8/30 cruise on the Urn....er Legend... with lots of pictures!

[Sophiesmom2]

GREAT review!! Thanks so much....leave in two days!!! YAAAAAAA :)

[Celandine]

Great review so far! I cannot wait to read the rest!

[BAMA72]

Great review. We are going on 01/10/10 and our room is 4167 not too far from yours. Thank You

[DocJohnB]

Loving it. Great review!

 

But, it is tomorrow. :p :p :p

[beachbum6264]

Up pretty early, for vacation, and off to breakfast in the MDR. Nice view of the Valor and the Destiny – we are the only 3 ships in port today.

Waiting for all the excursion people to get off and we don’t have a long line to stand in (I know I’m going to do my share of walking today, and I don’t need to push this knee anymore than I have to). Walked right off the ship onto the tender (for those with mobility problems, they are great about helping you in and out of the tenders, very slowly and very carefully)

 

 

(I really need a longer arm to take these pics!)

 

And it’s off to Grand Cayman

 

 

We looked around the port area for a few minutes, then walked across the street and got a taxi to Sea Grape Beach. It was a nice clean beach, chairs were $6 each and an umbrella was $4. We spent the day reading, eating, drinking, and swimming (not necessarily in that order). The food at Calico Jack’s was pretty good. I had my conch fritters (I lived in Nassau when I was younger and there are times I would KILL for conch fritters!) and dh had some kind of fish. Keep in mind that the prices are in Cayman dollars so US will be a bit higher ($1.25 to $1).

 

Amazing water, and a great view of the ships

 

 

Yep, it’s 5 o’clock somewhere

 

 

Looks like it’s raining in town, but it wouldn’t DARE rain here!!!

 

 

When we were ready to head back we wound up with a tour group headed back, so we got the guided tour long way around back to the port. It was very interesting, we learned more than we ever wanted to about the garbage!

[Purplesaurus]

Great review, more, more:)

[beachbum6264]

We stopped downtown to do a little shopping – I have quit buying “stuff” from every port – I have enough t-shirts to last me a life time. Now I buy refrigerator magnets from every port and every ship. We may have to get a bigger fridge, tho! We did have to stop for the must have shot

 

 

(come on – you know you have the same picture!!!)

 

Then back on the tender and back to the ship

 

 

Yep, I set off the metal detector again! So if you were behind me, I’m sorry! I’m sure they know you CAN smuggle stuff in braces and other orthopedic things (there was a guy around here that smuggled some fried chicken and a bottle of Jack Daniels into jail…. In his artificial leg!! True story)

At least I know they are doing their job. I understand it won’t get any better with the knee replacement – I’m gonna set them off the rest of my life.

It’s up on deck to watch us sail away….

 

 

 

with a strawberry and vanilla swirl yogurt cone.

The show tonight was balancing (Lubo) and comedy (JR McCollom) – it was OK, nothing really stands out in my mind, other than wondering how much the assistant to the balancing act gets paid!

 

Towel animal for tonight:

 

 

all I have to say about that one is that after a few drinks it seemed really funny! (and showing this picture to friends it turns out you really don’t need the alcohol to have the same reaction!!)

Cozumel in the morning, more beach for me!

[law638]

I LOVE your journal. I wish you were my teacher or you could be the travel critic for my newspaper. By the way, they were urns and my family was on a reunion cruise. LOL PS, it wasn't the alcohol.

[singbluesilver1]

Lol that towel animal looks obscene

[beachbum6264]

Yea, that seems to be the reaction everyone has! I will admit that after a few drinks and walking in to see that sitting on the bed, well, the neighbors probably wondered about all the laughing!!!

[beachbum6264]

Cozumel…

Woke up, looked outside and this was my view

 

 

coming in to Cozumel and I guess we are the first ones here, no ships in sight! Our plan of attack is to get to Paradise Beach before it gets crowded, we have to get “our” spot! We always talk about trying some other place, but always wind up at Paradise Beach! Why fight it?

Getting closer…. Puerta Maya ahead. The first time we were here was before the old pier was destroyed by a hurricane (not sure which one, anyone help?) – there were stores along the pier that you had to walk through (but they were air conditioned!).

 

 

We go have our normal breakfast in the dining room, just the 2 of us. Then off the ship, the pier is pretty long so I opt for the bicycle dude (save the knee as much as possible)

 

 

and head to the taxi stand (gee, wonder why they make you walk all the way through the shopping area to get to the taxis?? ) As usual, dh is herding me along (we don’t need that … you have one of those somewhere … that’s not a good color on you…. Goodness, can’t a girl even LOOK???)

We hang around for a few minutes, looking for someone to share the taxi (and the cost!) with, bingo! Found another couple – and off we go.

Yea! We got our spot

 

 

this is the best place to sit – no rocks in front of us, plus you have a front row seat to watch the dads who have to climb up the iceberg

 

 

to rescue their kids who get up to the top and are too scared to come back down! It’s the best when the dads get stuck, too!!!

Here’s the rest of the water toys:

 

 

They charge $10 for a wrist band that allows you to use all the water toys. We don’t get the band, but we do spend our share of $$$ here!

[jimandsteph1070]

We stopped downtown to do a little shopping – I have quit buying “stuff” from every port – I have enough t-shirts to last me a life time. Now I buy refrigerator magnets from every port and every ship. We may have to get a bigger fridge, tho! We did have to stop for the must have shot

 

 

(come on – you know you have the same picture!!!)

 

Then back on the tender and back to the ship

 

 

Yep, I set off the metal detector again! So if you were behind me, I’m sorry! I’m sure they know you CAN smuggle stuff in braces and other orthopedic things (there was a guy around here that smuggled some fried chicken and a bottle of Jack Daniels into jail…. In his artificial leg!! True story)

At least I know they are doing their job. I understand it won’t get any better with the knee replacement – I’m gonna set them off the rest of my life.

It’s up on deck to watch us sail away….

 

 

 

with a strawberry and vanilla swirl yogurt cone.

The show tonight was balancing (Lubo) and comedy (JR McCollom) – it was OK, nothing really stands out in my mind, other than wondering how much the assistant to the balancing act gets paid!

 

Towel animal for tonight:

 

 

all I have to say about that one is that after a few drinks it seemed really funny! (and showing this picture to friends it turns out you really don’t need the alcohol to have the same reaction!!)

Cozumel in the morning, more beach for me!

 

 

I love these pics.. first of the priate and now of the towel animal...lol. seems as it might be the same...LMAO

[beachbum6264]

I brought my own snorkel gear, I know the snorkeling is just OK, but I like to snorkel, and there’s not many opportunities in Tennessee!! Saw lots of fish, and found a $5 bill. Woo-hoo, made money today!!!

 

Turns out that it’s 5 o’clock somewhere, so off we go

 

 

(dh has already had most of his bucket of beer)

This is one of the many good reasons to come to Paradise Beach – some of the best guacamole in the world. I think this is why we don’t go anywhere else!

 

 

 

We also got the Paradise nachos …. Yum!

We spent the day as planned, reading, swimming, eating, and drinking (again, not necessarily in that order). I love it when things work out as planned!

I had promised to get something for a friend, so dh went on back to the ship and I spent some time wandering and shopping without listening to him snort and huff and puff (that man can make some strange noises when he wants to!). I found what I needed (didn’t even get any fridge magnets this time… too many from Cozumel already.)

I wandered and took some pictures of the shopping area

 

 

 

 

I didn’t take any shots of us sailing away this time… we left at 6 and we have dinner at 6.

The show tonight was billed as “the physical comedy of Max Winfrey” – and it was totally worth seeing! That man is funny – if you have the same strange sense of humor as me – example: (juggling 3 machetes while riding a rather tall unicycle) “Remember kids, when you try this at home, be careful.

[Payd]

I brought my own snorkel gear, I know the snorkeling is just OK, but I like to snorkel, and there’s not many opportunities in Tennessee!! Saw lots of fish, and found a $5 bill. Woo-hoo, made money today!!!

 

Turns out that it’s 5 o’clock somewhere, so off we go

 

 

(dh has already had most of his bucket of beer)

This is one of the many good reasons to come to Paradise Beach – some of the best guacamole in the world. I think this is why we don’t go anywhere else!

 

 

 

We also got the Paradise nachos …. Yum!

We spent the day as planned, reading, swimming, eating, and drinking (again, not necessarily in that order). I love it when things work out as planned!

I had promised to get something for a friend, so dh went on back to the ship and I spent some time wandering and shopping without listening to him snort and huff and puff (that man can make some strange noises when he wants to!). I found what I needed (didn’t even get any fridge magnets this time… too many from Cozumel already.)

I wandered and took some pictures of the shopping area

 

 

 

 

I didn’t take any shots of us sailing away this time… we left at 6 and we have dinner at 6.

The show tonight was billed as “the physical comedy of Max Winfrey” – and it was totally worth seeing! That man is funny – if you have the same strange sense of humor as me – example: (juggling 3 machetes while riding a rather tall unicycle) “Remember kids, when you try this at home, be careful.

 

I am loving your review, while re-living our Legend cruise from March.

 

Hurry and post more...please!

[beachbum6264]

We have been to Belize before and took the water taxi to Caye Caulker – which I loved. I could move there tomorrow (or at least right after I get my knee fixed). But this time we decided to do a Carnival excursion because of the amount of walking involved in going to Caye Caulker. Since Belize has the 2nd largest barrier reef (second only to the one in Australia) we figured we should go. Now, I snorkeled pretty much my whole childhood, but dh grew up in a small town in Tennessee so not so much for him. He’s tried a few times but has never really had much success. But he was a trooper and agreed to try it once more (as long as I don’t ask him to scuba again, that did not go well, darn it). We also decided to book through Carnival because they pick up and bring you back to the ship – and we didn’t want to take a chance on missing the last tender from town. The Barrier Reef Snorkel at Turneffe with Beach break is about $70 per person. There is an early trip (somewhere around 8:00, and an afternoon trip – at 12:30 or so) we opted for the afternoon.

We did take a quick trip into the port for the needed fridge magnet.

It’s a long way in, but the tenders move pretty quickly.

 

 

finally, we are at the port area, lots of shopping and eating and drinking choices.

 

 

I found my magnets (with dh making the normal noises, don’t know why I even take him with me!), then it’s back to the ship for lunch. They do not serve lunch in the main dining room on port days, so we resort to carrying a tray today. At least it was not very crowded. Then off to the reef (dh is looking forward to the unlimited rum punch that comes with this excursion – I know that line in the description is what sold him!)

I’m just going to let the pictures do the talking:

 

 

 

 

We had about an hour and a half to snorkel (not long enough for me), then off to Bannister Island. They broke out the rum punch on the way, and yes, it was unlimited. They were walking around with a pitcher refilling your glass. Dh is now a happy snorkeler… he had a good time this time, actually enjoyed it – and that was before the rum punch!

My battery died in my digital camera, and I used an underwater disposable I had to take pix at the island, but I haven’t gotten that developed yet. It was a nice island break, don’t think I would want to stay all day, but it was good for the hour or so we stayed. They took us right back to the ship right on time. I didn’t wear my brace today (shh, don’t tell my doctor), so no alarm this time!!!

And it’s time to leave

 

 

The show was ‘the Comedy and Magic of Puck’ – kind of an ‘old school’ magician with the connecting rings and $100 bill in the lemon. Not bad, but that works better in a smaller venue. Our cabin was on deck 4 so we just walked to the front of the ship and we were at the top of the Follies lounge – so it was kind of hard to see just what was going on with some of the tricks. But it was ok.

Next up, the main reason we booked this cruise: Roatan… a new port for us!!!!

[crazycruzer68]

Loving this review, it's very good!! What was the shopping at the pier like in Cozumel? My DS has a bad knee as well, did they have the bicycles that take you from the ship the dock in Coz?

 

Darn it about the Titans last, a Colts fan myself, but I always cheer for whoever is playing the Steelers!!

[cruznluvr]

Still laughing about that towel animal. Great review, keep it coming!

[beachbum6264]

Loving this review, it's very good!! What was the shopping at the pier like in Cozumel? My DS has a bad knee as well, did they have the bicycles that take you from the ship the dock in Coz?

 

Darn it about the Titans last, a Colts fan myself, but I always cheer for whoever is playing the Steelers!!

 

The shopping is Ok at the Puerta Maya pier, but not as good as the one downtown. But,on the other hand, I don't think they were as "pushy" about trying to get you to come into their shops, either. It's all pretty new, having been redone after the hurricane - it looks pretty much the same except there are no shops right on the pier anymore.

Yes, they had they bicycles on the pier, they work for tips.

 

I'm going to try to finish this tomorrow night... going to see Wicked tomorrow afternoon, with dinner after... with the 4 of us that are going I don't know what time we'll be back!

[beachbum6264]

Still laughing about that towel animal. Great review, keep it coming!

 

 

Me, too! I'm picking out pix to print... may have to get an 8x10 of that one!

[3redheads]

I'm really enjoying your review! We were on the same sailing.

 

I knew something looked different about Cozumel. I didn't realize the hurricane wiped out the old dock. Now I understand why it didn't look familiar!

[beachbum6264]

I'm really enjoying your review! We were on the same sailing.

 

I knew something looked different about Cozumel. I didn't realize the hurricane wiped out the old dock. Now I understand why it didn't look familiar!

 

I read your review, you did a great job! It was a great cruise, for sure (but then, I've never met a cruise I didn't like!)

[J&E07]

Great review! Can't wait to read the rest.

[ginjer2911]

Those are great pictures of the fish. What kind of camera do you have? Is it waterproof?

[beachbum6264]

Those are great pictures of the fish. What kind of camera do you have? Is it waterproof?

 

Thanks. I have a Canon SD870 - it is not waterproof, but I bought a DiCAP case for it (got it on Amazon) for about $30. It works great, I can change settings and zoom with the case on. This was the first time I had used it, and I'm happy with it. I used the disposable underwater cameras before, but could never see through the viewfinder with a mask on. This is much better.

[love2cruiseagain]

Great review. We leave tomorrow on the Legend. Can't wait. Love the towel animal. Back to packing...:)