7 Day Caribbean Cruise

06/11/06 - 06/18/06

Expedia - Carnival Glory

Clay & Pat Stahl

United States

Belize

Mexico

Saturday 03/11 Travel to Port Canaveral, Ship Boarding & Caribbean Sea

We had plenty of time to get to the cruise ship from Melbourne Beach, it is less than two hours away. We spent a great deal of time carefully packing the car with three kinds of stuff: (1) needed on the cruise: a suitcase, 3 carry-ons (with 4 bottles of wine), the laptop, and the digital camera; (2) needed when we return from the cruise and stay in the Flagler Beach Motel and travel home; and (3) not needed until we return home to Pennsylvania. The "Important Reminders" page in the Carnival booklet stated that "Wine Enthusiasts" (obviously us!) "may bring fine wine for a special occasion on board during embarkation", so we packed four: 2 nice reds that we will take to the restaurant and pay the corkage fee, and 2 ordinary whites for our stateroom, although this may be pushing the envelope just a little!

A1A Looking South From Our Balcony, We Used It From Our Motel	We Were Early So We Got A Place Inside The Parking Garage

We had a short uneventful drive up A1A, and everything went smoothly, arriving plenty early, parking the car in a covered (and secure, they say) garage, and going through the check-in process. It was standard, except we stood in one queue for almost an hour because we were so early. The normal boarding time was 1:30, and we finally were allowed on the ship about noon. The x-rays did not go off with Clay's hips and there was nothing mentioned about the wine in the carry-ons. Since our stateroom would not be ready until the advertised 1:30, we had a drink in the Kaliedoscope bar adjacent to the closed (in port) casino (the bars are open plenty early!), and a light lunch at the buffet restaurant common to all cruise ships, here it is the "Red Tail". Our stateroom was ready a little early also and we settled in. We have a queen sized bed and a balcony on the forward (pointy!) end, starboard side on the Panorama deck, the highest (10th) passenger deck with only a few staterooms, actually 67! There is a refrigerated mini-bar that the room steward unlocked for us. Of course, space is limited, and we only wanted it to keep our white wine, and he suggested that we take out the little bottles, and put them back before we leave! That was only right as we will also consume a good amount of their adult beverages during the cruise.

We had looked at the shore excursions on the web at home and in Florida, but decided to wait for the complete booklet available only after boarding the ship. The line at the shore excursion desk is usually not too long just after boarding, but better yet, we were able to book tours in Belize and Costa Maya on the intertactive TV and have the cost charged to our on-board account!

Forward - Pool/Water Slide/Navigation Stuff	Itinerary Before Cozumel/Costa Maya Switch	Aft - The Distinctive Carnival Stack

We explored the ship, trying (and failing) to get oriented. There was a special "Welcome Onboard Martini Special" Appletini listed in the newsy daily ship's guide, "Carnival Capers", but it wasn't available until after 6 PM, some "welcome onboard" drink that was, but we did take advantage (!?) of that after dinner. There is the usual mandatory muster drill, assembling by the lifeboats with your uncomfortable life vest on. We were packed 8 deep, and you have to wonder how all the people (even just the ones with our letter) are going to fit in the lifeboats! We got under way immediately after the muster drill, and moved slowly out of the channel with little boats and a couple of jet-skis along side 10 decks below. Once we passed the last buoy, we headed south and were still within sight of land, although a long way from shore. The stateroom next door has a couple of young children and they were somewhat noisy when we first started moving, but they were fine for most of the cruise. In fact, we only heard them a few times after that, we think they are in another stateroom and just visited a few times.

Getting Underway Heading Out The Channel	Pat Navigating From Our Balcony	Busy Jetty Park Beach On A Warm Day

Clay had a couple of pieces of sushi (available every day) before dinner and met Pat looking for the restaurant to do our early seating. We had a little difficulty finding it, and were a little late, as there were two other couples waiting for us. They are very nice, we weren't that late and, we all had some nice conversation along with dinner. There is only one show on the first evening and it is at 10:30! We didn't expect to make that but there wasn't any other entertainment that would appeal to us except the "Big Band Concert". However, they were more jazz than big band and we left after a few songs.

Glitsy Elevators Looking Out On The Lobby	Theater Ceiling Chandelier	Putting On A M o o v v ing Green?

Sunday 03/12 Key West, Florida

It is a clear day and we can see buildings in the distance early, probably somewhere in south Florida. Since we won't get to Key West until noon, We opted for the dining room breakfast, a late 8 AM opening! We used the coin-operated washers and dryers, as we have dirty laundry from having been on the move, while most people have fresh clothes just starting their trips. Pat had a pedicure, something she has always wanted to do on these cruises, but couldn't find the time.

Approaching Key West	Easing Into Our Dock On The US Naval Base On The Right, The Other Two Ships Are Already At The Much Nicer Mallory Square

We are now heading west and as we approached Key West, noticed the sudden change of color of the water from a deep blue to a much lighter blue nearer land. The main cruise dock is at Mallory Square where we went two years ago on Celebrity's Zenith. From there you can easily walk into town near the head of famous Duval Street. However, this time, there were two ships already tied up at Mallory Square and we had to use the Truman Dock on the adjacent U. S. Naval Base, not that far away from the other two ships. However, there is limited access through the Naval Base, and everyone had to wait for shuttles to ferry them to Mallory Square on a circuitous route that would have been difficult to walk anyway. There were multiple announcements over the loudspeaker from the cruise director that the number of people and the shuttle frequency will make for a wait and that we should have a late breakfast or early lunch before getting off the ship. However, the restaurant choices just before noon were limited, so we hit the always-open Pizza Bar for a slice and a Caesar Salad. The hassle getting into town was no big deal except that it wasted about an hour of our time and it is only a half-day stay anyway.

Long Line Waiting For The Shuttle	The Key West Tourist Trolley Is Our Shuttle	First Stop - Sun Changes The Cap Colors

One Of The Many Bars On Duval Street - The Very Visible Musician Playing Country Drew Us In			A Block Over For A Drink (And Restroom Visit)

We headed down crowded Duval Street where Pat got a hat from Del Sol, a store that has merchandise that changes color when exposed to the sun. We went in The Bull, one of the many bars in this (the old) section of town, lured in by a keyboard player/singer who was very visible from the street. A little farther down Duval Street, we remembered a Margaritaville that we missed on our last visit here. It is very popular and was quite crowded with the three ships in port, but we finally found seats at the bar. We shared a key lime pie with a margarita for Pat and a Key West Sunset Ale (brewed in Melbourne, FL - close enough!) for Clay.

An Institution In The Caribbean - This Bartender's Hands Did Move That Fast!

We Got Irish Music Here Last Year, This Time It Was Packed With Young People

Duval Street runs from the Gulf of Mexico on the North to the Caribbean Sea Straits of Florida on the south, and we had hoped to walk the entire length, but we only got about halfway or so. Anyway, it is not as "colorful" the farther south you go. We made two rights and headed back up Whitehead Street, which runs parallel to Duval. A drink, and a more important restroom break, was made at the Green Parrot, which is distinguished by the strongest air hand dryers we have ever seen, in both of the restrooms! We made one more stop in Irish Kevins, having visited there two years ago and listening to some Irish Music, but this time the place was packed and the performer catered to the mostly younger crowd. The shuttle was waiting at Mallory Square and we boarded for the ride back. We needed to show our Carnival "Sail & Sign" card and a photo ID (driver's license) at the Naval Base gate and after a short wait in line, were back on the ship.

Not Your Typical Tee Shirt Store		Small (88 step) Lighthouse, Operational Until 1969		Ernest Hemingway's House He Wrote Many Of His Well Known Works Here

We had made a reservation for the Emerald Room, the surcharged fine dining restaurant. We meant to tell them in the main dining room that we were going to do this, but forgot all about it. It was a little difficult finding it with a prominent sign over its back door, but nothing at the front entrance - it's hard to imagine why everyone doesn't have trouble finding it! It is like a fine restaurant, with lots of waitstaff, including the ship's sommelier. He had never heard of the Gaja wine that we brought(!?), but everyone was very nice, although with a glass of Champagne, the surcharge and corkage fee, it was an expensive evening. We knew the charges in advance, and it was quite nice, but we will probably not do that again! The short show in the theater had a juggler and a stand-up comedian, entertaining but not great.

After A Short Stay, We Leave Key West For Belize, Well Actually " A Fun Day At Sea" First. One Of The Other Ships Beat Us Out Too!

Monday 03/13 Caribbean Sea

We went to the dining room for breakfast, and sat with a Canadian couple with two children. As we sat down, the man says that we were missing from dinner the previous evening! We didn't have any idea who he was, but he said that they were sitting on a level just raised from ours and noticed the empty seats. Well, he also must have noticed us there the previous evening to determine that we were the missing couple! We went to a trivia contest, "acing" it by getting 7 out of 20 correct! The winner(s) had 18! Sheesh! Pat made her first visit to the casino, probably a record for time spent on the ship before a casino visit!

It was the Fish & Chips for lunch, but there is no bar there, so Clay went down a level to the pool bar for a couple of glasses of wine. It was the second bar that was out of the Woodbridge Chardonnay and we had to get the more pricy Beringer. Hmmm! Anyway we both got the Bouillabaisse and the made-to-order batter dipped fish with 2 kind of chips - very good, we will get back here! Just after lunch, we attended the derigueur wine tasting with the ship's sommelier that we met in the specialty restaurant the previous night. There were five small pours, a Vouvray, an Italian Pinot Grigio, a White Zinfandel, a Boujolais-Villages and a South Australian Cabernet Sauvignon. It was of course just OK with a typical wine tasting discussion by the sommelier.

We attended a "Name That Tune", hosted by the piano bar host with 25 questions, although he changed the rules somewhat by asking for song names, composers, movies, and the stars. We did the same as with the trivia, with about 1/3 of the correct answers, far behind the winners! Before and after the Name That Tune, we listened to the (Polish) Bow Tie Trio, men on piano and clarinet and a woman playing a violin.

Typical Cruise Ship Wine Tasting In The Golden Restaurant Slovakian Sommelier In Background Did A Good Job		Our Table, Len (He's Done This Before) & June In Front, Fred & Wanda On The Right

Tonight is formal night for dinner, preceded by the Captain's Cocktail Party in the lounge. We had champagne and hors d'oeuvres with another couple, listened to a quintet playing loud jazz, but we never saw the Captain give his usual welcoming talk and introducing his immediate staff. No sweat, there was plenty of champagne and hors d'oeuvres, we heard most of the typical jokes before, and we stayed until it was time to leave for dinner.

Out tablemates were very nice about us standing them up the previous evening. Jim Elliott, the Canadian that we met at breakfast that day and who missed us the night before was a little late arriving, so we razzed him about that. He came down and talked to everyone during the dinner.

After dinner we went to see "Barry" at the Piano bar. He repeated some of the patter that we heard at the Name That Tune session earlier. He was very good, playing all kinds of music and thankfully not pushing the customers to sing along. Jim Elliott joined us for a while until we were the first to leave, and mentioned that after we left, the commentary & songs got quite off color!

Tuesday, 03/14, Belize City, Belize

We had breakfast in the Red Sail Buffet at 7:00 AM, right at opening time, as our shore excursion leaves at 8:00. The scheduled arrival time was also 8:00 AM, and at that time we seemed to be a long way from land, but both were true as we are anchored a long way from shore. We knew that we would be tendered, and there are two other ships that are even farther away from Belize City than we are. All people going on a tour met in the theater, ours at 8:00, and we were ushered through a few lines before sitting down and waiting. It seemed like there was more than the usual confusion, and that other cruise lines were a little more efficient at this, but it did the job. After waiting a while for port clearance (or so they said!), a few other groups finally were ushered out of the theater and soon it was our turn. Going down to deck 0 took a while as the boats only hold so many and there were quite a few stops and starts. Finally we got off the ship and had a speedy 10 minute ride to the shore.

There Was Poverty (And Trash) All Along Our Bus Ride Through The City And To The Marina

Nicer Cars Than Buildings In The City		A Country With Many Religions - Here A Mosque		A Few Are Nice, Naturally This One!

Originally named British Honduras, the name was changed to Belize in 1973. They gained independence in 1981 and are the only Central American Country whose first language is English. It is an inter-racial society that includes 6 ethnic groups speaking 8 languages. There is a sizeable Amish population with their main economic contribution being that of furniture. BMW is also big, but here it is an acronym for Better Me Walk! The dock is at the "Belize Tourism Village" completed in 2001, a line of shops and restaurants with many of the same stores the we have seen in similar areas in other Caribbean countries. We found our tour and queued up for a short walk to our bus. The entire process took about an hour and a half, which seemed to us long, but there are a lot of people on board and most of them go on tours, or at least go ashore, and there are also the other two ships here, the same ones that were in Key West. Our tour was "Sights and Sounds" and consisted of a (two-local guide) narrated bus ride through of most of Belize City, passing many dilapidated homes and a few nice estates, some very close to each other. Like other caribbean countries, there are many traffic circles. Belize, about the size of Massachusetts, has a population of about 500,000 and there are only three working traffic lights (out of 5!) in the entire country! A short highway drive on the other side of town still not far from the water brought us to the Cucumber Beach Marina.

The American Olympic Track Champion (3 Gold & 2 Bronze) Marion Jones' Mother's Side Of Her Family Is From Belize - She Carried Both Flags In 2000			The Main Religion Of Belize Is Catholic, There Are Many Catholic Schools

Entrance To The Olde Belize museum Is Through A Cut-Out In a Mahogany Tree, Said to Provide Countless Years Of Good Luck!		One Of Our Talkative Guides At A Crude Graphic Of The Museum Layout

At the Cucumber Beach Marina, we had a tour of the Olde Belize Museum, showing Belize history through the ages. There were displays of the rainforest, the Mayan period, old chicle and mahogany harvesting, and Belize life in early 19th century. It was nice, but our guide talked too much and it took longer than it should have! If we had to hear "Belize is Un·Be·Leeze·a·ble" one more time we may have barfed! We think we would have rather stopped at real places, but poverty and trash were everywhere, which is probably why they have the sanitized museum tour. We have been to a few Caribbean countries and this is probably the messiest! After the tour, we were supposed to have a visit to the gift shop and restaurant, but with our young and enthusiastic but yakky guides, we didn't have time.

The Butterflies Were Striking, With Many Flitting Around In Their Sizeable Cages

There Were Displays Of Belize Culture And Industry - Here The Mayan People, Chicle and Sugar Production
After The Museum Tour, We Saw A Performance Of Ancient Belizian Dancing And Music In The Adjacent Theater

We were promptly ushered into the museum theater along with a few other busloads for music with native instruments, cultural dancing and singing, very nice with the modern sound system, but maybe just a little bit long. There was a small snack of fried plantain (like tortilla chips) and a ball of coconut and brown sugar candy. We were told to board the bus promptly, but Clay went to the bar by the gift shop and grabbed a bottle of the local beer.

On the way back, the guide pointed out the Unites States Embassy, the only one in the world not guarded by U. S. Marines! The bus retraced the route back to the Tourism Village to give us a few hours before we had to be back on the ship. We looked at a few restaurants and decided on the extremely crowded Wet Lizard upper deck. We were inside with only a little view of the harbor, sharing the table with another couple that were almost finished. Clay went for the special, a whole fish with red beans & rice and cole slaw while Pat had a shrimp basket.

A Whole Fish Lunch At The Crowded Upstairs Wet Lizard

We still had a little time and looked around at the shops, including the ones outside the Tourist Village on a Belize City street. There were the typical touristy items and the ever-present Diamonds International stores. Clay made a rare impulse buy, getting a Belize tee shirt emblazoned with the local beer.

Belize City Harbor	Tourist Village At The Harbor, Completed In 2001	This Is Wine Country- Ginger,Cashew(?),Blackberry

The Other Two Ships, Left: RC's Explorer Of The Seas, Right: Grand Princess On Which We Had Our Baltic Sea Cruise In 2004

The ship's news guide mentioned Promenade Music by Colin & Steve, and we listened to a few CDs spun by only one guy, either Colin or Steve, we guess. He played a few country songs, but we only stayed for a few others. Clay went to the sushi bar again and met Pat at the Burgundy bar. The Burgundy is a specialty bar, sort of a combination Champagne, Martini, and other stuff bar! We had a glass of champagne and bought a bottle of "Virgin Chardonnay", only available there, to take to the dining room. No, it isn't alcohol free, Virgin is the name of the wine!

The "Justin Illusion Dance & Magic Show" was very good with fast-paced action performers disappearing, reappearing, seemingly getting impaled in huge boxes with various sharp appearing devices. There were about 10 performers, some of them dancers from the ship's regular cast, and they were very entertaining.

The Justin Illusion (His Name?) Dance & Magic Show. It Was The Usual Stuff But With Lots Of Dancing And Very Well Done!

Wednesday 03/15, Costa Maya, Mexico

Backing Into Our Berth At Costa Maya Next To The Explorer Of The Seas, Very Slowly!

We arrived at Costa Maya right at the scheduled 8:00 AM and carefully eased in on the other side of the pier from Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas which we saw anchored off Belize yesterday. Shortly after tieing up, the Disney Magic chugged into the remaining berth. All ships sound their horn when docking, but the Magic tooted its to the melody of "When You Wish Upon a Star."

And Disney's Magic Settles Into The Last Place On The Main Pier In Back Of The Other Two

Costa Maya is not on any map because it isn't a city, town, district or even a place name. It is only the cruise ship destination (pier) on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula 150 miles or so south of Cancun. We were here two years ago, and there isn't much change that we can see. This stop was changed from Cozumel late last year and you had the opportunity to cancel, but we stuck with it. Cozumel had some hurricane damage last year, but there are other cruises that are still going there, so go figure. We would have much rather gone to Cozumel as we have never been there. Here, we went to the Chacchoben Mayan Ruins two years ago, and it didn't seem like there was anything else for us except the tourist enclave at the end of the pier that has been carved out of the jungle. However, a later look on the internet included a "Mayan Cultural Experience", a little pricy, but it sounded good.

Costa Maya - Not On The Map, But It Is The Same As We Remember It Two Years Ago, Except Maybe The Big White Hotel In The Back

We still went to the dining room for the served breakfast since our tour isn't scheduled to meet until 10:45. We got off the ship plenty early and walked to the end of the pier, where we encountered signs for the various tours, but ours was not among them! A question to one of the guides pointed us to the proper person. The sign said "Mayan Reality", and the explanation was that Carnival's Glory changed the name of the tour for their passengers! Anyway, we were soon off on a bus whose air conditioning was just a bit overloaded. It was pretty hot at both destinations, but it was certainly better than nothing, and felt real nice when reboarding from outside!

We headed out of the tourist area, passing through a military checkpoint, and on some nice roads, some the same or very similar to the ones that we took two years ago. It took about an hour to get to the town of Limones, one of the places that is still inhabited by Mayans, and have changed little over the years. The bus drove around the town square while our guide pointed out the buildings and especially the soccer field common to all Mexican towns, Mayan or not, in the center. The town has no electricity, no plumbing, and appeared timeworn, which is one of the appealing features of the tour, we guess. The bus stopped at the Mayan pyramid at the edge of town and we all got out for photos and an optional climb. It wasn't much of a climb, and not high enough to have much of a view either, but Clay went up and then right back down. Unlike the well-tended Chacchoben site, administered by the government, the present Mayans in the town are not very interested in preserving their heritage, evidenced by the state of disrepair. Our Guide said that people will even steal the stones once in a while!

A Block From The Center Of Town Of Limones, The Neglected Pyramid And The Typical Nearby Church

A short distance away was a Mayan family that maintains their sizeable property for the tourist company. It was immaculate, tidied up by the family and the tour company after each visit. All of the numerous buildings were open to visits, and each building was used for a different purpose, cooking, sleeping, storage, etc. After wandering around everyone sat in a central area for a somewhat lengthy talk by our guide. We had a soft drink provided by the tour, while the Mayan lady of the house sold small bags with slices of watermelon and jicama, a local potato-like fruit.

This Mayan Family Maintains A Spotless Property Contracting With The Tour Company For Visits By Cruise Ship Tourists - A Hut For Every Purpose

They Obviously Live Here, But Our Guide Said That They Just Got Electricity Six Months Ago. That Probably Was Closely Followed By The TV Dish!

Back on the bus, we stopped at a park near a lake for the included box lunch, sandwiches and this time Mexican beers. The lake was very large, and you half-expected to see the tourist village and/or the cruise ships, although we were still pretty far inland. There is a lot of water a few feet underground in this part of the country, and this lake was formed over the years, developing from what the guide called "sink holes", clear places where the underground water comes to the surface.

Park On The Lake For The Box Lunch And A Couple Of Mexican Beers

It's a Speed Bump!		Colorful Church Decoration Near The Lake		Three Ships, The Maximum That Can Dock

We had an hour or so back at the tourist village where we had a drink and wandered around the various shops (with very pricy merchandise) before returning to the ship, beating the 4:30 PM reboarding time for the 5:00 PM scheduled sailing. We are in a different time zone here and on land it is an hour earlier, but we were told to stay on "ship's time", and we made sure that we were back on time! It seems that it would be easy for someone to get messed up with that and be late, but everyone else made it back too, not necessarily on time, but at least before the ship sailed!

Actually We're On The Other Side!		The Last To Board, 10 Minutes After Sail Time!		First Away, 2 Days At Sea To Port Canaveral

The gangway was right below our balcony and we watched the people boarding - about 20 of them after the 5:00 PM sailing time! Two couples arrived late, each kissed, the girls got on our ship, and the two guys boarded Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas on the other side of the pier! Another guy didn't seem too steady on his way up to our gangplank, but he made it - perhaps too many quarts of Sol! To a great deal of acknowledged hooting, hollering, and applause, the last two guys went up the gangplank about 5:10, right after two names were being requested over the ship's loudspeaker to go to the purser's desk. Every time you get on or off any ship, your Sail & Sign card (or equivalent) is put in a machine, so they always know who is missing. One smart youngster took his card after being beeped back on board and beeped it himself just playing around in the adjacent (exiting) machine. The Glory crew member grabbed his card and beeped him in again, otherwise he would have been reported as being still off the ship!

From Our Balcony, Morning ...		... Noon (Or So), ...		... and Night!

Dinner was great at usual with as good a piece of fillet as you can get anywhere although they were a little more well done than our rare (Pat's extra rare) requests. We brought our second bottle of Gaja, announced to the waiter that we were doing so, but they didn't charge us the corkage fee. It was a busy day, the show was only a single late passenger Talent Show, so we skipped that and retired early.

Thursday 03/16 Caribbean Sea

We made a somewhat early rising and at the served breakfast met a guy originally from Albany who went to high school just down the street from Pat's School. We attended the Trivia Fun activity and did poorly in the individual portion but contributed to a disputed three-way-tie in the team event! The Famous Faces Game was neat with pictures appearing on TV displays all around the bar and the contestants trying to guess their identities. Most were young movie stars and singers, and again we only got a few!

The lunch in the dining room was good, although it took a while to get a bottle of wine, as the main wine room (cellar?) is not open all day! Again we sat with some nice people, most of them pretty young, and we were adjacent to the Albany guy from breakfast! We went to the "Newlywed and Not So Newlywed game" and decided to remain mum about how long we were married, as on the last cruise we missed being the longest by only a year! Not to worry here, there were a few married longer than us, with the oldest couple having been married 64 years! He was a hoot, although he supposedly answered the last question exactly the same as the oldest guy on the last Carnival cruise! Hmmmm! Anyway it was fun and all couples received a bottle of champagne, although it looked like a half bottle!

We Heard The Bow Tie Trio A Few Times		Kids In Elevator - Up, Down, Up, Down...!		The Gregarious Jim Elliott & Family

We met our dinner tablemates Fred and Wanda on our way to the Burgundy Bar - they thought the free party for the multiple Carnival cruisers was before dinner. We told them that it was after, and headed to the Burgundy Bar for a pre-dinner drink along with some sushi for Fred & Clay. Jim, our Canadian friend at the nearby table, was late with his family, and we all serenaded him with a few bars of "Oh! Canada". As in all the other dinners, the waitstaff put on a little presentation, this time with a Spanish theme. After dinner, we went with Fred and Wanda to the invitation-only(!) party for the multiple Carnival cruisers, a lot of them! There were drinks and hors d'oeuvres (on the table, but all gone, even though we were only a few minutes after the scheduled start). There was also a band playing and plenty of drinks, and we didn't need anything else to eat at that time! The two last-night shows in the theater were switched, although it didn't matter to us. We thought the two comics did an adequate job. The scheduled Broadway show will be tomorrow, the last night.

Friday 03/17 (St. Patrick's Day) Caribbean Sea & Atlantic Ocean

The dining room breakfast menu was the same every day, and since we both had tried everything that interested us, we went to the Red Sail Buffet this morning. The only activity that interested us was the "very important" Disembarkation Talk, typically long winded (bad) and joke-filled (not bad). We got back to the Fish & Chips Restaurant for lunch where we had the Bouillabaisse and batter-dipped cod (fish & chips) again. We ordered a bottle of $20 chardonnay, and we noticed that we got charged $24 for something else. We had the wine right there, and the waiter took our receipt and went away for a while. Finally, he presented another chit and said he voided the first one. However when we looked at our "Folio" on the TV, both charges were there! We went to the purser's desk with the problem, and there the computer display showed a minus at the end (or at least he said there was!), so that was all we could do for now! We're thinking that we may be charged for both in the attempt to try and save the $4.

It is St. Patrick's day, many people are dressed in green and we decided to get a drink at the "On the Green" bar (yes, the green motif is for golf, not Ireland!), but quickly exited to finish them at a table outside the bar as we had smokers on each side. There are not too many places where smoking is allowed, the Casino of course and this bar, so that makes it much more intense in the places where it is allowed.

We went to the Ivory Room to listen to the Bow Tie Trio playing classical music. It turned out to be an afternoon tea with little sandwiches and pastries, although neither of us needed anything more to eat and we had brought a couple of glasses of wine from our room, so we declined the tea also. They are Polish and Pat spoke to the lady violinist before they started with a request and small talk about Poland. We had never heard of the place that they are from, and the lady announced the music in a heavy accent with the last piece being Pat's "La Vie en Rose" request. They performed about an hour, we enjoyed them very much, and gave them a plug on the cruise comment card.

Final Night's Dinner On St. Patrick's Day - No Corned Beef & Cabbage!		Fred & Wanda, Two Of Our Tablemates

We had a drink at the Burgundy Bar (along with Clay's sushi) before dinner, were met there by Fred and Wanda, and went to dinner together. There was nothing Irish about the dinner, it was just whatever they do on the last night of the cruise, this time trying to get a conga line going in the crowded aisles. Barry in the piano bar had promised some Irish music at an earlier performance, so we bagged the restaurant dessert and spent an hour or so there. There were some (pieces of) Irish songs, but he played and wisecracked in the tone of what the mostly young audience wanted.

Piano Bar Barry On St. Patrick's Day Evening		Not Many St. Patrick's Day Activities On Board, But There Was A Lot Of Green!

It Was A Mostly Young Crowd Around The Piano, But We Squeezed In Early			Not Karaoke, But This Guy Could Sing!

Our Folded Towels, Mr. Magoo First, St. Patrick Theme Last! There Was The Usual Towel-Folding Demo Somewhere, But Alas, We Missed It!

Saturday 03/18 Disembarking & Trip to Flagler Beach,FL

From Last Night, I Think!		Port Canaveral, The Disney Magic Beat Us Back From Costa Maya		Parking Garage. This Is Where We Came In!

We pulled into the channel at Port Canaveral just as it was getting light. The Disney Magic left Costa Maya sometime after us and was already tied up here, as we turned around and backed into the same berth from which we sailed. Getting off a ship is usually a very slow process, and we thought that we would have plenty of time, but as we were leaving the restaurant, they called our deck number and baggage tag color. When we got back to the room, the steward was working on it even though there was evidence that we were still there. We had almost everything ready before, so we stepped up into the bathroom one last time, and were out of there.

The exit line was long as expected, but moved pretty well, and it took only an hour from our stateroom through customs. A short walk to the parking garage and we were on our way. We cut up toward the Kennedy Space Center and then over to RT 1 north to the Port Orange bridge and up familiar A1A through Daytona Beach, along the ocean to our hotel in Flagler Beach. It was only 11:00 AM, of course, too early to check in.

See how we spent Our last day in Florida before heading home.

Comments Welcome:

ClaytStahl @aol.com

Created: 03/28/06 Changed: 11/11/08

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