Christmas Day in the Yucatan

"Building 24" at Chacchoben.

For our final port, we stopped at "Costa Maya," a made up tourist town near the village of Mahahual in Quintana Roo, Mexico. It was a very windy day, and all of the water-based excursions like snorkeling were cancelled. We were glad we had done Snuba in Honduras, and fortunate to have booked an excursion to Mayan ruins for Christmas. Our tour company didn't provide the best information about the departure time so we felt a little rushed getting off the ship, but once we made it past the many shops we took a short taxi ride to the meeting point for our "Mayan Experience" tour. We had a really good guide named Maria as we drove about an hour into the countryside to the Chocchoben ruins.

Another guide showed us around the site where we learned some of the history of the former city and the people who lived there. The Mayans started building monumental structures here about 2000 years ago, and the city reached its height around 600-900 AD. We saw several temples in two locations. The second spot was built on top of a massive foundation, so we had to climb up to see the structures on top. It was a serene place in the forest, and the temples were impressive. No one explained where the stone came from; it must have been quite a feat to build them - especially given their advanced knowledge of astrology which factored into their construction. I also couldn't help but wonder how the city became abandoned after the arrival of Spanish conquistadors. Before leaving,we spotted a monkey.

Steps of the Great Platform, on top of which are found some impressive temples.

Benny and Barry on the Great Platform. The structure behind them is called las Vasijas, but I don't know why.

Temple 1.

Our next stop was the village of Chacchoben, a Mayan village where we enjoyed a garden and a traditional lunch prepared by local women. This was one of the best meals we had, with chicken, empanadas, beans, rice, vegetables, tortillas, fruit, and some fantastic flan.

Many of the local ingredients used to prepare our meal.

Christmas Day Lunch.

Posing with the women who made out lunch, and who embroidered the souvenir towels. The decorations that look like Tibetan prayer flags were for Christmas.

After lunch we headed back to Costa Maya, where we had a little time for shopping before boarding the ship for the last time and returning to New Orleans.

Roatan, Honduras

We began the day by viewing the sunrise from the top deck. By this point, Roatan was in view nearby. Contrary to Belize, the island features hilly terrain and I found it to be the most beautiful destination on our cruise. Unlike in Cozumel, which had seven ships in port, and Belize City, where we were one of several, ours was the only ship docked in this quaint part of Roatan. Naturally there were shops on shore, but on a much smaller scale and making a much more scenic setting than the ports of the previous two days. 

The port at Coxen Hole.

Barry and I boarded a bus which took us over the hills from Coxen Hole to West Bay, where we were finally shielded from the persistent stiff winds and could enjoy a soft Caribbean breeze. Although it turned out to be a very sad day due to events at home, we did our best to enjoy our time in Honduras. Our first activity was a Suba adventure, led by a great, friendly guide. This is like scuba diving, but there's no certification required. The oxygen tanks float on the surface on a small inflatable raft, and we divers are connected with breathing tubes. Barry and I shared our tanks with a nice teacher form Toronto. 

The reefs were beautiful, and it was enjoyable to have calmer water and better visibility than we did for snorkeling in Belize. We saw some beautiful fish, including some pretty large blue ones and a flounder hidden on the sandy sea floor. The guide picked up a sea cucumber and let me hold it. It was interesting, but I didn't even know what it was! Unfortunately, the oxygen tanks don't last forever so our dive came to an end before we were ready. We went back to shore, where I called Barry's sister and we sat for a while on the beach, taking in the warm sun, breeze, and scenery, but we couldn't take too much sitting. 

We walked around the grounds for a few minutes before deciding to go in the self-guided walk through the park to see animals. Aside from the tropical flora, we got to see hummingbirds, a lizard, quite a few iguana, some Guinea fowl, toucans, parrots, Macaws, and spider monkeys. We got to have the macaws and spider monkeys sit on our shoulders for photo opportunities which was fun, except the macaw immediately ate the button off the top of my cap.

As soon as we finished our walk we took a bus back to the ship, but we still had time in port so we walked around the area, bought coffee drinks (Honduran!) and chocolate (Honduran!) before sitting down at an outdoor bar in the shadow of the ship for a small bite to eat and some local beer. Our new friends Danny and Nicholas joined us which made for an enjoyable afternoon before we had to get back on board and leave Roatan.

Barry, Nicholas, and Danny.

Belize City

We had a very breezy day in Belize - not the gentle Caribbean breezes I had imagined. We took a catamaran out to the coral reef for a snorkeling excursion. The water was choppy, so we only had about 40% visibility, but we decided to go ahead with the snorkeling. It was still enjoyable, in spite of the waves, reduced visibility, and large number of people. The reef was pretty cool and we saw some decent fish (Barry saw a stingray). Jim got to hold a small, spindly starfish.

After the snorkel, we went to "Starfish Island," a very small private beach resort island where we got to hang out for a couple of hours. We spent some time just relaxing in lounge chairs by the water, be we also walked around some (no far to go!), sat in hammocks, watched fish off the pier, and visited the pool where we got to hold large starfish and see a lobster. I also say a stingray near the shore. We both grabbed a local beer at the bar before getting back on the catamaran to return to the ship. On the catamaran, they served rum punch so we were well-lubricated by the time we got back.

Starfish Island

An unusual 6-legged starfish. Well, I thought it was unusual.

We were back onboard pretty early, and my flip-flop broke on the excursion, so I decided to tender to the mainland to shop and just so I could say I actually saw Belize. There was an extensive touristy shopping area, of course, and it took me quite a while to find out how to get beyond the shops into the actual city (such as it is). I finally made my way to the street and walked to see the lighthouse and small park not far from the shops. There was not really much to see, and I didn't have a lot of time, so soon I returned to the shops, bought a chocolate truffle and some flip-flops, and returned to the ship. On the tinder back, I was with our new friend Nicholas and, and I met some nice guys who were brothers, Mark and Andrew.

Gywen and Benny had taken a city tour of Belize City. They said it was interesting but very hot, and they weren't particularly impressed. Gywen nearly left her purse behind, but she remembered it before boarding the tender back to the ship. She went back to find it and it was still there!

In Belize City with Santa and some random person.

Cozumel

Our first port was Cozumel, Mexico. We booked an excursion for a Cooking lesson and some beach time at Playa Mia resort. Once we FINALLY got out of the port area (shops), we stopped for a photo opportunity. Barry and I got our picture in, but when Gywen and Benny posed, the skies opened up. They got drenched, but in 10 minutes the rain was done for the day.

At the entrance to Puerta Maya in Cozumel.

We took a van to the resort and were given complimentary drinks while we waited for others to arrive and the cooking class to begin. The instructor was a lot of fun, and the drinks kept coming during class. We made yummy sopes, some delicious fish, and caramelized plantains. Everything was great and we had a lot of fun.

Barry and Gywen at the cooking lesson, being photo bombed by the fantastic instructor.

Caramelized plantains with chocolate sauce and heavy cream.

Time on the Ship

Daily blog posts weren't really possible on the cruise. After a full day at sea we began having our daily shore excursions, so time was much more limited and our time on the ship was still quite busy. Throughout the rest of the cruise, while on board, we did a variety of activities.

We spent a fair amount of time in the gym and spa area. We each had two massages and Barry had an acupuncture treatment. We also attended a Detox workshop and consultation. We worked out several days in the gym and spent time walking and jogging on the top deck. Every day but one we spent time in the Hydro area, enjoying the hot tubs, sauna, and quiet relaxation areas.

Every evening except two, we attended the LGBT gatherings in one of the quiet bars, where we met some fun people. That helped the cruise feel a little smaller, and we enjoyed spending some time with our new friend Nicholas from Tennessee. One afternoon and early evening we hung out on the pool deck with Nicholas, occasionally getting in an out of the hot tubs. Barry and I also spent time on the pool deck on the last day at sea, catching some sun and reading. We also took advantage of one of the poolside barbecues that afternoon.

Enjoying time on the pool deck.

We caught some of the entertainment on board, too. Of course we heard the reggae band poolside and almost every time we walked past the pool. One night we caught the staff leading Christmas Carols in the atrium while we dined at an unremarkable restaurant. During another dinner, we experienced the woman who sang pop tune covers in the atrium nightly. We caught bits of other nice piano music, singers, and jazz combo playing in some of the bars and in passing. The big theater was used nightly, and we attended a couple of shows there. The first night we caught the very end of a variety show featuring all of the entertainers. The next night we saw most of a production called "Band on the Run" - a "HIGH ENERGY" review of many 70s and 80s pop tunes. There was a lot going on! Singing, dancing, live band, lights, etc. There was some good singing and dancing. Although it was not universally stellar, it was entertaining. One night we went to the Second City production which was quite funny and very entertaining. On the last night, we went to the "adults only" Second City show in the lounge, which was also fun. The other show we saw was called Elements and moved through acts themed around water, wind, fire, and ice. This featured the dancers doing very good, mostly modern dance, a few amazing tricks by the magicians, a couple of features by the aerialists, good music, and great lighting effects. It was really well done and well worth our time!

Most of our dining was in the "Garden Cafe" cafeteria, which had an amazing selection and variety of food, although it was usually crowded and wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing setting. We had a couple of nice dinners in the Venetian restaurant, and one nice dinner in Aqua restaurant. On our last night, we had a huge meal in the Brazilian-themed restaurant, for a modest up-charge. I don't know when I've eaten that much food... the meal started with a robust salad bar. I didn't know what was ahead for the evening; otherwise I would have only made one trip for salad. After the salad, the meat started coming. Servers bring it right to your table. The brought two kinds of chicken, two kinds of sausage, two kinds of steak, two kinds of ribs, lamb, pineapple (to cleanse the palate), and I don't even know what else. We had some flan for dessert, which was fine, but didn't live up to the rest of the meal and the flan we had in Mexico on Christmas Day.

The Atrium Bar, with the Brazilian restaurant upstairs.

We had our photos taken on two evenings and bought some Amarula in the duty-free shops. We woke up to witness several sunrises and we watched one or two sunsets. We even spent one evening resting an reading in our own cabin. We never spent any time in the casino, we skipped the towel folding demonstration, we didn't see any movies or play shuffle board. We missed dozens of other events, activities, and performances. Obviously, there's something for everyone on board and never a reason to be bored on a cruise.

Sunrise on the ship.

Several of the delightful towel animals that greeted us in out stateroom.