The Next Adventure

I would have liked to snorkel in Belize, reportedly a great destination for scuba diving and snorkeling. Unfortunately the trips were all sold out; I had to settle for river tubing in a rainforest. The day was cloudy and rainy, the ride to the river from the Norwegian cruise port took about 30 minutes by boat, then an hour in a bus. The long bus ride passed through small towns, and the road turned into unpaved one-lane road as we entered the rainforest. The three guides on the trip were Mayan. They spoke very good English and quickly established rapport with the group. They also gave us an informative overview of the Mayan culture and of life in Belize. We stopped at the take out (end) point where we had the opportunity to use the restrooms and given a life vest each. We were warned that we will get wet; I put on a rash guard over a swim suit, water shoes and left my bag with towels in the bus. The bus then drove on to the launch area where lime green tubes were waiti...

We were very happy to be able to dock at Roatan Bay, Honduras after the port call at Cozumel, Mexico was cancelled. The morning was a bit cool and cloudy, with promise of sun later in the day. I had booked a beach and snorkel excursion at Tabyana Beach which was described as a great place to snorkel without having to spend time on a boat ride to see underwater life. We disembark to a colorful port and warm welcome. At the assembly area, we were told that the snorkel part of our excursion was cancelled because the water was choppy and visibility was not good; we would be refunded that portion of the trip. However the beach, swimming and lunch portion was still on. Those of us who were looking forward to snorkeling were disappointed, but some passengers who have been to that beach in the past said that we could go snorkeling on our own if we brought our own gear, which I did (not the fins though). We got on a minivanfor the 20 minute ride to the beach. The beach was really pretty,...

We transferred to the Norwegian Breakaway to start our Caribbean cruise earlier than anticipated because roads out of the Marriott were due to be closed at 10 am. The transfer was boring, with a lot of waiting around. It was a good time to get acquainted with fellow cruise mates, we were a pretty big group of 54, many of whom have taken multiple trips with STI. We finally got onboard, sampled lunch at the buffet and explored the ship. I got some nice photos of the New Orleans cruise terminal and skyline as we sailed off. This was my first NCL cruise, my most recent experiences were with Celebrity, a few years ago, Holland America and a long time ago, Disney. Sad to say, I did not like this ship nor the cruise itself. Too many things did not go well, starting with a mobile app that was not the most user friendly, and that was not updated as soon as information changed. I enjoyed the company of my group; it was nice to cruise with STI members, eat and do things together. But the ...

What do you do on your (almost) first day in New Orleans? Have breakfast at the Cafe du Monde of course! There are now a few branches of the famous cafe in the area. After checking out of the Red Roof Inn Plus in Hammond (which surprisingly did not offer breakfast, only a bland coffee), I drove to Covington for beignets and cafe au lait (yumm) before continuing to the long term parking garage at MSY (New Orleans International Airport). Parking was pretty simple, secure and quite affordable. A free shuttle operated every 15 min (guaranteed, or you get 50% off parking), and a mobile app that I downloaded prior to my trip tracked where the shuttle was. Nice touch, using technology. I had no problem getting my luggage to the airport, met up with a cruise buddy who just arrived from Houston and we shared a taxi to the Marriott New Orleans where we were to spend a night before transfering to the ship on Sunday. There was light rain with heavy storms were predicted later in the evenin...

Signed up for a winter cruise on the Norwegian Breakaway with Singles Travel International, scheduled to depart from New Orleans on Feb 4. Flights to NOLA were rather expensive, plus I would have to stay a night after the cruise to get a reasonable flight back home. I decided to drive down south instead, so that I can visit Breaux Bridge, and stay with my friend Theresa until after Mardi Gras (on Feb 13). Rather than camping, I opted for staying in motels on the route, using the SUV hybrid instead of Millie (my minivan). Driving was pretty easy, the audiobooks I borrowed from the public library made the drive quite relaxing. My plan was to drive no more than 7 hours a day to reduce fatigue. Spent first night at the Travelodge in Wytheville, VA: interesting motel spread over multiple separate buildings, clean quiet rooms. The next day, I stopped in Knoxville, TN to have lunch with a former colleague who had recently moved to the area. We met at Calhoun's on the River, a well kn...