Carnival Miracle Western Caribbean June 17-24, 2018 In Depth Review by jlebnet

[jlebnet]

Molly, Robby and I went snorkeling and the others stayed at the beach.

We got back on the boat and rode out a little way to where we would begin our snorkel. We were required to have a life jacket, but were allowed to loop it around our wrist if we were confident swimmers. All three of us started off with them around our wrists, but Robby and Molly kept getting tangled up with theirs, so they put them around their waists. I left mine on my wrist and didn’t have any problem. Honestly, I am not a strong swimmer, but I am incredibly floaty, especially in the Caribbean. I can float for days with no effort at all.

We saw a lot of pretty fish and coral. Claudius brought up a small conch for everyone to pass around.

 

Robby spotted three flamingo tongues and some Christmas tree worms. After we snorkeled for a while, we got back on the boat and it returned us to the tiny island.

 

 

Molly got some food, I got 2 more rum punches, and waded out to where Jessie and Cortnee were in the beautiful crystal clear blue water.

 

They had found a lot of little dead fish. It was weird – we don’t know what happened to them. I took a few pictures, and my camera battery died.

[jlebnet]

I went back to change batteries, and Molly went back out with me. She swam for a little while, and we went back in so I could get something to eat too. I got a big plate of lobster kabobs with rice and beans and fried plantain and a Belikin for $10.

The girls had all gotten jerk chicken plates with a coke, and I think they were $8 each. Almost as soon as I got my food, it was time for us to go. I really enjoy Goff’s Cay, but I just never get to spend enough time there. I would definitely pay more for a longer visit, if I could. I didn’t get to spend any time with Mammaw at Goff’s Caye.

I asked her if she ever even got in the water. She said she did while I was out snorkeling, but she went in where the rocks were, not where the sand is soft and the water is so pretty. The boat ride back to Belize City was not as bumpy as it was going out. I tipped the crew, and we were back in plenty of time to catch a tender. In fact, we had to wait in a pretty long line to get to a tender boat. The one that brought us back was much smaller than the one we had that morning. We had just sat down, when Molly said “She’s throwing up! And it splattered on my feet!”. I quickly turned around as I said “WHO?” Thankfully, it wasn’t one of our girls. It was a girl a couple of rows back, who appeared to have had too much to drink.

Apparently, there was no bucket or bag or anything on the boat that she could throw up in other than the floor. Some other passengers started fanning her, but there was really nothing any of us could do. Other than hold our feet up off the floor. I am sure she had to be carried off the tender and onto the ship.

Once we were back on the ship, Robby and I headed to the Red Frog Pub in time to get a half price drink before happy hour was over. There were several people beautiful blue drinks in small pitchers. They were so pretty, it made me want to buy one without even knowing what they were! I didn’t, but decided I was going to if we made it back for happy hour another day.

I left Robby at the Pub and walked over to the casino to win some money at the slot machines. The casino was still closed, so I decided to buy some sushi instead. While I was waiting, the girls walked up. They were getting sushi too. Jessie went off with her Club O2 friends, and Molly and Cortnee went back to the Pub with me. We played foosball and listened to Karaoke for a while.

Cortnee sang Ed Sheeran’s Perfect, and almost everybody in the Pub started slow dancing. One poor guy even danced with a pole until some lady felt sorry enough for him and danced with him. She got a lot of well deserved compliments for singing that song.

That night was 80’s night. We saw Frankie “The Tank” eating in the buffet area while wearing a mullet wig. I love that guy! I am totally an 80’s girl, and I really wanted to see the 80’s show and go to the 80’s party, but for some reason we didn’t make it to the show and I was too tired for the party. I wanted to be sure I had plenty of rest, because my favorite port was coming up the next day… ROATAN!

[Florings]

Still loving this review....

[Hogladyrider]

We love Paradise Beach...what they have built there is amazing to what it was 10 years ago....best of both worlds, sand, salt water and a pool!

 

Enjoying your review, looking forward to reading more.

[mickeychicky]

Loving this review! Live in Clearwater and am looking for a quick cheap cruise out of Tampa to hold me over until Harmony or Symphony of the Seas next May. I love the Western Caribbean cruises. Been to Belize twice and hated every minute of each trip but now I see you have ventured away from Belize City I might give it a THIRD try. We have done the Cozumel Bar Hop twice but your review of Paradise Beach looks interesting. Roatan... I am so in love with Roatan. Last trip we went to Little French Key. Waiting for the rest..............

[jlebnet]

Thursday, June 21, 2018 – Daniel Johnson’s and West Bay -Roatan, Honduras

Since our first visit in March of 2014, Roatan has been my favorite island! Robby and I have spent a total of 30 days there in the last 4 years, and we brought the kids with us for a week last summer. We were all really looking forward to our short visit this day. I had booked our transportation for the day through Daniel Johnson, so I knew we would be well taken care of. I got up and went to Deck 10 to watch the sun rise over Roatan.

I ate my usual breakfast of French toast, bacon, eggs Benedict with smoked salmon, and milk. I brought the girls breakfast, and we were ready to go!

We had our towels and snorkeling gear, as well as four extra bags filled with gifts for our friends on the island, so we were pretty loaded down. We had to walk up and out of the port, up some stairs, and up and down a hill to get to where the non-Carnival excursions met. We recognized Daniel Johnson’s mom,Diane, who we met last summer. She introduced us to Myra Welcome, who would be our driver for the day.

 

Myra led us to her air conditioned van, and drove us to Daniel Johnson’s Monkey and Sloth Hangout. She has 30 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren, and takes care of a lot of her older relatives. She was really nice, and such a safe driver. When we arrived at Daniel Johnson’s, we were greeted by his sister Danica. We paid her $40 cash for each person to cover admission to the Hangout, as well as transportation for the entire day.

 

We were hoping that our expat friend Deb would be able to meet us there, but she was sick. She talked to Danica before we arrived and arranged for us to leave our gifts with her, and Deb would pick them up when she was able. We had two backpacks filled with flip flops deflated soccer balls for Deb and Nidia of Roatan Because We Care to give out for us. We also brought Deb some Hot Tamales candy because it can’t be found on Roatan, and a WiFi extender for her house.

Once we handed these things over to Danica, we met Gavin who would be our tour guide. Daniel walked up before we got started and we talked with him for a couple of minutes. He is such a great guy!

We got to see and hear about all the animals, and all of us except for Robby got to interact with a lot of them. Robby said he had been there and done that and wasn’t interested. Whatever. All of the rest of us held or “hugged” a sloth, got in the cage where the curious and mischievous monkeys climbed allover us, and held 2 kinds of beautiful birds.

 

 

We talked to Daniel a little more and he promised Molly a job there when she becomes a veterinarian. She is super excited about that! Daniel also said he would take us fishing next time – I am super excited about that! We had a lot of fun, and would have loved to stay longer, but we had a lot more we wanted to do, and not much time to do it.

[jlebnet]

We loaded back up into Myra’s van and she took us to West End. Jessie and I have been following Colleen Quinn’s blog Bald Girl Big World for almost a year now.She has alopecia, and has traveled all over Central and South America on her own. She was currently living and working in West End. I messaged her from Cozumel on Tuesday, and she agreed to meet us where she works at Off the Hook,even though she was off that day. We brought her 4 bags of Flamin Hot Cheetos,because she missed them and they are not available on Roatan. She was really sweet, andeven let us take a picture with her.

 

 

We asked where her next adventure would take her, and she told us that she was leaving for the US the following week (Where she can get all the Flamin hot Cheetos she wants. Oh,well, it’s the thought that counts, right?).

 

We said our thank-yous and good-byes and Myra got us a water taxi. We invited her to go to West Bay with us, but she said she had some knee trouble and couldn’t get in and out of boats very easily. She said she would be waiting for us right there when we returned. Our water taxi captain was Captain Dog. He said his name was Nelson, but there is another Nelson who is a bad guy and he didn’t want to be mistaken for him. He got his name, Captain Dog, when a dog bit him on the leg and refused to let go. Captain Dog took us on a wonderful boat ride to West Bay, and docked at the Infinity Bay pier.

 

 

He told us that when we were ready to go back, to find Jason and he would take us. Jason was young. When we got to the end of the pier, we saw Ernesto Ruiz! He was our instructor at Blue Island Divers last summer. He got all of our kids SCUBA certified. Even though we really wanted to see him, we knew we wouldn’t have time to go looking for him and never dreamed we would run into him on the beach! We were so excited, and now I am so disappointed, because I didn’t even think about taking a picture. Ernesto now has his own dive shop, Banana Nut Burgers. He was busy with tanks after a dive, and we were in a hurry to go snorkeling, so we went on our way. We were hoping to rent a chair to put our things in while we were in the water, but apparently Bananarama is the only place that does that, and we were going the opposite direction.

[jlebnet]

We just put our stuff down by the wall at Grand Roatan, and got in the water. Robby and I were the only ones who really snorkeled. We went out to the big rock and back. We saw the biggest parrot fish we have ever seen, but didn’t get a good picture of it. It was REALLY BIG! We saw a couple of large schools of blue tangs, and a couple of schools of squid. That was the closest I have ever come to a squid. They are so pretty!

 

 

We did not see any lionfish, which is a first for me in Roatan. But that is a good thing! They don’t belong there. We saw so many beautiful fish and corals.

 

I hated to leave. I could seriously snorkel there every day and never get tired of it. Above the surface, the water is breathtakingly beautiful. But under the surface, it is a whole other world full of life and excitement. You just can’t even imagine it unless you have experienced it.

 

Before we knew it, it was time to head back. We admired the iguanas sunning themselves on the rocks while we dried off and got our things together.

Robby bought some banana bread and cinnamon rolls from an Islander on the beach.

 

There was a sea turtle nest right in front of Grand Roatan. I wish we could have been there when they hatched!

 

[jlebnet]

We walked back to the pier at Infinity Bay and found Jason.

 

He told us that he doesn’t speak much English, but Robby was able to speak enough broken Spanish to ask him where he lives. He said Sandy Bay. He was really young, but he drove that boat like a pro. I’m sure he has been doing it all his life.

 

The water was so beautiful. Did I already mention that?

 

Back at West End, I saw Anita Tennyson’s Roatan PaddleSports from the water taxi. Maybe next time.

 

We saw Colleen again as we were leaving the pier, and Myra was right there waiting for us. She said we had a few minutes for the girls to shop for souvenirs, and then we started heading back to the port. We had to go right past Blue Island Divers, and we were all really thirsty, so we asked Myra to stop. We were all so happy that we got to see Maria there! She got us all a soft drink, and Myra took our picture together.

 

 

Then Maria took our picture with Myra.

 

 

Then time was up and we had to leave, just like that. It was a very short visit, but I am so thankful for the time we had with Maria. I just love her.

[jlebnet]

Myra drove us to the cruise port and we were sad to tell her and beautiful Roatán goodbye. We tipped Myra and asked if she was on social media so we could keep in touch with her. She said she uses "What's Up" (Whatsapp), but we don't. I'm sure we will be able to find her again, even if we can't keep in touch in the mean time.

 

Inside the port, I handed Molly some money to tip the brightly dressed Garifuna who were playing music. They insisted that Molly sit with them for a picture.

 

I took this picture of the girls in front of the ship while we were waiting in line to board.

 

Cortnee said “Next time can we just fly down to Roatán and stay for a while?” Yes, Cortnee, I believe we will do just that next summer!

Here are a few more random pictures from Roatan that I didn't include earlier:

 

Half Moon Bay Beach at West End, right in front of Off the Hook Restaurant and Coconut Tree Divers

 

Gorgeous West Bay Beach

I think she loves me!

 

My pictures don't do justice to the beauty of the reef and fish in Roatan

[Hogladyrider]

I remember when the West End was the "place to go" when docking in Roatan, this was before Carnival developed Mahogany Bay.

 

Have not been to the West End since Mahogany Bay opened, but I have read on CC that West End has become very touristy along with a higher incidence of crime against tourists by locals.

 

We really enjoy the snorkeling off the dock at the end of Mahogany Bay and the walk to Mahogany Bay is beautiful as well.

 

Glad you enjoyed your time in Roatan.

[liv4dalord]

This is the best review ever!!!! I will be on the Miracle August 26th!!

[LadyGal4]

Looking forward to your Grand Cayman review. I'm very interested in this one!

[jlebnet]

A final word about Roatan, not directly related to our cruise. I debated a lot about what to say here, and if I should say anything at all. Ultimately, I decided that you are all probably here for the same reason I am - information - so I decided to share. I know a lot of cruise ship passengers love going to Little French Key in Roatan. I have not been ever there myself, but I have seen it up close from Sam Arch's boat and from Big French Key. I know how beautiful it looks, and that everyone who goes there seems to have a wonderful time. But I know things about Little French Key that most of you probably don't. I am not going to give a personal opinion here - I am just sharing a recent post from an islander friend of mine so you guys will have a little more information about the place before you make your own decision about going there. This is just the latest in a long history of sketchy activity at Little French Key.

 

[mickeychicky]

A final word about Roatan, not directly related to our cruise. I debated a lot about what to say here, and if I should say anything at all. Ultimately, I decided that you are all probably here for the same reason I am - information - so I decided to share. I know a lot of cruise ship passengers love going to Little French Key in Roatan. I have not been ever there myself, but I have seen it up close from Sam Arch's boat and from Big French Key. I know how beautiful it looks, and that everyone who goes there seems to have a wonderful time. But I know things about Little French Key that most of you probably don't. I am not going to give a personal opinion here - I am just sharing a recent post from an islander friend of mine so you guys will have a little more information about the place before you make your own decision about going there. This is just the latest in a long history of sketchy activity at Little French Key.

 

 

 

I think both sides have heard many stories (the good and the bad) and we, not being native to the area don't know where the truth lies. I have heard from some locals also, that Carnival and the "governor/mayor" (whoever is in charge of that island) have been wanting to shut LFK down for a long time because Carnival really wants its passengers to stay with Carnival when it gets to Roatan, not venture off on their own with other companies and LFK is taking a lot of passengers away from Carnival's excursions. And since Carnival built their own "port/dock" it brings a lot of money to the island. And the government does not want to displease Carnival in any way, therefore, harassing and raiding LFK when possible.

 

Again, all second-hand information. I've seen videos and news releases about what is going on and can only form my own opinion. But, we don't really know what is going on in that situation. Corruption, jealousy, greed.....who knows. Maybe a little of all three and both sides.

 

Roatan is a beautiful place, regardless of what is going on "behind the scenes". And I would return to LFK because it was a great, fun, relaxing time off the boat. I would also do Bodden's Tours again. Another great time off the boat.:)

[jlebnet]

Friday, June 22, 2018 – Cayman Turtle Centre and CemeteryBeach - Grand Cayman

 

Although we had visited all of our other ports multiple times in the past, this was our first time at Grand Cayman. We were all really looking forward to seeing a new place. I was torn between doing the stingrays or the turtles, so I let the girls decide, and they chose the turtles.

 

Grand Cayman is a tender port, but it was a lot different than Belize. We were anchored just a short distance from the port, and then tender ride was super short.

I was a little disappointed that nobody one the tender boat welcomed us and told us about their island like the people did on our Belize tender boat. They didn’t give us any safety information, or really even speak to us at all.

 

We got off the tender boat, walked through the port, and walked another few blocks to the bus station. They asked us where we were going, and I replied Cayman Turtle Centre. That’s the name of the place, but apparently everyone there calls it The Turtle Farm. I was corrected every time I said it. The cost of the bus ride was $2.50 US per person (1 Cayman dollar = $1.20 US). The bus, which was really a van,stopped often to let people on and off, and it got crowded at times. The person sitting by the door was responsible for opening and closing it.

 

I had already booked our tickets online. The Turtle Adventure Tour (entire park) was $45 per adult, and $25 for Molly, and then we got a 20% discount off of that. I showed my receipt at the front desk, and they also asked for my ID. We all got wristbands to wear while we were there.

 

The first thing we did was look at the huge turtles in The Green’s Breeding Pond. Molly bought some turtle food for $5.00 so she could feed them.

 

 

There were baby chickens running around and the girls were just asexcited about them as they were about the turtles.

[jlebnet]

Our next stop at the turtle farm was Turtle Lagoon. Molly and I put on our snorkeling gear right away and got in, and the other girls followed us. They did require us to wear vests, but I didn’t inflate mine. We started snorkeling, and the water had a lot of really gross junk floating on the top. Like really gross. And we were swimming into it head first. I wanted to get out, but Molly wanted to swim with the turtles, so I pretended it wasn’t bothering me.

 

We swam a pretty good ways before we saw our first turtle, and we had only seen a few little fish. I got some pictures of the turtle, and was ready to turn around and go back. We had done what we were in there for, right?

 

But Molly spotted another turtle in the distance, so we kept going. And going. And then, we turned a corner, and saw tons of big fish! And lots of turtles! It was awesome, and I completely forgot about all the yucky stuff.This corner of the lagoon is where people feed the fish and turtles, and that is why they all congregated there.

 

 

We stayed in that spot for a really longtime, and several turtles swap right past the girls. When we finally moved on,there wasn’t much else to see. I was very surprised that when I got out of the lagoon, none of the gross junk was on me. None of it! I would definitely do that again, without hesitation.

[jlebnet]

We dried off and walked over to the Caribbean Free Flight Aviary. It was an enclosed area with lots of interesting birds.

Next, we went to Breaker’s Lagoon and the Turtle Twister Waterslide. Breakers Lagoon is a big pool with a waterfall and water slide, and lounge chairs around it. Molly loved the water slide.

 

Our final stop at Cayman Turtle Center was the Turtle Wading Touch Pool. The girls all got in and took turns holding some of the turtles. They loved it! One turtle bit Jessie’s toe. She said it hurt, but it didn’t break the skin or even leave much of a mark.

[jlebnet]

We walked out of the Turtle Centre and tried to figure out where we should wait on the bus to come by and pick us up. There was a Turtle Centre van sitting there, and a guy hollered for us to come over there. We explained that we wanted to go to Foster’s Food Fair, a grocery store where we were going to get lunch. He asked, “Foster’s West Bay”? I said “Foster’s by Cemetery Beach. He repeated, “West Bay? And Robby said yes. Soon, we were on our way, and before long I spotted Foster’s Food Fair. I commented to my family, “That’s our stop.” But we weren’t slowing down. So I said several times very loudly that we wanted to stop there. The driver just kept going. After we passed the store, Robby said, “Hey, you missed our stop!” The driver replied, “I asked if you wanted to go to Foster’s West Bay. That wasn’t West Bay.” Now I was a little ticked off because I felt like he was completely ignoring everything I said. But he did turn around and drop us off right in front of the entrance to Foster’s Food Fair – the one we wanted to go to. I paid him and thanked him sweetly, even though I was still aggravated.

We went inside to the deli.They had a lot of things to choose from. You just filled your own to-go container with whatever you wanted and it was $5.59/lb Cayman. We all got soft drinks that were just over $1 each. I paid with US dollars, and got change in Cayman dollars and coins. I was pretty excited about that, because they are very pretty. I thought it was interesting when I later found out completely by accident that the Cayman coins stick to a magnet, but US coins do not.

 

We took our food and drinks outside and sat under the shade at a picnic table in the parking lot. There were chickens running around begging for scraps. We all really enjoyed our food. My favorites were the jerk chicken pasta and the plantains. The girls got more than they could eat, so they fed the chickens their leftovers.

 

We walked a few blocks to Cemetery Beach. We literally walked right beside a cemetery to get to the beach.

 

 

It wasn’t crowded at all,and the water was absolutely gorgeous! I had read that this was the best place to snorkel from the beach, so Robby and I headed out to see what we could find. Maybe we just didn’t go out far enough, but we swam out really far, and all we saw was dead coral and a few stray fish here and there.

Dead Brain Coral

Molly found a flounder and took this picture

 

The snorkeling was really disappointing. But above the water, the view was incredible!!

 

 

We decided that we better leave since we weren’t sure how long we would have to wait for the bus. It is supposed to run every 15 minutes.We walked over to a bus stop and waited. And waited. And waited. I think Robby and I were both starting to panic when a bus going the other direction turned around and came back for us. We were so grateful! But as usual, the bus made many stops for people to get off and on. We could see the ship, but we seemed to be going in the wrong direction. We were 15 minutes away from last tender,and we never cut it that close. Robby told Jessie to ask the driver if we would be at the port in the next 15 minutes. He said of course! We still worried, but he was right. We were there in plenty of time, and there was a long line for the tender boats anyway. We got on the last tender back, which left the port probably 30 minutes after the time they told us for last tender. It was a quick trip back, and we saw this cool pirate ship on the way.

 

[lazydayz]

Great review. Thanks for doing it. Looks like you all had a lovely cruise.

[CelticMCO]

Great review and pictures! Been to Grand Cayman twice (cruise and one land vacation); it is a nice stop but, unlike most of the Caribbean, and most of Mexico they do not count on cruise lines and passengers for their sole economic existence (you will never see a pier built there). Hence there is a slightly different vibe there. Looking forward to the rest of your report!

[vacationlover16]

Great review!

 

 

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[Cruiser 4 Life 66]

Looks like you had great weather all your port days. Enjoying the review and pics.

[Hotshotrucking]

Enjoyed, although we are going tho Little French Key, no regrets.

[bosoxfan5]

Great review! We are going Oct 21 on the same itinerary.