This may be a long post but this trip is one that I want to remember. One that I can come back to if I am having a bad day or just need a quick reminder of how wonderful my life really is!
So for Christmas Terrance gave me a card with a photo of a beach and said that this was the year. I was excited but also skeptical since he has been promising me for the past 7 years that we would go on a trip. Just the 2 of us to Hawaii. The one thing on my bucket list was to swim with dolphins. Something that I have dreamed about since I was in the 4th grade and visited Sea World in CA. After that I always wanted to be a Marine Biologist but I knew that there was no way I could ever follow that dream because I would have to leave my family behind. In my book that was just not a possibility
Anyway. We mentioned it to my brother and sister in law who then told us that they were going on a cruise to the Western Carri bean to celebrate Casey's graduation. They would be going with her mom and dad and her sister and nephew and they would leave on April 5th if we were interested.
After doing our research and finding that there would be several opportunities to swim with dolphins we decided that would be awesome!
We flew in to NC where we had a layover before flying right in to Miami. Once we arrived in Miami we headed for our ship. The Carnival Conquest! It was amazing. The size of the ships is just enough to blow your mind.
Once you get on your ship you go to your room where your luggage is setting outside your door and get settled in. You then go down for the safety briefing and learn what to do if your ship sinks. Nice I know. lol.
After that they have a huge party on the Lido deck where you can get your first cocktail!
We got our drinks and just stood on the deck taking it all in! It was beautiful. Watching Miami slowly fade behind us and the large open waters ahead of us taking us in to a new world that we will never forget!
Our first day was just a cruise day. We wandered the ship and figured out what activities where happening where. We found the food. Namely the "Guy's Burgers" that everyone raved about. Understandably so. They were fabulous. They were doing a hairy chest contest. With all of us standing behind him pointing fingers they suckered Terrance in to entering it. He was sober too! When they told him exactly what he had to do he wanted to back out but he was a great sport and did it. They had to start at the back of the deck dancing to the music that was chosen for them by the DJ make their way to the front of the deck where there were 3 women waiting for them. The first was to run her fingers through the thick curly hairs on their chest. The second had to watch them as they turned and shook their behinds at them and the third... Well, I'm not quite sure what she was supposed to do but I'm pretty sure all of the men were slightly violated when they passed her way. Terrance did not win but he did receive a medal for it! I am proud of him for being such a great sport and living on the edge! We danced and did a lot of people watching up until dinner time. So you have a specific time that you are able to go in to the dining room. Our time was 6:00 you have to wear nice clothing nothing to fancy but no cut off shorts, basketball shorts, or tank tops. You are served by the same waiter all week David was awesome! If you order a drink the first couple of days then you don't even have to ask after that. They will have it ready when you arrive. They have one menu that does not change all week. Pretty simple, appetizers, meal, dessert. Then they have another menu which changes every day. Our favorite part was the didja menu meaning did ya ever want to try it? They served alligator, sushi, shark, snells, frog legs and I can not remember what else. T was a good sport and tried them all. I tried the alligator which was delicious but far to spicy for my liking. Dessert... Mmmmm. Dessert, Of course I said I would eat the Chocolate Melting Cake every day but my belly was always so full by that point that I was not always up to that rich chocolaty heaven. I did eat it 3 different times though and it truly was heaven.
Our fist stop was in the Cayman Islands (Grand Cayman) we were starting off with a bang and swimming with the dolphins which was everything that I dreamed it would be. Before getting in the water you had a short walk through a jungle like area. We got to hold a couple of Macaws and an Ecleptus Parrot. We watched a lizard being chased by a bird run right up the back of one guys leg and he had no idea. Even after people told him about it he kept walking with that lizard clinging to his back side for dear life. Once in the water we were able to touch the dolphins, make them dance, listen to them sing and even get a kiss from them. After all of that we got to ride on their bellies back to the dock! It was over way to soon. Once you go inside they manage to take $100 of your money to buy a disk with the photos of your adventure.
With your pocket much lighter you board a small boat and head out on the ocean to a sand bar where you get to feed the Stingrays a chunk of squid. You also get to hold one and let it give you a kiss and even play on your shoulders. I'm not going to lie... When I first jumped in to the water and had one swimming right at me touching my leg (We could not wear shoes which really freaked me out!) I let out a huge squeal. Terrance laughed and laughed. After the initial shock I fell in love with those large slimy mysterious creatures who have such a bad name due to a famous man who was stung and killed by one several years ago. We learned that they are really very harmless and will not sting unless they are very threatened. Females are also much more friendly and easier to manage then the males. (Imagine that!) The wind was blowing a bit which was causing some waves and a lot of people did not stay in the water. That meant much more time for T and I to handle them and have photo's taken. Of course we knew what we were in for once we got back in the boat. Lucky for us those photo's only cost $35.
When we finally arrived back at the port there was not much time to go shopping. We did get to stop at a couple of shops but that is it.
The next day we hit Cozumel. Not my favorite place in the world. We decided to stop in a jewelry store just to see what they ask for Tanzinite since that is my mother in law's favorite stone. As soon as you step foot in the door they turn around and pull the two large sliding glass doors shut. Feeling like I was going to be mugged and shot to death I found the perfect piece. It was beautiful. Of course the gentleman started off telling us that the piece we liked retailed between $900 and $1400. He would give it to us for $575. We turned down the offer and then it went to $425 after we turned it down again he began hounding us with questions. Why, my friends, this is a great offer. Why are you turning it down.?" "Well because we have a limited amount of money and we do not want to spend it all right at the first of our trip." after dropping to $350 we walked out the door with the guy hollering "OK, $200 my friends" Wow. That is all that I can say and no, we did not go back and buy it. After that adventure we got on a bus and headed to our destination where we would ride sand rails through the forest and to a cave that had a pool of water which was layered with different types of water. Salt, and fresh. It did not smell so fresh though! We watched several fruit bats flying around and even saw a couple of sea turtles swim to the surface. You also had the option of going above ground and making about a 20 foot jump in to the water through a large hole in the surface. It was crazy. Terrance, Kim and Dallin I think were the only ones who would do it. They said it was great. I just had to take their word for it. I decided to just be in charge of the pictures instead. When we got back they once again have a disk of photo's for you for $80. Lucky we did not have enough time and so only one person bought the disk. We all pitched in and got copies of it from him.
Stop number 3 was Belize. We walked though the port and the first thing that we see is a sign which reads " Soup of the Day.... Rum" On the other side it read "Sorry, no Wi Fi here. Talk to each other and get drunk... Just kidding we do have Wi Fi." We got a good chuckle out of that one. We went on to find our guide who put us on a bus and we drove for what seemed like forever. I do need to mention that we are all grateful that we arrived home alive. We had been warned about their driving but didn't think that they could be serious. Ha... We soon learned. On a dirt road that was wide enough for 2 lanes was paved right in the center only large enough for 1 lane and people driving both directions would use that paved piece until they were almost close enough to touch and then they would swerve off to their side of the road. I was thankful that I was in the back of this bus and did not have to watch this happen every time. lol. We finally made it to the Mayan Ruins which were amazing. Our guide was very knowledgeable and did a fantastic job. On our way back to the bus we were able to sample some of the home made wine. Cashew flavor, berry flavor and some kind of flower flavor. To be honest they were not terrible even though I could never drink a whole glass of it. Dallin jokingly picked up a necklace to show me that had a marijuana leaf on it. After that we had people asking us if we wanted to purchase some. They even offered to trade Dallin his sunglasses for a bag of it. Wow. I guess if you want to get drunk or high Belize is the place to go!
Our last stop was in Honduras this was definitely a memorable stop. Terrance and I got on a Catamaran and we were taken out quite a ways. This place is amazing! It is just so beautiful that I can not even explain it. We finally came to a stop where we put on our snorkeling gear and jumped in. We could see small jellyfish swimming everywhere but we were told that they will not hurt you. (They do sting but it is nothing terrible.) I panic a bit when I first put my face in the water but I adapted quickly. We saw several types of fish. even a couple of barracuda. We got to hold a spider star fish and learned about the fire corral. It was so much fun. I can not wait to do it again! We boarded the boat to head back and they served us a lunch and had an open Rum Punch bar. We had been warned about the Rum Punch as well. Of course we weren't drinking that much so what could go wrong right? We made it back to port and took a few photos of each other and of the gorgeous flowers which were everywhere. We stopped at a few shops and bought some souvenirs. On the way back Terrance asked me for the camera. I told him it was in the bag. "No its not" hes said as he was pulling everything out for the second time. " Yes it is. I remember putting it in the bag on the boat. The bag was right next to me the whole time. It has to be there" I set all of my stuff down and went through the bag a third time with him. We only had 15 minutes to get back on the ship at that point. I knew if I did not have that camera that the rest of my trip would be hell. It was our last stop and so our whole trip was on that camera! "I will run back to the last store really quick and see if it is there." I said. After telling me that we had not time and cussing at me a bit Terrance turned around and headed back to the ship while I ran to the last store we had been to. After being unsuccessful I headed back to the ship myself. When I reached the point that you have to show your ship ID in order to head to customs I realized that Terrance had all of my ID in the bag with him and he was in line to go through customs. I was all but in tears. My camera was gone. My ship was about to leave, I was alone in a foreign country with no cell phone or any other way to tell him that he had my ID. I was going to be left in Honduras forever!!!
As I stuttered trying to explain to the lady, Big guy 6'3" 300 lbs, blue shirt, white swimming trunks, carrying a beach bag, lost my camera, ran back to find it, he has my card.. She must have felt really bad for me and let me through. I ran to Terrance who was still angry about the camera and I gave him an ear full about leaving me with out any ID in Honduras. He should have realized that I had no way to carry it.
We finally reached the belt where you have to put all of your stuff to run it through the x-ray machine. I lay it all down and I just remember hearing the gentleman say.. "Do you mind if I put this camera inside your bag?" At that point I don't know if I was more pissed, relieved, happy just what.but I could feel the pool of tears just waiting to burst open. Instead of taking the elevator I grabbed my stuff and bolted up the 8 flights of stairs in to my room and immediately in to the shower. I was still holding in the tears when Terrance came in to the room laughing hysterically. "You had that camera around your wrist the whole time and you didn't know it." That was it. I began to bawl. "You didn't see it either and that is not the point. The point is that you were pissed and took off leaving me in a strange place with no ID. You should have at least looked to see if I had my little bag. You went through that big bag 3 times and you should have seen that my ID was in there and not with me." I have to admit I did kind of fell like a complete idiot because I did have the camera the whole time. I was not about to let him know that. Now it just makes for a good story to tell and I will tell you what... T LOVES to tell that story too.
Our last day was just a sail day basically we just took it easy. Spent time in the sun. Ate a lot of food and relaxed before our long journey home.
Once we got off the ship we got on another bus that took us to the Everglades. We got to take a fan boat and see several wild alligators and birds. We got to watch a guy interact with the alligators (Who we learned only eat, sleep and make babies).
I had such an amazing trip. I can not wait to do it again. Hopefully next time we can take the kids with us. They would certainly enjoy it.
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