Last night we sailed through a strait separating Mexico and Cuba, and connecting the Caribbean Sea with the Gulf of Mexico.  Some passengers were able to see the lights of Cuba as we sailed through. The seas became a bit rougher, and we awoke shortly after 6 AM gently rocking back and forth. Kay began suffering from head stuffiness before bed last evening, and awoke with more of the same and a ferocious backache. She rarely complains about not feeling well, so I’m a bit concerned.

Coffee and pastries were delivered at 7:15 AM, and we enjoyed a leisurely early morning catching up with US news on CNN.  Fruit and cottage cheese completed my breakfast on the aft end of the ship, but Kay didn’t eat anything.  After returning to the room, she dressed for the spa, hoping the warm jets of water would soothe the backache. I remained in the room, working on the blog for the week having tired of the cruise; it must be time to go home for a while.

Only a few photos were taken today, so the one below is of Kay in Cozumel, our first port of call.

A slow morning was followed by a light lunch, as we’re saving ourselves for lamb shanks tonight. And then, we “rested” from all the eating, etc. this week.

Kay is continuing to not feel well (she says she is not feeling bad, just not good), and we spent the afternoon in our cabin, filling out departure papers.

Dinner in the formal dining room tonight was the long awaited lamb shanks, and they were excellent. Our waiter brought us additional servings of the lamb, and then brought us several desserts, though we had only order one each.  And knowing we liked the chocolate flourless cake, he brought us several servings of it.  WOW!  Fortunately, we don’t eat like this very often.  Next week, I’ll be back on Weight Watchers.

Our entertainment tonight featured the Navigator of the Seas orchestra and starred comedian Ross Bennett and sports acrobats Duo Claudio, both excellent.  Also, skits were performed by the Activities staff, making jokes about life on a cruise ship.  This is our last night on board, with scheduled arrival in New Orleans at 6 AM and hopeful departure towards home at 7 AM.

NOTE:  We have been talking about a Baltic cruise, visiting England, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Russia, and Estonia; this cruise has been on our bucket list a long time.  During our current cruise, we’ve taken advantage of opportunities to speak to and ask questions of staff and other passengers about various cruises, and the Baltic is the #1 choice.  Our head waiter recommended the cruise as his top choice, and suggested that we travel in early June, mainly to take advantage of relatively clear weather and long daylight hours.  His recommendation and suggestion was seconded by our lunch waiter, Nona, from Belarus, a part of the former Soviet Union. So, if the good Lord’s willing, maybe we’ll cruise the Baltics in June 2014. Wanna go with us?  

We’re at sea all day today, having finished all three ports of call on this cruise.

We had a normal breakfast, i.e. food like what we would have eaten at home including an English muffin, fruit, and cottage cheese, and were joined by Ron and Kaden. It was the first time we’ve eaten with Kaden, or even spent time with him, since Monday evening—too many “distractions” for him, if you know what I mean.

We changed into swimming suits and spent the rest of the morning lounging in the shade on the crowded deck with Ron—enough sun for us already—and watched, or rather listened, to the “International” Men’s Belly Flop Competition. The ship’s passengers are mostly Arkansans, and the Arkansas entries received loud ovations, and even a hog call once; the Italian cruise director had no idea what was happening, but was duly impressed.

Dinner tonight was formal, and included a wonderful seafood salad, lobster tail, and baked Alaska! And then the waiter brought two more plates of lobster tail we shared with the other family at our table; Ron devoured our extra one! And then to top it off, the head waiter and waiter brought plates of flourless chocolate cake—the best chocolate I’ve ever eaten. We had this previously on Monday evening and commented about how good it was. The staff had set this up for Tuesday evening but no one at our table showed up for the formal dinner.  We’ve always made it a point to befriend the staff and they always reciprocate, and since our waiter is Turkish, and Ron speaks conversational Turkish, really solidifies the relationship. We’ve changed our opinion of Royal Caribbean, particularly about the quality of food on Royal Caribbean as compared to the other cruise companies we’ve used; it is the best we’ve had on any cruise, in our opinion, though not by a significant margin. And we especially liked the fact that there is more American-style food—meats and vegetables we’re used to eating.

After the formal dinner, I changed into more casual attire—shorts and island shirt—and we enjoyed an evening of watching ballroom style dancing and music, “Ballroom Fever”. The show was very well choreographed. All the dancers were good, but the featured dancers, Olga and Dmitry, a Russian couple, were really good.

As the evening progressed, Kay began to feel stuffy, and though she never complains, it’s obvious to those of us who know her realize she’s not feeling well.  She hopes the saltwater air tomorrow will help.

Today’s port of call, the last one of the cruise, is Falmouth, Jamaica. The small island of Jamaica lies due south of Cuba.  Falmouth, located on the north coast, was once a major sugar and rum port in the 18th and 19th centuries—dependent largely on slave trade.  This once wealthy Jamaican city was marked by Georgian-style “Great Houses” which remain intact today.  The slave-supported economy ended in 1840 with the Emancipation, and today Falmouth appears as if time has stood still.

We finally wised up and had room service–coffee and pastries–in the room this morning; what a way to live!

After a leisurely early morning, we had a small, but slow breakfast. After disembarking, we walked through the shopping district, and Kay bought a few small gifts. Leaving the shopping district and entering the real Jamaica, we observed less than opulent houses and shops, and a poor economy almost wholly dependent on tourism.  Apparently illegal drugs and marijuana are rampant as passengers were warned many times, and threatened with photographs if they partook.

We found Jamaica to be quite expensive, except for some jewelry and watches which sell for brand-allowable discounts with no taxes and no duty (under $800 we were later to discover), a savings of about 25%; some diamond jewelry will discount up to to about 70%.

Back on board we ate lunch–excellent pan seared grouper, “fried” cabbage, and bacon potato salad–and changed into swimsuits, spending the next 3 hours in and around the spa and hot tub.

Dinner tonight included rack of lamb, one of our favorites, and it was prepared well. 

Entertainment was Domenik Allen from the legendary rock group, FOREIGNER.  He has also performed in Las Vegas, Broadway, and London’s West End, and on “Days Of Our Lives”. He was awesome, playing saxophone, guitar, and clarinet, and had a tremendous voice with lots of range and air. He did songs from The Eagles, FOREIGNER, Kiss, and many other groups. He is the best entertainment we’ve seen on any of our cruises.

We had a relatively early breakfast even though arrival in Georgetown, Grand Cayman is not until later in mid-morning.

Grand Cayman is the largest of 3 islands, all comprising a self-governing colony under Great Britain. Columbus called the islands “Las Tortugas” because of the turtles he found living off shore.  The islands have also been known as Caimanau, the Carib word for crocodile, used to describe the native iguanas.  Today, the turtles, iguanas, and stingrays are the most popular residents.

At Grand Cayman, passengers going ashore have to be tendered, i.e. taken ashore by ferry. Kay, Ron, and Kaden scheduled a “shore excursion” to swim with the sting rays at Stingray City, an area where locals have fed the stingrays for many years, and thus left early with other shore excursion passengers.

I had planned to walk around town; however, the tendering operations took forever–the queue took two hours as paid shore excursions received priority and then the remainder of the passengers who wanted to go ashore were next. By that time, I had gotten comfortable in the hot tub and opted to remain on board; one advantage was that the pool and spa area was practically empty. Consequently, I had a quiet day enjoying the hot tub and some sun, and reading and listening to music (play lists include Linda Ronstadt, Diana Krall, Gordon Lightfoot, Sierra Hull, and Allison Krauss).

We opted to have dinner at the buffet, and are really beginning to enjoying the food.  The sweet and sour pork was very good as was the ham potato salad. The food on Navigator of the Seas has more of an American flair and seasonings, and our opinion of Royal Caribbean, at least as far as food is concerned, is improving.

Entertainment tonight was an evening performance of Ice Dancin’ which we saw earlier. Consequently, we had a quiet night, and I finished another book.

We arrived on the western side of the island of San Miguel de Cozumel about 7 AM. The Mayans believed Cozumel to be a spiritual sanctuary, a sacred shrine while the Spanish Conquistadors believed it to be a gold mine, literally. Sitting due west of Cuba, and forming the western edge of a narrow pass connecting the Caribbean Sea with the Gulf of Mexico, 17th century pirates used it as a base of operations. Today, it is considered a diver’s dream, a shopper’s paradise, an archeologist’s playground, and a vacationer’s dream.

After breakfast, we went ashore, and caught a taxi to the shopping district, while Ron and Kaden opted to spend the day at an adventure park, complete with zip lines, ATVs, cave swimming, and kayaking.  Kay and I shopped watched people, both locals and those from the cruise ships docked nearby. We really enjoy watching people, and particularly observing people from cultures different than our own.  It makes the world seem both smaller and larger at the same time, and we realize that the US is but a cog in the world wheel, albeit a large cog. 

We made the 5+ mile walk back to the ship, stopping for Kay to wade in the turquoise Cozumel Channel while I photographed an iguana nearby.

We then stopped at a bar with “free” Wi-Fi to read email, check news and weather from home, and download a book from the Baxter County online library. 

Back at the Navigator of the Seas, we had lunch and enjoyed some quiet time in the sun at the pool and spa. Dinner was pretty blasé, except for the flourless chocolate cake which was great; in fact, it was the best chocolate I’ve ever eaten. The entertainment tonight was comedian John Joseph and keyboard player Johnny B.  The stand-up comedian was quite funny, and for all practical purposes could have done without his partner, the keyboardist.

Thank goodness for the free Wi-Fi; I finished another book tonight and had only a couple left before downloading another one.  As an aside, the sinus infection that has plagued me for two weeks now has fully disappeared.

We continued sailing today New Orleans towards Cozumel in Mexico—no ports of call today.

After a non-eventful morning, we attended the ship’s “Ice Dancin’ Spectacular”, featuring a hula hoop act, Ekaterina.  The skaters were from all over the world, and were good, perhaps just below Olympic level, except for the star, Katerina, who was exceptional.

With plenty of afternoon left, we enjoyed some sun time.  The hot tubs were packed with pre-teens and teens, leaving little room for anyone else.

There are lots of kids on this cruise, from toddlers to teens; after all, it is spring break time and we have to remember this cruise is mainly for Kaden, and he’s in “heaven” with all the cute teenage girls largely outnumbering the boys.

Dinner tonight was just okay.

The entertainment tonight was a tribute to Broadway, “Now and Forever”, complete with a 7-piece orchestra and singers and dancers. The show featured numbers from The Producers, Fosse, Mamma Mia!, and many more. A couple of the singers were just ordinary with little range, making the show just okay.

This is our first cruise on Royal Caribbean. Naturally, we are comparing it to Celebrity and Norwegian, other lines we have used.  The clientele are a bit more affluent than what we observed on Norwegian (interesting, since most are from Arkansas), and there are fewer non-Americans than on either Celebrity or Norwegian. Otherwise, at this early point both the food seems to be about the same and the entertainment seems to be slightly below the level of the others.  Consequently, the verdict is still out on Royal Caribbean.

My intent was to relax on this cruise, and I am succeeding, having finished yet another book.

Two o’clock AM sure came early, particularly after catnapping only a few hours. 

After a cup of coffee, and some fruit and cottage cheese, we headed out the driveway, bound for New Orleans.  We took a shortcut to Pine Bluff through Sheridan, and then drove south to Vicksburg, Mississippi, where we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel. And then, we took another shortcut to I-55, arriving in New Orleans shortly after 11 AM.  (I used to drive this route when living in New Orleans in 1977-1981.)  We missed our turn to the cruise ship terminal because of bad directions for parking from Royal Caribbean, but finally got everything sorted out after dropping off luggage, and Ron and Kaden, and then taking over 30 minutes to park. After another 30 minutes to check in, we boarded the Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas.

We met up with Ron and Kaden at the pool deck where Kaden was enjoying an overload of eye candy—lots and lots of teenage girls near his age, also on spring break, in bikinis! I have never seen so many teenagers in one place (ugh), but we have to remember this trip is for Kaden.

Our rooms were ready at 1 PM, and Kay and I went to ours to stow our carry-ons and change from traveling clothes into swimsuits. Back on the pool deck, we got a burger and flavored water, and enjoyed the hot New Orleans sun for an hour or so.

After a brief rest we dressed for dinner (casual, i.e. shirt and trousers, no shorts or jeans) and enjoyed “slow roasted” prime rib.

A long dinner resulted in our being late for entertainment—World champions in Sports Acrobatics Duo Claudio (acrobatics similar to Cirque) and comedian Carl Banks.

I finished the first of several books I hope to read on this trip.

We’ve been home a week now; it’s time to hit the road (or sea) again.

On this trip we’re cruising out of New Orleans (our port of departure) to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica (our ports of call), via Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas.

The purpose of the trip is to take Kaden, Kay’s older grandson, and his dad, Kay’s son Ron, on Kaden’s senior trip. Of course he’s only a junior, but Kay is thinking he’ll be too busy next year! 

We drove to Ron’s today, via Maumelle, to visit briefly with Ridge, the younger grandson, and his parents for a couple of hours.  We arrived at Ron’s shortly after 7 PM, and visited briefly.  Our alarm is set for 2 AM, just a few hours from now.

Kay returned home on March 8, having been dropped off in Maumelle to spend a day or two babysitting Ridge, and of course visiting Karyn.  I filled the feeders for the deer and turkeys, and we put out the suet and seed feeders for the birds.  We unpacked the motorhome, and I stayed in bed for a few days, trying to get well, having come down with the CRUD just about the time we crossed the Texas/Arkansas border a couple of days ago.  We were glad to be home, but sad to be away from the RGV after such a great winter.

Kay remained in central Arkansas to babysit grandson Ridge as he’s been sick and out of school and mommy and daddy have been missing work.  Consequently, she rose early to drove to their house before time for them to leave for work.  I quickly readied the motorhome for the final leg of the trip home, departing Maumelle Park at 6:00 AM.  I quickly made the drive home, 150 miles.  After emptying the black and gray tanks and parking the motorhome for the next few weeks, I began the lengthy process of unloading clothes, groceries, and STUFF.

With four loads of clothes to wash, the washer was put into action and on the second load, began leaking from the bottom.  We have never been real happy with the Amana washer, so a quick call was made to Kay to okay purchasing a new pair.  Shay’s, the local appliance dealer had a high quality, simple to operate pair, and delivered and installed them within an hour of my purchase, taking the old set away—one problem solved.  However, a beep kept sounding in the bedroom, so I replaced the battery in the smoke detector; it did not go away.  Another drive into town was made to buy a new smoke detector and I installed it, but the beep still did not go away.  I checked the security system, but it wasn’t the culprit.  Finally, I remembered the carbon monoxide monitor behind a chest of drawers, and sure enough, it was the origin of the beep.  I unplugged it, and had some peace of mind. By this time, I had begun to feel worse for wear, and the head cold that began on our way home Tuesday was now becoming full blown with a sore throat from drainage, etc., disrupting plans for unpacking, cleaning, etc.  What a welcome home adventure and Kay doesn’t know what she’s missing.