Norwegian Sun

October 12-19, 2002

Port of origin: Miami

Ports of call: Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel

Saturday, October 12 

Seven days on the Caribbean Sea, on Norwegian Cruise Lines' newest ship, the Norwegian Sun! Okay, first let me tell you about the ship – it was built in Bremerhaven, Germany, at a cost of $350 million. She set sail on her maiden voyage in Europe on September 10, 2001.   It's 853' in length, 105.8' in width, 78,106 gross tonnage, and a top speed of 24 knots. There are 810 miles of electric cable and 65 miles of pipe within her hull. Over 25,000 light bulbs of various sizes and shapes are also used on board.

Some unique features – an Internet café with 40 computers (yes, I used it already), and NINE restaurants! Norwegian has started a new program called "Freestyle Cruising," which allows you dine wherever and whenever you want. You can choose the two main dining rooms (The Four Seasons and The Seven Seas) and arrive any time between 5:30 and 10 p.m. for dinner. Or you can eat casually at the Great Outdoor Café or Las Ramblas. Or you can choose one of the specialty restaurants – East Meets West (Pacific Rim/Asian Fusion), IL Adagio (Italian), Le Bistro (French Mediterranean), or Pacific Heights (Cooking Light). At the Specialty Restaurants, reservations are required and there is a $10 per person charge.  The last option is the Ginza, which offers Japanese hibachi and sushi, and the charge is on the menu based on selection.

Anyway, we're a little surprised to be here!  We only found out on Wednesday that we were finally going on a cruise! After a mad rush Thursday and Friday getting ready, we left Orlando this morning and drove to Miami, arriving around 1:30.  The ship holds 2,200 passengers, so even though they started checking people in around 10:30 (and boarding at noon), there was a VERY long line still! It was so late by the time we boarded that they weren't even taking embarkation photos anymore!  L

The mandatory lifeboat drill was at 3:45 – we only had time to drop our carry-ons in one room and head up.  After it was done, it was time to explore the ship.  We're on deck 4, cabins 4247 & 4248.  On deck 5 are the main desk, excursions desk, Java Café, and both dining rooms. Also on deck 5 is the bottom of the atrium, which is 7 stories high!  On deck 6 are the Stardust Lounge (the large stage/program area), Internet café, Dazzles lounge (where a lot of activities take place), library, photo gallery, and the entrance to IL Adagio restaurant. On deck 7 is the casino, shops, Kids Korner and Teen Center. Then there are only cabins on decks 8-10. On deck 11 are the pools (two together separated by four hot tubs in between), Pacific Heights restaurant, Garden Café and Great Outdoor Café, fitness center, spa and video arcade. On deck 12 are Las Ramblas (tapas or Mexican appetizers), Ginza and East Meets West, Le Bistro, and Observation Lounge (there are 5 other bars around the ship too).

Guess where we ate – you got it, Ginza!  Japanese hibachi at sea – too cool!  Alyx and I had the filet mignon and Trevor had the shrimp.  These choices were $10 per person.  The combination entrees (filet mignon and shrimp) and lobster choices were $12-15 per person.  Vic had sushi for dinner – served on a giant wooden boat!  His was also $10. The food was OUTSTANDING!  Absolutely one of the most delicious Japanese meals I've ever had! The kids have made us promise we'll eat there again before we leave!

While we were eating, Alyx said aloud something that I had thought while we were eating – she forgot we were on a cruise ship for a while! The ride is so smooth!!

After dinner, Vic took the kids swimming! I thought they were all very tired, but they really wanted to swim… they closed the pools at 11, so they wandered around after that, then went to bed at a little after midnight.

Sunday, October 13

Today is a "day at sea."  Early in the morning there was a thunderstorm going on outside, with thunder and the lightning.  We discussed excursions over breakfast, and decided on the following: Monday, Grand Cayman – Dive In tour to Stingray City, where we will snorkel and swim among the stingrays, $45 per person.Tuesday, Roatan Honduras – stay on the ship and relax while everyone else is on shoreWednesday, Belize – explore on our own Thursday, Cozumel Mexico – at 8 a.m. Trevor and I will go on the Atlantis submarine excursion ($82 per adult, $39 per child) while Vic and Alyx stay on board the cruise ship.  Then we'll come back to the ship and all take a cab or rent a motor scooter and head to Chankanaab Park ($10 per person entry fee) and we'll swim with dolphins ($65 per person) and snorkeling. We're doing this one on our own, not as an excursion with the ship.Friday is another day at seaSaturday we arrive back in Miami

We grabbed a quick, very light lunch at the Garden Café, then I was experiencing "internet withdrawal," so I headed up to the Internet café while Trevor and Vic headed to the game room to use the chess board.  Alyx had met a new friend, Stephanie, and they were exploring the ship together. 

At the Internet Café, you can pay by the minute (at 75 cents a minute) to use their computer to connect to the Internet, or buy a package of 100 minutes for $55 or 250 minutes for $100.  And there is a $3.95 activation fee for all users. Also, as a Latitudes (frequent NCL cruiser) member, they give you 15 additional minutes for free.  When I was done, I joined Vic and Trevor in the cabin. Time flew by, and suddenly it was 4:15 and time for Bingo!  Today they were giving triple raffle tickets for a free cruise for two being given away tomorrow. I paid $39 for Power Bingo, an electronic "pad" with 6 bingo cards in it.  You simply enter the number called and it watches for bingo for you – so easy!  Of course, I did not win…. 

The ship is so crowded!  Everywhere you go there are people and lines and crowds and noise. On deck today the pool was very crowded, and nearby was a loud band playing loud music…. It wasn't very much fun at all.

Soon it was time to dress for our formal night! We had our photograph taken on the main staircase in the atrium. Alyx said she also wanted to do photos with the Titanic background they had with the Grand Staircase in it (a painted backdrop), so we did quite a few – each child with each parent, and then the family photo. 

Dinner was good but long, so we had to rush to the Stardust Lounge for the big show at 8:45 – "Encore Mr. Producer," which featured a number of song and dance numbers from the various shows that Sir Cameron Mackintosh had produced on Broadway, including "My Fair Lady," "Follies," "Les Miserables," "Witches of Eastwick," and "Oliver!" Trevor stayed for a little bit, but was bored so he went back to the room. Alyx really enjoyed it, though!   

Monday, October 14 

PORT: Grand Cayman & George Town. 

HISTORY: The Cayman Islands is a British Crown Colony located in the western Caribbean, 480 miles south west of Miami and 150 miles south of Cuba. Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac are flat coral and limestone islands with the highest point a mere forty feet above sea level. Grand Cayman is the largest and most populous of the trio, occupying 76 square miles of the total 100 square miles land mass. The climate is very desirable with average temperatures between 72 and 86 degrees during the day. Little rainfall and cooling trade winds ensure that the Cayman Islands enjoy a perpetual summer. Just off the coastline is crystal clear water with visibility reaching the depths of 150 ft., encompassed by the Cayman Trench, the second deepest point in the Caribbean at 22,000 feet.

HIGHLIGHTS: Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac were originally discovered by Columbus on his fourth and last voyage from Spain on May 10, 1503. While sailing from Panama to Hispaniola, tropical trade winds diverted his fleet off course. Turtles were sited in abundance and consequently he named these islands "Las Tortugas." The Caymans remained largely uninhabited until the late sixteenth century before they were ceded to the English under the Treaty of Madrid in 1670. In 1863 the Cayman Islands were recognized as a dependency of Jamaica and remained under the authority of Jamaica until 1961. In the same year, Jamaica sought total independence from Great Britain, however, the Caymans initiative was to remain a British Crown Colony, which has sustained one of the highest financial global GDP's.

PEOPLE: As a British colony, Grand Cayman is administered by a local governor appointed by the reigning British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. A senate and a cabinet are appointed by the governor and Legislative members who are elected through district constituencies. The Cayman Islands are considered insular and more conservative than Great Britain and the peoples' way of life illustrate the mix of Old English custom with the modern day world that we all know. The English accent is evident, the Cayman currency with depictions of British Royalty, to driving on the left side of the road, high literacy and one of the highest standards of living in the world. This status is bolstered by 47 of the world's top 50 banks, offshore financial centers, insurance corporations and the government policy of allowing Caymanians to live free from personal income tax.

We turned our clocks back an hour last night, so when our alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. it didn't seem so early.  We met tour group in the Stardust Lounge for departure. While there we purchased an underwater disposal camera (27 exposures for $18.95) – too bad we hadn't thought of that before the trip – we probably could have gotten two at home for that price!

We signed out four towels and headed down to the tender, arriving on land around 8:35. The bus ride was only about 10 minutes, during which we learned a little about stingrays and how to approach them.  Generally touch their undersides, but watch out in the center for their mouth and their gills.  On their tail, about a 1/3 of the way down from the body, is a stinger. It's a one-time thing – they can only use them once in their lifetime so it's generally when they really feel they're in danger. While we're there, we're feeding them squid, so they love us and wouldn't use the stinger unless you tried to throw it in the air or something that severe.  Also, when touching the top/back, move your hand front to back to avoid the prickly spines in the center.

The bus pulled into a small parking lot and we climbed on board the Skin Diver, and headed down the channel into the ocean.  It started to rain again as we came through the channel and we all left the front of the boat, which didn't have a cover on it, and headed toward the covered back.  The crew continued to explain about sea rays and what to expect – the large ones are the females and the smaller ones are the males. The food (squid) would be in a bucket surrounded by foam, floating in the water. If you didn't want to be surrounded by stingrays, then don't stand next to the food! 

The rain came down harder and harder – it was terrible! We were all wet and freezing! By the time we finally reached "Stingray City," we were soaked and so were our towels… but we made it!  We joined the three other boats full of snorkelers, put the anchor down, put on our snorkel mask, and jumped in!  We couldn't wait – the water was warmer than the air considering how cold and wet we were!

We stopped in a shallow sandy reef – the water was a little higher than my waist. It was also a beautiful light blue color.  Not far beyond the boats, you could see where the water went from a beautiful blue to a dark color, in a straight line. This is the Cayman Wall – within the wall the coral is protected, which makes it great for diving. Beyond it drops right down to 22,000 feet deep!

After we were in the water a few minutes, they brought out the food, and the stingrays, which had been congregating around the other boats, swarmed us instead.  WOW!!! They were everywhere!  They were very gentle, but they're large and brush up against you like your cat or dog does to your leg to show affection and get food.  Vic leaned over to look in the water and see under, and just then a large one swam over his back!  I screeched and giggled and screeched some more… and turned left to look right into the camera of the video photographer!  Everyone (well, mostly the women) were screeching and giggling and screaming as the stingrays surrounded us! 

It's hard to describe in words how it felt, having these large, soft creatures swimming around and brushing up against your legs… exciting, yet a little scary! One went past Vic and whipped its tail and he got hit with it – it wasn't really painful, but a little bit… Trevor also brushed up against the spiny part of a back and I also felt a little of the spines on the tail of a few of them.

Unfortunately, Trevor didn't get past the scary/exciting feeling to the simple enjoyment of it, and wanted out pretty quickly.  Because he was almost right at water height, that might have made it more difficult, feeling that they were right in his face.  He had also been one of the first ones in the water, and right near the food bucket when they put it in, so he was surrounded pretty quickly.  He went back onboard and didn't come back in the water again.

On the opposite end, Alyx was the LAST one in the boat!   She had a few pieces of squid left and kept trying to get the stingrays to take them, but I think there were full already.  In the meantime, Alyx kept trying to catch one. They swim right into your arms so you can "hug" one if you hold your arms out, but Alyx was overwhelmed by the large ones and kept trying to catch a small one, but never did manage to.  Vic and I alternately used the underwater camera to take photos of the stingrays and of Alyx.  The rain had stopped, but it was still warmer to be under the water.

Finally we were all back on board and the boat headed back. It started raining again, but not as hard and it wasn't as windy, so the ride seemed a lot faster on the way back. Vic paid $40 for the video of the excursion, and the video photographer came over and took a video of us to put on the end of it. 

Once the boat docked, we caught a taxi to the Cayman Turtle Farm. It's the only commercial sea turtle nursery in the world where green and hawksbill turtles, ranging from a few ounces to over 600 pounds, are bred and raised. There were probably 20 tanks containing turtles that had just hatched up to huge turtles.  Some of the tanks contained smaller turtles specially chosen to be touched and held, so the kids had a blast catching them and holding them up.  One of the tanks had a sign on it that there were 1200 turtles in ages of 5-7 years, and that was just one tank! 

Alyx was very disappointed that she was unable to hold a hatchling in her hand. There was one tank that contained baby turtles, but they were not in an area of touch tanks.

When we were done, Vic went outside and found a van taxi waiting for more passengers back to the ship, so we climbed on!  Our fellow passengers were a couple from Connecticut. They were journeying on the Sun also, but had only joined the cruise this morning.  Their story was an interesting one – they had gone to check in on Saturday for the cruise and realized they didn't have their passports. They could not leave on the cruise ship without them, so their daughter had to fly down with the passports in hand, then they flew on Sunday from Miami to Grand Cayman, and boarded the ship this morning.  I said that must have about doubled the cost of the cruise, and he said not quite, but it was about a $1,000 mistake!

Back in the port, we jumped on the tender for the ride over to the ship.  We grabbed a quick lunch at the Garden Café, then showered quickly before heading to the Latitudes Cocktail Party at 3:15.  There were free drinks and small appetizers, and prizes were awarded (we didn't win, of course).  There was also a bottle of champagne given to the person who had cruised the most times on NCL – the winner had cruised 21 times!

After a brief respite in the cabin, I headed off to Bingo.  Today the Power Bingo had 12 cards in it for $49 and that got me another 10 raffle tickets.  During today's bingo session they drew a raffle ticket from the ones given at Bingo yesterday and today – the winner would receive a free cruise for two anywhere NCL goes!  Alas, no wins, either at bingo or the free cruise drawing.  Actually, a couple from Orlando won the cruise!

Alyx had a manicure and pedicure at 6:15, and when she was done we went to the Seven Seas dining room for dinner.   Trevor had an unusual evening, though – he fell asleep just before I left for Bingo. We tried to wake him for the 7 p.m. kids activities, but he wanted to sleep. He wouldn't wake for dinner either – we told him if he changed his mind to put on pants and use the walkie-talkie to let us know he was on his way, but he slept through.

During dinner, Vic and I talked to the waiter, and asked him how the wait staff likes the new "Freestyle Cruising." He said they liked it, because all fourteen dinners didn't have to be served at the same time. Also, previously, some tables complained because the next table got their food faster (because they had one less course), etc., so it seemed to be a lot easier with the new system.  We asked if it worked out okay with the tips, and he said he was just happy to have a job and worked hard because he was glad to work.   We asked if some of the staff took advantage of it and didn't work as hard, and he said no because they'd be left at the next port.

We're evidently in for a storm! On the radio in the van after the turtle farm earlier, Vic heard there is a tropical storm that is headed southwest of here.  Unfortunately, that's the direction we're headed towards Roatan, Honduras.  Just before the ship left, we all took Dramamine.  Good thing we did – Alyx said all her friends were seasick during the evening!

Tuesday, October 15 

PORT: Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

HISTORY: Roatan Bay Island is the largest and most developed of the Bay Islands, a cluster of islands 3 miles north of Honduras in the Caribbean Sea. The island's fringing coral reef makes it a popular tourist and diver destination. The Island's history, which includes many disputes between the Spaniards and the British during colonial times have given the islands a unique heritage. The Island of Roatan is ready and eager to receive tourists. Coxen Hole is the largest city and capital of the department of the Bay Islands. Although there are not many established tourist attractions such as, the rich afro- antillean influences lend a unique atmosphere to this community.

HIGHLIGHTS: The island of Roatan is 53km long and 5 km wide. It is located 65 km off the northern coast of the Honduras in the Caribbean Sea. Its 127 square km make Roatan the largest of the 68 islands and cays which make up the Bay Islands. Although it is part of the Honduras, it has a unique history and culture.

PEOPLE: The original inhabitants of the island of Roatan were the Payas, a tribe of Amerindians. No Payans remain, however, because in 1641 the Spanish Governor of Honduras ordered the Bay Islands depopulated so that they could no longer serve as an outpost for British pirates. The first permanent settlers to the island came from the island of St. Vincent. They were black Caribs who were forcibly taken to Roatan following an unsuccessful mutiny against their British slave owners. They settled in the town of Punta Gorda where their descendants remained and became known as the Garifuna. The next wave of immigrants were black freedman and white farmers from the Caymans who moved to Roatan in the 1830s. These groups came to be known as the Islanders. The island was a British colony until the Wykes-Cruz Treaty of 1859 returned sovereignty to Honduras. Over 300 Islanders left the island once it became clear that Honduras would take control of the island.

After breakfast, Vic and I went to the spa for our appointments at 10:30. Vic got his haircut and I got a massage.  China, my masseuse, said she was from the Philippines, and had been with NCL for 3 years.  She was previously on the Norway and liked that better because it didn't move as much in bad seas.  Her contact is 12 months – 10 months working every day, and two months vacation.  Some days she only works a few hours, but on the days at sea she works all day.

We had decided to stay on board today because it's been so busy on board that the kids wanted to swim and take advantage of the activities on board. The weather started out bad this morning, so we thought many of the people who weren't booked on excursions would stay on board, but luckily it cleared and the boat was nice and quiet.  Alyx swam with her friend Stephanie, Vic and Trevor swam, and in general just relaxed aboard the relatively quiet ship

The food has been a little disappointing – except for the Japanese dinner for the first night, there has been nothing truly memorable.  For breakfast, only one dining room is open and the Garden Café buffet, which has nothing terribly impressive other than the made-to- order omelet station. For lunch while in port, only the Garden Café is open, again with less than exciting food. 

We were going to go into Roatan just for lunch, but nothing is near where the ship comes into port – everything is a taxi ride away, so we're not going to bother.

The weather cleared up – it was actually sunny today, and not very hot!

Vic and Trevor did end up going on shore.  They walked along the street and went into a straw market.  They saw some very poor homes and people.  Trevor was very humbled by the poor families, and he felt bad he had brought his toy with him, when, as he said, "they don't even have enough money for shoes and I have my toy."  Vic also picked up some local currency for Alyx's foreign coin collection (something we forgot to do on Grand Cayman).

We decided to eat dinner at 6 so we could make it to "Cirque Pan," tonight's big show.  We chose the Seven Seas restaurant – both were serving Italian food tonight, but the menus were slightly different. The Seven Seas offered a salmon steak that I thought Vic would like, so we went there.

The Cirque show was good, but a little too "artsy" for my taste.  The kids really liked it, though, and Vic took pictures of the girls with the show's stars afterwards.  Trevor stayed about a half hour, but then went back to the room. We ran into another couple we had met on board coming out of the show – they hadn't stayed on the ship, but had decided to go ashore anyway. They had taken a cab ride to Salt & Pepper, and then done shopping in the area around it.  It cost them $28 per person for the ride and lunch, and it was a bit of a drive. But they were glad they went. 

Wednesday, October 16 

PORT: Belize City, Belize

HISTORY: Many ruins indicate that Belize was originally inhabited by the Maya Indians. Their civilization reached its height between 300A.D. and 900A.D., but thereafter collapsed and many of the people migrated. Even though Columbus, in 1502, sailed near the region, the first recorded European settlement was established in 1638 by shipwrecked British sailors. Later came the lost British soldiers and sailors after the capture of Jamaica from Spain in 1655. The settlers, who became mainly log wood cutters, was the target of many attacks from neighboring Spanish settlements as Spain had claimed ownership of almost all of the New World. Log wood was mostly used to produce dye; it was only in 1763 that Spain, in the Treaty of Paris, allowed the British settlers to engage in the log wood industry. This was reaffirmed by the Treaty of Versailles in 1783 and the area of log wood concession was extended by the Convention of London in 1786. But Spanish attacks continued until a solid victory was won by settlers, with British naval support, in the Battle of St. George's Caye in 1798. After that, British control over the settlement gradually increased and in 1862 British Honduras was formally declared a British Colony.

HIGHLIGHTS: In form, Belize is roughly rectangular, measuring 280km from north to south and 109km from east to west, extending to 180km through the inclusion of territorial sea. Total land area, including the over 1,000 offshore islands, is about 8,860 square miles, for a total national territory including the territorial sea of 18,000 square miles. Belize is an extremely varied country for its size. Inland, the Maya Mountain range is the dominant landscape feature and rises to 3,688 feet at its highest point.

PEOPLE: In terms of government and stability, Belize is unique in Central America. It is a true democracy, which operates under the British parliamentary system. As a member of the British Commonwealth, it has an excellent human rights record and freedom of the press is practiced without any censorship. The population of Belize is very young and over 50 percent is less than 18 years old. Belize is truly a melting pot of Central America.

The ship arrived in Belize around 7 a.m.  They have to dock about 3 miles away from the shore because of the depth of the water, and tenders take you to Belize. They are relatively small – only hold about 50 people.  The first passengers off were those with tour tickets. Then you had to go to deck 7 for a tender ticket and wait for them to call your name. After about 10, there weren't that many people left waiting to go on shore, so we waited until then and just went on a tender without having to get a ticket.

We found the same situation in Belize that we had found in Roatan – basically where the ship docks is kind of in the middle of nowhere – to do anything interesting you need to take a long cab ride or one of the ship's excursions.  Since we didn't want either (both options requiring a lengthy ride of at least an hour), we walked the town.  Belize City is a very poor city with nothing of real interest.  We had eaten a late breakfast, so we didn't visit the interesting restaurant we had read about (the Smokey Mermaid).

We were going to do an excursion to Mayan ruins, but it was a total of five hours' round-trip on buses and open uncovered boats, in very hot and buggy conditions, and we didn't think the kids were up to that.

So far we've been a bit disappointed with the ports of call.  When we did the transatlantic and the Alaskan cruises, we could get off and wander interesting ports and cities and towns without doing the excursions.  Here in the Western Caribbean it seems they've found places that you HAVE to book an excursion to see anything.

Just before getting to Tourist Village, where the tenders leave from, we stopped to get Alyx's hair braided – just the front in corn rows. It looks cute!

We had dinner reservations at Pacific Heights, which is the "Cooking Light" restaurant. It's a specialty restaurant and requires reservations, but there is no additional charge. It had a very nice view – we had a booth at the window and saw the sunset. 

Alyx and her friends and Trevor and I hung out in their room most of the evening, and at a little before midnight we headed upstairs to the Four Seasons dining room for the Chocoholic Buffet!Every Norwegian Cruise has at least one (on the transatlantic, there was one per week), and it's incredible – everything is made of chocolate! Even the sculptures!  And, as usual, there was a long line waiting to go in.  I even remember a long line on the transatlantic, when the ship was only half sold and it often seemed almost deserted. 

There were cream puffs, mousse, cakes, cookies… then there was a station for fruit dipped in chocolate (strawberries, pineapple and cantaloupe), and another station for ice cream with toppings. Alyx was very impressed that they even had Jelly Belly jellybeans! Before we left, she asked for a cup to put some in, and the server filled the entire cup with jellybeans!  I have to say, I was more impressed with the selection of foods on this one than others. In the past, it seemed like there was nothing in the way of "rich chocolate," more like mousses and whipped chocolate cakes and desserts. This time there were a few options that were very rich and tasty!  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

They had opened the door at the back of the restaurant so you could either exit through IL Adagio and bring it back to your room, or sit down in the restaurant and they served ice water or coffee.  We finished around 1 a.m. and headed back to the room.

Thursday, October 17

PORT: Cozumel, Mexico

HISTORY: Historically, the island of Cozumel was settled by the Mayas as early as 300 AD. In 1518, Juan de Graijalva landed at Cozumel with four ships bound for Cuba. However, one year later Herman Cortez arrived marking a bitter struggle for Cozumel with the Mayans and the Spanish. Cortez and his men destroyed many of the Mayan temples and left a legacy of smallpox, which decimated the population. By the year 1600 Cozumel was completely abandoned. Although pirates took advantage of Cozumel's isolation in the 17th century, the island wasn't re-inhabited until 1848. In 1961, after Jaques Cousteau proclaimed these waters as some of the best in the world, Cozumel was transformed from a quiet sleepy fishing village into a world famous dive center of excellence.

HIGHLIGHTS: Just 12 miles from the eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, the island of Cozumel is approximately 29 miles long and 9 miles wide. The island is a refreshing respite from the metropolitan cities most of us are accustomed to. Cozumel is the only Mexican- Caribbean Gem that offers shore attractions aplenty and is considered the Crown Jewel of the Mexican-Caribbean. Powdery white sands, crystal clear waters, protected environments snorkeling or scuba diving among schools of exotic fish is a playground away from industrial society. Reserve a tropical jungle tour to the Mayan Ruins, shop for traditional handicrafts and duty free jewelry and dine in seaside restaurants seasoned with friendly Cozumelans. This, with lasting impressions, splashed with romantic cocktails will leave you wanting more.

PEOPLE: Vicente Fox Quesada, of the conservative National Action Party, won a July 2 general election, ending the 71-year rule of Zedillo's Institutional Revolutionary Party. Congressional members, Governors and city Mayors are elected by democratic state of district constituencies by the people of Mexico. The population of Cozumel is approximately 45,000 and the official language is Spanish. However, 50 Indian languages are still spoken by direct descendants of Aztecs, Maya, Huastecs, Totonacs and other peoples on the mainland and the peninsula. In tourist areas most of the merchants, hotel and restaurant staff speak English since they accommodate American, Canadian and European tourists. Over recent years, Mexicans have come to extend many thoughtful courtesies to their visitors since most of the middle class is occupied in the travel, tourism and hospitality.

Okay, let me just put it this way – just before we got back on the ship, Trevor said today was the best day of his life!

It started pretty early –I got up around 7:00, ran upstairs and grabbed Trevor breakfast and got him moving. For only 6 hours of sleep, he did pretty well and was ready pretty quickly, without complaint. We met in the Stardust Lounge at 8 a.m., disembarked, and then boarded a boat which would take us to the Atlantis Submarine.  It was a long ride and a slow boat, so it took about a half hour to reach the submarine. Once we got there, we pulled up alongside and transferred onto the boat, and then we climbed down the stairs and took a seat.  It holds about 48 people, but there were only 38 on board.  I'm not sure where the other ten are supposed to go, since every seat was full. 

We were shortly on our way!  We traveled a short distance at about 4- 5 feet under, and then descended to about 40 feet.

We saw a lot of nice coral and reef formations, and many small fish.Trevor was disappointed that we only saw one large fish.  Not long after, we descended to 100 feet deep!  Trevor kept watching the meter, counting down. While we were down at that depth, they took us to the edge of an underwater wall – beyond that it dropped to 600' in depth, and not far past that to 2000' feet deep.

We went back up to about 40', drove a short distance, then traveled to the rendezvous point and signaled to the ship on the surface, then we saw lots of bubbles outside the window and we were at the surface again!  We climbed up the stairs and outside onto the ship that was waiting for us. Actually it was full of the next group of passengers, so after we got on, they got off and went into the submarine, then we headed back to shore. The boat took us to their ticketing office, located right next to where the Carnival and Royal Caribbean ships were docked, and paid for our taxi back to the ship.

It took a longer time for the excursion than we were told, so we didn't get back on the ship until about 11 a.m.  We grabbed a quick lunch, changed into bathing suits, and then disembarked with Vic and Alyx. It's a bit of a walk down the pier, so there are guys with bikes and big seats on the front offering rides for tips. We took a couple of them, and gave them $2 each. We inquired about renting a jeep, but they were $50 for the day, so we took a $10 cab ride to Chankanaab Park.  This is what the kids had been waiting for all week, as we've been here before and they loved it! 

The entry price had gone up – it was $7 per person, now it's $10. But the kids were half-price, so it was $30 for all three of us.  We went first to the Dolphin Discovery Center and inquired about the programs. There were two options – for $65 it was just an encounter – touching but not in the water with them. For $119 per person it was a true "swim with the dolphins" including a handshake, kiss, dorsal pull, foot push, and jump.  So Vic and the kids signed up for the 3:30 "full" program.  I decided against it – I would just stay on the bridge and take pictures.  We had a couple hours still, so we walked over to the snorkel area and rented equipment ($5 each plus $3 each for life jackets if you wanted them). 

It really is a beautiful park – sandy beach, straw covered umbrellas and lounge chairs…We were about to gear up when Vic looked over at the scuba counter and asked Trevor if he wanted to try it.  Last time Alyx and Vic went, but it bothered Alyx's ears so she didn't care for it. Trevor said he was game, so they signed up. It's normally $50 for a 30- minute instruction and 60-minute dive, but they only charged us $35 for Trevor, so it was $85 for the two of them.

Alyx jumped right in and snorkeled for a long time – she loved it!  There are so many fish in the water right near the shore! It's very rocky – not a swimming beach for sure! But wonderful for snorkeling!  After watching Vic and Trevor descend in their scuba gear, I joined Alyx.  I had brought cans of squirt cheese because I had read once that fish love it and it's great to attract them while diving or snorkeling. I asked someone at the scuba desk about it and he looked at me like I had three heads, so I put it back in my bag. 

Alyx and I had fun snorkeling – the fish swam so close!  We saw Trevor and Vic underwater too… once they caught up with Alyx and Vic was playing, trying to pull her down… you could hear her giggles through her snorkel tube! 

We had purchased another underwater camera (we used up the first one at the stingray encounter and in the pool onboard the ship) at the shopping mall at the pier. It was actually a "waterproof camera" for $18, but would be fine for snorkeling. Well, it was… but it wasn't good for scuba diving, so Vic bought another one that is good up to 45' deep for $20.

When Trevor came out of the water after scuba diving, he said, "Scuba diving is now my favorite way to swim!" He loved it!!!  After he took off his scuba gear, he put on his snorkeling gear and took off to go snorkeling –by himself! Vic pulled him out and said it was time for the dolphins, so we left our snorkel gear at the desk and said we'd be back for it, and headed over. 

There was a 20-minute instruction video and talk, and then they went out into the water. They walked down onto a platform in the water, then held out their hands as the dolphins did a swim by and they ran their hands down the side.  Then they called Trevor out to the middle, and the dolphin kissed him on the cheek and then he kissed the dolphin. Then he shook their "hands" – their pectoral fins.  Then Alyx did the same, then Vic.  Then they swam out to the center, one at a time, for the "dorsal push" – they hold their arms out in the water. One dolphin swims from behind on each side, they grab onto the dorsal fin, and the dolphins push them through the water!  Trevor tried about five times and couldn't get it, so Alyx did it and loved it!  Then the scuba diver in the water helped Trevor and he finally got it – by then everyone was cheering for him!  Then Vic did it too.  Then the three others in our group had their turn.

Next Trevor swam out into the center and laid on his stomach, arms stretched out in front, and legs straight and apart in the back (Superman pose). One dolphin came up behind each foot and pushed – just like they do in the Sea World show! It was so cool!  After they had all done that, they went by pairs holding a pole on either side while the dolphins jumped over it.

After that, the six of them swam into a circle, and the dolphins swam close to and around them all for more "touch time." Finally they went back into a line on the water platform and the dolphin waved good- bye, and then did a few tandem jumps for them.

I took videos of each of the "tricks" and photos of the jumps and touch time, but the encounter's still and video photographers were down on the platform and got some great shots. After they got out of the water, we got to see the video they shot – it was great!!!  We bought it - $49.  Then we went and saw the photos – they were fantastic!  We bought two of each of the kids, and one of Vic. 

By now it was a little after 5.  The snorkel shop had closed at 5 – Trevor was disappointed, as he hadn't really gotten a chance to snorkel because the scuba diving and the dolphins had taken so much time.  But we were told the park didn't close until 6, so we wandered back to the shore. I had told Vic about the cheese, and he said we should have tried it anyway, so the kids took it over to the edge of the water and squirted some down. A whole bunch of little fish swam towards it!  Bummer – I think it would have worked!  Well, we'll have to try it again next time…We then wandered around looking for the big lizards we had seen last time. I had also seen a couple earlier, but didn't take pictures.  Well, I guess it was late enough and a little cooler outside, so the lizards were nowhere to be found.  The kids were a little disappointed.

As we were walking back through the park, Trevor said that this was the best day of his life! Daddy said no, that the day he was born was the best day of his life. He said maybe, but this was the "funnest" day! 

We took a cab back to the area where our ship had docked – boy, has that changed in the last 3 years!  When we were last here, we remember a quiet area where there were a bunch of jeeps for rent and not much else. Now there's a shopping mall and escalators and a bridge over the road.  Vic approached a couple cab drivers looking for some Mexican pesos, and finally found someone with some coins and two 20-peso bills. He gave them to the kids and we walked back across the road to the dock.  Just as we entered the secure area, the wind took the peso bills out of Alyx's hands and into the water!  A few of the  "bike chair" drivers and the security guys looked out over the water, but it was too far down.  It was only about $4 US, but Vic wasn't too happy with Alyx!  He ran back across the street and got another one…

We had dinner at the Seven Seas dining room, then the girls (Alyx and her friends Caitlin and Stephanie) had a sleepover in the kids' room, and Trevor slept on the pull out bed in our room with us.  We had to set our clocks ahead an hour tonight, and Trevor and I had too little sleep last night, so we went to bed early.  The girls, of course, did not – after ordering fruit and hot chocolate from room service, they watched movies until I'm not even sure what time.  But they had a lot of fun!

Friday, October 18 

Last day of the cruise, a day at sea.  We're heading back north again, past Cuba. We were awakened by the delivery of Vic's New York Times. For $4 per day, you can have that paper, or the USA Today, or a few other papers delivered to your door each day. They pull it off the Internet and print it on legal size paper – today's was over 60 pages long!

They've started getting us ready for disembarkation in the morning. We have to have our bags in the hall by 3 a.m.  With Freestyle Cruising, tips are automatically added to your account - $10 per adult per day, $5 per child age 3-12.  That covers all the staff so no additional tips are necessary.  We had to pick up luggage tags today - Vic got the 10:05 a.m. departure tags so we didn't have to rush in the morning. 

We all spent the day relaxing, doing our own thing.

Our dinner reservations at the Ginza were for 5:00 (the only ones we could get). We were seated on the same side of the table, and dinner was good, but not as good. The steak was a little chewier – Vic thought it was because the meat had been sitting there for a week now, and wasn't as fresh.  Also, the waiter didn't put on any kind of "show." Vic spoke with the waitress, head chef, and ultimately the head of the group of restaurants, and was assured we should have had a show, that it was part of their job. They didn't charge us the $10 per person charge and wished they could have treated us tomorrow night too.

We packed up and put the bags in the hallway around 9:45.  Actually, we were the first bags out – I was surprised!  All bags had to be in the halls by 3 a.m.

Saturday, October 19 

Has it been a week already? Where did the time go?  Cruise is over… Alyx was VERY sad! 

We were awakened at 7:30 when they called the first group to disembark.  We ate breakfast at Four Seasons (they were serving until 8:30), and then went down to the room to wait for them to call our bags (another benefit of "Freestyle Cruising" – you don't have to go to a crowded public room to wait like you used to). They called us about 10:20, and after waiting in line to go through Immigration, we went down to collect all our bags, then hand in our customs form, then out to our parked vehicle.

Trevor said his favorite things about the cruise were: 1) scuba diving; 2) dolphins; 3) Atlantis submarine; 4) snorkeling.  Alyx's favorite things: 1) hanging out on the ship with her friends; 2) dolphins.  Vic said he just enjoyed relaxing and spending quality time with the kids. I like being pampered – no cooking, no cleaning. I also really enjoyed the stingrays, and watching the kids with the dolphins.

TIPS FOR FUTURE CRUISES:

1.    Buy waterproof cameras at home and bring them with you – Eckerd's has them for $14, good in water up to 12' deep. 

2.    In Roatan and Belize, either book an excursion, plan on a long cab ride, or stay on the ship. In Roatan, the ship docks in an area where no shops or restaurants are located. In Belize the tenders bring you to the Tourist Village where there are shops and restaurants, but outside the shopping mall there's nothing.

3.    Bring along bottled water – there are refrigerators in your room and it's better (cheaper) to take your own with you on excursions.

4.    With the Freestyle Cruising, you can make dinner reservations at the Specialty Restaurants before you even set sail, so take advantage and make reservations early.

5.    If dining at the Ginza eat there earlier in the week – the food was fresher and therefore better tasting the first night than the last.

6.    If you're on deck 4, pick a cabin in the center of the ship, or front, but not the back, which is over the engines (loud).