On our way to Houston we stopped in Fairfield for lunch at Sam's Original Buffet. It's a favorite destination of ours. Delicious food that tastes like homemade, yummy bread and desserts to die for. Though we tried not to overdo it we were still stuffed when we left. At dinner time we still weren't hungry so we made a quick Denny's run for some delicious baked potato soup and a salad. Back to the hotel and bed. The next morning, Friday, we ate breakfast at Waffle House and then I needed to get my bangs trimmed...so glad I did. The lady who cut my hair did a great job, BUT...I'm not sure anyone has ever told me that I smell like food before! Yes, that is what she said. I had to tell her that we just left Waffle House and came straight there. She accepted it as normal and went on. WTH?? Afterwards we drove around and went to the Boardwalk at Kemah and then down to Sylvan Beach. We didn't get out because IT WAS 40 DEGREES AND RAINING IN HOUSTON!!! After a bit we went back to the hotel, took a nap and then in the evening we went to TOOKIES for a burger. This place has been featured on one of the Food Network shows for having one of the top ten best burgers in America. They were right! The "Squeeler" which blends beef with ground up bacon was phenomenal! Back to the hotel, showers and bed for departure the next morning.
On Saturday we got up, went for donuts and then back to the hotel to park and leave the car. A shuttle took us to the Bayport Terminal and the fun began. It was funny to see everyone checking in while wearing their winter coats, hats, gloves and cold weather boots! The ice storm was all anyone was talking about. Apparently it affected a lot of peoples' travel plans! Once on the ship we immediately ate lunch and then returned to our room where our bags had already been delivered! We were unpacked and settled in even before the Muster Drill. We spent the rest of the day exploring the ship, having dinner, attending the show and sitting in a piano bar listening to the most amazing piano man sing and play! His name is Seth Gibson and he is incredible! He's got awesome piano skills, a silky smooth voice and a huge repertoire of songs! About 11:00 I crashed and slept like a baby.
Sunday morning we got up and walked out on our balcony to face absolutely gorgeous, warm weather! During the night we had apparently crossed into "Caribbean weather" and it was incredible! We ate breakfast, went to a trivia competition, watched part of the Philadelphia/Washington game being played in a blizzard, ate lunch at a pub and returned to the room to enjoy resting and reading on the balcony. After a bit we went up to the Lido deck where I toop a nap in the sunshine while Ronnie watched more football. We finished the day off with dinner at the buffet and a show in the theater followed by more time with the piano man. Then off to bed for a night of sleep and preparation for Cozumel tomorrow. I must mentioned that since my birthday was only a couple of weeks before the cruise, our travel agent told the cruise line and I awoke to balloons and a sign on the door wishing me a happy birthday! Fun!!!
We awoke Monday morning to stifling heat in Cozumel. It was really only in the low 80s but there was about 100% humidity. We didn't need to do anything more than step out on the balcony to realize we were in the tropics! Once ashore we walked and sweated our way through the shopping area before settling in at our favorite restaurant in Cozumel, Pancho's Backyard. They have reopened at the dock and the service was excellent while the food was delicious! We each had the sampler plate along with some of THE BEST GUAC EVER! The margaritas are strongly delicious as well. We chatted with our waiter a bit about the rebuilding of the restaurant after it was destroyed by hurricane Wilma and the next thing we knew he was surrounding us with his co-workers, singing La Cuckaracha, and giving us free tequila shots! Yum! We made our way back to the ship and collapsed for a nap before showering and getting ready for a night of "tailgating" and Monday Night Football up on the top deck's 22 ft. television (compliments of ESPN Caribbean...seriously). I gave up on the whole shindig at the end of the 3rd quarter when the Cowboys were down 21 points. Bed sounded good to me. Tuesday will put us in Roatan where we will be snorkeling!
We got to sleep in a bit on Tuesday morning since we didn't have to meet our snorkeling guides until 9:15. After a yummy breakfast we headed over to the dock and met the rest of our group. We have been snorkeling several times and I must say that we feel this was the best experience yet. We had a fantastic snorkel guide, Robby, who took my underwater camera and went down to the bottom several times to photograph lobster, starfish, reef formations, etc. that I would never have gotten otherwise. The only problem we had was that neither of us was thinking sunscreen when we left the ridiculous cold of Texas. We both got a tad bit burned! After snorkeling they served us a yummy lunch on the catamaran along with several glasses of rum punch! After a short tour of the island we returned to the dock where we shopped a little bit and then had a couple of drinks at Fat Tuesdays. Back to the ship, a nap and then dinner and a show in the Princess Theater. Afterwards we were exhausted and needed to get up early on Wednesday so we headed back to the room and bed...at 8:30! Lol!
Wednesday found us in Belize where our plan was to go cave tubing and zip lining. Our plan was NOT to get rained on all. stinkin'. day! But that is what happened. Cave tubing was awesome and riding the zip line was tons of fun, but not worth the time spent in line to get to the first platform (over an hour for five minutes of zipping through the treetops!). Our tour ran overtime and we had absolutely no time to do anything else in Belize. We don't really feel like we got to see Belize except from a rainy bus window. Since our underwater camera quit working after yesterday, we didn't even get any pictures! We will definitely go back!
Thursday and Friday were sea days as we made our way back toward Houston. We slept in, ate, played trivia, ate, played bingo, ate, went to the casino, ate, went to the shows, ate and wrapped up our nights in the piano bar. Oh, did I mention that we ate some delicious onboard food?
Saturday morning we were scheduled to dock in Houston about 4:00 a.m. and debark from the ship around 8:00 a.m. We were headed back to catch Trenton's final performance as Fenris Ulf in a production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. We got up at 6:30 only to find that we weren't docked yet and wouldn't even be able to do so for a while. Fog had shut down the port. We ate and got our luggage from the room and sat in the piano bar with half a million other people waiting patiently for the ship to dock. We read, played Skip-Bo, and chatted with other passengers until the ship finally received clearance and docked about 10:45. We were among the first off the ship and by 11:15 we were in our car and headed home...three hours later than anticipated. But it's all good. We made it home in time to shower, change and get to Trenton's performance...which was AWESOME! He did such a great job! No, that's not Nana pride...it's a fact! He knew all his lines and delivered them with feeling. Afterwards there was a cast party at a local Mexican restaurant and then we picked up Beau from Kristin's house and headed for home. We finally made it home shortly after midnight and were in bed minutes thereafter! Now...I need a vacation from my vacation!! Oh, wait...we have a week long RV trip planned for New Year's. 😄
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