Friday, November 11, 2011- Happy Veterans Day
We headed south on Highway 69 for our destination of Galveston, Texas. We were meeting up with our good friends, Bruce and Sheila Keller for our Western Caribbean Cruise of 9-days. This will be our 2nd time aboard this ship, The Mariner of the Seas, the third largest ship in the fleet of the Royal Caribbean International Cruise Line. 
We were on this ship last December for the Mexican Rivera Cruise. It was 113 miles down to Galveston where we had to ferry across to board the ship. We finally went through all the rings and hoops to step onto our floating home for the next 9-days. The Keller’s seemed sincerely excited since this was their first cruise. We certainly are hoping they have a great time. Once aboard the four of us went to grab a bite to eat. Eating on a cruise ship; go figure! As we cruised out of the Port of Galveston the sun was just starting to set itself off in the horizon and we were setting off on our new adventure. 
Saturday, November 12, 2011- First full day at sea
Our wake-up call came at 7:30 a.m. from room service letting us know they were bringing up our breakfast. After a nice breakfast in our room, we cleaned ourselves up enough to go out in public and we met the Keller’s at the Windjammer Café on the 11th floor (oops, that would be 11th deck). We walked around the ship checking things out and trying to discover what all was offered onboard. We all decided to attend the movie, Battle – Los Angeles in the ship’s theatre, Screening Room. After the movie we went for lunch and back to our rooms to freshen up.
Changing into our swimming attire; the hot-tubs were calling our names (sorry no pictures were allowed – the ladies said so). Our Latin Dance lessons were at poolside once we stepped out of the hot-tub.
Sarah was our 20/21 year old crew-member in charge of teaching all the old fuddy-duddies the cha-cha-cha. It was more like minus a cha in my case because I have either two left or two right feet and I could never find that third cha-cha-cha. It was all in good fun and we did have that for sure.We were with a group of Escapee’s (a great RV Club – Telephone: 888-757-2582)
that ventured out on this cruise. I’m not sure exactly how many of us were onboard, but I know it was a little over 40. Angie Carr the Executive Director and her husband Greg were traveling with this group and I think it was their first cruise HOP (Head Out Program). It was our first time meeting them both and just so you know, they are so down to earth it’s scary. As you can see in this pictures Angie does have a sense of humor which I’m sure has taken her a long way.At around 4 p.m. we all returned to our respective rooms to get ready for the formal dining night, better known as the Captain’s Dinner. We had a wonderful dinner and our table mates, Bruce & Sheila Keller; our travel agents, John & Dorothy Peterson (Peterson Travel Services – 661-393-6435 or 800-737-6435) all looked like we belonged on the Red Carpet.
Soon afterward we all went to the Savoy Theatre to watch a headliner show consisting of one of the Osmond brothers, Merrill Osmond. He put on one heck of a good show and everyone walked away with a melody in their heart and a song on their lips. It certainly was one of the better shows we’ve seen on any of our cruises. We came home and called it a night - a real good night.
Sunday, November 13, 2011 – Day Two at Sea
Happy 9th Birthday Ally, Papaw misses you!
Getting room service is spoiling us. It’s nice to get up to a call telling us our breakfast is on its way. Another thing spoiling us is the service from our stateroom attendant, Ralph. He’s always “Ralphy on the spot” with everything we need or desire. When we return to our room after a long day out, it’s to some sort of towel animal which just makes it fun to walk into the room. He has since the first day made sure that a bucket of ice is filled for Rhonda.
Shortly after 9 a.m. we went down to pick-up our complementary tickets to the ice-show. We didn’t want to miss this show; it was so good the last time we saw it. We met up with the Keller’s for lunch and a movie afterward, the Green Hornet. Right after the movie we went to the conference room straight down the hallway from the movie theatre for a meeting with the SKP’s. We went to dinner and had a nice dinner. We went to a night filled with a show of talented singers and dancers at The Savoy Theatre.
Monday, November 14, 2011 – Roatan, Honduras
We had our room service for breakfast and then started stirring around for the first day off the ship. Today Rhonda and I went into Roatan, Honduras, a city neither one of us has been to. Departing the ship about 9:30 a.m. with the Keller’s, we went through security measures as we will always have to do boarding or departing the ship for shore excursions. Greeting all ashore going to shore tourists on dock were locals performing songs and dances to native drum music. 
Walking through the corridor of shops we made our way out to the main road and started walking toward the city. It was a hot and muggy day with high humidity and a temperature of around 84 degrees. The girls were; let me just say glistening in the sunlight. We were pounced upon by the locals wanting the All-American dollar. They were trying to sell us everything from a ride into town in their taxis to small bracelets, rings, and trinkets on the free standing table’s setup along the roadway. We finally told the few that were acting like parasites and continued to walk along side us, that we just wanted to walk by ourselves. They dropped off one-by-one until finally we were on our own. That doesn’t mean we didn’t see more beggars, thieves and locals trying to somehow extract Uncle Sam from our wallets. We walked probably close to a mile toward the city. Sheila was getting a little nervous concerning our surroundings. Bruce who has been in a few ports over his 21-year career in the Navy felt as if we were being followed by either a pick-pocket artist or a thug working with an accomplice. Sheila even believed she saw him (the accomplice) because he nodding his head toward the suspected partner. After stopping and starting our walk at different paces the partners in crime finally went on up the road and everyone settled down and relaxed the rest of the day.
We stopped for a beer; Rhonda being the only one having a coke. We stopped at the local Post Office
where I talked to the only mailman in this area. His name was Douglas and he has been a mailman for 12-years. We went to an area known as Yabba Ding-Ding where there was a gift shop recommended by the ship info given to us, but an even better recommendation was given to us by Douglas.
Walking back toward the ship I suggested to Rhonda that we take up one of the free-lance travel agents who had approached us earlier. His name was Wally (Waldy) and I felt comfortable with him. So on our way back I spotted him about the same time he spotted me, he was walking toward us and I called out to him. Wally and I haggled over a price for his tour-guide expertise. The Keller’s were going back to the ship as far as we knew. The agreed upon price was $10 per person for Rhonda and me for about a 2-hour tour. Then Bruce said okay we’ll go too. So the price for the four of us was $40 
for all four of us. Wally was really a knowledgeable and friendly guide. As a consequence of a back window not rolling down in the taxi he was going to transport us in; he had to use his personal car. He took us to a couple of nice beaches; one was on a resort called Bananarama where we had drinks, and Rhonda and I shared a hot dog with French fries. I bought Wally our tour guide a Diet Coke and a hot dog with French fries. There was a D.J. playing music and singing to music tracks. He was pretty good, good enough to get Rhonda and me up to dance right on the sand in front of the bar. We must have started something because other patrons got up to dance, Bruce and Sheila included. Although I’m sure the special Banana-Rumma drink Bruce consumed could have given him the urge and nerve to cut a rug. 
The water was gorgeous and crystal blue with many tourists enjoying the beach and water at hand. This was a wonderful day and Honduras totally surprised me with its beauty.
If you want to see Honduras and you’re not sure how to do it, look up Waldy Molina (waldymolina2003@yahoo.com Telephone: 011-504-9943-1752 (Cell). His company name is: The Sunshine State Island Tours - Tour Guide.
You won’t be disappointed.
We arrived back at the ship at 2:20 p.m. stepping onboard after making a stop to buy two bracelets for each of my granddaughters. Falling into the room we were exhausted. The sun had taken more out of us than we had realized. We took a shower and me being the old guy that I am, took a nap before dinner.
Dress for dinner tonight was casual and I had one of my old Caribbean shirts on and Rhonda wore my new bright red one that I had bought at the resort today. She looked real cute in it. We returned to our room after dinner and just crashed.Tuesday, November 15, 2011 – Belize City, Belize
We had breakfast again in our room and then went topside for one more breakfast with Bruce and Sheila before heading out to the city of Belize. We had to tender to shore from deck #2. Once on the tender at 9:25 a.m. it took us approximately 15 minutes to reach Belize. We went to have our passports stamped and started our walk into town. Immediately we were inundated with locals trying to sell us some type of service or their wares. We continued to walk and they continue to come at us. A nice young man of 21 years old came up to us offering ½ price compared to everyone else. His service was a guided tour in his horse-drawn carriage which was able to carry up to six people. It was just the four of us on this tour. Our guide De'Andra was very informative and gave us a lot of historical facts and trivia about the country of Belize and the islands surrounding it. The entire island has about 320,000 inhabitants and the city of Belize has70,000 or more.
We passed by many historical sites and buildings. A Catholic Church built in 1859, a school built in 1829, and many beautiful homes and apartments. 
The information he provided concerning living expenses makes it seem like an American could live here dirt cheap and live like a king or at least a prince. This is my crafty way to transition into telling you the horse that 
pulled our carriage was named Prince. After our carriage ride De’Andra dropped us off close to where he picked us up.We started walking around again and sure enough like a swarm of bees they came at us again. Walking around an open market we were approached by a young lady who took us to an open bar where the Keller’s and I had a local beer and Rhonda had a Diet Coke. Rhonda and I even test tasted a Cashew Wine. We just walked around for a few minutes; shopping and looking at what was available. While the girls shopped and bought an ankle bracelet for themselves; Bruce was in the process of buying a T-shirt and I sat down on some steps waiting for everyone to complete their transactions. A sketch artist, by the name Ernesto
came up and started talking to me and drawing me. His birthday was tomorrow 11/16/1977 and I verified this by looking at the SSN type card he showed me. Rhonda came over to sit beside me. We were waiting on Sheila because she was getting a foot massage. It’s dangerous to be a sitting target while the artist was drawing me; the vultures were drawing a bead on their prey – us. Rhonda was talked into getting a foot massage; and the young lady who took us to the open bar came walking by and said,“You’re in a lot of trouble Mister. I took you to get a beer and this is how you repay me?”
I announced my innocents, “I’m not doing anything but sitting here.”
She quickly said, “Yes, but you’re next on her list (referring to Rhonda’s masseuse) for a massage.”
Again I protested, “No I’m not. She is just giving my wife a massage.”
“Good,” she said, “then I will give you a massage.”
Rhonda finally said, “Go ahead and let her give you a back massage you can use it.”
I finally relinquished any reservations I may have had and said,
“Okay you can give me a neck and shoulder massage.”
After it was all said and done she ended up giving me a back, neck, shoulder and scalp massage for 15 minutes for the bargain basement price of $10. After being relaxed we did some more walking and shopping. Rhonda bought a tooth pick holder for Sheila just in case she didn’t get one. (We found out at dinner she did buy one). So we will keep it for ourselves. The Keller’s went back to the ship a little sooner than us, but we weren’t too far behind them.Leaving Belize at 12:30 p.m. we arrived back at the ship in 15 minutes, then we had to wait for another tender to unload before we could board the ship at 1p.m. Stepping into our stateroom we took care of the necessities and took our showers. I then took a nap and Rhonda played on the computer. We then finished off the night with a good dinner and a better show watching the ice-show under the Big Top. The Keller’s decided to go at the last minute and we still had the extra tickets to give them. Our dinner table went to the show together and sat together front-row center. Dorothy had suggested these particular seats to sit in and she was right-on. They were perfect seats for the show. We came home to a relaxing night in our stateroom, you can Belize-it.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 – Cozumel, Mexico
Breakfast in our room and then we went down to deck #5 to meet the Keller’s for our day in Cozumel, Mexico. Walking off the ship into the Duty Free area we did some comparison shopping checking out the prices there so we could compare out in the local economy. The four of us were getting ready to start our walk toward the city when Bruce was approached by a man offering us scooters for the day. We could rent the scooters for $35 for the whole day with a full tank of gas and helmets to explore the island. Pay another $5 and they would take care of filling up the gas tank for us upon our return. 
So for the bargain price of $40 for the day we had our own transportation and the ability to stop and sightsee anywhere on the island we wanted. It was an adventure we couldn’t refuse. After a few preliminaries on traffic rules of the island, and scooter operations; we were handed a map of the island and sent on our way.Bruce and Sheila lead the way on the roadway to Paradise Beach. We stopped after 11 or 12 kilometers pulling into this beautiful beach so appropriately named.
This place was beyond words and I find it hard to describe it without doing it injustice. We relaxed in chairs sitting on the sandy beach with umbrellas giving us enough shade to be comfortable temperature wise while we received a cooling breeze off the water. Stretching out on our lawn chairs the Cabana Boys took our drink orders.Sheila was the adventurous one walking down by the water collecting seashells. So that would be Sheila walking by the sea-shore collecting seashells,” Oh well, you know the rest of the limerick. Or maybe you don’t; did you know after collecting her seashells she went to collect a tattoo?
Oh yes, she did! Check it out she could almost be a Harley Ma riding the Cozumel Harley Scooter Highways with her hubby.The bar on the beach had a couple of free roaming Cockatoos.
Both Rhonda and Sheila tried making friends with them. We spent a couple of hours at Paradise Beach and it was hard to raise our bodies from the chairs that we had so easily melted into.
Getting on our hot mode-of-transportation we headed out for a place called Coconut Bar.
A drive along the coastline was one we all wouldn’t soon forget. There were so many colors of blue showing up in the water; it seemed as if every 10 to 15 feet the hues of blue would change for us. Carlos the man we rented the scooters from told us the circle around the island was a total of 45 miles. 
By the time we completed our trek it was closer to 55 to 60 miles we put on the scooters taking a few side trips. Before making our way to the Coconut Bar we stopped at some Maya Ruins, there wasn’t much to see here. We took a few pictures of the ruins and right beside the ruins was a beautiful small church. 
After a short stop over at the ruins we made our way back toward the main road and on to Coconut Bar. We walked up rock stairs to the Coconut Bar under a cabana on top of a bluff overlooking the ocean. 
Now this place was a happening place. There was a beautiful view of the ocean. This was a nice atmosphere to dine and drink a few cold ones. We didn’t eat here but did have a drink and enjoyed the scenery.Leaving this festive place we pointed the scooter toward the Cozumel Airport. We did this to get our Passports stamped. Driving through downtown Cozumel on our scooters we made our way back to the ship. We turned in our scooters and walked through the Duty Free Area again. Rhonda and I tried a few phones to call her mom but couldn’t get the phones to call out. Coming back to ship we order room service it was only 2:30 p.m. We took showers, dressed for our dinner at 6 p.m. dined with our table mates; having a great dinner and friendly conversation. After dinner Rhonda went back to the room, Sheila went to upper decks somewhere, Bruce and I went to play some Black Jack. Bruce didn’t stay long; I stayed long enough to lose a little money that I shouldn’t have lost. But that’s the way it goes sometimes.
Thursday, November 17, 2011 – Georgetown, Grand Cayman
Today we dropped anchor about 5 or 6 minutes tender time from Georgetown, Grand Cayman. We were allowed to go ashore at 10 a.m. but we didn’t go ashore until 12:30 p.m. to let the big rush get over. The Keller’s didn’t stay on shore very long and we went our separate ways after about 1-hour together. They went back to the ship and we shopped about another hour. 
We bought 3 Del Sol T-shirts at $25 apiece. Then we bought a Christmas ornament for Bruce and Sheila that was a Santa Claus and Mrs. Clause snorkeling. We bought ourselves a candle and a wind chime for Linda LaFoy. We walked around a little while and then decided to return to the ship arriving about 2:30 p.m.Friday & Saturday, November 18 & 19, 2011 – last two days at sea
These two days were at sea allowing us to relax and play on the ship. We played shuffleboard and miniature golf with the Keller's. We had a great time. I finished both of my books I had brought on board. We went to the swimming pool and hot tub. We had ice-cream on demand; anytime we walked by the machine I reached for a cone. Rhonda bought Patty a gift of an ankle bracelet on ship. She also bought us a couple of T-shirts with the logo of the ship. We went to the farewell show put on by the ship and we all enjoyed it immensely. The last night we readied our belongings for the departure off the ship. It was the end of our cruise and it was a wonderful time.
