Day 7: Day at the Sea.

We enjoyed the water park, animal towel, ping pong, and miniature golf.

We have enjoyed doing Breakfast with Dr Seuss with the kids when we have taken them. It's always so fun. We met Cat in the Hat, Thing 1 and 2, and Sam I am.

Life on the ship: Joe and I enjoy getting to know our waiters. It makes it so much fun. Our waiters were:I Komad from Indonesia and Churchill from Jamaica. 

The kids loved being in Camp Ocean. There they made friends and adored their teachers: Miss Sushi, Miss Pizza, Miss Banana, and Mr. Potato (not pictured). They always came "home" with face paint, art, and prizes. Joe and I loved the comedy clubs, watching 4 D movies, and movies on the big screen

Day 6: Costa Maya, MX

 We were 10 mins late, and therefore missed our Blue Lagoon excursion. Luckily we were able to explore the Chacchoben Mayan Ruins. On the bus, Daniel our guide explained about the culture, the sites, and the interlocking theology the Mayans had with their natural surroundings and the cosmos. As we walked through the jungle we saw the detailed Mayan temples and where the royals lived.

Day 4: Roatan, Honduras

 We were beyond excited to have our first scuba experience!! We were both a little nervous that we would panic and feel claustrophobic. But we were finally in enough shape, and weren't worried so much about our size and weight, so we went for it!! We went to a short class where we learned about the rules and techniques of basic scuba diving. We then went onto a boat where we saw some others swimming with dolphins, that was fun. And then we dove right in! Once we started to figure out how to adjust our depth, by letting out or taking in deep breaths, we immediately enjoyed ourselves. It was so invigorating and a blast!

They then took us to another area where we did a longer dive. It was amazing to be able to stay under the water, to swim up the canyons, and to be so close to the fish and coral. We even saw two turtles. 

To be honest, as I fell behind! But to explain myself....I am always right there by the tour guide. I never have them wait on me, I always try to be the "perfect" pupil if you will. And this time I thought that I would just relax and enjoy myself and stay to the back of the line. Well, apparently I got my group confused with another group, and my instructor tried a few times to get my attention, but I didn't see him. Joe was right by him and told me the story later. But I was absolutely in heaven and oblivious to anything, until at the very end, I saw our instructor waving me in from a distance. He joked around with me and said I need to get certified! 

Joe and I both absolutely enjoyed ourselves and knew we needed to get certified and either come back to that place, which would be AMAZING! And/or we needed to go scuba diving somewhere/anywhere else.....Definitely our highlight of our trip. Needless to say we caught the bug!

Day 3: Belize

 We had heard from coworkers at Ketchum, ID where we used to work that Belize was their favorite destination....It was so hard to choose!! We got on a bus for an hour drive through the scenic Belize River Valley. Our guide Bernie was one of our favorites! We passed through historic villages, which were the original settlements of the colony of British Honduras, on the way to Ayinha Eco Park. We then went on a speedboat for a 30 minute cruise of the New River Lagoon in route to Lamanai, once the largest Mayan ceremonial site in Meso-America and occupied as early as 1500 B.C. We were excited to explore these ancient Mayan ruins and climb to the top of one of the largest ceremonial temples in Meso-America, including more than 100 minor structures, a ball court and about 12 major buildings, most notably the Temple of the Mask, thought to be an Olmec God or Kinich Ahau, the Maya Sun God, the Temple of the Jaguar Masks and the High Temple. We absolutely loved walking through the jungle, climbing the steep temple all the way to the top. We saw howler monkeys in their natural habitat as well. We returned to Ayinha where we enjoyed a tasty Belizean style lunch. 

The Jungle was gorgeous!  That was one thing Joe really wanted to do, walk through the jungle. Though we had a sandy walkway to follow, it was still pretty cool! I am not going to lie...I would be too big of a whimp to wonder throught those jungles! Who knows what kind of insects, lizards, snakes, animals....Yah it would be fun but I'll stick to the safe route! There were strangler trees, which wrap around an existing tree that looked so neat. You could see some of the ancient writings on a rock. The Jaguar Temple, you can see the face where we are standing by totally looks like a Jaguar! We were the first couple to get our pictures taken by this and Bernie said to touch the face, and it would give us fertility!! Joe and I immediately let go! So funny!! Who knows if there is even a legend about that, but that's just an example of how fun our tour guide was. 

Day 2: Cozumel, MX

 This was the second time we went to Cozumel, Yucatan MX. Last time we went to Tulum and rode a ferry to the main land. This time Joe and I signed up for a snorkeling excursion on Cozumel. Unfortunately, we were an hour delayed and were unable to wear sunscreen due to laws there. We had NO idea about anything like that....and we were dressed ready to swim, so needless to say...we got burnt! But the fish were beautiful, the water was wonderful and we still had fun! We saw some puffer fish and groupers.I'll be honest, it wasn't my favorite excursion. It said "beach", and literally it was a piece of sand, with no where to sit except on the sand....food was not very good, and they seemed very unorganized. But all in all, we were on a cruise, swimming in the ocean, and so we were pretty happy. 

I got so burnt that Joe spoiled me to a spa treatment where they put ointment on my body, massaged where it didn't hurt to much, and the ointment actually made a tremendous difference. I had the same masseuse, and she was wonderful!! And Carnival gave us a free excursion for our next trip. So although I was so sore and had a hard time sleeping, it helped make a difference. 

Jan 25, 2020 Cape Canveral, FL

 We always enjoy the first day leaving port. The kids are old enough now to understand the line with end and it's worth the wait. Since our first cruise with the kids, we always plan on day 1 being a swim day. It helps the time pass, the kids love it, and therefore everyone is happy and not angrily waiting for something to do, or wanting to head to our rooms. We go with our swim suits on, ready to go! So we plan on a day of water fun and exploring the ship. Joe and I went on the Breeze for our first Cruise together, to the Caribbean. We remembered it was so spacious and had an amazing splash pad with slides. It was fun to be back. We always enjoy the big and small slides, pool, and ice cream!

And the one thing I wanted this trip was a Swedish massage....I had never had a massage and I really wanted one! When we were booking it, we got a special discount, so Joe spoiled me. It was heaven! It was an hour long....and I wish it never ended. It felt so good!

2020 Cruise: Flying to Flordia

Flying to Orlando, FL: We were so excited to go on our special trip to the big boat. We surprised the kids as we were driving to the airport!