Cruise 2013 - Days 12 to 14 - Tampa and Drive Home

Disembarkation was much more civilized than our experience getting ON the boat. As non-US citizens, we had to pre-clear an extra layer of Customs as the boat approached port. Ultimately, we were off the ship by about 930am, and the six of us piled into Dave's "Florida car", a customized 1997 Dodge van, with all of our luggage and yet room to spare.

After dropping the women at the house, the three guys headed back into Tampa and across the causeway to Clearwater, for a spring training exhibition game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies. Sure, the Jays lost 13-5 with a squad consisting mostly of minor-league prospects, but a good time was had by all. We dropped John and Julie at a hotel at the airport, as they were flying out the next morning.

We left ourselves very early the next morning, with frost on the Juke (!), and began the long drive home, following Interstate 75 North all the way. Continuing our audiobook, Stephen King's "The Stand", we spent about twelve hours on the road and stopped for the night in Berea, Kentucky after a pleasant drive through the Appalachians. The only real glitch was noon rush-hour in Atlanta, but we were saved by the HOV carpool lane. I knew my navigator would come in handy at SOME point in the trip.

We left early the following day, but not quite early enough as we ran into morning rush hour in Cincinnati, Ohio. Otherwise, it was clear sailing, as we stayed about eight hours ahead of a massive winter storm set to hit the area behind us. We stopped briefly in northern Ohio to pick up cheap beer, our first Tim Horton's and our last tank of gas for the trip. Detroit was smooth sailing, no delays were encountered at the border, and we pulled into the driveway in Wheatley (thankfully green and not white) around 1:30pm to the delight of some very elated furry residents.

 Causeway to Clearwater, Florida

 The return view on the way back to Tampa

 Blue Jays and Phillies at Bright House Field

Here's the pitch....

It got worse - final score Phillies 13, Jays 5

Jose Bautista right before he cranked one out of the park

Atlanta, Georgia on Interstate 75

Cruise 2013 - Day 11 - Day at Sea

The final day consisted of a day at sea, as we cut diagonally across the Gulf from Cozumel to Tampa. More Happy Hour, more Bingo, and our first time at Deal or No Deal. Otherwise we generally relaxed, got our packing on order, and figured out what hoops we had to jump through to get off the ship early the next morning....

Happy Hour in the Pearly King's Pub begets 2-for-1....

....which begets Happier Hour in the Pearly King's Pub

Sister ship following us away from Cozumel

Colin callin' BINGO

Deal or No Deal in the Stardust Theatre

Cruise 2013 - Day 10 - Cozumel, Mexico

Our next and final stop was the island of Cozumel, off the eastern coast at the northern tip of the Yucatan. Originally we had booked a shore excursion on a semi-submersible, using an underwater glass viewing area to explore Cozumel's world-class coral reefs. Unfortunately, a very windy day saw pretty much all water-based activities cancelled and refunded.

Instead we wandered Cozumel on foot, being sure to explore beyond the initial commercial plaza they funnel all cruise passengers through upon arrival. After some further shopping on down the road at "real" stores, we found a fabulous seaside patio (The Thirsty Cougar) where we could wet our whistle and practice my rusty Spanish with friendly servers.

After encountering John and Julie at the Cariloha store, which sells all manner of clothing, towels and bed sheets made out of surprisingly silky bamboo, we practised our bartering skills some more en espanol in the back alleys.....and this time with a firm knowledge of the peso exchange rate. One can also wander freely with open liquor, which added some local selections to my collection but can also likely benefit local vendors in general with the tourists.

Oddly enough, we ended up back the The Thirsty Cougar for more drinks and some superlative salsa and guacamole with tortillas. After enjoying the scenery and entertaining street traffic for a bit, we made the trek back to the ship.

Welcome to Cozumel

Off the beaten path

Carriages of a different sort

View from The Thirsty Cougar

A few blocks of the main strip

Cozumel main square

Clock tower en al centro

A Thirsty Cougar, er, The Thirsty Cougar

Beer and snacks with a seaside view!

Cruise 2013 - Day 9 - Costa Maya, Mexico

The next morning, we docked further up the Yucatan Peninsula at Costa Maya, Mexico. This seemed like a fabricated port, in that there was a retail village but little else in the middle of nowhere. In fairness though, apparently Hurricane Dean wiped out most of this area in 2007 and they just hadn't bothered to rebuild a lot of things.

We had a shore excursion booked to visit the Mayan ruins at Chacchoben, aka the "Place of the Red Corn". An interesting bus ride down some very straight and vacant highways led us to the partially-excavated village, consisting of several large Mayan buildings in the jungle.

Chacchoben was only unearthed in 1973, and has been open to the public for about a decade. As far as Mayan ruins go, it is relatively new and only a small portion of the overall settlement has actually been excavated. All the same, the ruins were quite spectacular, and we had a fabulous guide of Mayan descent (gracias, Lisbeth!) who shared the history and culture of her people.

She also explained the whole recent "2012 is the end of the world" kerfuffle, from the Mayan perspective. Our calendar is reasonably accurate, we're only off by six hours a year, requiring the inclusion of a leap year every four years to catch up. By contrast, the Mayan calendar is so ridiculously accurate that it is only off by 16 seconds a year. This means they only need a leap year every 5,125 years. It just so happened that 2012 was a Mayan leap year...in fact the FIRST Mayan leap year in history. Enter mass chaos.

Not an end, but a beginning. As Lisbeth put it, it is a chance for us all to be better for the next 5,125 years.

Following the tour, we returned to the small retail village at the Port. I bartered in my lame Spanish, at least an opportunity to practice. Pleased with my self for talking the vendor down considerably (the starting prices are known to be high with room to move), I quickly learned a Valuable Lesson #1 - KNOW THY CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATE.

The nice older gentleman Elladio was so painfully agreed to the lower his prices just turned around and charged me the original rate once he converted to pesos for the Visa transaction. Only a difference of about $20, but still.

The corollary would be Valuable Lesson #1(b) - bring enough cash so that you don't need to use plastic and convert to pesos, then you know exactly how much you are spending.    

 Bienvenido a Mexico!

 Costa Maya - The Mayan Coast

 Pineapple season

 Highway to Mayans

Chacchoben ruins

Mayan-aise temple

Mayan ruins or Elvish terrace? 

Spider Monkey,Spider Monkey....

It's the End of the World As We Know It....and I feel fine!

....does whatever a Spider Monkey can....

"Lugar del maiz colorado" = "The Place of the Red Corn" in Spanish = "Chacchoben" in Mayan

Is that your house, or Mayan???

Wet Bar (no dolphins allowed)

Dueling dolphins at (Norwegian) Dawn

Cruise 2013 - Day 8 - Belize City, Belize

We followed the curve of the Yucatan peninsula up as far as Belize, where we awoke to find ourselves anchored several miles offshore along with several other cruise ships, including our sister ship, the Norwegian Star out of New Orleans. The fog delays of Tampa were far behind us, and we were back on schedule.

The harbour at Belize City is too shallow to dock, so we had to tender in on small boats for about fifteen minutes off added excitement. All part of the fun. The accessible portion of the town itself was largely a commercial haven, mainly shops, restaurants and waterfront bars. There was more authentic town beyond, but it was a little difficult to get to unless you did an organized excursion. We chose to wander aimlessly for a few hours and save our excursions for other ports.

A nice cold Belikin at the Wet Lizard

For a $1 donation to charity, you could write on the walls of the bar!

A light snack and some local lagers

Row of lonely cruise ships off in the distance awaiting our return

Farewell to Belize City

Watching others re-board the ship

Approaching the Norwegian Dawn

Lining up a devastating broadside on the Crown Princess

One of the tender boats, aptly named!

Cruise 2013 - Day 7 - Roatan, Honduras

Our first port of call was the island of Roatan, off the north coast of Honduras. Ironically, the actual name of the town we docked at was Coxen Hole. You can't make this stuff up. Our visit was a little shortened, as we were still making up some of the lost time from the Tampa Fog Incident.

The island was very poor, but the people were very nice and overall it was the most culturally-enriching stop of the cruise. As soon as the four of us wandered away from the ship, not on an excursion but just on our own, we inherited Julio - a local 20-year old unofficial tour guide. It seemed that everyone group of wayward travellers were inheriting exactly one local youth, who latched on and followed you around.

Julio was very nice and not pushy, and before long he was showing us his home. Sure, he would be expecting a tip later, but we were enjoying his company and the experience. Soon, we were buying him beers and hearing all about life on Roatan. He helped us shop, showed us the best watering holes, and introduced us to erstwhile seaside restauranteur, "Mr. Brown Around Town". The food did not come from the restaurant, as it clearly had only a bar and no kitchen, but it was excellent nonetheless!

We tried the iguana, complete with small bones and pieces of skin, and some fresh red snapper done to perfection. Also sampled all three local beers - Salva Vida ("Life Saver" en espanol, the local "Man's Beer"), Barena (a Corona imitation), and Port Royale (the "girly" beer). Still, had to try it anyway.

After a thoroughly enjoyable day, we bid farewell to Julio, the island, and some well-earned US dollars....though we think he was pretty drunk by the time we left him.  Luckily he seemed to know EVERYBODY so we weren't too worried about him. Not sure if his regular cruise "pickups" usually bought him beer and food, he seemed to be the envy of the other locals.

Back on ship, we met up with Dave and Anne and the six of us enjoyed a nice dinner in The Venetian as the ship headed back out to sea.....

Coxen Hole, Roatan Island, Honduras

Shot from the largest bridge on the island

A Tale of Three Ships

Lunch at Mr. Brown's waterfront establishment

Standard retail village at the dock

Local fare - iguana (in brown sauce on the left) and red snapper

The Main Drag in Coxen Hole

All supplies come by boat from the mainland