since there is so much to share, I will do it like last time and post each day separately (it's easier to read in sections, and its easier to edit, add pics and videos, and keep things organized too).