We left for Tampa on Sunday of last week and stayed there for the night before we were to catch our ship the next day. The motel was nice and there was a 24 hour Starbucks so that was cool too. We went and did a little shopping before our cruise. Tampa has 15 Target stores! I can't even imagine how many Walmarts they have. LOL
Went through the port authority and customs at around 2:30 and set sail at 4 PM.
We couldn't have asked for better weather. All through Tampa Bay, then the Gulf of Mexico and finally, the Caribbean...the sky was absolutely breathtaking. You'll see that in the pictures.
We had a full day at sea then arrived at Grand Cayman on Wed. GC is very pretty and we visited the Turtle Farm, Hell (the black rock formations in the pictures and the beach, etc. Hell was very creepy. The pictures do not do it justice. Seeing it in person is so very different. You see all of this lush greenery then right in the middle are these black limestone formations that are totally out of place. Very odd. We didn't have a lot of time in Grand Cayman so we left there at 6 pm, I think it was.
Thurs we arrived in Cozumel and let me tell you, it was so absolutely beautiful. I loved Mexico! I had expected the Caymans to be more pretty but Mexico was stunning. We took another tour and saw a Mayan ruin, the first church there, a gorgeous beach, shopping, etc. We had more time there to spend. We saw this pharmacy in Mexico that had any pill you'd want and could get without a prescription. Stuff like Zoloft, Meredian, Xenical, Viagra, Prozac, antibiotics...etc. It's right on the street in a little pharmacy. Most of the people there speak english and will ask you if you speak spanish first. We ate at http://www.panchosbackyard.com/ and had the best food. See the guy in the picture sitting in front of the band? That's the exact table we had. It was kind of expensive for lunch but very good food and service. The natives there will drag you right into their stores. LOL They're nice though. R passed up a $90 Rolex replica. I'd have bought it myself but I have one and I had spent quite a bit already. I got some Mexican sandals that are gorgeous and the usual shirts, etc.
We left Mexico at 7 PM headed home and spent another full day at sea, then arriving on Sat morning. All of our table mates were so much fun. We ended up hanging out with 3 other couples quite a bit. I had this favorite bar on the ship where they had a piano player and singer. He was fun to listen to. He also would remember that I requested Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers so when we'd go in there he'd play it for me. We went to most of the shows and I also won two awards for winning at Name that Tune and Famous Faces. Sometimes you hear people say they think a cruise would get boring but honestly, we ran out of time to do things more often than not. The adult comedy shows were a blast and I love the dancers. Especially this Russian couple that did these awesome ballet/modern/lyrical type dances. We also went to the "ask the crew" thing and learned a lot about being on the ship. Stuff like, do you leave a lot of people behind cause they miss the boat, how did you get the job there, how often do you work, etc. They work 20 hour shifts and yes, people get left behind all the time when they lose track of time. They said especially when they end up drinking at Senor Frogs! They do get them back to the boat but they are responsible for that expense.
Our trip home was uneventful and pleasant. Leaving the boat was a pain somewhat but just like last time, customs didn't even look at our claim sheet or anything. Just told us to have a nice trip home. The pain part was that the ship lost our liquor we'd bought and had to replace it but couldn't till this morning. They don't allow liquor in the rooms but you buy it and then it's delivered to you on the last day. We got a great deal, as usual. 2 bottles of Absolut for $20 and 2 bottles of Bailey's for $32. We couldn't ever get those prices in the US. Plus, they're tax and duty free.
Of course, we passed Cuba, which I thought was cool. The only thing that's weird is being out there at night when nothing else is around. All you see is pitch blackness. Once in a great while you might see another ship but that's rare. I think they take different routes. You can see the stars better though.
Anyway, we had such fun even if we are very tired. I missed my doggies and had a great time seeing them this afternoon. Our new truck is a mess so that'll have to be washed and we still have a few things to put away but we have all weekend. I'm sure I missed things I wanted to share but those can wait till I think of them. BTW, we came home to 80 something degree weather which was awesome!
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