..... full of ship

.... is what i feel like! yeah, we're home.... but holy BURRRR!? I've got 2 inches of snow in my backyard right now! what a cruel and unusual thing to return to after 8 days of 85 degree weather.

wifee, our friends D&L, and yours truly have returned safe and sound from a very cool, very fun, and very "eye opening" experience in the carribean islands. costa maya first, belize second, grand cayman third, and cozumel to round out the island hopping! pics below are stateroom view on balcony, our ship (right side) dwarfing a carnival and holland america ship, and a shot coming into port!




costa maya excursions had D on a two-tank dive (he's certified and certifiable!), wifee on a snorkel trip (got cancelled due to waves, so she happily shopped and explored!), L & i on a mayan ruins architectural hike through a rain forest! pics are of the mayan ruins.. soooo kewl.



belize showed wifee some amazing Altune Ha Ruins on a similiar trek, while the rest of us took a hike thru more rain forest to an amazing cave tubing run that lasted just over a mile underground on a river of darrrrrrrkness! amazing stalagtites, stalagmites, and crystaline features (complete with bats) that amazed, ooohed and ahhhhed us all! nothing like sitting butt down in a car-tire tube floating in complete darkness with a miner's light strapped to your noggin! pics below are a shot from the hike/path to our starting point, a view of some crystalline features, then a cool shot of the exit point!




grand cayman was a relaxed day for wifee, L and me. no tours planned, so we tendered to shore, found a great spot to jump into the cool, green water and taught L how to snorkel! She needed us for about 3 minutes before she was dusting us! great time, amazing fish, and sun sun sun! We shopped and wandered for another 2 hours or so while D enjoyed yet another amazing two-tank dive in some of the best waters he claims ever to have dived in. (dove?divvied? whatever!) pics below are grand caymon shopping strip and some fishees i caught up to!




cozumel was the scary part of the trip for us. It has tripled in size since the last time we were there. (8 years or so!) but OMG was it just flattened by hurricaine Wilma! docks?, gone... roofs?, gone.... people? there! happy, and rebuilding their lives! that was the amazing part; between fallen towers, buildings in various states of repair or just sitting there destroyed, there was still so much life! Smiles on every face, stores open, electricity and flowing water. AMAZING! we all took a dune buggy tour that proceeded to take us to three spots on the island: a snorkel spot where we all partook, (saw a eagle ray! pic is fuzzy but cool!) a small shopping place/bathroom break that was a bit shady, then a beach with flowing white sand, beachcombing, thankfully FOOD (mexican buffett! YUMMY) and relaxation. sun was out on and off until an ominious storm whisked in and cut our ride short by 30 minutes. pictures you all will see will express the leveled trees, devastation and more - but the excursion was still well worth it! (pics below are dune buggy stop, & a devastated house, and that eagle ray.... hard to see but sooo cool!)

Princesses ship was HUGE and in fact, overwhelming at first for the first few days. entertainment was good, not top notch tho. wifee and i are definitely biased from holland america cruising days of amazing dining service. we were not pleased overall by this team, and all 4 of us opted for the diner's choice option after day 2 to allow us the chance to eat whenever we chose to as a foursome. (and to flee our racially inclined and drama queen-filled texan two dinner mates that annoyed the hell out of us)

more later i'm sure. for now, we're glad to be home.... saved maddie from doggy jail, and still fighting of three overly affectionate kitties who are so glad to have us home to change their litter boxes. mr puddins settled back into his routine of being only moderatly interested in me in NO time at all....

Still feel like i'm on that ship tho... still tipping a little bit, and miss the sway of the ocean. D&L were the best travel companions that the wifee and i could've asked for. we love 'em both dearly and are so happy they could share in this experience with us! they rawk!

i'm off to hit the Lido Deck on the ship's floor 14. i need to find a table and hit that buffet before they close for lunch service starting at 11am. i wonder why my bed wasn't made yet when i checked back on our room after this morning. I've got to talk to that Princess guy about doing that..... giggle.