We had a super early excursion this morning and it was a special one as we took my niece and nephew along with us. Today our port was Belize City, Belize and it was a tender port due to coral reefs and how shallow the water was near the city. I understand they are working on building a dock though out on an island.
Our meeting time was 6:45 a.m. in the theater and when we checked in we were sent to the first row. We would be the first group off.
About 7:00 a.m. they called our number and brought us down to the water shuttle. In Belize, they use water shuttles provided by the port.
Our tour consisted of the Atlun Ha Mayan Ruins which were about an hour bus ride from Belize City, a traditional lunch, and then a scenic river boat ride that would bring us back to the port where we would board our shuttle and return to the ship. Here is my vLog of the day followed by some photos.
They are still in the process of excavating this temple.
Temple of the Sun God which we were able to climb for some great views.
View from on top the Temple of the Sun God
These little tiny frogs were everywhere in the grass.
A traditional Belizean lunch - the rice and beans are cooked in coconut milk. Even both children finished their plates it was so good.
These Green Iguanas were just hanging around the area where we had lunch. They were so much fun to watch.
Then began the river boat portion. I was able to snag a seat up front with my nephew and his camera directly behind me. We had the best views on the boat.
With all the videos I have been creating, I find myself juggling my iPhone and my camera at the same time!
Howler Monkey
Ringed Kingfisher
I wonder if this is a Golden-fronted Woodpecker.
Cormorant
Cormorants and Brown Boobies
Cormorant
Juvenile Magnificent Frigatebird
Male Magnificent Frigatebird
A Brown Booby in the middle of a bunch of Laughing Gulls (and maybe a Tern or two)
Then it was time to head back to the ship.
The Carnival Dream was anchored next to us.
This night was our last formal night of the cruise and the second lobster night (the advantage to doing two back to back cruises as one). The next day would be another long excursion day.
Paul had never been to the Tulum Mayan Ruins and I remembered them being pretty neat to tour (years ago) and so we booked an excursion for our day in Cozumel. Cozumel is an island. Tulum is on the mainland. The ship arrived in port about 9:00 a.m. which was also the time we were supposed to meet in the theater for our excursion. The theater was full with people on at least 6-8 different excursions that all required a ferry to the mainland. Our group was one of the first to be released. After stepping off the ship, we walked to a nearby dock to board the ferry. We had a while to wait as the rest of the groups made their way and filled the boat.
Once the ferry was full, it was about a 35 minute ferry ride to the mainland.
After arriving on the mainland, we boarded a bus that was about an hour ride to get to the Mayan Ruins of Tulum.
I believe these are a female and male Hooded Oriole
The Castle (El Castillo)
Temple of the Paintings
Tulum is right on the Caribbean Sea
Black Spiny-tailed Iguanas
Juvenile Magnificent Frigatebird
A small green lizard, the size of an anole
Another Black Spiny-tailed Iguana - they were everywhere!
We had four hours in Tulum which was a long time on a very hot, sticky day with no access to A/C. About an hour of that time was a guided tour. We spent the next hour or so taking photos and exploring on our own. And then we went in search of a snack and some shade and watched the iguanas run to pass the time until it was time to return to the bus. Here is a video I put together of our day.
The bus took us back to the dock where we would catch the ferry. We were one of the first groups to get a seat on the ferry at about 5:10 p.m. but we had to wait for the ferry to fill up (with Caribbean Princess passengers on other mainland excursions). About 5:40 p.m., it looked like we were full but we were told we were waiting on two people. We sat there another half an hour before finally leaving without them at about 6:10 p.m. All aboard time was 6:30 p.m. with a planned leaving time for the cruise ship of 7:00 p.m. We were walking back on the ship (and towards the front of people from the ferry) at about 6:50 p.m.
One huge advantage to taking a cruise line excursion (especially an all day one that might cut it close) is that you don't have to worry about missing the ship. The cruise line will either hold the ship for you or make all arrangements to get you to the next port (it's almost always in their best interests to just hold the ship). One other time (on a Celebrity cruise) our excursion bus was late and the ship waited for us. The cruise line won't do that for passengers that explore on their own or book excursions through a third party.
By the time we made it back, both Carnival ships had left port already but the Celebrity Equinox had arrived and was still there. The sky really was quite cool and the view of the bow of the ship from the dock was unlike a view we normally get.
One last look at our ferry
After a long hot day, we headed straight for the pool which was so refreshing. I grabbed a chicken sandwich from the pool grill and enjoyed the evening and then we retired early.
On our final sea day, we spent a lot of time in the lounges socializing, people watching, enjoying a few last drinks, and going through photos. We even ordered lunch on the app to be delivered to the table we had been enjoying all morning just outside Explorer's Lounge which was a prime people watching spot. The afternoon was spent in Vines with family and then we had one last dinner in the Main Dining Room before going back to our rooms to pack.
Here is a video that highlights many of the public areas on the Caribbean Princess.
This link will take you to a PDF of each Patter for both weeks.
This link will take you to some of the drink menus. Starting the first day of the second week, Princess introduced a higher level drink package and with that they started rolling out new drink prices, especially for wines. They weren't quite ready for the rollout so the change in prices mostly just caused confusion the second week.
On disembarkation day, we were up early as we were set to be in the first walk off group. On my way to breakfast, I took a detour to deck 16 to watch the Celebrity Infinity and Equinox come in as the sun rose.
After breakfast, we finished packing up and were down in the Island dining room about 7:15 a.m. waiting for the signal that we had been cleared to leave which came shortly thereafter. There was a bit of a line getting off but it was quick going through customs as they are now using facial recognition in Terminal 2 of Port Everglades (you just look at a screen and hope a green cleared message shows up).
One last look from the walkway to the parking garage
We had intentionally parked in a far corner and there were no other cars even close to ours and likely that is how it had been for the full two weeks.
We were pulling onto the Florida Turnpike at 8:05 a.m. and arrived home about 7:40 p.m. so made pretty good time. There was one spot where Google was warning us of a backup due to an accident and so we took a detour that it sounds like may have only added 15 minutes to our trip vs an hour had we stayed on the route. It rained off and on in Florida but then cleared up as did the traffic.
