Packing

The cabin is a mess and there is luggage everywhere.  Its hard to believe that we are at the end of this cruise already.  We have had great weather and smooth seas for the most part and lots of laughs.  We missed you Debbie.  I know you are getting ready to travel tomorrow too.  If I miss you, have a good time.  Here are a few photos from our trip.

Cocoa butter

Poisonous frogs

Beautiful Butterflies

Beautiful and unusual flowers in the trees and vines.

Howler Monkeys in the trees above the tram.

The one sloth we saw just before leaving.

Cozumel

Another extremely hot day in Cozumel. Every time I come here I think of the beautiful blue water that is so clear and then I get off the ship and think ugh…I can’t stand this place. If you are a diver or a beach person it would be nice I suppose but I can’t stand all the people following you wanting you to buy this or look at this “and today it is almost free” not! We walked around the port area for until we couldn’t take the harassment anymore then came back to the ship. I will be here with the twins in six weeks and I’m hoping they don’t want to get off! We got some lunch and Kay went to lay by the pool and read and I came back to write and take a shower. We have lots of company here with the Celebrity Constellation, Carnival Glory, Carnival Ecstacy and one of the Disney ships is at the dock in town but I don’t know which one. Tonight is formal night so thank heavens our last dress up night. We lose an hour tonight and were told that we lose another hour tomorrow afternoon at 2 PM? Interesting. Last night we had a group that was on the X Factor in the UK called the Tenors of Rock. Maybe a bit much for the older crowd as many left after their first songs but they were very good and were awesome at harmony. Kay and I enjoyed them and the others who stayed did as well. The funny part was when Kay and I were on the tender yesterday coming back from Belize she said I’ll bet those are the guys that are singing tonight. Lo and behold it was them. They had just flown in to join the ship. Tonight the show is supposed to be cirque type cleverly called “The Show”. Out of the 3 Celebrity cruises I have done, I have to say the food and service on this ship has been the best. We have enjoyed the cruise and the warmth of the ports.

Belize

Belize is another hot and sunny day. We arrive at 9:30 AM and tenders are for tour groups first so Kay and I have a leisurely breakfast at the Bistro since she was given two free meals for her birthday. By the time we finished breakfast tender tickets were no longer needed. We gathered our things and headed ashore. The Carnival Dream is also here today and was here when we arrived. This port is always fascinating as the ships must do this zig zag thing to enter and exit the coral reefs that are here. Calm seas and very hot again although Kay seems to think it is comfortable. I think she is still sick. We arrived and tried to get out to the market area where Kay wanted to go negotiate for some bowls but we couldn’t go out the way she thought. It was so hot. I stopped to look at some shirts and we sat in the shade for awhile then headed to the pharmacy. I did pick up a couple things but it is not the bargain it once was and they are not carrying a lot of things anymore. Good to know that this can be crossed off as a must stop now. With copays, most of this is way cheaper in the states now so it doesn’t make any sense to buy it here. Also, you used to get it in the original bottles but apparently they found that it is cheaper for them and they make more money if they buy it in big bottles and dispense it in plastic bags. I think this will be my last trip here. We ran into one of our tablemates and she said her husband was sick. Kay and I both looked at each other and hope we are not doomed to get it too. We got the tender back and had lunch on Lido. I came back to the cabin to finish my book and Kay went to stretch out near the pool. Tomorrow is Cozumel and then a sea day and its over!

Carnival Dream is here as well.

Sea Day

Awoke this morning to beautiful skies and smooth seas again. We sat on the balcony and read, then went to breakfast, then tea , then back to the balcony for more reading. Then lunch and more reading and then I worked on the blog and uploaded the photos from yesterday. Not much going on to report but tomorrow is Belize and Kay asked me this morning where the drug dealer was located? What? I said it’s a pharmacy and it is in the shopping center where the tenders are. So that is all for now except we went to the show and his name was Turpin an impressionist singer who was very good. We enjoyed it.

You say its your birthday.....

You say its your birthday, well its my birthday too yeah! She wanted me to sing Happy Birthday on the balcony so I did a shortened version. We had breakfast and went to meet our tour., We are in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica today. Last time I was in Costa Rica it was on the Pacific side but have the say the weather was much the same. Mostly cloudy but when the sun was out it was hot and oh so humid. This was our first attempt to get up and be ready to go somewhere before 9 AM and we probably wouldn’t have made it if it hadn’t been for gaining another hour yesterday. Now it is light very early and dark very quickly.

Cocoa pod

Spider was quite large...

Ants were very large too...must be the humidity that makes everything grow so large here.

Sloth was scowling at us as we left.

Everything grows large here...this is a cashew!

We got on the bus and drove about an hour over very bumpy roads to the Veragua Rain Forest. Kay was most uncomfortable on the bus as the seats were very close together and she couldn’t fit her knees in so we sat in the handicapped seats going up. They divided us into two groups when we got there…those who wanted to hike to the waterfalls which were difficult and steep and those that could walk on level ground. We were in the second group. It was interesting but much waiting in line it seemed which was rather boring. After walking through the forest and seeing it up close and personal, viewing the displays of snakes and frogs local to the area we got to go into the butterfly habitat. That was really cool but after all the waiting around all day, they rushed us through there. Sadly it was the best part of the tour and we didn’t get to spend much time there. We then had a box lunch and were taken on the aerial tram which was very cool and then walked the floor of the rain forest seeing nasty huge spiders, ants that were over and inch long and other nasty insects. There was a lot of walking and when we got back we took the tram back up the mountain. We did see some howler monkeys in the trees and when we were leaving we got to see a sloth in a tree by the exit. Very cool. Kay was pissed because an old couple were sitting in the handicapped seats when we boarded the bus so her ride back was not comfortable.
We had dinner in Silk Harvest tonight which is a pay venue of Chinese/Japanese food. It was very nice and they brought Kay a little cake for her birthday. The food was good but we thought the “small plates” as they called them or tapas like servings were better than the main course. We went to the Hot Glass
Show for awhile but it is much like watching paint dry so we moved on and came back to the cabin to get our books to read while waiting for the show. The comedian was funny and we had some good laughs and came back to the cabin You say its your birthday, well its my birthday too yeah! Happy Birthday Lady Kay!