It’s been two weeks since my family and I got back from one of the most memorable vacations we’ve spent together — a Western Caribbean cruise aboard the world’s largest ship, Allure of the Seas, courtesy of Fisher-Price and Royal Caribbean — and my kids are still talking about it.

We sailed from Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale and after two days at sea, we docked in Labadee, Haiti. It was a great opportunity for me to practice my French with the locals and for my kids to see how important it is to be able to communicate with people in a language they understand. I mean, it’s not like they don’t speak English, but it’s definitely not their first language and the ability to speak French actually got me several discounts in the handicraft market on site.

As I said on my first post about the cruise, from Haiti, we were supposed to set sail to Falmouth, Jamaica, but Hurricane Sandy had other plans and so we ended up spending an extra day at sea since the port there was closed by the government to avoid any potential problems. I was a bit saddened because I had been looking forward to visit Jamaica, if only for a few hours. In the end, though, I was grateful that at least I was not home in Denver, where my friends and family were dealing with the first snow of the season.

Plus, another day at sea meant we got to the opportunity to spend even more time exploring all the Allure of the Seas has to offer to adults and children alike. Check out some of the photos of our adventures within the cruise ship:

On the merry-go-around in the Boardwalk for the 50th time…

Watching one of the endless shows from Chicago to Madagascar, there’s truly something for everyone!

I’m so happy I did the zip line!

Playing mini golf surrounded by the ocean on all sides!

Reading a book borrowed from the library on board. What a view!

Racing on Fisher-Price Power Wheels!

After spending two days at sea, we finally docked in Cozumel, Mexico and took a lovely tour of the city with a very knowledgeable tour guide. The tour also took us to the other side of the island where the kids had some agua de coco and Vanessa picked some conchitas for her ever growing collection. And then, we got to spend a few hours by the water just relaxing. Vanessa was excited to be back in Mexico and our visit gave me the opportunity to talk to her about the immensity and diversity of that beautiful country.

I would’ve never really thought of a cruise as a great opportunity to expose children to different cultures and languages in a short period of time. As I said in my last post, besides the places we visited, the cruise ship was also full of people from all over the world and my kids made several new friends in a trip we’ll be talking about for a very long time.

My family and I just got back from a 7-day Royal Caribbean cruise that took us to Labadee, Haiti and Cozumel, Mexico. (The ship was supposed to dock in Falmouth, Jamaica also, but Hurricane Sandy had other plans.) As you can see from the photo above, we went aboard the Allure of the Seas — the biggest cruise ship in the world! While I’ll attempt to give you a sense of what it was like through a series of photos, I think the only thing that will do justice to our whole trip is for you to experience it yourself.

But before I begin, I want to disclose that this trip was made possible by Fisher-Price and Royal Caribbean. What does one have to do with the other, you might ask? Well, Royal Caribbean has partnered up with Fisher-Price to offer all kinds of incredibly fun onboard experiences to little cruisers. From playgroups with interactive sessions for the teeny ones (ages 6 months to 36 months) to a toy lending program and even a musical birthday party show with the Little People characters, there is something for everyone!

One of my children’s favorite things was Royal Caribbean’s Adventure Ocean youth programs. Although Vanessa was sad to be separated from Santiago because of their age difference, she got over it quickly after she had the chance to experience all the amazing and fun activities she participated in each time she was there. Santiago was in a program called Aquanauts (for ages 3-5 years) and Vanessa was in the one called Explorers (for ages 6-8 years). From science to art to music, there was never a dull moment while my children where a part of the cruise’s youth programs. I must say I loved going to get Vanessa at the end of each session only to find her having the time of her life dancing!

But the aspect I liked the most and which made me feel the most comfortable leaving my kids there — especially when it came to Santiago — was that so many of their staff members were multilingual. As many of you know, Santiago is not yet fully bilingual and Spanish is his first language. As soon as I signed him up for the Aquanauts program, I asked if someone in the staff spoke Spanish and I was so very happy to find out that several of them did! Santiago was quick to make friends with all of them — the Spanish and the non-Spanish speakers alike — but I was glad that he had people there who would be able to understand him without a problem.

Speaking of which, one of MY favorite parts of the cruise was the amazing diversity not only of languages, but of nationalities among both the other guests and the crew. From what I was told, there were 70 countries represented among the crew and who knows how many more among the other guests. My kids heard all kinds of languages aboard the ship during the time they were there and Vanessa always asked what they were. Plus, we met people from the Philippines, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Romania, Peru, England, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Japan, Panama, Canada and from a lot of different parts of the U.S. Sounds like heaven for someone raising bilingual and bicultural kinds, ¿no creen?

I have a lot more to share with you about this amazing experience, but I’ll leave it for another post. I don’t want to overwhelm you!