Roatan

Roatan = EPIC FAIL!!! We had big plans for Roatan. We had a zip line excursion set up, along with beach time & playing with monkeys. Yes, monkeys. I was so looking forward to this. The zip line, the monkeys, not so much. I wanted to zip line on the last cruise but was out voted. If one more person tells me no biggie, I can go to Livingston Parish & zip line I'm going to punch them in the face. For those of you that don't know, Livingston Parish is about 30 mins. away from my house but I digress. We got up at the crack of dawn & was ready to get off the ship at 8:00. Roatan was another place that we had to tender in. The tenders were the life boats.

Look how gorgeous that water is! I didn't know there were mountains in Roatan.

So here's the epic fail part. They wouldn't let us get off the ship because they claimed it was too windy. I don't believe that for a second. There were like 2 other ships in the area letting people off. Apparently, there were some people that were going on a ship excursion & managed to get off the ship & they had to send people to bring them back. There were a couple of people that had already left so the ship had to circle Roatan for like 5 hours until they could get those 2 back on the boat. I'm still aggravated about the whole thing. We spent the day laying out. I drowned my sorrows.

First with a Mimosa.

Then pina coladas.

And then CAKE!! It was sooo good. Suzy won a sales contest at work & her boss had the ship surprise her with cake, champagne & their state room decorated. She shared the cake. I also had a nap & that night was the "White Hot Party" which meant everyone wore all white. There was good music but we didn't stay long because all my peeps were ready for bed!

Kermit welcomed us back to our room.

Toodles!

Belize

Wednesday we were in Belize. We went there on our last cruise & went on a beach excursion. This time we decided to not to do anything but hang out.  The water was pretty. This is the view from our balcony. We hung out on the ship & had lunch before we went to the port. I even did C25K. I'm starting over since my injury.

We had to tender into Belize & when we were on the boat these birds were everywhere. Y'all know I'm not a fan of birds. These things were big.

This was the Carnival cruise ship that was in the same area as us.

I thought it was funny how the water seems to change colors. In Costa Maya it looked like a deep royal blue & in Belize it looked aqua. Apparently, it's something to do with the depth of the water.

Once we got to the port we walked around & did a little shopping. The group split up at this port. Dave & Dennis went to see Mayan Ruins. Been there, done that, don't need to do it again. Sheri, Jackie, Kitzia & Cliff went on a bus tour of Belize. I declined & was glad I did when they came back & told us how poor the area is. I know it's reality but it makes me sad to see how those people live. Dean & Matt went to listen to a band & Suzy & I had a drink at a cute little bar. This was the view from our table.

The bar was very colorful.

We had Dirty Banana's. Sooo good!

We didn't eat but I thought the $35.00 nachos were interesting!! I was hoping someone would order them so I could see them. They had to be huge.

It was a very laid back day. We had dinner at the Italian restaurant on the ship. The Risotto was AMAZING!! This Little Piggy greeted us when we got back.

Those are my glasses he has on.

Toodles!

Costa Maya

Tuesday we were in Costa Maya. This is the view from the ship. The water was beautiful.

Dean did a lot of research before we went & found a place for us to spend the day. It wasn't a ship excursion but this place got rave reviews on Cruise Critic. It was half the price of the ship excursions. $52 per person & that included transportation to & from the port & all you could eat & drink.

It was FABULOUS!! The ride there? Not so much. Very bumpy & backwoods. Suzy had already been queasy. The ride didn't help.

She was resting. We had our own little tiki hut type thing except it was big. Our resident spanish speakers, Kitzia & Jackie called it a Pollopa. I have no idea how to spell that. It had the bed Suzy's laying on, chairs, a hammock & then out in the sun, chaise lounges & it was on the beach. This was our view.

So pretty! In keeping with the rest of these blog posts about the trip. Here's a picture of a drink.

A pina colada. It was good but better when we requested that they make them with Malibu Rum instead of dark rum. It was Fat Tuesday so we were wearing our beads like good little Louisianians. Dean & Brad having a beer.

We saw on the Maya Chan website that they have drinks in coconuts. Well, that has my name written all over it. I'm all about tropical stuff. The only thing that would've made it better is to have a little umbrella in it. We had our own little private bar & bartender. His name was Hugo. I asked Hugo about the coconut drink & he said "Oh, a Coco Loco". Yep, that's what I want & I don't care what it's made of. So, he hollers to another little guy in spanish & the next thing you know the guy is chopping down a coconut.

Yes, he literally, got a coconut out of the tree & started chopping it with this machete thing. This is him.

Then he brought it to Hugo & Hugo made the drink.

It was really good. I asked what was in it & it was a bunch of coconut stuff. Malibu Rum, coconut water, coconut milk & I don't remember what else. After you finish the drink they'd chop the coconut in half so you could eat it. I've never had fresh coconut like that but it was good. Me & Suzy enjoying our drinks.

I almost forgot, all the ladies got massages on the beach! It was awesome. Those of you that know me in real life know I'm kinda particular about strangers touching me. I didn't have my first pedicure until the day before my wedding & my first massage last year. Well, let's just say the masseuse's here were a little sketchy looking. There was a  lady & a couple of men. I wasn't going to get one but everyone told me I was being ridiculous so I gave in. I got one of the men. Oh well. It was a good massage, I was on the beach & it was cheap! I felt better about the little man when I saw his toes. He had on Jesus sandals & his toe nails were very neat & clean.

After my massage was lunch. AMAZING!!! There were chips & guacamole, soft tacos, chicken, pork & beef & sauces to go with it. Sooooooo good. I swear it was some of the best food I've eaten. The only problem I had was I put a bunch of sauce on my tacos before I saw that it said "spicy". Oops. Yeh it was hot but still DELISH! They even had Dr. Pepper. How random is that? After lunch I had another pina colada for dessert & chilled in the hammock with my Nook.

I'm sure you know where this is going. I ended up taking a nice nap in that hammock & woke up with a weird sunburn because of how my arm was laying. It wasn't bad but I have a weird spot. Another view.

This was our bar.

Brad, me & Kitzia.

Brad & the infamous Hugo.

He looks a little scary but in person he was all smiles & very nice. Me & Dean.

The port in Costa May is so pretty. You could actually spend the afternoon there at the pool.

Once we got back on the ship we had to get dressed for dinner. Our cruise line was Norwegian & they have several specialty restaurants that you can pay a cover charge to go & eat. We were going to Cagney's, the steakhouse. This was the one night we got all dressed up & I just realized I have no pictures on my camera from that night & I don't remember if anyone else took any. Everything was so good.  This welcomed us back to our room after dinner. Is it a bunny??

Toodles!

A day at sea!

Monday was our first full day at sea. I was still feeling like crap so I slept late. Once I got up I knew I had to do something so I went to work out. I did day 1 of C25K on the treadmill. I didn't have any hip pain so I was excited about that. I worked up a good sweat & felt a thousand percent better when I was done. I guess I sweated out all the crap that was making me feel bad. I was good to go after that. The rest of the crew had grabbed some beach chairs & were hanging out.

The whole crew! Some of us did the Pub Crawl. It was fun. We went to different bars all over the ship & had a drink. Some of them were ok, some of them were really not good.

This one was good at first but then the 2nd & 3rd swallow, not so much.

The expression on Dave's face says it all. The chick in charge asked for volunteers. I DON'T volunteer when I don't know what I'm volunteering for but Suzy has no shame & Dave, well, he'll do anything.

They looked ridiculous but it was funny & Suzy won. We laughed about Suzy all week. She was either winning something or sick. Each time we got to another bar there was a toast. We also were on the clock to drink these drinks. You had a minute to drink it or hand it off to someone else to drink it or they put you in front of the group & made you do something stupid. Needless to say, Dean got stuck finishing the majority of my drinks. This was a margarita & it was not good.

This one I liked! Put Blue Curacao in something & I'll love it. Plus it matched my toes!

After the Pub Crawl we hung out for a little while. This is Dean, Suzy & Matt.

Then against my better judgement, I let the girls talk me into a martini tasting. It was fun but they are certainly not chinchy with the alcohol.

This was by far the strongest martini I've ever had. It tasted like I was drinking straight gin or vodka & it burned going down. Needless to say I didn't drink much of it. The guy in charge of the tasting kept giving us random trivia that had nothing to do with martini's at all & as with the majority of the crew on the ship, he was foreign & it was hard to understand him which made it that much funnier. The chocolate martini was by far the best one we had. After that it was off to get dressed for dinner. We were meeting back in the piano bar, Champagne Charlie's.

Dave, Kitzia (she was born in Mexico if you can believe that), Dean & me. I know it appears that all we did on this cruise was drink but that's not true. I don't know what the deal is with the water on the cruise but I swear my hair was soooo soft after washing it that I could hardly fix it. I had really flat hair all week. In this piano bar there was a couple that sang every night. I don't know what possessed them to do this but they sang the Titanic song. You know, the Celine Dion song "My Heart Will Go On"? Seriously, people, we're on a cruise, do you really want people thinking about the Titanic? I told y'all Dave will do anything. He had people dying laughing imitating Rose.

We had a good dinner & then went to bed. I loved going to the room every night & seeing what animal was waiting for us.

Speaking of the Titanic & dying, someone died on our cruise. Yes, you read that right. We didn't know anything about it but yesterday my friends Wendy & Allison asked if we were on the ship with the guy that died. Come to find out, one of Allison's boss's customers had a relative that died on the ship Tuesday & the family was having to go claim the body on Sunday when the ship got back to New Orleans. She didn't know if he was on our ship or the Carnival ship that was coming in the same time. They discussed the fact that I could be on a ship with a dead body all week.  Lo & behold in the paper this morning was an obitituary saying the guy died "aboard the Norwegian Spirit". Lovely. I'm glad we didn't know anything about that until after the fact. Did you know that cruise ships have morgues?? 

Toodles!  

We're Back!!

Sadly, vacation had to come to an end & we're back to the real world. I can't figure out if I'd rather continuing working & be able to go on vacations or quit my job & just stay home all the time. It's a quandry.

Sunday when we boarded the ship we were greeted by crew members with Mardi Gras beads. Once we got inside the atrium there was a jazz band playing.

We headed to the buffet for lunch then to the "Galaxy of Stars" to hang out & wait for the rest of our crew.

 Matt & Suzy were in New Orleans at her parents house for Mardi Gras & were planning to catch one last parade before joining us. There was lots of debate on whether they'd actually make it on the ship. Let's just say punctual isn't a word we'd use to describe Suzy. There was no shortage of alcohol on this ship. This is the bar in the Galaxy of the Stars.

This is what they call a Copa Cabanatini.

I don't remember what was in it but it sounded fantastic. Not so much. It was a $10 glass of gross! I managed to stomach it because no way was I wasting a $10 drink. HA!

I took this from the very top of the ship before we left NOLA.

When we started sailing we passed St Louis Cathedral.

I wish I would've gotten a better picture but I didn't realize we were passing & I didn't have time to get my camera out but I  had my phone in my hand. It's a beautiful church. Once we started sailing we went & had dinner. When you have a party of 12 it's a minimum of 2 hours but so fun!

So as not to overload you, I'll post more tomorrow.

Toodles!