The kids were not happy about being woke-up at 7:00 am. They wanted to sleep in a little more. I can see their point, but we only have four ports to visit and it is a shame to sleep through them!

We were about 50 minutes early for our ride to our personal submarine . We had some time to swim in a protected cove. I had done the personal submarines before and thought this would be the highlight of the trip for the kids. The personal submarines are like an underwater scooter. I forgot to pack the underwater cameras. I could have gotten some good pictures of the kids in the subs!

As they got us in the sub, they tethered us to a rope while the rest were put in their submarines. In groups of three, they led us to a cove that had a reef wall. The leader, who was scuba diving, would find animals for us to see. The first was a sea urchin-like creature. If you let it sit on your hand, it would suck itself fast to your hand. You could hold it upside down.

We were then taken to narrow canyon through a coral outcropping. It was too narrow to drive through by ourselves. The diver had to guide us through. After that, we were tethered again. When we were grouped, they lowered us to 15 feet . We followed the leader for a little bit and then were tethered again. They went looking for any animal they could show us. One of them brought up a small starfish. It had a body about the size of a dime. The arms were long and skinny. When he put it in my hand, it hesitated for a second and then wrapped its arms around the palm of my hand. It then pulled itself through my fingers. It was pretty cool.

When we got out, Reno came over and said that he puked during the ride. When we asked the kids how they enjoyed it, their response was: It was OK. They liked it, but it wasn't great. We stayed and swam a little.

We went back to the ship to change and get lunch. Alex and Reno rented scooters and drove around the island. Kim, Mary, Abria, Gabby, and I went into town to do some shopping and get our passports stamped. The shopping area was around the main plaza in town. There were some cool things we looked at and bought. Kim found some jewelry . The girls were looking for tee-shirts and trinkets. It was hot out and the girls were getting tired of being there. They wanted to go back. The vendors were pushy and trying to pull them into the stores. You had to bargain for most things and I think they were uncomfortable with that. Kim and I love to shop this way. At the last place, we Kim didn’t pay with exact change after I bargained for a price. There was $14 coming back to us. The vendors went crazy trying to substitute something for that money. In the end, Kim and Mary each got nice bracelets.

On the way through the Duty-Free, the only way to get back to the ship, they were giving free samples of Tequila to anyone who wanted them. Kim would get a cup and then give it to me. They were pouring very small shots. In fact, they were barely more than a few drops. It was just enough to get a taste. I wasn’t really interested until we found one that was aged in an oak barrel. It was good. We got a bottle. When we took it on the ship, we were told to check the bottle at the desk. We stood in line for a while before the girl told us to go to a table on the other line. On the way there, we quickly ran into the stairs and smuggled the bottle aboard.