Basically we flew in and out of Miami – definitely the worst part of the trip. We just do not enjoy flying. Not the actual flight, but the seating is so crowded and uncomfortable, but it went well and safely and we made all our connections with time to spare.
The morning we boarded ship – the Carnival Valor – we first went on a side trip to the everglades. Very interesting – airboat ride and alligator show. We were not prepared for the crowds and the process of boarding the ship. Next time will be easier simply because we will know what to expect.
We were definitely impressed with the ship. And tho we went touring to try to find all the different places, we did not find the jogging track until the night before we arrived back to Miami. They had pools, hot tubs, water slides, outdoor movies, a large theater, for live shows several smaller entertainment areas and several bands for dancing, a casino, adult areas and a spa with all the bells and whistles. Our room was very nice. We chose a ocean view and so enjoyed being to see the water as we went along. Plenty of closet space, a bathroom larger than our RV had, a king sized bed and a couch to lounge on.
The first day was a day at sea and we spent it in classes. We had our own instructors to teach us about what we would be seeing and an entertainer to keep us happy too.
The excursions: day one; was Grand Cayman, we took a tender to the shore because the port area was too shallow for the ship to enter. There were about 50 in our group we had our own bus and it took us to a private boat that took us out to swim with the sting rays. This was not something I had been wild about, but wanted to see. As you can tell from the photos – we had a really good time! They were so friendly – swimming around us and agreeing to photographed being held and kissed! Then we went out to a reef to try our hand at snorkeling – I should have practiced in the pool first. My first attempt began and ended with a huge swallow of sea water. Enough for me – I got back on board the boat. Felt said he saw some beautiful fish. But the water was absolutely incredible! So clear and warm and the prettiest blue you can imagine! I had been concerned about getting too much sun, glad I had on my sun screen and a t-shirt! We were back on board ship after lunch time and decided we did not need to go back to shore to shop. Spent our time wandering about the ship and sitting on the deck – even took a nap on the deck, before we left that port.
Day two excursions: Roatan Honduras. This time we were able to get into a port and disembark directly without a tender ride. This stop was to be an adventure. Some of the group went on a zip line through the jungle. We went to an iguana farm – not my favorite. I just do not like big lizards and they ran at us to get something to eat. They had big leaves for us to feed them – a little creepy. Then we drove around the area seeing the town, we went to see the chapel that was surrounded by a high chain link fence topped with razor wire. And we saw some 3rd world poverty that made us feel sad. We stopped at a small beach area spent a couple of hours sitting in lounge chairs under coconut trees and eating a snack lunch. Of course some of the locals found us and we bartered for some homemade jewelry with some children and ended up paying too much, but felt like we might help them a little.
Day three Excursions: Belieze, Honduras – well it used to be Honduras now it is just Belieze. This was a day we had to leave by tender. Our cruise leader got us off on the first tender so we could get going We had a nice bus, with AC which was good it was hot and very humid. And we had local tour guides with us on the bus. We drove about an hour + out into the jungle. When we stopped we were served a locally prepared lunch of chicken and rice – fresh fruit and bottled drinks. Then we got into two very fast speed boats and rode for another hour up the river back into the jungle to see some ruins called Lamoni. We saw several excavated pyramids and temples, we walked through the jungle from one to another seeing and hearing the howling monkeys! We tried to get a recording of that sound. It sounded more like a jaguar or mountain lion to us, but we could see the monkeys and our guide assured us that they were making that noise. This was a wonderful experience! Something we never would have seen on our own. After being there for less than 2 hours we had to race back down the river to our buses to drive back in time to get on the last tender and not miss the cruise.
Excursions day four: Cozumel - we were able to cruise into port but had to take a ferry over to Playa Carmen so we could go see more ruins. This place is called Tulum and was spectacular! It is located on a bluff above the Caribbean sea and the development itself was huge! So many buildings and so much sunshine! By the time we had toured and listened and looked at the sea – some folks walked down way too many stairs to actually get in the water – I had over heated big time. We began our walk back to the tourist part about ½ mile away and had to find some shade and drink some water before we made it back to the shops etc. We were definitely in Mexico now. Paid to use the “bano” but it was worth it! We shared a subway sandwich and had a diet drink and I bounced back quickly once I was able to cool myself off with the ice cold towels handled out by our tour guide when we arrived back to the bus.
Each time we docked we saw more cruise ships. Usually 4 or 5 others, some were Carnival and a sample of the other lines also. We got to see Carnivals newest ship – the Magic – it was huge and made our ship look rather small. You might want to know that our ship had 3200 quests and 1000 service employees, and we think that none of them were Americans, most were from Indonesia, Panama, Thailand.
Knowing that the cruise was almost over was a sad feeling. We had planned and anticipated for so long and now it would all soon be a memory. We will definitely go cruising again! The seas never bothered us. A few of our group resorted to the patches but that took care of the problem right away. We loved the gentle rocking motion as we went to sleep and never slept better. The food was wonderful! The service was grand. We adored our wait staff for our table. They took such good care of us and performed almost every night with song and dance, besides doing magic tricks for us after our meal was over. Our room steward took very good care of us also and learned that we liked ice at night. So each night there was a fresh container of ice for our water before bed. Always made sure we had fresh towels no matter how many different times we took showers.
All in all we loved being pampered! We so enjoyed learning and seeing new things! And we made new friends – all in all we had the time of our life!
