Beach Break in Acapulco

The excursion that we signed up for in Acapulco got cancelled, but the shore excursion manager hooked us up with an all inclusive day at the Fairmont Hotel in Acapulco.

A lookout point on our way to the hotel.

Breaking for lunch. Christian rented a surf board from some guy in a back alley. Chris was in hog heaven on his ATV.

Huatulco (waa-tool-ko)

In Hualtuco, Mexico we went on a mountain bike ride through the city and along the coast. According to the description, "excellent physical condition" was required. Thank goodness for the beach stops and ice cream breaks every 20 min.

This cute lade from Key West asked for a pink helmet. She then asked me if her helmet made her butt look fat. haha. Such a riot. She lasted about 5 min on the bike and then hopped in the car escort for the rest of the tour.

Canopies in Costa Rica

We stopped in Puerta Calderas, Costa Rica and found the longest zip lines we could. The course included 12 lines with one line that was over 700 meters! We wrapped up the day with a little R&R at the pool.

All strapped up and ready to go!Christian on the line! Stephanie taking off.
Cindy coming through!
Chris on his way down! Chris' crash landing...thank goodness for those tires to cushion the fall!

The GRAND FINALE!

Parents in Panama

Chris & Cindy are cruising with us right now and it's been a blast. Christian and I have had tons of time off so our days have revolved around eating, movies, shows and of course the necessary afternoon naps. The cruise started in Fort Lauderdale, stopped in Aruba for some shopping, and we just finished going through the Panama Canal on our way to Costa Rica.

Going under the Centennial Bridge.
Watching the Locks open into the Atlantic Ocean.

Chris: "That looks like a Mormon temple out there" Sure enough...it was the Panama City temple!

The impressive Panama City skyline!

We finished the evening with Fondue & dancing at the pool party!

Yee-Haw

While on Carnival we used to visit Half Moon Cay weekly. I always wanted to do the horseback ride, but it always sold out. Thanks to the "clientele" at Holland America only the bus tours are full which means there is always room on the active excursions!

They split up the group to go in the water. Christian went first so I could take pictures. Since there was an extra horse for my group he got to go again and a nice guest took photos for us.

We first took a ride around the island and then changed to go in the water!While we waited to go riding we found a little bungalow that wasn't being used.

Domincan Repubilc

After months of beaches it was great to see something different. We visited Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic last cruise. Unfortunately, 6 years of high school Spanish (3 years each) was about as helpful as hand gestures trying to navigate the city. Thanks to a helpful tip from a friend we decided to go to Tres Ojos which was amazing.

We walked around for hours trying to translate signs as we explored the city.
The oldest church in the western hemisphere.

Christopher Columbus!

On our way to Tres Ojos the cab driver stopped at this big monument. We took a picture not knowing what it was. Eventually,we found out that it is where Christopher Columbus is allegedly buried.

Tres Ojos: 3 enormous sinkholes just outside the city.

A little raft connecting the the sinkholes or "ojos".

Old Stomping Grounds

We finally returned to St. Maarten. It was so nice to be in a familiar place again. The best part was that we were there until midnight which meant...plenty of time for a good ol' game of BINGO!

The Del Sol Girls!

We randomly ran into our Bishop and his family.

We got to see his adorable daughter that was born just a few days after we left! Jump Up Casino!!

My very unlucky Bingo card.

Happy New Year!

We took the pictures, went to a comedy show, and I watched the ball drop alone because Christian fell asleep. We decided to celebrate with London. haha. Definitely not one for the books.

68 Degrees: Partly Cloudy

You know you’ve been in the Caribbean too long when you have to go back to the ship to put pants and a sweatshirt on because the temperature drops below 70 degrees. 2 cups of hot chocolate and 3 layers later… I finally started to warm up. You’d think we were in the North Pole.

Perks of being the Shopping Guides:

Christian has sweet talked his way to a free frozen & chocolate dipped key lime pie each visit!

I’ve managed to get a free 1lb chocolate chip cookie that is to die for! It’s so good that it usually ends up in a fight over who ate more!

After months of going to Key West we finally took time to explore. We started with the Conch Train Tour…a 90 minute (we got bored and hopped off around 45 min.) tour of Key West. We saw all the highlights though:

Outboard the Conch Train passing Higgs Beach.

The southernmost point of the USA...90 miles from Cuba

The start of Highway 1.

No visit to Key West would be complete without at least one crazy street performer.