On The High Seas

We're baaack!  We landed safely in New Orleans after 7 weather-perfect days in the Caribbean on the Norwegian Spirit.  It was our first cruise and we had no idea how overwhelmed we'd be.  The choices are endless, beginning with food and continuing with activities and entertainment.  We were surprised how long the ship took to travel down the Mississippi River when we left N.O.  It took 4 hours to snake around the bends, but we finally made it out to the Gulf of Mexico. After a shaky start on day one (a little seasick), we regained our sea legs and began to take advantage of all the cruise had to offer.  We were so impressed with the impeccable service & top-notch entertainment.

The first port of call was Costa Maya, Mexico which was quite touristy, but still beautiful.

The only wildlife we saw!

We decided that we needed to get away from the tourist/shopping areas at the next port of call, so it was a motorbike for Roatan Island, Honduras.  

We were able to travel the entire island and see some beautiful, quiet beaches and lush vegetation.

We were surrounded by wildlife - parrots and exotic, squawking birds, schools of colourful fish and iguanas or lizards sunning themselves on the road.
Here, and in other ports, we also saw the poverty that you don't see in the tourist spots.  We have to say that it was a little difficult to reconcile all of the luxury on the cruise with the lives of the locals...

The next day we arrived in Belize and quite far from shore, there was a strong, pervasive smell of wood smoke.  As we got closer, we couldn't even see land due to the thick smoke and found out the locals were burning their fields to prepare for the next crop planting.  It cleared in the port and we hopped on a van tour given by one of the locals, Angel.  He was proud to give us the "insider tour" and show us how they really lived - even drove us by his house, honked the horn and his adorable 4-year old daughter ran to the gate to wave to us!  The minimum wage in Belize is $1.50/hr. and gas costs $6.00/gallon, so he basically had to work 4 hours to get a gallon of gas...  Many kids can't afford school fees, so the literacy rate is low as well.  It was very reminiscent of the Dominican Republic or Ecuador.
Angel was also very happy to show us the more touristy areas as well, and grateful that tourism provided so many jobs.  We weren't sure if he said that to help us deal with our guilt!



Each night when we were back on the ship we enjoyed some fabulous live music in almost every genre - jazz, rock, blues, big band & classical.  They also put on some really good shows like Cirque de Soleil, Second City and musicals, so we were definitely ready to sleep at night!

Last stop was Cozumel, an island off Mexico.  This time we rented a VW Beetle which was very basic - no windows, roof or rear view mirror!! 

It was great for sightseeing though, and once again we got off the tourist track and explored their beautiful beaches.  The water was so unbelievably blue that it looked like someone had dumped a huge bottle of turquoise food colouring in the ocean.  Our favourite stop was at this little Mexican restaurant on a beach that served authentic Mayan/Mexican food and these huge margaritas!



Seeing some Mayan ruins has been on Cel's bucket list so it was great to have the opportunity to drive the VW Bug right up to some.  It was a blazing hot day and as we explored the stone paths and ruins, you couldn't help but think of what life was like a few thousand years ago with no air conditioning for wimps like us...

It was so hot that Jim even tried to break into this one for a little shade.

... but luckily, we found some trees to hang out in!

After another full day of sailing, we were back in New Orleans and actually quite glad to have our feet back on terre firma.  Here are a few more pics of the opulent cruise ship, and that's the week in a nutshell!  We're back on track with the blog, so stay posted for the next road adventures...

Lit stairway with baby grand and glass elevator!

Deck decor...

That's a towel folded to look like a mouse!!!  Every night was a different animal.