México

Mexico was busy port for us. On the boat we'd met a group of ladies that lived by us (small world!) and had chartered a tour to Tulum, a larger set of Mayan ruins. They were so kind enough as to invite us to join them. We debated as to whether or not they could be crazy kidnappers or something and came to the conclusion that yes, they were indeed crazy, but not kidnappers, so we decided to tag along.

Our trip to Tulum started out by arriving in Cozumel, ferrying from Puerta Maya to Playa del Carmen where we boarded our van to Tulum. The van ride was supposed to be an hour long, but we had a super speedy driver who got us there in 45 minutes...we were glad because we weren't expecting to have a lot of time at the ruins, so his heavy foot got us a few extra minutes...and him a good tip!

It was a little weird that we had to stop and pick up his girlfriend (who we were fairly certain was underage), and even weirder that Rob had to ride between the two, but it was an interesting ride nonetheless.

Tulum was really exciting! It was a lot different than what I had imagined. It was located right on the water and the place was packed! Lots of the tourists were hanging out at the beach and swimming, but since we weren't aware that the ruins were so close to the beach we weren't dressed appropriately. We actually thought getting to the ruins was going to involve some hiking so we were all dorked out in hiking gear.

We really enjoyed the ruins and would have liked to have more time to spend there. It was so hot out, but we sprinted through the place to make sure we got to see it all before heading back. Seeing these ruins made us regret not seeing the ruins in Belize. There are some more Mayan ruins further West of Tulum called Chichen Itza, but our stay in port wouldn't accommodate a visit there. Next time we're in Mexico, maybe?? ☺

Here's an aerial shot of the site that I found online...just to give you an idea of the layout. Pretty spread out. Amazing.

Back at Playa del Carmen there were a bunch of military guys with big ol' guns all around the ferry loading. I thought it was weird, but had to document it. I am way too big of a wuss to take a full on shot, so camera in hand I folded my arms, guesstimated what angle my camera was at and took a shot. Luckily I have mad camera skills and captured a great picture. Rob thinks I am a nerd for doing this. And maybe just a little stupid. My words, not his...but I could see it in his eyes. ☺

We did have some time to shop and beach hop in Cozumel before the ship left. We came across this store that had a bunch dog t-shirts. We aren't ridiculous enough to actually buy one for Jackson, but we are ridiculous enough to take pictures of them (and to later have wished we would have bought one).

That was Mexico, and our last port of the cruise. I still have loads of pictures to post from our actual time on the ship, plus our time in Miami before the cruise, along with our few days in the Keys after the cruise. Yes, this vacation is going to drag out forever, blog-wise.

Belize

We were so un-Belize-ablely lazy this day. Lame pun, I know, but I just couldn't resist!! We'd scheduled an excursion to Altun Ha, a smaller grouping of Mayan ruins, but we decided to skip it.

At this port we couldn't walk right off the boat onto the dock, we had to take a 20 minute tender in which would have required us to be up and at the tender spot around 8:00 in the morning. Yes, that is too early for us...especially since we'd stayed up in the karaoke lounge until 2:00 the night before!

We slept in a bit and made our way into Belize City a little later in the morning. Apparently we were still pretty groggy because the lady that took our picture told us that we looked bored in the first one and demanded we smile for another picture. So this is us, cheesin' it up on the tender into Belize. We look excited to be there, right?

We did a bit of sightseeing near the port, then we headed straight for the shops. We got a lot of fun things there. We may or may not have picked up some slingshots for my nephews, which I am sure their parents will be thrilled about them receiving. ☺

All along the shops they had pillars that had the neatest carvings in them. Not many of the pictures I took of them came out too clearly though.

We'd stopped into a pharmacy and saw that they offer nearly every kind of perscription medication imaginable over the counter. Lipitor, Prozac, Lunesta, Viagra, Retin A, Amoxicillin...everything! No prescription needed! Crazy, right? I was a little tempted to pick up a few dozen things, but then I wasn't too trusting in the quality/safety of the pills. Come on, I have more smarts than that!

After we'd shopped and saw the sights for what seemed like days hours upon hours we were pooped and ready to head back to the ship. Looking back, we both wish we would have sucked it up, risen at the crack of dawn and gone to Altun Ha, but Rob just says that now we have a reason to head back to Belize. Really, I wouldn't mind that!

We're expecting

I'd like to interrupt the very important posting of vacation pictures to announce some incredibly exciting news. We've been suspecting this was the case for a little while, but have just received confirmation in the form of a positive test.

In just a short time we will be surrounded by the pitter patter of little feet.

The pitter patter of a lot of little feet actually...puppy feet to be exact.

Yes, Jackson is about to be a Papi. Apparently while he was staying at Rob's Mom's house for those two weeks while we were on vacation he just couldn't manage to keep it in his pants (kidding, of course...I may dress him in shirts and sweaters, but I would never put him in pants) and he's now left Maggie (Rob's Mom's female dachshund) in a family way.

Looks like in a little over a month and a half we'll be overflowing with puppies. This addition to our family is unexpected and we definitely aren't ready to turn our home into a doggie daycare, so...put in your orders now. Who wouldn't want a loverly little puppy to snuggle with all day?

Seriously, who wants a puppy?

Honduras

The second stop on our cruise was Isla Roatan, Honduras. The port was at a newly built resort called Mahogany Bay. It was SO hot and humid here! As our ship was backing up to the island I went out on our balcony to take a picture and the humidity fogged up the camera lens. It was like trying to breath in a steam room!

We planned to go on a Snuba excursion at Gumbalimba Park Resort which was on the other side of the island. We had to take a shuttle to get there. We went from one lovely resort, through the poverty ridden downtown and neighborhoods to another lovely resort, which we we going to Snuba at. The ride there was very humbling. It made me feel bad to be enjoying such a lovely vacation while there was such impecuniousness surrounding me. All of the locals we met were so friendly and eager to share their beautiful surroundings with us. It was really a great experience!

We spent several hours at the resort. We went on the Snuba excursion, swam in the pool, explored the surrounding greenery and just took in the laid-back-ness of the place. We took loads of shots with the waterproof camera, so I am really excited to get them developed and share them!

After leaving Gumbalimba, we headed back to Mahogany Bay to do a little souvenir shopping and take some pictures of the actual pirate ships that were rotting in the bay. It was so hot there that we didn't stick around for too long. We grabbed up a few buys and then dashed back to the ship to collapse in the air conditioning.

There are a few other little details I wanted to share about our Snuba experience, but I figure that they'll be funner to hear about accompanied by some pictures we took, so stay tuned!

Cayman Islands

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands was our first stop. The boat docked in Georgetown, which was bustling with people. We had an excursion out to Stingray City planned for later in the morning, so we first set out to explore the area around the port and scout out the places we wanted to stop by on our way out for souvenirs.

We stocked up on gifts at the Tortuga Rum store (rum, rum cakes, sauces, etc.), which they graciously delivered back to our room on the ship. We also popped into Hard Rock, to grab a few goodies.

The whole pirate theme was all over the Caribbean (crazy, I know!☺), so we have a gazillion shots of us posing with pirates - fake and 'real', and some pirate ships - again, some fake and some really real (pretty cool).

We then made our way along Seven Mile Beach (absolutely beautiful for snorkeling!!) and ended up hopping a boat to Stingray City. It was here that we donned our snorkeling gear and jumped in to swim with the stingrays. We swam with them, held them, fed them and even kissed them (for good luck)! This was probably my favorite water activity of the entire trip. Rob liked that it was only four feet deep.

One of the guides went diving for a bunch of conch shells to give us to take home. They were really big and really icky on the outside, so we just opted to hold them and pass them off onto the other passengers. The shells are absolutely beautiful on the inside though. Apparently the urchin-like thing that inhabits them is quite tasty...the locals were eating them right out of the shells. Eww, I know.

We bought some disposable waterproof cameras to snap pictures in the water with, but I have yet to develop them. Actually, I have yet to dig them out of our still unpacked luggage, so all the water pictures will have to wait until I get my act together.

I did manage to get a few goobery shots of us on the boat after swimming. And yes, that is my nose plug on the band around my neck. When it comes to being in the water, the nose plug is the best invention ever...as far as I am concerned. The water in Grand Cayman was amazing! It felt like getting into a hot tub...almost. And the color of the water, absolutely hands down the best color of all our stops.

We came across some new housing developments on our way back and Rob was trying to convince me that we need to purchase the one on the right as a vacation home. I told him I'd have to think about it. ☺

There is a small city on Grand Cayman called Hell. Yes, that's right. Hell. They have a post office where you can mail postcards to all your loved ones (or not-so-loved ones) from Hell. Rob thought it's be hilarious to send out a mass mailing from there, but sadly we were out of time so we had to pass it up.

We hit some more shops (FYI - diamonds are super cheap here!!) and then back to the big ol' ship we called home. And that my friends, was Grand Cayman, in a nutshell. Next stop, Honduras!

Picture overload

I've been trying to sort through the thousands (literally!) of pictures (some good shots, some garbage shots) we took while on vacation to post here and it's just overwhelming!

I thought breaking it down into smaller posts would be best...so hopefully I will get together a handful or two of pictures for each place we visited.

Stay tuned. I know you are all just dying of the suspense...right?? ☺