We did, thanks! And we came home with lots of "cruise swag"...I won one of the contests (finish the lyrics), and PapaLew & I, my two sisters & one BIL formed a progressive trivia team that smoked the competition. PapaLew advanced to the second round of a table-tennis competition, but although I did fairly well at the practice, I got smoked by a ringer - an Asian gentleman about twenty years senior to me who held his paddle upside-down. Yikes!
PapaLew also joined a dodgeball team on the first full day. The first question asked by his teammates (all 20-something spring breakers) was "you're not gonna break a hip, are you, old man?" Little did they know! He caught the first two balls thrown at him, but still had the second in his hands when two more came at him. They didn't win, but he acquitted himself pretty well.
Lots of at-sea days on this one so lots of on board stuff. I prefer more ports, less at-sea, but sisters picked the cruise & dates. The other thing they screwed up on was the fact that it was spring break for many school districts in Texas. We had a VERY large contingent of kids aged 10 to 14 on this cruise with little to no parental supervision (they are supposed to have adult supervision up to the age of 17, but that fact was largely ignored by parents & crew). The older teens were fine...it was the pubescents & pre-pubescents that were excessively obnoxious...and there were herds of them!
We snorkeled in Honduras; I saw live cuttlefish for the first time ever. Prior to that, I've only seen them on my sushi. I moved way away from the splashing kids & just floated, so the fish started swimming really close to me. Tons & tons of fish. One big green dude even pecked me a couple of times to see if I had anything edible on my skin...
We went to Mayan ruins in Belize - Altun Ha (which I kept calling Al Tuna), then down the Wallace river on a boat that seated about 35 people...saw crocodiles, iguana, howler monkeys, cranes...had a pair of dolphins playing in our wake when we were getting close to the mouth of the river. When we got to the mouth, we slowed waaaaay down, nearly drifting, and watched for manatees. All we could see were their noses as they came up to breathe, then went back under.
Cozumel was a loooong shore day - 2+ hour bus ride each way to get to Chichen Itza (or chicken pizza, as the kid behind us kept calling it). From what we were told, it used to be a much longer drive. We were on a paved highway nearly the whole way that had just been completed within the last year. Yay for us! The carvings, the durability of the construction, the crazy noises and lighting effects built into the design are simply amazing considering Chichen Itza was built over a thousand years ago. Tourists are no longer allowed to climb the steps of the temple, and now there are humongous turkey vultures that stalk the top level and nest inside. Seems appropriate.
Chichen Itza was on my bucket list. Now I need to make it to Peru & Machu Picchu. And Ayers Rock in Australia.
