End of the Line

Posted on February 17, 2013February 17, 2013 by Dusty Roads

After viewing the gorgeous sunrise

as we pulled into Miami we headed into the Horizon Bar and Grill for our last breakfast while the ship docked and prepared for our disembarkation.

We’d tagged our bags and left them in the hall outside our cabin the night before. The tags had been left by the staff and each bag had a number. Ours was 23. That would determine when we could leave the ship.

Everyone congregated on the Lido deck by the pool to wait for their number to be called. It seemed to take forever to get to 23 but once it was called we were processed off the ship pretty quickly. We were disappointed that at no time did we collect a stamp in our passport. The passport was essential but I guess traveling by cruise ship accords some shortcuts and one of them is by passing the custom stamp.

One glitch. We left our cell phones in the car because I had heard that even if the phones were off if a call or text came through to voice mail that we could still be charged for international calling (roaming). Not wanting any surprises on our bills we left the phone behind. Now we were standing in front of the terminal with no way to call for the shuttle to the Park & Cruise. There were no old-fashioned pay phones anywhere and no courtesy phones either. Tensions started to rise when I had an inspiration. I approached one of the security personnel with our parking tag and explained our situation. She chuckled a little and made the call for us . Within half an hour we were back where we started, loading up Joe’s car.

Next stop is Fort Lauderdale Airport where I have a rental car waiting. That’s where Joe will drop me off and head back to Orlando and I will head into Fort Lauderdale to find my hotel. I’m going to spend a couple of days here in hopes of getting to the Everglades for some serious photo opportunities.

We found the car rental return but not the pick-up so Joe dropped me off at the return and I hoofed it to the lobby. It’s not even noon yet. With luck I’ll have most of the day to explore.

Sea Day On Carnival Imagination

Posted on February 14, 2013February 14, 2013 by Dusty Roads

As I write this post there’s another Carnival Ship being towed to Alabama from their failed Gulf Cruise. The Carnival Cruise ship Triumph was disabled on Monday by an engine fire. The ship is carrying more than 4000 people between guests and crew with some reports as high as 4500. The ship was 55 miles off the Mexican coast when the fire happened. Conditions since then have really gone downhill. I would not like to be on that ship! To think only a little more than a week ago we were on the Imagination in the same area! We could have been on there!

Luckily our ship didn’t have any problems. In fact we had an uneventful day at sea the last day. The cruise director had loads of activities planned. We watched the “Hairy Man” competition and the ice carving exhibition.

The lunch buffet was a bit fancier than usual with ice cream swans.

Sorry they melt fast and when we had them make us a fresh one we forgot to take the picture before eating it! 🙂

We finally got some sunny weather too.

There were trivia contests and time to look at all of the photos the ship-azzazzi photographers had been taking. There was even time to grab a nap in the afternoon. The evening was spent at dinner and the farewell show. It was all a nice relaxed pace but plenty to do.

One thing we never got to was the Casino. We walked by it plenty of times, talked about trying it for a bit but just never got there. I’m definitely not a gambler and I don’t think Joe is either so it wasn’t missed at all. Still I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that there was a casino for those so inclined.

Arriving back at our cabin for our last night we had our last towel art. I can’t call this one an animal. But very appropriate for a Post on Valentine’s day, don’t you think?

Time to leave Mexico Behind

Posted on February 13, 2013February 13, 2013 by Dusty Roads

It was time to start back to the ship. I left the ruins through the hole in the wall and caught the tram back to the marketplace and parking area.

Now I had the most uncomfortable experience of the whole trip. I know that in many countries market places are filled with pretty aggressive stall merchants. It’s one thing to read about it but quite another to be subject to it. I don’t know if it was because I was alone when I stepped off the tram or because I was a woman or if this is just their way. It’s possible it’s all an act for the gringos but I didn’t like it.

In any case I wanted to look in the market place. I didn’t have much money on me but I was curious. Big mistake. The proprietors ran at me waving mayan calendars, or another big one was cigars. At first I tried to make light and laugh it off saying no-no I don’t smoke and things like that. But as I got away from one another was there in front of me pitching their wares and they had an answer for everything. I broke away from them with “Buy, Buy for your husband, buy for your friend, take back to America”…ringing in my ears.

I’m sure they need the money. The area is clearly poor by American standards but the aggressive approach certainly drove me away rather than encouraging me to buy anything. I was relieved to get back to the bus where they were handing out cold cloths and water.

The ride back to the docks was uneventful. It was dark by this time and I think everyone was tired. It was time to try out our guide’s advice for avoiding seasickness.

We took seats on the lower deck and waited. News finally came that another tour bus was stuck in traffic because of an accident and we had to wait for them. Once they finally arrived the crew wasted no time in casting off. I was still wearing my patch but I tried Paula’s tips and it seemed to work. The return to Cozumel was much easier than the morning trip.

We arrived back at the cruise ship about 9:30 pm ship’s time. Although we had covered many time zones the ship never changed the time. We were still on EST time. Unfortunately the delay leaving Mexico made us miss dinner. We wandered down to the Lido deck where the late night offerings were being picked through. We settled on Pizza. Not my first choice of food before bed but better than nothing.

Tomorrow would be a day at sea with no ports of call.

We headed back to our cabin to be greeted by another Towel Animal. This time a frog. 🙂 Love those little surprises.

Cozumel to Playa Del Carmen

Posted on February 6, 2013February 6, 2013 by Dusty Roads

The ferry to the mainland crosses the Cozumel Channel, part of the Caribbean where the gulf stream gets funneled between the mainland and the island of Cozumel. This creates some choppy seas in the best of weather.

The tour description mentions that the crossing from Cozumel to the mainland can be rough and when Joe booked it he asked me if I would be ok with that. Forewarned is forearmed and I prepared accordingly. I made sure to have sea sick patches with me specifically for this trip. I didn’t need them for the cruise but for the ferry…well better safe than sorry so I put one on first thing in the morning. For the patches to be most effective they need to be on for 4 hours before you head off to your adventure.

Now we sat on the upper, open deck waiting for the ferry to cast off. It was windy with some drizzle so it was certainly expected that the crossing would be rough. What I wasn’t prepared for was how rough!.

Once we cast off the ferry wasted no time in accelerating but even so sometimes it felt like the forward progress was overshadowed by the side to side rocking and rolling and I mean rolling! We were on the top deck and as the boat rolled left everything and everyone slid that way. It felt like you could reach out and touch the water. At times I was afraid we wouldn’t right ourselves and we’d all be thrown into the cold, gray sea. But instead we bobbed back up only to roll to the other side.

It didn’t take long for those around us to start dropping. The crew handed out plastic bags and cotton balls. Joe was fine and I was too as long as I didn’t listen to the sounds around me. Water splashed all the way up to our level! My mantra was “I believe in my patch”.

I would guess the crossing took 45 minutes to an hour but it was hard to be sure. I bet it felt much longer to those who were sick. This trip was far worse than the trip to see the Puffins off the Maine Coast last summer where almost everyone there got sea sick too.

Finally docked and unloaded in Playa Del Carmen we were directed to the buses and loaded in there for the drive to the Mayan ruins at Tulum. Our guide was an energetic Mexican with a great sense of humor.

Her non stop monologue could have been a stand up comedy act. She was going to make this tour a winner! As she said to us…her livelyhood depends on it.

A Rainy Morning at Sea

Posted on February 5, 2013February 5, 2013 by Dusty Roads

We awoke to clouds and fog and rain but we were still a way out to sea. We were hoping the weather would clear before we reached Cozumel.

Our morning had fallen into a pattern. We got up, dressed and went to the Lido deck for the breakfast buffet usually a starch like pancakes, waffles or French toast. There were the eggs too, Scrambled, hard boiled, Benedict or an omelet station where you could have them prepared to order.

Of course there was the meat: bacon, sausage, ham and turkey bacon. Grits and home fries pretty much round out the standard fare. Move on to the fruit bar and there were oranges, bananas, melon wedges, fruit salad and more! Another station was set up for the continental breakfast. Yogurt, bagels and toast, muffins and corn bread. I think I also saw cereal boxes and milk on that table.

You’d think that’s be enough for anyone but they even had a dessert table groaning with cookies, Jell-O, cakes, brownies, cheesecake and chocolate pudding. You could even make yourself a bowl of frozen yogurt or soft ice cream.

Beverages include coffee or tea, orange juice, apple juice, orange~promegranate and lemonade.

No wonder people say they over-eat on cruises! All of this food is included with your cruise!

Bt the time we finished breakfast the ship had pulled into Cozumel, an island off the coast of Mexico. We were directed to go to the Xanadu lounge just one of the many lounge and stage areas on the ship. Shortly after we reached the lounge one of the cruise people came around with stickers with the number 20 to put on our shirts. There was no explanation but we would soon find out the reason.

It was still raining but pretty soon they confirmed that the excursion was still a go and called for us to line up in twos. Like funeral procession we were being led off the ship as a group and our numbers identified us as an excursion group and therefore entitled to priority disembarkation.

Getting off the ship was easy. We just had to give security our room key which was scanned to show that we had left the ship.

Now began the half walk half run down the long pier into Cozumel but we didn’t even slow down as they hurried us around a corner and onto another long pier. At the end of the pier was the ferry to the mainland. As we boarded little did we know this innocent looking boat would soon become an instrument of torture for about half the group.