by overview, I mean every detail. :)
Day One: We flew out of MSP at 10:30 am and had a pretty relaxed day with no snags to speak of. We definitely ended up next to a 'talker' on the plane to Atlanta; apparently a student at Harvard flying home after break. He had to tell us about the survival rate of people who have fallen from airplanes at 30,000 feet with no parachute. He recommends falling on a hay barn if at all possible.
We got to our hotel in downtown Miami and definitely got a feel for the rich diversity of that area. We felt like the only english speakers in a 60 mile radius. Our hotel was kind of sketchy, but the location was amazing, right amongst the high rises of downtown Miami, and across the street from the beautiful 'Bayside' outdoor shopping mall.
Day Two: We had a relaxed morning before heading over to the port in a hotel shuttle van. Once at the port, the chaos ensued! We had to quickly toss our baggage onto the 'Norwegian Jewel' carts and scurry out of the way of traffic. There were at least 4 other full size cruise ships loading and unloading in that area, so traffic was hectic. We were very early for check in, but we were able to go through the process easily and head up to the boarding area. This is when I first got a feel for the QUANTITY of people that we would be sharing our vacation with. We sat in what seemed like a bus terminal with hundreds of other people who had arrived even earlier than we had. Finally our color/number was called and we got to weave our way up the ramp and onto the ship. It felt like we had been on the ship for the whole day when we finally left the port at 4pm, but it was a beautiful sight as the sun glimmered off the wake of our ship.
Day Three: At Sea! Our first full day on the ship was 'at sea' as we traveled down to central America. It was a nice warm day, around 80 degrees and everyone was laying out on the beach chairs by 10am. With 2,400 passengers its hard to find a chair and a spot to lay out on, so we kept going up to the next deck until we found the highest deck that said 'Freestyle Sun Deck.' We thought nothing of it since we were on a 'Freestyle cruise' with 'Freestyle' dining, etc etc etc. There were a handful of people up there, hanging out, reading books (fully dressed mind you)...until a certain fellow and his friend came up and decided to drop trou' in our vicinity. Don't fret, I didn't see anything and my innocence was spared, but HOLY MOLY. My mom estimated (as a health professional) that this man was over 400 lbs, so I actually wondered to myself if there was a speedo underneath there or something. No such luck.
We decided not to return to the freestyle deck.
(Can someone please elaborate on why anyone needs to be tan in unspeakable places?)
Day Four: Arrival at Roatan, Honduras! We spent the day in Roatan, an island off the coast of mainland Honduras, at the recommended 'Tabyana' or 'West Bay' Beach. It is known for its snorkeling and scuba diving opportunities with the barrier reef that extends along the shoreline of central america and Mexico. Although pretty warm, it was a mostly cloudy day to start off, and cleared up a bit as the day went on. We took a cab that wound through the hilly, mountainous, rain-foresty roads of Roatan, enjoying the sites and sounds of the country, eventually returning to our cruise port. We enjoyed the day, but were ready to be away from the constant heckling of local souvenir peddlers. :) "You wan dat hair braided Hon-ay!?'
Day Five: Belize City, Belize
We're still not completely sure why a cruise ship would stop here... :) haha, it wasn't that bad. My mother and I decided to go walking on our own and get a flavor for the city by foot. It was fairly apparent that Belize was a third world country (like most vacation spots) but it smelled bad and was full of crazy drivers, homeless people, and heckling peddlars. We got a good walk in and headed back to the cruise port for some souvenir shopping. At the end of the day we climbed back onto the cruise ship, ready to hit the buffet and relax a bit.
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