Western Caribbean Cruise 2010

A Cruise With Family

In the summer of 2010, we ventured out on another family vacation adventure. For this trip there were 9 people going on a 7-day Western Caribbean Cruise. Participating family members included James and Julie, Gary and Surella (Julie's parents), Jim and Gayle (James' parents), and Cheri, Cindy, and Kellie (James's sister and her children). The cruise left out of Tampa with 4 scheduled ports of call during the week.




Friday, 06/18/2010 – Traveling South

Friday started off well. We finished getting our things packed and getting the house ready for the cat's overrule. Julie's parents arrived at the house around 8:30a and we headed to the airport to check in for our flight. We could see some storm clouds moving in from the west, but we got to the airport before it started. After we got checked in, Julie took the car to Meredith and parked it in the garage there. One of her coworkers then brought her back to the airport. We headed through security and stopped at the restaurant because we had time before our scheduled 11:30a flight. While we were eating the storm clouds let loose and a lot of rain fell in a very short amount of time. When it finally cleared off, several planes landed like they had been lined up waiting for the weather to clear. Ours was not one of them.

At this point it would probably be appropriate to mention that we were flying Allegiant Airlines and that they had a relatively small staff operating at Des Moines International Airport. This means the same staff worked the check-in counter and the gate. They only have a few flights, so this usually wasn't an issue. The problem that could arise during a delay was they tend not to update their flight status information and the monitors at the gates were on timers so they automatically update to the next flight whether the first flight had gone or not. This also meant there are not actual people at the gate all the time. Therefore, when the plane we were supposed to board didn't show up, there was no one to explain what was going on. After an hour or so of waiting, I called my dad in Florida who checked the website and let me know the plane had been diverted to Cedar Rapids, IA so it could take on some fuel while waiting for the weather to clear and had recently left on its way to Des Moines. Not long after that, the plane landed, and some very bedraggled people exited about 90 minutes late.

We finally got to board and prepare for our flight south. Julie and James were seated in the second to back row with bulkhead seats behind the rear galley. Gary and Surella were in row 10 at the front of the plane. The flight south was fairly smooth, and we arrived at St. Petersburg 2 and half hours late. The joy of Allegiant is that they have direct flights so we didn't have to worry about connections. Flying into St. Petersburg is interesting in that Allegiant deplaned in both the front and back of the plane so Julie and I actually got off the plane at the same time as Julie's parents. We had made it to Florida.

Once we got the luggage, we headed to get a taxi. The two people in front of us with their one carry-on each took the mini-van cab so the four of us and our checked baggage got to get into a Crown Victoria. Greg, our driver, was a typical Florida cabbie in his shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. As soon as we got in, he put the hotel's address into his GPS and proceeded to ask if he could stop for gas on the way; he had just started his shift and didn't realize that the cab was almost empty; so just outside the airport, we stopped so he could put $5 of gas into the cab. We made it to the hotel in good shape and traffic was pretty light. When James went to pay, he had to go into the hotel to get change because the driver had spent the last of his cash on the gas.

James and Julie had brought a couple bottles of salad dressing for James' parents so his mom, sister, and eldest niece stopped by the hotel to pick them up after a shopping trip in the Tampa area. We all went to eat and had a fun supper. The evening was spent relaxing, watching TV, and looking at stuff on the computer.

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Our hotel in Tampa



Saturday, 06/19/2010 – A Day in Tampa

We didn't have anything planned for Saturday the 19th so we decided to relax and didn't really budge from bed until 7:30a. Julie's parents went down for breakfast while James took a shower. After he finished Julie took hers and proceeded to find water all over the floor of the bathroom and part of the closet in our bedroom. This we figured was not good so after Gary and Surella got back, Julie and James went to breakfast and then we all packed our things so we could switch to another room. James believes the staff was trying to confuse him because we went from room 415 to room 514. After that, we watched TV and James worked on an older version of a travel website. We then walked to lunch at a nearby sandwich shop and returned through a park. The park was just across the river from the University of Tampa campus where James' sister Cheri worked. We were also near the Tampa Children's Museum.

The afternoon was spent watching TV, either movies or sports. We went to the Channelside district for supper and a little fresh air. When we got back to the hotel, we signed up for the noon shuttle to the port (the 11a one was already full) and headed up to the room for a little more TV before bed.




Sunday, 06/20/2010 – Embarking and Heading Out to Sea

Sunday started off similar to Saturday with Gary and Surella going to breakfast while Julie and James went through their morning routine. Fortunately, no plumbing broke so it was a little bit better. Around 11:30a we headed to the hotel lobby to check out and wait for the shuttle we'd signed up for at noon. As soon as we got checked out a different shuttle to the same place showed up, so we hopped on it and got to the pier half an hour earlier than expected. We could see the ship as the shuttle was pulling up to the pier. We dropped off our checked bags for processing and went through several different lines before finally getting cleared to board the ship. We decided to wait for Jim, Gayle, Cheri, Cindy, and Kellie before boarding since they were taking group photos as people boarded the ship. They were driving over from Lakeland and parking so it took them a little longer to deal with the cars, but we were all checked in, photographed, and on board the ship around 12:30p.

We promptly went to our staterooms to drop off the various bags we had carried on before heading to deck 9 where the various food stations were open for lunch. It was a bit of a madhouse since some people had been told that they couldn't (shouldn't) go to their staterooms until after 1:30p. Thus they were carrying around small suitcases, containers of bottled water, and/or various types of carbonated beverages. After eating we went back to our rooms to sort out any luggage that had been delivered. At 3:30p we headed down to our "muster" location for the safety briefing. After that we had a family meeting in Julie's room to talk about who wanted to do what on the shore excursions. We got most of that figured out just about the time the ship started to back out of its parking spot. At this point we split into 3 groups: one stood on the balcony to watch the world go by, one went to the other side (starboard) of the ship to see other parts of the world go by, and the third stayed in the stateroom.

Before we knew it, it was almost time for our assigned supper seating. We headed to our respective rooms and then met at the main restaurant at 6p. We had a wonderful supper with good conversation. We then went our separate ways for the evening. Kellie had an orientation meeting for group activities for passengers of their age group, Gayle and Jim returned to their room, Gary and Surella checked out the casino while James, Julie and Cindy walked the upper decks now that they were a little less hectic than they were at lunch time. At 9p part of the group went down and enjoyed an amusing interpretation of a game show in the main theater before Surella went to the casino and walked away $15 to the good. After that, Julie and James spent some time on the balcony looking at the stars and watching the lights of other boats before turning in for the night.




Monday, 06/21/2010 – Our Anniversary at Sea

Since Monday was a day at sea, we didn't really have any coordinated plans. Julie, James, Gary, and Surella headed to breakfast around 8a and then went to a trivia contest where James tied for first place and won a "24-karat gold plastic ship-on-a-stick trophy". We decided not to participate in Bingo and stopped by Jim and Gayle's room to see what they were up to before heading back to our own stateroom for a couple hands of four-person cribbage. We did learn that Kellie had been up past 11p participating in the organized activities for people ages 12-14. After a little while, Kellie and Cindy stopped in to see James' prize. Shortly after that, we all headed down to sign up for our shore excursions. Though we had met on Sunday, there was still some decisions to be made so that process lasted until almost 11:30a. We split up again with one group going to an early lunch so they could attend one of the on-board seminars (about shopping at the various ports of call) while the other went for a few more hands of cribbage and a later lunch option.

Of course there were a couple stops at the casino during the morning where Surella decided she liked a new game which involved quarters being flung onto a metal plate where pushers worked to push coins forward and once enough got stacked up, some would fall if the quarter you just put in was pushed into the pile in just the right way. After lunch, she decided to get $20 in quarters and when she left the machine a good 45 minutes later, she was up $3.75. We went to a couple different activity items in the afternoon and played more cribbage to pass the time. Cheri and Cindy had signed up for a more "elegant" supper option Monday evening, so they did not join the rest of us for the "Captain's Feast". This basically meant they wanted people to dress nicer than usual. Dress therefore varied from people in resort casual (no tanks or shorts) to people in full formal attire. There were some people who definitely wanted the chance to dress up. Since James and Julie were celebrating their 13th Wedding Anniversary, the waiters at our table sang "Happy Anniversary" to us (think Happy Birthday with too many syllables). After supper, Surella introduced Gayle to the quarters game. At 8:30p we went down to the stage theater area for a show which was a kind of musical review. It was well done and lasted about an hour.

Since everyone was dressed up, the ship's photography staff had setup several different backdrops where people could have their pictures taken. It had been agreed that the Moore’s and Etling’s would meet after the show (since Cheri and Cindy would be at supper later than the rest of us) to have some family photos taken. We stopped at a couple different spots where James and Julie had a set taken while Jim and Gayle were at another backdrop and Cheri and Cindy were at a third. Kellie had opted not to participate since they didn’t like having their picture taken. After the small group shots, we had some large group pictures taken on one of the main lobby stairs. We then split up for the evening after clarifying meeting times for the people doing the various activities the following day.




Tuesday, 06/22/2010 – Grand Cayman

Editor’s Note: At this point, for whatever reason, James stopped taking detailed notes. The narrative from this point forward is what James and Julie could remember reviewing photos 12 years later.

Our day (and two nights) at sea had taken us around the western tip of Cuba and we arrived at Grand Cayman early on Tuesday. The port doesn't have piers to support the number of ships that visit so we had to tender to the island. The Etlings spent the day enjoying the Caribbean sunshine while the rest of us had an island tour excursion which started at 8:15a.

On the tour we passed several landmarks before our first stop at a turtle farm. There were several tanks with turtles of different ages, and we were allowed to hold one, if we wanted. The tour continued to an area known as Hell. It’s an area with black limestone formations that makes a visitor feel like they are in a not so nice place. The locals have turned it into a bit of a tourist trap. We then returned to the dock and caught a tender back to the ship. The upper decks were relatively empty still so we were able to get pictures and stitch together a panoramic view of the port.




Wednesday, 06/23/2010 – Cozumel, Mexico

Wednesday morning the ship arrived in Cozumel, Mexico. It was going to be hot during the afternoon, so we left the ship and walked through the port area looking at the shops. Gary, Surella, and Julie returned to the ship while James waited on the pier to get a photo of them on the balcony of one of our staterooms. Cheri, Cindy, and Gayle spent the afternoon on the beach while Jim and Kellie went horseback riding inland of the port. The rest of us spent the afternoon in the air conditioned comfort of the ship.




Thursday, 06/24/2010 – Island of Roatan, Honduras

Thursday saw us heading farther south to the island of Roatan which is part of Honduras. The weather was a little more overcast and once again we split into separate groups. Jim, James, and Julie went on another island tour. Among the stops was the Carambola Botanical Gardens where they learned about different island plants and animals. We then headed farther along the less maintained roads to another beach area before returning to the ship. For some, this was another day to spend at the beach and others stayed on the ship.




Friday, 06/25/2010 – Belize

Friday we were headed back North and stopped in Belize. James and Julie went on an excursion that took them an hour or more from the coast to visit the ruins at Xunantunich (pronounced like tuna sandwich). During the trip we took a bus and rode on a cable ferry across a river. We had the opportunity to climb the taller temple; the stone steps were narrow and slippery, but James was determined and made it to the top. On the return, we stopped in a small town and sampled some local food. While it was cloudy much of the trip, we didn’t have the rain that fell along the coast. Jim did a river cruise tour that stopped at some ruins closer to the coast but got drenched during the ride. Everyone else stayed on the ship.




Saturday, 06/26/2010 – Day at Sea

The last day of the cruise the captain was booking it back toward Tampa to avoid a tropical storm. Julie and James enjoyed massages while everyone relaxed on board.

Display showing Yucatan peninsula with tropical storm path
Onboard route map showing storm track



Sunday, 06/27/2010 – Debarkation and Rest

We got back in to port overnight and disembarked early Sunday morning. Jim, Gayle, and the Etlings headed home while Julie, Surella, Gary, and James headed to a hotel. The seas had been a little rough on Saturday and we spent most of the day resting in our hotel room. There was an NCIS marathon on the USA Network that still haunts James and Julie.




Monday, 06/28/2010 – Home Again

On Monday, we flew home from Tampa.