We were kind of iffy about whether to go on a cruise this year or not. We decided to go for it. It was good but we might take a break from cruising for a bit.
This time we sailed out of Tampa. Tampa was nice. We could take the bus from the airport to downtown, then hop on a trolley that took us right to the port. $2 a piece! What a steal!
We have been wanting to sail with Royal Caribbean again for a while. They were our first cruise and we just wanted to try it again. I think we were hoping for more but I will say this... The pizza is SO GOOD! I mean.. I don't know how you can mess up pizza but all the other cruise lines that we've tried make such horrible pizza. Royal Caribbean has got it figured out. And it's open late.... even better!
We also wanted to go to ports that we haven't been to before. We were able to hit three new ports on this trip which was awesome!
Our first stop was Cozumel. We have been to this port before and I swore if we ever went back we would need to get a shore excursion. There was a great deal on the dolphin swim and beach so we snagged that. I wish I had pictures but you have to pay for them and there just wasn't really a need for that. I'm glad we did it. Last time we did a dolphin swim, Shane didn't do it because he had heard that he wouldn't be able to wear his glasses. Turned out you could but we had left him behind at port and it was too late. I'm glad he got the chance. I know he doesn't care a bunch but it really is so fun!
From Cozumel we sailed down to Rotan, Honduras. Of all the stops I think this was my favorite even though our beach trip got cut short with a massive downpour. The little island had a lot of potential and I wouldn't mind going back. The beach was supposed to be clear and calm but the weather had other ideas. Oh well, I still played in the water and got sand in my toes. It feeds my soul
The next day we stopped in Belize City, Belize. This place was just kind of meh. I think most shore excursions take you inland quite a ways because all there really was to do was shopping and eating in port, then it was city beyond that. There really wasn't a beach. It was HOT but OK.
Our last port of call was Costa Maya Mexico. The port was crazy big with pools and shopping but we had an excursion to a beach club where we hung out on lounge chairs in the shade and still managed to get pretty sunburnt. It was nice anyway. More salt and sand therapy for me.
We knew that hurricane Helen was making it's way through Tampa, but that was Thursday and we weren't supposed to be back till Saturday so we were hopefully that things would be ok.
Turns out, it wasn't enough time. We ended up having to hang out in the ocean for another day until the port could open and let in the cruise ships. Well hmmmm.
I made sure to climb the climbing wall on the ship. I need to remind myself that really don't like climbing at all every now and then.
I mean, there are a lot worse places we could be stuck, but that meant we had to change our flights home... twice and be away from home a little longer. It really was all ok but you know. Kind of a shame that we were basically eating someone else's meals that last day. They just got a shorter cruise. Bummer.
We did finally make it home. I was happy to be home and tired. I guess we'll see what we do for vacation next. I feel like we are entering a very expensive phase of life and maybe we'll just have to cool it for a while. Can't complain... we've had a good run. And I'm not sorry we went on this little jaunt either.
Anyway, turns out I don't think Royal Caribbean was worth all the extra money they seem to want... except that darn pizza. YUM! The other food was good too. I mean lets face it... I'm there for the food almost as much as the beach. They had a lot of activities to do too which I like... even though I end up hanging out by the pool reading a book most of the time anyway. I like to have options.
