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tripleboom

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About Me

  • Location
    Western Iowa
  • Interests
    Hockey, Travel, Golf
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Norwegian
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Caribbean

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  1. Day 6 - Cozumel With an 11am arrival into port for today, it was nice to be able to have a leisurely start to it all. We grabbed an O'Sheehan's breakfast and then headed back to the room to await the completion of docking. I noticed from the balcony that we were definitely NOT headed to Punta Langosta, the only port we had ever come into previously. I used the telephoto lens on my camera to find signage on the shore identifying it as Puerta Maya instead. I know right where to head for cabs in Punta Langosta, but wasn't so sure at this location. So we disembarked and headed through the very long, narrow duty free shop and got spit out the other end into the bustling port shopping area. Again, not having been able to research ahead of time, and knowing that these port shopping areas are designed to keep you in and shopping or talking with the tour sales folks inside, but I identified a group of folks booked through NCL for their excursions, and knowing that they had to be headed out of the port to some form of large group transportation, I fell in behind and drafted off of them all the way to the taxi stand in the opposite corner from where we entered the shopping area. Sneaky, sneaky. 😁 A plethora of the white cabs with red stripes down their sides was waiting for us, and we hopped right in and were on our way. With the clearly posted taxi rates located adjacent to the taxi stand, it's always nice to know you've got a reliable, established rate with who you're hopping in with. With our four passenger, it cost us $15+tip to get to Paradise Beach Club for the day. Upon arrival we were whisked in to the check-in area, paid the remainder of our $222 that was owed (our downpayment was $111, so $111 was due at check-in), and were soon delivered into the hands of our waiter for the day. With options for poolside of beachside, we opted for the latter. We were pretty certain the boys were going to want the "fun pass" bands, but reserved that option until we could see it for ourselves. It didn't take them long to conclude that they would want the $18/person "fun pass" for the day. And that's quite a bargain given all the options included. They're in the middle of the platform shown in this photo. We arrived and were settled in at our chairs by about 12:15 or so, so we kept our fingers crossed that the sun would come out as the day wore on. In the meantime, the boys really enjoyed the nearby pier with swings. Stacy checked it out too. This may be my favorite picture of the entire trip. I outkicked my coverage big time. Can't imagine cruising through life with anyone else! Stacy and I headed back to our chairs for a bit while the boys attacked the water park in earnest.
  2. I've never tried to put it away. I can't rememeber the exact verbiage, but there is a placcard on the Pullman that says you are not allowed to put it away by yourself. I believe there's a specialized tool required to do so that the cabin attendants have. Can't hurt to ask, but I suspect their answer will probably be a "no."
  3. Unfortunately, they have done away with the 2x daily cabin servicing, so the couch remains in its "bed" format, and the pullman bed above it remains "down" for the entirety of the cruise with the exception of embarkation day (it's converted that first evening on board). That said, we didn't find it to be too much of a nuissance EXCEPT when trying to access the far side of the closet. With the pullman down, it's a tight squeeze to manuever around over there. Outside of that, we weren't typically in the room long enough to be inconvenienced by the arrangement.
  4. As the last glimmer of sunlight died out, the boys started to rejoin us to grab a late dinner. This picture is a bit misleading, but it won't be TOO much longer before Connor passes Stacy's height! Landon soon tracked us down as well thanks to the NCL app messaging platform. He loves the glass inserts in the deck located aft on The Waterfront. Then we headed to Taste to grab a later dinner. Our waitstaff on this night was particularly great! I enjoyed the cajun shrimp and grits which was outstanding. Stacy opted for the gnocchi. She mentioned that it tasted good but arrived on the cooler side. Landon had opted for the pizza and fries again, but the waiter said he thought he'd like the country fried chicken on the menu tonight, so brought it out for him to try! Landon really liked it, but on this night, the kitchen won. Landon is RARELY full, but they beat him tonight! 🀣 Dessert options weren't super intriguing tonight, but how do you SKIP dessert?! Black Forest Cake for me. While Stacy (and yes, even Landon 🀨) opted for the banana split. With a full day on the plate tomorrow, we finished dinner, retired to the room, watched some Black Panther on the TV, and drifted off to sleep. Beach day ahead!
  5. Once we were back onboard, I got busy finishing the plans for the next day. I connected to the ship's WiFi and gobbled up a few more minutes of the allowance. I hadn't received any response from Nachi Cocom to my inquiry, so I let them know I was no longer interested in staying there Friday since it wasn't a sure thing, and re-booked to Paradise Beach instead. We hadn't stayed there before, but had heard good things. It's a basically the same cost as Mr. Sancho's ($222 for two adults, a teen, and a kid at Paradise vs. $221 at Sancho's), but we weren't that impressed with Sancho's on a previous trip, so decided this would be worth a shot in the relative dark. I would love to spend extra time on TripAdvisor, but the minutes were ticking down! With that bit of business behind us, we shifted into evening mode along with the rest of the ship. The boys met up with some newfound friends while Stacy and I enjoyed some quiet time for a bit, catching the sunset as we headed due east before turning north to head to Cozumel. With the schedule shuffle, it was clear we were BOOKING it. The wake was incredible on this night.
  6. After getting back to the ship and getting a change of clothes, we headed back out to the island, just as it started to rain a bit. There was a pretty massive exodus of people coming back to the ship from the island, but the boys were bound and determined to take a dip! So while we waited for the rain to let up, we checked out the nature and butterfly enclosure. Tough to capture these guys in flight, but when they unfold their wings, they're a beautiful blue. You can see the blue in the bottom row of butterflies emerging from their chrysalis. We then headed to the beach with the boys. Not exactly a sunshine filled day at Harvest Caye, but if it's north of 70Β°, those Iowa boys will get in the water. Ah, brothers... The boys didn't last super long out there, but they were happy with the time in the ocean. Even a cool, drizzly day couldn't dampen their spirits! Then we headed back to the ship. We were back to the ship around 1pm, and the ship pulled away from port shortly before 2:30 as re-scheduled, just as the sun started to peak back out a bit.
  7. After their safe arrival back on terra firma, they had a change of equipment and headed back up the elevator for the Superman zipline. Before too long, they were up at the top platform and ready to go! One interesting thing Stacy told me afterward. We did this togeter back in 2017, and the boys did it together back in 2022, and both of those times they were able to spread their arms, do the traditional Superman pose, etc., but the staff were clear on a requirement to hold your arms back and not spread them out this time over concern that it might slow you down too much and you won't make it to the other end. To which Stacy, always the rebel, said, "hold my margarita." After the golf cart brought them back from the other end of the island, we grabbed our stuff and headed back to the ship. After not yet having gotten into the ocean, the boys were champing at the bit to dive in!
  8. Day 5 - Harvest Caye After our Cozueml port had been cancelled earlier in the cruise, we decided to spend some of that now unused money on Harvest Caye. After the previous night's schedule shuffle, every stateroom was credited $100. So now, with no Costa Maya and an extra $100, we decided it'd be ok to get the family out on some more ziplines. With the 6:30am port call, I was not interested in being first off the ship, so we had a leisurely buffet breakfast and then made the hike from the ship to the Flighthouse. Landon asked to make a pit stop so he could send some "Wish you were here" palm tree photos to his friends back home. It's about a ten minute walk from the ship to the Flighthouse, so plan your timing accordingly Apparently there are some kind of enforced safety standards on Harvest Caye (the guys back in Honduras would be so disappointed), so anyone over 250 lbs can't do the ziplines here. Fine by me! It allowed me the chance to get out the Canon and take some video/photos from down below. But first Stacy and the boys got geared up and had their safety briefing. Then they headed up the elevator to the lagoon side to complete the run over there. It's comprised one long zip, a very short one, and then a cargo net climb to the final platform with one more long zip to follow. As a little side note, when I walked past the Flighthouse in order to get these pictures, there was a security guard who wouldn't let me past a certain point. That was perfectly fine as I was able to get the photos and video I wanted, but it was clear he was there to make sure that the villas area was off limits to those not booked there for the day. We had some friendly conversation about where I was from (no one in the Caribbean has any idea where Iowa is, lol), but he had a job to do, ya know. πŸ˜‰
  9. It is complimentary, no reservations required. On our sailing it was offered on two separate nights, with a total of 3 shows. It was offered on Thursday (2x) and Friday night. Believe me, given that my day job is a risk manager for religious entities (churches, schools, etc.), I can't tell you how much of a hypocrite I was signing up for that day! 🀣 Every time I jumped off the platform I heard the ropes get tight and said a little prayer! I've spent the last couple of days back to work being a total buzzkill, telling churches they can't have bounce houses when a week ago I was encouraging my own kids to blindly trust that the platfroms built into trees in Honduras were perfectly safe. 😬
  10. This evening would allow Stacy and I the chance to take in a best of the 80's Broadway musical revue in the Spiegel Theater down on Deck 6. Stacy enjoyed an Espresso Notini, a delicious mocktail featuring amaretti, espresso syrup, simple syrup, and oat milk. Yum! Prior to the show, we could hear the distinct "Ding Dong" of a ship-wide announcement, and I could immediately tell that it was the Captain as opposed to the cruise director, but unfortunately no one would be quiet enough for it to be able to be understood in the theater. So I hustled out to the hall to hear what I could. I only wound up catching bits and pieces, but pieced together that we were going to be arriving early into Harvest Caye and leaving early, and then going to Cozumel on Friday rather than Costa Maya. **DEEP BREATHS** We had had a beach day at Nachi Cocom planned for Cozumel back on Tuesday, but that was obviously cancelled after we missed the port, then we had a day at Yaya Beach planned for Costa Maya on Friday, but now that was missed. Nachi Cocom has limited capacity per day, so I quickly connected to the ship's wifi and consumed a few minutes to fire off an email to Nachi Cocom to see if they'd accept our previous reservation and allow us to come Friday, then started researching other beach day options while we waited for the show to start. My tender, overplanner heart was torn asunder, but we would press on, involuntary twitching and all. The show featured four performers on their off night from Burn the Floor performing some familiar hits from Broadway musicals of the 80s. Some really talented singers here, but hardly a replacement for a show like Six that departed a few weeks before our sailing. Stacy and I ended the evening with a trip to Moderno. We had enjoyed it on a prior sailing on the Breakaway, but the meat quality had gone way down since then. Some pretty chewy cuts were served up and flavor was lacking on a good chunk of them. However, the pineapple remains absolutely fantastic, and the banana caramel tartlet was as good as I remembered too. We enjoyed an evening walk along the Waterfront, and then called it a night. With our 8am arrival at Harvest Caye becoming a 6:30am arrival, it was time to hit the hay!
  11. As part of our Viator excursion, we had the option to spend some time at a nearby beach, but knowing that the ship would be half empty yet, we opted to head back to Coxen Hole to board again. This signage was actually new since the last time we visited. Returning to our cabin we found one of the "cruise ducks" the boys had found was playing a role with the towel animal. I'm unsure if this is an animal getting ready to eat the duck, or if it was an animal... πŸ’©ing the duck. πŸ€·β€β™‚οΈπŸ€£ There is an impressively large scale construction project underway to enhance the Coxen Hole port, though I'm admittedly unsure what all will be done here. It appears there's a large enclosed building for pier #2 passengers to pass through on the way back to their ship, but more importantly there appears to be a resort style pool under construction just beyond that building? Can anyone confirm if that's the case? That will be a HUGE improvement to this port when complete. If you pan over to the left from the previous photo, you can actually see elements of the ziplines that we completed today. The top platform is circled in red and you can see the small truck that carries riders up the hill circled in green. Pretty steep! Upon return it was overcast, but warm enough for a boy from Iowa to go swimming while it's below freezing at home! After drying off, and with the ropes course open and relatively few passengers clammoring for its use, the boys made the most of it again. Landon's daredevil antics picked up where they left off. A few minutes before 5:30 we were underway, pulling away from the dock and making our way west.
  12. Such a blast! The guides made the comment that they were proud of the fact that they run a zipline where no helmets and no gloves were required, and they'd let you do the stunts they showed us. I'm sure they'll change once someone suffers a substantial injury, but for now we had a blast! 😏 The walk from almost anywhere in the warehouse district to the cruise port should be pretty flat, and that was certainly the case for us. The most challenging part was dragging luggage along brick paved sidewalks rather than concrete ones, but even that only wrenched the suitcases sideways in our hands once or twice along the way. We did not go into Mahahual this time (for reasons you'll soon find out in this review), but we've gone before and enjoyed a day at Yaya Beach. For all the details on that trip you can check out my review from 2019: If you're going the self-assist route (bringing your own bags off with you) then you should be able to disembark as early as 8 or 8:30 or so. If your airfare is not booked through NCL or you don't have special status to disembark earlier, the earliest disembarkation time where you can leave your suitcases out the night before is 9am. That's the option we went with this time, and they called our 9am group by about 8:30 AM. So they were SUPER efficient getting us off this go round.
  13. After leaving the animal sanctuary we had a short walk back to the van, passing a few vendors along the way. We always try to pick up some local art during our trips, and this pair was being sold nearby. Really beautiful stuff, and according to the vendor they are made by one of the drummers that are playing for you as you disembark at the pier at Coxen Hole. Cool! It fits in nicely with our other cruise art we've collected over the years. I really like how each piece reminds us of a very happy time and place.
  14. SLOTHS! No trip to Roatan is complete without seeing these furry little guys.
  15. After purchasing our photos and tipping David and Marco for their incredible service, we made a short walk to the animal encounter nearby. With beautiful birds... Guinea pigs... and monkeys... ... the day would have been good enough, but there's still one more animal to meet in Roatan!
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