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Mexico

Our 2015 Vision of the Seas Cruise: Days 5 & 6 Recap

March 13, 2015

We took a 7-day Royal Caribbean cruise on the Vision of the Seas to visit the Western Caribbean for my 30th birthday/pre-wedding honeymoon. We visited Cozumel and Costa Maya in Mexico, Georgetown in Grand Cayman, and Belize City in Belize, sandwiched between 2 days at sea cruising.

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{Wednesday – Costa Maya, Mexico}

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While we were eating breakfast we noticed this rainbow that was shining brightly over the coast of Costa Maya. I was so glad to capture it We learned our lesson of sticking to the rule of ‘bring the camera with you everywhere!’ as Price missed getting pictures of dolphins swimming and jumping along side the ship on our day at seat and I missed a double rainbow over Grand Cayman when I ran up for lunch that afternoon. Still so bummed about the dolphins!

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Costa Maya was the first, and only, cruise port that was docked. This truly made the process of getting on and off the cruise ship so much easier than the previous tendered days. Instead of having to wait your turn to get on a small boat to shuttle you to and from the port, you just walk right off. Simple as that!

There was a free trolley from the ship to the port entrance, which we didn’t use, as we didn’t think the pier was too long, but others with limited mobility might have found the trolley useful.

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The most amazing thing about the Caribbean to me is the crystal clear water. We got to see a school of Moorish Idols (I think!) bobbing around the long pier on our walk into the port.

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When we arrived in port we are greeted by a grand entrance and men adorned in ancient native dress. You could take pictures with them but we just breeze by as we were on a mission to get to the beach as soon as possible. Top priorities!

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There are shops, a craft market, restaurants, a hotel, and a pool in the port area. We were blown away by the fact that pool was free and so well maintained. We briefly considered stayed there to hang out at the pool and the beach, but there is a rock wall preventing access into the water.

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We took a $2 per person trolley ride to get to the beach. While you can actually see the ship from the beach the trip is far too long to walk, so the trolley ride was worth it.

The trolley makes several stops along the beach before going into downtown. We decided to just get off the first stop, which brought us right to the beach that ran in front of a Senior Frogs Restaurant and Bar.

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Just like the beach in port, the beach and the equipment were free. There was a cabana set up on the beach where there were some women giving out massages. I was tempted to inquire about prices but I really just wanted to relax with Price and Autumn.

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I swear there is nothing better than enjoying a cold beer while on the beach.

While we were on the beach we ordered a plate of chips, salsa, and guacamole. The drinks were dirt cheap. Super, super cheap! Our bucket of 4 beers was just $5. But the food was pretty expensive, which is why we only got the plate of chips for $10.

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The only thing to note about the beach where we were is that there is a big section where there was plant growth. There were some people snorkeling along the edges to check of aquatic life but most of the small fish I saw was right along the water’s edge. We had water shoes, which I highly suggest if you get the least bit squeamish when stepping on unkonwn squishy stuff (like me!!!). In general I found them to be a great investment just to avoid some of the sharper rocks on the beaches, which was very prominent in Grand Cayman as well.

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Autumn did amazingly well at the beach as she played in the sand with her toys, enjoyed dips in the water, and playing on the beach chair.

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It was such a wonderful day at the beach. Our beach babe was so tired afterwards! Thankfully, the reentry on to the boat was just as easy as getting off. Just through security and we were on our way back to the room. Much easier than being tendered!

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We enjoyed a leisurely afternoon and the time to rinse off all the sand and salt water. Endless

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It was formal night so we were a bit under dressed, at least compared to the couples wearing tuxes and ballgowns, but at the same time we were on par with others on the ship too. At least everyone loved Autumn’s frilly aqua dress.

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I started to not feel that great later on in the afternoon so I kept dinner pretty plain with some chicken and rice. It was done beautifully, but I just wasn’t feeling so great. Maybe a combination of the foods I had been eating, the sun, or the fact that there was a small out break in Norovirus on the ship on the cruise prior to ours. I never got sick but just felt off, which is why we also, sadly skipped dessert.

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We were all quite satisfied with our meal, and our day, and I think that Autumn’s happy, smiley face shows it.

{Thursday – Belize City, Belize}

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Autumn is normally an early riser so it was no surprise that she was up early on the cruise but at the same time she never slept well at night so we had been hoping for some ‘later’ mornings to make up for it. Sadly, that was not the case, but we did get to enjoy some amazing sunrises while on the cruise.

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To change things up a bit we took our breakfast (6.15-10.30am) out of the Windjammer  Cafe to enjoy the fresh morning air as we approached the port in Belize City. Plus, this way we could see all of Autumn’s best friends on the deck. She took a liking to an older gentleman named Michael. So sweet.

After breakfast we went back to the room to stick to our morning routine of Autumn napping while I pumped. And then we’d gear up for the time in port.

While going to the beach would be have been great, I still wasn’t feeling too well so we decided that we would keep our time in Belize quick. Plus, Price had to do his time sheet for vacation week, so we’d have to bring the laptop with us. We figured the laptop and beach sand wouldn’t be a good mix.

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We had wandered around the Belize City port a bit trying to find a good spot to stop and use Wifi before we settled on a friendly open air bar that had a $10 minimum for Wifi (pretty average rate in port) and a 2 of $10 drink special. Perfect. Plus, the friendly waitress also gave Autumn a cup of mango juice, which she really enjoyed on the hotter than normal day.

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“You have a baby… in a bar.”

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We didn’t spend too much time in the port area as there honestly wasn’t too much to do. It seemed that the excursions required a taxi or bus ride to get there, which would have been fine to experience but decided it was too much to juggle with Autumn, our stuff, and a laptop. Next time Belize, next time…

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I’d suggest keeping an eye on the schedule for the ferries that bring you back to the boat as we got on one immediately, and then had to wait and wait and wait for it to leave, which is hard with a frigidity 1 year old.

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I kept my lunch simple with some plain pasta as I was feeling off but Price and Autumn enjoyed their lunches in the Windjammer Cafe. Autumn tried jello for the first time and loved it so much that she had a bowl and a half.

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After lunch we spent some time during the afternoon enjoying the Open Play  Session (1.15pm-5.15pm) in the nursery. They has set up musically themed toys that day. And then it was time for Autumn’s nap. As usual, Price and I took turns resting or roaming around the ship during the afternoon naps.

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Stripes and baby shorts. Perfection.

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We took advantage of the daycare provided by the nursery staff for another ‘date night’ dinner together. We dropped Autumn off right at 5.30 with some snacks & yogurt (for her to have as dinner), her bottle, and diaper bag before we headed over to the Aquarius dining room.

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During the afternoon, we had scoped out the menu on the information screens located outside of the dining room so that we could learn what the theme was for the dinner that night. We figured that with the Italian themed dinner we would best enjoy the bottle of red wine that we brought on board.

Man oh man, it was so enjoyable to enjoy a dinner together without having to get up to allow Autumn to stretch her legs and burn off that frigidity energy. Plus, she enjoyed her time at the nursery watching some Mickey Mouse, reading stories, and cuddling up with the sweetest nursery staff.

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A couple that stripes together, stays together. ha!

After dinner we strolled around for a bit while Price finished off the bottle of wine. Wine and the fresh Caribbean breeze… to die for! We picked up Autumn from daycare and got settled back in the room.

Another very fun day on our cruise!!!

Filed Under: Cruising, Exploring Tagged With: Belize, Belize City, Belize City cruise, Belize City port, Costa Maya, Costa Maya Mexico, cruise, Mexico, Royal Caibbean Vision of the Seas, Royal Caribbean, Royal Caribbean Cruise, Royal Caribbean Cruise Review, travel

Our 2015 Vision of the Seas Cruise: Days 3 & 4 Recap

March 2, 2015

We took a 7-day Royal Caribbean cruise on the Vision of the Seas to visit the Western Caribbean for my 30th birthday/pre-wedding honeymoon. We visited Cozumel and Costa Maya in Mexico, Georgetown in Grand Cayman, and Belize City in Belize, sandwiched between 2 days at sea cruising.

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____________________

{Monday @ Georgetown, Grand Cayman}

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Our first stop on the cruise was Georgetown in Grand Cayman.

I had been there previously about 15 years ago but was really looking forward to the 3 of us going to explore together. Our main for the day was to enjoy the beach. We felt that we couldn’t pass up having a beach day when Seven-Mile Beach was a short cab ride from the tender dock.

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We headed to the Aquarius dining room shortly after it opened for breakfast at 7.00am. We wanted to give the service and food a try to change things up from going to the Windjammer, where you serve yourself. It was nice to get the service and different selections, includng the best sugary donuts, but it was tough to wait for the food to come with Autumn getting frigidity.

After breakfast we headed back to the room to give Autumn time to nap, for me to pump, and to get ready for the day on shore and at the beach. We packed up the canvas beach tote (my dad lent us) with our water shoes, sun blocks, water bottles, snacks for Autumn, and her bottles.

Price grabbed us tender tickets while Autumn was finishing up her nap so that we would be in the queue and ready to go when it was our turn. It worked out well as we were ready to go when the tender before ours was called. The only ‘issue’ we ran into was that I completely forgot that the towels were handed out right before you got on the tender, and not on the 9th deck, where they are kept. So I sprinted up 5 flights of stairs and ran to the towel hut for no reason. ha!

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When we arrived in port we walked around a bit trying to get some wifi as the Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville advertised wifi, but they were not open yet. So we headed back to the cab area to get a cab to bring us to the free public beach at Seven-Mile Beach. We grabbed a cab for $4 a person for the 10 minute cab ride.

The public beach was clean and adjacent to an open area that had a playground for little kids. There were vendors there that rented out jetski’s, snorkel equipment, beach chairs, and umbrellas. We rented a pair of chairs and an umbrella for $20.

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Naps on the beach are the best.

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We stayed at the beach for several hours taking turns layout out, taking dips in water, and playing with Autumn. It was so relaxing and fun. It had started to drizzle when we first got there but it quickly stopped. It was rather cloudy, but it just meant that the sun wasn’t too intense, thankfully.

There was an adjacent pavilion like restaurant that I considered getting food from, especially since the vendors that rented out the beach chairs and umbrellas were running orders back and forth. But we decided just to grab a snack at one of food trucks. They had a lot to ofer from fresh mad conch salad to fried fish, but I just grabbed us some fries to share for $4.

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We shared a van back to the port with a few others as there were a few vans stationed at the lot near the beach. It was more affordable at $2 a person, plus the driver didn’t charge for Autumn as she was on a lap.

We grabbed some Tortuga Rum Cakes on the way back to the tender dock. They are a classic delicious souvenir to bring back home. Or just eat in the cabin!

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As we only had shared a basket of fries while at the beach, we were still really hungry for lunch when we got back. We were cutting it close to make it to the Windjammer before it closed for lunch service (12.00- 3.30pm) so I ran up first to grab food, and then Price took his turn while Autumn napped through our running around.

The rest of the afternoon was about showers and enjoying the nice weather up on deck in between lounging around in the room. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon.

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The Caribbean sunsets are hard to beat!

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We were greeted with friendly hello’s when we arrived for our dinner at 5.30. The hostess and our servers remarked how they missed us as we had dinner at Izumi the night before to celebrate my birthday. Everyone’s enthusiasm is just fantastic, as well as the service and the food.

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Mom, you didn’t want your dessert, right?!?!?

We were so tired from the day in the sun that we made it an early night. We went back to the room to get Autumn down for the night as close as possible to her normal bed time, but it was still a tough time (and night as a whole). Price headed up to talk a walk and I crash hard… before 8! Oh man, I’d almost feel bad about it but it’s vacation and my real chance to catch up on sleep. ha!

{Tuesday @ Cozumel, Mexico}

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I might have felt bad for going to bed really, really early the night before, but Autumn slept poorly and was up early. So going to bed before 8 (oh, boy!) was totally worth it!

We were up early walking around on the 9th and 10th decks killing time before the Windjammer Cafe opened. We even enjoyed the sunrise (6.25am) out on deck.

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The one thing that really bugged me was that the crew would wash down the deck in the morning. I understand why the do it and when they do it but it was really tricky to get around without the fear of slipping as the deck was soaked as it was power washed. I really just felt bad for the runners and power walkers as they were constantly adjusting their routes to avoid the wet spots and the guys doing the power washing.

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This face just kills me. Oh, she has my heart.

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And the sunrises too! Just incredible.

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We headed into the Windjammer (7.00-11.00am) when it was open to have some breakfast. The best thing about having a buffet right at your finger tips is that it gives us plenty of options for Autumn to try a bunch of different things. The tater tots were always a big hit. but it was nice to get her to try different kinds of pancakes, eggs, fruit, sausage, and biscuits.

While it would have been nice to have had breakfast and gotten off the boat with the first tenders, it worked well to let Autumn nap. Interrupting her napping schedule can make things tricky for us so it was important to give her that opportunity to get a solid nap in. Plus, it gave me a chance to pump and Price to pack us up for the day off the boat.

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Having to use a tender, instead of docking at a pier, requires a lot more coordination and planning as there are a limited number of people that can get on a boat at one time. This means there can be some waiting for your turn, which is why you should get a tender ticket to hold a spot for you. As well, loading the ferry-boat, getting ashore, and unloading can take quite a bit of time, so that is important to plan for. That does effect your time ashore. For example, if everyone is to be loaded on the ship by 5, then the last tender is 4pm to provide enough time for the boat to be fully loaded, get to the boat, and unloaded. You always have to keep that in mind!!

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During the shopping information session on Sunday the head of onshore shopping explained to everyone that there is not too much shopping to do where the port is. The best shopping is a cab ride away. I asked him about this later as a mile and a half walk for us is no big deal and I was hoping to get some real exercise in, but he really pushed that we should just take a cab as the road is busy and rough. He wasn’t exactly saying it was unsafe but he wasn’t a fan of the idea of us walking.

As well, when asking for a cab it is important to ask to go to the “Forum Shops“, a high-end shopping center, as it is a specific destination, instead of asking to go ‘downtown.’ This prevents the cab driver for taking you to some random place. Also, asking to go to the Forum Shops basically brings you to the end of the main shopping district, which allows you to shop along the way as you head back towards the port. There are several taxi stands along the strip, which will allow you to get a cab in various spots along the way. Our cab ride to the Forum shops was $7 a person (not including Autumn).

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We had lunch as Palmeras Restaurant while in Cozumel.

I’m honestly not a fan of buying lunch while in port as we have paid for all our meals on the ship, but when it’s lunch time, it’s lunch time! Thankfully, we had a great lunch at Palmeras. We shared some chips and salsa, fish tacos, and a chicken caesar salad. Autumn helped herself to all our guacamole.

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We had talked about going to the beach while in Cozumel but had decided that it would be our shopping day instead. We had hoped to find wedding bands while on the cruise as shopping in the Caribbean is duty and tax-free. As well, different ports are known for different things, like gold, diamonds, tanzanite, etc.

Unfortunately, we did not find rings that we liked as the majority of the rings had diamonds on them, even the men’s. Plus, we wanted brushed white gold bands and not many shops carried brushed things. As well, we had continued to search for an anchor necklace for me, but didn’t find one that was the right size of the right price.

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Tired babe? ha!

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After our adventurous cab ride back to the port, we boarded our tender to take a ride back to the ship. Once through security (very similar to security at the airport), we our way back to the room to give Autumn a chance to take her afternoon nap. Which really meant that Autumn and I napped and Price snuck away for a pina colada. Perfection for both of us.

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We just about missed the “Renaissance Aerial Spectacular” show in the Centrum, but we caught the end of it. The artistry of the dancers and aerialists is amazing. They perform several times throughout the cruise, even 2x a night (5.15-5.30pm & 9.45-10.00pm), so there are quite a few chances to see them perform.

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Good bye Cozumel!

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As usual, dinner was amazing.

That food theme for the night was shitaki mushrooms, which were featured in the dumplings that I ordered. I could have easily eaten 2 plates of these, especially since I shared with a little hungry babe! I had the strawberry topped pavlova for dessert. It was the first time I had a pavlova, but now I am in love with them.

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Another day down! It’s so fun to go from place to place but it just means that vacation is speeding along.

Filed Under: Cruising, Exploring Tagged With: Caribbean cruise, Cozumel, Cozumel Mexico, Cruise recap, cruise review, Georgetown Grand Cayman, Grand Cayman, Mexico, Royal Caribbean Cruise, Royal Caribbean Cruise Review, Royal Caribbean Vision of the Seas, Seven Mile Beach

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