All our bags are packed, we’re ready to go…

We awoke early, traveling up the Mississippi River towards New Orleans.  Breakfast included coffee and some cereal; neither of us wanted to partake of the buffet with a day’s worth of car travel awaiting.  By the time we returned to our cabin, we had docked in New Orleans, and people had begun lining up to disembark.  We joined them to avoid the elevator rush, and besides, it was more fun watching disembarkation from the railing.  The line moved quickly, including U.S. Customs, and we were in the parking lot loading our luggage, in just a few minutes.

We departed New Orleans for home at about 8:30 a.m. and made several requisite stops before arriving in Memphis at 2:45 p.m.  After dropping Jenny and Brian off at their house, we drove to our favorite box store, Costco, to shop for bulk items, then headed north and west for home.  We arrived home at 7:30 p.m., just 11 hours after leaving the parking lot at the Port of New Orleans.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY—This was our second cruise on Norwegian, and was much better than the first in almost all categories.  The entertainment was excellent, and the best we’ve seen on any of our 3 cruises.  The buffet was good, and the restaurant excellent; we should’ve eaten there more often.  The ship has seen a lot of use, but was well maintained.  We were surprised at the number of smokers, and unruly children.  In addition, some of the adults were not very polite, but were likely doing the best they knew how.  Norwegian offers free-style cruising, and many of the folks on our ship took it beyond the limits—coarse and a little rough around the edges—and were a little too informal, in both action and dress, for us.  Surely, some cruise line offers a middle-of-the-road alternative.  We’ll cruise again—but not in the near future—and will likely try another cruise line, though Norwegian has treated us very well; it wasn’t the cruise line as much as the passengers (Kay said I had to be tactful and diplomatic).

We’re really glad to be at our mountain home, with rivers, streams, woods, and animals—home, sweet home!

Another night of rockin’ and rollin’, with high seas once again—nothing a couple of seasick pills can’t solve.  We had no where to visit today, so sleeping in was the first order of the day, followed by a long and leisurely breakfast.

There were no activities on the ship in the morning that interested us so we walked to burn some of the calories taken in this week.  Four times around the ship’s 7th deck is equal to 1.4 miles, and we have been trying to walk an hour or so.  We walk one mile in about 20 minutes.  How long does it take us to walk one hour?  If you said about 60 minutes, you’re right!  Remember the “reading” problems in Algebra II?  Seriously, we have been trying to walk about 3 miles each day, same as home.

Lunch was great today with grilled ribs constituting our main course.  There were long lines at the outside grill, but the food was worth it.  Afterwards, an afternoon nap was in order and another hour of walking.  Both of us have been falling asleep at the drop of a hat, and finally concluded that the motion sickness pills were the cause.  However, only one of us was taking them.  Go figure.

We attended the early (7:15 p.m) show tonight, and it included several of the acts we had seen during the week:  singing and dancing, illusion and magic, and comedy.  The shows have been excellent, and were definitely the best of onboard activities.

Somehow, we managed to pack all of our things in one less bag than we used coming aboard, and that includes a few souvenirs.  We’re ready to head home tomorrow morning after breakfast.

The seas were rough last evening, but we did sleep okay.

Our last port of call before heading north to New Orleans was Cozumel, Mexico, near the top of the Yucatan Peninsula, and just south of Cancun.  We had expected a modern resort town, mostly oriented towards young partying crowds, but as with the other ports of call, we found shopping areas selling diamonds, gold, silver, liquor, restaurants, and some local clothes and souvenirs adjacent to where we deboarded the ship.There was a bit more hustle and bustle as four ships were docked at their waterfront, and most of the stores had people “hawking” the goods.We found the prices to be quite expensive compared to the Spirit, and especially expensive when compared to Costa Maya—if only we had known.  We walked most of the streets in the waterfront area, found their plaza and strolled around it, drank a light Coke at one of the local restaurants, and returned to the ship after about 3 hours.

For the first time, we ordered room service for lunch, and I eagerly ate a hamburger, while Kay ate half a BLT and a Greek salad.  We could get used to having our rooms made up twice a day, and room service, if we wanted it, for every meal.

The view from the 12th floor deck revealed a totally different Cozumel further north on the island, near the airport.  There, one sees many beachfront high-rise hotels catering more to the resort traveler.  Because we are sailing all day tomorrow, the crew was readying the pool area for some serious use.

Evening brought a lovely dinner with Jenny and Brian in one of the ship’s many restaurants.  We all enjoyed our 4-course meals immensely, as both food and service were good.

After dinner, we listened to music, and attended what may have been the best show yet, Elements, featuring magic and illusion, ballet, acrobatics, and extraordinary dancing and lighting.

Awakening to rain on the porthole window, the Spirit sailed into Roatan, Honduras.   While some were disappointed with the rain, we were gladdened for a somewhat forced slowdown for reading, journaling, and general downtime—we all need some rainy days in our lives—and this one was overdue.

We left the ship after an early breakfast of fresh fruit, eggs, bacon, cereal, etc. in a light drizzle.  As with the other ports of call, this one was very commercialized, having made sweetheart deals with the various cruise lines.  All the stores begin to look the same, and sell the same merchandise—gold, silver, liquor, perfume, and some local stuff, mostly made in China—and except for the local stuff, the ship is about 5-10% less expensive.This commercial development is known as Mahogany Bay, and we had our picture taken with the Baxter Bulletin in front of the Mahogany Bay, Roatan sign; the Baxter Bulletin is our local paper, and once a week includes photos of residents holding the paper in far away locales.

As we continued our time at Roatan, the drizzle turned to outright rain, then back to drizzle, then to rain, etc.  After visiting all the shops, we returned to the ship and spent the rest of the day enjoying our downtime.

After departing Roatan, our ship headed south around the island, then north towards Cozumel, Mexico.  Winds were blowing directly towards the starboard side of the ship, and we were rockin’ and rollin’ in the Gulf of Mexico, forcing us to take a sea sick pill or two, and wondering if we would sleep during the night.

Sailing further south, we arrived in Belize City, Belize, at 8 a.m. today.  Belize is known as one of the best snorkeling and diving locations in the world, second only to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and beating out Bonaire, Dutch Antilles.  (Turneffe Islands Atoll is one of the best bone fishing locations in the world, but we couldn’t make it happen this trip.)  One interesting tidbit about Belize is that prior to 1972 it was known as British Honduras, and is the only English speaking country in Central and South America stemming from its settlement by the English in the late 1600s.  Consequently, many Americans winter here.

Kay arranged a snorkeling and beach excursion for the morning, so we were up early, on the tender for transporting us to shore, then on a catamaran for our activities.  Belize City is the only port of call at which our ship is anchored offshore, with passengers being tendered to the city.  We arrived at the pier, and were led to an awaiting catamaran which took us to a part of the barrier reef, the second largest in the world.  On board the catamaran, we met a couple from Searcy who knew many of the same people in White county that we knew.  After fitting us with fins, masks and snorkeling tubes, and flotation devices, the crew gave us a few snorkeling pointers, and we jumped in the water for a great 45 minutes of snorkeling. We saw many types of coral, and several species of fish.  It was an exhilarating time.

Following the snorkeling adventure, we motored to a private island for some beach time.  After a freshwater shower, and a brief walk around the rather small island, we spent the remainder of time onboard the catamaran which provided complimentary rum punch, sodas, and water.  The trip back to shore was lively with good music and dancing. 

Back on shore in Belize City, we split a shrimp appetizer and entree at one of the local restaurants, and walked the commercial area near the pier.

It was hot and humid, forcing us to head back to the Spirit for a shower and nap.  After a long afternoon resting in the cabin and a mediocre dinner (seems like we missed the lobster dinner as no one told us), we attended the tribute to Rock and Roll of the ‘70s, and a quite humorous newlywed and not so newlywed game.

We sailed south, and slightly east, all yesterday and last evening, arriving this morning in Costa Maya, Mexico, on the north and east side of the Yucatan Peninsula.  Costa Maya is a relative new city, created primarily for passengers from cruise ships.  Consequently, most of the infrastructure is relatively new, and the area most visited is very commercial.

Upon arriving in Costa Maya, we visited all the tourist shops, had a Coke and appetizer at a local restaurant, and watched people from 3 different cruise ships wander through the small town. Though Costa Maya offered snorkeling, beach time, and jeep tours, we opted to explore Mayan ruins.  A modern bus took us from the pier to the ruins, almost an hour west by highway, and our guide for the day, Sergios Puc, a young man of Mayan descent, presented a brief history of the Mayan culture in his limited English.  Neither of us knew what to expect, and as we entered the archeological site, we saw a Mayan pyramid, and assumed that it would be the centerpiece of the day’s exploration.  Restrooms at the site were modern and clean; we were off to a good start.  The Chacchoben archeological site is one of many found on the Yucatan Peninsula, and was, in fact, a small Mayan city.  We saw several pyramids, and what was once an open plaza surrounded by houses occupied by the wealthy.  We were impressed with the extent of site.

After the hot and humid afternoon, we returned to the Spirit, showered, and had an okay dinner.  After dinner, we enjoyed a Cirque de Soleil type show featuring an acrobatic couple from Moscow, Russia, both having been trained and performed in classical ballet; they were really good!  We adjourned to the Galaxy Lounge on the 12th floor to here a really funny comedian from Houston.  It has been a good day.

Today was spent cruising south and slightly east towards the Yucatan Peninsula.  We ate, exercised, sat around the pool, and got familiar with the ship.  One of tonight’s highlights was a song and dance Broadway-themed stage show.

With only a few hours sleep, we awoke early, drove to Jenny and Brian’s, loaded their luggage, and headed towards New Orleans a few minutes before 6 a.m.  The drive was uneventful, and we arrived at the port about 12:30 p.m.  Parking and unloading at the New Orleans Port make it easy as the multi-deck parking lot is immediately adjacent to the ship.

Checking in and boarding were accomplished quickly, and we climbed to the upper deck, and buffet, until our cabins were ready.  The embarkation party was on decks 12 and 13 near the four hot tubs and pool.  They had a full grill going and a band playing great music.  Jenny and Kay danced with a group doing the electric slide, then the Macarena, and finally the song, YMCA. Brian and Donald were probably hoping that no one noticed we were with them!  We are always amazed by people who cruise.  On this particular cruise, there seem to be more smokers, more people in wheel chairs, walkers and canes, and more people with health problems.  It’s pretty easy to see why our health care system is in such dire straits!  The food at the buffet is much better than it was on Norwegian’s Pride of America in Hawaii in May.  Today, the fresh fruit was particularly good.

Our cabins were ready about 2 p.m. but luggage arrival was late.  In fact, Kay’s luggage did not arrive—the tag had been lost, and she had to retrieve it at the reception desk—whew!

The orientation show featured most of the acts we would see during the week, and was so so.  Interestingly, the cruise director made several jokes about the sizes of the cabins and their bathrooms.  He obviously has never traveled in an RV.  Kay thinks the shower is pretty nice.  It’s just a matter of your perspective. 

With full tummies, and all of our luggage, we turned in for the evening, making our way down the Mississippi River, and out into the Gulf of Mexico.

Note:  Excepting weddings and such, we try to take a trip with one of our kids each year—as it seems the only way we get one-on-one time without too many distractions.  First was Jenny’s wedding in 2006, then Ron accompanied us to Quetico Wilderness in 2008, then Karyn and Matt were married a few weeks later that same year in the Bahamas.  So, we’re back to Jenny for the cruise to the Western Caribbean.  Karyn, it’s your time next, IF we don’t run out of money or good health.

Departing home shortly before lunch, we drove towards Memphis for an overnight stop before continuing south to New Orleans where we board the Norwegian Spirit for a Western Caribbean cruise; more about that tomorrow.

At Franklin, AR, we stopped near noon at a restaurant that had been given some good press, Calibama, so named because the couple who own the place hail from California and Alabama, respectively.  It was opening day of deer season in Arkansas and most of the clientele were wearing camouflage. We were not impressed with the food or ambiance, and would not rearrange our schedule or plan a route to stop there again.

We arrived in Memphis about 4:00 p.m. and immediately drove to Costco, though the much sought after bargains were not quite as important as when we were 4 hours away looking at their sale brochure and internet site.  A few texts back and forth with Jenny to arrange dinner, and we were off to our hotel for the night.  We ate at Genghis, a Mongolian grill, visited with Jenny and Brian, and retired to the hotel for a short night’s sleep before departing for New Orleans.