Good Times in Guatemala

In Santo Tomas, Guatemala we did a horseback riding excursion. We were taken by boat to a resort. While we waited for our turn on the horses we were able to enjoy the resort facilities...which we took full advantage of. Obviously, there was no limitations on the water slides.

Holidays in Honduras

We spent Christmas Eve in Roatan, Honduras. It is a brand new port that opened just 2 weeks ago; featuring the first ever Beach Lift (as opposed to a ski lift). That evening we sang in the Christmas choir for all the guests.

Christmas morning Santa arrived and brought presents to all the kids. It was the funniest thing to watch. Some kids cried when they got close to Santa & others cried when Santa had to leave. For Christmas dinner the ship made a feast for all the officers (somehow we technically fall into that category).

Santa who closely resembled our friend Tony the Internet manager

Christmas dinner: Turkey, lobster tail, filet mignon, and my favorite...cranberry pumpkin pie

Cruising for Christmas

There are the obvious bummers about being on a cruise ship for Christmas, but I’ve been rather surprised by the number of perks:

1. You wake up one morning and literally truck loads of Christmas décor suddenly adorn every spare inch of your “home”.

2. Lobster, Filet Mignon and more is prepared every meal, but you never see a kitchen or clean a dish.

3. You still get a White Christmas (during the tree lighting ceremony "snow" was dropped from the top decks).

4. Freshly baked Christmas cookies are available 24hrs a day.

5. You wake up each morning to a beautiful Caribbean Beach- This cruise we are going to Cozumel, Costa Maya, Belize, Honduras, Guatemala & Grand Cayman

Sightings!

We went on a whale and dolphin sighting excursion in Dominica. The excursion got off to a great start and we spotted a couple whales right away. For the next 2 hours though there was nothing and we just watched the locals put their man-made sonars into the water to try to find the dolphins and whales. Eventually their efforts and our patience was rewarded. At the very end of the day we ran into about 30 dolphins that followed us for 30 min. all the way back to shore!

The first whale we saw.

And then the dolphins finally arrived.

Too good to pass up!

Technically we probably should've been in the stores, but a free Dolphin Swim excursion was too tempting! After the dolphin swim we also got to explore the entire park and participate in the other shows. We almost missed our ride back to the ship because Christian insisted on taking advantage of a "once in a lifetime chance" to pet and feed the sharks!

We spun in circles and then the dolphins immediately started doing the same thing!

Shaking hands with the Dolphin!


The trainers sent the dolphin to give me a kiss...I hadn't quite warmed up to the animals at that point.

They gave us about 30min just to be in the water petting & swimming with the dolphins


The much anticipated shark touch and feed!

Swimming with Stingrays

After going to Grand Cayman for 7 months and never having time to visit stingray city, we finally got our chance! Yesterday we went on a crew Stingray Adventure tour in Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. By then end I warmed up to the slimy creatures, but you can see the terror in my face each time they got close!

The whole gang!

Trying to give it a kiss...

The Conch waving goodbye!

Welcome to the Jungle

We just finished our first Panama Canal cruise!

Gatun Lake, Panama

We disembarked the ship in Gatun Lake, Panama for an excursion and then joined the ship after it had gone through the Canal in Cristobal, Panama. After a nature walk we went on a boat ride. We saw lots of monkeys, birds, and even a sloth up close and personal.

Sleeping on the job!

We watched our ship going through the canal. And then went to an observatory to see it up close!

Roseau, Dominica

River tubbing in Dominica. After the tubbing we went to a waterfall and sampled lots of local fruits. I was almost sure we were going to get sick after seeing the sanitary conditions. We hadn't eaten all day though so we risked it. Sure enough, stomache ache all night.