Two Days in Paradise: Ocean Cay

After a wonderful first day aboard our very first family cruise, we were excited to see what the next couple of days would bring! Beach and I started the morning with a workout before the kids were up, and I enjoyed a yoga class. It was such a nice way to begin the day, especially with all the excitement and activities ahead of us.

We then enjoyed a delicious breakfast, where Beach and I discovered what would quickly become our favorite breakfast choice of the cruise: lox bagels, with some sides!

Before long, it was time to head off the ship and explore Ocean Cay, MSC's private island in the Bahamas. One of the things we loved was how easy it was to walk right off the ship and onto the island without having to worry about transportation.

Of course, a couple of pictures first!

Then it was time to enjoy the beautiful lagoon! The water was absolutely gorgeous, with so many shades of blue.

We rented a couple of beach chairs and floats and spent the morning swimming, floating, and relaxing in the sunshine.

After plenty of water time, we headed over to grab some lunch. 

MSC provides an included lunch buffet on the island, which made it easy to grab something to eat without having to return to the ship.

Then it was right back to enjoying the water!

Chasing seagulls...

Eventually, we made our way back aboard to get cleaned up for dinner. We took some time to enjoy the beautiful views from our balcony, including some fun reflections in the glass.

And yes, I will absolutely take your picture, whether you're in the middle of eating or not!

Dinner brought more delicious food and opportunities to try new things. One of the fun parts of cruising is getting to order dishes you might not normally choose.

That evening, we enjoyed an incredible acrobatic show before heading back out to the island for more fun.

One of the unique things about this cruise itinerary was that our ship stayed docked at Ocean Cay overnight. 

This meant we could enjoy the island after dark, including a beach party!

The boys had fun skipping stones along the shoreline while the girls enjoyed dancing to the music from the DJ.

We also got to watch the lighthouse light show, which was such a fun experience!

It was difficult to capture the lights in pictures, but definitely something worth seeing in person.

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The next morning, I started the day with another yoga class, although this one was cut a little short because of some rain. Afterward, I enjoyed a slower morning with coffee on our balcony. There is something so peaceful about sitting outside with a cup of coffee and looking out over that beautiful water.

We also discovered that we could enjoy breakfast outside, which made our morning even better!

There may have been half a bagel hiding somewhere under all the colorful toppings on my plate.

With another day at Ocean Cay ahead of us, I wanted to explore some different areas of the island. We started by checking out Lighthouse Beach, which was a bit rockier than the lagoon where we had spent most of the previous day.  However, it is the closest to the ship.

It seemed to have more fish to see being closer to open water!

The weather was amazing and the girls enjoyed grounding on the beach.

I was determined to explore as much of the island as possible, and Ezra was willing to join me for a walk. 

Ocean Cay has several different beaches, each with its own features and atmosphere.

We even found one with hammocks!

Ezra wasn't particularly impressed with that stop, so we didn't linger too long.

The water everywhere was just so beautiful. It was hard not to stop and admire it along the way.

I could certainly see why people choose to have weddings here!

We finished our walk at a beach Ezra had been wanting to visit for some snorkeling.

Unfortunately, that particular spot was a little anticlimactic. Instead of the clear water we had hoped for, we found quite a bit of seaweed.

Oh well! At least we had enjoyed exploring the island together and even found a rusty foosball machine right on the beach that had us laughing.

After heading back to the ship, we spent the afternoon enjoying more of the onboard activities. There were water slides, beautiful views, and, naturally, more ice cream for certain members of our family.

That evening was White Night, so we got dressed for the theme and headed to dinner.

Afterward, we explored the ship a little more before the kids headed off to the teen program for some time with others their age.

They took some photos on their own...

We ended the evening at a dance party up on the deck, which turned out to be so much fun! The teens had a great time, and Beach and I enjoyed ourselves just as much.

Looking back on these two days, there was time to explore, swim, try new things, enjoy the entertainment, and simply take in the beauty around us. After so much uncertainty about whether we would even be able to take this trip, I was especially grateful for these days of sunshine, laughter, and family memories.  There were still stressors and tears at times, but thankful to be together and work through it.