You'll have noticed that over 3 weeks have gone by since my last post. My apologies. However, I do have a very good explanation for the delay!
Last week Tangie and I were out of the country, celebrating my 40th [gasp! I said it!] birthday in true fashion: a week long cruise for the both of us.
That's right.
No kids.
Just the Mrs. and I. Awesome!
But before that could happen, there were some logistics that needed to be worked out, namely, who was going to take care of the kids while we were gone?
We had originally booked Lolo and Lala to come stay with the kids and Tux, and take them to school in our absence, and they were willing participants in our plan so we thought we were all set. Then about 3 weeks prior to our departure we received news from Lala about great-grandma Fernanadez not doing so well back in the Philippines, and that she was being requested to go and see her should anything happen. It was a no brainer; we told Lala to go back home to see her mom. So we reached out to Nana out West to see if she would like to have a working "vacation". The suddenness of the request took her aback as she processed the situation, but after a couple of days she said she was game and booked her flight over. Now we were set.
So, we got to planning and preparing: Excursions. Travel documents. Important papers filed and accessible at home. Notify school and teachers. Boarding reservation for Tux (we thought we'd give Nana and the kids a break from having to take care of him too). Checklist for Nana. Request friends to check up on Nana throughout the week. Laundry. Packing. Cleaning.
Exhaustion.
Day 1: Embarkation
We had very little sleep the night prior, partly because of packing and [still] cleaning, partly because of the excitement of going away on the trip together, and partly because we were dealing with some damage control: Braelyn having a real hard time comprehending why we were leaving without taking them with us. She cried and cried for an hour before going to bed, and only because I laid down next to her to comfort her and stayed until she fell asleep, which took FOREVER. So we probably got to bed around 2:30 AM with a wake up call at 4:45; we needed to leave the house by 6 so we could make it to port in Miami by 10:30/11 o'clock, as the embarkation process started at 11:30 and we wanted to get on the ship as quickly as possible to take advantage of our time there.
The drive down was steady, I had the cruise set on 75 mph the entire way but really had to slow down in parts due to some really thick fog. Sometimes the visibility was just a few hundred feet in front of me and that was it, it was like soup! Finally when the sun broke free the fog dissipated and we were able to continue on our way at a much faster rate, stopping a few times to use the bathroom, get gas, or pick up a coffee and bagel from Starbucks. We arrived at the port on time, just after 10 AM. We dropped off our luggage, parked the car, and got in line to enter the terminal.
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| Bags ready to be loaded. We overpacked! |
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| Nice foggy morning. |
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| Entering the Port of Miami, there she is! |
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| Our home for the next week! |
We went through the usual lines, handing in our travel documents and passports, receiving our onboard ship cards and then getting shuffled up into the loading zone. However, we had to stay there for almost an hour due to the previous cruise's passengers taking a long time to deboard; customs was taking a long time and it was probably cause for scrutiny with security measures due to a couple of bomb explosions that had taken place over the weekend in New Jersey and New York. Seriously, what is this world coming to? Anyway, we sat down and made nice with a couple from Boston, who were [surprise!] Patriots fans, so we spoke about our good friends in Ocoee who were also from Boston and were die hard Pats fans and made a good connection with them. We would see them around the ship throughout the week.
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| Reality of the possibility hits us with these signs! |
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| Um…great way to start vacation! |
Finally we were allowed to board, so we made our way up the gangway into familiar territory. We first went up to the 15th deck Forward to the spa; they usually have some sort of deal/raffle/giveaway for the first few cruisers that took the tour or made an appointment for a treatment. They were giving some free demonstrations on the different kind of massages, from hot stones to deep tissue massage using bamboo sticks. They immediately found a nice knot on my right shoulder and tried to rub it out using the bamboo stick; it hurt like a mother! But at least I knew this would be an opportunity to treat myself to a massage sometime later this week.
The last time we were on a cruise was on this same ship, the Getaway with Norwegian, with the kids 2 years ago in 2014. We had a found a steal of a deal (it helps when there's only 2 passengers vs. 5) and even though we had already sailed on this ship, the itinerary was different from the last go around, with this one visiting the Western Caribbean, including 3 new ports of call we had never been to, so that was what sealed the deal on booking this particular cruise. On the last cruise Tangie had taken advantage of a special offer from the spa that allowed the first 200 guests onboard to purchase a weeklong spa access pass for only $99 per person. She was hoping they had the same promotion, so that we both could take advantage. They did, however the price was bumped up 100%, so it was now $199 per person for the entire week. Um, no thanks! This alerted us on how NCL has now started to nickel and dime their passengers, and we started to observe all of the changes from the last time we sailed with NCL. That was probably our only con about this trip.
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| View of downtown Miami from the top deck! |
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| It's going to be a fun week! |
We went to the Garden Buffet Deck 15 Aft to join the other 4000 guests for lunch as it was past time to eat. We immediately headed to the Indian food and got some butter chicken and roti. We would have Indian some time every day on the trip. We had been on our diet plan the past month, and lost a bunch of weight knowing we would gain some of it back on the cruise, so we set out some ground rules on what we were to eat and not to eat. I did my best on staying away from bread and rice, with the exception of rice when eating Indian cuisine! We tried to stay on track throughout the cruise, and started each day real focused, ordering healthier options for breakfast like fruit and muesli but then it would get worse as the day wore on until it was no holds barred for supper and ordering an unlimited number of dessert afterwards. We were terrible! I did though, find a new best friend in prunes, as it helped me stay regular with all the rich goodness we were putting into our bodies every day. A nice bowl of prunes in the mornings kept me from being blocked up. I pretended I was eating chocolate first thing for breakfast.
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| First Indian meal, and with a fantastic view! |
After lunch we headed to our room. We had booked a balcony for this cruise; it had been 4 cruises since we had our last balcony, as we've been either cheap or hesitant with all the kids running around. Since we had booked through our DirectBuy Travel program plus being able to use the deposit promo we had purchased on our last cruise with NCL, we were able to upgrade to a guaranteed balcony for the price of an ocean view, so we were placed on the 9th deck Port side, near the front and just near the front elevators and stairs, so easy access to move about the ship. The room was nice, not as big as other rooms we've had before but it was fine for just the two of us. It was great having the balcony though, as it gave us another option to sit and relax and enjoy the view, the only downside was sometimes you could hear your neighbors chatting when you were trying to take a nap. Small stuff.
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| Tangie checking out our balcony. |
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| Leaving the port and South Beach. |
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| We're on vacation!! |
After the mandatory muster drill prior to us leaving port, I went to the sports bar restaurant to watch the Broncos/Colts game while Tangie went back to the spa to see if she won anything with the raffle tickets we had picked up during our tour earlier, which she had not. She joined me at Sheehan's to watch the game until halftime, and then we returned back to our room to unpack our gear as our luggage had arrived during that time. I met our room steward, a Filipino lady named Maribeth who was brand new on her 3rd or 4th week, and I also met the deck officer, who was in charge of all the housekeeping staff on the 9th floor. He too was Filipino, Mario, and we had a nice chat talking about the motherland and making a connection. I then nonchalantly slipped a $10 in his hand as we shook, and he immediately was taken aback, almost as if repulsed or offended! I ensured him that it was just something small to show my appreciation for him and his staff this next week, and he relented, much to my relief; he would help make our stay special throughout the week!
We had supper reservations at Taste, one of the 3 complimentary restaurants available to guests that didn't want to pay the cover charge of the specialty restaurants, most of which served their menu à la carte. Again, here was the nickel and dime we saw, where it wasn't just a set cover charge, but now it's priced depending on what you want to order. There was even a charge for room service, although the option for a continental breakfast was complimentary. So much for enjoying breakfast on our balcony or a very late night treat! We got dressed and enjoyed our first evening "out", settling in to our first 5 course meal and then headed to the comedy lounge Headliners to hear some amazing piano comedians duel it out with Howl at the Moon. We crawled into bed close to 1 AM, completely spent.
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| Nice to get the Broncos game directly in your room! |
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| My fabulous dinner date. |
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| Ready to get my gourmet on! |
Day 2: At Sea
The itinerary took us to Roatán, Honduras for our first stop from Miami, so Monday was out at sea, chugging along the 580 miles or so to get there. We woke up to a brilliant sky, noticing that Cuba was just in sight along the horizon. We had set the alarm to get up early enough to go to the gym before breakfast, as did many of the other passengers it was so crowded. Fortunately Tangie found a Treadmill and I a stationary bike to use so we exercised for a half hour. We didn't want to exert ourselves from the very beginning; we were on vacation after all. We then made our way to Savor, another of the complimentary restaurants, for breakfast, where I enjoyed my first order of prunes for breakfast!
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| Havana, Cuba in the distance. |
We had a very busy morning planned out, we didn't want to miss out on anything! After breakfast we hit the ropes course for the first time, enjoying the views of the wide open sea. Then we headed to the atrium on Deck 6, where they were having a samba class led by some of the performers from Burn The Floor, a dance show that was a feature program on the ship. It was a lot of fun learning the basic moves alongside every kind of person or level of dancer out there. From there we headed back up to 15 for lunch, partaking of Indian cuisine and roti again. It was so good!! A little dessert or two and then we headed back to 6 to attend the art auction to see if we had won anything with our raffle tickets. Of course, we had to attend the actual auction part first, so we made sure we both were on the same page and promised NOT TO BUY ANY ART PIECES at the auction! We didn't want to end up like that one couple we overheard from our balcony on another cruise many years go, where the wife was admonishing the husband, "What in the h*** are you going to do with a $10,000 painting??" We're not big into art anyway, so it was interesting to see what pieces were going for and what people were willing to fork out. And no, we didn't win the raffle either, so we headed back to the room to read and take a nap.
Dinner and evening became a routine starting the second night, with our usual 5 course meal and then who knows how many desserts. Seriously, if you don't know what you're in the mood for, they just tell you to order and try everything! Very dangerous! It was also the first "formal" night, but it was anything but formal. I guess with such a wide demographic of cruisers and the whole "freestyle cruising" NCL is known for, people just wore whatever. I knew this and only brought a regular suit; our honeymoon cruise on Celebrity showcased all the male passengers in tuxedos on formal nights. It's pretty disappointing as we've come to enjoy the whole fancy dress up dinner affair, but I guess it comes with the times. Anyway, we enjoyed supper and then headed over to hear the comedy show at the lounge; we had missed the main show in the big theatre which was Norwegian's version of Broadway's Burn The Floor, so we made sure to get tickets for seats the following night. We laughed until we couldn't laugh anymore, crawling into bed just after midnight.
Day 3: Roatàn, Honduras.
Our first port of call was the island of Roatàn, just off mainland Honduras. A usual stop for Western Caribbean itineraries, this was the first time we had ever been, so we were excited to step on some new soil. We had booked an excursion for the day; we booked several excursions throughout the trip, but all through Norwegian. In the past we would've done things on our own: get our own taxi or transportation, researched and booked our own excursions, find our own adventures. This time around, we took the easy route and had the cruise line handle it all for us. I didn't know if we lost our edge as we got older, but we felt a little bit more secure about going with the ship's excursion lest something happen and we failed to miss the last call to re-board. At least the ship would wait for us then. We also decided to book land excursions for the first two stops vs. water excursions, as there was Tropical Storm Karl churning out in the Atlantic and we didn't know where it was headed. It would've stunk to have a snorkeling excursion canceled because of weather.
We woke up early though our excursion didn't begin until 11:30. We wanted to hit the gym and have a nice breakfast again, prior to us leaving the ship. Again, so did everyone else. The gym was packed, and there was a small group of people waiting in line for any treadmills/stationary bikes to vacate, so we opted to walk around the jogging track on deck 16, and when that got a little too crowded, we headed down to Deck 8 to walk the 1/4 mile outdoor promenade. 8 times around gave us a 2 mile walk, and we were soaking wet with the humidity by the end of it. We took a little break to play a game of chess with the large life-sized chess set outside, before heading back to the cabin to change and then eat breakfast. Again, prunes were ordered.
We headed out an hour before the excursion to wander through the port; the incessant beating of bongo drums by some locals was starting to get a bit weary hearing it from our room, as we faced the port and could see and hear everything. We ducked through the shops, searching for little knick knacks to get for the kids, thankful that most of the shops had fans or some sort of cooling system to counter the suffocating heat of the day, and it wasn't even noon yet! We passed through the travel vendors trying to lure people to take their tours, and saw a guy selling coconuts for drinks for only $3. We thought that was a good deal, since usually they're either $5 or $7, so we promised ourselves to hit him up if he still had some left when we got back.
Our excursion for the day was the canopy zip line, over the rain forests on the south side of the island. We took a short bus ride to the place and listened to our guide give some information on the history and culture of the island and of Honduras. She was a jolly, slightly heavy set woman and kept wiping her forehead with a hand towel, she was sweating profusely. Anyway, we arrived at the zip line tour and were immediately corralled into an area where they started putting harnesses and helmets on all of us. I had rented a locker for us to put our daypacks away while we were getting set; I had brought along our GoPro and selfie stick to take some great action shots of us doing the zip line, but as I was attaching the camera to the stick, one part of the connectors fell off and landed on the wooden floor, rolling and then promptly finding a crack and disappeared. Great, just great. So I had to take the selfie stick back to the locker; fortunately I had brought along the head strap, so we attached it to my helmet and we were set.
It was neat to see all the different people going on the zip line: couples, young people, a Swedish lady in her 80's accompanied by her two sons in their 60's. It was fun interacting with the guides; they seemed to have a lot of fun with their jobs, which they did quite well: hooking the latches and securing the carabiner clips to make sure you were safe as you flew over the canopies. The numerous steel lines buzzing like swarms of angry bees as they hurtled carefree tourists back and forth. The views were breathtaking, and it was such a thrill to zip overhead at Mach 2! Thank goodness for leather gloves though, I can only imagine what the cables would do to bare skin since we were the ones controlling our own speed on the descents. What a rush!
We must've zipped on 7 or 9 cables before it was all said and done. At the bottom of the final run the head guide gave all the men a hard sell on how we can "show" our "appreciation" for their time by giving tips to all 11 guides that were there. Um…but we've already paid $80 per person for the excursion, now you want us to fork over more? But I guess it was something to be expected. We got back on our tour bus back to the port, where lo and behold, the guy with the $3 coconuts was still there, so we got in line to get one. It was very good, the milk refreshing and the meat sweet and flavorful; Tangie was praying that we didn't catch anything that would make us sick later on, as this was the first thing we've eaten outside of the ship. Fortunately, that would not be the case.
We returned back to the ship and promptly went up to the Garden Cafe to get our Indian fix, and then went out to do the ropes course as we left port. Afterwards we settled back into the cabin for showers, reading our books and/or taking a short power nap. We did go to the gym just before supper and had some time for exercise to counter the calories we would take in for supper that evening. The first night onboard Tangie had ordered their chocolate lava cake, just like the one served on Carnival, except that Norwegian's was served with Stracciatella gelato! Can you say DIVINE?? It was one of the regular dessert menu items served every evening, and guess what, we ordered it. Every. Evening. Stuffed, we waddled to the front theatre to see Burn The Floor, an amazing dance show. Seriously, try doing a fast samba in high heels on a moving ship for an hour with a smile on your face. It was amazing.
Day 4: Belize City, Belize.
We awoke Wednesday morning anchored out in the ocean. This was our stop for the day, Belize City, but since there is the 2nd largest barrier reef in the world all along the coast, we had to use tenders to get us into the port, vs. actually docking at the port. We watched the tenders lining up, ready to fulfill their contracts to take the ship's passengers to shore. Carnival also had one of their ships, the Freedom, in Belize for the day as well, so the tenders were very busy indeed, going back and forth from the ships to the port, which was several miles away.
Our excursion for the day was cave tubing through the Belizean rainforest. Awesome! We had always wanted to do this if given a chance, so we took it, especially since we didn't have to worry about an age or weight limit with having any of the littles with us. Tangie's cousin had posted pics of her going cave tubing during a recent trip to Belize and we promised ourselves we were going to do it on this trip. It was a bit on the pricier side as excursions go, but we opted to do the cave tubing combo with the rainforest trek as opposed to the one with the zip lining, since we had gone zip lining the previous day. Plus it was $50 cheaper per person, although this would be our most expensive excursion of the trip.
We had a quick breakfast and then got our gear and headed to our excursion meeting spot in the main dining room; in my haste to make it on time I completely forgot to bring the GoPro. Doh! Oh well, I guess our phones would have to do. Prior to us leaving we purchased these waterproof cases on Amazon to hold our phones and ID's whenever we'd leave the ship, knowing that at least a couple of excursions we were going to do was going to take place in or near water. I did a preliminary test with paper towels before we left, to make sure they worked, and so far they did great. But now we were going to see how they truly did during the real thing!
We joined a large group of about 50 people and we boarded our tender for Belize City. The sea was pretty calm and it made for a nice, leisurely boat ride to the port. It was neat seeing the ship in all it's majesty just sitting in the water as we left it; it always baffles me to think of how something this massive just floats on the water, but then you have to remind yourself that the oceans and seas are infinitely more massive than these ships are, making them mere dots on the map. We arrived at the port and immediately taken to a couple of buses that would take us through town en route to our destination in the jungle, an hour and a half drive away. It was also Belize's Independence Day, so everything was closed except for the shops at the port; they were having parades on the streets which made for heavier traffic to get around town. We enjoyed the cultural and educational tour during the bus ride.
We finally made it to our destination, and it was definitely in the jungle, the foliage reminiscent of those from the Jurassic Park movies, I was fully expecting a T-Rex to come charging out at us. It also didn't help that they kept mentioning leopards and jaguars, especially when the name of the region we were in was Jaguar's Paw. Anyway, we arrived at the park and were given a chance to rent lockers and water shoes, and to change into our swimsuits/wet gear, before meeting our guides who would fashion us with life jackets, helmets, and inflatable tubes which we would have to lug on a 30 minute trek through the jungle before getting into the river that would go into the cave system. We also doused ourselves with insect repellent; those warning banners of the Zika virus blaring in our heads.
The trek through the rainforest wasn't all too bad. Our guide pointed out some important plants and trees along the way, some of them with medicinal and healing properties should one find themselves lost in the Belizean jungle. During the walk I noticed that the rubber soles of my water shoes had started to fall off; they were old and I hadn't bothered to get new ones for the trip. They both eventually fell off and I had to walk with them only having the outer padding on the bottoms! Needless to say, it wasn't very comfortable having to walk on rocks. They would be discarded immediately afterwards.
We arrived at the starting point and there were a lot of people there. Different groups from different ships, different guides from different tours, tours from different companies. It was crowded. We received last minute instructions from our guide as he lashed our inflatable tubes together. He then told us to sit on them and we were off! What a rush! The mouth to the entrance of the cave was spectacular and the cave even more so. We only did about half a mile through the cave, but with the slow current it took about half an hour to go from entrance to end. It was pitch black inside, but because everyone had their helmet lights on, it was never pure black enough to get scared; we were entranced at the underground rocky curves and formations made from the cutting river. There were times the ceiling of the cave was just a couple of feet from our heads, but then it would open up to caverns as big as our church's main sanctuary, it was incredible. It was also very noisy, as all the different guides were trying to tell of how the ancient Mayans traveled through the caves in their quest to travel through Hell and back. The Mayans were very religious and superstitious, so having to go through the caves was their equivalent to going through Hell. But for us it was an out of this world experience! UnBelizeable!!
The best part of the excursion happened immediately after the cave tubing: lunch. An authentic Belizean meal of stewed chicken on rice and beans accompanied with homemade cole slaw was included with our tour, and it was amazing, my favorite and quite possibly the best meal for me on the whole cruise. I know I just said it, but it was amazing!! The flavor was spicy and intense, but beautifully put together with the slaw for balance, the chicken just melted in your mouth. I could've had 3 or 4 plates of that thing but alas, my wristband only allotted me one.
We loaded back onto our bus for the hour and a half drive back to port, the majority of us falling asleep and taking a nap most of the way. We did have about an hour to walk around and check out the shops, which we did, picking up a couple of things for the kids before getting back on the tenders to take us back to the ship. We immediately went upstairs to the Garden Cafe, again to get our Indian fix, before settling back to our cabin for showers and some book reading. When we got to our cabin, we were delightfully surprised to find a tray of chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of wine waiting for us, with a card from the Deck officer, Mario. I called him to tell him that I thought perhaps they had delivered it to the wrong cabin, but he insisted it was a "gift" from him and for us to enjoy. I'm sure it had something to do with the $10 I had given him earlier in the week, but nevertheless I graciously accepted his kind gesture and thanked him, knowing that ordering something like this from the ship's gift registry would cost around $100 or so. It was a very nice surprise.
More of the same as we dressed up for the evening, our usual 5 course supper and then the evening listening to the comedians at the Theatre and the dueling pianos at the lounge, completely exhausted heading to bed and reading a couple of pages before falling asleep.
Day 5: Costa Maya, Mexico.
On Thursday was our stop to the port of Costa Maya in Mexico, located 200 miles south of Cancún. Again, we had never been, so it was exciting to see a new place. Not too many cruise itineraries go to Costa Maya, as it is still rebuilding from being decimated by Hurricane Dean in 2007. The entire port and town was wiped out, and you can still see remnants of the damage all over town. But it is starting to come back, as hotels and resorts are starting to lure tourists back into the area. We were very impressed with the port itself, with all the shops and vendors, the construction was very well done and it even had a large community pool right in the middle for any cruise passengers to use!
It was another early morning excursion for us, this time a catamaran sail and snorkel experience. We had ridden on a catamaran on a cruise many, many years ago, so we thought we'd do it again. The weather forecast was great for the day as well, which was why we decided to do a water excursion. We woke up around 6:30 to get ready and have breakfast, getting off the ship by 8:30 and walking to the port for our excursion meeting point. There was a group of locals dressed in ancient Mayan ceremonial costumes and were doing a dance for all the people going onshore, and it was funny watching them make sure that anyone who took a picture with them gave some sort of tip into their tip jar.
Our excursion group was shuffled to our bus that would take us to the catamaran…it was a Mercedes Benz bus! What the what?? How awesome was that, but how was that possible? Looking up and down the area that the buses parked, they were all Mercedes Benz buses! Apparently the Mexican government gave a nice budget to the port when rebuilding from Dean, and they spent quite a bit on lavish transportation. The luxury buses looked brand spanking new, very clean, and very nice. Again, we were impressed.
After a quick ride out of the port and through town, we arrived at the pier where our catamaran was waiting. Our guide had pointed out all the different areas of the old city, or what was left of it, plus all the new hotels and developments that were being built. Anyway, we boarded and went through some safety checks as we sailed out to the reef. We had introductions and made nice with some of the people on the excursion; we did share a floating home for the week after all. We enjoyed the ride out, sitting on the hammock beds that were over the water.
When we got to our spot we anchored and then we were split into 3 groups: Beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Tangie and I were with the advanced group, as we felt pretty comfortable on our own doing snorkeling, even though we really hadn't gone snorkeling since 2006 on the cruise before Braelyn was born. The water was the perfect temperature and visibility was around 50 feet or so, we were able to see pretty well around us. Our guide took us out to the reef where we saw numerous fish and 3 different species of rays, including an eagle ray! We swam for about half an hour which was plenty and we enjoyed our time before getting back onto the catamaran for our sail back to the pier.
We spent a quick few minutes walking through the port shops and vendors, trying to see what the base prices for goods were and feeling some of the shop keepers out, to see if they were willing to barter and negotiate prices. But we were hungry, so we went back to the ship to get our Indian fix and drop off our wet gear back in the cabin before changing and re-applying sunscreen and then going back out to the port. The shops all had most of the same things; there were a lot of homemade items that showcased NFL teams, obviously catering to a lot of Americans. I had inquired on how much they would sell a knitted Broncos backpack, and I got a range from $35 to $25, I even had a guy say he would sell one to me for $20. Not too shabby, but I still wasn't willing to settle. I spoke with one lady on our ship that had purchased a Vikings backpack for her son and she was so excited that she had talked the vendor guy down from $50 to $40 for the thing, until I told her that one of the guys offered to sell his for the $20. Oh well, at least she got what she wanted! Tangie found a ceramic Christmas ornament as a keepsake (which I accidentally dropped and it broke into 2 pieces, but I was able to superglue back together) and we picked up a couple of other souvenirs for the kids.
We did happen upon a vendor that was offering a different kind of service...fish pedicures! $20 for 20 minutes of little fish eating the dead skin off your feet, this was a once in a lifetime experience and Tangie had to try it for herself! So she paid her fare and found a seat, but before she could put her feet into the tank they had to give her a scrub, to make sure there were no chemicals or anything harmful for the fish. So they scrubbed both her legs and feet, and it hurt! She said it was so painful, the young lady who did the scrubbing really took her job seriously. After about 10 or so minutes of scrubbing, Tangie was finally able to put her feet into the water. There was a huge grin on her face, as she said it felt like someone constantly tickling her feet! An experience for sure.
We made the last call onto the ship before they pulled the gangway and left the port. Seeing how we spent most of the morning "exercising" on our snorkel excursion, we opted to take a nap before supper. Naps are a beautiful thing, and you just can't get enough of them in life. Anyway, we opted to have supper at Shanghai's, a specialty restaurant that was actually complimentary (for once!) and they made all different kinds of noodle dishes from different Asian and Far Eastern countries. We tried and ate different things, from dumplings and egg rolls, to Pad Thai. We were a bit disappointed that their dessert selection was a little sparse, so we went back to one of the bigger complimentary dining rooms to look over their dessert menu, the chocolate lava cake included. But then, we made a mistake and ordered more of the regular food as well, so we were totally stuffed!
After dessert we again waddled to the front theatre where they had a show called Million Dollar Quartet, a story of when 4 of the most famous rockers including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lewis all came together to record in their studio. The show had a lot, and I mean a lot, of old classic music that we knew Papa2 and Deeda, and even Papa Dave would've enjoyed to hear: Hound Dog, Blue Suede Shoes, Great Balls of Fire, to name a few. Our bellies full and ears ringing, we headed back to our cabin and crawled into bed.
Day 6: Cozumel, Mexico.
Our final port of call, we arrived in Cozumel early Friday morning, which also happened to be my 40th birthday. How awesome it was to celebrate a milestone birthday with the woman I love in an exotic location!
We awoke at a little later than the previous couple of days, as our excursion for the day didn't start until 11:30. The timing was perfect too, as some dark clouds were forming in the horizon and heading our way, dumping some rain as it passed overhead for about half an hour or so. But once the rain cleared the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and the brilliance of the sun reflected off the water, showcasing its amazing turquoise color. We enjoyed the view as we took our time getting ready and heading downstairs for breakfast at one of the restaurants.
Our excursion that day was a paddle board lesson and snorkel at this place called Stingray Beach. The last time we were in Cozumel was 9 years ago, and we had forgotten how it looked like. A lot of development and changes were made at the port, but also too, because there were several different ports for all the major cruise lines, separated by half a mile or more in between, with their own shops and vendors to cater to their specific passengers. The shopping terminal at our port location looked brand spanking new, with nice air conditioned shops and restaurants. It even had multiple escalators, as it was two levels. We were impressed.
We met up with our tour guide fixer who set up our transportation to take us to Stingray Beach. We were happy that transportation was all included and accommodated with all the excursions we took on this trip; we'd usually try to find a taxi on our own and sometimes that proved difficult. Anyway, we arrived at Stingray Beach, a nice cozy little tourist haven made specifically to provide a tour for cruise ship passengers. It had a restaurant and chocolate factory tour, umbrella tables and hammocks, a massage hut, bathrooms and showers. Their main feature was a lagoon where you walk around and learn about stingrays, being given a chance to touch and kiss them. Seeing how we've done that already at Stingray City in Grand Cayman and numerous times at SeaWorld (without the kissing part) we passed on that.
Adjacent to the stingray lagoon was a large enclosed swimming area that allowed you to snorkel with a guide, and then afterwards use the bouncy flotation apparatus floating in the middle. That was included in our excursion, but first, our paddle board lesson. We were the only ones on this excursion, as others had taken the earlier time slot, which meant that we had our guide and instructor Julia "Jules", all to ourselves! A personal one on one lesson! After getting on the appropriate safety gear and swimming to the floating dock, we were quickly given some standing and paddling instructions before choosing our boards. Tangie took a larger, more stable board and I got a slightly smaller one.
It is a lot harder than it looks, and especially so, when you're trying to balance while avoiding the wake of passing boats. Usually you'd see pictures of people paddle boarding on calm lakes or floating down a peaceful stream, not bobbing up and down in the open ocean! We were told not to pass the buoys that separated us from the boats, and that we were free to move back and forth as we pleased. It took a while getting used to the movement and trying to maintain balance; my core definitely got a workout, but not as much as my thighs did, holy burn Batman! I did lose my balance several times and fell in the water; Tangie fared much better and stayed upright and dry the entire time! We were on the boards for half an hour and that was pretty much it for me. I was done and my legs were jello.
After the paddle board we were given masks, fins, and snorkels, and then we followed Jules as she took us to the large swimming area, to feed the fish and stingrays, warning us to keep away from the surrounding nets that enclosed the area because of fire coral. Oh, and there were huge sea urchins on the bottom, so don't step on them either. We watched in awe at all the fish swarming to get food from her; the visibility of the water there was crystal clear, 100 times better than the day before in Costa Maya. We were stunned to find out that kept inside this enclosure were about 20 stingrays, a couple of them the size of a small Mini Cooper! Jules would take surface dives with some chopped up fish in hand to feed the stingrays near the bottom as they swarmed around her. The fish would swim real close to you that you felt you could just reach out and grab one. We were also able to see a moray eel that lived in a pile of concrete blocks and cables, designed to give it some sort of protective habitat from the large stingrays. We enjoyed an incredible 30 minutes of swimming with the fish before getting out.
As that was the end of the activity part of the excursion, we were given time to enjoy the area before having a light lunch that was included in the package. So we went back out into the water for a bit, climbing up onto the floating bouncy trampoline and trying to balance on some of the walking challenge or bouncing each other off the blobs. It was a little unnerving knowing there were many large stingrays freely swimming directly underneath us, but after a while the feeling went away and we just enjoyed ourselves in the water. We showered and dried off a bit before picking up a small plate of homemade taquitos with bean dip and cabbage salad, enjoying lunch and the amazing view of the water. The weather was perfect and I was really "soaking in" (no pun intended) the moment.
After our time was up, the taxi driver took us back to the port, where we continued with our mission to find more gifts and souvenirs for the kids. It was the least we could do for leaving them for a week while we played. Some person told us about a store called Mega, which was Mexico's equivalent to Walmart, so we walked a couple of blocks to check it out and get some things for really cheap. I mean, a kid's new mask and snorkel set for only $5? Can't beat that! We also picked up some Mexican playdoh for Braelyn, as she had asked for clay to make stuff like the Mayans but was impossible to find, so playdoh it was. At least she could tell it was from Mexico with all the spanish words on the wrapping.
On our way back to the main shopping plaza at the port we happened an alley of numerous shops that resembled more a straw market. Here the owners of each shop invited you to come in and take a look at all of their goods, which looked the same from shop to shop. They were swarming and a little intimidating; you had to show confidence and be comfortable enough to say no. I did happen to see a knitted Denver Broncos backpack similar to those in Costa Maya, and I decided to see how low I could get the lady to sell it for. My goal was nothing more than $20, as that was the lowest someone told me he'd sell it the day before at the last port. I decided to try and barter, and wanted to let Tangie know I was going into the lady's shop, but Tangie was nowhere to be seen. I called for her but no answer, and my heart skipped a beat, my crazy imagination telling me that perhaps she was kidnapped and whisked away by some of the very bold shop keepers while the others were trying to distract me! I quickly started walking down the aisle, my head sweeping back and forth looking into all the shops, when I finally found her looking at some swimsuit cover ups with another lady shop keeper. Satisfied that she was okay, I told her I was going to try and get that back pack.
I went back to the lady with the Broncos back pack and she invited me to step into her shop, most likely because she didn't want the other vendors to know how much negotiating she would do, but probably because if I stepped into her shop that would mean that I was committed. I wanted to see if I could get her to sell it to me for $10, so this was how it went down:
Me: "How much for the Denver Broncos backpack?"
Lady: "Veinticinco. ($25) But I can make you a deal, señor."
Me: "I have $10."
Lady: "Okay, $20."
Me: "Tengo diez dólares." (I have $10)
Lady: "Um, okay, I can do $15."
Me: "I only have $10."
Lady: "Okay." She gets a long pole to retrieve the backpack hanging from the ceiling. "$12."
Me: "Do you not want my money? 10 dollars." I start to back away.
Lady: "Okay. 10 dollars." She puts the pack in a plastic bag and exchanges with me for two $5's.
Me: "Gracias." I leave her shop.
Lady: "Can I have a dollar for a Coca-cola?"
Me: "No, $10 is enough. Coca-cola is bad for you."
She relents and retreats to her shop.
Success. Not too shabby considering the Vikings lady got her's for $40!
Meanwhile, Tangie was trying to negotiate for the swimsuit cover, and was able to settle for a good deal. We quickly made our way out of the market before they tried to sell us any more things, and made our way back to the ship. Since it was the last port of the cruise, some of the entertainment staff and deck officers were at the entrance hosting a dance party as we boarded back on the ship.
Since we had a very, very light lunch at Stingray Beach we headed straight up to the Garden Cafe again to get (surprise!) our Indian fix. They change the Indian dishes and menu every day, so it's not like we're eating the same dish, just the same cuisine. All yummy. All good. We headed back into the stateroom to shower and change and get ready for the evening.
Because we boarded the ship by 4:30 we were able to watch the sunset as we left port, concluding a great first day of my 40's. We sat on one of the lounging sofas on the Waterfront Promenade on Deck 8 and just chilled and chatted and took pictures and videos of the amazing sunset; at times it looked like it was a volcano with lava running down the sides. We had our usual 5 course supper and dessert, but didn't do too much after that, I was in a lot of pain. My legs and thighs were so sore from paddle boarding earlier it hurt to walk. A lot. Like a mother. Especially when climbing up and down stairs. So I ended up using the elevator for the remainder of the cruise, a cruel reminder that I was getting old, and that my body wasn't as it used to be.
Day 7: At Sea.
Our last full day on the ship, we spent the day at sea relaxing and recuperating from the nonstop activity over the last 6 days. We slept in, had a late leisurely breakfast before walking around the promenade and returning back to our stateroom to read and relax on the balcony, only to head back upstairs for lunch.
I had booked myself a celebratory massage that afternoon, and I was looking forward to it, as my thighs were still killing me from paddle boarding the previous day. It was nice and relaxing and was over way too quickly. Afterwards the massage therapist tried to up sell me with more treatments (apparently I needed acupuncture) and product (face cream just for men, so that I can keep my youth!) Just a last ditch effort to nickel and dime me! I politely declined her gracious recommendations, and happily left. Tangie, meanwhile, went up to the top deck to read and get some sun while I was getting my therapy.
We showered and changed for the last evening's festivities, making sure our bags and gear were packed and ready for pickup by 11 that night. We went to the Tropicana dining room for our last supper, and unfortunately we were given a table that was next to the servers station, so there was a lot of movement, commotion, activity going on in the area and it didn't make for a nice dinner experience, let alone carry a conversation, it was so loud. And dangerous! Servers kept passing each other with trays full of plates and food over our heads, even bumping my chair a couple of times. We were a little annoyed with that but whatever. We tried not to let it ruin our evening.
We did walk around and took a look at our pictures from the ship's photographers throughout the week; none of them turned out well enough for us to shell over $22 for 1 picture. We swung by the shops for any last minute deals but there was nothing we just had to have, so we went down to the front Theatre to see the Farewell show, and gave recognition to the countless staff and crew that made our stay such a delightful one. On the way out I made a stop to say hello to the ship's executive chef, who I recognized from the video we made on the ship 2 years ago. He was one of the sous chefs back then so I guess he was promoted to head chef. I spoke with him about it but of course with so many cruises and guests over the past 2 years he wasn't able to remember. But I remembered, which made all the difference.
A last walk around the ship close to midnight, to check out the final dance party they were having in the back of the ship, a last gasp if you will, for all the party people to get their groove on before waking up to reality in a few short hours. We retired back to our stateroom, placing our bags out into the hallway and then got ready for bed.
Day 8: Disembarkation and Return Home.
We awoke at our usual time Sunday morning, peeked outside to see the Miami skyline, the sun just starting to peek out behind storm clouds in the East. It was disembarkation day and we were sad to see our week go by so quickly, but at the same time excited to get home and see the children. We hoped that they all did okay and there wasn't any drama while we were gone; no text messages on our phones after finally getting a signal gave us a sigh of relief.
We were in one of the last groups to disembark, so we got up around 7, showered and changed and then made one final sweep of our room before heading downstairs for breakfast. We've mentioned before that we will always take the dining room on the final day rather than the mad rush at the buffet upstairs, as it is much more peaceful and you can seemingly enjoy your last meal on the ship without having to scramble to get food, find a table, etc. After breakfast we ventured over to the library to await our group being called to exit.
When they finally called our group color we headed over to where the line had started forming, and what a line it was. Apparently customs was having a very slow time clearing people through, and several of the groups ahead of us were backed up, so much so that from the time it took us to get in line inside the ship, exit the gangway into the terminal, get in line for our luggage, secure our luggage and get in line for customs, took an entire HOUR! Very slow! And for good reason too: there were only 4 customs officers processing 4000 passengers from the ship! Talk about poor planning and scheduling! Oh well, we got through no problems, exited the terminal and proceeded to the parking garage. $140 later for parking and we were on our way home.
The drive back up was quick and uneventful; Tangie read more of her magazines she didn't get to on the ship. We did stop for a quick lunch at a Mexican restaurant halfway into our drive, and arrived back in Orlando just past 4 pm. We went straight to the Whitaker's home to pick up Braelyn, as she was attending Marley's birthday party. But poor girl, she was missing us so much that she kept to herself and looked seemingly sad the entire time she was there; she would later tell us that it was because she really didn't know anyone there, besides Marley and Calleigh. We went to Rebounderz in Apopka to pick up the twins, who were with Nana. We gave her the evening off, much deserved, and took the kids to supper before going home and getting them ready for bed and school the following morning.
They all did great, we were so proud of Nana for being able to take care of everybody (with a little help from some friends!) while we were gone. She did say she started getting tired by Thursday/Friday, with still a couple of days to go, but she kept focused and got through it. It is a lot of work, especially with 3, and we commend her on her efforts! The kids kept busy with homework, piano lessons, helping make their own breakfasts, and eating out every night.
Food: A Sampling.
Animal Towels: Night Cap.
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| At the Tropicana, about to get our chow. |
Day 3: Roatàn, Honduras.
Our first port of call was the island of Roatàn, just off mainland Honduras. A usual stop for Western Caribbean itineraries, this was the first time we had ever been, so we were excited to step on some new soil. We had booked an excursion for the day; we booked several excursions throughout the trip, but all through Norwegian. In the past we would've done things on our own: get our own taxi or transportation, researched and booked our own excursions, find our own adventures. This time around, we took the easy route and had the cruise line handle it all for us. I didn't know if we lost our edge as we got older, but we felt a little bit more secure about going with the ship's excursion lest something happen and we failed to miss the last call to re-board. At least the ship would wait for us then. We also decided to book land excursions for the first two stops vs. water excursions, as there was Tropical Storm Karl churning out in the Atlantic and we didn't know where it was headed. It would've stunk to have a snorkeling excursion canceled because of weather.
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| Beautiful clear water at the port in Roatàn. |
We woke up early though our excursion didn't begin until 11:30. We wanted to hit the gym and have a nice breakfast again, prior to us leaving the ship. Again, so did everyone else. The gym was packed, and there was a small group of people waiting in line for any treadmills/stationary bikes to vacate, so we opted to walk around the jogging track on deck 16, and when that got a little too crowded, we headed down to Deck 8 to walk the 1/4 mile outdoor promenade. 8 times around gave us a 2 mile walk, and we were soaking wet with the humidity by the end of it. We took a little break to play a game of chess with the large life-sized chess set outside, before heading back to the cabin to change and then eat breakfast. Again, prunes were ordered.
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| Chocolate. Sticky, chewy, pruny pieces of chocolate! |
We headed out an hour before the excursion to wander through the port; the incessant beating of bongo drums by some locals was starting to get a bit weary hearing it from our room, as we faced the port and could see and hear everything. We ducked through the shops, searching for little knick knacks to get for the kids, thankful that most of the shops had fans or some sort of cooling system to counter the suffocating heat of the day, and it wasn't even noon yet! We passed through the travel vendors trying to lure people to take their tours, and saw a guy selling coconuts for drinks for only $3. We thought that was a good deal, since usually they're either $5 or $7, so we promised ourselves to hit him up if he still had some left when we got back.
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| Walking around at the port. |
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| A lot of neat areas to take pictures there. |
Our excursion for the day was the canopy zip line, over the rain forests on the south side of the island. We took a short bus ride to the place and listened to our guide give some information on the history and culture of the island and of Honduras. She was a jolly, slightly heavy set woman and kept wiping her forehead with a hand towel, she was sweating profusely. Anyway, we arrived at the zip line tour and were immediately corralled into an area where they started putting harnesses and helmets on all of us. I had rented a locker for us to put our daypacks away while we were getting set; I had brought along our GoPro and selfie stick to take some great action shots of us doing the zip line, but as I was attaching the camera to the stick, one part of the connectors fell off and landed on the wooden floor, rolling and then promptly finding a crack and disappeared. Great, just great. So I had to take the selfie stick back to the locker; fortunately I had brought along the head strap, so we attached it to my helmet and we were set.
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| Waiting in Zone 5 for our excursion. |
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| Tangie getting her harness on. |
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| All set. Let's do this! |
It was neat to see all the different people going on the zip line: couples, young people, a Swedish lady in her 80's accompanied by her two sons in their 60's. It was fun interacting with the guides; they seemed to have a lot of fun with their jobs, which they did quite well: hooking the latches and securing the carabiner clips to make sure you were safe as you flew over the canopies. The numerous steel lines buzzing like swarms of angry bees as they hurtled carefree tourists back and forth. The views were breathtaking, and it was such a thrill to zip overhead at Mach 2! Thank goodness for leather gloves though, I can only imagine what the cables would do to bare skin since we were the ones controlling our own speed on the descents. What a rush!
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| Ready to go, giddy as a school boy. |
We must've zipped on 7 or 9 cables before it was all said and done. At the bottom of the final run the head guide gave all the men a hard sell on how we can "show" our "appreciation" for their time by giving tips to all 11 guides that were there. Um…but we've already paid $80 per person for the excursion, now you want us to fork over more? But I guess it was something to be expected. We got back on our tour bus back to the port, where lo and behold, the guy with the $3 coconuts was still there, so we got in line to get one. It was very good, the milk refreshing and the meat sweet and flavorful; Tangie was praying that we didn't catch anything that would make us sick later on, as this was the first thing we've eaten outside of the ship. Fortunately, that would not be the case.
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| Very picturesque scenery from the top of the zip line run. |
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| Heading back to port, a great shot of the ship from across the bay. |
We returned back to the ship and promptly went up to the Garden Cafe to get our Indian fix, and then went out to do the ropes course as we left port. Afterwards we settled back into the cabin for showers, reading our books and/or taking a short power nap. We did go to the gym just before supper and had some time for exercise to counter the calories we would take in for supper that evening. The first night onboard Tangie had ordered their chocolate lava cake, just like the one served on Carnival, except that Norwegian's was served with Stracciatella gelato! Can you say DIVINE?? It was one of the regular dessert menu items served every evening, and guess what, we ordered it. Every. Evening. Stuffed, we waddled to the front theatre to see Burn The Floor, an amazing dance show. Seriously, try doing a fast samba in high heels on a moving ship for an hour with a smile on your face. It was amazing.
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| The chocolate lava cake dessert. Among other things... |
Day 4: Belize City, Belize.
We awoke Wednesday morning anchored out in the ocean. This was our stop for the day, Belize City, but since there is the 2nd largest barrier reef in the world all along the coast, we had to use tenders to get us into the port, vs. actually docking at the port. We watched the tenders lining up, ready to fulfill their contracts to take the ship's passengers to shore. Carnival also had one of their ships, the Freedom, in Belize for the day as well, so the tenders were very busy indeed, going back and forth from the ships to the port, which was several miles away.
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| The sun glittering the water, tenders surrounding both us and the Carnival Freedom. |
Our excursion for the day was cave tubing through the Belizean rainforest. Awesome! We had always wanted to do this if given a chance, so we took it, especially since we didn't have to worry about an age or weight limit with having any of the littles with us. Tangie's cousin had posted pics of her going cave tubing during a recent trip to Belize and we promised ourselves we were going to do it on this trip. It was a bit on the pricier side as excursions go, but we opted to do the cave tubing combo with the rainforest trek as opposed to the one with the zip lining, since we had gone zip lining the previous day. Plus it was $50 cheaper per person, although this would be our most expensive excursion of the trip.
We had a quick breakfast and then got our gear and headed to our excursion meeting spot in the main dining room; in my haste to make it on time I completely forgot to bring the GoPro. Doh! Oh well, I guess our phones would have to do. Prior to us leaving we purchased these waterproof cases on Amazon to hold our phones and ID's whenever we'd leave the ship, knowing that at least a couple of excursions we were going to do was going to take place in or near water. I did a preliminary test with paper towels before we left, to make sure they worked, and so far they did great. But now we were going to see how they truly did during the real thing!
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| Making sure I have enough sunscreen on! |
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| Tangie waiting for our group number to be called. |
We joined a large group of about 50 people and we boarded our tender for Belize City. The sea was pretty calm and it made for a nice, leisurely boat ride to the port. It was neat seeing the ship in all it's majesty just sitting in the water as we left it; it always baffles me to think of how something this massive just floats on the water, but then you have to remind yourself that the oceans and seas are infinitely more massive than these ships are, making them mere dots on the map. We arrived at the port and immediately taken to a couple of buses that would take us through town en route to our destination in the jungle, an hour and a half drive away. It was also Belize's Independence Day, so everything was closed except for the shops at the port; they were having parades on the streets which made for heavier traffic to get around town. We enjoyed the cultural and educational tour during the bus ride.
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| The real part of Belize that most people don't see. |
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| Our guide "Anna Banana" giving us our cultural lesson for the day. |
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| Getting our cave tubing gear on, vests and helmets with lights. |
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| Listening to to our guide Carlos for final instructions. |
The trek through the rainforest wasn't all too bad. Our guide pointed out some important plants and trees along the way, some of them with medicinal and healing properties should one find themselves lost in the Belizean jungle. During the walk I noticed that the rubber soles of my water shoes had started to fall off; they were old and I hadn't bothered to get new ones for the trip. They both eventually fell off and I had to walk with them only having the outer padding on the bottoms! Needless to say, it wasn't very comfortable having to walk on rocks. They would be discarded immediately afterwards.
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| Our trek through the jungle, Carlos stops and points out various things. |
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| Wading across the river at one point. It was cold!! |
We arrived at the starting point and there were a lot of people there. Different groups from different ships, different guides from different tours, tours from different companies. It was crowded. We received last minute instructions from our guide as he lashed our inflatable tubes together. He then told us to sit on them and we were off! What a rush! The mouth to the entrance of the cave was spectacular and the cave even more so. We only did about half a mile through the cave, but with the slow current it took about half an hour to go from entrance to end. It was pitch black inside, but because everyone had their helmet lights on, it was never pure black enough to get scared; we were entranced at the underground rocky curves and formations made from the cutting river. There were times the ceiling of the cave was just a couple of feet from our heads, but then it would open up to caverns as big as our church's main sanctuary, it was incredible. It was also very noisy, as all the different guides were trying to tell of how the ancient Mayans traveled through the caves in their quest to travel through Hell and back. The Mayans were very religious and superstitious, so having to go through the caves was their equivalent to going through Hell. But for us it was an out of this world experience! UnBelizeable!!
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| A parting shot at the opening of the cave at the end of the tubing portion. |
The best part of the excursion happened immediately after the cave tubing: lunch. An authentic Belizean meal of stewed chicken on rice and beans accompanied with homemade cole slaw was included with our tour, and it was amazing, my favorite and quite possibly the best meal for me on the whole cruise. I know I just said it, but it was amazing!! The flavor was spicy and intense, but beautifully put together with the slaw for balance, the chicken just melted in your mouth. I could've had 3 or 4 plates of that thing but alas, my wristband only allotted me one.
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| Getting really excited. |
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| Deliciousness on a plate! |
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| Tangie enjoying a well earned lunch! |
We loaded back onto our bus for the hour and a half drive back to port, the majority of us falling asleep and taking a nap most of the way. We did have about an hour to walk around and check out the shops, which we did, picking up a couple of things for the kids before getting back on the tenders to take us back to the ship. We immediately went upstairs to the Garden Cafe, again to get our Indian fix, before settling back to our cabin for showers and some book reading. When we got to our cabin, we were delightfully surprised to find a tray of chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of wine waiting for us, with a card from the Deck officer, Mario. I called him to tell him that I thought perhaps they had delivered it to the wrong cabin, but he insisted it was a "gift" from him and for us to enjoy. I'm sure it had something to do with the $10 I had given him earlier in the week, but nevertheless I graciously accepted his kind gesture and thanked him, knowing that ordering something like this from the ship's gift registry would cost around $100 or so. It was a very nice surprise.
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| Nice place, we'll be back. |
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| A parting shot with our tour guides. |
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| Our token photo with the country name. |
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| On the tender back to the ship. |
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| Huge ship, dwarfed the Carnival Freedom. |
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| A surprise awaited us in our stateroom from our deck officer! |
More of the same as we dressed up for the evening, our usual 5 course supper and then the evening listening to the comedians at the Theatre and the dueling pianos at the lounge, completely exhausted heading to bed and reading a couple of pages before falling asleep.
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| A great view of the sunset from the gym. |
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| About to get our laugh on! |
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| We'd read 1 or 2 pages and then we'd be out. |
Day 5: Costa Maya, Mexico.
On Thursday was our stop to the port of Costa Maya in Mexico, located 200 miles south of Cancún. Again, we had never been, so it was exciting to see a new place. Not too many cruise itineraries go to Costa Maya, as it is still rebuilding from being decimated by Hurricane Dean in 2007. The entire port and town was wiped out, and you can still see remnants of the damage all over town. But it is starting to come back, as hotels and resorts are starting to lure tourists back into the area. We were very impressed with the port itself, with all the shops and vendors, the construction was very well done and it even had a large community pool right in the middle for any cruise passengers to use!
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| A long walk on the pier to the actual port! |
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| Getting our breakfast on! |
It was another early morning excursion for us, this time a catamaran sail and snorkel experience. We had ridden on a catamaran on a cruise many, many years ago, so we thought we'd do it again. The weather forecast was great for the day as well, which was why we decided to do a water excursion. We woke up around 6:30 to get ready and have breakfast, getting off the ship by 8:30 and walking to the port for our excursion meeting point. There was a group of locals dressed in ancient Mayan ceremonial costumes and were doing a dance for all the people going onshore, and it was funny watching them make sure that anyone who took a picture with them gave some sort of tip into their tip jar.
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| A nice photo op with the ship in the background. |
Our excursion group was shuffled to our bus that would take us to the catamaran…it was a Mercedes Benz bus! What the what?? How awesome was that, but how was that possible? Looking up and down the area that the buses parked, they were all Mercedes Benz buses! Apparently the Mexican government gave a nice budget to the port when rebuilding from Dean, and they spent quite a bit on lavish transportation. The luxury buses looked brand spanking new, very clean, and very nice. Again, we were impressed.
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| Excess. Who has a Mercedez bus?! |
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| Pretty sweet inside, thinks the man sitting behind us! |
After a quick ride out of the port and through town, we arrived at the pier where our catamaran was waiting. Our guide had pointed out all the different areas of the old city, or what was left of it, plus all the new hotels and developments that were being built. Anyway, we boarded and went through some safety checks as we sailed out to the reef. We had introductions and made nice with some of the people on the excursion; we did share a floating home for the week after all. We enjoyed the ride out, sitting on the hammock beds that were over the water.
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| Our guide, José gave a nice talk as we toured the city. |
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| On the catamaran, our ship looming in the distance. |
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| Starting to relax and enjoy the excursion. |
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| Yes, that's better! |
When we got to our spot we anchored and then we were split into 3 groups: Beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Tangie and I were with the advanced group, as we felt pretty comfortable on our own doing snorkeling, even though we really hadn't gone snorkeling since 2006 on the cruise before Braelyn was born. The water was the perfect temperature and visibility was around 50 feet or so, we were able to see pretty well around us. Our guide took us out to the reef where we saw numerous fish and 3 different species of rays, including an eagle ray! We swam for about half an hour which was plenty and we enjoyed our time before getting back onto the catamaran for our sail back to the pier.
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| Putting together our masks and snorkels. |
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| Tangie and her cute new swimsuit! |
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| After the swim, heading back to the pier. |
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| A lot of iguanas just sitting about. |
We spent a quick few minutes walking through the port shops and vendors, trying to see what the base prices for goods were and feeling some of the shop keepers out, to see if they were willing to barter and negotiate prices. But we were hungry, so we went back to the ship to get our Indian fix and drop off our wet gear back in the cabin before changing and re-applying sunscreen and then going back out to the port. The shops all had most of the same things; there were a lot of homemade items that showcased NFL teams, obviously catering to a lot of Americans. I had inquired on how much they would sell a knitted Broncos backpack, and I got a range from $35 to $25, I even had a guy say he would sell one to me for $20. Not too shabby, but I still wasn't willing to settle. I spoke with one lady on our ship that had purchased a Vikings backpack for her son and she was so excited that she had talked the vendor guy down from $50 to $40 for the thing, until I told her that one of the guys offered to sell his for the $20. Oh well, at least she got what she wanted! Tangie found a ceramic Christmas ornament as a keepsake (which I accidentally dropped and it broke into 2 pieces, but I was able to superglue back together) and we picked up a couple of other souvenirs for the kids.
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| Token photo with the port sign. |
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| Finally got attacked by a jaguar. |
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| Really cool souvenirs, words made by slicing letters on license plates and piecing together. |
We did happen upon a vendor that was offering a different kind of service...fish pedicures! $20 for 20 minutes of little fish eating the dead skin off your feet, this was a once in a lifetime experience and Tangie had to try it for herself! So she paid her fare and found a seat, but before she could put her feet into the tank they had to give her a scrub, to make sure there were no chemicals or anything harmful for the fish. So they scrubbed both her legs and feet, and it hurt! She said it was so painful, the young lady who did the scrubbing really took her job seriously. After about 10 or so minutes of scrubbing, Tangie was finally able to put her feet into the water. There was a huge grin on her face, as she said it felt like someone constantly tickling her feet! An experience for sure.
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| Tangie forks over money to become fish food! |
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| Getting her scrub down; she's smiling but it was painful! |
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| Only in Mexico. And parts of the Far East. |
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| Delicious feet! |
We made the last call onto the ship before they pulled the gangway and left the port. Seeing how we spent most of the morning "exercising" on our snorkel excursion, we opted to take a nap before supper. Naps are a beautiful thing, and you just can't get enough of them in life. Anyway, we opted to have supper at Shanghai's, a specialty restaurant that was actually complimentary (for once!) and they made all different kinds of noodle dishes from different Asian and Far Eastern countries. We tried and ate different things, from dumplings and egg rolls, to Pad Thai. We were a bit disappointed that their dessert selection was a little sparse, so we went back to one of the bigger complimentary dining rooms to look over their dessert menu, the chocolate lava cake included. But then, we made a mistake and ordered more of the regular food as well, so we were totally stuffed!
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| I'm such a rebel. |
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| At Shanghai's, getting her egg rolls on. |
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| Good to see some other Asians eating there. |
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| And back downstairs to start all over. Let's do this! |
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| Lava cake. Plus others... |
After dessert we again waddled to the front theatre where they had a show called Million Dollar Quartet, a story of when 4 of the most famous rockers including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lewis all came together to record in their studio. The show had a lot, and I mean a lot, of old classic music that we knew Papa2 and Deeda, and even Papa Dave would've enjoyed to hear: Hound Dog, Blue Suede Shoes, Great Balls of Fire, to name a few. Our bellies full and ears ringing, we headed back to our cabin and crawled into bed.
Day 6: Cozumel, Mexico.
Our final port of call, we arrived in Cozumel early Friday morning, which also happened to be my 40th birthday. How awesome it was to celebrate a milestone birthday with the woman I love in an exotic location!
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| Beautiful sunrise greets me on the first day in my 40's! |
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| Really, 50 shades of blue! |
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| Another nice long walk on the pier to the port of Cozumel! |
Our excursion that day was a paddle board lesson and snorkel at this place called Stingray Beach. The last time we were in Cozumel was 9 years ago, and we had forgotten how it looked like. A lot of development and changes were made at the port, but also too, because there were several different ports for all the major cruise lines, separated by half a mile or more in between, with their own shops and vendors to cater to their specific passengers. The shopping terminal at our port location looked brand spanking new, with nice air conditioned shops and restaurants. It even had multiple escalators, as it was two levels. We were impressed.
We met up with our tour guide fixer who set up our transportation to take us to Stingray Beach. We were happy that transportation was all included and accommodated with all the excursions we took on this trip; we'd usually try to find a taxi on our own and sometimes that proved difficult. Anyway, we arrived at Stingray Beach, a nice cozy little tourist haven made specifically to provide a tour for cruise ship passengers. It had a restaurant and chocolate factory tour, umbrella tables and hammocks, a massage hut, bathrooms and showers. Their main feature was a lagoon where you walk around and learn about stingrays, being given a chance to touch and kiss them. Seeing how we've done that already at Stingray City in Grand Cayman and numerous times at SeaWorld (without the kissing part) we passed on that.
Adjacent to the stingray lagoon was a large enclosed swimming area that allowed you to snorkel with a guide, and then afterwards use the bouncy flotation apparatus floating in the middle. That was included in our excursion, but first, our paddle board lesson. We were the only ones on this excursion, as others had taken the earlier time slot, which meant that we had our guide and instructor Julia "Jules", all to ourselves! A personal one on one lesson! After getting on the appropriate safety gear and swimming to the floating dock, we were quickly given some standing and paddling instructions before choosing our boards. Tangie took a larger, more stable board and I got a slightly smaller one.
It is a lot harder than it looks, and especially so, when you're trying to balance while avoiding the wake of passing boats. Usually you'd see pictures of people paddle boarding on calm lakes or floating down a peaceful stream, not bobbing up and down in the open ocean! We were told not to pass the buoys that separated us from the boats, and that we were free to move back and forth as we pleased. It took a while getting used to the movement and trying to maintain balance; my core definitely got a workout, but not as much as my thighs did, holy burn Batman! I did lose my balance several times and fell in the water; Tangie fared much better and stayed upright and dry the entire time! We were on the boards for half an hour and that was pretty much it for me. I was done and my legs were jello.
After the paddle board we were given masks, fins, and snorkels, and then we followed Jules as she took us to the large swimming area, to feed the fish and stingrays, warning us to keep away from the surrounding nets that enclosed the area because of fire coral. Oh, and there were huge sea urchins on the bottom, so don't step on them either. We watched in awe at all the fish swarming to get food from her; the visibility of the water there was crystal clear, 100 times better than the day before in Costa Maya. We were stunned to find out that kept inside this enclosure were about 20 stingrays, a couple of them the size of a small Mini Cooper! Jules would take surface dives with some chopped up fish in hand to feed the stingrays near the bottom as they swarmed around her. The fish would swim real close to you that you felt you could just reach out and grab one. We were also able to see a moray eel that lived in a pile of concrete blocks and cables, designed to give it some sort of protective habitat from the large stingrays. We enjoyed an incredible 30 minutes of swimming with the fish before getting out.
As that was the end of the activity part of the excursion, we were given time to enjoy the area before having a light lunch that was included in the package. So we went back out into the water for a bit, climbing up onto the floating bouncy trampoline and trying to balance on some of the walking challenge or bouncing each other off the blobs. It was a little unnerving knowing there were many large stingrays freely swimming directly underneath us, but after a while the feeling went away and we just enjoyed ourselves in the water. We showered and dried off a bit before picking up a small plate of homemade taquitos with bean dip and cabbage salad, enjoying lunch and the amazing view of the water. The weather was perfect and I was really "soaking in" (no pun intended) the moment.
After our time was up, the taxi driver took us back to the port, where we continued with our mission to find more gifts and souvenirs for the kids. It was the least we could do for leaving them for a week while we played. Some person told us about a store called Mega, which was Mexico's equivalent to Walmart, so we walked a couple of blocks to check it out and get some things for really cheap. I mean, a kid's new mask and snorkel set for only $5? Can't beat that! We also picked up some Mexican playdoh for Braelyn, as she had asked for clay to make stuff like the Mayans but was impossible to find, so playdoh it was. At least she could tell it was from Mexico with all the spanish words on the wrapping.
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| Like any other store, except everything is in Spanish! |
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| With our loot. We made out nice and found great gifts for the kids! |
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| The swarm of shopkeepers awaiting for me to run the gauntlet. |
I went back to the lady with the Broncos back pack and she invited me to step into her shop, most likely because she didn't want the other vendors to know how much negotiating she would do, but probably because if I stepped into her shop that would mean that I was committed. I wanted to see if I could get her to sell it to me for $10, so this was how it went down:
Me: "How much for the Denver Broncos backpack?"
Lady: "Veinticinco. ($25) But I can make you a deal, señor."
Me: "I have $10."
Lady: "Okay, $20."
Me: "Tengo diez dólares." (I have $10)
Lady: "Um, okay, I can do $15."
Me: "I only have $10."
Lady: "Okay." She gets a long pole to retrieve the backpack hanging from the ceiling. "$12."
Me: "Do you not want my money? 10 dollars." I start to back away.
Lady: "Okay. 10 dollars." She puts the pack in a plastic bag and exchanges with me for two $5's.
Me: "Gracias." I leave her shop.
Lady: "Can I have a dollar for a Coca-cola?"
Me: "No, $10 is enough. Coca-cola is bad for you."
She relents and retreats to her shop.
Success. Not too shabby considering the Vikings lady got her's for $40!
Meanwhile, Tangie was trying to negotiate for the swimsuit cover, and was able to settle for a good deal. We quickly made our way out of the market before they tried to sell us any more things, and made our way back to the ship. Since it was the last port of the cruise, some of the entertainment staff and deck officers were at the entrance hosting a dance party as we boarded back on the ship.
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| Beautiful port plaza, with an overpass. |
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| Token picture. |
Since we had a very, very light lunch at Stingray Beach we headed straight up to the Garden Cafe again to get (surprise!) our Indian fix. They change the Indian dishes and menu every day, so it's not like we're eating the same dish, just the same cuisine. All yummy. All good. We headed back into the stateroom to shower and change and get ready for the evening.
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| Just an incredibly beautiful day. |
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| Relaxing, enjoying the view on the promenade. |
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| An amazing sunset! |
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| In a world of hurt. Happy Birthday to me! |
Day 7: At Sea.
Our last full day on the ship, we spent the day at sea relaxing and recuperating from the nonstop activity over the last 6 days. We slept in, had a late leisurely breakfast before walking around the promenade and returning back to our stateroom to read and relax on the balcony, only to head back upstairs for lunch.
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| One of the best breakfasts that week! |
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| Another lovely day, enjoyed from our balcony. |
I had booked myself a celebratory massage that afternoon, and I was looking forward to it, as my thighs were still killing me from paddle boarding the previous day. It was nice and relaxing and was over way too quickly. Afterwards the massage therapist tried to up sell me with more treatments (apparently I needed acupuncture) and product (face cream just for men, so that I can keep my youth!) Just a last ditch effort to nickel and dime me! I politely declined her gracious recommendations, and happily left. Tangie, meanwhile, went up to the top deck to read and get some sun while I was getting my therapy.
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| One of the treatment rooms where I had my massage. |
We showered and changed for the last evening's festivities, making sure our bags and gear were packed and ready for pickup by 11 that night. We went to the Tropicana dining room for our last supper, and unfortunately we were given a table that was next to the servers station, so there was a lot of movement, commotion, activity going on in the area and it didn't make for a nice dinner experience, let alone carry a conversation, it was so loud. And dangerous! Servers kept passing each other with trays full of plates and food over our heads, even bumping my chair a couple of times. We were a little annoyed with that but whatever. We tried not to let it ruin our evening.
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| Last dinner out, let's do this! |
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| Server almost bumping into Tangie, again! |
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| So much trouble! Dessert coma here we come! |
We did walk around and took a look at our pictures from the ship's photographers throughout the week; none of them turned out well enough for us to shell over $22 for 1 picture. We swung by the shops for any last minute deals but there was nothing we just had to have, so we went down to the front Theatre to see the Farewell show, and gave recognition to the countless staff and crew that made our stay such a delightful one. On the way out I made a stop to say hello to the ship's executive chef, who I recognized from the video we made on the ship 2 years ago. He was one of the sous chefs back then so I guess he was promoted to head chef. I spoke with him about it but of course with so many cruises and guests over the past 2 years he wasn't able to remember. But I remembered, which made all the difference.
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| Need a new hat? |
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| One of Tangie's clients in Orlando, they opened a restaurant on the ship and were training that week. |
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| The Executive Chef on the Getaway. |
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| That's him 2 years ago on the far right, with me walking away on the left. |
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| He was gracious enough to take a photo with me! |
A last walk around the ship close to midnight, to check out the final dance party they were having in the back of the ship, a last gasp if you will, for all the party people to get their groove on before waking up to reality in a few short hours. We retired back to our stateroom, placing our bags out into the hallway and then got ready for bed.
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| Realizing that all good things must come to an end. |
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| Our bags ready for pick up. |
Day 8: Disembarkation and Return Home.
We awoke at our usual time Sunday morning, peeked outside to see the Miami skyline, the sun just starting to peek out behind storm clouds in the East. It was disembarkation day and we were sad to see our week go by so quickly, but at the same time excited to get home and see the children. We hoped that they all did okay and there wasn't any drama while we were gone; no text messages on our phones after finally getting a signal gave us a sigh of relief.
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| Looking to the ocean, a sign of things to come! |
We were in one of the last groups to disembark, so we got up around 7, showered and changed and then made one final sweep of our room before heading downstairs for breakfast. We've mentioned before that we will always take the dining room on the final day rather than the mad rush at the buffet upstairs, as it is much more peaceful and you can seemingly enjoy your last meal on the ship without having to scramble to get food, find a table, etc. After breakfast we ventured over to the library to await our group being called to exit.
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| One last look out from our balcony! We enjoyed it! |
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| Breakfast with a view. Nice to get a window seat. |
When they finally called our group color we headed over to where the line had started forming, and what a line it was. Apparently customs was having a very slow time clearing people through, and several of the groups ahead of us were backed up, so much so that from the time it took us to get in line inside the ship, exit the gangway into the terminal, get in line for our luggage, secure our luggage and get in line for customs, took an entire HOUR! Very slow! And for good reason too: there were only 4 customs officers processing 4000 passengers from the ship! Talk about poor planning and scheduling! Oh well, we got through no problems, exited the terminal and proceeded to the parking garage. $140 later for parking and we were on our way home.
The drive back up was quick and uneventful; Tangie read more of her magazines she didn't get to on the ship. We did stop for a quick lunch at a Mexican restaurant halfway into our drive, and arrived back in Orlando just past 4 pm. We went straight to the Whitaker's home to pick up Braelyn, as she was attending Marley's birthday party. But poor girl, she was missing us so much that she kept to herself and looked seemingly sad the entire time she was there; she would later tell us that it was because she really didn't know anyone there, besides Marley and Calleigh. We went to Rebounderz in Apopka to pick up the twins, who were with Nana. We gave her the evening off, much deserved, and took the kids to supper before going home and getting them ready for bed and school the following morning.
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| Driving through afternoon thundershowers on the drive home. Welcome back to Florida! |
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| Last hurrah, a quaint Mexican restaurant we found on Yelp! Felt weird to have to pay before we left. |
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| Brae sobbing on Mommy when we picked her up, she missed us so! |
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| The twins did better, Maddy and |
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| Kohl were both happy to see us! |
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| And they were all happier to receive their souvenirs and gifts! |
They all did great, we were so proud of Nana for being able to take care of everybody (with a little help from some friends!) while we were gone. She did say she started getting tired by Thursday/Friday, with still a couple of days to go, but she kept focused and got through it. It is a lot of work, especially with 3, and we commend her on her efforts! The kids kept busy with homework, piano lessons, helping make their own breakfasts, and eating out every night.
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| They had a lot of fun with Nana! |
Food: A Sampling.
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| Beef carpaccio. |
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| Pistachio creme brûlée. |
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| Escargot. |
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| Smoked salmon bagel. |
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| Ceviché. |
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| Muesli and prunes. |
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| Dill spinach pancakes. |
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| Pancetta melon salad. |
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| Huevos Rancheros. |
Animal Towels: Night Cap.
Twins: Seeing Double. These couples certainly enjoyed matching one another during the cruise!
Recap:
What a glorious week it was: Relaxing, refreshing, a time to reflect and reconnect with each other. This was truly a memorable vacation, not just because of the milestone birthday, but also because we went to some new places and experienced new adventures together. It was wonderful spending time with the Mrs., and it was like we were dating all over again. Sure, there were times where we missed the kids [somewhat] but then it was so busy with excursions and activities that we quickly moved on to other things! We certainly enjoyed our week off ~ the ship, the food, the service, the music and the entertainment, the excursions, and our time together.
Thank you to all who helped make this happen!
Have a great weekend!
What a glorious week it was: Relaxing, refreshing, a time to reflect and reconnect with each other. This was truly a memorable vacation, not just because of the milestone birthday, but also because we went to some new places and experienced new adventures together. It was wonderful spending time with the Mrs., and it was like we were dating all over again. Sure, there were times where we missed the kids [somewhat] but then it was so busy with excursions and activities that we quickly moved on to other things! We certainly enjoyed our week off ~ the ship, the food, the service, the music and the entertainment, the excursions, and our time together.
Thank you to all who helped make this happen!
Have a great weekend!
Glad you took us on this trip it was fun and saved us a lot of money and time because going with you here was a way cheaper and faster!
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I am soooo glad you made it back all safe and sound. Someday I would like to ride the Zip line and go cave tubing. It looked fun but also kind of hot and sweaty, huh?
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