At Sea Day 2

We found that we really enjoyed our days at sea and always made the most of them.

We were back on eastern time this morning so it really was 0515 when I went out for my walk. Kim and Tammy were doing laundry, weren't they the lucky ones. It was long walk day for me and about half way through I decided what was 4.5 more laps, might just as well do 8 miles today. I was planning on moving up to that when we got home so I was just a week early and didn't have anywhere to be.

After my walk went and sat with Dan for a bit and then headed off to take my shower and get the day rolling. I was back for breakfast in about 20 minutes and of course we all sat together and planned our day.

First on the list was to sign up for the On Deck for the Cure Walk benefiting the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. On our way ran into Mum and Dad relaxing in these chairs and joined them for a few minutes.


Found out the store where we were signing up for the walk didn't open until ten so we were a bit early. Decided to look at pictures and get the new ones that were out. I ran the pictures up to the room and by the time I got back the shop had opened and Kim and Tammy had started the sign-up and we were done in no time.

Off to the towel-folding demo, Mum, Tammy, Kim, and Sami were the folders. Had lots of fun and the folders did a great job with their creations.




Shots of the dogs they made.



Then some of the crew came in to get introduced and the ship's Captain spoke to us.

Then we played a round of BINGO, we were all hoping the win the $1199.00 and I got very close, only needed one number when Bingo was called.

Right after that was the debarkation talk, so we now knew everything we needed to know about leaving the ship on Saturday. About 1/2 way through the talk noticed that Dan was in the balcony and I joined him when it was over. Gave him a rundown of our plans and showed him where we would be getting carrot cake later in the afternoon if he wanted to join us. He has really enjoyed reading on his days at sea.

Ran into Tom on our way and let him know we would be going to lunch so he headed to the Red Sail and we all met him there a few minutes later.

Today was the chocolate dessert buffet bar and here are a few of the offerings. There was a lot more then just chocolate and we tried lots of different things. One of the the big advantages to having a large group you can just sample a bit of everything and nothing goes to waste.

After lunch we were heading out to watch Breann in the Family Wet Water War but it started pouring on the walk up so that activity was canceled.

By the time we got organized it was time to do the "On Deck for the Cure" walk. There were lots of participants and we walked a mile.

Met up with Dan and Dennis at the Amber Room to watch the Marriage Show, a very funny version of the Newlywed Game. One couple was married 6 days, one for 22 years and one for 60 years. They were all winners and got a bottle of champagne.

On to carrot cake and let me just say it is a good thing we didn't try it earlier in the cruise because we would have needed (wanted) a piece everyday.

We decided even though it was elegant night in the dining room again tonight we were going to put on our best duds, sneak in the back entrance and have dinner in the dining room. Ended up at the wrong staircase so our sneaking in was thwarted but we didn't care had a great time at dinner and saw people dressed in just about everything so we weren't really out of place.

More dancing tonight, can't remember the song but of course Kim and Michael danced.

Then on to a slow song and the Old Folks got up and gave us a show.

Along with Kim and Dennis.

After dinner Guillermo entertained us again with his napkin creations. A pair of shorts or a baby diaper.

A bow for Dad.

A boot.

Then he made this little animal that he cradled in his arms and pet and the next thing we know it is attacking Breann and there were screams and laughter everywhere. Another great meal.

Took a walk on deck and Dan and I called it a night.

Day 5 Costa Maya, Mexico

Today was a four mile day and not quite as windy. Did a few laps with Tammy and Kim and then it was off to take a shower and head down to breakfast.

On my way to the Red Sail caught another beautiful sunrise.


Today we sat on the port side of the ship and we were glad that we did. Saw this rainbow spanning between two clouds plus we were able to watch the ship pull into Costa Maya.

Costa Maya pier, built just for the cruise ships. Always amazes me how easy the Captain makes it seem to just pull right up to the pier.

Armed guards to keep us safe, not sure from what but they were there.

These were the only buildings we saw for miles in either direction. It was a very nice area for us tourists.

You should see this in the afternoon when we got back from our excursion, wall-to-wall people. I didn't think to get a picture then.

They are just coming out of their dry season, so everything is kind of dried up and brittle but there was no litter anywhere. Such a change from yesterday.

The Home Depot of this little town, Dan would have liked to stopped in just to see what they had.

Gas Station where the gas was $6.00 for whatever their measure was, not sure. But $6.00 seems very high.

This was the same road we were on when we went to Tulum in Cozumel, just much further south.

All the houses had such clean surrounding areas.

And most had a satellite dish.

A couple little stores grouped together.

The little town we visited before the small ruins we saw today.

This is the town of Limones and their Mayan ruins. Couldn't compare with Tulum but still very interesting to see.

Then we were on to the main portion of our tour, a Mayan Homestead or at least that is what I'm calling it.

Francisco our tour guide made a big deal about the purity of the water from the well as has every tour guide we have had so far. I'm still not drinking any water in Mexico that isn't bottled.

This is Don Chucho and he is uncovering our lunch. He was very meticulous moving the palm fronds making sure none of the dirt fell down on the charcoal or the pot with the chicken.


Here is lunch. We had the chicken on homemade corn tortillas with some onions and guacamole and of course some hot sauce that was way to hot for me. Everything was delicious.

Not sure what kind of flower this is but it looked like a type of orchid.

We had some peppers like these that grew in Guam called boonie peppers and they were very hot also.

This is Senora Gloria showing us how she makes the corn tortillas. She was making them and looking all around and watching one of the women from our tour make a mess of her tortilla.


Then Francisco showed us the leaf/frond that Don Chucho was going to make sisal from.

Put it on the leaning sawhorse thing and anchored it.

Then took this triangled shaped log tool and stripped off all the green pulp leaving the sisal fibers.

Francisco showing us the left over fibers.

These are a few of the things that can be made from the fibers.

The seeds in this pod are what were used to season the chicken we had at lunch.

Got back to the ship and who do we find people watching but Mum and Dad on deck 5 just watching everyone come back onboard.

Stopped off to get me a diet coke, my first of the day and I really didn't even miss not having one until now. So I guess just keeping hydrated keeps those caffeine withdrawal symptoms at bay.

Dinner was another fun time tonight. Michael really got into the dancing again.


This is Dad showing us what he looked like when he was a member of the Beatles!

Can't believe the cruise is starting to wind down, we waited so long for it to start and just a day at sea and one more port and we will be heading home.

Day 4 Belize

Another early morning and let me tell you the wind was blowing hard today. I was either fighting to make headway or get blown down the track. Another thing I forgot to mention is using the GPS to track our miles didn't work so well on the ship because it also tracked the movement of the ship so I was doing 2.5 to 3 minute miles, threw us for a loop that first day but we ended up just using it for the time walked. Made for real interesting downloads of the walks when I got home.

Today I did four miles and because of that I was able to get my shower done and see the sunrise and it was one to see.


We pulled into Belize and because of their coral reef we had to tender. This was the boat that came out to the ship to bring us ashore. It was a very quick smooth ride.


While we were waiting for the rest of the people on our tour I happened to look over and who do I see but the gang getting off a tender and getting ready to get their picture taken.

Still getting off.

Ok that is Dennis bringing up the rear.

Now getting into position for the picture.

The rest of our tour finally arrived and we walked about 100 yards and it was time to take a bathroom break. Most of the people had just come from the ship, don't they plan ahead? I guess not because the break was about 15 minutes long. We were finally on our way and then we found out we would be riding on a school bus for our tour and that was an indicator of how our day went. We really couldn't hear the tour guide, so of course we just quit listening.

The next two pictures are pretty much what we saw for the next hour that we rode the bus, not very interesting or appealing.


She did pass around some of the local money which of course Dan is always interested in so he got some to add to his collection.


The chickens at our Sights and Sounds of Belize.


The dancers, they were pretty good and really looked like they were enjoying themselves but we were inside with no a/c so it was kind of uncomfortable. The one thing I could say was the bathrooms were very clean and that is always a pleasant surprise.

This was the only excursion out of the four we took that fell below our expectations so we were pretty pleased with that because you never really know what you are going to get when you sign up for a tour.

Our bus trip back was much shorter, we went a different route. This is the cemetary we passed on the way back.

Every corner seemed to have one of these carts selling stuff.

Got back to the ship and went to eat lunch, found out later we were all eating lunch at about the same time but didn't run into each other.

Spent some time wandering around the ship and then went to check out our photos and bought the ones we wanted.

Off to dinner and of course it was delicious. After, Guillermo kept us entertained with two forks and two toothpicks. He connected the forks together at the tines and put one of the toothpicks into the tines and used the other toothpick to balance all of that and then we passed it from person to person and everyone was able to do it with it falling. Found out this was quite a feat we accomplished because later in the week he tried it again and couldn't even get it through two people.



After dinner Dan and I were off to get some stamps for our postcards and we got down to guest services (deck 3) and realized we had no cash with us, so up the stairs to deck 10 and got our money and back down we went. Going down is nothing but that coming back up is a killer. I sure wish there were some hills in this part of Florida so I could get use to walking up.

Stay tuned, Costa Maya coming up next.