Last day and an early start. Breakfast at 5.30, finished packing and then had to meet at 7 for the shore excursions. Left the ship at 7.30 and on to a bus headed for the Saw Grass Recreation Park. They have a lot of rescued animals like Burmese pythons (enormous), and alligators, including one that’s 57 years old and expected to live until he’s about 90. Panthers, a bobcat, a fennec fox and even a kookaburra. After that we all got into an everglades air boat and had a trip into the edge of the Everglades. Normally the water level it 18-24 inches, currently it’s 4-5 ft because of the hurricane and most of the birds and dragonflies, who left before the storm hit have not yet returned. Saw alligators and soft-shelled turtles.

The bus then dropped us off at either of the 2 airports in this area. I’m currently sitting at Miami International, and have another 4 hours here. Hence finishing off the blog.

 AirboatsFennec fox Into the Everglades Young alligator

Blue Planet was a music/dance/acrobatic presentations with songs about the world, water, sun, trees, etc. At one point there was a huge gnarled old tree with lots of branches centre stage, when the branches came alive, they actually had the dancers wrapped in and around them, the effect was wonderful. Then they had a large veil over the entire front of the stage and the acrobats and dancers behind it looked like they were swimming in the ocean, with images of seaweed, fish and jellyfish projected on the veil as well, very awesome!

Had another at sea quiet day, reckon it’ll be the last quiet day until Christmas arrives, lol. Home for a few days, 2 weeks at work and then my annual 3 weeks off for the Osborne Park Show.

Now to start on the packing. I have an Everglades tour in the morning which ends at Miami airport, then the long trip home. I will add tomorrow’s photos to the blog as soon as I get home if I can’t do it while waiting at one of the airports, so check back occasionally. Catch you all on the other side of the Pacific, xoxo.

Finally, a sunset, lolPredawn, a crescent moon & Venus Sunrise Location

Back at Cozumel, Mexico again this morning. This was the stop on the original itinerary, lol. Was a little bit late getting to the early breakfast, and was told so by the top chef on the ship. He usually says good morning to the first comers and we’ve had a chat or two.

As this was another tour on the mainland, once again had to catch the ferry across, about 45 minutes from cast off to hop off! Met our tour guides and had a walk through Playa del Carmen to the bus. We then had a 2 hour bus ride to Chichen Itza. I’m pleased I had seen the Tulum ruins first as these really are so much better. An amazing place that’s touted as one of the seven wonders of the New World, and it really is a wonder. Built and carved out of limestone, the original in all it’s colour would have been brilliant to see, as long as you weren’t the sacrifice.

We had a 35 minute guided tour and then some free time. The site is full of vendors selling a huge range of wares, most of then saying, “It’s nearly free, only $1” I had a wander around, grabbed the few virtual munzees around the site, had a wander through the small wooded area near the pyramid and then back to the bus for our 2 hour trip back to the ferry. Once back on board the ship, a shower was wonderful, as it was quite warm and very humid, on the way back we drove through a very heavy rain shower, so very sticky!

Dinner and blog and now I’m going off to see a Show entitled “Blue Planet”, no idea what it is or how it’s presented!

 Chichen Itza city wallsTemple of Kukulcan Wall of skulls Carving of jaguar  Huge bromeliadsIguana

A nice, quiet day today, and no shows this evening. It was formal night at dinner, but a lot of people just don’t make any effort to ‘dress up’, bit sad really.

I’ve lost count of the number of books I’ve read since I left home, it’s been great to be able to read so much.

Oh, I must say though that there are actually real birds living in the vegetation in Central Park. Apparently they took shelter from some storm or other and have never left. They look like finches or fancy sparrows and seem to be quite at home, and as the guests and crew like having them, it will remain their home.

So a few more of those fun facts.
Food consumed on an average week:
86,400 eggs
7,250 kg of chicken
1,800 kg of salmon
28,000 kg of fresh veg
8,160 kg of potatoes
and they do this week after week…… no wonder there was an long queue of semi-trailers waiting at Fort Lauderdale when we docked last week, and I’m sure they will all be there again on Sunday morning.

 Location SunriseTonight’s towel!

The OceanAria Aqua Show last night was amazing. No idea how they manage to dive into such a small pool that has a movable base. Their timing has to be perfect as there was so much going on. A comedy routine was also included which really enhanced the whole show.

We docked in Falmouth, Jamaica just before 10 this morning, and headed off to the end of the pier to our tour meeting point which was really the other end of the street market promenade, lol.

The tour was called Go Native Jamaica, so we headed off to Montego Bay for our first stop at an old church. Apparently Jamaica is in the Guinness Book of Records for having the most churches per square mile of any country. We did drive past a lot, lol. I wandered around the graveyard and managed to read some of the very, very old inscriptions. A lot though were illegible and not well maintained. It decided then to rain, so I sheltered under a nice thick leaved tree until it slowed down. As we drove around it was quite obvious that there was a lot of unfinished houses around. Here they build in sections. The first bit contains maybe 3 rooms, then the builder goes back to work to earn the money for the next addition, and carries on like that until the house is finished, then it belongs to the builder without a mortgage attached.

From there we headed off to a primary school for 3, 4 & 5 year olds. English is the primary language of Jamaica and they drive on the same side of the road as we do!!!! We walked around the 3 classrooms and then the children sang some little songs for us.

We then went up to the local plantation for lunch and to see the bird sanctuary. (Not much of one, sigh) Anyway, the lunch was interesting as they served up local dishes, included things like yams, plantain, ackee and callaloo. All very nice except the jerked chicken which had too much chilli in it for me, lol. Wandered around the gardens and saw lots of lizards and large land snails.

The bus stopped for a bit of ‘discount’ shopping on the way back, I stayed on the bus! Wandered around the tourist square for a bit once back at the port. Back to the ship to shower, had dinner and then went to the 25 minute ice show based on the movie ‘How to train your dragon’ which I just love. The show was well done with lots of dragons being trailed around above the skaters heads!

Have a day at sea tomorrow.

Sunrise Montego BayMontego BayCouldn’t resist this picture! Large land snail Two lunch tastes  Lovely green lizard

Had a good time at the ice show last night, a little cold, but that’s to be expected, LOL. Some of the skating was a amazing.

Spent today in Labadee, Haiti, which is a Royal Caribbean only port. Apparently they used to have 5 year leases to it, but now it’s a 99 year lease. I did a coastal cruise, lol, another boat! This time though a catamaran with an interesting guide. There are a lot of hilly/mountainous areas in Haiti, and this part is basically mountains all the way down to the sea. Very green though, apparently it’s rained for the last 2 days, but fined up for us!! Since the bad earthquake a few years ago the unemployment rate is 80%. The main diet consists of rice and beans all of which are imported from Miami. The waters around the island is constantly fished and everything edible is eaten. We had some fishermen come and show us crabs, fish and lobsters they had caught, thinking we could buy them for lunch, lol. All quite small as nothing gets much chance of growing. Also saw a stingray leaping in the distance and pipefish and hermit crabs in the waters near the pier.

Have a reservation for the aqua show this evening, should be good. Last nights late performance was cancelled because of the boat rocking, I must have slept through it! lol.

The ice rink

Location

 Sunrise Haiti Haiti Ship at the pier  Labadee

Well Mamma Mia was great, even if it didn’t finish until 10.30. Rather nice not having to drive home afterwards, LOL. There were 3 scenes & songs not in the movie, but otherwise it was a pretty good facsimile considering it was all done on a stage with 2 large rotating props (building walls/doors) and lots of smaller props.

Last nights dinner companions were a bit depressing at times. I sat between a retired oncology nurse and her Vietnam vet husband from Illinois and a retired firefighter from Oregon who lost his military son in Afghanistan 6 years ago.

I also attended the Crown & Anchor Society (the Royal Caribbean loyalty club) event this morning. The Captain and the senior staff all said a bit and the top 3 cruisers were presented with mementos and then we had a short show put on by the OceanAria Aqua performers. They are gymnasts and divers and are quite incredible, the pool is 5.45 metres deep and they also have a trampoline next to it. Lots of tight blue speedo’s on the lads, lots of budgie smuggling, LOL.

Doing a bit of relaxing lol before formal dinner night, and then I’m going to the ice show! At Labadee, Haiti tomorrow, and I’ve booked a coastal cruise!

Great moon last nightLocation this morning
Sunrise had rays this morning

The back of the ship at sunrise

Can you see the diver just off the very high diving board?

By the time we arrived in port, we had done 2014 nautical miles.

Breakfast started at 5.30 this morning so that the early leavers could partake before they left! The cooks etc must have been up all night, as one said a few days ago they start at 1 am to get ready for the 7 am opening.

Sat on the peaceful deck reading for a while, then headed downstairs as all the continuing cruisers had to meet in the Schooner Bar. We had to wait until all the other travellers had departed, which from the announcements asking people to leave must have been like herding cats! There are about 80ish of us staying on, so we finally went down the gangway into the embarkation building. Had to show our passport and then get our new sea pass ID cards. Eventually we then once again had our pictures taken for the ID and then let back on board. Even though all the staterooms are closed off until 1 pm, as I had the same room, I was allowed to open up the ‘fire door’ and get back to my room.

Actually had a formal lunch today as just us ‘back-to-back’ cruisers were assigned one of the main dining areas to ourselves, which was very nice.

Now going to have shower, dinner and Mamma Mia, so will catch you later!

 Fort Lauderdale docks! Most of our route!
This is a great bit of art… Has number plate(s) from each mainland state where that state is

Was awake for a couple of hours in the middle of the night, so sort of slept in, lol. Actually got to breakfast after the doors had opened. Today is the last day of cruising for most of the ship, but I had a ‘Consecutive Cruiser’ meeting, telling us what we would be doing tomorrow, whilst everyone else is departing. But, we’ll cover that in tomorrow’s blog.

After brekky, sat up on deck for a while reading, but there was no breeze so once the sun hit the side I was sitting it was like being in a sauna, so back to my room.  Then that meeting, then a walk around. There were ‘sales’ on in the shops so heaps of people and so much noise that I came back again for the quiet.

Met Sondra and Cynthia for dinner, and have been told I have to visit them next time I hit the States, Illinois & Florida. Sondra presented me with a kaftan that she said she never would wear, so I have a sparkly one now for my next formal dinner night. After dinner, Cynthia talked us into joining her at the Parade on Main Street, so we and half the ship went along to see the dancers & costumes and lots of animated animal suits, lol. Very loud, but very colourful.

Said our goodbyes and back to our rooms, only to have Cynthia appear with a pillowcase full of bottled water which they didn’t want to take home with them, so I’ve got 15 bottles to stow in the fridge and elsewhere! Very nice of them.

The blog tomorrow night will either be very early or very late as I have a reservation to see the Broadway hit, Mamma Mia, which is 147 minutes long and starts at 8 pm, dinner is at 5.30 and always takes a couple of hours, so I’ll either write this before dinner or after the show.

 All at sea, lol sailing around in circles Dragon at the parade
The Captain & executive staff saying farewell

Last night wasn’t rocky at all, in fact when I woke a couple of times I thought we were stationary it was so smooth. A bit of rocking at the moment though, lol.

Watched the sunrise, had breakfast and then sat on deck until we docked back at Nassau around 9. I didn’t have a tour as there seemed to be only adventure parks and shopping on offer, neither of which I fancied, LOL. So had another relatively lazy day. I did go down and have a walk along the piers and spent some time inspecting the garden beds next to the buildings for spiders and lizards. Didn’t see any spiders, but several lizards showed themselves! Sat on the pier, there are covered seats at intervals, and watched the people and the seagulls for a while. Back on board and read and played games. I had planned to do heaps of stuff on the laptop, but just haven’t felt like it, lol. I so wish this cough would disappear, I’m quite croaky in the mornings.

Joined Sondra and Cynthia for dinner again and had lobster and steak, very yummy.

 Sunrise Nassau pierAnd one of those lizards