Santo Tomas, Guatemala

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We arrived right on schedule at 8 am. This was not a new country for us. We’d had a port stop on the Pacific side of the isthmus in the past. I hate to categorically state this is the dirtiest place I’ve ever been, but if it isn’t then it is still in the top 3. That company includes dirt roads in Kenya and the coal transporting highway to Hanoi in Vietnam. I only consider this dirtier because we were only out there for an hour! I left all my jewelry in the safe but wore my watch. I blackened a washcloth scrubbing the dirt caked on it when we returned! Our guide today told us that the main industry here is bananas. Chiquita ships internationally out of Puerto Barrios. I am unsure where all the fine black grit originates.

Today we paid $29 each for an hour-long open-air trolley bus ride from the commercial port at Santo Tomas to the closest large town of Puerto Barrios. Tour description is pasted below. The two are adjacent and the part we toured was maybe 5 miles away. The tour included up to 3 beverages per person! We took one beer (Gallo) each for later since we started out at 9:30 am. Within minutes of setting out, we were covered in a fine black grit. It stuck well to both sunscreen and sweat! I made the mistake of applying the hand sanitizer at the port terminal building and my hands looked like I changed the oil in the car. The tour was probably about worth what we paid. Luis, the guide, handed out maps of Guatemala to each couple as well as a nice little fabric bag of frightfully primitive paper, mud and fabric worry dolls. We've had nice worry dolls in the past. I kept the bags and threw the dolls out because, dirt.

Trolley Town Tour

1 hour

$29

Ride a unique trolley for a 50-minute ride through from the Port of Santo Tomas through the simple streets of Puerto Barrios, the nearest town. Your guide provides a narration on the history and folklore. Depending on traffic, we'll stop at one or two local attractions including the colorful local graveyard perfect for some unique pictures.

Note: Participants must be at least 18 years of age to consume alcohol. A maximum of 3 cold alcoholic drinks (usually beer) or soft drinks per person are included.

End of tour description.  

It was unbearably humid and other than the terminal buildings' artisan market there was nothing near the dock. We had a short day here and were glad of it. I found everything I wanted to shop for in the many vendors at the port. They were just shy of too aggressive for us to stay and shop. I bought another shirt similar to the last one I bought in Guatemala. Let’s hope this one survives a first launder to be worn. The first one fit me over a t-shirt but the first time I laundered it in cold water with no machine dry, it shrank so much I couldn’t button it. I bought today’s shirt a full size too large, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed.

We had breakfast and lunch in Terrace. We have a 6 pm dinner reservation at Jacques tonight. We also have an Oceania Club cocktail invitation tonight for 5:45 pm. I don’t know if we’ll try to squeeze that in or not. We can always hope to make it on one of the next 2 cruises.

Sorry about the delays posting photos. We’ve had super slow and intermittent Internet for the past 2 days. Oceania includes one Internet access per cabin, so we must take turns. It worked out fine the first few days but not so well once the Internet became problematic.

About 5:20 pm, the CD came over the loudspeakers to announce that tomorrow's port of Harvest Caye, Belize had just become a tender port. He said very recently another cruise ship had damaged the pier and it was still unsafe. We have a 5 hour tour there tomorrow that was already scheduled to begin with a 30-minute boat transfer to mainland Belize. Fingers crossed they'll just pick us up at the ship now! About 5:40 pm, a troupe of local musicians and dancers appeared on the dock to perform for the ship. We are still not to all aboard of 6:30 pm nor 7 pm sailaway. So it is not clear why now. But it is a nice cultural gesture.

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Coxen Hole, Roatan Island, Honduras

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Country #95! We moved the clocks back an hour last night so it was bright sunlight before the alarm even went off this morning. We were sad to see an enormous NCL ship already docked. Good news, there was still space at the pier for us to dock behind them. There was a big Carnival cruise ship docked at the other pier location. The seas were millpond calm today so it wouldn't have been a terrible tender ride anyway. But, docking is better.

Roatan is an island, one of 3 called the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras. Coxen Hole where we are docked on Roatan is the capital of the Bay Islands. It used to be a British colony before becoming part of Honduras. The official language of Roatan is English but they drive on the right. Spanish is Honduras' official language. Confused yet?

First email of the day was from our TA regarding our next 2 cruises onboard Riviera. See it below.

IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION FOR GUESTS TRAVELING WITH OCEANIA CRUISES Dear Valued Guests, Due to the growing concern regarding coronavirus infections in China and in an abundance of caution, we will be implementing new policies designed to protect the health and safety of our guests and crew. These new policies will apply to all guests on all sailings worldwide, effective immediately, for the next 30 days. In addition to the already announced non-touch temperature screenings detailed below, we will be denying boarding to any guest who has visited mainland China in the last 30 days. These guests will receive a refund for their cruise. This new policy is in addition to non-touch temperature screenings for all guests. Any guest who registers a body temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or 38 degrees Celsius or higher, will not be allowed to board. These guests will not receive a refund and will be advised to open a travel insurance claim with their insurance provider. Please know that the safety, security and well-being of our guests and crew is our number one priority. We truly appreciate your understanding and thank you for your diligence and assistance in helping us ensure that all of our guests and crew remain in good health. If you have traveled to mainland China in the past 30 days, please contact your travel advisor or Oceania Cruises directly so that we may begin the process of cancelling your pending voyage, collecting your travel information and start the refund process. For guests travelling on our upcoming China sailings, we will be sharing further information in the coming few days. Please Note: The mainland China travel restrictions do not include Hong Kong or Taiwan. Should you have any questions regarding the coronavirus, please speak with your personal physician or visit the websites for the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at www.CDC.gov or the World Health Organization at www.WHO.int. Sincerely, Carlos Ortega Vice President, Guest Services Oceania Cruises

What troubles us about this is the NO refund if they say we have a fever on turnaround day in Miami! Otherwise it seems fair and prudent.

So, we were docked and the ship cleared by 8 am. We reported to the Riviera Lounge before our 8:30 am time to exchange our tour tickets for little tour #30 stubs. We were called by 8:30 am and a very large group of us made our way to the long walk down the pier. As we arrived at the buses, tour guides divided us into very small busloads. Clay and I were next to last to board ours and split up with me over the rear wheel well and Clay in the back row. The aisle was so narrow that even I had to turn sideways and shimmy to get by each row of seats. The AC worked though! We were on the Islands Highlights tour at $89 each. It was a good morning for us. Tour description below. The iguanas were a nightmare. The butterflies and hummingbirds were awesome. The island of Roatan is much more scenic and inhabited than was Cozumel so the bus ride was engaging today. Our guide, Edwin, stated that this island is also protected due to the surrounding reefs and there is no agriculture but construction is still ongoing here. Tourism is again the primary industry.

Island Highlights (ROA-008)
Port: Roatan
Tour Length: Half-Day (Approximately 3 1/4 hours)
Tour Description
See hundreds of iguanas in a protected habitat shaded by tropical foliage.
Hear about iguana behavior, and why the reptiles are endangered on Roatan.
Walk among hundreds of fluttering butterflies in an eco-park.
See hummingbirds darting about the eco-park and drinking nectar.
Snap a selfie with a parrot perched on your arm or shoulder.
Enjoy two aspects of the natural world by observing iguanas in a protected zoo-like habitat and then visiting an eco-park that revolves around birds and butterflies. Roatan is known for its biodiversity, but few tropical animals are as iconic as the iguana, hundreds of which you will see at the Iguana Hideaway. It is an excellent venue to observe these prehistoric-looking reptiles, as iguanas are threatened on Roatan from loss of habitat and being captured for the pet trade. Watch them basking in the sun, lounging in trees and munching on vegetables. Flying creatures take center stage at the Mayan Eden Eco Park, where you will stroll through an enclosure with a huge variety of butterflies indigenous to Honduras. You can also expect to see hummingbirds flitting from blossom to blossom and brightly colored parrots. With the guide’s assistance, you can probably coax one to perch on your arm for a photo.

HELPFUL HINTS
Dress in weather-appropriate clothing.
Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.
PLEASE NOTE
This tour includes approximately one hour of easy walking and standing, plus additional walking at the guests’ discretion during free time. The tour is available to wheelchair guests who have a collapsible wheelchair, are able to make their own way on and off the coach, and have an able-bodied companion to assist them. The venues are wheelchair-accessible, but the restrooms are not. Those with mobility concerns should evaluate their stamina and ability before joining the tour.

End of tour description.

We got back to the pier area around noon and checked out some of the shops before going back aboard for lunch and to escape the blazing sun and humidity. I managed to get to Baristas before 2 pm for my Illycrema and canele! This is my absolute favorite part of cruising on Oceania!

We have no specialty dinner reservation tonight so I expect we'll eat at Terrace again.

We got our 2 upcoming cruises' new invoices from our TA. The cruise we are on now is our 9th Oceania cruise. At #10, our O Club status and benefits increase including gratuities and doubling shipboard credit. The 2 invoices did not handle the increased shipboard credit in the same manner so we have emailed back a query about that. It was a step in the right direction anyway. 

While we were out, delivered to our bed was a disembarkation questionnaire from destination services. It was 2 full pages with a lot of option except for the option of continuing on the next cruise! Destination Services Desk is closed from 11 am to 5 pm today so we'll have to inquire about our options when they reopen. I took the form down when they reopened and the guy seemed surprised that they'd missed an option but agreed it was an option. He used a highlighter to add the option. We're still expecting the special letter and next cruise's keycard delivered on the last night of the cruise as the guy at Reception told us the first day we boarded. Time will tell.

Melissa, our cabin attendant surprised and delighted us again tonight. When we came back from dinner we found Bob on the bed again with his own chocolate AND his own Bob-sized copy of tonight's Currents! 

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Cozumel, Mexico

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We arrived on time or even early after an uneventful evening. (I assume. The navigation map shows we still didn't maintain a straight line of travel overnight!) It is partly cloudy and hot and humid here. Cozumel is an island with protected status. That means no new buildings have been built in about 30 years and there is no agriculture allowed. Tourism is the only real business here. We are docked right at downtown San Miguel at the Punta Langosta Cruise Pier. There are a couple other, bigger cruise ships docked away from town that we can see from here. We are docked on the port side and the mainland is visible from our starboard balcony. This is our first visit to the Yucatan Peninsula, so new map pins!

We took a ship's tour today. Described below. We paid $99 each. It was not worth it. I know we've seen much better chocolate demonstrations and we saw zero cacao trees. We had thought just the bus tour of the island would be worthwhile but there is really nothing here but trees and scrub. The stop at El Mirador might be considered comical. There used to be a natural surf-carved rock arch there but it collapsed and now there is nothing there but some souvenir stands on the beach. The guide failed to mention the collapse when he unloaded us there. We booked this tour in advance on the Oceania website. The order form they had in our cabin on arrival stated in bold typeface that there would be NO stop at the bee sanctuary. Thankfully that was wrong. We never did learn why the bees are stingless. The guide did say they were entirely domesticated and could not survive without human support. Mystery.

Island Discovery & Chocolate Experience
DETAILS

3 hrs Estimated Duration

Gain a greater understanding of the Mayan culture at the Mayan Cacao Company, where you will learn how the ancient Maya made chocolate from the cacao tree.

After departing from the pier, you will soon arrive at the Mayan Cacao Company, an interactive attraction where you will discover the importance of the sacred cacao seed to the Mayan civilization. The Mayans were drinking chocolate made from cacao for ceremonial and medicinal purposes as far back as 500 B.C. They also used cacao as currency.

Chocolate was also essential to Mayan cuisine, and you will sample a local version of the sweet treat along with some traditional handmade tortillas. While touring the grounds, you will see flourishing cacao trees, a typical Mayan residence and a botanical garden of indigenous plants. To further your understanding of the ancient Maya civilization, be sure to stop at the replicas of a Mayan calendar and a stone stela adorned with hieroglyphics and carvings.

Following your immersion into the Mayan lifestyle and traditions, you will settle in for a panoramic drive around Cozumel. Much of the route will follow the beautiful coastline, which is rocky in certain areas and rimmed by great stretches of sugar-white beaches elsewhere. In time, you will pause for photos at El Mirador, a spectacularly scenic lookout where the pounding sea has carved a large stone arch out of the rocky shore.

Next you will head to the Mayan Bee Sanctuary and learn about the importance the sacred stingless Melipona Bees had in the Mayan culture as well as the significance of cenotes where bees interact in their natural space. Not only are Molipona bees essential for the pollination of crops and environmental balance but also key to Mayan traditions and believes. Learn about the benefits and properties of the bee’s marvelous golden liquid as you enjoy a small tasting. Afterwards you will return to the pier.

End of tour description.

We were returned to the rear of the shopping center across the street from the port. We were paraded through there in a double line outbound to be sure we'd see it. We had to walk back through to return to the port. We stopped at the Starbucks to check the mugs and they had them, but I didn't like it. We walked about a block down the street to the Mega Soriana store we'd seen from the bus ride outbound. Clay bought 4 local beers and a bottle of Listerine for about $10.

We didn't find anywhere good looking for lunch and ate at Terrace again. For the 2nd time, the same guy at Baristas refused to serve me an Ily Crema because he claims the machine doesn't work. It actually seems that he is the problem since he is the only worker I've encountered there who won't serve from the machine. Worse is that he also doesn't offer to manually make an iced cappuccino instead! I think I've figured out he works there in the afternoon around 2pm and I can try to avoid him, but should  I have to?

We sail at 5 pm tonight. We have Toscana reservations at 6 pm. We found an invitation to the Oceania Club cocktail party at 5:45 pm on Friday but we have 6 pm Jacques that night. It would be tight. We'll see.

Tomorrow we are at Roatan, Honduras, another island. We received an info sheet about it while out. It states there are 2 possible docks and a 3rd option of anchoring and tendering. So, a 2 out of 3 chance of docking and a 1 out of 3 chance of tendering. Those might sound like pretty good odds. But... our tour tickets tomorrow already state that our meeting place is onboard in the Riviera Lounge and our meeting place today was on the pier. Our thinking is that is a good sign that Destinations already knows it is a tender port. We'd love to be wrong about this tomorrow around 8 am!

Finally, we move the clocks back one hour tonight.

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A Morning of Surprises

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I was awake about 6 am but stayed still and quiet waiting to see light around the blackout curtains. Heading southwest to Cozumel from Key West, I knew there was zero chance at watching the sunrise. So imagine my surprise when I opened the curtains and door and stepped out on the balcony to catch the end of a gorgeous sunrise! When I came back inside, Clay was up with the lights on and he asked if the wind was bad. (We had seen deck closure signs due to high winds up last night after dinner and furniture being secured.) I replied no, but in what possible scenario was the sun rising in the east visible from our starboard balcony. Clay thought for a moment before replying, only if the ship were headed due North. He turned the TV to the navigational channel where we were surprised to see the first route map showing a white zigzagging line following our little ship icon. The next view tightened up to show us headed as predicted, due North. WTH? Either someone on the bridge overnight was impaired or else we're burning time and miles to get to Cozumel exactly on time. It is about 11 am and we're following a straight line towards Cozumel now.

We had breakfast in Terrace buffet about an hour after they opened. Other than boarding day, we have had no problem with finding 2 empty chairs. I had one thing to do today. At 9:30 am the social hostess, Lisa, was handing out needlepoint kits in Horizons. (It turns out Lisa was the first to ever give me a needlepoint kit on my first O cruise and taught me how to do it!) I was there at 8:45 am. I took my tablet and played Candy Crush Soda Saga while waiting. About 9 am a woman came in and pronounced herself first for needlepoint (she didn't consult me) and lined up all other arrivals by calling out to them as they arrived. I suppose if you're self-appointed first you don't have to worry about those present in Horizons when you arrive. Lisa showed up about 9:15 am and ate breakfast in the back. When she approached the dance floor area to set up, #1 told her what was what and she went along. I didn't end up at the end of the line but I did get the next to last cosmetics case at about #22. Lisa said she'd hand out a 2nd round of kits on the last sea day of this cruise as well. I'm not worried but she did have a lot of scissors cases and big eyeglasses cases and I don't need anymore of those!

Clay went to the fitness track while I went to Horizons. We planned to meet back in the cabin when we were each done. I arrived first and panicked when I found Bob missing. I had moved him from my nightstand to the coffee table looking out to sea when we went to breakfast. He was gone! I picked up the phone and pressed the housekeeping button. To my great relief, Melissa, our Honduran cabin stewardess, answered by asking "What's wrong?". She'd just greeted me in the hallway earlier. I stammered out, Oh Melissa, Bob is missing. Who's Bob? My little brown on brown dog. She told me, Oh he's not missing. She'd seen him in the chair, lying down like hiding. Unlikely, Bob doesn't hide and how would he get from the table to the chair? Melissa said she was about to knock on the door and hung up. I hung up and to my great relief, Bob was right where she said, hidden. I answered the door with Bob in my hand and we shared a relieved laugh. Still no idea how Bob got there, just an accident, I hope. Anyway, Melissa is an exuberant young woman doing an excellent job. She fills Clay's big insulated cup with ice as well as the ice bucket twice a day! The first night after we unpacked she gushed over our zapatos organized in the hanging organizer on the bathroom door. As Clay commented, if she doesn't know we're on for 3 straight cruises, she must think we brought a different pair of shoes for every day of this cruise and that would be noteworthy! Melissa was happy to be formally introduced to Bob and asked his age. She said she had a full-sized stuffed dog very similar looking and only 3 years old and asked if she could bring it to meet Bob. I agreed they should meet for a photo opportunity. She was happy. I was happy.

We haven't heard the Captain make a single announcement yet. The Cruise Director has and mainly a young British woman who says she is speaking from the bridge. We haven't caught her name or title yet. Odd. The Currents today says the Captain will make a noon announcement about the weather. I have the TV on channel 4, the bridge cam awaiting that. Also, the Captain will hold a complimentary cocktails reception in Horizons at 5:45 pm. I am inclined to avoid that but Clay is craving a beer so we'll have to see. He didn't find any local beers for sale in our stroll around Key West yesterday so he didn't buy any. He won't get any local beers onboard either as far as we can tell. More later.

The Captain gave a very concise weather rundown with sea conditions report at noon. No extraneous comments. He did say rain today and frankly that seems unlikely from casual observation. It has been a perfect sea day. In wildlife sightings, I saw a bird fishing and catching a flying fish off the coast of Cuba and in the afternoon Clay saw a few dolphins approach and disappear under the ship.

We had lunch in Terrace. We both had the Mexican specialties. Two days of Mexican lunch in a row and we haven't reached Mexico yet! Can't have too much of a good thing though.

Riviera had an afternoon big screen popcorn movie today but it was "Judy" and we saw it on TV on RCI. Last night we watched "Mrs. Lowry & Son". It was a biographic story and sad though well acted and educational. This afternoon we watched "The Peanut Butter Falcon". It was great and supposedly set on the Outer Banks. It was charming.

The angle of the sun changing was what drove Clay off the balcony, so we watched an afternoon movie. From the route line on the navigation channel after the movie, it seemed we were zigzagging again followed by a loop-de-loop flourish. WTH?

Clay wants to go to either Grand Bar or Martinis for the Captain's Cocktail Celebration since according to Currents, the Captain will be in Horizons. He wanted to go to the Grand Dining Room tonight but there was nothing on the dinner menu either of us wanted so back to Terrace for us. Maybe some other time we'll give the GDR another chance. 

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Key West, Florida

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We both felt the ship docking in the dark this morning. The blackout curtains are good in our cabin, but not that good, it was still dark out. We were scheduled to dock at 7 am. Sailing conditions must have been great overnight as it was smooth and quiet. There is a flat green nightlight plugged into the shaver outlet in the bathroom. I was concerned it wouldn't be enough light and my traveling LED plugin nightlight refused to remain seated in the plug in its place. It was fine. We didn't get up until 7 am. Breakfast had started at 6 am in Terrace but it looked like most of the ship was off to a slow, late start just like us. We had breakfast about 8 am. The loudspeaker announcement that the ship had cleared and shuttle service started was after 9 am. There are 2 other ships in port with us today. RCI has a giant ship right at Mallory Square, then RSSC Explorer, then us out at the Navy Mole Pier. You can't walk around on the base so we have to ride a shuttle to and from the Mallory Square area. We had to present a valid photo ID as well as a keycard to exit the ship this morning. Presumably because the same combo was required to re-enter the base on the shuttle back. It wasn't a big inconvenience but we didn't have anything pre-booked here so no deadlines.

We picked up a free map at Mallory Square and set out for a leisurely walk across Key West. We decided that neither the HOHO trolley or Conch Train seemed good values. About halfway through our walk, we realized there was a free public transit loop, Duval Loop. But we never used it. If we'd known about it before we arrived here, we might have planned to use it. We saw lots of cool and interesting things on our walk and we'd have missed those if we'd ridden. We made it across and saw the half-block long line to take a photo and did not join it. We got a selfie with little wait at Mile Marker 0 and that would suffice. Clay took a photo of strangers with the southernmost marker that was our destination. We backtracked past the old Key West lighthouse to Ernest Hemingway's Home. We got in a very short line and paid our $30 cash for entry. We walked onto the porch to be the last 2 to join the next guided tour. It was perfect timing. We visited for the symmetry of having visited his home in Cuba. In particular, his 2nd story writing studio in the out building seemed very similar. We saw many of the polydactyl cats that live there.

From there we walked over to Duval Street to see some different sights. We stopped for a tasty lunch at Old Town Mexican Cafe a little after noon. We went in both Walgreens and CVS. We stopped in Starbucks to check the mugs but they only had Miami. We walked on to the shuttle stop back to the ship. It was in front of the Old Customs House. It was near 2 pm when we headed back. Last shuttle back to the ship is at 4:30 pm, all aboard is 5 pm and sailaway is scheduled for 5:30 pm.

It was perfect weather in Key West today. It was partly cloudy and about 70 F all day. It was not too humid, not too sunny, not too cloudy, not too windy... We had a good day.

Tonight we do not have any restaurant reservations so we'll hope to find a table for 2 in Terrace as easily as we did this morning. Tomorrow is a sea day. We've found a dozen or more movies in the on demand channel that we'd like to watch so I predict that will be our primary activity. I have hopes that on that 1st sea day I'll be able to get a needlepoint kit. In the past Oceania always did that and I hope they still do.

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Boarding Oceania's Riviera

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This morning after a Clay-cooked breakfast of fried mush, Mom's friend Steve (aka Slick) drove us over to the Port of Miami. Traffic was not bad and we made it quicker than we expected, closer to 2 hours than 3. It is still a long day of driving roundtrip and we really appreciated Steve doing that. We still only waited in a short line for a few minutes and then walked through security, health questionnaire, photos for ship's keycards and CC registration before continuing on to the ship. It was quick and easy and we were onboard before our scheduled arrival time. We learned that we should be issued a new keycard onboard by reception the night before the end of each cruise segment since our cards indicate our cruise ends 2/4. We are actually onboard for 3 consecutive cruises and will disembark on 2/26 in exactly 1 month. We were able to get our specialty dining reservations changed to our liking. We went to Terrace and couldn't find 2 chairs together! We shared a Cuban sandwich with a couple of Coke Zeros at Waves Grill followed by ice cream. (Yeah, included sodas!) We cleared out to give others a chance to eat and went up to a mostly deserted Baristas for a Ily crema (think cappuccino Icee) and caneles. Our standard balcony cabin was not scheduled to be ready for us before 3 pm, but about 2:10 pm the announcement came over the loudspeakers that they were ready. We are in cabin 8073. Mom texted about 3 pm that she was back home. We got our luggage delivered near 4 pm. The mandatory boat drill was at 5:15 pm. It was quick and easy in Martinis bar. We sailed at 6 pm. Dinner in Polo Grill at 6:30 pm. It is a steak house and it was good and service was efficient. My well-done filet came quickly and cooked correctly. An excellent start. So far smooth sailing and dark windless night. There is the merest sliver of a moon as we sail around the tip of Florida for Key West. We learned tonight we'll be docking out at the Navy Mole Pier there. The only dockage for cruise ships that is not in walking distance! Boo. Fortunately, we've been before and have no pressing plans there. So no real harm done to us.

Our first Oceania cruise, years ago was on Marina. Riviera is a sister ship but we don't remember this cabin at all. I don't know if the O ships had been renovated since our previous cruise or our memories are just bad. I don't think Clay took any photos. But he was flummoxed by the shower over tub and free-standing corner shower once again! Here is a link to see about Riviera and cabin pictures. It is a nice ship and a nice cabin. I was thinking I could do a world cruise on this ship when Clay pointed out that all the WC and other itineraries that interest us are on the less desirable R ships. Oh well.

So the reason we're on a month of Caribbean cruises is to finish up our quest for visiting 100 countries. If you've been following along then you know we reached #94 after the last cruise. Clay discovered in editing his Excel files that we'll actually make 101 instead of 100 if we make all our upcoming ports. Fingers crossed. Here is a link to this month's cruise ports.

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A Culinary Walk Down Memory Lane

We've been using our time together at Mom's this winter to cook up some memorable meals. Old family recipes, traditional holiday favorites and some from our Big O birthday trip to Switzerland and Austria. Clay has been living out his dreams in Mom's kitchen. We've been enjoying his labors.

He found a piece of meat that he could cook as schweinshaxe and did. He first had it in Vienna in 2003 but again in 2018 in Innsbruck pictured to the left.

His recent effort is pictured below. Pretty close!

Last night we all worked together to make a dish called nockerl, inspired by Pikante Nockerl that Mom & Carol both had our last night in Vienna at Strasser Brau. I finally found an English language ingredients list of that dish today and we weren't too close!

Spicy dumplings
with bacon, bell pepper, onions,
Cheese, pepperoni and chilli,
with lettuce

Here's a photo of our dish. Our recipe's ingredients list was not too similar but we enjoyed it just the same and liked that you could switch ingredients with such ease. This would always be a good impromptu meal prepared from what you happened to have in the kitchen. Here is a link to the recipe we based ours upon.

Jamaica - Country #94!

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Well, we made it. AA direct flight from Miami took about as much time as the drive from Port Everglades in rush hour traffic. In a small bit of good news, there was one upgrade available to a business class seat at our AA Platinum Pro status and Clay let me have it. I am really thankful because we couldn't get seats together anyway and both had window seats. I would have hated to feel trapped beyond 2 strangers if I needed to stand suddenly. We both have business class seats together for the flight home tomorrow. We had a bit of a panic when Clay tried to check us in on his phone and found I had a different record locator number. I guess when you take the complimentary upgrade at boarding, you get a new locator number. A head's up would've been nice.

We are at the Doctor's Cave Beach Hotel. It is across the street from beach front property. It is only about a 5 minute drive from the Montego Bay airport. We focused on this Hip-Strip near Margaritaville because it is where we would have come on our RCI excursion. We booked this hotel because it was the first one in walking distance (10 minutes or so) from Margaritaville that we could book directly online through their website. It is about $160 USD for the 1 night. I cannot recommend it. It has AC so that is good. It includes sketchy WIFI and a continental breakfast. The breakfast was table service beside the pool It included coffee or tea, grapefruit or orange juice, banana, orange and watermelon, toast and pound cake slices. Clay walked to a market to buy me a yogurt for $174 Jamaican. You can get the ice bucket filled at the bar. The room is noisy and needed blackout drapes. The 2 double beds are hard and the floor is gritty.  I hope we'll be fine for one night. Oh, no elevators!

We had booked and prepaid QuickTransfer for a private car/driver from the airport to the hotel. They didn't show up. Viator is where we found and booked it. They say they've issued a refund. A couple of tourist information people tried to help us but no one knew the outfit we were looking for. The guy finally put us in a tour van for $25. It was half what we'd paid already to be met. Best laid plans and all. We asked the hotel's front desk to book us a taxi back at noon tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

Jamaica immigration/customs people did not like that we'd been in Haiti on Monday. We scored an extra stop at a nurse for a health check. She only talked to us about how we might have avoided cholera and malaria in Haiti. We explained we had beach walked on dry land from 9:30 to 11 am without eating or drinking or getting bit by mosquitoes. At that point, I was actually fine if they refused us entry and put us on the next flight back to Miami. I'd set foot on Jamaica and that counted in my book. I'm a little surprised since RCI planned the same itinerary by ship with thousands of people.

We had dinner early at Pelican Grille about 15 minutes walk from the hotel. It is where we'd planned to have lunch here from the aborted RCI cruise stop. We had traditional Jamaican dishes and they were good. I had a massive chocolate malt and oxtail stew with rice and peas. Clay had a Red Stripe beer and curried goat. It was all quite good in a nice quiet and air conditioned restaurant with a view of the bay. Clay paid about $5000 for the meal and about $800 in taxes and a $1000 tip for a total of about $7K Jamaican or $55 USD.

Given the state of our Internet connection, Clay may not post photos until we get back to Mom's house tomorrow or the next day. Check back.

Photos

Sailing Back to Port Everglades, FL

Today was always supposed to be a sea day. Yesterday was an unpleasant bonus. Seas continue at 15 feet or so and the wind is only slightly down but blowing in our favor now. It is not as rough as it was leaving Jamaica! We are sailing along the coast of Cuba again but it is on the port side now. We just have open sea as our starboard view. We don't have the wind today so the balcony in the shade was quite pleasant. We saw flying fish and white-bellied seabirds trying to catch them.

We got checked in online for tomorrow's flight to Montego Bay, Jamaica and printed our boarding passes in the library. Breakfast and lunch we ate in the Windjammer buffet deck 11 aft. We received our departure information on the bed after breakfast. We are assigned group 23 at 9:05 am, but we'll leave earlier at 8:15 to 8:45 am in the group B self assistance departure group from deck 4 Royal Theater.

We looked at tonight's dinner menu on the Royal app and were not impressed. Cruise Compass says that Windjammer will feature a chocolate buffet, so we cancelled our MyTime Dining reservation and we'll eat upstairs at the buffet again.

This should be it for me on this cruise. It was no where near as bad as I'd expected based on prior research of mainstream cruising. It is too loud and crowded for me to enjoy. The entertainment is wasted on me. I don't like almost every encounter being a sales pitch. That said, our cabin steward knows us on sight as did our assigned waiter in the dining room. That was a nice surprise. I love the stability of the enormous ship in rough conditions! Fingers crossed that our upcoming month on the much smaller Oceania Riviera has much calmer winds and seas! $1859 for 5 days for the 2 of us compared to O at $6700 for 10 days = $3350 for 5 days which is almost double. You can see why the premium, niche and luxury cruises we frequent are a harder sell. Of course, when RCI charges $16 a day for a soda package to start upselling negotiations I expect many onboard here are spending nearly as much by trip's end.

I am pretty sure there are no photos today. Next stop Jamaica via Miami. Speaking of budgetary topics! Country #94 will be bought at a premium.

Thwarted

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Due to high winds and surf overwashing the dock at Falmouth, Jamaica, the port stop was scrubbed. Today became an extra sea day instead. So much for my plans for country #94. On to plan B. While I took  a late morning shower to get rid of a good coat of sunscreen I wouldn't be needing, Clay made flight reservations for Thursday when we get back to Florida. We'll fly out of Miami for a one night stay in Montego Bay. They say if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. We'll see if he keeps laughing at us.

We've been in high winds almost continuously since we left Port Everglades. It sounds like the Captain expects it to continue. At noon, he said we're in 15 foot seas. You could really feel it at the top deck's aft buffet restaurant. Our cabin steward said IoS stops in Falmouth all the time and he'd never known it to be cancelled before like this. I would imagine it was rare. Just bad luck. Hopefully, we'll make it on Thursday and back on Friday.

They announced that they'd automatically credit today's missed excursions to our shipboard accounts. Ours was $8 of our money and $75 of complimentary shipboard credit. So no real loss either way. We later found they'd automatically refunded port charges, fees and taxes.

It took a couple of slow Internet hours to get a hotel room and airport transfer booked. We needed to vacate the cabin for service since it seems on port days the stewards don't arrive until after the passengers would be ashore. It forced us to locate the library. Deck 5 forward outside the theater entrance.

We cancelled our dinner at 6:30 pm tonight at our reserved time & table. The movie Judy is scheduled to air at 6 pm tonight on TV. We'll go for pizza early so we can watch it. (Thumbs down for RCI for no on demand TV!) Last night we set a cruise meal speed record. We had ordered and finished our main course in 15 minutes! In and out in well under 30 minutes which meant we needed to spend another 1/2 hour loitering elsewhere to give the cabin steward an hour's allowance to service the cabin. Peppermint tea for me in Cafe Promenade since no one ever offered tea or coffee at the dining table after bringing dessert.

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Labadee, Haiti

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My 93rd country. I'm counting it even though RCI docks at Labadee, their private peninsula, and we didn't clear Jamaican passport control. We still set foot on the island of Haiti. There is a long narrow pier here with room for 2 ships. As the larger, we arrived first and took the sea side and Empress of the Seas arrived a bit later and took the shore side. There was plenty of space for everyone ashore. We went out about 9 am and returned about 11:30 am. We covered the entire peninsula except for the hilltop. We walked some and took trams some. I laid in a beachside hammock in the shade until I almost dozed off. We stayed out long enough to get sweaty. Clay got a t-shirt. The aggressive vendors ran us out of Artisan's Village keeping us from walking through. We couldn't seem to catch the single tram to the other side of the peninsula so walked out of our way to get there avoiding the Artisan's Village. After we walked to Columbus Cove from Nellie's Beach, we caught the single tram back to the beginning. We opted for the lunch buffet aboard ship rather than one of the 3 ashore. We think it was all the same food anyway. It was a good choice for us.

Day 3 and we finally located this ship's soft-serve ice cream machine. It is on the pool deck center aft near the splash zone. We had a direct pool deck view of Empress of the Seas from our balcony and could see theirs. It was forward on their pool deck. We'd seen people with cones on our ship but couldn't find our machine. After watching theirs in action, we walked our pool deck forward to aft until finding it. We'd been right there on boarding day and it must have been closed then. Anyway, now we know. We plan to have dinner at our reserved time on deck 3 dining room tonight.

All aboard is 4 pm. Shortly after all aboard a helicopter ambulance landed on the narrow pier. They brought a stretcher onboard and evacuated what looked like a 20-30 something man with a broken leg. Terrible and it will be expensive too. Tomorrow is this cruise's final port of Falmouth, Jamaica. Country #94. We're going to get a ship's transfer to and from Montego Bay.

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First mainstream cruise, 2 new countries

Photos Saturday

Photos Sunday

Yesterday we drove across the southern end of Florida to Port Everglades by the Fort Lauderdale Airport. It was an easy drive on a toll road that cost $3.25 one way. Exact change not required. We boarded our first mainstream cruise with thousands of others and their children on the hottest day we've had down here. It was still not as painful as we'd imagined. If we'd arrived an hour later, it probably would have been painless. Live and learn. Not having done this before, we built in a cushion for delays. RCI has online check in and that was probably what made all the difference. Our keycards were waiting for us on the mail hook outside our cabin door.

We are on the 5-night Western Caribbean cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas. It is at least 4 times the size of the ships we normally sail. The largest ship we'd been on previously was Disney Wonder and it was half this size with only about 1/4 the kids aboard! I'm with Clay when he looked around bewildered yesterday and pondered why aren't these kids in school!

So once we boarded on deck 4 we were all trapped between the locked doors of the dining room and casino. That was a cluster cuss. There were inadequate elevators and we had our carryon luggage in hand and really didn't want the stairs as hot as sweaty as we were. People just kept pouring into the small area and the stairs it was. Clay carried both bags one flight up to the Royal Promenade. It is like the ship's Main Street or center of commerce. There are 2 places there where you can get fare included food and drinks; Sorrento's Pizza and Cafe Promenade. We were actually looking for another elevator banks but when we saw pizza with almost no line we grabbed a table. It was probably the least busy time we'll ever see on the Promenade! Lucky! The pizza was thin crust and quite good. You can get complimentary glasses of iced water from dispensers but no ice cubes!

After our pizza, we went to the elevators nearby and directly to deck 8 and our central cabin #8304. It has a veranda but is otherwise a standard cabin. Well. I say that but it is an adjoining with an interior door that is presently locked between us and the next cabin aft. It is larger than it appears in Clay's photo as he skipped the entire center seating/desk area. There is a club chair/coffee table plus desk & chair with storage and a cooling box missing from the photos. He was standing in that area shooting in either area. The cabin is in fairly good shape and efficiently laid out with more than adequate storage for a short cruise. Our cabin steward came and introduced himself and was eager to please. He brought our requested bucket of ice quickly. (In bad news, while he said he'd refill it every day for us today he took it empty and did not return it before noon! We'll see when or if it comes back or what we have to do. He called and immediately delivered it at 12:20 pm. I think he was waiting for us to go to lunch.) He saw us returning from the 3:45 pm mandatory boat drill hours later and went to our door and opened it for us. That was impressive as we barely remembered which was ours! The downsides of the cabin are the dirty glass balcony barrier and the rail at seated eye level and the paucity of electrical outlets. There are only 2 at the desk and one above the sink in the bathroom. The one in the bathroom only works when the lights are turned on, so no nightlight. The space under the bed is inaccessible due to being stuffed almost sold with big plastic comforter bags filled with spare linens. That is usually good storage space for suitcases. The cabin appeared clean until we found a used band-aid, a lisinopril tablet, a plastic tag holder and a long red strand of hair among other stuff on the floor. I know they have a quick turnaround, but really.

When we booked this cruise we were automatically give fixed late dining. Early dining wasn't available as it was filled. However, we could make a MyTime dining reservation early every night and we did. We booked all 5 nights online at 6:30 pm, the earliest available. However, onboard the 3rd floor MyTime dining area opens at 5:30pm. We didn't try to change to earlier as we'd had pizza around 2pm. The dining room is 3 stories tall and very noisy. Dinner service was surprisingly efficient and the food tasty. It was a sales opportunity from start to finish. Dress was casual as they said luggage delivery would take until 8 pm. BTW, all aboard was 3 pm, sailaway was announced at 4:30 pm but then at least 3 ships departed before ours and it was probably after 5 pm before we sailed.

You could see rough waves at sea from port. We sailed out into high winds and they continue. IoS is making about 18 knots in a 40 mph headwind today so that is fast. IoS is wobbling some but I expect it would be nausea-inducing conditions for me on our normal sized ships. We can see the coast of Cuba from our starboard balcony.

Today is Sunday so we had a sit down dining room breakfast just after 8 am. I had Eggs Benedict. It said it was classically prepared but they put basil leaves between the egg and the ham. The included coffee was perfectly drinkable to me. I've had much worse on more expensive lines. The dining room had 2 entry lines, one for a la carte which we chose and one for a buffet which surprised us. Again food and service were good. There was a long line to enter when we left!

We attended the shore excursions destination talk this morning at Clay's insistence. It was nearly an hourlong sales spiel for ship tours. I don't know what he expected. We left before the Falmouth port shopping talk began! We got caught in a malfunctioning elevator on our way there with a family of 3. That was a bit scary. We're using a lot of elevators!

Tonight is Formal night. We did not pack formal wear, so we've cancelled our dining reservation for this evening. In good news, the Cruise Compass says that the deck 11 casual buffet will be serving a Mongolian Theme tonight at 6 pm. We'll try that over pizza again unless it is too crowded. We'll see.

I'll post this now. If needed, I'll update it. Clay will probably update the photos. He bought a one device Internet package which means he is having a slow go uploading photos from his phone. Tomorrow is Haiti! A new country for me, #93. The 2nd oldest western hemisphere country after the US.

Photos Saturday

Photos Sunday