My Western Caribbean Cruise
April 8 - 15
pictures: Click Here!
I finally got that trip planned for April! We were really getting close to the wire and 2 weeks before our planned leave date I got something booked for the three of us! A Texaribbean cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line. That is Bob’s favorite word by the Texaribbean by the way. Ha, actually never say that word around him or if you do, be ready for a tirade about it.
The cruise left from Houston – Let me just cut in here and talk about Houston and then I never have to mention it again. Ugly! Ooogly is the more correct term I guess. The port, oh, excuse me, “La Port” was never meant to be a passenger cruise ship port, but with the hurricane of last year it has still left some things displaced. Although, as bad as it was, it was better then being out on the Houston airport runway! When we landed in Houston, we got to enjoy the additional benefit of sitting on a plane for nearly 1 hour. How madding! So close, yet trapped. Apparently there was some mechanical problems with this other plane that was blocking our gate; whatever, I hate Houston. – and so back to the trip, the destinations were: Cozumel, Mexico; Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras; Belize City, Belize.
So cruise ships. Hmm, I don’t know. I can say, with certainty, it isn’t my favorite way to travel. I mean, I love the concept – being able to stop at all these ports of calls that I would probably not go to on my own, it is a great way to sample places, but ultimately I don’t think cruising is the way for me. Sure, I became a little cynical (cuz that is my way), so by the end I was just glaring at everyone and thinking, “So this is what us white middle class people do. Sit on a boat that burns 1,100 gallons of fuel a day, to visit a town that is so Americanized and tailored to just get us to buy stuff and not really learn anything about the culture or destination that we are visiting because we enjoy spending our free time waiting in buffet lines instead of visiting gyms.” So don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate it, I just found myself questioning this means of travel! There were definitely highlights on the cruise, like the Murder Mystery Dinner. That was fantastic! It had been awhile since my friends and I had done one, but it was just like any of the kits that you would pick up at the game store. The family we ate with and played the game with was great, I totally enjoyed meeting them and solving the crime with them. Oh and I solved the crime, I was the only one in my group to get the right murderer – I am so smart! :)
Activities on the ship…..well there wasn’t enough. I don’t know for some reason I felt really anxious on the boat and I just couldn’t sit down and relax. I couldn’t be outside like everyone on the ship because my sun rash hit the first day (however, I talked to a dermatologist I work with and found out what this all about, PMLE is what it is called, and I now know how to prevent it in the future!). I was kind of annoyed how every lounge, every outdoor seating area had music playing, you could never find a quiet spot. I would have much rather eavesdropped on people’s private conversations than hear “No Woman, No Cry” once more! I tried to attend talks or presentation onboard, but the first one I went to just talked about how Cruise Ships are “Soft Targets”, meaning it would be very easy for a terrorist to take one out and it would make sense for them to take one out. So great, I had that in the back of my mind the rest of the trip! The evening entertainment, ha! It was better than the entertainment at the Mexican resort at I was at a few months ago, but that isn’t saying much. The worst show: “Sea Legs at Sea”, they actually dropped a dancer on stage.
Cozumel:
Cozumel is all about shopping. Store fronts line the
beach in classic strip mall fashion. However, before we shopped we booked an
independent excursion through some pusher on the pier. Destination:
Roatan:
Approaching this island from the water was like
viewing this lush, tropical oasis that had rolling hills and greens of every color.
Once we landed though, well some beauty was stripped away. This is a very poor
country – very poor. Apparently when they see the cruise ships come in, the kids get
out of school so they can beg for money. Considering cruise ships have been docking
here for awhile I was shocked at the level of shopping and how there was none!
There was only one semi-ok store and it lost power when we were in it! However, I
didn’t come to Roatan to shop; I came to zip-line!
We took the most nerve-wracking and scariest bus ride
up the side of a mountain to get to the zip-line destination. Once there, we had
harasses put on us, were given a helmet (cuz that would really help) and then
proceeded to the first station. There was some talk of safety and what to do, but
it all seemed to happen very fast. Before I knew it, it was my turn to fly like the
birds! I had that 2 second panic where I was like, “what am I doing, I don’t want
to do this, it is really high up!”, but I saw the person before me get to the next
station and they were like 50 so I had to do it. In a weird way it ended up very
peaceful and soothing for me. I believe there were like 13 stations, so each stretch
of rope you glided on lasted somewhere between 100 and 600 feet. Each time you were
slowly descending so the last stretch deposited you onto solid ground, a sandy solid
ground. When we first started we were above the trees, so I am going to guess 100
feet off the ground or so, but you rarely noticed how high you were up cuz the
vegetation was so lush and thick, plus you were watching for the next station so
you didn’t careen into it. The beautiful beach that we finished on turned out not
to be the beach we were going to spend the rest of the afternoon at, we had to get
back on the bus and drive to ours.
Our beach, Taybana Beach, is designed strictly for
tourist. It was fine though, it was actually quite nice. A ton of loungers were all
over and there was shade, lunch was provided, there was a band and they had
snorkeling equipment. Gump and I took this opportunity to snorkel. I have decided I
totally love to snorkel. There was a coral reef right off this beach, although, I
think it was pretty damaged from the hurricane, it didn’t seem that colorful,
however the fish were colorful! I saw some great underwater life and a few of my
pictures did turn out!
So after everything we did today, we still had time
to wander back into the city and have a beer at a local bar. There is nothing better
than sitting by the water, drinking a beer and watching the sun as it goes down.
Belize:
Belize has been one of the places that has haunted me.
I have wanted to go here for years and I feel like it is always taunting me. I see
ads for it or it is mentioned in movies and finally I can now say I was here! We
started the day pretty early; the ship arrived at Belize at 7am. However, we had to
tender to the shore (the barrier reef prevents cruise ships from getting any closer
than one mile out from the shore) and by the time we did that and met up with our
tour group it was time to hit the road and head out to the rainforest. It was an
hour and half bus ride and even though our tour guides did a lot to entertain us,
I was ready to get off the bus and walk! So as soon as we stepped into the forest
the heavens opened up and it poured, like I have never seen before. But how fitting
right? Here we were in the rainforest! After about half hour of walking we came to
the river that we would be tubing in. Now, the other night we had had dinner with
this couple that told us that they heard there were snakes in the water and snakes
hanging from the walls in the caves. Liars. All they managed to do we make me spaz
out every time something touched my leg or hand. I don’t mind snakes, but I really
don’t want a hidden one wrapping around me or anything – but that goes for anything,
I wouldn’t even want a kitten crawling up on me if I didn’t see it coming. So, but
anyway, I never saw a snake, I saw bats, but not snakes. Cave tubing ended up being
a little more strenuous then I thought it would be. The current wasn’t all that
strong so to stay with the group you had to paddle. There were a few rapids that
sort of pulled you in and spit you out and that was fun. Although those rapids were
responsible for pulling out Bob’s wallet and passport and not spitting it back out!
Yup, Bob lost his whole identity in the river! Gump and I were clueless to this
whole thing, here we were patiently sitting on the bus wondering where the heck Bob
was. Turns out he was hunting in the river along with a bunch of other workers and
tour guides! The un-Belize-able thing is, they found it!
After the river tubing adventure it was back on the
bus to return to the ship. We all sort of had a big day so the bus was pretty quiet
as we were all reflecting and having a siesta; that is until there was a horrendous
noise along with smoke bellowing out the side of the bus and tire fragments pelting
the window. The driver was desperately trying to maintain control of the bus, cuz
you know they drive like madmen out there on these roads that wouldn’t be acceptable
in a farming community out here. Of course I am thinking, “wow, so this is how it
ends for me, on a tour bus in Belize – sorry mom.” But we gradually came to a stop
and after a call to the station to get a new bus sent out we were allowed to get
off the bus and roam around. I was the first one off the bus because I needed to
get out and stretch my legs and burn off some nervous energy, so I popped out of my
seat, headed to the front and waited for the driver to open the door. Now, I kid
you not, the door opened and right in front of it, right in front, is this lone
grave marker. Are you kidding me!? What kind of omen is that!? I am looking up and
down the road and there is nothing, but we stop right in front of a grave marker
that has fresh flowers on it! I guess it was a marker for some cyclist that died at
that spot like a year ago. I could not Belize it. After a half hour wait we finally
got a new bus and back on the ship with no more problems.