I have now taught over 20 new students in the past week. I used to get nervous about new students. Not anymore! I guess experience is the key 😉
I ran three miles today–still not all in a row (meaning I take walk breaks) but it was easy. I could have gone longer. Which is good…as my half marathon is looming. Due to various things (vacation, illness) I am behind on my training. My goal is to finish, that is all. I’ve only been running since May or June, so this will be an awesome accomplishment.
Sometimes my cat is so cute she makes me cry!
I got our waterproof camera photos back today (from the cruise). Some of the pictures are great! I will be posting them soon, just not tonight. Too tired to deal with it.
I found out one of my students and his family are going on a cruise in November. It’s a NCL cruise with a very similar itinerary to mine. SO JEALOUS! I know they will have a fantastic time.
Well, finally our cruise was nearing its conclusion (sad!). I slept it quite a bit, ordered room service, and read outside on the balcony for awhile. I had still managed to finish about 7 paperbacks during my week! There were a few interesting activities happening through the day, but we didn’t really make it to any of them! We went to the gym and then decided to try lunch in the Dining Room (never done before!).
Just fyi: when you go to the dining room they ask you if you want to sit with others. We were confused by the question, but quickly learned this meant they seat you at a table with other random people. It was fine, but in the future I would probably say “no.” Lunch was fine–I had antipasto and a tuna sandwich. Chris had a burger that he didn’t think was very good.
After lunch I did a little souvenir shopping and then we wanted to go to the sun deck. We relaxed in the sun for an hour or so, and then went back inside. I insisted that we do some packing (our suitcases needed to be outside the room by midnight, and I knew we wouldn’t want to pack it all later) and Chris wanted to smoke one of his cigars.
After that, we didn’t really do much at all. It was great!
The FunTimes (daily paper) said there would be live music with the Legend showband before dinner, so we got ready early and headed down to listen. They played some jazz, and it was very nice. We went to dinner for the last time 🙁
At dinnerWith our tablemates and waiterGrand Marnier souffle
After dinner the whole table went to the Casino to try blackjack again. I am not much of a gambler, so I just hung out. Chris didn’t do very well, so then we all played some other games, including the penny slots, where I turned $20 into $80. So that was fun!
We stayed up pretty late, but finally did need to get to bed. The next day would be early and long.
Day 8: Disembarkation
We were in zone 14. This meant we had to put our bags out in the hall the night before except what we needed. We needed to vacate our stateroom by 8:30 and when our zone was called, we could leave the ship. We actually had a late afternoon flight so we were in no rush. We decided to eat breakfast in the Dining Room (eggs benedict!) which was again something we hadn’t done. Then it was only a little time until our zone was called. It went very smoothly, and soon we were on dry land…
We got home safely later that night.
Okay, so wrap-up: I currently have a bad cold, I wonder if I got it on the ship? I don’t remember anyone being sick, but who knows. We had a fantastic time overall, and definitely want to cruise again, but we might want to try another line. We would have preferred more classical music or jazz and perhaps more “upscale” activities like the wine tasting. However it was overall a fantastic vacation, and we enjoyed the wide variety of activities. Chris was happy with all the excursions I planned, and I was happy they all turned out to be as good as I’d hoped while planning them!
I wrote a brief review for the website that helped me so much, cruisecritic.com. Here’s the link to that if you want.
Thanks for reading! I hope to go on another cruise next summer. If I do more teaching during the year, I should be able to better afford it 🙂
Today we scheduled our only “through Carnival” excursion. Those of you new to cruising: excursions are little trips you can take during the port days. The ship sells a lot of tours, and also independent operators on the islands will offer trips, either through the internet, or when you get off the ship in port. Why go with Carnival (or whatever your ship carrier)? They are guaranteed to get you back to the ship because they can hold the ship for you. You are also guaranteed of a certain level of quality. Why go with another group? Probably cheaper, first thing. You could have a smaller group of people/more personal guidance. And generally getting back to the ship on time isn’t an issue, because most tours are only for a few hours anyway. We chose Carnival for this tour because it was going to be a long one: we were going to visit the Mayan Ruins at Xunantunich. The whole tour was seven hours long, plus Belize is a tender port, and not an easy tender like Grand Cayman–the tender takes about 15 to 20 minutes to get to shore from the ship.
We had to get up very early to meet by 8:00 am in the Follies Lounge. They had people sit in various places to wait for the tenders to get ready. We heard the ship drop anchor just a few minutes before 8 (maybe more than one?) and eventually were able to line up to get on the tender. We rode the tender boat to the port at Belize and then were herded into an air conditioned bus (complete with bathroom!).
Leaving the ship on our tender boat
Our guides introduced themselves and we were on our way. We had a two hour bus ride ahead of us. The guides made it very interesting though, by pointing our various landmarks and telling us about the culture and history of Belize (formerly British Honduras). One thing I found particularly interesting due to my family background was that there is a large Amish and Mennonite population in Belize. The guide said you could get a fair price on well made furniture or used cars from them!
Mennonite Church we drove by
Finally we arrived at the site. We had to get off the bus and get onto a ferry to cross the river. This was a hand cranked ferry.
The crank/handle to turn itWorking hard!
Next we got into vans to be shuttled another mile or so. Finally we were at the visitor’s center!
Xunantunich means “Stone Lady” and is thought to have been from around 200 to 900 BC. I linked to the wikipedia article if you want to know a little more history. In any case, our guide told us tons of information at the time, but as it was super hot and I was nervous about the climbing, I didn’t remember much of it.
There are several buildings (huge ones!) but we were to climb up the largest, called “El Castillo”. From the top we would be able to see for miles, including to Guatemala, only a few miles away.
El CastilloChris listening to the guide (in yellow)Some of the climbing we didMore to go! Up those stairs, then around a little ledge, then up MORE stairs.Got a little freaked out so I thought I'd sit for awhile.Made it to the top! The roof: right there.Looking down from the topExhausted but happy
After the whole group got to the top…we did have to go back down. We took a different route down that was perhaps steeper but easier in a way. I was pretty pleased to be on the ground as well. One other note: during the tour two men with large rifles followed our group. Our guide said they were border patrol to protect us from the Guatemalan border. They did give us our distance, but I couldn’t help but think of all the stories you hear of groups of rich tourists getting kidnapped. (Rich simply in that we are from the US–we are all wealthy in comparison).
In any case, the ruins were fantastic! I want to see more 🙂
We did the opposite travel on the way back and were soon back on the bus, on our way to a lunch stop. Here we were given an authentic Belizean dish of chicken, rice and beans (made with coconut milk…so good!), plantain, and cole slaw.
It was good, but I might rather have had lizard!
On the way back, we mainly slept. We were at the pier just a few minutes after the official time for the last tender, and we were on the very last tender back to the ship. What a day!!
That was the last port of the trip, just to let you know. The rest of time would be just on the ship.
There was an adult dodgeball game at 5:30 that Chris wanted to do so we headed up to the sports deck (top deck of the ship). When we got there, we ran into our tablemates. They had been playing the free throw competition. I did not want to play dodgeball so I just watched Chris play. He did very well and won a medal. He did not want the medal, but I did, since our tablemates already had one from the free throw comp.
Chris's teamDodgeball court
Wearing our medals! Me, Jen (the cruise director), and Michelle
After the excitement of dodgeball we relaxed in the lobby for awhile and then had to get ready for our last “elegant evening.” After the week of eating, drinking, and excursions, Chris and I were not as thrilled to get dressed up. We didn’t bother with taking pictures, and simply did our best to squeeze into our clothing.
At dinnerSunset from the balcony
After dinner, we hung out with our tablemates for a bit and then turned in for the night. Tomorrow would be a relaxing day at sea only, no big plans, no plans at all!
Originally we were just going to relax on Roatan, since we had already booked so many things (including a long day tomorrow in Belize). Carnival built a whole port and beach area (with of course the requisite shops and restaurants) on Roatan Island called Mahogany Bay, and ostensibly we could have done the whole day there for no fee, just relaxed on the beach and whatnot. However, the more I did research and the more I thought about it, I really wanted to see the rest of the island and not just the Carnival part. Plus the day before was a beach day in Cozumel, and I didn’t think Chris would like the beach too much (turns out in his “old” age he is much more amenable to lying around, but oh well!). I learned we could book a private driver for the day and get a tour for a pretty reasonable rate (compared to other places, for sure) so I decided to do that. I wanted to do some sightseeing and eat some authentic food.
There were a couple of companies on Roatan that offered similar looking products. I decided to go with the highest rated company, Victor Bodden tours. The only unnerving aspect was that we would have to meet the tour guide outside of the grounds and evidently it would be quite the walk up a big hill (this is Carnival trying to make it harder for you to book independently and just spend money on their property.)
The ship was scheduled to dock at 11:00 am and it was just a little bit early. The odd thing is that the ship almost backs into the port. I got up early and watched this all from the balcony. We got off the ships shortly after 11:00 and walked through the port, Mahogany bay, up a big hill, down a big hill, and finally met our tour guide for the day. His name was Frankie, and he was very personable.
Originally I didn’t know what we wanted to do. I’ve never been there, so how would I know what to see? I potentially wanted to zipline, but figured with a private tour, and having done parasailing and jet skis already that we had had enough adventure. And this is something I should have thought of: Victor Bodden of Victor Bodden tours owns his own zipline on his property (tourism is booming, I guess!). It is also part of a place called “Monkey Business” which is a little zoo with birds and monkeys, a petting zoo of sorts. I had said we did not want to do this, because Chris and I thought it sounded creepy and exploitative.
Frankie drove us around the island for a bit. Like I said, he was very personable. He pointed out many different places, took us through several villages, some VERY poor. He drove up a very long hill/dirt road to the highest point on the island–you could see all around you. Just to let you know, Roatan is a very lush, hilly island. Grand Cayman is very flat–Roatan Island is the opposite.
The view from the top of the islandFrankie said most people don't like fast food
After about 1 to 1 1/2 hours of driving around, Frankie took us to the Monkey/zip line place. I guess we had to go there, since I thought we had already said we didn’t want to zipline. However, we decided to just pay the $5 zoo fee and spend some time there. It ended up being pretty neat.
Feeding the monkey
After the zoo we went to West End Beach. We could have stayed there for awhile, but we decided to just walk around a bit, and then we wanted to have lunch. The water was beautiful!
I believe the beach was called half moon beach, since that's how it was shaped.Gorgeous water!
The beach was pretty small but beautiful, and jammed with rustic looking restaurants/resorts. Evidently the scuba and snorkeling are great, but we didn’t do any of that. We had already had a good beach day, so a little walk was good enough. We were quite hungry by this point, so we wanted to get some food.
Our guide recommended a place, and told us that his favorite food was iguana–a delicacy in the area. We invited him to join us for lunch, and we ordered “off” the menu. I forget the name of the restaurant, something to do with Creole’s something (should have taken a picture). Frankie and I ordered the iguana and Chris went with the stewed chicken. Both dishes came with rice and beans, and plantains. Frankie was worried I wouldn’t like the iguana, but I ended up really liking it! (Plus I am just not a very picky eater and love to try new things.)
I love this stuff!
After lunch, we just wanted to do a little shopping. We went to a gift shop type place where almost everything was “50 percent off!” (Pretty sure it was always that way…) We got some awesome smelling coffee and a beautiful wooden plate. Finally our guide dropped us back off at the pier. We said thanks for a great day and gave him a nice tip. Overall it was a great tour, though I might try a different company next time as I felt like Victor Bodden had a little bit of a racket going on!
We walked around Mahogany Bay for a bit and poked our heads in a few of the shops. We also tried coconut water (directly out of a coconut), which I had heard was really tasty. For the record: it was NOT very good.
Heading back to the ship
Finally we got back on the ship. We hit the gym (ran a bit…gah…so hot on the treadmills!) and then went out to the sun deck for a little while. We just relaxed, had a frosty drink, and got ready for the show before dinner.
The show was “the Physical comedy of Max Winfrey”. It was EXCELLENT. He was very funny, did a lot of juggling, and some other stuff (knife throwing) all with a witty sense of humor. I did not have high expectations, and I thought the show was just fantastic.
We went to dinner, and then after dinner there were two new comedians: Dobie Maxwell and Eddie Capone. We attended both “R rated” shows with our tablemates, and they were very funny. I liked Eddie Capone the best–he would make fun of audience members and himself.
Next stop: early morning in Belize, Mayan ruins tour!
For our day in Cozumel, Mexico, we decided (in advance) that we would need to relax after our jet ski day, so I booked us at a private beach club called Nachi Cocum. For one price, you would get all you wanted to eat and drink, beach chairs and a palapa (umbrella-like thing). We also decided to reserve a parasailing time, since that was a decent deal.
The ship was scheduled to dock at 10 am, but by the time I woke up around 9:15 we were already there, so I don’t know when we got there. We took our time getting off the ship as we wanted to feel relaxed. I believe we finally walked off around 10:15, and it only took a couple minutes, no lines at all. Luckily this was NOT a tender port.
Once you get off the ship in Cozumel, there is a long walk down the pier to get to the area with all the shops. It was a very hot day, and this walk felt very long. I didn’t bring water along as I didn’t realize! We made it and then had to worm our way out to catch a taxi. There is a set rate to Nachi Cocum (along with other locations–all rates were advertised).
I had picked Nachi Cocum because people said it was very exclusive and had the best food. Even on busy days (5 or more ships in port) they limit the number of people to 100. We only had two or three (can’t recall) ships in port, and it wasn’t near capacity.
Upon our arrival, they had us put on sombreros and take a picture. Later they tried to sell us this picture for 12, then 10 dollars, but we didn’t think it was worth it. We looked funny, but my face was bright red and we were both very sweaty.
We paid the fee and then were shown to our chairs under a palapa. You could also move them of course. The water and sand were GORGEOUS!! Clear bright blue….white sandy beach…it was going to be a great day! I didn’t take that many pictures in retrospect, and I wish I had. Oh well, we’ll just have to return.
The view from my chair!
Funny thing: we ran into the family from our excursion the day before! Guess we all had similar taste.
Chris and I were to have about two hours to relax before the parasailing. We read, chatted, drank pina coladas, and dipped in the ocean to cool off. The water felt fantastic! Our waiter wanted to bring us lunch but we wanted to wait until after parasailing.
The parasailing left from a boat right nearby. We got into the boat and quickly were taken out into the water. There were two men taking us–one driving the boat, the other hooking us up to various straps and handles. It was a bumpy ride! We were hooked up to all kinds of lines, and then we went up into the air! I brought the waterproof camera for those pictures as well, since I didn’t know if we would be getting wet.
It was a fantastic ride! However, the seats started swaying back and forth, and I ended up feeling pretty nauseous. I don’t know if all parasailing is like that. I was ready to go back down, even though it was a fun time. Afterwards we walked to the restaurant area to get a ginger ale or sprite for me, and then ordered lunch.
Our lunch
The food was delicious, and I started feeling much better. You can see guacamole, seafood ceviche, shrimp with rice and chicken tacos in the picture. It really was great.
After lunch we decided to swim in the pool for a bit and just relax. Finally we took a cab back to the port (we could have stayed longer but we were ready). We shopped a bit in the port then walked back to the ship.
I was tired and needed to lie down afterwards. Chris went to the gym, and I ordered a pot of coffee from room service. We had been invited to the “Past Guest Party” before dinner as we were returning cruisers. It was in the Follies Lounge and they gave out free drinks and hors d’oeuvres. We also had some sushi.
Dinner wasn’t that great tonight–I ordered veal parmesan and was unimpressed, and I felt tired the rest of the night. Of course it could be that we ate off and on all day…in any case, I decided to go to bed early and Chris went with our tablemates after dinner to hang out and play blackjack.
The ship tenders off of Grand Cayman, which means it stops a little ways away and you get onto a smaller boat to go to shore. We had to meet at 9:20 am ship time for our transportation to the excursion, so we allowed about 45 minutes (the ship recommended this).
Room service showed up promptly this morning (going to be a great day!)–coffee, muffin, bread, fruit, smoked salmon, etc. We left our room and got on the tender in practically no time. About five minutes later we were on Grand Cayman Island. Like I said before, we booked an excursion with a local company. The excursion was called Stingray City Waverunner Tour. We would go to a resort, get waverunners (jetskis, whatever), jetski to stingray city, play with the rays, jetski to Rum Point, hang out a bit, jetski back. Chris and I were going to share one jetski.
We walked over to the area we were to meet our transportation. On the way we got some coffee (very expensive in Caymans! Close to $3 each) and stopped in at the rum cake factory, since I recalled that from before. It was an hour earlier than ship time, barely 8 am at this point, and folks were just setting up souvenir stands and such. Not too many people had gotten off the ship yet, it seemed.
We were to meet our transportation to the resort at a church by a store called the Blue Iguana. It was actually a little harder to find than the email made it seem, and I got a little nervous. Out front of the church there was a man who did not look like a person who was waiting to drive people, he just looked like he was hanging out there, possibly all day. He was also not terribly friendly. Since I had planned this, I was concerned, and Chris was giving me a look like, what are we DOING? We got into his van (still, I was thinking perhaps if we needed to escape and run away that was possible). Ultimately we ended up at a hotel next to the beach (not seven mile, but an interior beach)…where we met our guide PLUS ten or other people who were from our ship also. So we immediately felt much more at ease, and the tour started.
I took along a waterproof camera for pictures of the tour, and had to send it off for developing, so unfortunately I don’t have pictures of the trip yet. I’ll edit some in when I do!
A chicken outside of the Tortuga Rum Cakes factory!In the van on the way to our possible demise! Or jetski excursion.
So, like I said, we got fitted with lifejackets, and got on the jetski. Two disclaimers: I researched this tour beforehand and knew people had enjoyed it. Also, it was Chris’s idea to do the jetski–he thought he seemed fun, so I was perfectly willing to let him drive. I simply sat behind him and held on for dear life!
We started out across the ocean. WOW! The waves were pretty calm, and after Chris got the hang of it, we went FAST. We were all spread out but following the guide. The first stop was to be Stingray City. Now, let me explain. I had been here before, on a boat. There is a place in the ocean, not too far away, where the water is really shallow and lots of stingrays congregate. Tourists go out to get in the water with them, pet them, feed them, and supposedly giving them a kiss is good luck. When I first mentioned this to Chris he thought it sounded like a terrible idea, but I couldn’t find a decent sounded tour that DIDN’T visit Stingray City.
We got there, and the guide tied up the boats, and we all got into the water. Stingrays are fairly harmless, but you need to shuffle your feet when you walk (yes, it’s that shallow) as to not accidentally step on one. We were given squid to feed them and soon a bunch were circling our group. Our guide picked one up (arms straight ahead) and one by one, we each were encouraged to hold it ourselves, give it a kiss, and of course, get our picture taken with it. The funny thing was that Chris absolutely LOVED this! Goes to show, I need to just plan things that I think he’ll like, and he will. He said he imagined it much differently and more weird/creepy than it actually was.
After awhile we all got going again. Next stop was Rum Point, a more secluded beach around the other end of the island (feel free to google a map!). I had been there before also, but it’s a long car ride. Jetskiing (and probably boat) is much faster than driving, because the route is more direct. Chris again went very fast, and after awhile (ten minutes? more? no idea!) we got there, and again, tied up the boats. There was a restaurant/bar, but it was early for lunch so they were just opening up. We just had some water and sat watching the ocean for awhile. It was a gorgeous day, though in the distance, storm clouds threatened.
Finally we were to jetski back to the starting place. We went just aways and stopped, where our guide picked up some starfish and brought them around to us to hold for…photo ops! (you get used to lots of photo ops on a cruise). They were pretty neat though, but compared to the stingrays, not so much. Then we headed off again. This time the waves were rough and a bit choppy, and it was tough going. I thought I was going to fall off the waverunner several times, and Chris was struggling. We were relieved to get back to land! All in all it was a fantastic tour and we would both do it again and recommend it to others–Stingray City Adventure.
After the tour we were pretty tired and hungry. We got a ride back to the cruise ship terminal. We debated eating lunch on the island (the ship wasn’t leaving until 4:00, last tender at 3:00) but since the prices were high, and basically it was all touristy stuff around anyway, we just did a little shopping (Chris wanted some cuban cigars!) and went back to the ship.
On the tender after our day of adventure!
We ate lunch at the lido (Taste of Nations: Southwest) and then went to the gym for a bit. We wanted to do cardio as we were feeling QUITE fat, and the gym was pretty empty. However the treadmills were in the sun, and were ridiculously hot. I did my best, but I felt like I was trying to run in a sauna. Then Chris took a nap and I read on the balcony and watched the ship sailaway again!
Dinner was to be at the Golden Fleece Steakhouse! I had made reservations beforehand, but it didn’t seem to have been at all necessary. Since we were enjoying the company of our dinner companions and they expressed an interest in the steakhouse, we invited them to join us. It was not a problem to change our reservation to four people. We planned to meet for a drink at 7:45 and then go up to the top of the ship.
The service was impeccable from the beginning. The bread was delicious, and I ordered the escargot, caesar salad, and surf and turf. Chris and I split a bottle of red wine.
Chris perusing the menuEscargot!Our wine for the eveningMy surf and turf. So delicious!!
We were all pretty stuffed at this point, but since dessert was included…we had to order! Plus coffee of course. Overall the experience was not-to-be-missed and was the perfect ending to a wonderful day of fun and adventure (not to be too cheesy, but seriously!)
I ordered the chocolate sampler. I liked all but the one on the far left.Chris ordered the cheesecake...it was the biggest piece of cheesecake I had ever seen. And was also delicious.
It was the sort of meal where at the end you can’t believe you managed to eat so much and then keep eating. I was really uncomfortably full, to the point where all I wanted to do was lie down. So we bid our dinnermates adieu and went back to the room to purge. Or you know, read or watch tv. Whatever.
Cool casual towel animal
Tomorrow: Cozumel, Mexico. I had reserved spots for us at an exclusive beach club called Nachi Cocum-all you can eat and drink for one price.
