Western Caribbean 2019

   We were up early to have breakfast and disembark the Allure of the Seas before 8 a.m.  The ship arrived at its berth at the Port of Miami about 3 a.m., but passengers were not going to be disembarked until after 7 a.m.  The sky was cloudy, temperature was 23 ° C and the wind was about 25 kph.    We took our baggage off ourselves, just three pieces for the five of us. When we reached Deck 5, the early disembarkation line for people taking off their luggage snaked through the Promanade “street” and through a door by the Café Promenade onto the promenade walking/running track for almost a third of the length of the ship. As we waited in line, we could see the participants of the Miami Fitbit Marathon running along the road across the canal from the dock.  While having breakfast, before sunrise, we saw two police cars with flashing blue and red on the same road, which must have been the escort cars for the st...

    This morning was cloudy and windy and the temperature was 23 ° C as we cruise across the Gulf of Mexico back to Miami.  About 8 a.m. the ship was a little north of Havana, Cuba.  The white capped waves were about two meters high.  BBC World News weather showed that we would see some rain later in the day.      We decided to have breakfast on Deck 3 in the American Icon restaurant. We shared a table with Ken and Jan from Illinois and another American couple from the state of New York.  We had an interesting discussion with Ken and Jan, deciding to meet them for pre-dinner drinks later.     While we walked around Deck 5’s promenade, we slowly passed the Norwegian Breakaway cruise ship, then saw an MSC cargo ship travelling in the opposite direction. We stopped on Deck 6 to order our complimentary Embarkation Day photos for later pickup.  After getting cappuccinos, w...

      The sky was cloudy and it was foggy, we watched the ship approach the Port of Costa Maya. The morning temperature was 24 ° C.  The fishing village of Mahahual, Mexico, which has a year-round population of 4,000, is close to the port & cruise terminal.     Breakfast was eaten in the Windjammer buffet this morning. There were no other ships in port.  The ship docked by 8 am and we met our group at the end of the 700-meter pier at 8:20 for the Chacchoben (Chak-Choh-ben) Mayan ruins excursion. As we made our way along the pier there was a pair of traditionally dressed drummers serenading the crowd. There were over six buses to take people for the hour-long ride to the Chacchoben Mayan ruins. Before the bus departed each passenger had to review and sign a waiver form, watch a safety video and fastener their seat belts. Our air-conditioned bus, driven by Bernardo, contained 41 passengers and guide, Alejandro Menéndez was the...

   Today’s port is Roatán Island, Honduras at the dock by Coxen Hole, the largest town on the island.  The sun rose in a mostly cloudy sky just after 7 am, when I was walking on Deck 5’s walking track. I had been up on Deck 16 and took a picture of some of the pools. The morning temperature was 26 ° C and it was windy.  The clouds were gray but we did not get any rain on our morning excursion.    Other ships docked at Mahogony Bay, Roatán Island were Carnival Miracle and Marella Discovery 2.     We joined the kids for breakfast on Deck 16’s Windjammer buffet. Catherine and Mia suffered from seasickness overnight. They are fine now that the ship was docked. Then we dropped into the Diamond Club for coffee.       All five of us are going on the same excursion, called Xocolati – the Chocolate Experience, to Carambola Botanical Garden. The bus, with a snorkel (like we had seen in A...