Not so much fun to write after the last vacation, packed for work but the six weeks of not working have slipped away. And the second vacation was a blast.
We began our trip with an early start to the city to purchase a new snorkel for my prescription snorkel mask from the dive shop. Then in to the city to visit with my travel partners new grand baby and Evvie is beautiful. She's very alert, calm and easily comforted - doesn't even have a disturbing cry. The new family is doing very well and that's always good to see. We picked up Greek food take out and had a nice supper before heading over to the airport hotel. Parked the car and settled for the night. An early morning as the flight left at 7 a.m. so a quick breakfast and the shuttle to the airport to begin our adventure. We had an uneventful flight to Toronto and then did a bit of shopping at Pearson - iPad mini case for the shore captain, some body shop goodies and lunch at Tim Horton's. Chatting and relaxing I suddenly note the time and we are off and running (literally) through customs, security and boarding. By the time we are retrieving our things at security and attempting to get our footwear on we are being paged for the final boarding call for our flight. I get my sneakers on first and make the sprint to hold our seats - whew! Are we ever glad to settle in. The flight is uneventful (always good) and we watched the movie Lincoln. My travel buddy stops the movie for a few moments and so misses the final minutes. "Now I'll never know who won the civil war" she says.
We arrive in Tampa on time and grab a cab to the Sheraton Riverwalk which turns out to be a very swish place. I am very glad for the research of my travel partner for accomodations as she did a great job. A quick shower and I hear my buddy talking on the phone to someone - turns out to be one of our friends who were coming to take us out for supper - she tells my buddy "I've got red hair" which is always the question of the day as she's a hairdresser. They are in the lobby when we make our entrance and whisk us away in a Lexus for a nice tour of Clearwater and area. We journey across the long toll bridge viewing the ocean, see all the upscale real estate, learn about the huge Scientology following, see lots of Crabby Bills and strip malls, walk on the soft powdery white beach and while in St. Pete's enjoy supper at a beach shack called Woody's which is pure 60s:
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| Fish tacos - yum |
http://www.woodyswaterfront.com
There was a guy playing keyboards with an amazing voice and the fish tacos and key lime pie still make my mouth water just to type the names. We were safely delivered back to our heavenly bed and crashed.
Up early to take in the breakfast buffet and watch the sculling teams practice on the Hillsborough River. Out to catch the hotel shuttle which dropped us at the bus terminal so we can make our way to Busch Gardens. The research noted that we can have an all day bus pass for $4 so we get a scenic tour of Ybor City and the other areas of Tampa before being deposited at the entrance to Busch Gardens.
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| Giraffes, zebras, antelopes, flamingos |
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| See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil |
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| The sky train |
We spent 10 hours there and could've stayed longer with the animals, the displays, musical entertainment, but no not the rides - we were chicken. And since we weren't watching the time we missed the last bus on Saturday evening so.... we were rescued by a passing bus driver who told us to "get in and sit down, I'll tell you when to get off" and who (with a decidedly eclectic group of passengers gave us a 90 minute tour of the university, malls and various sketchy neighbourhoods before depositing us at the bus terminal). We were giddy with excitement and hunger by the time the shuttle driver (a large fellow who looked like he appreciated food) dropped us at Eddie & Sam's NY Pizza - yes real NY pizza in downtown Tampa:
http://www.eddieandsamspizza.com
where we had chicken ptarmigan and chicken ranch pizza with caesar salad and garlic knots (yum) and homemade ice cream for dessert and waddled around the corner to the Sheraton. On the way we heard loud noises and realized the wedding reception at the hotel was winding down with a bang.
Up Sunday but not too early after the full day before. Over to a Spanish restaurant for breakfast:
http://www.tomaspain.com
and enjoyed a Cuban sandwich - bacon and eggs on baguette, fried plantains and juice. Ahhh. Off to walk the Riverwalk along the marina, up to the convention centre for a birds eye view - we can see our ship - and then to get ready.
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| Norwegian Dawn |
The Norwegian Dawn (seen here on the left at anchor in Belize City as we approach it by tender) check in is flawless and we are quickly deposited on to the ship and find stateroom 9558. Our cabin steward Jez (many more syllables than that in his Phillipino name of course) has it sparkling. And yes we had a balcony - this is an itinerary where it is worth the splurge. It was the best spot for drinking the complimentary wine and eating the chocolate covered strawberries we received from NCL, sail away and of course reading. Ahhh
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| napkin folding class |
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| wine tasting |
We spent our first sea day exploring and enjoying the ship and attended napkin folding class and a wine tasting. Both were educational and fun but we only needed a nap after one of them. Can you guess which one I'm referring to? With our trusty map, frequent reference to the wall map 'you are here' and occasional questions of staff we managed to find our way around the Dawn without too much difficulty. As with most cruise ships there are some 'you can't get there from here' spots.
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| Blue tang, West Bay, Roatan |
Our stop in Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras was a beach day where my travel partner got a significant but not too painful sunburn from sitting in the water/on the sand and I snorkelled off the beach at West Bay. There were huge schools of fish, some I recognized and several I did not. The fish were all large and very unafraid but are not keen to stay still for underwater photos. We took a cab with a tour guide called Miss Livette and a couple from Indiana (she was a nurse too) and did a bit of shopping afterwards. We were jealous of the tourists we met from our province who were staying for two weeks and enjoying the spot to the fullest.
Our port call in Belize City was the only spot where we purchased an excursion off the ship due to security concerns and we were not disappointed. Had a wonderful tour guide Melanie who made our day. We took a river cruise from the cruise port inland and saw howler monkeys, manatees, termite nests, iguanas, the local people enjoying themselves and many birds. Stopped for lunch at a great little resort with a pool and waterslide and had rice and beans, fried plantains and chicken. A little craft spot and then back on to the bus.
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| Altan Ha, Belize |
Altan Ha is Mayan ruins only discovered in 1981 and a great place. This makes three sets of Mayan ruins I've visited and they are all very different. This site was apparently a market place. About an hours bus ride back to the port through Belize City. Time to shop in the cruise port for gifts and grab a (local) chocolate milkshake. The return 20 minute tender ride and we are back on the ship. A long but absolutely fantastic day. Although there was some disappointment the next day for missing Costa Maya, due to winds and rough seas so inability to dock, we were almost relieved to have another sea day to recover from our outings and because we enjoyed the ship and this gave us extra time.
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| You can get anything you want at... |
The final port of call was the island of Cozumel and we shopped until we dropped as we became expert in the art of negotiation for various trinkets. We also got henna tattoos of palm trees with an island on our arms. Best $10 I've spent in a long time for the reactions we enjoyed. A younger passenger said "you ladies rock" when we explained the new Nana felt like doing something different. The life partner wasn't concerned they were real as he explained "not after the hard time you gave the girls about theirs". We had hoped to connect with a local friend but didn't see her and with four ships in port that day it was understandable - the town was crawling with tourists.
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| Chocolate castle |
A final sea day where we enjoyed ourselves to the max. Over the week we ate at the steak restaurant, Italian, and Brazilian (called it an early birthday celebration for my travel partner) as well as touring the chocolate buffet. There were sculptures, chocolate fountains, ice sculptures and mounds of desserts. Hard to capture with a few photos but a word of advice. If you are ever on a cruise ship and the term chocolate buffet is mentioned - save room. An early start to disembarkation day with room service for breakfast, clearing customs, walk off disembarkation, retrieval of luggage, a shuttle to the Howard Johnsons and then a chance to catch our breath with lunch. Over to the Florida Aquarium for three hours - could've stayed longer but they were closing - if you find yourself in Tampa it is a must do.
Instead of heading in to the HoJo we decide to check out the Spatz Centre for the Performing Arts next door and find that the new Bette Midler musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert is playing after just coming from Broadway. The show is in about an hour so the ticket booth man gives us front row mezzanine seats (worth $69) for $15. We rush back to the hotel, throw on our formal night clothes and head back to the show. A gin and tonic, the playbill and we're settled in the plush seats. The show is fantastic and we thoroughly enjoy ourselves. A quick dash in the showers to the hotel and we enjoy crab cakes and creme brule for an after theatre supper. A wonderful way to spend our last evening.
A sleep in, getting our stuff together, checking in with the airline and then time for some last minute sun in the lounge chair and a final dip in the pool. What a great way to end the vacation. The airport shuttle and all the hassles that come with air travel, check in, rearrangement of bags, security, waiting and more waiting, a full flight and then a full two hours gate to gate at Pearson airport to clear customs, transfer bags, make our way from one terminal to another and check in. Considering it took about 15 minutes a few weeks ago with West Jet to do the same thing, this was not impressive. An uneventful flight out to Halifax, retrieval of bags and vehicle and middle of the night drive home arriving by 4 am. A great time was had by all.
So with only six days between return and the flight out for work there hasn't been much down time. Errands to pick up last minute requirements, arrangements to ensure all runs smoothly in my absence, final details for the trip/work and looking forward to seeing daughter #1 fill my days. Tonight we had the prodigal son and girlfriend over for supper and tomorrow we will visit with daughter #2 before we head to the airport hotel as the across country flight Monday is early. I will miss the arrival of daughter #3 who is planning to work locally and keep her dad company for a month before her end of May graduation. So off to bed as the final details tomorrow will require a clear head.
Next posting from Kugluktuk. Later.
The Norwegian Dawn (seen here on the left at anchor in Belize City as we approach it by tender) check in is flawless and we are quickly deposited on to the ship and find stateroom 9558. Our cabin steward Jez (many more syllables than that in his Phillipino name of course) has it sparkling. And yes we had a balcony - this is an itinerary where it is worth the splurge. It was the best spot for drinking the complimentary wine and eating the chocolate covered strawberries we received from NCL, sail away and of course reading. Ahhh
