Getaway 2013: Day Three (Port: Cozumel)

On Monday morning when the rest of you were getting up for work, we were getting up with the sun in Cozumel Mexico! 

We had a bright and early call to get off the ship and make our way onto our tour over to the mainland.

 

We got right off our big boat and onto this smaller boat for a ferry ride to Playa del Carmen. 

Feelin’ so safe waiting in line for our tour group.  Yikes.  How lovely?!

Our chosen excursion for this port visit was Tulum Mayan Ruins.  We figured we’d start with something mildly educational while we were still all revved up and excited about playing tourist.  :)

Hello big fella.  The excursion included a trip to the ruins, as well as a trip to the beach in the resort area of Tulum, and lunch.

 

The ruins were really quite interesting and our guide very informative, but admittedly once we saw the ocean I think we completely forgot anything we learned up to that point.  This was our first real chance to touch the Caribbean!

It was quite a set of stairs down to the beach but I think Michael bounded down them in about 12 seconds.  He had his shoes off before I got to the bottom.  We only had 20 minutes to get back to the tour bus so we soaked up the sun until the last few minutes then walked really fast so as not to be late.

 

Our tour then took us for a lovely homemade lunch at a simple resort on another beach.  Lunch was so fresh and delicious!  Under there are the best black beans I’ve ever had, fresh fish, and fluffy rice.  So yum.

We floated in the surf, drank a very boozy cocktail served in a fresh coconut, and enjoyed the sand between our toes.  It was a rushed visit, but a perfect first port stop.

The bus ride back to the ferry dock was about an hour so we all enjoyed a lovely little siesta on the way.  When in Mexico!  All together it had been about a 7 hour whirlwind day and everyone was pooped.

Once back on board the cruise ship we got cleaned up and headed for dinner with our new friends, Grant and Michele (hi guys!).  Part way through dinner we found it was Michele’s birthday and promptly let our waiter know.  Within minutes she had dessert and a group of wait staff singing to her. 

After dinner we made our way to the theatre again.  This time for a great dance show!  The Royal Caribbean dancers put on a full stage show featuring several different dances.  So fun.

The entertainment was really top notch.

After an incredibly full day we were glad our room was only a few decks away.  Another relatively morning awaited us in our next port.

{Next post: Grand Cayman}

Getaway 2013: Day Two (At Sea)

Well this seems like an OK view to wake up to after our first night’s sleep aboard the cruise ship!

We’d looked outside periodically the evening before to see when we cleared the Mississippi River and hit open ocean but it must have happened sometime after we went to sleep.

Breakfast in bed seemed the way to go.  I was probably too excited to find out room service was part of the all inclusive deal. 

After an amazingly lazy morning in our room, we decided to start things off on the right foot in the gym.  It’s pretty difficult to have a bad workout with such nice equipment and such a lovely view!

Who needs TV when you’ve got this to stare at from the treadmill?

As we were wandering back to our room we heard an announcement about free champagne…er, I mean about an art auction.  Michael had seen a piece he was interested in the night before so we decided to go check it out (gym clothes and all).  Champagne is perfect post workout fuel when you are on vacation.

here was a lot of amazing art on board!  A very cool feature to check out.

Once we finally got cleaned up and had our lunch, we met up with the friends we made the night before to see the on board ice show (!).  We didn’t know what to expect, but it was awesome! 

Aside from the rink being a little small, it was just like being at a small ice capades show or something.  I just kept thinking how glad I was our friends had gotten tickets for us (it’s free, but there are limited shows so you have to get tickets).  We’d been too lazy to get up early to get them and I would have kicked myself the whole time if we’d missed out.

Being Superbowl Sunday, the game was shown in the main theatre.  A big event was made of it with special food, drinks and such.  We stayed through the kick-off but football isn’t really our sport (maybe we should cruise during Stanley Cup next time!) so we opted out and went for dinner in the dining room instead.

Nothing says good times better than light-up blinking souvenir glasses.

After dinner we called it a relatively early evening in anticipation of our early morning excursion call time the next day.

{Next post: Mexico}

Getaway 2013: Day One (All Aboard)

The first day of our trip was so action packed I had to break it into two posts!  We had so much fun on our first day exploring New Orleans, but we were really excited to board the cruise ship and see what things would be like.

Our ship was Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas.  I’d seen photos online and have seen a few cruise ships up close at the terminal here in Victoria, but I was still blown away with how absolutely massive the ship is.

Bye bye New Orleans…from 14 decks above the Mississippi River!

It was chilly on the upper decks but we still grabbed our first blended tropical cocktail and enjoyed the view. 

Before dinner we decided to do some exploring.  Many of the lounges and smaller bar areas were still empty so it was a good time to check things out.

Everything was just so pretty!

They really know how to welcome their guests!  Right after we set sail there was a fun parade on the promenade deck…which is like the main street of the ship.  Then before we headed into the dining room for dinner there was a short variety show in the theatre to give us a taste of the shows to come throughout our journey.  Our favourites we these amazing acrobats!

By this point we were running on maybe 4 hours of sleep in the last 30 hours but we still managed to get dressed up (even with airplane hair!) and enjoyed our first evening on board.  Dinner was at our own table in the dining room and made for the perfect first night date.

 

Our waiter helped bring the romance…they aren’t allowed to have real candles so he made us this one out of a napkin.  Cute!

Later on we met another couple and ended up staying up until about 1am exploring and chatting over beers.  I think I may have just fallen face first into bed, but with a smile on my face.  :)

Things get giddy at sea!

{Next post: Cruisin’}

Getaway 2013: Day One (NOLA)

Our travel day was really long.  Like overnight long.  Who knew it took three flights and about 12 hours to get from Victoria to New Orleans?!  We were running on excitement and airplane coffee when we landed at 8:30am.

Being as boarding for the cruise didn’t even start until around 11am, we found out where to leave our luggage and headed out to explore the waterfront.

Obviously I had researched where the closest Cafe du Monde would be.  Conveniently there’s one in the Riverwalk Marketplace across from the cruise ship terminal.  We found our way there easily and feasted on fresh beignets and strong cafe au lait.  Best idea ever.

There is so much to see along the Mississippi River waterfront!

For a different view, we took the free Algiers Ferry across the river and back.

Because Superbowl was taking place in New Orleans the next day, we walked smack into the middle of the Superbowl festival that had taken over the waterfront area.  We lucked into multiple stages with bluegrass music, local food stands, and an overall feeling of good times!

After sampling our first taste of local cuisine (it’s possible that Muffaletta we shared was one of the best things we ate on the entire trip!) we continued on down the road and before we knew it we’d stumbled across Jackson Square and into the French Quarter.

CBS was dominating the square for Superbowl week so we opted to stay on the outskirts and browse the artists market instead.

We spent some time just enjoying chit-chat with local artists and listening to great buskers.  Meet KC and the Moonshine Band…KC is the dog…and that young fella played trumpet, trombone, tambourine and harmonica!

Looking at this photo, I now wish we’d popped these two $10 for a CD.  Nothing beats a stand up bass!

{Next post: Get Cruisin’!}