Retirement Update (Tuesday, January 26th, 2016)

It has now been six months since Steve's retirement, and although we LOVE it, there are still some things that we need to think about changing. I'm sure that retirement is a series of unending modifications to accommodate the changes that life brings us, just like the rest of our life has been, so why not start now.

We just returned from a western Caribbean cruise with our youngest daughter, which was a ton of fun.  The only problem is that we came home with a nasty bug.  We've been home 10 days, and we're still trying to shake it.  We've had to turn-down or cancel plans with three different sets of friends, just because we didn't feel well enough, and to me, that's unacceptable. 

We're finding that all of these short trips, one after another, with a hectic schedule waiting for us when we come home, is taking a toll on us.  And being in so many public places like airports, planes, buses, and cruise ships is probably exposing us to more than we even want to think about.  We've enjoyed all of it, and we're certainly not ready to stop traveling, but we are realizing that a slightly slower pace might be a better option for us in the longer run.  

One of the things we've realized is that we need to make Colorado more enjoyable while we're here in the winter.  We really don't enjoy being outside in the cold, so we're trying to come up with fun ways to stay busy when we're home, even if it's cold outside.  We also seem to save up all of our "icky jobs" for when we're home in Colorado, instead of freeing up our time at home for family and friends.   Which is making Colorado less appealing than it really needs to be.

Steve has felt rather unsettled since he retired, and part of it is that he doesn't have a place to call his own.  He has always had an organized office where he can take care of business, and I have my home office, so that is leaving him feeling like a duck out of water. So before we left on the cruise, we set up an "office" for him, or maybe it's more of a music room, hard to say.  But either way, he now has his own space where he can work on his music, do computer work, work on his GoPro videos, and do his home office work.  I can see that he is really enjoying his new space, so I often grab my computer from my office and join him in the music room so we can spend time together while we get our stuff done.

We also think that when we leave Colorado, we need to be gone for more than two weeks at a time.  It gets expensive in terms of both time and dollars, and it's just not that fun traveling back and forth that much.  We're thinking we should try for three weeks minimum from now on.  We're trying to make my work more portable, so it will be less of an issue as well.

And speaking of slowing down, here is the beautiful Colorado sunset from our back deck tonight.  Too cold to sit outside and enjoy, not too cold for a quick snapshot that we can sit and enjoy inside.

Homeward Bound (January 16th, 2016)

Yesterday was our last day at sea, so we slept in, with no intention of setting an alarm. When we finally woke up, the seas were calm. It was definitely getting cooler, as we headed back north, and back into winter. So we enjoyed our final day at sea, and our final cruising companion.

Today we will end of our Caribbean Cruise with our daughter in the port of Galveston, where we started. We woke up this morning to foggy skies again as we made our way back into the port. The temperatures are probably in the 50's and it's cloudy.

Last night they gave us two options for disembarking. The first is called self assist, which is definitely the easiest option if you drove to the cruise terminal and aren't waiting on any particular transportation. It requires you to carry all of your bags off the ship yourself. The only problem with this option is that the elevators are usually pretty busy on the last day of the cruise and it's hard to handle luggage on the stairs. Self assist passengers are usually the first to leave the ship. 

The other option is to leave your bags outside your door the night before, and they will move them to the cruise terminal for you. With this option, they prioritize passengers by when their flights leave, to ensure that everyone gets to the airport in plenty of time. They give you a group number, and when your group is called, you can disembark. Since we were using Carnivals transportation to get to and from the airport, we chose to leave our bags out the night before, and have them transported to the terminal for us.

We got up at about 7:30, in order to be out of our room by 8:30, which is what they require in order to get the rooms ready for the next guests that will be coming in later in the day. We left our carry-on bags in our room and headed to breakfast. They had all of the usual breakfast options available, so we sat out on the back pool deck and enjoyed a nice quiet breakfast. 

The dining room on the Lido deck was really busy, but the back pool deck was nice and quiet. When we finished breakfast, we went back to the room and gathered up our carry-on bags, then returned to our table to wait for our group to be called. They called most of the self assist groups, and then our group was one of the first "assisted" groups to be called to disembark, so we made our way to the front of the ship. We scanned our Sail-n-Sign cards for the final time and headed off the ship and into the cruise terminal. Once in the terminal, we located our bags, which are sorted by debarkation group number, and got into the long line to go through customs.

They were forming two customs lines, so as we got in line, I looked at the other line to see who we were next to, and when we got to the front of the line, we were still next to the same people. The lines moved very evenly. 

We got through customs very quickly, but some of the people had to do finger prints, thumb prints and a lot of other stuff that we didn't have to do. The only thing I could think of is that they weren't U.S. citizens. I don't really know fully! It took about an hour to get through customs, then we were free to head out of the cruise terminal to our transportation. We were using the Carnival provided buses, so we picked up our bus tickets and crawled on our bus. We had to wait for about half an hour for the bus to fill up before we headed to the airport. 

We had a nice long wait at the airport since our flight didn't leave until 2:55, but everything went as planned, and before we knew it, we were on our way home. As we descended into Denver, there was still a lot of snow on the ground. Apparently it has been cold while we were away.

I want to take a minute to recap the gluten free dining on the ship, because it was such a positive experience.  Our daughter was never limited on her selections.  She was offered the same menu each night as we were, the only difference was that she reviewed the menu the night before so they would have time to specially prepare her appetizers, entrees and desserts. 

Houston always handed her the menu with a smile on his face, and never made her feel uncomfortable for needing special food.  And, I have to say, it was fun to see what the chef would do to make her request gluten free.  She said that it wasn't always what she expected, but it was always very tasty, and very much appreciated by all of us.

Cozumel, Mexico (Thursday, January 14th, 2016)

We woke up this morning in the Port of Cozumel to fog, which was a bit of a bummer since we were hoping to spend our day exploring the city. We headed up to breakfast and as we were eating, the fog started burning off, and the sun started coming out.  It's going to be a great day!  

We watched a large European Cruise ship docked next to us. I was interested to see how they get the ropes from the ship onto the cleats on the docks. They have small blue guide ropes that are hooked to the ship and to the larger ropes, but even though we watched them do it, we’re still not sure we know exactly what they did.  Maybe you can figure it out from the pictures.

After breakfast, we grabbed our stuff and headed to the gangway to exit the ship for our day, but a line was forming on the first floor to get down to the gangway. Word was that they closed the gangway while the other ship was docking for safety reasons. This total made sense. We waited for about a ½ hour, and then they started letting us off the boat. 

There were four cruise ships docked, so there was a large crowd of people trying to make their way into town.  As you exit and re-enter the ships, they force you through the duty free shop as your only route option.  It is always really crowded, and hard to get through.  When we finally made it through, we found ourselves in the port shops, which we fondly refer to as Cruise Ship Disney because it reminds us of the shops on the main street in Disney World.  We took a left, then a right, and we eventually found ourselves on the streets of Cozumel. Whew!  No excursion for us today. Since the Port of Cozumel is a convenient port to town, we are going to spend the day exploring the town and see what we can find.

The tourist sign as you leave Cruise Ship Disney

We crossed the street and took a left, and started looking in an upscale mall that is near the port.

The smallest bikini ever!  I think she outgrew this years ago!

The mall area is beautifully landscaped

As we walked through the mall, it dawned on us....we have one day to explore Cozumel, what in the world are we doing in a mall?  So we left the mall and went back across the road and started making our way down the street, walking along the sea wall and enjoying the views. The sea wall is about 4 feet high, and just beyond it is a small jungle, and then beautiful tide pools that would be so much fun to explore.  The only problem is, if we jump down, how do we get back up.  So we kept watching for an opportunity to make our way down. 

And lucky for us, someone else had thought the same thing!  As we passed a clearing in the jungle, we looked over the wall and saw where someone had stacked enough rock to make a convenient step, so we decided to take advantage of it.

Perfection!

These birds are perfectly camouflaged in the tide pools

When we finished exploring the tide pools, we climbed back up our rock stack and continued on our way down the sea wall.  

There are a lot of horse drawn carriages near the port, and most of them were in use, but we saw a few that were taking a break.  No driver in sight, and the horses would just stay where they were left. No ropes or anything!

We walked past the Naval Station where we saw a sign for swimming with the stingrays. We were wondering if they took people out in a boat, but then realized that they had the stingrays in a fenced off area of the ocean. It was $65 to swim with these captive sea rays.  The people were all decked out in their snorkel gear and life vest (yes, they even had the straps between their legs), only to step into the ocean enclosure that was about 3 feet deep. We were shocked at how many people were doing it. 

We were getting hungry, so we turned around and headed back to a little restaurant we had seen right next to the Navy Station call the Sunset Restaurant & Bar. They had an upper section on the street with a nice balcony overlooking the ocean, and a lower section on the beach. 

We got ourselves a table down on the sand, where we could watch all kinds of activities. Right next to the restaurant (we think it was owned by the same people) was a dive and snorkel shop. They were taking people out onto the reef, which was just in front of the restaurant.  Usually if you want to try scuba, you have to try it in a swimming pool, but they would take you out a little ways and let you try the scuba equipment in a safe ocean environment. 

A group of divers getting ready to head out

Snorkelers, right in front of the restaurant

We weren’t able to get any pricing, but it might be worth looking into. 

We ordered some drinks and an order of nachos that we all shared as we sat at the restaurant and took in the sights. While we were waiting for our nachos, they brought us out some chips and salsa. There was a green salsa that was really spicy. They said it was made from Aztec chilis, lime juice and salt and pepper, hand ground in a mortar and pastel. It had great flavor, but was really spicy! The other salsa was a chipotle dip, which was much milder and very tasty as well. 

The nachos were also really good, the chicken was perfectly seasoned. 

We were really enjoying our spot on the beach, so we just took our time and stayed awhile.

Later we ordered some fish tacos to share. We made sure that they were on corn tortillas so that our daughter could eat them, but when they came out, the fish was breaded and fried, so she couldn’t eat it anyway because of the gluten in the breading. We didn’t even think about the fish being fried, ughh. She said she was full from the nachos anyway, so Steve and I enjoyed the fish tacos. Next time we'll stick with the chicken tacos.

We managed to hit the restaurant at happy hour, so our beers were only $1.50 each for Mexican domestics. Our total bill came to $29 for a bottle of water, six beer, an order of nachos and an order of fish tacos. 

From the Sunset Restaurant & Bar there was also a beach access. The beach wasn’t sandy, it was some sort of rock, maybe volcanic, and had a lot of tide pools in it. We enjoyed walking around the tide pools for a long time, just seeing what we could find. There were some small fish, lots of crabs and a few live corals. It’s so relaxing to watch the sea-life in the tide pools. Our daughter decided that she really likes pulling snails off the rocks. They hold on tight, so it takes a little effort, but she thought that was fun. It’s the small things in life that entertain us, like spending an afternoon at the tide pools.

Below is a link to a YouTube video we shot of the shoreline and waves as we played in the tidal pools.  Included in the video is Dennis Conner’s 12-meter America’s Cup winning Stars & Strips and True North IV boats sailing just off shore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEAkzA5JxHY

We finally decided that it was time to head back to the ship.  But of course we took our time and had a little more fun as we made our way back.

We walked out on a partially built, abandoned building on the beach for a closer look

The Leaning Tower of Cozumel

 xx

Looking back at the restaurant from the ruins, so maybe we can find it again some day

As we walked through Cruise Port Disney, we saw a few more things of interest, that I thought I would share.

Roofing is done a little differently here

I always thought we were a tall family

Total Tourists!

As we walked through the duty free shop (which they force you to walk through) on our way back to the ship, the crowds were still huge.  It just takes a little patience to get through.

And like any good tourist, our daughter found something she couldn't live without

We stopped and took a few pictures with the many cruise ships that were in port. They make you feel so small when you are standing right next to them. 

Getting back on the ship went very quickly, which was a relief. That is the one problem with the larger cruise ships, it can take some time to get people on and off, but you just have to be patient. At least today we were in port, and not waiting on tenders.  It was a great day!

Our day in the port was beautiful! Cloud covered but warm, which was nice since we got a little sunburned yesterday, snorkeling in Belize. As we got back on the ship, it started to sprinkle, and by the time we got to our room, it was a torrential downpour! We all decided that it was perfect napping weather, so we laid down for a short snooze. As the ship left port the weather was getting rougher, and by the time we got ready for dinner the seas were quite rough. 

Steve and I got ready first and headed up to the ninth deck while we waited for our daughter to get ready. Tonight is our second elegant night, so we are trying to walk around the very rough decks in heels (no Steve didn't have heels, just me). It’s comical to watch everyone, including ourselves. Our housekeeper said we had too much tequila! 

Everyone was starting to feel a little bit seasick, including some of the staff as we waited for our 8:15 dinner time. We decided it would be better to head back to our room on the 1st floor, where it is much smoother. We all ate a lighter than usual portion of our filet mignon since our stomachs were a little unsettled and then went to the show. Instead of the usual singing and dancing show, the performers were all seated on the stage, and sang most of their songs from their chairs for safety reasons. After the evening show, we all headed back to our room for the night, in hopes that the seas would be calmer in the morning.

Belize (Wednesday, January 13th, 2016)

We woke this morning, still cruising, but anchored shortly after in the waters off of Belize. Large cruise ships cannot port in Belize because of the reef off the coast. We went down to breakfast and tried to eat a little more than usual so that it would stick with us. Before we left home, we talked to our oldest daughter and her husband who were recently on this same cruise, and they said that there isn't a lot to do in the port of Belize.  It is one of those ports that is off by itself, without easy access to Belize City or anything else.  So we signed up for a snorkeling excursion for today. 

Our excursion doesn’t start until 10:00, so we were able to take it easy this morning before we had to catch our tender. Most of the guests are heading into the Port of Belize for the day, and we keep hearing the cruise director on the PA system asking people to be patient as they try to get everyone off the ship via tenders. This is one of the cons of a large ship, especially on days when tenders have to be used. 

At about 9:30 we headed up to the theater where we are gathering for our 10:00 excursion. All cruise ships seem to be a little too well air conditioned for our liking, so our daughter and I both bundled up in our coats to wait in the theater for our excursion departure. Our excursion group was called around 10:00, and we headed for the gang way with the rest of our group. We got on to a large catamaran and headed directly out to Rendezvous Caye, a very small Belizian Island, straight east of Belize. The ride out was very nice, we spent part of the ride on the lower deck and part on the upper deck. 

We chose seats near the back so we could see out since the catamaran was enclosed today

It's a pretty large snorkeling group

After the announcements we headed up stairs where the views were great!

It was cloudy as we left the ship, but as we approached the island, it was sunny and gorgeous! About 80 degrees. We had about a 45 minute boat ride from the ship to our little piece of paradise!

Rendezvous Caye, off in the distance

Our excursion today was called Snorkeling the Wonders of the Barrier Reef. The island had beautiful white sand beaches and palm trees and was very clean. We all disembarked, and those who needed snorkeling equipment grabbed it on their way onto the island. They also handed each person a grass mat to use on the beach. We got our spot all set up, and then met in the middle of the island for snorkeling. Since we were such a large group, they broke us into two groups. Group one would snorkel first, and then when they were done, group two would go while group one enjoyed time on the beach. 

We were in group one. They further divided us into beginner, intermediate and advanced. Almost everyone in the first group went to the beginner group. We were trying to decide if we should do intermediate or advanced, and as we were contemplating, they decided to join the intermediate and advanced into a single group. That made our decision very easy! We headed out with our guides, in a group of about 20 people. 

Snorkeling Group

There were two guides in the water with us, and two in kayaks to help anyone who might have trouble. There was only one entry point for getting into the water off of the island. This is because Rendezvous Caue lays on top of the reef, so this is their way of protecting the reef from damage. As we got into the water from a sandy, grassy area, we immediately started seeing small fish, even though we couldn’t see the reef yet, and as we made our way out, the reef was right there. So much beautiful underwater life to see. The guides were very helpful, diving down and bring things to the surface for us to see and hold. We held see cucumbers, starfish, a sea anemone which felt very much like holding a hedgehog and a large lobster. All of these creatures were alive and would crawl around on our hands. Our group snorkeled about half way around the island, exploring the reef as we went. 

When we got about half way around, some of our group wanted to go back because they were afraid of the jelly fish, so one of the kayaks lead them back to the island. The rest of us, now less then 10 snorkelers, stayed out longer and continued to enjoy the reef. There were some jellyfish but they were beautiful, and could easily be swished away. They did not seem to be stinging at all. We snorkeled for another 10 minutes or so, and then it was time for us to head back to the island as well. We made our way back slowly, continuing to enjoy the reef.  

The link below is a video of the highlights of our snorkeling adventure on Rendezvous Caye, coming back to the Carnival Freedom and quick trip into the Port of Belize.  We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VkzYhkmHno

When we got back to the island, we realized that the second group of snorkelers had already gone out. We had snorkeled almost the entire hour, instead of having our beach break. The time went by so fast in this incredible underwater world.  We definitely got our money’s worth!

As we were playing around on the island and taking pictures, one of our guides called us over. He had an octopus in his hands, which he let us hold. It was very slimy feeling, but would grab on to us with it’s tentacles. It was a very interesting creature. It would have been about two feet across if it was spread out. 

I saw a similar sized octopus when we were first swimming out on our snorkeling adventure.

A few more pictures as we enjoyed our short time on the island.

When the time came, we reluctantly headed to the boat for our relaxing ride back. As we sailed along, the three of us discussed our two days of snorkeling and compared them. 

Yesterday in Mahogany Bay was great, of course, because it was free, and it was pretty good snorkeling. It was nice because we were alone and didn’t have to keep up with a group. We also didn’t have other people kicking around near us. 

Today on Rendezvous Caye was nice because we had the guides who would point things out and explain things to us, and they would dive down and get things for us to hold. The reef was really incredible.  They were both great experiences that we wouldn't trade for anything!

The reef that we snorkeled both days is part of the Meso-american reef system that runs from Honduras all the way to Cozumel. It is a World Heritage Site and is the largest Barrier Reef in the Western Hemisphere. Belize is one of the last countries in the world to have extensive areas of almost pristine reef. The Belize Barrier Reef is the home of one of the most diverse Ecosystems in the world, with 106 species of coral, 500 species of fish and hundreds of invertebrate species. 

Farewell to beautiful Rendezvous Caye

Complimentary Fruit Punch during our return trip

Carnival Freedom waiting for our return

When we got back to the ship, we dropped off our snorkeling gear and changed into dry clothes and headed down to floor zero to catch a tender to main land Belize. Unfortunately for us, most of the people who had been on excursions all day were now coming back to the ship, so we waited an hour for them to get unloaded before we could get on a tender. By the time we finally caught our tender, we weren’t going to have any time on the mainland, so we just rode out to the port and then rode back again.

Whew, we finally caught our tender

Approaching the Port of Belize

View across to the other side of the bay

He must be the official greeter!

Looking back at our ship

Head-on view of the Carnival Freedom, it looks like a creature from another planet

And as a bon-voyage treat, another beautiful Caribbean sunset to end our day!

Tonight's show was called Get-away Island, and was a Beach Boys themed song and dance ensemble.  At the end of the show, they grabbed people from the audience to join them up on stage, and one of them was our daughter.  She is a bit reserved, and not one to make a spectacle of herself, so she tried to decline, but they insisted and pulled her up on the stage.

Definitely out of her comfort zone, but playing the part from the back of the stage

And to tuck us in tonight, we had a Belizian Elephant, as rare as they are...