Cruising The Caribbean 2009

While I've already detailed my adventures in getting back from our vacation due to the Nor'easter on March 1, I haven't actually written about our actual cruise. We took this much needed vacation on the Carnival Legend from Tampa and our destinations included Cozumel, Belize City, Isla Roatan, and Grand Cayman. It's a very nice ship (Spirit class) and our extended balcony stateroom was just what the doctor ordered (more on that later).

Embarkation was a pretty simple process as we booked airport transfers via Carnival and they had people waiting at the airport to see us to the Port of Tampa and then guide us through the process. We were able to clear customs and board the ship with our carry-on luggage as our checked luggage would be delivered to our staterooms in the course of the afternoon.

So, we made our way to the Lido Deck to partake in the buffet spread they prepared for lunch. Carnival really knows how to throw a spread and the highlights definitely include the fresh fruits that are sweeter than most anything you can find here in the NY metro area even when the fruits are supposed to be in season. After lunch, we made our way to the muster drill where we were told how to evacuate the ship in case we hit icebergs or had any other problems. From there, we headed topside to enjoy the going away party.

We sailed out under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and then out in to the Gulf of Mexico.

Our day at sea included attending an art auction where we bid and won three pieces of art (and won a raffle - woohoo!) Weather at sea was glorious and the sunrises and sunsets were generally spectacular.

Going into Cozumel, we docked and headed ashore to wait in line for the ferry to take us to the mainland. If there's a theme aboard cruises, it's that taking excursions require lots of patience and waiting in line for boats, tenders, or the buses to take you to your destination.

It's pretty much a full day excursion to Tulum from Cozumel, and you never get to spend nearly enough time exploring the magnificent coastal Mayan ruins. We got about 20 minutes to take a dip in the ocean at the magnificent beach there, and took a few photos, but it was all too brief. I would definitely want to go back there on my own to explore for the day.



Among the most photogenic features at Tulum had to be the abundance of iguanas that sprawled all over the ancient ruins. It was fun trying to pick them out among the ruins and here's one lucky contestant:

 

Belize was our next destination, and we had to tender into Belize City, which took 20+ minutes on tender because the seas are so shallow. The waters themselves were gorgeous, but Belize is perhaps the poorest place I've ever visited. We took the Altun Ha/Belize City tour, and it was simultaneously depressing and educational. These people live in conditions that would make most people blanch - and much of it is due to the fact that most residents live near the coast and most live at or just below sea level, which means that when the inevitable storms roll in, much of the area gets wiped out. The cruise lines have a secured docking area, but many of the Belize City residents don't benefit from the cruises nearly as much as you would think or hope for.

Altun Ha was an exciting bus ride from Belize City, and it was definitely worth the trip, even if you once again spent far too much time getting there and not enough time to explore it on your own. The Mayan ruins emerge from the jungle like a silent sentinel from a time long past.

Now, our next destination was Isla Roatan in Honduras, but I can't tell you all that much about the place since I never got off the ship there. I got sick after getting back from Belize City and was confined to my cabin for the day on doctors' orders (not like I could do much anyways). Whether you want to call it Montezuma's Revenge or Norovirus (which I think is the PC term for the same thing), I had the 24 hour variety. Mrs. Lawhawk did go off the ship and wandered around the port and did some window shopping, but here too you could see that there was intense poverty just beyond the tourist areas. She spent an hour or two off the boat, and then spent the rest of the day between our cabin's balcony and going out and about on the ship.

Our final destination was Grand Cayman, BWI, and the boat tendered in with a short 3-minute hop. The place is spotless and Georgetown is truly set up to be a haven for shoppers and the financial industry. Our Best of Grand Cayman tour took us to the usual destinations - the turtle farm, Hell, and the Tortuga Rum factory.

After the Caymans, we had another day at sea so we entertained ourselves with yet another art auction. We didn't buy anything, but we did win a Tortuga Rum Cake! Entertainment on board was quite good, and included several comedians who were quite the cutups. We also got to see one of the chefs do an ice sculpture in under 10 minutes which was quite fascinating and that was followed by a hairy man contest (which was quite disturbing to say the least). The cruise director, Jen Baxter, was also quite entertaining and kept the crowds going.

Finally, we docked back in Tampa on Sunday and after having a final breakfast on board, we disembarked. It took less than 10 minutes to get us off the boat and on to our transfer to the airport, which is quite impressive, but wholly understandable since the ship had to be cleared and prepared for the next set of passengers who were preparing to go on their cruise later in the day. Unfortunately for them, weather would be an issue as there were early morning showers and it remained overcast throughout the day.

All in all, we had a great time despite my getting sick for one of the days, and we'd consider cruising at some point in the future. I'm just not sure when that will be. Having the cruise meant we could go to exotic locales that wouldn't be possible ordinarily and that aspect definitely satisfied our wanderlust. I'm just not sure that we can find our sea legs fast enough to go again.

Both of us ended up quite rested and relaxed, despite our adventure getting home, so it definitely did work out for us.

As far as value is concerned, I'd say that this trip was right in the middle in terms of cost - although the air flight home was a fiasco and cost us dearly. Neither I nor Mrs. Lawhawk are going to win any food eating contests, so the all-you-can-eat aspect of cruising loses a bit of its luster on us, but the quality of the food, and especially the fruit, was quite good. I understand that some of the other cruise lines have even better food than Carnival, and that's always a possibility, but for this trip, this itinerary was the only one that worked for our schedules and you have to go with what you have.

And if you like the photos, know that they were taken with a Canon Rebel XTi 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens, or using the Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD VC (Vibration Compensation) Aspherical (IF) Macro Zoom Lens. The main drawback on the Tamron lens is that it doesn't have nearly as wide angle as I would like but it benefits greatly when trying to capture wildlife at long distance or for close up shots. I find myself shooting primarily with the Tamron lens because of its versatility and it takes a pretty sharp photo at most lengths.