NEXT PLANS

Our luggage tags are for 8:20 in the morning, so maybe we will be off by 9:00. We will then drive to Shreveport and stay the night. Home by Thursday night to see Jaden & Jaxon's last regular season games. This is the last week of school for Midland grands. Snyder guys go next week. Monday morning, Eric will put Carter on a plane for his 'end of Jr. High' trip to Washington DC. I will head to Midland that afternoon as Eric & April leave Tuesday morning for the Bahamas. Married almost 20 years, so will celebrate. Poppa comes that afternoon and I will put him on a plane for Oklahoma City on Wednesday morning. Big 12 Baseball tournament and Texas Tech Red Raiders go in #1........Well, Andrew, Mallory & I are not getting on a plane!!!!!!!! We will need to pick up Carter Friday night and Eric, April and Poppa all come in on Monday. Yes, I am already planning our next trip: so until later! 

COZUMEL, MEXICO

Yes, the ship was docked in Cozumel.......and yes, we remained on board. Not one of our favorite places. Just happen to wear my Castaway Cay shirt today, and guess who was parked next door? Disney Fantasy. Tomorrow we are at sea headed back to New Orleans, so you one or two people that follow us, check back tomorrow night or Wednesday and I will fill you in on the rest of the month! This ship NCL Dawn is headed to the Bahamas for a month of dry dock and a refurbish! Yes, it needs it!! We have had a great time, sleeping, eating and reading. That was the plan when we left home. Entertainment has been great and tonight was chocolate night........

COSTA MAYA, MEXICO

Costa Maya was a fun place. This is where we saw the rainbow around the sun. Part of the time it was a double rainbow. No one had seen it before or knew why it was showing like it was. There is also a swimming pool in the middle of all the shops on the port. The water was great. 

BELIZE CITY, BELIZE

We did not get off here either. It's a pretty long tender and we can enjoy the ship while everybody else is off. 

SANTO TOMAS, GUATEMALA

Another day spent on the ship. Did have some excitement when a swarm of bees flew over the swimming pool, but they all quickly joined each other under the umbrella over the hot tub! Had a pest control guy come vacuum and spray....

Something happened when we left that was new: a lot of workers waved us off. Maybe they were glad to be rid of us! 

SPA

One of Monte's birthday surprises was a pass to the thermal spa! That is where the saunas are with an indoor pool and hot tub. The relaxing rooms are perfect for napping! 

ROATAN, HONDURAS

This port has sure improved since our first visit. Now has port shops and a zip libe across the water. We walked around as much as Monte's feet would let him. Even had my picture made with the locals! Spent the rest of the day reading and napping. Watched a shop version of Deal or No Deal and show of singing......

BUGS

Towel animals leave gifts: this one left bug spray with a note that said "use"!

SAD NEWS

Just read updates from yesterday and read where a dear sweet friend lost her husband! Wish we could give her a hug!

GETTING BEHIND

Yesterday was in Georgetown, Grand Cayman. Stayed on the ship and it was great! Between our Norwegian, Disney and two Carnival ships, we guess they had 10,000 + guests yesterday! 

AT SEA

We have been at sea since we left New Orleans at 6:00 P.M. Sunday night. Lots of perks tho: hot coffee delivered to you at a table and then later a lady comes around with fruit!!

UNIQUE CABIN

We are in a cabin like we have never been in before! We have a little porch to the door! It's a little smaller than we have ever had, but suits us just fine. Wonder if Jes,our cabin boy would get me a rocker? 

WHAT TO EAT

If you are ever in Metairie LA and find yourself hungry, we have the place to go! Monte had jambalaya and I had Cajun shrimp.....delicious. The place only seated 34 and not as big as our living room! Then we found out they had a secret dining room next door when the one we were in filled up! It was soooo good and fun!

JUST THE BEGINNING

Now this is the way to start an adventure! 

SOME OF ADVENTURES

Left home at 7:00 A.M. Saturday morning and Jason & family caught up with us in Lampasas. Drove on to Austin, grabbed a bite to eat at Smash Burger. On to airport where check in and going through security went really smooth. Little weather while flying, not bad, and landed in rain. Getting rental car was quite a feat, but we conquered! Got to eat dinner about 10:30 P.M. and to bed by midnight! 

Sunday we went to the Florida Mall to the Crayola store. What fun!! On to outlet mall to Disney store. They were closed for remodeling. Bummer!! So I headed over to get Monte some Van Heusen store. The store I had shopped at closed down, so was happy to get Monte some shirts. After a bite of lunch, Poppa and I headed to take a nap and Jason and family to play golf... Jaden & Jaxon needed to practice before meeting up with Uncle Eric. 

Headed over to the miniature golf course close to where Eric & family staying. Played a round and then across the way to Bubba Gumps to eat yet again! 

Now we are all going to try and get a good nights sleep. The big adventure begins tomorrow. 

Posting a few pics!! So until later! More pics to come tomorrow night!!

GRAND TURK, SEA DAY & OCHO RIOS

Lost my card reader so can't post pictures taken in Grand Turk. Nice area to shop and relax. Guy playing guitar and singing made lots of money in tip can as he was that good. In 1982, there was a space ship splash down in Grand Turk and they have lots of figures and posters of the event. Really nice beach area with chairs under the shade. Even a Disney store! 

Our sea day as uneventful as we just enjoyed as we always do.

Today was Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We had never been here but choose to stay on the ship as it was humid and hot!!!!!! Really long walk way and we choose not to make the journey. No shuttle either..

Picture of the walk way is taken through plastic so not very good. Also woke up in the zoo this morning. Towel animals were great. Have better pictures with my camera, but did do a few with iPad. 

Two sea days and back to New Orleans. Remember? That is where we left our car!!

Until later........

AT SEA

Today has been a sea day. Really enjoy those except everything is "more crowded".......

Tonight's show was wonderful. Singers and dancers great. Also the break dancers were a great hit. Trust me, they do a lot more than just spin on their heads! ""Dancing in the Streets""

Just as we crossed the deck to go eat tonight, here came the rain. People watching the movie sure can move fast! So decided we could just stay in and see what ball game we could get.....rain made us lose satellite. Oh well, still have plenty of books! 

Land again tomorrow......so, until then

ST MAARTEN

A place we had not been.....however, we did not feel like being stuffed into a bus and sightsee today! We did get off and walk around the shops at the pier. 5 really nice & big jewelry shops. Other shops were nice too and clothes all looked of good quality, but I was not in the mood to shop. Yes Jami & April, I know you could have helped me out! We got a mojito to drink. Had this drink in Costa Rica, but these were much better. Has mint leaves, lemon and lime really ground in the bottom of the glass. Flavoring, mineral water and rum or virgin. I got blue and Monte got green. Headed back to the ship so we could get busy.........yes, that's right, had a lot of nothing to do. We are both reading a lot and some nap taking. Not much on the agenda tonight except for listening to some music. Started the football game, but just lost satellite. 

Until tomorrow.........

ST KITTS

Today has been sunny, cloudy and a few drops of rain. Just perfect to us! Got off the ship and walked around the shopping area for a while and just watched the crowds. A Princess ship pulled in beside us, so lots of people milling around. After getting back on the ship, headed to Serinity, which is adults only and able to get the hammock. Makes for a good nap, until the rain drops hit you in the face. 

The dancers and singers are fantastic this trip. Last night was Motown.......

Caught the baseball game last night and hope one is on tonight. 

So until tomorrow! 

DOCKED AT ST THOMAS

Yesterday morning we got up at 5:30 to get to the New Orleans airport. No problem! Then it hit us as we drove into long term parking........no shuttle! LONG walk pulling luggage wore these old folks out... Then took a long time to go through a short line. Not too fond of this airport! Tampa airport was wonderful. Built in the round with all the eating places and shops in the middle with ceiling to floor windows on the outside and wide walkways......80 people on our New Orleans flight transferred to the San Juan flight.....yep, all cruisers. Others were already on the flight! It had been raining in San Juan, but the sun welcomed us. However, we had another LONG walk to get to our transfer and walked a lot more to get on the ship. These people need to figure out the shortest way from point A to point B. We have never sailed away at 10:00 at night before so that was odd that we had been to the welcome show, had safety drill at 9:30. Was ready for bed, but still had to unpack. Monte headed up top to watch the Atlanta-New Orleans football game on the outside screen. We have been to St Thomas before, so decided to take it easy today. In fact, that is what we do every day! 

Have had a nice rain this afternoon and sun shining again. Sharing a picture of St Thomas and the wonderful gift we received in our cabin........2 big bottles of water! Thank You Carnival!!

So this catches you up a little bit on our journey, so until later........