Thu, Dec 6:  NCL Jade Cruise Ship:  All day at sea today.  As we went down for breakfast we were going by the western tip of Cuba.  Very mountainous.  Much cooler today—no more warm and sultry.  74 out there as I’m writing this and very windy.  Mike went to the casino after breakfast and won 40.00+ on the penny slots.  I always lose—he always wins (sigh).  We saw another amazing show at the Stardust Theater last night.  At the end of the show they brought out all the NCL officers, captain, room stewards, butlers, concierges, wait staff, chefs, and washy-washy girls.  Nice tribute to them.  The ship is always immaculate. The show itself was a mixture of illusionists, aerialists, and dancers.  That Russian couple performed also.  They are amazing.  A couple of the aerial acts was right over the audience.  Tonight we’ll have our luggage outside our room by 11:00 and tomorrow morning after breakfast we’ll meet our concierge one last time and he’ll escort us off the ship to our waiting luggage.  Then a cab ride home.  A great trip.

Oops!

The cross hatches on this tree were made by a machete.  They used the sap mixed with honey to make chewing gum.  Chicklets means something in Myan--Chacchoben Mayan Ruins.

Wed, Dec 5:  NCL Jade Cruise Ship:  It was an hour bus ride to the Chacchoben Mayan Ruins through a landscape very similar to the Everglades.  They discovered these ruins in the 1970s and estimate they were 4000 years old.  After they were abandoned, the jungle took over and covered them completely.  Since the area is mostly flat, seeing these “hills” gave them a clue as to what was underneath.  Our guide gave an excellent history of the ruins and the Mayan people.  Another bus ride back and we had to meander through the little village at the end of the pier with all kinds of shopping.  We just wanted to get back to the ship.  We finally found our way back and tried to hit Cagney’s for lunch but were too late.  Back to our room and our butler had left a bunch of sandwiches, some cookies and chocolates.  So that took care of lunch.  Down to the cigar bar on deck 6 for a drink and cigarette.  Don’t know where we’ll end up for dinner.  Another beautiful day.  Really hot in the sun.  Fortunately, there was lots of shade at the ruins.

The Mexican greeters.

Costa Maya light.

The Mayan greeters.

The Mayan ruins.

They think this was a Mayan residential area.

Tue, Dec 4:  NCL Jade Cruise Ship:  A bit of a walk this morning from the ship to the marina in Harvest Caye, Belize.  Got Mike’s back going.  Boarded our boat for the Monkey River cruise.  A very fast trip across the bay and then through the mangroves and finally to the river.  Cruised up the river quite a way and then stopped for a hike through the rain forest.  No dock.  They just pulled up to the river bank and we scrambled up a steep bank.  Thought this is where I’ll fall on my butt.  But the guides got us all off safely.  The trail was quite muddy.  We saw and heard some howler monkeys and saw a vine snake swimming across the river.  The monkeys sound very scary.  Back to the boat and we headed back, stopping at Monkey Town at the mouth of the river.  Used to be a thriving town but there was some banana blight and they stopped exporting bananas, so the town is a shadow of its former self.  Another very fast ride across the bay back to the pier and our ship.  Had a local meal at the marina and then walked back to the ship.  Mike decided to take a ride on one of the carts and I walked.  Waited for him at the ship and it turns out he ended up walking also.  Didn’t feel like waiting in the sun for the cart.  So he is now in pain.  Back to our room and a shower.  Mike is relaxing outside on the deck. We saw an amazing show last night at the theater here on the ship.  A Russian couple who performed an amazing dance routine.  It was part ballet, a fearless aerial performance, and an amazing contortionist display.  An amazing display of their suppleness, fearlessness and grace.  The last number she performed on pointe.  I’m so glad we saw it.  Tomorrow we’ll be in Costa Maya in Mexico.

Harvest Caye, Belize

Two of our boats.

The plants with the fuzzy tops are wild sugarcane.

Mon, Dec 3:  NCL Jade Cruise Ship:  Met our concierge at Moderno and he spirited us off the ship.  We walked around the Town Center a while and checked out some of the shops.  Got our boat for Maya Key which is a private island where a bunch of exotic animals make their home.  Some were rescued, donated, confiscated, or injured.  There was an ocelot, a jaguar, puma, monkeys, and lots of parrots.  They have really nice habitats and the island itself is beautifully maintained and really clean.  After exploring the island and checking out the beach we enjoyed a light lunch and got our boat back to where the cruise ship is docked.  Stopped at the Drinki Monkey in the Roatan town center and had a couple of rum drinks and then back on our ship.  A really fun and relaxing day.  I wore my “sell your stuff, keep the dog, live on an island” tee shirt which created a lot of interest.  Seemed like everyone commented on it.  Going to the Garden Café for a light dinner tonight.  Tomorrow we’re in Belize. 

This group was playing as we got off the ship.  All drums and maracas.  They were good!

Mikey posing by the Christmas tree in the Town Center.

Town Center

Parrots on Maya Key.

The beach area.

Scarlet Macaw

Our cabin is right-most on the second from the bottom. Look at that beautiful blue sky!

Sun, Dec 2:  NCL Jade Cruise Ship:  Today we’re at sea all day.  So we slept in a little and then went down for our usual breakfast.  After that we went our separate ways—Mike to the pool deck and me down to the retail shop.  Very windy today and sort of rough.  We met back at our room and I sat on the deck reading until it got too hot.  We wanted to watch the Rams game anyway.  We actually got a Rams game!  Went down for lunch just before half time and then out to the pool deck.  Listened to a great reggae band for a while and then back to our room to watch the rest of the game.  We’ll just snack a little for dinner and then head to the casino—Mike will anyway—I just seem to lose.  Tomorrow we go to Roatan Island, Honduras.

The beautiful rain forest in Costa Rica.

Another shot of the sloth.

Sat, Dec 1:  NCL Jade Cruise Ship:  Up early this morning.  Still at sea.  We’ll probably dock while at breakfast.  After our nice leisure breakfast we went back to our room and gathered all our stuff.  We met our concierge at the Moderno Restaurant lounge area and he took a group of us through the kitchen and onto a service elevator down to Deck 4 and off the boat, eliminating a lot of waiting at the elevators.  Another perk of having a suite.  We boarded a bus and headed to where we would board our historic train which was used to haul bananas from the plantations to the port back in the 1800s.  Going through the outskirts of Limon was eye opening.  A lot of poverty.  A lot of the “houses” are surrounded by chain link fences topped with barbed wire and razor wire.  But the surrounding countryside is beautiful. I call it jungle but it is really a rain forest.  Limon is one of the dryer areas in Costa Rica.  They only get 5 feet of rain a year.  Some areas get 10 to 15 feet of rain yearly.  No rain today though.  While we were walking through the rain forest we spotted a sloth.  Saw some monkeys briefly.  I don’t like monkeys.  They poop and then throw it at you.  And they steal stuff.  Anyway, I lost my key card somewhere along the way (probably a monkey stole it!).  That allows you back on the ship and it is what you use to pay for stuff.  I went to Guest Services and got another one. 

The mountains of Costa Rica

On the river cruise we went on, there was all this floating vegetation.  Turns out they're water lilies--some with beautiful purple flowers.

An egret among the floating water lilies.

Beautiful flowers we saw on our rain forest walk.

The sloth we encountered on our rain forest walk.

Met this woman walking through the rain forest.  She's from Belize and knew all the flowers.  She is getting off the ship in Belize.

Fri, Nov 30:  NCL Jade Cruise Ship:  Woke up at 6:00 this morning and looked out and we were in the canal zone already.  Started moving slowly to the canal with two escorts.  We were told it costs a cruise ship about $500,000 to transit the canal.  The most expensive was a French ship which paid over one million.  A guy swam the canal back in 1936 and it cost him 83 cents.  They probably don’t let you do that any more.  It was very interesting going through the canal in this huge ship, but I remember going through the locks with my father on our cabin cruiser back in the day.  Lake Gatun is quite beautiful.  It reminds me of pictures I’ve seen of Vietnam.  And we are surrounded by beautiful, lush jungle.  I saw a couple of parrots flying by.  It is very hot in the sun too.  I donned my bathing suit and sat out on our deck for a while, but the hot sun drove me back in.  There are a lot of people up on deck with nasty looking sun burns.  About 1:00 we retransited the canal, heading for Colon.  We’ll get out and walk around a bit if it’s not too hot.  Have reservations at a Japanese steak house for dinner tonight.  Last night we had room service which was pretty good.  I’m sure it’s in the 90s out there right now.  Tomorrow we’ll be in Costa Rica. 

Our ship just coming into the lock.  Look how close!

They have these little trains that take the ship's ropes and snug them up and then follow the ship through the canal.  They're on the port and starboard sides.

We're up a level and about to go into another chamber.  That other thing opening up in the background is a bridge going over the canal for car traffic.  Cars and trucks are backed up forever.  They're building a beautiful, new bridge which will replace this.

The new, beautiful, very high bridge still under construction.

Another cruise ship is right behind us.

Lake Gatun