Monthly Archives: February 2026

Sunday through Saturday, February 16-28, 2026—Yet Another Cruise, Part II

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Monday, February 16, 2026, was a “sea day”; thus, no ports of call.

After our early morning lattes, we climbed to the 15th floor to the three pickleball courts; they were packed so we just watched till mid-morning. Breakfast and lunch were at the 16th floor buffet and was what one would expect—just okay. Dinner was in the main dining room and was good. After dinner, we attended the first of several shows on the cruise, Voices, and it was entertaining.

The ship continued sailing southeast from Galveston on Tuesday. Continuing southeasterly between Cuba and Mexico, and then around the Cancun peninsula, the ship sailed towards the tiny Central American country of Guatemala. Up early, we enjoyed another latte before before actively beginning another sea day. And then it was off to the pickleball courts. Entertainment for the evening was Frankie and the Dreamers, a show paying tribute to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, but mainly featuring songs from the Four Seasons. The lead singer had been a star on Broadway, but age was taking its toll. This was the third tribute show relative to Frank Valli and the Four Seasons, and it would rank third out of three. Our dinners in the main dining room were very good, with exceptional waiters.

After a short sail during the night, the ship docked Wednesday morning at Roatan, an island in the Caribbean, about 40 miles off the northern coast of Honduras. It was our third time to Roatan, so we didn’t bother getting off the ship. We hung out at the pickleball courts, and then lounged about and read the rest of the day.

The line waiting to play pickleball

The night’s entertainment was an ice skating show, 1887: A Journey in Time Ice Spectacular. We really enjoyed it. Afterwards, Kay tried her luck at the casino and I attended The Love and Marriage Game Show, a standard on most cruises. It was just okay.

After making a U-turn and sailing north, the Harmony of the Seas attempted to dock at Costa Maya on Thursday, but heavy seas created an unsafe situation. Consequently, it was another slow “sea day”. Reading and lazing about were our main activities for the day, though we did attend The Fine Line Aqua Show featuring high-flying feats, mind blowing stunts, and physically demanding acrobatics, including several high dives. It reminded us of a Cirque du Soleil show we saw in Las Vegas almost 25 years ago. The aqua show was definitely worth attending.

Continuing northeast during the night, the ship docked at Cozumel on Friday morning. Cozumel is premier Mexican Caribbean island famous for world-class scuba diving, snorkeling, and pristine beaches, particularly around the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. Kay disembarked briefly to buy some Mexican vanilla for a friend. Otherwise, it was another quiet day on board. The evening’s entertainment was Columbus, The Musical. The show featured an outstanding set, but the singing was just okay, perhaps because the show was a bit “silly”.

Saturday was another sea day, with no ports of call. Running out of things to occupy our time, we hung out at the pickleball courts for a few minutes, and then read most of the rest of the day. Having exhausted the ship’s entertainment (that we wanted to see), we attended another ice skating show, iSkate Ice Spectacular, a show allowing the skaters to showcase their best moves to their preferred music—awesome skaters!

Sunday was disembarkation day, and it was without incident as we only handled our two suitcases ourselves. We were in the car at about 8:00 AM and headed north, arriving home about 4:00 PM. The cruise was good, not great. 

Among our observations was that cruising has dramatically changed in recent years. Lots of children are cruising with their parents (homeschooling) as well as multi-generational families of 20 or more. Both the children and the multi-generational families totally overwhelm the dining facilities, shows, and recreation areas, including the pickleball courts. And, there were many preteen and teen children attending adult entertainment venues. This was likely our last cruise on Royal Caribbean, and we understand that Norwegian is similar. IF we cruise again, it will be on an adult only ship or one that favors adults.

Glad to be home, on Monday, February 23, 2026, we both played pickleball with our respective groups. Hot Springs Village is such a great place to live! 

On Tuesday, I dug out the camera and managed photographs of an American Goldfinch at the house, and a Hair Bittercress “weed”.

American Goldfinch near our house
Hairy Bittercress

And then, some Spring Beauty wildflowers along Cedar Creek Trail in Hot Springs Village were photographed.

Spring Beauty
Spring Beauty

More Spring Beauties were photographed on Thursday, February 26, 2026, along Cedar Creek Trail.

Spring Beauty
Spring Beauty
Spring Beauty

Kay’s half first cousin, once removed, visited and he and Kay enjoyed lunch and catching up of old times and family. He was so enjoyable with whom to visit, and Kay was definitely thrilled to spend time with him.

And then on Friday, I hiked the Beaver Dam Trail in the Village and photographed a Water Moccasin, and some Rue Anemone and Bloodroot wildflowers. 

Water Moccasin
Rue Anemone
Spring Beauty
Bloodroot
Bloodroot

Sunday through Sunday, February 1-15, 2026—Beginning Another Cruise

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Remnants of the deep freeze, sleet, and snow continued to hang around through the beginning of the month, negating the ability to play pickleball or golf more than a couple of times.

Kay kept busy attending various meetings, reading, and occasionally baking. I continued “organizing” the shop, rearranging tools and designing and building small diy touches to increase efficiency. These included a paper and shop towel holder, cord holders, and several small lidless boxes/trays to hold drill bits, etc. and drawer dividers. As part of the efficiency process, I sorted through wrenches, sockets, screw drivers, and pliers to identify duplicates/redundancies to donate to our church’s United Women of Faith garage sale in May. Several sets of both metric and English sockets were found and embarrassingly, some six extra pairs of needle nose pliers the same size were found. While this was a major time consumer, it was also rewarding.

A few photos were made during this time period, including this Red-breasted Nuthatch observed on Sunday, February 1.

On Wednesday, February 4, a Carolina Chickadee, America Goldfinch, and Dark-eyed Junco were photographed.

And then on Thursday, February 5, an immature Bald Eagle was seen on a island in a nearby lake.

Seeking other subjects to photograph particularly wildflowers, a number of Fungi were seen along Cedar Creek Trail in Hot Springs Village.

And, how about this monster fungus, measuring about 15 inches.

Also, a solitary wildflower bloom was discovered.

As were some miscellaneous subjects.

On Saturday, February 14, we began another “adventure,” though it was pretty uneventful. Be it experience, a known commodity, and/or our planned lack of activity,, we didn’t begin packing until the morning of our departure. This “adventure” was another cruise out of Galveston, Texas, aboard the Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas. Yes, another cruise. 

Here’s the explanation. Last winter while in the Villages in Florida, there were several discussions about a fun-filled cruise to include the group of friends, mostly from Hot Springs Village, that had wintered in Arizona at one time or another. And then, a friend(s) suggested that Kay research cruises. Those of you who know Kay know that when she is given a task, consider it done. Consequently, she found back-to-back cruises to the Caribbean in early 2026. In order to lock in the cruise, we had to make a sizable deposit. Well, after all was said and done, no one wanted to go on either of the cruises, but we were committed financially to go. Rather than default with a sizable financial penalty, we paid an extra $100 per cruise to change to one of the least expensive out of Galveston, though neither of us wanted to sail. Thus, we began our second cruise of 2026 on which neither of us wanted to go. 

The approximately 5 hour drive to Nacogdoches, Texas, was uneventful. Nacogdoches was  our overnight stop, at the Continental Inn and Suites. It was a bit on the older side, but was really clean.

We made the short three-hour drive to the Galveston port Sunday morning, dropped off our suitcases, parked, and caught the shuttle to the Royal Caribbean cruise boarding area. Boarding was efficient and quick, and lunch was okay. Once again, there were not enough AC receptacles to support our CPAPS, and an extension cord was requested and provided. The We were surprised to find only two AC receptacles in the entire room. A request was made for two extension cords (for our CPAPS) and they were delivered shortly afterwards. The Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas was huge, at least by our standards, hosting about 5500 guests plus another approximately 2500 workers.