Day 7 last sea day

Well we have come to our last full day and we spent it at Sea. We got up at a decent time and headed to O'Sheehan's for breakfast. We enjoyed it. The nice things about the sit down restaurants for breakfast is that the food is much warmer then it can be in the buffet and I really enjoy that for breakfast. Since having kids eating eggs and have been hard and are a hit or a miss sometimes so having them warm definitely makes them easier to eat.

 Mimosa for breakfast

My favourite Irish restaurant

After breakfast we decided to spend the morning in the atrium. Yes we were the people who staked out our seats and sat there for a while but we did order drinks. We started off with technical talk with the Captain & Chief Engineer. I honestly did not think we would enjoy this we just wanted spots for the next events but it was actually quite informative. I learned a few things and the captain actually had a wicked sense of humour. It is quite amazing he is a family man, he is from Norway but spends months at a time away from his family sailing the seas. You must really enjoy your job to be able to do that.

Captain and Chief Engineer

After the Captain we stayed to watch the Battle of Cake Masters. It was one of the chef's up against two members of the audience. One male and one female. They were given a certain amount of time to ice and decorate a two tier cake. It was enjoyable. The guy was a bit of an underdog and when the chef would turn his back he would do a few things to his cake. Add more spray or icing etc.. It was quite fun. The audience did the voting of the final voting through clapping/cheering. The young lady was the winner but both contestants got a prize pack with wine which is why I suppose they did not allow kids to compete. Contestants had to be 19 or older. After the contest was done they served up the cake to the audience. I only had a small bite of one of the kids. I am not a vanilla cake fan. Chocolate all the way please and thank you.

 Chef in the middle, man on the left and women on the right

Women's final creation

After the Cake show we got to watch a towel folding demonstration. They had several stewards show us an array of animals that they do. Some I had seen on previous cruises like the frog one of my all time favourites that I did not get to see, At the end they even will sell you a video showing you step by step how to make the animals yourself. I am surprised they do not also sell the white towels.

 The bunny

 The frog

The ape

After the demonstration we sat an talked to some fellow passengers for a bit and then headed off to lunch and the kids spent the whole afternoon at the pool enjoying the slides. The only two they did not do were the drop slides. I was sure Elizabeth was brave enough to try one out but at last she did not go through with it. Who knows she may get another chance on our next cruise that has slides on it.
Dinner was once again in the buffet and this evening it was Italian night. It was not overly exciting but I think by this time I was wishing I had done more sit down restaurants or splurged for specialty dinning. I may just do that this September when I cruise. Teppanyaki is still on my list of restaurants I have not tried on Norwegian although my parents did when they went to Alaska. I treated them for their Anniversary. I also want to try the truffle fries at Cagney's. So much choice. I did not get a picture tonight of the display at the buffet. We headed back to our room early so we could be packed and ready to go in the morining. We were walking off with our luggage as we had a tight flight to make. So it was a take it easy and relax evening once we were packed.

Our Final towel animal. I have never seen them use a pool towel for an animal. We think he is a Salamander but not sure.

Where you can find me:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor

Website: http://www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

Email: slough@exclusivetoyoutravel.com

TICO 500212282

55 York Street, Suite 1003

Toronto, On M5J 1R7

Please keep in mind that while my head office is in Toronto. I am a home based travel agent and I live in South Dundas and I can service clients anywhere in Canada. But, I meet with clients in the SD&G area

Day 6 Cozumel, Mexico

Day six dawned and we found ourselves in Cozumel, Mexico. Our excursion for the day was a short one. Learning about chocolate. If I had been on my own I may have braved the Ferry crossing to Playa del Carmen and grab a Pandora charm and a Hagen Daz Ice cream but the water was extremely choppy and figured it was not a good idea to drag mom and the kids along on my quest. So Sadly I did not get a Pandora charm from my vacation to add to my charm.
Some of the other options for excursions from NCL are as follows: Fly high Zip line, Private Cabana at the Cabana Beach, Jose Cuervo Tequilla Tasting Experience, Xplor Park and Dolphin Swim & Ride. The chocolate making experience was at the same spot as the Tequilla Experience. It is a museum where you also earn about Mexican culture and experience Mexican food. For the first time my mother used a wheelchair. Katherine was the one elected to push her around. She will not be getting a driver's licence soon. lol
Are experience started by walking through a mall to get to the other side of the street and to our private transportation.

 This man (statue) was literally standing in the air

Christmas/Winter display

The museum tour was awesome. We saw so many different artifacts from the Mexican culture, clothes, statues, masks etc.. I took so many pictures just sharing a couple.

We also got a family picture minus mom with the Donkey wearing her reindeer ears. Yes we paid for the picture and the frame. I wonder how many people get suckered into spending the $25 as they print the picture and the frame and show it to you when you go to enjoy your lunch experience. I do not have a digital copy so I will not share it here. After the tour and picture we went on to make our own chocolate with lots of help from the staff.

 The set up in the cooking class

 We started with a hot cocoa

 The coco beans

 Lots of strength needed to crush them up

 Forming it into the chocolate

Lots of hard work and concentration

After the hard work of chocolate making we went out and had lunch. We had hand made tortillas and fillings from a lady who speaks the old language. It was positively amazing and spicy.

After lunch we took a tour of the monuments of Mexico that were set up in diorama's around the park. We also watched the fertility show that has to do with the Mayan Calendar. I had seen it before on my list visit to Mexico, so had my mother on hers. It was brand new for the kids.

 The men have all climbed to the top of the poll

 They swing down going around 12 times t represent the months and the one man drums at the top

 Almost completely down 

 Family picture of us with the men

One of the diorama pieces

We were dropped back at the shopping mall where we managed to check out Starbucks. I bought I drink with chocolate and cherry that they did not have at home. Managed to pick up a few Mexican vanilla bottles for myself and a friends. When we were done exploring we headed back to the ship.

 Katherine outside Starbucks

 Senor Frogs (so disappointed I did not get to go in)

 Another human statue and Daniel

They did not know how to zoom in lol

After the excursions and shopping we headed back to the ship. There were ten different ships in port that day. 2 Norwegian at least 2 Royal's a Holland America a Princess and a Carnival that I saw. We watched the sail away and then we headed to the Buffet for Mexican night.

 Hal ship docked beside us

 You can kind of see the ferries

 Mexican Night

This night they were very minimalist on their decor for the theme. We were all kind of disappointed. They had the watermelon and three big hats and that was it. They seemed to go all out at the beginning.

 Tonight's towel animal

The kids successfully hide the animal from the night before.

Overall it was another awesome day!!

Where you can find me:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor

Website: http://www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

Email: slough@exclusivetoyoutravel.com

TICO 500212282

55 York Street, Suite 1003

Toronto, On M5J 1R7

Please keep in mind that while my head office is in Toronto. I am a home based travel agent and I live in South Dundas and I can service clients anywhere in Canada. But, I meet with clients in the SD&G area

Day 5 Roatan, Honduras

Day Five of our cruise found us in Roatan, Honduras. We decided to do an excursion today but we decided not to use Norwegian to do it. I arranged it with recommendation from a fellow traveler. So we used Justin Island Tours. Here is his facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Websterjustin17/
He actually has a few options to chose from. Beach Day/ Snorkeling- Roatan hosts the world’s second largest barrier reef system. The snorkeling is fantastic with reef formations just a few swim strokes from the shore at beautiful West Bay Beach. The reef gardens are ablaze with the flamboyant colors of abundant, vigorous corals; some of them topped with waving sea fan coral, which swing impressively with the movement of the ocean waves. All of this is visible while enjoying the views of abundant sea life. Immerse yourself in the beauty of Roatan!

Zip Lining- Let the wind blow through your hair and the sun kiss your cheeks as you sail through the tree tops of lovely Honduras. This is an adventure you won’t soon forget! Let the adrenaline surge through your body during this safe but exhilarating zip line tour.Monkeys and Sloths- Nearly everyone can say they are an animal lover of some sort. Many of us have had a companion animal who touched our lives in some way or perhaps had a chance encounter with a wild animal that gave a new perspective on life. Provide yourself with a memorable encounter with Roatan’s finest creatures- the monkeys and sloths. Get up close, one on one time with these amazing animals.City Tour- Roatan was founded in 1835 when several families moved to Roatan from the Cayman Islands. It is named after pirate Captain John Coxen. Roatán was once home to over 5,000 pirates! Join me on a fascinating journey around my city where I will share with you some of the history, local culture and customs, and some of my favorite locations and photo opportunities.Food Tour- Roatan is known for its many culinary delights - iguana, fried plantains, baleada, conch soup, fresh fruit and more! Join me on a tour of my beautiful city to enjoy all the incredible and unique foods we have to offer. Learn about ingredients and dishes that are important to our local people while avoiding tourist traps. Your taste buds will be glad you did!

We decided on the city tour and Monkey and sloth tour combination. I provided a deposit in USD through Paypal and paid the balance in cash again USD after the tour started. I will mention that Justin Island Tours was actually overbooked but how they handle it on the island is they subcontract the work out to other tour companies/drivers. We were taken care of by --------. He was absolutely amazing and completely made the tour what it was. We had a vehicle to ourselves so it was a private tour and not very expensive compared to what we would have paid for similar with Norwegian. As I have mentioned in my posts before there are many ways to explore ports for cruise excursions you must make sure you are back on board by the proper time or they will sail with out you. The biggest reason for this is the cruise ships face heavy fines, extra fees if they do not leave when they are supposed to.

 Port

In our mini-van my mom was in the front and Daniel is hidden

So the first part of our tour was a city tour. Which included a stop at several tourist shops as well as a market that yo can see down into the port and the cruise ship. I bought some Roatan vanilla from this market.

Everyone in the picture this time

Once we stopped at the tourist attractions we headed to the monkey and sloth reserve. This is also where the zip lining is. It was neat to watch them glide by overhead while we were visiting the different animals. My mom was feeling sore so she sat in the air conditioned store and my oldest Victoria decided to sit it out and keep Nan company. We saw Monkeys, Sloths, Parrots, Iguanas and their version of dear. It was amazing because we got to get up close and personal with the different animals. The kids and I are big time animal lovers.

 My new little friend he kept coming back even with no bribes

Love how happy Elizabeth is

 You do feel their claws on your head

He had to start on me to be moved to Daniel

 Other awesome moment with the sloth

Sloth is almost as big as Daniel is

This is where they hang out waiting for their cuddles

Unfortunately there are no pictures of Katherine with the animals. She is very afraid of animals. She was bitten by a dog and really has never recovered from it and is very fearful. She should have sat with Nan and let Victoria experience the animals. When we were done here we made another stop at chocolate shop/factory. We got to experience a demonstration about chocolate and of course purchase chocolate. I also purchased a really good coffee as well.

 Bird carved of wood. I though they were real at first

Huge turtle carved on top the building across the street

inside the chocolate factory

When we were done here we took a drive back to the port along the coast. We saw some of the very expensive homes you can find on the islands as well as some of the not so expensive homes. Dogs wander around and are strays. A huge population many of them seemed to be female and mothers. We only did a half day for our tour and went back to the ship for lunch. After lunch we had a bit of nap and hang out at the pool. I wish now that we had tried out a local restaurant for food.

Christmas Tree in Port

We did supper at the buffet and it was Asian night as we did the show. We watched the Million Dollar Quartet. It features Elivis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. We enjoyed it a lot. Even the kids which I was not 100% sure they would.

 Daniel and I waiting for the show to start

 Asian Night Decor

Our Bear Towel Animal

I loved our towel animal this evening. So cute. Once again a bit of reading and a little tv and it was off to bed for all of us. I am counting down the days to my next cruise!!

Where would you like to cruise? Drop a me a comment and when you are ready to book please reach out.

Where you can find me:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor

Website: http://www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

Email: slough@exclusivetoyoutravel.com

TICO 500212282

55 York Street, Suite 1003

Toronto, On M5J 1R7

Please keep in mind that while my head office is in Toronto. I am a home based travel agent and I live in South Dundas and I can service clients anywhere in Canada. But, I meet with clients in the SD&G area