This year will likely be a big family time travel year starting with a quick trip to Texas in January because I was sick for Christmas, and we didn’t get to see family for the holidays.
In March we planned our grandson’s graduation trip during Spring Break. Since he leaves for Marine bootcamp as soon as his high school graduation is over, we had no other option for his trip. Alaska was not an option in March, so he picked a Carribean cruise starting on March 12th and returning March 19th.
Sail Away Show on upper deck. Each time we left port, the Captain would play the theme song from Love Boat on the ship’s horn. So cool!
I don’t remember when he got so tall, but this picture makes me feel super short! We weren’t sailing long before Ryan found a group of young people on board and a volleyball game.
At the net in the middle of all the action.
Our first port was supposed to be Princess Cays in the Bahamas, but it was too windy for the tenders to get us into port, so we had to move on to the next port without a stop. Fortunately, Princess has lots to do all day to keep you busy and we exposed Ryan to slot machines so he could experience throwing money away and getting nothing in return. I think he was cured. That first night we also arranged a special Italian dinner for his graduation at Sabatini’s Trattoria. Although we had told them it was a special occasion, they fell short and did nothing special. I had an opportunity to write a review and within hours, there was someone contacting me and offered to do it again at their cost to make it up to Ryan. This time they did it right.
Graduation Message on his mirror
Special Dessert
We also exposed Ryan to all kinds of foods he never experienced before, and he was more than willing to try new things. Dinner and a show became our nightly activity and then he would retreat to his new friends and volleyball while we found things to keep us busy.
Alfred and Seymour Comedy Team
Our first port was Puerto Rico where we toured the island by bus to see the rainforest, the fort.
After the tour, we went to a well-known restaurant. and had a lunch of fish tacos and mofungo (classical Puerto Rican dish) further expanding Ryan’s food experience.
The next day we were scheduled for Amber Cove, Dominican Republic but the rain cancelled all our plans, so we ventured out on our own just walking around in the rain.
That was where we discovered Jim’s foaming sneakers. It seems all the times he cleaned his shoes with soap, he had not rinsed them well enough and as we walked in the rain puddles, the foam got activated again leaving a trail of sudsy bubbles. We got a good laugh out of this. After dinner, the ship was having a Spring Break Deck Party because there were lots of young people on Spring Break on board ship. As always, Ryan was in the middle of it.
The final stop was Grand Turks and we had good weather and great snorkel and stingray encounter.
All through the cruise, Ryan was volunteering for all the games and by the end of the cruise, everyone knew Ryan.
We hoped Ryan had as much fun as we did, getting to know this older version of our grandbaby. What a fine young man he has grown up to be.
goneagainblog.com 
Sounds like a wonderful time!
Would love to have seen those sneakers!