Thrusday - Costa Maya

We got off the ship to do some shopping. We found all sorts of great deals. The only thing that is bad about this port is the pier is freaking long, and it's usually very windy here. We were having about 50 mph winds on the pier and then when you got into the shopping area at the pier it was about 30ish as we had buildings helping us. It takes foever it feels like to walk against that wind. We had the ice skating show tonight so we went to johnny rockets for dinner for something easy. The ice skating show was fantastic! It was really cool to see them do the tricks and still land them when you feel the ship rocking somewhat due to the choppy seas we had. Not much else to report on here so I will just post some of our pics.

Wed - Roatan,Honduras

Today we finally get to see land again. LOL. We are in beautiful Roatan, Honduras. If we ever get back to this port on a future cruise we will be doing a snorkeling/scuba excursion as its a great spot for this. You will see in the pictures I have. We didn't do a lot today as we had nothing planned. We explored the ship and got some more great pictures with it being less crowded.

Tuesday - 2nd Sea Day

We pretty much did the same thing as the day before. However this was the first of two art auctions we would go to. We headed down at 1 for the art preview. We saw a few pieces we really liked that go with our others we have bought on ships. The same artist Linda LeKnff and of course Ian found the last of the three speed racers that are sold by Park West auctions. We were able to put in a pre-bid and get a nice package deal. What should have cost us around $1900 we got for only $450 total for three pieces. After the art auction we went back to the room to get a nap in as we had reservations for the specialty dining room, Portofino's. It was very good. It was ony an extra $20pp to do this. I had a glass of wine with dinner and Ian had some tea. It is a four course meal. They bring you out all sorts of breads and dipping sauces/items. One was some olive oil obviously but they brought out this big thing of roasted garlic. OMG! That is all I have to say. Ian got this skewer of meat that was delicious. It had lobster tail, scallops, tiger shrimp, and a small thing of salmon that was already plated. I had tiger shrimp with garlic and basil. OMG again!!! Then before they bring you the dessert menu's you get a dessert appetizer, yes you heard that right. It was a three tier'd tray with chocolate covered strawberries on the top, the next level had these delicious small chocolate/wafer cookies, and then the botoom had some other chocolate decadence thing. We chose to do the mini sampler for our dessert. It had a white chocolate creme brulee, coffee/chocolate tiramasu, and a chocolate flourless cake. OMG!!!!YUM!! I have no other words that can possibly describe it. We were both full beyond belief at this point. We then went back to the room as to change as we had an appointment with the auctioneer people to discuss where to send our art to. We ended up getting one of the mysteries they did as well. It is by an artist that I call the Russian KISS dude. hehe... He came to America from Russia and the rock band KISS influenced him with his painting because of their make up they wear. There is more to the story than that but when we get the paintings in we will take a picture of it and explain in more detail.

Monday - 1st Sea Day

We woke up around 8ish and headed up to get some breakfast at the windjammer. It was already busy but it was a little larger than the Conquest's buffet area so it didn't feel crowded. We had gorgeous weather everyday. We only had a little rain shower on the day we left Roatan, but the rain didn't come down until we left. Anyway, back to the first sea day. After breakfast we headed down to the cafe promenade to get some coffee and look over the cruise compass(daily activities) to figure out what we wanted to do today. We decided to go to the port shopping talk to find out where to get some good deals on certain things we knew we would be bringing back for people. After the shop talk, we headed back to cafe promenade for some lunch as they had pizza and sandwich's every day. Ian got a turkey sandwich on foccacia and I got a ham on a croissant. After lunch we headed up to the room and went on the balcony to do some reading. I finished two books while on this cruise. We sat on our balcony a lot and read. It was one of the most relaxing cruises we have done so far. We had some excitement happen on our first sea day. The capt and crew spotted what appeared to be a raft out on the water. So we of course have to stop and render aid. They sent out a rescue boat to check it out. It was about a 14 person life raft and unfortunately had no one on it. So it just makes you wonder what happened to those people. /cry. The capt came over the intercom system and stated that they contacted the manufacturer and were able to find out what ship it belonged to and had relayed the information.

Tonight was the first formal night on the cruise. We decided to get dressed up and head down to the dining room. We chose to do "My time dining" where you don't have a set time or table you eat at. We were put at a table for two close to a wall of windows so it was perfect. We had indicated we were celebrating our anniversary which was the reason for the cruise. At the end of dinner the head waiter along with our waiters, and a few from tables by us, came over and sang "happy anniversary" to us, and made us stand up and kiss. They also brought a piece of cheesecake which was delicious. After dinner we went back to the room and got changed. They were having a smoke free night in the casion so we wanted to go to the casino on this day. I came out ahead about $60 bucks so not too shabby. We then went to the show, which was music from the movies starring the dancers and singers of the ship. It was ok. We were not overly impressed as it seemed they were out of sync. We left the show early and went back to the cabin. We had two messages waiting for us. They were from various crew members, thanking us for choosing to sail with Royal Caribbean for our special occasion. We thought it was pretty special.

Sunday - Embarkation Day

We woke up this morning and looked outside while holding our breath that the fog was gone as predicted. Then we were able to breathe a sigh of relief as it was gorgeous blue skies, and no fog in sight! We got dressed and walked over to IHOP as we were staying at the Hilton. While at breakfast we made the decision that we would go back to the room and try to get a parking spot at the parking lot my parents used last year as we didn't really feel like waiting for the shuttle that we were currenlty booked to take from the hotel. After calling around and talking to my mom, we found out where Lighthouse parking lot was and at 9ish we were on our way to the parking lot. We found it quick and they had openings, phew. We had one of the first spots by the gate. The bus made it over to us and we were on the shuttle in less than 2 minutes. We got to the terminal and were in line at 9:45. They opened the doors at ten and we made it through security, then to the check in line to get our sea pass card. We were sitting in the waiting area by 10:30ish and about five minutes later they opened the doors for us to begin boarding the ship.

Once on board we decided to look at a ship layout to get a handle on the ship. It was relatively light crowds as we were in the first group to board. We first went to the royal promenade and found someone that was selling the beverage packages. We got signed up for a coke pass on ians card. I honestly don't think we will do it anymore in the future. We hardly drank any sodas while on board. We mainly drank water, tea or lemonade which are all included. We of course had coffee too as they had a nice cafe with unlimited coffee set up for 24 hours a day. This became one of our favorite spots on the ship.

After exploring the promenade we made it up to the windjammer for a yummy lunch. When the clock finally rolled around to 1:15ish we decided the rooms were probably open and ready for us to go to. Our luggage was dropped off quickly. I had us unpacked by 2 if I remember right. Might have been closer to 2:30. Then we chilled on the balcony for a bit before it was time to go for the muster drill. Thank god, wearing the life jacket is no longer required. It was fairly painless. While standing out there waiting we saw the conquest head out at 4. Once the capt. dismissed us we ran by the room to get our cameras and headed up to the pool deck for sailaway party.

We decided to hit up Johnny Rockets for dinner this first night. We had a st.louis burger which had bacon, lettuce, and some yummy sauce. Ian got a chocolate malt of course and I had a flavored soda. You get unlimited onion rings and fries. We didn't make it to the show tonight as we were kind of tired. We went to the room after dinner and just relaxed on the balcony.

quick post

I just wanted to post that I haven't forgotten about writing my update. Work has been kind of hectic getting back into. I haven't wanted to get on the computer at home. However I plan on taking time on Monday or tuesday to do my post for each day along with some pictures. I also have a video to finish editing and will probably be sending that out as well. So by Tuesday I should have it all completed, cross the fingers. hehe...

~ Hugs

What a vacation!!!

We had a wonderful time!!! If I were to rate our cruise vacations, this one is ranked number one officially! I just can't say enough of the trip. I plan on being back soon with a day by day recap. However I have been in front of the computer for a long time this afternoon, paying bills and filing for our income tax refund. I'm ofically sick of the computer already. Hehe... But please come back tomorrow as I plan to write a nice review and do pictures to go with that day. That's all for now though. I will leave you with a picture that I like to call "this is how to relax"