Learning About Caribbean Marine Life

It’s hard to imagine, but I’m still reviewing pictures from our January cruise.  I took over 3000+ pictures of which half were taken underwater.  As I was blogging about our snorkeling adventure, I realized I could only identify half the fish we saw.  Hubby was able to help me with a few more.  I found the plastic fish identification cards to help somewhat, but the drawings were too small.  So, I found a helpful book called “Snorkeling Guide to Marine Life” and have been updating my previous blog entries with the correct fish name.  It is time consuming, but I am learning so much.  For example, many juvenile fish do not look the same when they become mature fish.  It’s mostly colors that change from juvenile to initial stage and then to mature stage.

Hubby and I are learning more about Caribbean marine life.  We are learning about fish anatomy, different groups, corals, sponges, and other marine life.  I am only learning the common names for now.  Genus and species might come later.  We’ll see.

Here’s a Queen Parrotfish (Initial Stage) with a broad, white mid-body stripe.  I do not have a picture of the mature fish, but it would be a blue/green color with dramatic blue to green markings around the mouth.


Here’s another picture of the Queen Parrotfish (initial stage) in the center.  There’s a Blue Parrotfish in the upper left and an Orangespotted Filefish towards the back:


If you look real close in the center of this picture, you’ll see the Orangespotted Filefish with it’s white spot on the upper tail base:


Here’s a Bluehead Wrasse and some Brown Chromis (I believe…be back to validate):


Another picture with the Bluehead Wrasse with Spotlight Parrotfish (initial stage) and Queen Parrotfish (initial stage) in the background:


 Schools of French Grunt (yellow striped) and Brown Chromis:




Still waiting to identify this Parrotfish….






And this Parrotfish as well...







The pictures in this post were taken with a GoPro Hero 3+ at the Plaza Resort Bonaire.

Caribbean Princess - The Sea Days and Beaufort Force Scale

I’ve been meaning to do a post in regards to what our sea days looked like on a cruise ship.  During this cruise adventure, we felt a lot of motion on the ship and experienced a range of motion not felt before.  We were able to see a glass or mirror-like flat surface on the water to the extreme where we could see large waves/swells.

Princess provides us with a “log of the cruise” for each leg of our cruising adventure.  Each day the Captain reports distance traveled, speed, sky, temperature, and wind.  I was more interested in the wind and decided to do some research on what’s called the Beaufort Wind Force Scale.  The scale is based on a scale of 0 to 12 and relates wind to observed conditions at sea or on land.  In our case, we are interested in sea conditions.

Here’s a summary of our sea days and what the log captured based on the Beaufort scale.  Now remember we were on a 14-day cruise (B2B) and came back into FLL on Day 9 of our adventure.  Here what the log captured:

FIRST WEEK

Day 2 Sea Day:  North Easterly Beaufort Force 5
They describe this as a “fresh” breeze with winds at 17-21 knots or 19-24 mph.  Wave heights 6-9 ft.  Moderate waves of some length and many white caps.  Small amounts of spray.

Day 3 Sea Day:  North Easterly Beaufort Force 5
Another “fresh” breeze day.

Day 7 Sea Day:  North Easterly Beaufort Force 6
This is described as a “strong” breeze with winds at 22-27 knots or 25-31 mph.  Wave heights of 9-13 ft.  Long waves begin to form.  White foam crests are very frequent.  Some airborne spray is present.

Day 8 Sea Day:  Northerly Beaufort Force 5
Another “fresh” breeze day.

SECOND WEEK

Day 10 Sea Day:  West North Westerly Beaufort Force 9
Do you see the number 9?  That is considered to be “strong/severe gale” with winds at 41-47 knots or 47-54 mph.  Wave heights of 23-32 ft.  High waves whose crests sometimes roll over.  Dense foam is blown along wind direction.  Large amounts of airborne spray may begin to reduce visibility.




Day 14 Sea Day:  South Easterly Beaufort Force 2
Considered to be “light” breeze with winds 4-6 knots or 4-7 mph.  Wave heights 1-2 ft.  Small wavelets.  Crests have a glassy appearance and do not break.

I know on this day the Beaufort scale was much lower as the sea was like a mirror and sometimes I saw ripples that had an “appearance of scales” in the water.

Going Home!

(We’re not done yet.  I still have some cruising thoughts on my mind.  Things I forgot to post. Remember, when I’m in cruise mode, thoughts and ideas will get left behind in a hurry.  There’s a good possibility I might do a summary to finalize our cruising adventure).

It’s amazing that we do not hear any of the Bridge/Causeway evening into early morning traffic in our room.  I’m in a deep sleep when Hubby pokes me a few times and tells me it’s 5:30 and we need to get up.  I look over at the hotel room digital clock and it’s wrong.  I tap my dependable iPhone and it says 4:30am.  I flip my wrist and my FitBit says 4:30 as well.  Hubby apologizes for waking me up.  Apparently our room has thin walls as Hubby was listening to all the hallway foot traffic and conversations.  Folks must have been out late partying on a Saturday night into early Sunday morning.  Poor Hubby.

Getting up an hour earlier worked out for me as I still needed to do some final packing and weigh our luggage.  Yes, I found a neat portable luggage scale on Amazon.  I throw it in my suitcase when I travel.  No guessing and no stressing at the airline counter.  The three pieces of luggage:  44, 43, and 41 pounds.

Hubby and I are out on our balcony in time to see the Royal Princess come into Port Everglades:


Take note of the Princess sea witch logo on the front hull of the ship.  The Caribbean Princess will get one as well when it goes into dry dock next month.  Sweet!

We leave our room around 6am and head downstairs to check out.  We are stopped in our tracks as there is a line and one person handling check-ins and check-outs.  I am the fourth person in line and let’s just say it was slooooow moving.  I am getting anxious and did not plan on standing in line at 6am.  My mind is going a mile a minute and then I remember that Hilton has express checkout.  I grab a Hilton Marina Activities flyer off the counter and start scanning the paper.  I quickly text the hotel and within a minute I’m checked out and have a receipt on my iPhone.  Sweet!

As we head out of the hotel, there’s another line.  Really?  I see a lone cab sitting near the entrance to the hotel and I wave to him.  I start chatting with the folks in front of me to see if they are waiting for a cab.  They are not and I’m thinking they are waiting for their Uber/Lyft rides.  We load our luggage into the taxi and off we go to the airport.

Hubby and I have travelled in and out of FLL airport many times.  We prefer to take the first plane out before the throngs of cruisers disembark their ships (remember the picture above) and head to the airport to catch their flights.  For some reason, the airport is extremely busy for 6:15am.  Even more so inside Terminal #3.  There’s a long line for something and I immediately make note it’s not for our airline.  I tell Hubby to look for an open kiosk and he finds one after a few minutes.  Honestly, I know 6am is early for most folks, but i have no patience for folks hovering/congregating around kiosks they are not even using.  I bulk up my shoulders (thanks to my local gym) and make my way through.

I’m pressing the screen at our kiosk and I check the boxes for boarding passes and luggage tags.  Out spits our three long luggage tags and boarding passes.  I forget that in FLL and with our airline that we have to put the tags on ourselves.  I carefully read the instructions on the back of the tags (only 3 steps) and slip the tag through the top handle, peel off part of the backing (keep this as our receipt with baggage claim number), and match the ends and press,  Well, the first one came out wonky, but good enough to stay on the bag.  I got better by the third tag.  Go me!

After going through security, we head over to The Food Network restaurant to get some breakfast:  bagel and smoked salmon for Hubby and an egg and cheese croissant for me.  This will definitely tie us over until we get home.

We arrive at our destination with clear weather, but cold and no snow.

Apologies...

A tip on reading my blog.  When you stop by to visit here, you may see the same post and appears that I may not be doing any updates.  You will need to “refresh” the browser/screen and you will get the latest post from me…hopefully with good WiFi I can post daily here.  Okay back to the main topic of this post this morning.  

I’m still working out some issues with my blog and posting from different resources (tablet, smartphone, and now laptop).  I’m noticing some pictures are not the quality I would like them to be.  It’s not the blog itself, but the software I’m using on each device and how it’s handling the “uploads” for my pictures.  While I do not want my pictures to be MB huge on my blog, I also do not want them to be lacking in quality.  So a tinkering I will go.  Thank you for your patience.  

In the meantime, here’s a picture to give you warm thoughts for those of you who will be plunging back into the winter weather/temps.  This was taken last year in Costa Maya:

Cruising Thoughts

It looks like my BlogTouch Pro app is working out great and so I will continue to use this process to update my blog.  

Yes, we will be cruising again real soon.  We are going back to my second favorite cruise ship the Caribbean Princess.  This year we are handling things differently.  For the first time, we are not using a travel agent and I've been handling all the cruise arrangements.  Also a first, we will not use the Princess transfers nor the contracted hotels they use.  I have to say there's a bit of freedom I'm feeling and I actually like it!

By not using a travel agent I have access to more information than I did before.  Yes, I had an enlightening moment.  The only time I called Princess was to check if our cabin rate changed and also to fix an FCC issue.   Other than that I do like having some control over our travel arrangements.  While online, I've ordered 24 bottles of water to be in our cabin when we arrive, put in our flight information, and selected one Princess excursion.  

I've been collecting warm weather clothes and setting them aside.  Travel gadgets are also being collected.  Travel documents have been printed as well as the luggage tags.  We can not wait to go cruising again, but first we have to get through the upcoming holidays.  

Of course, we are heading back to the Caribbean again.  Looking forward to another year of beach time, snorkeling, and many photog moments.

The Islands are Calling Us...

We are getting ready for another adventure and just in time as the cold weather is finally upon us.  Just my luck I had an opportunity to enjoy my holidays with a nasty cold.  Hoping this will go away over the next few days.  

Gadgets (many) and batteries/chargers were first items gathered, sorted, and now have a home in my travel backpack. Next came the clothes, casual and then the formalwear.  Various shoes (flip flops).  Oh yeah, let's not forget the snorkel gear.  Last will be the toiletries.  Large and heavy toiletries (e.g. favorite shampoo, contact lens solution, Woolite, sun lotion, aloe, etc) will be bought while in Ft. Lauderdale.  That's at least 5+ lbs of stuff we do not need to carry on the plane.  

I've been checking off items from my packing list.  They are either in the suit cases or located nearby.  My infamous packing list is always updated annually.  It's a big help to use my list after I do the initial first pack.  I end up removing 30-40% of the clothes.  This is called my 2nd re-packing.  By this time, each piece of luggage should be well below the 50lb limit.  

Hubby is getting better with his packing.  I only had to remove 10% of his clothes.  

Okay, so I have an emotional attachment to some of my garments. I do have to close my eyes and just put them back on the hangers and just hope I do not need them for this cruise. 

(Side note:  after a few cruises I began to see an interesting pattern develop.  There was a certain number of garments that were not being worn.  Shoes/sandals included.  Thus my packing list was developed early on to help alleviate this issue.)

Our travel documents are also in my bag just in case a hard copy is needed.  

We're cruising on a fairly new ship.  Maybe 1-1/2 years old.  It's one of Princess's biggest ship.  I've been perusing the ship's layout as it is completely different than the Grand-class layouts we're so used to.  

The above picture was taken last year while in St Thomas.  We were sailing out on the Ruby Princess while the Regal Princess was still docked.  Yes after I saw that beautiful ship, I went ahead and booked this upcoming cruise.  Looking forward to sailing on the Regal real soon!

Friday (01/02): Fort Lauderdale Area

Today turned out to be a beautiful day! Hubby and I headed out in the late morning to do some last minute cruise shopping. We walked to the shopping center behind the hotel to pick up the Sun Trolley. This particular trolley's route took us along the beach front and ended up at the Galleria Mall. Perfect! We paid for an all day pass ($3/pp) and got stamped on our arm.

It took us a good 40 minutes with all the pick-ups and drop-offs to get to the mall. Wow! We were dropped off in front of PF Changes and Seasons 52 restaurants. Now, this is one beautiful mall.

Within an hour, we were able to find what we needed and decided to head back towards the 17th Street Causeway for lunch. We were bummed out yesterday that our favorite sushi place was closed for the New Year's. That was all hubby could think about as we were approaching the lunch hour. We arrived at Tokyo Sushi after 1pm. The last time we were here, two years ago, the restaurant was only open for dinner and it was busy. The restaurant was quiet with a few customers. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal of sashimi tuna, fried rice, asian salad, and an order of tuna rolls wrapped in cucumber. Yum!

After lunch we went back to Lauderdale Dive shop to find them closed for the second day. Hubby mentioned we could stop in before we leave for our cruise on Saturday morning. Hmmmm...that will require some thought and planning.

Next on our list was to visit Nature's Remedy shop. There, I was able to find a natural/organic bug spray to help deter any mosquitos we might encounter in the Caribbean. Better to be safe.

After all this shopping, a nap was in order. So, I thought. The weather was just doggone too beautiful to stay inside. We headed back out thinking we'd go back to the beach area. We waited at the trolley stop. We waited and waited. No trolley. We took off and walked along the 17th Street Causeway towards the draw bridge.

We spent some time watching all the yachts and small boats passing underneath the bridge. At one point, we were luck enough to see the draw bridge open to allow the tall sails to pass through.

We stayed out as long as we could and then headed back to the hotel. I had to do some repacking of the three suitcases as well as pack our winter travel clothes. From here on out, it's t-shirts, shorts, and flip-flops.

Test Post with Picture

Okay, I'm still working with the blogging application. I now want to post a picture and see what happens and how the post looks.

Here's a picture taken in Cozumel 2014 of the Ruby Princess (yes, we knew we would be on this ship for 2015):

Don't mind me while I keep editing this picture post. :)

Note to self: captions under picture is not working....

Test Post for Today

This is a test post from a blogging application that I'm using for my Mac. As most know, the Internet connection on the cruise ship is sloooooow. Especially during peak hours in the morning and then throughout the day into the evening. Also, it can be hit or miss in the cabins and depends on the location of their Access Points or APs.

Instead of burning through precious minutes, I'm using a blogging tool/application. I've used this application on last year's cruise, but on a trial basis. My trial has now expired and I've decided to go ahead and purchase it. This application allows me to write my blog posts and add pictures offline. When I make a connection to the ship's Internet, I can tell the application to publish my post(s). It takes a few minutes to automatically login and push the data to my blog. Really cool!

So this blog post entry is my test to make sure there are no issues.

We'll see....

Results: looks like the application by default does not put in paragraphs. My sentences are just one long paragraph. For now, I'll have to add HTML codes to help with the formatting until I learn to configure the application....

Getting Ready for Our Next Cruise!

It's that time again!  Our next cruise starts in a few days.  This is a first for us to be cruising at the beginning of January.  Right after the holidays.

I'm just starting to gather our things.  Tech gadgets first of course.  Clothes next and then toiletries.

We will be heading down to Fort Lauderdale to start our vacation a few days before boarding the ship and to get acclimated to the warmer weather.

We will be sailing on the Ruby Princess.  Our first time on this particular ship.  I've heard wonderful things about the Ruby and I'm thinking this ship will more than likely come close to becoming our favorite ship. Right now, that honor belongs to the Caribbean Princess.

The Ruby Princess will be our home for two weeks.  Yes, we'll be doing a B2B.  Our first cruising week will cover the Eastern Caribbean and include Princess Cays, St Maarten, St Thomas and Grand Turk.  We get to stay on the ship and cruise into the second week which will cover the Western Caribbean.  We will be visiting Grand Cayman, Roatan, Cozumel, and Princess Cays (again).

We are so looking forward to our cruising adventure.  For now, I need to pack and do some paperwork.  Be back soon!

Snorkeling in the Caribbean and The Second Barrier Reef

Hubby and I have been fortunate to visit some of the most beautiful islands and beaches in the Caribbean.  We've been to the Eastern, Southern, and Western parts of the Caribbean.  They include:  Antigua, Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Bonaire, Cayman Island, Cozumel, Curacao, Dominica, Eleuthera Island (Bahamas), Grand Turk, Grenada, Isla Margarita, Jamaica, Martinique, Nevis, Puerta Rico, Roatan, St Lucia, St Maarten, St Kitts, St Thomas, and Tortola.

For many years, we thought the Southern Caribbean was the most beautiful and that included the three Dutch ABC islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao.  Aruba for its beautiful beaches.  Bonaire for its beautiful underwater marine life.  Curacao for its beautiful buildings, historical rich heritage, as wells as marine life.  Of the three, Bonaire is my favorite island.  Mostly for it's untouched beauty.

Bonaire is also known as a diver's paradise.  I have to agree, more so from a snorkeling perspective.  I've been told that most areas you can walk off the beach or pier and snorkel and see some of the most beautiful marine life.  That's my cup of tea.

Here's a map of Bonaire:

Bonaire

There's a small island off the west coast of Bonaire called Klein Bonaire where Hubby and I have often drift snorkeled.  The island/beach is so peaceful.

In recent years or more like the last two years, we've uncovered another part of the Caribbean where the marine life was just...outstanding.  That would be the Western Caribbean and the world's second largest barrier reef called the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef.  It passes through Mexico, Belize, and Honduras.

Here are some maps of the three islands we have visited on our recent Western Caribbean cruise:

Belize where we've snorkeled at Geoff's Caye and Sergeant Caye

Cozumel Island, Mexico where we've snorkeled at Planacar Reef

Roatan Island, Honduras

For snorkeling, my favorite place so far is Maya Key in Roatan.  That says a lot since we've visited over 20 islands.  Close behind Maya Key would be Bonaire.

Next year when we go back to Roatan, I hope to visit Tabyana Beach (near West Bay) where I've heard you can snorkel right off the beach and the further you go...well it should be pretty spectacular!  Can't wait!

Sunday (01/26): Heading Home

We wake up around 6:30am. We're supposed to meet our Princess transfer down in the lobby at 8am to take us to the airport. We shower, pack our essentials and check out a few minutes before our meeting time. Our limo arrives. Yes, limo! We are heading to IAH for our flight home. Oh joy! I'm still feeling pretty bad. The good thing is I don't have take any additional medicine as the one I took last night is still working.

Once we check our luggage in and go through security, we head over to a cute diner called Ruby's. We order our breakfast and I only eat less than 2/3 of my meal. Hubby is looking at me. He knows me well. I tend to clean my plate. That's the way I was brought up. I tell him I'll be fine. I just need a nap.

Once we boarded our plane, I settled into my middle seat with Hubby by the window. Now, I normally don't like the middle seat, but I splurged and upgraded to economy plus with the additional leg room. When Hubby is happy, I'm happy. He had a few inches of extra leg room. I'm also happy because I don't feel like a sardine.

I don't remember too much about taxing towards the runway. But when we started to take off, I said a quick prayer like I normally do and then I was out like a light. Our return flight was only 2 hours and 20 minutes long. I woke up to order water from the flight attendant. Stayed up long enough to finish it. Then I was out again. I woke up with my head against Hubby's arm. I heard an announcement that we were beginning our decent. Hubby opened the plane's window shade and we could see a blanket of white snow below us. It was beautiful!

I had reserved a shuttle to take us home. After two other drop-offs we were finally home.

I will be back with additional posts and pictures from our trip. I will also be updating some previous posts. As I am now reviewing my blog, I realize I have missed a few things about our adventure. I have so many pictures taken from 4 different cameras. Each camera served a purpose. One for snorkeling, one for beach and water, one for carrying around the ship, and my pro camera that stayed on the ship. There were days when it dawned on me that I had taken pictures with this one particular camera. Yes, it can get overwhelming but it's worth it to share our adventure with you.

Stay tuned and I will keep you updated.

Saturday (01/25): Back in Houston and Some Cruising Thoughts

I was up early around 4am. The first thing I noticed was how quiet our cabin was. The ship was calm as well. This could mean two things: we're anchored in the Gulf because of fog or we're actually gliding in the channel heading into port. I went back to sleep and Hubby woke me up at 6am for our last breakfast on the ship. He told me we were heading into port. Good sign! We will disembark on time.

It was busy in the buffet area. I skipped the oatmeal and went for the blueberry french toast. Also had a nice and runny fried egg with smoked salmon and capers. Oh yeah, a friendly chocolate croissant jumped onto my plate. :)

Back in our cabin, we took a quick nap. Between yesterday's lunch and this morning, I've developed a little tickle in my throat. The ship was noticeably colder even in the dining areas. No worries. I'm glad we were both healthy during our cruise the last two weeks. I'm rather surprised we didn't catch a cold during the first week when we were in Belize getting chilled on the boat ride back from our snorkeling adventure. It was meant to be and we are thankful.

We had to be out of our cabin by 8am. We gathered our belongings and did a final pack in our cabin. I said goodbye to my towel animal friends. Hubby said goodbye to our cabin D220. We found Woodie, our cabin steward. We gave him a small gift, thanking him for his wonderful service. We slowly made our way down to the Promenade deck 7. Our group, Green 2, was to meet in the Explorer's Lounge. Our disembarkation time was scheduled for 9:25am. I am extremely tired and also sad to be leaving a wonderful cruise.

I have read many reviews of the Princess ships over the years. Some ships are just average and a few are memorable. What makes the ship memorable? It's the crew. It's the officers. Back when the CB was based in San Juan a few years ago, the great reviews were based on having a great crew on the ship. That intrigued me. When the opportunity arose to sail on the Caribbean Princess with a Western itinerary, I couldn't resist and booked the B2B. The only hesitation I had was leaving from the Port of Houston. Just a minor inconvenience.

The Caribbean Princess is a beautiful ship and has it's own personality. As I mentioned in a previous post back in December, we have sailed on several other Princess ships. The CB was built a bit different than the other Grand class ships we've been on. The beautiful Skywalker's sits high in the back of the ship. Providing a wonderful view and perspective. The main areas of deck 6 and deck 7 are nicely laid out with more cozy areas to read or meet people. I found two comfy lounge areas: one outside of Churchill's Cigar Lounge (when not in use) and one on the port side. The Internet Cafe and the Library are combined into one area. I thought that was an efficient use of space. The Vines Bar is much bigger on this ship and tastefully decorated. It's a great meeting place when waiting for the dining room to open or dine on the pastries and coffee from the International Cafe.

Here's the lounge area outside of Churchill's:


We are sitting in the Explorer's Lounge and it's now 9:23am. They are still disembarking on the Red color. I assume Immigration is slow this morning.


Five minutes later, our color is called. With our cruise card in hand, we are scanned for the last time as we exit the ship. It's cold outside. We quickly walk down the gangway and into the Bayport terminal. We are directed to the luggage holding area and find our green color and then our 3 pieces of luggage. We grab our luggage and proceed to a long Immigration line. I have our passports and Immigration form ready. We noticed another couple was having a heated argument. Actually it was a one-sided argument in which the husband was cursing. Apparently, the wife had packed their passports in their luggage. She was on the floor with their luggage open and clothes everywhere. After she found their passports, the husband was still cursing loudly. So sad to be that way. So sad that he could not stop to help her! Okay, I'm going to say this once. I would have left that dude at home! Okay, I'm done. Where was I?

After going though Immigration, I find a Princess rep and ask where is our transfer to the Four Season Houston. She directs me to a line that is waiting for busses. I ask a port rep about going to the FSH. She has no clue. She told me to take one of the buses to IAH (airport) and then get a shuttle to the hotel. I told her a big NO! That's not part of the package. Another port rep came to my rescue. She told me to stand in a new line for the FSH and she would find me transportation. Much better. At this point my coughing has become persistent. Uh oh! Not a good sign! We're standing in the sunshine, but it's 36 degrees outside. Brrrr!

They finally find a bus for us. We are sharing the bus with the our fellow cruisers who are heading to Hobby Airport. We give our luggage to the bus driver who then places them in a separate holding area under the bus. Not to be confused with those getting off at Hobby. I make a mental note of this. Thirty minutes later, we drop off the Hobby Airport folks and then proceed to the hotel. I give our bus driver a little token of our appreciation. For not mistakenly take our luggage off at Hobby. FYI. I've read reviews on other cruise lines where this has happened.

Upon entering the lobby at Four Seasons, we are greeted by Starlyn. She gives me a welcome back hug and our Princess letter. She also has a tiny envelope for me. We chat about out cruise experience. She apologizes about the start of our cruise and having to wait for the disembarkation. We told her no worries. I hand her a small gift of appreciation that I picked up on the cruise and thanked her for her help. Unfortunately, when there have been issues with the CB coming in late or leaving late, she gets the brunt of the cruisers pointing their fingers at her. Folks, it's just not right. How can she control the weather or the noro? We part ways as Starlyn has a large group of upcoming cruisers (61!) who are ready to board a bus and get their cruise started.

I am a wreck. I am starting to feel sick big time. We check in and head up to our room on the 15th floor. I put our valuables in the safe. Hubby thinks I should eat something. We head over to Phoenicia across the street. How weird for me being a foodie and all that I can't find anything that appeals to me at this market. Hubby is being patient with me. He finally realizes that I'm not even looking at the pastries and cakes...I must be coming down with something. I finally settle on a veggie pizza. We pay for our lunch and head back to the warmth of our hotel room.

I take a nap, but that doesn't help much. Hubby remembers a CVS a few blocks away. We head back out with me bundled up. It's 60 degrees, but I'm not feeling it. We find the CVS and stock up on what I need to take care of me now and to survive the plane trip home.

I told Hubby I needed chicken noodle soup. Most of the restaurants and cafes are closed for the weekend in downtown Houston. There are only homeless people and beggars among the tourists and the regulars who live in the downtown area. It's really weird here. Even with Hubby, I still feel unsafe walking around. We head straight for our hotel and the restaurant called Quattros. After scanning the menu, I don't see the soup I want. I ask the waitress if I can somehow get chicken noodle soup. Hubby then told her that I was starting to catch a cold. She came back immediately and said the chef would make it for me. Now, that's service!

I devour the soup and bread our waitress provides. Yes, I forgot to take that foodie picture again! Stomach over mind. I thank our waitress for the wonderful meal. Hubby and I head back up to our room to hunker down for the evening. I tried to do a last minute repacking as in redistributing the weight between 3 suitcases. Then I give up. I don't care. I'm tired and not feeling well. Hubby tells me to go soak in the tub with hot water. I have to say that the Four Seasons bathroom is devine. Instead of shower curtains they have shower doors. That means I can also create a sauna-like environment in the tub!

After my soak, I find a thick terry cloth robe. I had a good laugh at myself. The robe size was like XL on me. You get the picture! By this time, it was 7pm and I took my medicine. Comfy and cozy under the covers, I tried to read a book on my Kindle. My eyelids were getting quite heavy. ZZZZZzzzzzzzz!

Some where in between my dozing in and out of sleep, we get a phone call. Hubby is still up and answers the phone. The front desk is checking on me and making sure I have everything I need. How cool is that?! ZZZZZzzzzzzzz!

Friday (01/17): A Tour of Our Cabin & Other Things

I thought I would take you on a tour of our cabin. We are in a Mini-Suite on Dolphin deck #9. We are about 15 cabins from the front of the ship. The most forward cabin we've been in. Early in our cruising years, we've picked mid-ship cabins. Typically, we've experienced the least amount of movement here. Then we started moving towards the back of the ship. Mostly, for cost. Last year we were in the D66x area and experienced a lot of black soot on our balcony. That was a pain to constantly clean our chairs and table. For this cruise, I went way forward in the D22x area of the ship. This was also the least expensive of the Mini-Suite category. I also made sure we were not across any inside cabins. The less door slamming we hear, the better.

So far, we really like the location of this cabin. We do feel a lot more ship movement here which doesn't bother us. The more movement we experience, the more we feel like we're on a ship. I know, crazy us! We are a few steps away from the forward stairs. We have access to the Princess Theater (two decks down) and the Coffee Bar/International Cafe (four decks down). We are further away from the dining areas including the buffet which translates to a longer trek and more calories are burned. I've been tracking my adventures using my pedometer. For example, my walk from cabin to buffet and back is 1/4 mile. On average, I've been walking 4.5 miles each day. That doesn't include the excursion activities. Life is very good on a ship!

The only downfall of being way forward on the ship, is the long hike towards the back where the Launderette is located. It's only a pain when no washing machines are available and I have to keep walking back and forth to see what's available. Monday, I had some single bills that would not work in their change machine which is located inside the Launderette. Yes, I had to run (walk fast) back and forth several times.

Hubby and I have been using the stairs. A LOT! The first time we went to breakfast we had to walk from deck 9 (Dolphin) to deck 15 (Lido). We were breathing heavy and I swore I experienced a little "hot flash" activity. That was a slow climb up. Now, we're more experienced and can climb faster and still breath normal.

I have to share a funny experience we had. After our first excursion (Roatan) on Tuesday, we came back to the ship on deck 4. As we were climbing the stairs, our legs were burning big time. As I was carrying my snorkel bag and a large beach bag up the stairs, I made a comment to Hubby that I was "feeling like a mule pack". Well, apparently some fellow cruisers on the next deck up overhead my comment and was cheering us on to keep on climbing. We all had a good laugh.

That's what made this cruise special to us. We've had some wonderful social interactions with our fellow cruisers as well as the crew members. Probably one of the better cruises we've had. Also, the average age on this ship is well below my age.

Okay, enough of the "other things". Here's a pictorial tour of our Mini-Suite:

I know. This is a lousy picture of our deck sign. This gives you an idea of where we're located:

The port side carpet contains a red border while the starboard side has a blue border:

Here's the hallway leading to our cabin:

This is what you see upon entering our cabin:

Take a few steps in and turnaround you'll see our bathroom:

Our shower/tub combination:

The sink area:

Our walk-in closet area just outside the bathroom:

Our queen bed (two twins put together) and desk area:

Our desk complete with two power outlets, a blow dryer, and several drawers for holding my gadgets:

Our sitting area and balcony:

A view from our balcony into our cabin:

TV area and fridge:

Our balcony:

Home sweet home for us:

Test Post From My iPhone

I just downloaded a blogging tool onto my iPhone.  That way I can take pictures from my iPhone and post them to my blog.  Another neat feature of this tool is  the ability to write my posts offline and post when I have Internet connection.  

I also have a portable bluetooth keyboard that I'm trying out.  Because of the small size, the keys are slightly off.  I have to reach to my far right to get to the small Shift key.  So far, everything seems to be working.  

The last of my gadgets are getting packed along with our toiletries.  Anything we forget, we'll pick up in Houston.  

I'll be back to post my initial thoughts and research on downtown Houston.  Stay tuned!

Packing For a Cruise

I have a long packing list just for cruising. Over the years it has been refined.  After each cruise, the list gets updated.  Clothes get worn out and replaced.  Gadgets get updated.  Items that were not used gets removed from the list.  

For this upcoming cruise, new clothing has been added to the list to accommodate the cooler weather.  Instead of leaving from Florida as we normally do, we'll be leaving from the Port of Houston.  

We are flying in two days before the cruise and staying in downtown Houston.  The weatherman is calling for chance of showers along with 60 degree weather.  This is our first trip to Houston and we plan on doing a lot of exploring and walking around.

I've been hanging out on CruiseCritic.com and reading the reviews for our cruise.  Many are saying that it's been chilly on the day of embarkation and the first day/night at sea.  We're adding pants to our list along with a lightweight rain jacket.  Just in case.

We're 90% packed.  I've gathered all our formal wear and arranged them into a lightweight garment bag that I can pack into our 3rd suitcase before we leave.  

Our snorkel gear is packed as well as our warm weather clothes and flip-flops.  Our toiletries will be the last items to pack.  

So far, the 3 pieces of luggage are wring in under 30lbs each.  Yes, I have digital scale to weigh the suitcases.  That will also get packed at the last minute.  

We'll both carry our backpacks which will be filled with gadgets!  I've loaded my Kindle HDX with lots of eBooks, movies, and games.  This will be my first cruise where my iPad will be staying behind.  That really says a lot about my lovely Kindle.  

I should weigh my backpack before I leave.  It's going to be loaded with my full frame camera with 24-120mm lens (plus my 60mm micro lens), 2-3 point & shoot cameras, batteries, media cards, and my MBPro.  The micro lens will be used to photograph the wonderful food onboard.  

Packing tips::

- For longer cruises, I will typically do a load or two of laundry onboard.  I bring softener sheets and dollar bills.  

- I bring a Belkin power outlet to simultaneously charge all our gadgets.  On the Princess ships there are two outlets located at the desk in each cabin.  Bringing our own gives us additional outlets plus it provides surge protection.  

- I print out our flight/pre-cruise information and cruise itinerary and place a copy in each of our luggage.  Just in case.

- I pack a mini-stapler so I can attach our paper printed cruise tags to our luggage the morning of our embarkation.  

- I pack over-the-counter medicine...ones that we frequently need and use at home.  On some islands it's hard to find common medicine let alone a drug store.  The ships carry a few things, but may not have the specific brand.  

- I pack plastic clothes line clips for hanging hand washed items in the bathroom.  

On our first two cruises I used to pack 2-3 months before our cruise.  Now, with our refined list I'll start two weeks before our trip.  

Picture of Geoff's Caye in Belize (2012):

Our Cruising Experience

We've been cruising with Princess for the last 10 years.  We haven't had the urge to cruise with another line.  We originally chose Princess for their itineraries.  Our first two cruises originated out of San Juan, Puerto Rico.  The next one was a 14-day cruise out of Ft Lauderdale where we literally didn't come back into Ft Lauderdale until the 14th day!  That was an amazing cruise and unfortunately Princess no longer does this type of itinerary.  We're glad to have experienced such a wonderful cruise.

Since we enjoyed our 14-day cruise so much, we went back to San Juan and did two 7-day cruises (back-to-back (B2B)).  One week we did the Southern Caribbean itinerary and the next week the Eastern Caribbean.  It was neat to do a "turnaround" in port and not have to change cabins.

As experienced cruisers, it's hard for us to cruise just 7-days on a ship.  Our vacation time feels too short.  Our minimum is now 10-days.  It's just the right amount of time though longer cruises are also ideal for us.

There were times when I did research itineraries from other cruise lines, but still came back and booked with Princess.  It just feels like being "home".

Princess at Grand Turk

Getting Ready for Another Cruise!

We're still in the Holiday spirit and at the same time getting ready for our next cruising adventure.

We will be on a 14-day adventure somewhere in the Caribbean.  A B2B cruise.  Fourteen days of fun in the sun!  

We haven't been on this particular Princess cruise ship before.  This will be our 5th Princess ship and our 10th Princess cruise!  We've already been on the Golden, Sea, Crown, and Emerald.  

We've been watching our ship cruising for the last few weeks.  There have been issues with the ship leaving and/or arriving on time from the port of origination.  It's the weather that's been playing havoc on the cruising schedule.  We're prepared...to have fun no matter what.  

We've decided to participate in formal nights and will have to pack our formal wear.  This will result in packing and bringing an additional suitcase.  Three in total.  Somehow we'll manage.

We haven't been to our destination city before.  A new adventure.  Many places to explore and many places to eat.  

Our list has been updated and I'm ready to start packing.  It's time to gather our snorkel gear and the rest of our cruising stuff.  

We'll post more about our cruise over the next few days!  Stay tuned!

Port Everglades Web Cam

This afternoon, hubby and I, watched the Port Everglades Web Cam.  We watched several ships leave for their cruise.  Out of the 10 ships in port, the Grand Princess was the first to leave.

I've included a link to the HDTV web cam:  http://portevergladeswebcam.com/

Enjoy!

Getting Ready Again!

We're getting ready for an upcoming cruise.  This time we'll be on the Crown Princess heading to the Southern and Western Caribbean.

We've been on the Crown before (2008) and sailed out of San Juan on a B2B cruise.  That was the most memorable cruise as I remembered our room steward greeted us with "welcome back to your home" when we started the second leg.  We enjoyed being on this ship and had a lovely two weeks.

We are sooooo looking forward to cruising again.  It's been a hard year for us to wait a full year for vacation.  We've been talking about what we'll do on the ship and how we are going to enjoy our time.

I can't believe I haven't started packing.  I do have my handy dandy cruise packing list that I have refined from our last cruise.  Hmmmm...every year it seems to get refined.  :D   I better get the suitcases out and get started somewhere.

Will be back with more posts and pictures...stay tuned!