Jaguars and Monkeys and Tapirs, oh my! LizzyPlague's Magical Adventure April 1 - 8

[lizzyplague]

Hey everyone! I poke around Cruise Critic from time to time, mainly as a lurker. (I read much more than I write.)

We recently returned from our cruise on the Carnival Magic, April 1st to April 8th, 2017 (with a mini-trip to Disney) and I thought I'd share our adventure with all of you. I won't elaborate too much on the Disney portion since this is primarily a cruise review.

I have my entire review written but I'm going to post it in parts. There will be 4 tonight, and the rest over the coming days. I'm doing it this way because it's pretty long, and also because I have to reformat some things in the transition over to the site., html-wise.

Emphasis of my review will be on our excursions, as I have yet to see anyone talk about them in great detail:

 

• Cozumel - Ancient Culture and Island Tour
  
• Belize - Belize Zoo and City Tour
  
• Roatan - Pirates, Birds and Monkeys of the Caribbean
  

I'll be honest right now and say I won't be offended if you don't read the first few posts, as it'll be very wordy and mostly background information about our hotel stay and a little bit about how this cruise came to be. Better to get the blah blah blah out of the way first, so we can get to the good stuff, right?

So, to start this off the right way, I'll introduce myself. You can call me Lizzy. I travel with my semi-retired parents, so we don't have a lot of restrictions right now as to when we can travel.

 

We were some of the lucky people that got to experience the Carnival Glory's October 8th sail-away from the Port Miami webcam rather than being anywhere near the ship. It's a new thing they're trying, but I don't recommend it. It's NOT fun whatsoever, which goes against their business model. (They are the 'Fun Ships' after all.)

 

Since our Gold status does not permit Carnival to actually sail 1,200 miles out of the way to pick us up, that was our fate on that sad October day, to watch the ship sail away without us.

I can sum it up pretty quickly with a 7 seven letter name: Matthew. Hurricane Matthew. A bratty child that decided a few days before our cruise that he wanted to grow up incredibly fast and wallop the Southeast Coast of the United States.

Hurricane activity for 2016 wasn't really anything to write home about. We live in the Northeast so hurricanes (and tropical storms) aren't much of a concern. But, they do become a concern when you want to book a kind-of but not really post-hurricane season cruise out of Florida.

So... the whole thing kicked off when Matthew decided he wanted to grow up a little too quickly and become a hurricane, travel just north of the ABC islands, go up over the Bahamas, then follow along Florida's east coast. None of us thought too much of it at first, since hurricanes often change direction, strengthen and weaken in the same day. There's a lot of variables, to say the least.

Long story short, all the back and forth and north and south projections of where he was going to hit didn't do much good. Many airlines canceled flights into Florida's east coast for 48 hours or so, and our carrier decided the afternoon before our flight that ours would be the next domino to fall. (Seriously, they allowed us to print our boarding passes then they pulled the rug out from underneath us. Miami and Ft. Lauderdale were spared from a direct hit, or much of a hard hit of any kind.)

 

Since it was such short notice, there were no flights that could get us down there in time, save for a 12-something departure time and a 3:45 arrival time.. and unless we could magically get from FLL to Port Miami in a few minutes, there was no possible way we could make the embarkation time.

 

After shedding tears and getting over any hope we had of actually making it, we were given a credit for the airline as well as a chunk of credit back from Carnival, which was a huge but very appreciated surprise. (I won't bore with the details, but it involved getting a letter from the airline stating that it was their fault for canceling the flight and that they were unable to re-book us on anything that could get us to the port in time.)

Since that whole fiasco happened and was now behind us, we still REALLY wanted to cruise. After some consideration (not that there was very much to consider), we settled on the Magic out of Port Canaveral, sailing a Western itinerary with Ports of Call in Cozumel, Belize, Isla Roatan and Costa Maya. The only new port for us would be Costa Maya, but it's been four years since we did the Western Route. That was on the Liberty back in 2013, our very first cruise.

 

This time, though, we decided to sail earlier rather than later, since we already booked the Vista for May 2017, and didn't want to risk sailing in hurricane season. (Dad said it was a 'slim to none' chance we'd have a hurricane in October. Those have become 'no-no' words in our house as of October 8th, 2016. :P)

I convinced them we should take the April 1st sailing, since my birthday is the week before, and Mom's is two weeks before.

It seemed like March 31st would never get here, but sure enough, it did.

 

Up next..... Chilly Northeast to Sunny Florida!

[lizzyplague]

How was the weather when we left?

 

Pretty bad.

 

At least we didn't leave in snow. Just a rainy, sleety mix. Roughly 35 - 40 degree temperatures. When we arrived in Orlando, it was roughly 90 degrees and humid... blech. But, when given the option of snow or heat, the heat doesn't seem so bad.

 

We booked a snooze and cruise package through Go Port Canaveral, which offers a hotel room and transportation to and from Orlando International. They ask for your flight information ahead of time and sent plenty of emails to communicate exactly what to do and where to go.

 

[Obligatory Southwest wing. This is on the way back home since I didn't take a picture going down. Oops!]

 

After a fairly uneventful flight, we arrived at Orlando International Airport. While it is large and may seem intimidating, it's really not. It's pretty easy to get around. Drop-off and ticketing is on Level 2 and pick-up is on Level 1.

Stylus was our hotel's provider. They run shuttles from MCO to the Port Canaveral-area hotels every other hour. (1 PM, 3 PM, 5 PM, 9 PM. Between the hours of 9PM - 7 AM, you would have to call for a bus.)

Our flight was to arrive at 12:30, so we weren't sure if we could make the 1 PM shuttle or not.. but by some luck, we were able to get over to baggage claim and pick up our luggage by 12:50. With a quick phone-call, our shuttle arrived. It is a shared service so you will most likely end up sharing it with other people. In our case, the shuttle made the 45 minute bus ride out to the Cocoa Beach area, but first made a stop at Port Canaveral to drop off a few people... then to a second hotel, then to ours. In total, we spent close to 1 1/2 hours on the bus.

We stayed at the Hilton Cocoa Beach Hotel. (I didn't get any pictures, so my apologies. I was feeling under the weather with travel-anxiety and I was just getting over a cold the day we left.. but I wasn't contagious when boarding. I promise!)

 

The property is recently renovated/undergoing some renovation, and is right on the ocean. It's a short walk along a boardwalk to get to the beach. (There was a rip-tide warning so going in the water on Friday wasn't really an option for most people) They have a main restaurant (named Salt) which serves breakfast and dinner, and a small snack bar/drink bar that serves lunch... although, I do have to warn that their prices are very expensive, both in the bar and the main restaurant. (For example: The breakfast buffet was roughly 17 dollars a person. All you can eat, but still!) The hotel itself is along a busy main road. While we didn't venture off the property for food, there are several other restaurants in the area. (There is a Denny's about 3/4 miles up the road)

 

We settled in for drinks and a light lunch at the tiki bar, thinking we might try Salt for dinner. (It's mainly fish... and expensive fish at that. The average price was roughly 30 dollars a plate.) I ordered the fish tacos which were just okay, and one of their signature cocktails which was VERY strong. I don't believe it had anything but rum and blue curacao in it. We went back later and had something else since it wasn't the most ideal place for dinner. Ended up with the caprese flatbread which in theory sounds good, but theirs was really awful. I'm not sure if it was the cheese sauce or the type of balsamic vinegar on it but the whole thing did not work at all. I ate a portion of that and some of Mom's salad and that was enough for me.

 

There was also a live band that played at the Tiki bar until about 11 pm, which we could hear from the room. It wasn't very loud but it could be distracting if you're an extremely light sleeper.

 

On a lighter note, the room was nice and clean. Comfortable bed, hot shower and toiletries... but, we had a maintenance crew working on the AC just outside of our window until nearly 8 pm. (We were in 353.) We didn't have much of an ocean view, but you could see a little bit if you stood on your tiptoes. Better than nothing, I guess.

 

Overall, it's a decent place to sleep and is within 10 minutes from the port. Nothing spectacular in my opinion, but it serves the purpose.

 

Next up... Embarkation Day at last!

[lizzyplague]

We woke up at the bright early hour of 7:30. After getting an average and over-priced breakfast buffet at Salt, we packed up our things. Stylus was waiting in the lobby when we went down, about 10:45. (After quoting us 11 - 11:15 pick up time when booking). They had 2 or 3 shuttles out front and we loaded up our bags in the trailer and headed out, right on time.

The drive itself is not very far but the port is extremely busy on embarkation days. They were also doing construction so that added to the whole thing. The ride was about 10 minutes and we spent about 20 minutes waiting to get unloaded.

Here she is! (This was taken after we returned. Again, no pictures. It wasn't very practical and would have been time consuming.)

This is the view facing the ship from the parking garage. If you take a taxi or bus in, they drop you off on the left side, where the yellow/orange Hertz(?) bus is.

If you do park in the garage, you just cross the walk to the building that has the blue waves on it.

We selected a check-in time of 12 - 12:30, and joined the queue around 11:30. I don't know if they were enforcing the check-in windows because they let us right into the line. (They stop you prior to joining the queue, and again at the main entrance.)

They scan your passports, run you through the screening machines, and then you pick up your sign and sail cards and get assigned a zone number. The waiting area was not very large but you don't really have time to get settled in before they'll call you, so don't worry too much about that.

I really should have had them take my picture over (as now they will scan your passport photo and attach that to your Sign and Sail card), but I'll explain more on that later. They do retake your photo if it scans incorrectly, though... but that wasn't my problem.

We ended up with Zone #26, and they were up to (I think) #17 by the time we were given our cards. (Our second cruise as Gold). However, it moves very quick as the number of people per zone is MUCH smaller. We only waited maybe 10-15 minutes before we started the gangway trek to the ship. (And they even had two stations for embarkation photos! But... we passed.)

Overall, I like the institution of the check-in window. I think it makes the process a lot smoother and quicker. It was definitely our quickest embarkation ever. So glad we have it again for the Vista next month.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

My first impression of the Magic was... "This ship is very green". And I know I said it out loud to my parents who just laughed and thought it was cute, I guess. I don't know.

(This is common color to find on the Magic, especially in the elevator areas and stairwells.)

 

I don't think it occurred to me that I was starting my vacation, because I completely blanked out when we passed through the atrium and down to our room. (Which we couldn't get to until 1:30. They had all the room areas completely blocked off.)

 

But by this point, we were getting hungry, and the usual thing to do is hit the lido deck for lunch... so with our bags in tow, we made our way up there..

 

And WOW! Was it crowded! The most crowded I'd ever seen a Lido deck on all of our cruises. And not crowded with adults, but a LOT of children as well. (I know we sailed during spring break but it felt like our Disney cruise several years ago with the number of children running around... and most of the unaccompanied ones were not that well-behaved. There should be some reward at the end of the cruise for any child that resists the urge to push every button the elevator after they use it.)

 

Even though it was packed to the hilt due to everyone being corralled there because the rooms weren't ready, we were at a table in less than 15 minutes. We hung out and chatted for a little bit to kill some time, until 1:30 rolled around, then made our way down to the room.

Our room this time was 2411, a cove balcony. We stayed in one of these rooms on the Breeze and loved it. I prefer them to the standard inside staterooms because the balcony is very peaceful, and more closed in than the regular balconies.

You can see the cove balconies in this picture, the square openings that look like little shelves. Ours was the 11th room from the back, on the opposite side.

This is the view looking out.

This is inside our lived-in stateroom, king bed plus sofa.

This is the wall art between our room and the one next door. It's the only one I saw like this on our floor, but I'm sure there's plenty of them elsewhere.

[lizzyplague]

I don't have any complaints about the room. Everything is pretty standard. The TV works, the shower is hot, toilet flushes.. only problem we did seem to have was that the lights wouldn't turn on sometimes unless we took the little paper out completely and shoved it back in. Whether that's true for all rooms or operator error, I don't know.

This room is halfway between the aft and mid elevators so getting to dinner was quick, but getting to the forward parts of the ship took a bit longer. Again, not a big deal. We walk 3 miles every day at home.

Even though this room shows as being under the galley, we never heard any noise from it. We never smelled anything funky, either, with the exception of some oil paint smell walking back to dinner the first couple of nights.

Our room steward was Erwin, and he did ask us if we wanted cleaning once or twice a day. We said both and he agreed. Our service was standard. He kept our room clean and well-stocked. We'd get an adorable towel animal every day, and since I had put in that it was my birthday (it is actually the week before we sailed), he gave me a $50 spa gift card as well as a card for a free photo (up to $11.99). I used the free photo gift-card but didn't use the spa one at all. Everything is very expensive or didn't appeal to me. (The card is non-transferable so neither of my parents could use it, either.)

So after unpacking, we went around and explored the ship. We sailed the Magic's sister ship Breeze in 2015 and the layout of the two is very similar.

Atrium. Some of the 'eyeball' lights change color, and others don't.

Another view of the atrium. The eyes are on you at all times, hehe.

Ocean Plaza, Deck 5 Mid. This is where all the trivia is held in the mornings and early afternoon, as well as music at night. Here you will find the Lanai deck (Outside the sliding doors in the middle, and on the opposite side of the ship), the Taste Bar, which serves small samples of the restaurants just before dinner, as well as continental breakfast and light lunch during the day. Alchemy Bar is located on the left. There were also some Foosball type games down there, as well. You will also find Guys Pig and Anchor Barbecue on sea days, on the port side. We didn't try it, but it looked good.. and the line was very long... so it must have been good. It sure smelled it. The blue light on the ceiling made a 'wave' pattern, as well as change color.

Just before Ocean Plaza is a Fun Hub. Basic internet starts at $5 for a 24 hour period. I'm not sure what the other prices are, as we didn't buy any of the packages this time around. Normally we purchase the cheap package in order to print our boarding passes, but we stayed in Orlando with family after the cruise so there was no need to. Through the doors on the left are the mid elevators, as well as the entrance into the casino. You can also just walk straight and find it.

Casino, looking towards the Fun Shops and Atrium. Forward, on Decks 3, 4, and 5 you will find the Main Theater.

The wall is pretty in the casino. It has stars, moons, and rainbow flecks in it.

 

That's about it for right now. I'll post some more either later tonight or tomorrow evening. Cheers!

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[cruisingbajan]

Thanks for posting.

[jewliana]

Thanks so much for your review! We board her this Sunday and I am so thrilled to hear that The Pig and Anchor is available. I had read that it was not on this ship yet. What a wonderful surprise!

[Jamman54]

Great start to your review! We'll be on her for the first time in October so we are really enjoying your pics. :cool:

[lizzyplague]

Thanks everyone! :)

 

Got a few more parts coming now, then more later today.

[lizzyplague]

The wall is pretty in the casino. It has stars, moons, and it has rainbow flecks in it.

There are also some creepy looking rabbits throughout, coming out of magic hats. (That's why it's called the Hat Trick Casino!) Yes, their eyes do glow. A little creepy.. but.. what are you gonna do?

If you go towards the back of the ship, you will find the Red Frog Pub, which serves appetizers for a fee, as well as drinks. Music is played here at night.

Going even more towards the back of the ship, you will find one of the night club, Play It Again Piano Bar (with Roddy, on our sailing), and the comedy club. The first night's comedian was Sheila Kay.. and since the comedy club hosted the first night of bingo, they didn't clear out any of the bingo people if they wanted to stay for her adult show. (I believe it was 9:30). This was the only time this happened our cruise, but I'll elaborate more on the comedy club later.

After exploring a bit, we showered and changed for dinner. I e-mailed the maitre D about two weeks before our cruise, seeking a private table for the three of us... and... success! We were granted our request.

We dined in the Southern Lights (4 Aft) dining room, with the 6 PM seating.

The lack of tablecloths doesn't bother any of us in the least. Never have, and never will.

The view from our booth.

I was planning pre-cruise to take more pictures of food but that fell by the wayside. I did get some pictures towards the end of the cruise, though.

 

I ordered a Grand Sunset, with orange, pineapple juice and grand marnier. It was sweet, but pretty good. I'd order it again. I also ordered the chicken quesadilla for the appetizer, and the pot roast with spicy corn pudding. The roast was very tender and the corn pudding was just alright, as was the quesadilla. I'd order each of them again though.

Of course, dad and me ordered the melting cake which was divine as always, and mom ordered the Nutella tiramisu. (Creamy, but not as good as I remembered it being on our previous cruise.)

 

The first night's show is the Welcome Aboard show, which showcases the Playlist singers as well as the towel animal crew.

 

Dad and I attended that show while mom went off exploring on her own. (I noticed a CC member in the main theater, 5th deck, right near the entrance. If you're reading this, you might have spoken to my father. He mentioned me, the one who reads CC all day.)

Then it was off to the comedy club for Sheila's show, and then back to the room for some well-deserved rest.

Up next: Sea Day #1

[lizzyplague]

Sea Day 1 (April 2nd)

So we had a pretty easy day. Not a lot to write home about. We took part in some of the trivia games in Ocean Plaza, with Jackie Cham from Cozumel. (Pro tip: Don't volunteer to win a ship on a stick unless you want to dance, especially during name that 90s tune or the other music-related trivias. I'll spare you any more details than that. What happens on the ship, stays on the ship. )

 

Flick was showing in the main theater that evening. The show covers famous movie scores, like 007, Titanic, Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc. It was okay, in my opinion. Some of the effects and dancing were pretty cool, though. I'd give it a 7.5/10.

Because I don't have any other pictures to share, here's a pretty sunset.

Up next... First port of call, Cozumel!

[lizzyplague]

Cozumel, Mexico (April 3rd)

We woke up early, as we had to meet our excursion for a departure time of 10 AM. We ate breakfast at Lido around 7:30, got ready, and made our way off the ship.

 

In port with us, was Carnival Paradise, Carnival Triumph, and Disney Fantasy (on the other pier).

Triumph was arriving the same time as we were, and we had a pretty good view from our room.

Do you remember me mentioning that I should have had my photo retaken at check-in? Well, here's why:

Security: Scans my card ... "Miss Plague? Wait a moment, please. Can we please see another form of ID?"

Me: "..Okay." Not holding up the line or anything. I get my drivers license out and hand it over.

Security: Scrutinizing me. "This doesn't look like you."

Me: "...I cut my hair and lost some weight since having those photos taken.

Security: Oh, ok. You're cleared.

 

I know the security people are doing their jobs in making sure no one gets on or off the ship that isn't supposed to, but... We've been at sea for a day and a half so the only way I could have gotten on was to embark in Florida.. Seriously! I guess I shouldn't have cut my hair. But my face still looks the same! Anyway....

First time we've seen this many Carnival ships in port together. Medium, Big and Small! (Triumph is in the back, then Magic, then Paradise). Magic easily has 5 or 6 decks over Paradise, if you're wondering about the scale of the ships side by side. Doesn't look it unless you're standing up on Magic's top decks.

We go to the end of the pier, through the Duty Free shop and meet up with our excursion: Ancient Culture/Mayan Ruins + Island Tour (booked through Carnival), which would take us to the San Gervasio Ruins and El Mirador, which is a popular beach.

Erwin was our guide. He was very knowledgeable and kept us engaged the whole time. At the ruins, Erwin filled us in on the ways of the Mayans, and told us that he is a descendant of the Mayans as well. We were given a history of their practices and beliefs, which was pretty interesting!

For April, it sure was hot and humid. We live in the northeast so I think anything above 70 is hot for us, but Erwin told us it's their winter this time of year. This is how hot it would be in mid August back home! I shouldn't be complaining though, we left the rain and snow behind so anything is better than that.

 

Here are some pictures of the ruins.

You might notice some handprints on the walls. Erwin said it symbolizes life if the hands are facing up, and death if the hands are facing down. The hut was used as a temple in order to pray to Ixchel, the fertility goddess.

Can you see the local greeting us? (Or looking very bored, take your pick.)

[lizzyplague]

This was the largest of the preserved ruins on the property. It is about a 1/2 mile walk in both directions, over some gravel covered dirt. Make sure you wear closed toed shoes on this excursion. The picture was taken back a little ways. I believe this is about 5 stories tall when you're up close to it.

 

We spent about an hour and a half here. There are some vendors on the way out that can be pushy, but most of what they sell can be found back at the pier.

 

Back into the bus, and some more history of the island. Our drive took us along the scenic coast, and to our final stop of El Mirador.

 

It's a very pretty beach area. There are arches that bring you out over the water, but you'll do so at your own risk. There are a lot of holes in the rock, as you can see. Some are bigger than your foot, so you have to be careful. The view is worth it, though. I wouldn't attempt it if you're afraid of heights or are not too stable on your feet.

 

The tour overall was okay, if you are into history and not so much into scuba diving or swimming with dolphins. Honestly, it was sort of a one and done thing but the beach area is worth a revisit.

 

So back on the ship, we grabbed a semi-late lunch and went back to the room to relax for a few hours. Then, we cleaned up and got ready for dinner. Tonight they were serving steak tacos. They were too spicy for me, but the margarita was perfect. (For the record, we ordered the chocolate melting cake again... and it was again divine.)

 

I went to watch Dr. Strange at the Dive-In Movie, then went to the 9:30 comedy show. I wasn't particularly impressed with him so I didn't get his name or anything. Just a note: Many times throughout the week, everyone got into the comedy club that was in line. I do recommend getting there at least 20-30 minutes before show time, if you want a seat.

I'm going to channel Mr. Heald and add an 'oh, ffs' side bit: If you go to the club's entrance and bypass the line, the comedy club staff are going to send you to the end of the line. You will not get in if you walk to the entrance and think to yourself, 'I'm too important to wait in this line. They'll let me in!" They won't. I don't know how many people we saw that tried it, only to give the staff a dumbfounded look of: "Why? I took the time to walk all the way up here! Give me preferential treatment!" As I've said, you'll most likely get in, but it may be standing room only by the time you do. (And these were not new cruisers. Many of them were red or gold.) /end rant

 

Up next... Belize Zoo and City Tour!

[activeac]

Would you share the email address you used to request your table type in the dining room?

[lizzyplague]

Belize - April 4

 

Rhapsody of the Seas was in port with us... well, tendered nearby. Belize was the only port on our cruise that has a tender, meaning the ship docks a few miles out and you are brought in on a small passenger boat. Belize is set up this way because of the reefs that are right along the coast. Some of the most beautiful in the world, from what I've read and seen.

 

We ate our usual breakfast at the usual time then made our way to the main theater. If you are on a Carnival excursion, this is where a majority of them meet. If you don't have an excursion through Carnival, you will have to go to one of the dining rooms and they will give you a tender sticker.

 

We arrived a bit early, and didn't need a sticker. Apparently, one of tenders wasn't quite full, so they called 3 or 4 excursions and said if we were there, that we could take the tender and go to the mainland. There would be another one a short while later, though.

 

So, we hopped down to the gangway and (again) I was questioned as to why I didn't look like my passport photo... but the security guard was nice enough to retake my picture so I wouldn't have this problem again. :)

 

Our ship from the tender. It is about a 15 - 20 minute ride, one way.

 

(I waited about half an hour to get this picture. I'm proud of it.)

 

Last time we were here in Belize, we did the Altun Ha and River Wallace tour, which was excellent. I'd very highly recommend it. It's a tour of the Altun Ha ruins, as well as a 2 hour boat ride where you can see lots of native wildlife.

 

This time, though, we opted for the Belize Zoo and City Tour. The 'city' portion of the tour wasn't anything special, just a drive through the city, but it was made better with superb information from our guide Ivette. She pointed out various landmarks and important cites.

 

The drive out to the zoo is about an hour. We had a large bus and plenty of AC so it was okay by me.

 

I had done some reading up on the zoo before we got there, but Ivette filled everyone in. The zoo was founded in 1983 by Sharon Matola. She was told by the government she was not allowed to keep the animals as pets, so she formed the zoo in order to take care of them, as many of them would die if released into the wild. According to Ivette, the animals know her voice and will come to her if she calls them.

 

The animals are kept in enclosures where the nature is left completely intact, and all of them are native to Belize. It is small, sitting on just 29 acres, but there are over 175 animals living there; Mammals, reptiles and birds.

 

It takes about 1-1.5 hours to walk through. There is a bathroom outside, but not one inside.

 

Upon passing through the main gate, we were met with this adorable fellow.

 

You can take a picture with the snake, if you'd like. I'm not normally a fan of snakes but I was feeling brave and got one for the photo album. I won't be posting it here but trust me. It exists.

[lizzyplague]

Would you share the email address you used to request your table type in the dining room?

 

Sure!

mcmaitred@carnival.com

[lizzyplague]

This is a tapir. (When we were on the River Wallace portion of our excursion four years ago, we saw one of these cross right in front of our boat. According to our guide at that time, Amalia, it is good luck. I've had a lot of good luck since then, so it must be true!)

 

Tucan! These guys love cameras. They hopped right over and posed like no one's business whenever anyone took a photo of them.

 

This cutie is called an ocelot. They can get between 18-44 lbs, so a bit bigger than the house cat.

 

And the margay. They look quite similar to the ocelot, but are the size of a house cat. They only weigh between 5 and 9 lbs! There was a sign on his cage that read, 'If you value your fingers, keep your paws out', but that doesn't mean everyone. A young man with a cellphone, trying to get a picture, stuck his finger in and the margay swatted at him. That's why you keep your paws off, buddy. :P

 

[lizzyplague]

Speaking of Buddy..

 

The Belize Zoo's brand ambassador is none other than Junior Buddy, who's just turned 9 years old. He was born and raised at the zoo. His mother was part of their Problem Jaguar Rehab Program, and today, Junior works as an ambassador to promote the good that the zoo is doing, as well as promoting education of his species.

(This is not a picture I took, but since Junior is so important to the Zoo, he deserves it.)

 

The zoo offers a program called Jaguar Encounter, in which you can actually get up close and personal with Junior. I believe it is $50, but cruise ship groups are not allowed to participate in it. If you are on an independent tour, you are allowed to. It's something I'd love to do if I ever go back to Belize. They also offer other 'Encounters' with some of the other animals.

 

The Belize Zoo has two other jaguars. The smaller of the two is named Chiqui, who is just under a year old. Her name is short for Chiquibul, which is the forest where she was found. Her mother abandoned her when she was just two days old, and has been living there ever since.

Here is Chiqui in her habitat. Notice the amount of vegetation. This is primarily why it's hard to get pictures, but it's still very awe-inspiring to see them this close.

This is the other adult jaguar they have. I'm not sure what his name is, unfortunately. You can see him towards the left. I think it was too hot even for the big cats today.

 

Keeping with the cat theme, this is a puma (or mountain lion).

 

Brown pelican. I believe they said he had had some kind of wing injury which prevents him from flying which is why he was in an open pen.

 

Harpy Eagle. They've tried releasing him into the wild on more than occasion, but he keeps coming back. He knows where the food is, that's all!

 

Overall, this is one of my favorite tours. I would certainly go back to the zoo if given the chance.. hopefully when it's not 90 degrees and 90% humidity. April and May are the hottest times to go. They have a lot of other animals here as well, including owls, monkeys, and others. This is only a very small sample of what they offer.

The zoo itself is not really a linear setup, so it is probably better to have a guide rather than going it on your own. It's pretty easy to get turned around or lost.

 

Back on the ship, they were playing Country Road. I didn't care for it since I'm not a fan of country music, but it's a mixture of some older country, and newer. We went to the 9:30 comedy show, then called it a night. Rogue One was playing on the Dive In Movies at 10'o clock but that was a bit too late for any of us.

 

Up next.. (aka later today)... Honduras, and a visit with the pirates, birds and monkeys of the Caribbean!

 

[jbhcw]

Enjoying your review...and great pictures!

[Sjb0704]

Following

[activeac]

Sure!

mcmaitred@carnival.com

Thank you!

[lizzyplague]

Thank you!

 

You're welcome! :)

[lizzyplague]

Sorry for the delay. Next segment coming right up!

 

Isla Roatan, Honduras (April 5)

 

So, if you're at all like me, you read a lot of cruise critic reviews, both good and bad. Well, sometimes people comment that a particular ship is a 'rust bucket' and should be decommissioned.. Well, I think I know what they're talking about.

Just a guess.

 

But anyway...

We woke up early, as we usually do, and headed up for breakfast. Our excursion wasn't due to leave until 12:45 PM so we had the morning to ourselves.

 

Carnival Breeze was in port with us today. Nice to see you again!

 

Also with us, on the other side of the island, were Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas and (I believe) Norwegian Dawn.

 

While docked in Honduras, they cleaned all the balcony windows, and ran their safety and lifeboat drills. Kind of cool to see! Hopefully they won't ever have to use it in a real emergency.

 

We played some general knowledge trivia (and failed miserably), grabbed a quick lunch, then met our excursion at the end of the pier.

 

We had done this excursion before on our first Western Caribbean cruise in 2013 and loved it enough to give it a second try.

 

 

The ride to Gumbalimba Park is about 45 minutes over very hilly and narrow terrain. A bit scary if you don't like heights or get motion sick easy. Plus, there are no real traffic laws in Honduras. Whoever gets there first, goes. But, the crime rate is one of the lowest. They don't give prisoners food or a bed if they get arrested. Family members are responsible for bringing food.

 

Denise was our informative guide for the trip to and through the park. She really knew her stuff!

 

Gumbalimba Park was founded in 2003 and showcases a history of Honduras, including flora, fauna, and a history of the pirates that used to live there. In addition to hosting the garden, pirate cave, monkeys and parrots, there is also a small beach area, water sports complex, and zip lining.

 

There is a small snack stand for food, as well as a gift shop. No large backpacks (purses, small bags and cameras only) are allowed in Monkey Land, so you have to rent a locker to store them.

 

[lizzyplague]

To start our tour, we walked through the botanical garden with its beautiful native plants. A lot of the plants could be brewed into teas which cure everything from headaches to stomach aches.

There are many iguanas at this park. BIG iguanas. I'd say this guy was close to 6 ft long.

There is a small nature center with samples of various bugs that live in Honduras, but we weren't given the option of going in this time. It was right through the garden, to Coxen's Cave, then.....

If you want to see the monkeys and parrots, this is what awaits you; a 238 ft long suspension bridge that runs over water. They only allow 14 or so people at a time, but a word of advice... keep moving! (I know the guy in front of me won't ever see this, but... he just about gave me a heart attack. He stopped dead in the middle and most wobbly part of the bridge so his girlfriend could take a picture of him! Not cool, dude.)

 

If suspension bridges aren't your thing, there is a much more stable dirt path that leads across the river; aptly named the chicken bridge. No shame in it if you do take it. That bridge is pretty scary

[lizzyplague]

More toucans. These guys hopped right over to us, as well. Must be a toucan thing.

One thing you'll notice very quickly is that most of the animals are not in cages for this portion of the tour. (Unless they are not friendly towards people, and you are told not to get too close to their cages.)

In captivity, macaws nest on the ground. We were told not to get too close since this pair was guarding their eggs. Denise was very good about telling us which animals were the most friendly.

I can't recall the exact number of birds that live here, but there are about 24 Capuchin monkeys, including a few babies. I think she said about 50-60 birds, though not all of them are available for public viewing.