My Bucket List Cruise of 2013 - Day 6

Today's destination, Cozumel, Mexico and our excursion for today, Playa Del Carmen Beach & Shopping. The only problem...I woke up this morning (4 am) to menstrual cramps. My cycle isn't scheduled until Sunday. I think the rock climbing, all the walking and constant up and down of the stairs was a bit strenuous on my body. I'm going to enjoy my day anyway, I just pray I don't start vomiting.

I tried to lay back down, but the pain was starting to increase, thank You Holy Spirit for reminding me to put the Aleve in my purse. To keep my sister from hearing me moan, I went out on the deck. And since the sun would soon be rising, I decided to catch it. I went up to the 12th deck, it was so windy, but felt so good. I tried to walk to the back of the ship but the wind was extremely strong. So strong I thought I was going to get blown off the deck. One of the ship's patrolers saw me trying to hang on and strongly advised me to go back the other direction.

The sun took its time coming up but it was so worth it. The different shades of yellow, red and orange. The Carnival ship the Conquest was behind us so I was able to get a picture of it in the sunrise. Now it was time to start my excursion day.

We docked in Cozumel and got off the boat as quickly as possible, we had to collect our free gifts before our excursion boat left us. My sister can zoom through some stores. The store staff was unhappy we only came for the free gifts.

Next we headed to another dock to board our excursion boat. We were headed to Playa del Carmen for shopping and beach escape. I wasn't too impressed with the selection of stores, but I was impressed with the history. I'm not a big souvenirs collector, I love jewelry. Walking through the streets was pretty entertaining, the store owners were calling us brown sugar sisters.

We headed to the beach after shopping. Along the way we made friends with a newlywed couple. Some chick flashed her breasts at us. I kindly let her know I only do men. The resort we hung out was called Kool. We had lunch and took the couple of steps to the white, sandy beach. The beach was filthy which was an immediate turn off for me. I was ready to go. Unfortunately, the other members of the excursion were enjoying the beach.

Four o'clock couldn't have arrived sooner, we headed back to the excursion boat. We had a slight delay because two people were missing. We needed to be back aboard by 5:15 pm, it was 5:40 pm. The custom agents were furious, they rushed us to our cruise ship. A storm was moving in and they needed our ship to leave ASAP.

The ship has been rocky every since we left the dock. I went outside on the deck and the wind shocked me, I jumped and screamed. This lady burst out laughing. I tried to stay outside to watch the movie, but when I saw lightning, I jumped up and came inside. No Latin Beach party for me tonight.

  

 

 

 

 

 

My Bucket List Cruise of 2013 - Day 5

Today's destination Grand Cayman Islands. We were awoke again to see the boats drop anchor offshore. The coral reef was so high, the boats weren't able to come to the shore. I met some guy from Houston and we stood on the 12th deck waiting for the signal to disembark.

My sister and I were doing separate excursions today. My sister did the tour of the Cayman Islands and I did the Cayman Parasail & Beach Escape. Well, I had eaten so much, my bikini didn't fit as it did before I left Dallas, but I wore it anyway. Even though it was snug, I was still getting compliments.

My excursion didn't depart until 10 am, so I got off the boat at 7 am to do my free souvenir and jewelry shopping. Yes, I said free. We attended a seminar on diamonds and other precious stones. At the seminar we received gift cards for free jewelry. As we passed through the customs gate, we received some more gift cards for free jewelry. I also bought a necklace, sunglasses and rum cakes, all at a discount. After my shopping, I headed to the pickup point for my excursion.

There were 10 people for our excursion. There were 3 blacks on this excursion, this guy and his daughter from Illinois and me. This caused some stares because US American people of color do not try dangerous activities like parasailing. We hopped on a small tandem boat to the parasail speed boat. Once we boarded the boat, we were given safety instructions. In the two years they have been in business, they have never had any incidents, we were not to the first.

The guy and his daughter and I went up first. We laughed so hard and I yelled, God is the Truth. We were 400 feet in the air, above the ocean, viewing the multiple colors of blue and green. We were only suppose to be in the air for 6-8 minutes, but because of the wind, he had to keep us up longer....AWESOME, GOD IS THE TRUTH!!! 

I was on such an adrenaline high, I was the must pumped person on the boat. My high carried over onto the beach, I walked from one end of the beach, to the next and back. By the time was done thanking God for today and enjoying the waves splashing onto the shore, I was exhausted. The boat was suppose to come back and get me, but I was too tired to wait the additional times for him to come back around, so I started to walk. Then I realized how hot I was getting and didn't want to risk passing out, so I caught a taxi back.

I was suppose to meet my sister at the Port of Authority after my excursion, but since her phone was dead, I wasn't able to contact her. So I decided to board the tandem boat back to the ship. As soon as I step on board, there sat my sister and the fussing began. She thought something had happened to me during my excursion. Why people think it's okay to frighten people with the worse possible, is beyond me. Someone told my sister that since the wind was so strong, we were probably stuck out on the boat.

Back on the ship, I just wanted to shower, eat and sleep. I smelled like sea water...fish. I had the best hot shower, nice lunch and an even better nap. I woke up just in time to see Scandal. Since I had napped longer than I had planned, I decided to get a glass of wine, my Hot Tamales and head out on the deck to watch whatever movie was playing at the Dive-In Theater. Tonight's movies were "The Natural" and "Field of Dreams". By the time Field of Dreams started to get good, I was sleepy again. Another great day of life.

    

  

My Bucket List Cruise of 2013 - Day 4

We woke up in time to see our ship and another Carnival ship pulling into the shore of Montego Bay, Jamaica. Absolutely beautiful, God is the Truth. I was running around the boat taking pictures of everything. As soon as we exited the boat, we entered a market place. I couldn't get my credit card to work with my Ship & Sail card and the ATM was out of money. It must have meant I didn't need to spend any money. Good thing my sister had extra money. I was able get a 2 bracelets, a necklace and earrings.

We had to hurry to catch our van to our excursion in Ocho Rios. I was kind of leery of this excursion, Bobsled Jamaica & Dunn's River Falls, because I really didn't think I would enjoy it. Boy was I so wrong. The first stop was Dunn's River Falls. The tour guide was this very nice, young lady. She gave a very interesting and detailed description of everything along the route to our excursion and a good history lesson. She sang several songs to us as well.

We had to take these huge steps down to the beach, cool right. The beach was beautiful, the various shades of blue and green water. Then the guide asked everyone to hold hands as he lead us to the bottom of the waterfall. The sight was amazing. The hand holding didn't work to well, so we each assisted the person behind us, my sister was after me, I was after this very muscular teenaged boy. There was a couple behind my sister. Our group had a total of 9 people. I immediately started laughing and saying this is AWESOME!!! My sister on the other hand didn't like the climb, which would be 600 feet of rocks and cascading water. She cussed most of the way up the rocks. She even tried to get off the rocks early, only to be detoured back to the rocks. The couple behind her wasn't going to allow her to get off the rocks anyway. I slipped a couple of times, I'm so glad I had already pulled off my big toenail because it would have ripped off. One lady lost her balance and slid down a ways. Another lady slipped through some rocks and cut her leg. Finally we made it to the top, everyone was cheering. We did it, we climbed Dunn's River Falls.

Our next stop was Mystic Mountain to ride the Sky Explorer chairlift, which would carry us 700 feet through the topical forest. Our tour guide rule was "whatever falls in the forest stays in the forest". Odd thing to do for two women that are afraid of heights. I was just a snapping pictures and enjoying the view of Jamaica. Once at the top, we were directed to the Bobsled ride which was 3280 feet of downhill, twist and turns, then back up to the top of Mystic Mountain. With all the yelling and screaming we did, I know we woke up the dead. But it was a great ride and I would probably do it again.

After a lunch of jerk chicken, beans and rice and fried dumplings, we headed back down the mountain in the chairlift. We were exhausted, but had enjoyed every moment we spent in Jamaica  We had experienced the top 3 attractions on Ocho Rios. Tonight would be an early night, next destination Grand Cayman Islands.

   

 

    

My Bucket List Cruise of 2013 - Day 3

I tried to catch the sun rising but missed it, it must appear before 6:30 am. My head still hurts and my allergies are trying to take over. We are going to start the day off in the spa. Since we have a spa room, we get free unlimited access. They gave us a special spa robe and slippers. Maybe the sauna treatment and the detox pool can get the bloating to go down. No breakfast for me, I still feel full from the day before.

We spent time in the detox whirlpool, just a taste of heaven. The jet sprays were so relaxing, we both almost fell asleep in the water. Next we tried the various sauna rooms. The Oriental room was the best with the peppermint aroma therapy. We were able to watch the ocean from the windows. At that moment I told myself I would start saying God was the Truth. No more the devil is a liar for God is the Truth. After the sauna rooms, we took the rain forest shower. While I was taking mine, this guy asked if he could join me, I said sure just make sure you tell everyone you took a shower with this lady from Dallas. His wife didn't appreciate my comment, but then again she shouldn't have agreed for him to enter with me.

After breakfast we attended a Jewelry and Gem seminar. We were given a free bracelet charm, a gold cruise ship. We were also given gift certificates for free jewelry once we were on the Cayman Islands and Cozumel. I also purchased a coupon book to obtain more free jewelry. Next we headed to the gift shop for my sister to purchase souvenir T-shirts. While she was standing in line, I started flirting with this old guy. Before long, he had bought me a souvenir T-shirt. His friend started teasing him, telling him he needed to buy all the ladies in the store a T-shirt.

We were able to see the sunset, what a beautiful sight. Then we decided to attend the family comedy show, the guy was just as funny as his adult only show. Then we went to dinner and sat with a couple celebrating their first vacation without their kids and other family members. We made an early night of it, by walking around the deck at night, viewing the stars. It would be romantic for couples. Tomorrow we would wake up in Montego Bay.

   

  

  

My Bucket List Cruise of 2013 - Day 2

My sister woke up first and left the room. A few moments later, she came back saying it was pitch dark outside. Pitch dark at 7 am, hmmm, something wasn't quite right. I eventually woke up around 9 am and my sister said you sure did sleep a long time, you must have really been tired...I was. We got dressed for the Punchline Brunch Comedy Show. We got to the show at about 12:30 and everyone was gone, we were like well what time is it really. We went to the Customer Service desk and asked the representative what tine zone are we in. I noticed the clock on the wall had 7:30 am and thought maybe it wasn't working. The guy said we are on central time and we both looked puzzled. My scary mind went to thinking about one the many crime shows I have watched, then he interrupted my thoughts, we stay on Galveston time the entire trip. WHEW, we weren't being kidnapped. Now I had to figure out how to set my phone to the correct time. Where ever we were in this beautiful water land, it was a 5 hours time difference. We headed to the deck cafeteria.

My sister was going to planned our day. First, we were going to watch the hairy chest man contest. Of course the contest was rigged for this old guy to win, but it was so much fun. Next, we headed to the fitness center to attend a seminar on Detox and Weight Loss. Great seminar and great sales pitch. The presenter never gave tips on what to do, she only gave tips on how your body functions. To gain that information, you had to sign-up for their program, they didn't get any takers. But I did realize, I couldn't sit still too long because the movement of the boat was rocking me to sleep. Our next activity, learning about fine art. Since we both like art, this was going to be a good seminar. But guess what, I couldn't sit still, I was being rocked to sleep. So I got up and walked around looking at the art.

Our next adventure, shopping. My sister wanted a nice Carnival T-shirt. The boutique was also having an accessories sale. I hadn't planned to buy anything but this bracelet caught my eye and this lady named Velma. I put the bracelet on my waist, good fit. Velma wanted the bracelet too, so we searched through the entire container to find her one, no lucky. She told me I had better not take it off or she was grabbing it. I didn't take it off until I reached the cashier.

Our next adventure was Noontime Karaoke. The singers were pretty good. But guess what, sitting still was rocking me to sleep. Some time later, Velma and her daughter-in-law arrived and we sat around talking about how much we were enjoying ourselves. So peaceful and relaxing and most important, stress free. Our next adventure was to walk around the entire ship on the 5th deck, and we did. I had to walk all this food off or I wouldn't be getting into any of my clothes. I have eaten so much, I was beginning to get sick. And since we decided to only take the stairs, my legs were beginning to hurt. So we went to the casino for a drink. We had to leave because of the cigarette smoke.

We had some time to kill before dinner. I needed a nap because the movement of the boat was rocking me to sleep. I don't remember laying down, but I woke up several hours later to my sister fussing at me, get up, we are going to miss dinner and the comedy show. My stomach still felt stuffed. Tonight was dress-up night and my gold dress did not fit too well, yep, I was eating too much, time to cut back on the eating. Also, because of the climate change, I was beginning to get a migraine and my allergies were activated.

We headed to dinner, everyone was looking nice. The line for dinner was long but moving fast. Tonight's special was lobster and prime rib. Since I'm allergic to shellfish and I no longer eat beef, it wasn't a special for me. But I did try something new, pumpkin soup and red fish. The fish tasted like they had just caught it that day; new for me since I only eat frozen fish. Good meal choices, but I still felt stuffed. After dinner, we took our formal portraits. Then we headed to the comedy show. The comedian was so funny. One time I almost spit my drink out. When the show was over, my sister was tired so we headed back to the room. She was sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.