Members only

We stayed in a suite on our trip and suite members have gold cards. Gold cards come with perks! We had access to a concierge (I was practically escorted to his office when I asked a question at the main desk), a lounge with special key access for espresso drinks and cocktails, a members only section at the pool, priority seating for shows, etc. On the last day of the trip we were invited to a reception with the captain in the Sky Bar. It was very nice with hors d'oeuvres and cocktails. Here is Hubby and Sassy at the reception - Sassy had at least three plates mounded with chocolate covered strawberries.



Here is the view of the pool area from the Sky Bar (back of the ship) -


And this is the view from the pool of the Sky Bar (circular) -

Special seating -

Special someone sunbathing -

We had a clear view of the ice carving demonstration from the special section -

It's an angel fish!

I wish the special treatment would have extended to post-cruise. We sat on a bus to transfer from Ft Lauderdale (where the ship docked) to Miami (where we flew out of) for over an hour and a half. I finally raised holy you-know-what only to find out there was another bus bound for Miami that left earlier (thanks for telling us that was an option). I made my displeasure known and before long we were on our way to Miami - our bus driver practically flew us there. We arrived exactly 60 minutes before our plane was scheduled to depart and thank goodness for the SkyCap because we just made it.

All's well that ends well. We had a wonderful vacation, I am blinding everyone with my awesome tan and I am willing Spring to arrive early this year. Back to reality.

New Word Wednesday #2

My mother reminded me the other day of a word my grandmother used often when asked how she was - copaceptic. Though in her later years she would respond "old, how do you think I am?".

co·pa·cet·ic

- adjective
- fine; completely satisfactory; OK.

Mayan treasure

Our second stop was Cozumel, Mexico. We stopped there last year but chose to ferry to Playa del Carmen and spend the day at Xel-Ha. We planned to return to Xel-Ha, but this was the stop where Hubby and Sassy had their open water dive for scuba certification so Chunky and I decided to do something equally special. We went to Chankanaab National Park to swim with dolphins and enjoy a day at the beach.

Here is Chunky standing in front of one of the dolphin "pens" when we first arrived. We donned life vests and walked out to the docks and then down stairs onto platforms in the pen.

Our dolphin's name was Scarlet and she gave kisses.

I wasn't sure what to expect but they are super strong - here is Scarlet pushing us on a boogie board by just her nose on our feet!

They are really very sweet - it was a magical experience.

After the dolphin encounter we spent a little time at the Park's beach. Heaven! I had some sangria and guacamole while Chunky snorkeled.

We saw several different kinds of iguanas. This one was the largest, most colorful and a little scary.

This was my view once I confirmed Chunky was wearing a life jacket and the sangria set in.

This is my current screen saver.

Only one more post to go and you can say hasta la vista to the long vacation recap!

Close encounters

Our first stop was Grand Cayman and we chose to revisit Sting Ray City. Hubby and I were there on our 20th anniversary cruise 4 years ago (just six months following Steve Irwin's death). We almost had the opportunity two years ago, but were not able to tender at Cayman due to high winds. As expected, it was an amazing experience. The water is crystal clear (evidently explained by no rivers running from the island into the Caribbean) and the most beautiful color turquoise. Sting Ray City is a sandbar on the inside of a coral reef so it's easy to stand and move around. Legend has it fisherman stopped to clean their fish there so the rays would gather for scraps. Our guides had plenty of squid (thawed) to attract the rays and though we were the first boat to arrive, several others soon followed. The rays are everywhere and it's very safe so long as you don't hold them against their will or step on the barb in their tail. Chunky was tentative but we had talked about what to expect well in advance and he always had the option to get back in the boat (which he took advantage of liberally). Here are just a couple of photos:

Underwater adventures

Hubby and Sassy have been wanting to get scuba certified ever since they got a taste on vacation last year. I have no interest because: a) I am a wimp, 2) I have been blessed with sinus issues and c) someone has to hang with Chunky. Conveniently our ship offered a "level 1" course with half day class instruction, half day pool instruction and full day open water dive. This allows them to go down 40 feet assisted by a master diver. They both passed with flying colors which was no suprise to me as Hubby was a competition swimmer in high school and Sassy is an Aquarius (I'm not paying attention to the "new" horoscope bunk so will not check to see if anything supposedly changed).

The pool portion of the course was in the Solarium. I spent a lot of time here as no one under 16 is allowed (save for the occasional check in with parents of course), there are two huge hot tubs and it's very quiet compared to the main pool area (aka party central). Sassy was very intent - it didn't hurt that the instructor was a hottie from South Africa and walked around half naked.


Introducing my new scuba divers -

Hubby took this photo at their dive spot - very cool.

They are hoping to extend their skills and obtain certification for greater depths and the ability to go solo (no master diver required). They've even talked about going to a local aquarium to swim with sharks!

Cruisin'

I'm almost caught up with my TV shows and haven't started my Finance project, but am all caught up with laundry, blogs I follow and got a pedicure. A girl has to have priorities. So here's part 1 of the long vacation recap. We started in Ft Lauderdale (by way of a flight to Miami and bus transfer - so we flew south, drove north and then sailed south), cruising to Georgetown, Grand Cayman & Cozumel, Mexico. Here's a photo of the map from cruise TV just as we were sailing by Havana (Hola Fidel).


All four of us stayed in a room and surprisingly we never felt cramped. We had great weather - sunny and 75+ every day. This was the view from our balcony the first morning.


The ship offered PADI scuba certification so Hubby and Sassy decided to seize the opportunity (more on that later). This meant Chunky and I were on our own for two full days. We had breakfast together and played a round of mini golf the first morning.






This is the most I saw of Chunky aside from our dolphin adventure the whole trip. He found a group of boys the same age and they shot hoops, climbed the rock wall and cruised for chicks.


This is one of my favorite places on the ship - the promenade. It had a cafe with coffee, pizza, sandwiches and pastries (all included), Ben & Jerry's parlor (nominal fee), gift shops, three bars and a flower shop.


There was no shortage of food. This is just one of the artfully arranged buffets they had to offer.


And when you needed to work it all off - there was Zumba every morning by the pool.


I really enjoyed watching from my lounge chair while I sipped on something cool. Here's what it looked like.

Reality bites

Cruising the Caribbean for 5 days does not suck. Returning to the arctic with -10 F temp totally sucks.

I'll give you the long and short of it. First the short. I overpacked, we are all gloriously bronze, Hubby and Sassy are now official scuba divers, we saw Chunky for a total of 5 minutes, we swam with stingrays and lived to tell, Chunky and I swam with dolphins, and I got hoppin' mad with someone who almost screwed up our return flight (which earned me props from a guy from Jersey as I may have swore a few times).

I will post the long version along with photos over the next couple of days. After I catch up on all my TV shows, read all the posts missed from blogs I follow and start my Finance project (in that order).