One day in 2013 someone in the neighborhood suggested a cruise. After a bunch of scouring the Internet for the optimal deal, we ended up booking a cruise on Royal Caribbean for April 6-13, 2014, sailing out of Galveston, Texas and going to Roatan, Honduras; Belize City, Belize; and Cozumel, Mexico.
Seven couples ended up being able to go this time: me & Linette, Steven & Melissa Elmes, Mike & Melissa Childs, Rob & Melissa Lym, John & Angelina Atkinson, Mark & Emma Drennan, and Steve & Andra Duke (joining us from California). There are of course many more friends around the neighborhood who couldn't make it that would have been great to have along as well, but we were happy for those who could pull it off for this trip.
Linette and I flew to Houston (putting to good use the $600 voucher she had gotten for getting bumped on a United flight on her trip back from visiting Ecuador with Kelsi).
We hung out with the Lyms that afternoon and were happy to go wherever they had thought of. We were especially glad that their rental car had the largest trunk ever!
So, the first stop was The National Museum of Funerary History. I know, right? Who knew that such a thing existed!
Well, when we first pulled up, there was nobody in the parking lot, and I said, "It looks dead!" Oh, dear. And it went on from there. ("This place is to die for!" "I bet they make a killing!" "People are dying to get in here!").
I thought this was a cool hearse, with wooden carved curtains. (Because, I suppose, "It's curtains for you!!")
Coffins for kids. :(
Typical "Day of the Dead" celebration in Mexico. (Skeleton at the door is a tad creepy).
The next morning I enjoyed a Texasian waffle.
And then we rode down to Galveston with most of the rest of our group. It was so foggy that we couldn't see the top of this building. Woah.
All aboard The Navigator of the Seas!
The bridge sort of looked like the Star Ship Enterprise.
And we wasted very little time in eating our first of many meals (I was excited about the Indian Tandoori chicken) and then starting up our first round of games ("Dominion", in this case).
It was foggy for a day or so, but the temperature was nice, so I loved standing on the deck and watching the waves go by.
The first night we had a murder mystery dinner
Here one of the suspects holds a spoon to Angelina's throat. Melissa Elmes seems to really be savoring the moment!
Day 2: At Sea
On Day 2 (April 7, 2014), we went to a painful shopping event, but Melissa Elmes won one of the two main prizes: a bracelet made with aqua Caribbean stones.
That morning I tried out the "Flowrider" surf simulator, and it was hard to stay standing, but it was a blast. And the wipe-outs were always spectacular.
That afternoon quite a few people tried the boogie boarding version of the Flowrider. It was a lot easier to do, which left room for learning to do tricks, like getting up on our knees with our hands out or doing a barrel roll. I eventually got to where I could do one barrel roll and stay on the board; or two and go flying away.
Monday night was formal night, so we all dressed up fancy for dinner.
There were too many of us to fit at one table, so we had a different seating mix-up every night.
Our waiter Richard was from the Philippines. He worked for 7 months and then got two months off.
The main hall (the "promenade") was pretty cool.
And that night we watched part of the new Hobbit movie out by the pool, under the stars, until we got too tired to continue.
Day 3. At Sea.
On Day 3, we all hit the Flowrider again on the top deck at the aft of the ship.
Here is Linette taking it on. She had a smile on her face the whole time!
Epic wipe-out!
Mike Child.
My turn.
Steve Duke sporting Flowrider-hair.
That afternoon we went to an ice dancing show that was awesome. It was amazing to see what the people could do within the confines of that small rink.
Then this Russian couple came out and rolled around in this metal thing, and it was crazy what they could do!
Steve and Andra Duke had the drink package that gave them virgin specialty drinks all week. You can see me coveting this one.
What a fun, pleasant day at sea!
At dinner that night, the gals decided to sit together and have the guy sit at the other table.
Here you can see both Carl (left) and Richard (right), our waiters for the week. We told them that we were all in trouble and got banished to the other table.
Day 4. Roatan, Honduras
Land ho!!
Our first destination was the island of Roatan, Honduras.
This was the day I spent the most time planning for, and eventually we decided to forget all the other confusing plans and just go with a Snuba tour booked through the ship. But when we arrived, it was too windy, so our Snuba tour was cancelled! So we scrambled and booked a tour to Gumbalimba Park.
As we drove to the west end of the island, we saw weather-beaten homes on stilts.
Once in Gumbalimba park, a very nice local gal took us on a tour through the park, where we saw a variety of plants and animals, including quite a few iguanas.
I learned that cashew trees have an edible fruit, and that their seeds are toxic until cooked, at which point they become cashew nuts that can be safely eaten.
There were beautiful green hummingbirds.
And a dead butterfly exhibit.
Here a guy had captured all 26 letters and all 10 digits over the years on butterfly wings.
It was cool to see some beautiful red macaws flying freely through the trees.
There was a replica of an old pirate cave,
which had a map of the area as people knew it in the early days of exploration.
There was also a map of the 7 Honduras Bay islands (all inhabited) of which Roatan is the largest.
Gumbalimba Park is on the southern end of the west coast of the island, along with some of the best snorkeling on a good day (which ours wasn't).
And here is the very exotic "Toucan plant."
And more iguanas near the lake.
We found out that the Wilsons and Elmes had all bought the same kind of Speedo water shoes.
When Kelsi was in the MTC, she had sent us an artistic picture, which I thought was very nice.
So, of course, we took this picture to send to her, which she enjoyed.
We all crossed a long suspension bridge.
And we found this sleeping parrot over the trail.
I recognized these as Guinea fowl, because of their little white spots.
Then we all got to play with a red macaw.
And this green one had a cool color, too.
But one of my favorite parts of the entire trip was playing with MONKEYS!!
There were Capuchin monkeys swinging through the trees, and a guy got them to come down and stand on our shoulders. It was so cool!
Monkeys for everyone!!
Childs...
Dukes...
Drennans...
Lyms...
Atkinsons (including John, who didn't particularly care for monkeys)...
And the Elmes...
Steven Elmes was the monkey's favorite human. Perhaps it was because he was so tall that he most resembled a tree. Or maybe they liked the scent of his sunblock. But every chance they got, they hopped back over to him and climbed to the top.
The monkeys were hilarious.
These two macaws happened to be sitting on a vine nearby, too, live a living Valentine.
Having had our fun at the park, we walked down the beach, requiring navigating this high, narrow bridge with low handrails. (Angelina wasn't too excited about that, due to a bit of a fear of heights).
I tried out my snorkel gear, but, sure enough, the wind did make it truly worthless, as visibility could be measured in inches. People at the beach said that it was smooth as glass the day before. Oh, well.
Some of the gals made sand castles while we swam. There was no sign of the biting bugs that some visitors had experienced there.
While we played on the beach, the Dukes and Childs found a local restaurant that they enjoyed. (I hadn't experienced hunger since the first meal on the ship).
After playing in the water for a while, we decided to go back and play with the monkeys one more time before it was time to go. This monkey, named Diego, came and sat by me like a little buddy.
The Elmes played with the macaws some more,
...and then when Diego saw Steve, he jumped up on him.
Diego was all snuggly with Linette.
I was just standing there with my arms folded, and suddenly, Voop! Instant monkey in my arms.
The monkeys would chew on orange peels and wipe them on themselves, maybe to smell nice; or maybe it keeps the bugs away or something. We called it "Diego's Citrus Spa."
And, finally, we were off on the last bus out of Gumalimba Park, having had an unexpected but successful day in Roatan.
Here is the view as we prepared to set sail.
As we waited for the sunset, we did some more Flowrider action. We were getting a little better and could do some tricks. Here Linette demonstrates riding on her knees...
...followed by an epic wipe-out!
And for me...same thing.
That night was our first sunset, it having been foggy before that. Here you can see Steve Duke looking out over the island of Roatan with the sunset on the ocean.
Soon everyone was enjoying it as well.
Meanwhile, on a lower deck, the Drennans were doing the same thing...
It was an awesome day.
Day 5. Belize
Thursday, April 10, 2014, we went to Belize. We had to "tender" (take a small boat) over to the shore because it was too shallow for the ship, which is pretty much a high-rise apartment building complex on the water.
We booked a tour through Charlie's Cave Tubing, and the guides were great. They told about how Belize was first Mayan, then used by pirates, and eventually acquired by England. English is the official language, though most kids grow up speaking Spanish at home and learn English in school. Belize became an independent country in the late 1900s, but is still part of the British Commonwealth, which means that there are aircraft carriers backing them up when necessary.
We started out by doing some great zip lines.
Melissa Child
Mike Child
Emma Drennan
Mark Drennan
Melissa Lym
Rob Lym
Steven Elmes and I saw this hole that went down to a big limestone cave. Not sure what was in there...
Randy (that's me!)
Linette
Steven & Melissa Elmes
The Atkinsons. John "helped" Angelina do the zip lines. Between his help and our peer pressure, she was able to do all of the zip lines, in spite of her fear of heights. (She did yell "I'm going to die!!" on the first run; and had nightmares that night of falling of of them.)
After the zip lines, we took a hike through the jungle to where we would start our cave tubing.
We were required to carry life preservers with us, but there was no requirement on how you had to wear them.
The jungle walk was gorgeous.
These mushrooms looked like gnome stairs.
We all donned headlamps, grabbed a tube, and headed into the cave.
Here you can see where we entered the cave.
For most of the trip, it was dark except for the light from our headlamps. Mark Drennan had his own headlamp that was twice as bright as everyone else's put together.
Here is another entrance to the caves used for shorter runs.
And finally, the exit.
I thought the silhouette here looked like a salamander.
Melissa and Steven Elmes jumped off of this rock (which is higher than it looks. Steve is 6-foot-4.)
"If your friends jumped off of a cliff, does that mean you would, too?"
Why, yes. Yes, it does.
We passed this truck of sugar cane on the way back to the shore.
In Belize, the graves are above ground due to the high water table.
As we drove back to Belize, our guide sang the Belize national anthem for us. Then he asked us to sing the U.S. National Anthem or anything else we would like to. So we sang "A Child's Prayer" (one part, then the other, then the two parts together, with the final repeat for the finish). It was dead quiet after that, and I think everyone was really touched. As much as this group liked to joke around and have fun like any other group, we also shared a common faith and a knowledge of the purpose of life and the importance of the gospel. The guide said that he had heard another Mormon group sing before, and that it was touching then, too.
Just for fun, he had the drive take us by an LDS chapel in Belize City, where we waved at a few missionaries on their way out.
Then it was back on the tender...
...and back onto the ship.
The Dukes at Amergris Caye
Meanwhile, Steve and Andra Duke spent the day in the ocean at Amergris Caye, one of the best couple of spots in the world for diving, due to the huge barrier reef there.
They rode a little airplane to get from Belize City to the island.
Then they did SNUBA (like SCUBA, except your air comes through a hose instead of a tank on your back, so you only need 30 minutes of training), followed by some snorkeling.
They saw some awesome stuff, including nurse sharks (not especially dangerous to humans), turtles, eels, rays and assorted fish.
Steve was excited about going there, so I'm glad they did it.
That night we did a bit more Flow-rider action while waiting for the sun to set.
Day 6. Cozumel, Mexico
Our third and final stop was at the island of Cozumel, Mexico. Most of the group went to Chankanaab Park, where they have dolphins, manatees, a sea lion show, Mayan artifact replicas, crocodiles, shaded seats on a beautiful beach, and nice snorkeling.
The beach was gorgeous, and there were shaded thatched-roof canopies to sit under and watch the waves.
We went to a sea lion show and got kissed on the cheek by a sea lion.
There were replicas of Mayan artifacts (with plaques saying where the real one was).
And the Dukes can always be counted on for an artistic interpretation in any setting.
She's with me. ;)
And, of course, the old totem pole shot...
The coolest part of the day, however, was when we got to swim with dolphins!!
Here I am with my feet back...One dolphin hit each foot with their nose (chin?)...
Then I started moving through the water...
And suddenly, I'm flying along like magic!
Woo-hoo!!!
So fun!!
Here is Melissa Lym grabbing two dorsal fins and getting pulled for a ride, too!
We all got to do both things.
Da-dum. Da-dum. Dun-dun-dun-dun....
Wheee!!!
Linette's turn!
Melissa Lym had perhaps the best sequence:
1. What in the world?
2. Oh, it's working...
3. I'm walking on water!!! (You can see her toes!)
4. Ride's over...
5. Bonus hair-do!
After we played with these awesome, sleek dolphins, we spent a few minutes with a manatee, bless its heart. It ate lettuce, and fish swam around it, because they had nothing to fear. Its skin was rough except where moss was growing on it. The poor dear.
Next we went snorkeling right off the beach there, and it was great.
Steve & Andra Duke had an underwater camera.
This school of fish was frozen in a block, like they were pretending to be a rock.
Linette and I brought along new snorkel gear.
I think this is Steven and Melissa Elmes
Steven and I went snorkeling again after our buffet lunch, and saw some big tuna (about 2 feet long), and a huge black fish (perhaps 5 feet long), kinda like the one that is the "king of jazz" in the Little Mermaid ("yeah!").
That afternoon we taxied back to the port, shopped for a few T-shirts and such, and then walked back onto the ship.
We did a little rock climbing to get that checked off of the list.
It was another great day.
I saw this little kid passed out on his dad's arm. The guy turned out to be the Russian ice dancer who flew around in the metal thing. I got his e-mail address and sent him this picture. The other couple at the table were the crazy-good ballroom dancers from Ukraine who starred in the show a night or two before.
It was formal night again for dinner that night.
And this was our flying monkey towel for the night.
Day 7. At Sea
Saturday, April 12, 2014, we slept in and just sort of sat around talking and playing board games all day. It was sort of nice to finally rest up a little bit, though I might have gotten a tad bored here and there.Here is a painting of Linette.
Ok, it's really a seat that looks like a picture frame.
Here we are playing Bohnanza and eating cookies, dreading how quickly dinner will be upon us.
Probably the best view from a urinal that I've ever seen. Not recommended at night in port.
Steven Elmes was experimenting with artistic shots from the table. Our last dinner featured roasted turkey, Thai chicken, berry tarts, crème brûlée, and ice cream, at least for me.
And here is our last sunset from the ship.
We played games (Hand and Foot shown here) at the library late into the night, while I gathered everyone's photos so I could do my synchromogrification of them.
The next morning we headed out, took a shuttle up to the airport, and then had 6 hours to kill before our flights. So a bunch of us went to church in Humble, Texas. A guy in the priesthood there said, "We're the humblest ward in the church, and proud of it!" He also pointed out that "Humble, Texas" was an oxymoron.
Our flight was delayed a couple of hours, but that was ok, because it finally gave me an excuse to say, "Houston, we have a problem!" We finally found ourselves flying home, where Erika, Jared and Sienna were waiting to pick us up. I had one suitcase that decided it hadn't seen enough of the world, so it took a detour to New York City to see the sights.
What a fun adventure! Good food, fun people, snorkeling, cave tubing, zip lining, monkeys, dolphins, surf simulator, games, talking, and laughing. I also enjoyed meeting new people on the ship, on shore, and on the way to and from.
And this is about how everyone felt the next day.
