TR: No Lions, or Tigers, but BEARS – OH MY!!

[bert425]

Working on Belize, and all the pics of the Mayan Ruins at Cahal Pech (should be up in the next hour or so). . but found the souvenir of the $$ we got from the restaurant in Roatan, so wanted to post that too.

 

as noted, per the Bartender, it's worth ~ 2cents.

[bert425]

Day 5 (Belize)

 

once again, we had a pretty early meet up time, but this time we understood – Belize is a tender port, so we don’t actually dock, but instead go on Tender boats, that then bring us to the dock. In a ship this large, 3200+ passengers, we were very happy that Arno’s group excursion was considered an RCCL one, as the “official” excursions get priority for the tenders. If not on an official RCCL excursion, we had heard it can take up to 3 hours to get a tender to the port! The tender to shore takes about 35-40 minutes too, so we were anchored pretty far out.

 

So we were up and early, and met in the big show-room, and before too long, we were all headed down to the Tender Boat – a double decker boat, sponsored by Diamonds International (seriously, who buys from them? They are at every port, and obviously partner with the Cruise Lines, but I’ve never seen anyone actually buy from them).

 

Anyways, as we’re headed into the port, we notice there are 4 other ships anchored off shore (several of them the same ships we had seen the day before in Roatan), so we were expecting a heck of a cluster – F on the dock, and yep, we did see that when it was time to get back.

 

But initially, we were able to get off the tender, pose for an official RCCL picture (which came out good and we bought the last day). . but we didn’t pose with the male and female “pirates” who were trying to get passengers to stop (and who were dressed like Capt. Jack Sparrow. . don’t really get *that*).

Then we headed to the line for the buses – which just so happened to be smack dab thru the center of (you guessed it) the Diamonds International that was in the port. So that took about 25 minutes, just standing in line – and watching the sales people basically stare at us, as noted, since it didn’t seem anyone was buying, or even looking at anything.

 

There were at least 3 buses of Bears going to our excursion – the Mayan Ruins at Cahal Pech – and we ended up on the last bus pulling out. No one had really told us that the ruins were almost 2 hours away via bus, so it seemed that we just drove and drove forever. . but it was OK, since we had a really, really good tour guide who told us a lot of interesting information about Belize as we went thru the city (very very poor), and countryside, which at first seemed filled with destroyed or abandoned homes. . .although the guide told us that was because folks were given a long time to build and a lot of what we were seeing that looked abandoned were really just homes that had been started years earlier, and simply were getting worked on very slowly as the land owners could afford them.

 

The place is beautiful, with most everything built “up” on stilts, including graveyards with all crypts above ground (due to sea-levels), but as noted, very very poor, as one sees with most of the Caribbean Islands. There weren’t a lot of cars on the roads, tho there were a lot in yards, and the guide told us that was because of how expensive Gas was in Belize (and we really only passed one or two gas stations, and they didn’t seem that busy, to be honest).

 

There was another guide on our bus (in training from what we could tell) and he was super, super nervous when talking on the mic to the bus (it was rather adorable), but when he was talking just to the folks in the front few rows, he was much more comfortable, and was much more conversational. He also told us facts about Belize, and answered any questions that folks asked.

 

the Main Guide told us that there were a lot of guests in Belize that day, and he needed a name to call us on the bus, so we could all stay together, and the suggestion made, and what stuck was “Osos Peligrosos” (Dangerous Bears), and that name stuck. . so that’s who we were for the day.

 

As noted, they hadn’t really told us how long the ride was going to be, so most of the time we just watched out the window at the scenery. . not many traffic lights, but a lot of road humps/sleeping policemen, so we went over a lot of “bumps”. . . eventually, we turned into a neighborhood, and started heading upwards towards the top of the hill and the main entrance to Cahal Pech.

 

So we pull up the smallish parking lot, and there’s no one else there! What what what? We were the last bus to leave the port, how the heck did we get there first? (and where were all the other passengers from all the other ships??). I asked the guide where was everyone else, and he mentioned some other ruins that were about 20 minutes further, and he guessed that the other ship’s excursions must have gone there, but we lucked out having Cahal Pech to ourselves.

 

There was a small “gift-refreshment” stand in the parking lot, so he suggested we all go there to buy some water, and stop to use the restrooms. I felt bad only having $20’s on me, so in addition to the big bottles of water, I picked up a stone carving of the Calendar for only $6 . . to match with the Aztec Calendar print we have in the kitchen (that I got back in the 80’s from the ruins at Teotihuacan outside of Mexico City). After this brief stop, we headed up the walkways, to the main ruins, that have been thoroughly restored, and are just gorgeous.

 

It’s hard to express just how special it was to be really alone, among these gorgeous structures. And since the other buses from Arno’s group hadn’t shown up yes, only about 60 of us had the run of the place alone, for a good 20-30 minutes. It turned out that the other two buses had some communication issues (one thought that they were supposed to stop for a snack, and went back into town before coming back to the ruins, and the other bus stopped for a potty break, and got stuck behind a slow moving tractor-trailer – we were behind him too, but our bus was able to pass him and zoom along). So it was just the luck of the draw that our bus was able to spend the longest amount of time at Cahal Pech, and really got the “full tour”, while the other buses only got 30-40 minutes to spend at the site 

 

Since our group was there alone for a while, we were able to climb up the main pyramid (man did we all feel it the next day, too, since the Mayans built the steps very steep, so one would have to “bow to the gods” when climbing up each step. . so yeah, the next day everyone was like, “why am I sore???”. . . ). Nick was having a bit of trouble with walking (not too bad, but a bit) so he stayed on the ground while I climbed up, but he did go sit on the bottom step when one of our group with a very good camera, Jeff Parker, took some amazing shots of our whole group on the pyramid.

 

the guide brought us thru the site, across the courtyard, and thru the catacombs to the royal bed chambers, and eventually up and around and out to the ball court where he told us some stories of how the games were played, and how when played during festivals, the winner was typically sacrificed as the Mayans wanted only the best to go to the Gods.

 

As I said, the site was gorgeous, and although likely not as “impressive” as the site a bit further that the other tours went to, the fact that we had the place to ourselves more than made up for it, and I highly recommend a trip out to Cahal Pech if you ever find yourself in Belize.

 

It was time to head back, as it was such a long drive, and we still had a stop to get a snack, and do some shopping. Remember when I mentioned that I was expecting a cluster-F at the dock? We’ll we DID get that when we got back eventually, but really, we got a huge taste of it at the place we stopped for a “snack”. . . there were probably 10-12 buses full of tourists from all the ships, and the place was an absolute zoo. Lines, on top of lines, on top of lines. On the plus side, the Chicken and rice that folks were eating looked pretty good.

 

on the negative side, WE didn’t get that. . . what RCCL had chosen for our group (and trust me, Arno heard about it and brought the complaint back to RCCL), was a little Styrofoam container that had some stale bread with some nasty spread (thinly spread), that smelled like cat food,and had almost no taste, along with two cookies (that looked like someone opened a bag of knock off keebler sandwich cookies and just put 2 in each container), some disgusting diluted fruit flavored punch/soda, and a banana (which was super sweet and tasted great). Most folks didn’t eat the disgusting food, I chose to use some of the hot sauce that was on the tables, to spice the crap out of it and eat, as it was something, and I was hungry). . but yeah, what a terrible stop.

It would have been better to have stayed on the bus and got back earlier to have more time to shop, or they absolutely should have told us where we could have gone to get the chicken and rice (as a couple of people who were on the buses DID end up doing). . but the food we were given, they should have been ashamed of.

 

I dunno if RCCL really screwed up here, or if the food place did, and they got mixed up when so many buses showed up at once, and our groups were just given the nasty “snack” instead of the decent looking meal that the other groups seems to have gotten. Regardless, it left a bad taste (both literally and figuratively) in many folks mouths, after what had been a fantastic time spent at the ruins.

 

After the stop (which annoyed many folks), we got back on the buses, for the drive back to the port, and some promised time to shop. After all the talk about Oranges from Belize, all that Anjeanne was wanting was an orange from the dock, since she hadn’t eaten the “snack”.

 

That didn’t work out, as when we got closer to the port, the real Cluster-F, which I guess comes naturally when you have that many ships all at once, hit. And traffic came to a stop. We could SEE the port, but it still took over 55 minutes to move to the point that we could park and exit the bus. So we sat on the bus, watching any “shopping” time we had just seep away.

I didn’t really mind, although I would have liked to shop in Belize, or walk around a little bit (even just to go over to the Belize sign), at least I had been able to purchase something at Cahal Pech, so I had a souvenir.

 

By the time we got off the bus (not at the same spot we had been picked up at either), we pretty much had to b-line it to the dock to get on the Tenders, since we were moments away from when they had said we had to be headed back to the ship. The line for the Carnival ships stretched all the way down the dock (it was a HUGE line) and the RCCL line wasn’t much shorter. . . but at least RCCL started grabbing extra tenders to get more folks back to the Liberty of the Seas faster, so we ended up on a smaller, “power” boat, that was quite fun for the trip back to the ship as it hopped the waves. . and then we got to take some good pics of the ship from the tender, as we waited for the prior ship move out of the way so we could pull up to exit the tender.

 

Once back on board, we went and got Vanilla Mocha Lattes (told you. . I drank a LOT of these), and then we changed and I went to the hot tubs for a bit until dinner while Nick rested.

 

I believe on this night we also stopped to do some trivia in the Schooner bar on the way to dinner, and likely did some casino stuff as well. I think I also stuck my head into the Main Entertainment again (a late night comedian, whom I honestly didn’t think was that funny), and after Nick went to bed, I went down to Promenade and wandered around until I found some of the friends I had made and we sat and sipped drinks and visited. No big rush to get to bed early, as the meet up for Cozumel was actually on the dock at 9:30, so we could sleep in.

 

Edit: actually. . come to think of it, I believe RCCL moved "the Quest" game-show to this night, instead of it being on Friday. . so after dinner, Nick went to bed, and I went to the Quest Game. .which was a hell of a good time, even tho they gave the win to a team that *wasn't* one of Arno's two sections. . and both of ours were better than the team that won. But what are you gonna do, the final segment was dressing up the most masculine man as "Miss Liberty of the Seas". . and of course, the Gay groups turned out two excellent contestants..and they gave the win to a not-as-good straight guy with great abs. . . as I said, oh well.

 

After the Quest, that's when I went to Promenade and hung out with friend to sit and drink.

 

But I don’t recall staying out too late tonight anyways, since I was pretty tired from what overall had been a fantastic day, regardless of that “snack”

 

Next up – Day 6, Cozumel Bear Beach Party.

BEARS on a BOAT!

 

on the tender headed into Belize with Arno's group

More Bears on a boat.

one of the several other ships also anchored off shore of Belize today

Sorta a selfie -- taken by Nick. . LOL

Another Carnival ship anchored off shore

True Selfie. . man, this Tender is taking forever!

it's day 5, we've made some friends!

the closest we got to the Belize sign, taken from the Tender, and then reversed via photoapp on my computer.

the official RCCL pic we took when exiting the Tender

from the Bus on the way to the ruins. . those hills are referred to locally, as "the Sleeping Giant" since it looks like. . well, a giant laying down!

Better Pic of the Sleeping Giant

Anjeanne annoyed I'm taking another pic of her!

Keep it Klassy, Belize!

we're in the middle of a neighborhood.. the Ruins are here?

 

Guess so.

another sign at the entrance to Cahal Pech ruins.

Anjeanne and Nick after we got off the bus, while waiting for everyone to get water, and take a potty break.

the stone souvenir I bought. It's about 6" around.

back of the stone calendar. They tried to imply it's handmade, but we saw similar at the "Snack" stop, so obviously machine made. Still, I like it.

coming off the path, and our first view of the ruins.

NO ONE else around. . how did we get so lucky to be in this beautiful place alone?

From the front of the pyramid looking across the courtyard

across the courtyard

that ancient Mayan rake, unfortunately ruins the pic for me, but still. . so lovely.

at the base of the main pyramid

Nick popping a squat on the first steps (again. . no one else around, so able to get some great pics)

Nick and I

Nick and I and ancient Mayan rake..

Bears climbing pyramid. . .Nick took this pic of me at the top waving, since no way was he going to attempt THESE steps (tho he did a pretty good job elsewhere in the ruins)

pic from Jeff Parker's camera

Pic I took looking down from the top at Nick.

see?. . he really was there.

This is myself with Anjeanne's cruise husband, Marc (from our dinner table)

Christopher. . remember, he's shy

our Bus, Osos Peligrosos on the pyramid (pic from Jeff Parker)

Osos Peligrosos on the pyramid (pic from Jeff Parker)

Moving across the couryard to the main living area with our tour guide.

just amazing, and so glad we got to see it.

looking back at the pyramid we just were at. You can see on the left, by this point the other two buses from our group had arrived.

Entering into the main living area catacombs

Adric and Nick.

thru the Catacombs into the other side, the central area. . again, beautiful.

bears climbing on ruins.

Anjeanne also climbed on ruins with us!

looking up from inside the couryard.

yeah. . . . LOL. . what do you want, Bears on ruins, they's gonna pose!

Nick stayed off the big steps, but he did pretty well, considering.

Nick and Anjeanne in a pic I took from across the courtyard

more catacombs, going around the back of the royal palace, towards the streams

Nick with an Adric photobomb

the vegetation in the stream that the catacombs let one out at.

going into the bed-chamber areas (it was too dark in there to take pics tho)

coming out of the bed-chamber

artsy shot of Nick from me inside one of the chambers

Climbing around on the ruins. . I went up to the top section up a small set of steps and found a little platform overlooking several areas

such as this one

and with a comfy (stone) "sofa" for the family that lived in the palace to sit on.

this is the ball court, where they played sports games

listening to the tour-guide. . we'd been at Cahal Pech for about an hour at this point.

time to go. . walking out thru the ball court.

BEARS on a BUS.

 

Looking happy, as we didn't realize that we were about to stop for some absolutely disgusting "food"

Adric rubbing it in, after the snack stop, that he was able to purchase some Cheetos, and didn't have to eat that disgusting "snack"

Horse & carriage from the bus, while we were sitting (for a long time) waiting to pull into the port, so we could tender back to the ship.

good shot of the Liberty as we were coming back on the tender.

Looking up at the Liberty's new waterslides (the green one is disco fabulous), while waiting for a space for our tender

waiting for the prior tender to move out, so we can park.

back in our room, and moving away from Belize.

 

other than the food, it was a great day for us, tho some in the other buses didn't have as good a time as we did.

Bye Bye Belize

Coming back from Dinner, we passed a room with the door open, and this is the towel animal they got.

Bless her heart, but THIS is the towel animal that *we* got from Arlene.

 

She tried

Edited March 12, 2017 by bert425

[TBpony414]

Those ruins are really are beautiful! I love the shot of everyone on the pyramid and the one of "bears on ruins are gonna pose!" seriously made me LOL. How big of a place was Cahal Pech, would you say? The picture you got of the ship from the speedboat looks like it belongs on a cruise website. Arlene's towel... bat?... needs a bit of work to compete with the too cool for school rabbit/dog with shades a few doors down from you!

 

On an excursion in Italy I was on many years ago there was a HUGE cluster-fk that pretty much ruined our day and people were furious. We now laugh about it but at the time it was really horrible. Similar to your excursion, nobody mentioned the 2.5 hour long bus ride... each way... and the lack of food... and something happened with the computer system so the excursion was double booked which they didn't realize until morning-of when tons of people rendezvoused for the tour. Luckily there was an extra bus for whatever reason but where we went was jam packed with people which made it difficult to enjoy since we were squished like sardines. Oh yeah, the kicker was our bus wasn't working right so there was no AC on an over 100 deg. sunny day for the entire 5 hours we were on the bus and we all melted. I mean absolutely melted. Good times!

[bert425]

it's a pretty good size.

 

We spent over an hour there, and could have taken a few hours longer if time allowed.

 

here's the wiki write up on it, it gives some more info:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cahal_Pech

[cparkes92]

it's a pretty good size.

 

We spent over an hour there, and could have taken a few hours longer if time allowed.

 

here's the wiki write up on it, it gives some more info:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cahal_Pech

 

I looked it up on Google Earth, and I didn't realize that it's kind of right in the town!

[Philrad71]

We had originally been planning on taking a Viking river cruise of the Rhine River (before Michael got sick)...and are still hoping that we can do it in the fall of this year. Could be tough though because those are something that likely need to be planned for well in advance.

 

But cruise we will, damn it!

[bert425]

We had originally been planning on taking a Viking river cruise of the Rhine River (before Michael got sick)...and are still hoping that we can do it in the fall of this year. Could be tough though because those are something that likely need to be planned for well in advance.

 

But cruise we will, damn it!

 

Hope you get to do it, now that Michael is on the mend.

 

I'm surprised Viking has to be booked so early. . I know most "big" cruise-lines, you can book up until near last minute (I have a friend who lives in Atlanta, and makes the trip down to Ft. Lauderdale every couple of months to grab great deals on last minute bookings when the drop the prices to fill the cabins).

 

We only booked so far in advance this time, since we were going with Arno's group.. . and actually, we need to get on it for booking with him for the 2018 cruise!

[bert425]

Day 6 (Cozumel)

 

For the last port, we actually had a meet up at a sensible 9:30 (on the dock even), so there was no reason to get up early.

But as usual, when on vacation, I was up pretty early, and was out on the balcony as we started to pull into the port – alongside 3 other ships that were already docked.

 

and when I say “along side”, I mean really/really along side – we were so close to the Celebrity ship, we could see into the rooms easily, although there was no reason to look into the rooms, since almost all of the passengers seemed to be sitting out on their balconies staring at us as we pulled into the dock (in robes, that WE didn’t get, as we only had balcony cabin, not a suite..sheesh, RCCL, really?). Luckily, we had pants on, because yeah, they all seemed to be trying to get a peek at what was going on over on our ship. . .

 

There was also some time-change screwery going on, that even tho we gained an hour when we pulled into Cozumel, the ship asked everyone to stay on ship time, which was an hour behind. . so that seemed to have messed up a lot of people in terms of waking up. For sure, there were way more people down in the MDR for breakfast this day than any other time we went.

 

Nick was kind of awake, and was feeling pretty good, considering how much walking we had done yesterday at the ruins. . but him turning in early-ish had helped a lot and he woke up feeling OK. So I got him to go down to MDR, and we bumped into Adric in the hall who joined us for breakfast - where once again my eggs benedict were overcooked.

Then we headed to get our Vanilla Mocha Lattes, and back up to the room to change for the Cozumel excursion (a “beach party”). . . .

 

We were still well over an hour before it was time to meet up, but decided that we’d go ashore and do some shopping for a while before we had to meet up.

 

Even at the early hour, there were already people drinking at the Senor Frog’s on the dock (I think that’s what it’s called), but we bypassed that, other than posing w/ some pics of the Liberty behind us, and decided to do a bit of shopping for Magnets and such.

 

Now remember at the very start of this trip report, we dropped the dog, Roxxi, off for Medical boarding? (she’s diabetic and needs insulin shots twice a day (21 units each), as well as *completely* blind, and needs 3 different eyedrops each day (to keep the swelling/glaucoma in check). She’s going deaf in her right ear. . . She also has a number of tumors (we call her “lumpy” sometimes) which we’ve never had biopsied, as we don’t plan to treat them as long as her quality of life is good – which it really is still, she loves her walks (tho I walk her on a short leash so she doesn’t trip on curbs or sidewalk uneven-ness) she plays with her squeaky toys (tho when she flings them she can’t find them and runs back to her box to get more. . so we end up with squeaky-apocolypse on the living room floor if she’s been playful that day), and she still eats and poops with regularity.. she’s adjusted to the blindness/deafness and has a good quality of life still.

 

So when we dropped her off, we gave them Nick’s number, since his phone is international, and mine is not (so mine was basically just a camera for the trip – which is why it was frustrating for Nick that he couldn’t find me sometimes when he turned in early).

 

Anyways.. apparently Nick had (for some reason) turned his phone OFF while we were at sea, and so when we got ashore at Cozumel, he turned it on and had 5 missed calls, and a voicemail from an Austin number. He mentioned to me the calls, and asked “what is the vet’s number?”. .and I recognized it as soon as he read off the number. So I stepped out of the store we were in, and listened to the voicemail, and immediately called the Vet back, speaking to Roxxi’s “regular” vet, since the one who had called multiple times (Dr. Hopper) was a doctor at this clinic whom we hadn’t used in years, switching to Dr. Schubert since she’s always in on the Wed or Friday when we drop Roxxi off for Glucose Curves, check ups, etc. . . .

 

Dr. Schubert told me that Roxxi hadn’t been eating (she’s usually a bit finicky when we board her) and when she did she was throwing up. . and that concerned them, since they couldn’t give her the insulin if she didn’t eat. I told Dr. Schubert that why didn’t they just let her re-eat what she threw up (ew. .but she’s a dog, she licks her butt), and that way the food ends up in her regardless. . .and she told me that’s what they did.

 

But they were worried that she also seemed to be having trouble peeing. . and that they had tried to call us, but couldn’t get hold of us (since Monday, and this was Friday), so they had run cultures, and started her on antibiotics. Dr. Schubert said she was doing much, much better, and that we shouldn’t worry and enjoy the rest of the cruise.

 

We hung up the phone, and I said to Nick, THAT is going to be expensive, even tho we had checked the box on the paperwork to “do not treat unless you contact us first” but there was nothing we could do about it now, and at least she was doing better. So we continued shopping and taking a few more pictures.

 

I got a Day of the Dead magnet for a friend, and a magnet of a monkey masturbating for us (because, why not? It’s Cozumel!. . LOL), and then also bought a T-shirt, and Nick ended up buying a Texans (football team) shoulder bag, that he wasn’t intending to buy, but the cart-guy kept dropping the price, and he got it for something like $20, marked down from $38. . in the port shopping area too! I was shocked they lowered the price like that right on the docks, basically.

 

After shopping a bit more it was time to meet under one of the big Palapas for our excursion. We didn’t know much about it, other than it was a “beach party” with a “semi private” beach for our group. It turned out it was at a pretty well known Tourist spot called “Playa Mia”. . . that bills itself as “Grand Beach and Water Park” and it was only about 15 minutes away from the port.

 

It actually was way better than I had been expecting from the excursion, as although the place is rather large (with several large pools, some waterslides, food pavilions, bars, watercraft rentals, a shopping center area, and a large beachfront with chairs/umbrellas), the resort had cordoned off a separate area of the beach just for our group, and set up a separate buffet and bar for us under large tents that also had quite a bit of seating.

 

All food, drink, and most of the activities were included for our group. The separate section was great -- It was very, very nice, and we didn’t have to mingle with all the other guests of the resort, unless we wanted to. The only down-side was that the water near our portion of the beach was very, very rocky, and I wish I had brought my aqua-shoes with me on the trip. . but that’s a minor thing.

 

The water was a little chilly, but very refreshing, and I actually spent quite a bit of time in the ocean bobbing, and visiting with others from our group. . . tho I didn’t do any of the “floating waterpark”.. several of our group did go put on the life vests and play on the water trampolines, and slides anchored off shore, while others paid the slight up-charge and jet-skied or parasailed.

 

We, for the most part, stayed in the cordoned off section for our group, where we all had loungers (plenty available for us), and everyone got giant umbrellas too!. I did go with Jeff over to the waterslides, and we rode those, which were very fun and not too crowded, since they were tucked back in a corner behind the main pool, away from the ocean.

 

Had a great time . . think we were there about 5 hours? I drank MANY of the (weak) strawberry margaritas – but hey, if you drink enough of them you still feel it a bit, and partook in the buffet, with most of the food of a better quality than we had been seeing on the ship! But a traditional Mexican buffet with lasagna on it?? . .yeah, passed on that, but otherwise the food was really good in particular the Flautas, and the fajita meat -- and they replaced it with fresh as soon as the bins started to get low, so very good service here and the food remained fresh and pretty dang good.

 

All too soon, it was time to start heading back to the buses. Several folks stopped in at the shops that you pass thru on the way out of the park, and we went into the Chocolate shop (free samples!) on the way out. We didn’t’ stay too long, as the display of chocolate soaps got to me (I always brought Mom soaps as a gift from any trip we went on), and I had to get out of there before I was a giant mess. . heck, I’m tearing up a bit now, just remembering.

 

Upside tho?. . I bought no chocolate, since we got out of there so quickly, although the couple of sample pieces I had were tasty.

 

Here’s the website for the place if you wanna look at pictures of it, since the only pics I took were from our “semi-private” area, which isn’t really on their site.

 

https://www.playamia.com/

 

 

a quick bus ride back to the ship, with time to stop at the port stores and pick up a couple more things (a Cozumel Tank-top for me, and a Corona T-shirt/Cap combo for Nick), and we were back in line to reboard the Liberty. We had some nice conversations with folks around us (again, people we really had not seen on the ship the whole trip thus far) as they asked us about the group, since they had seen us around the ship.

 

We went up to the room to relax for a bit and I looked at the Cruise Compass and noticed the waterslides on the ship were open while we were still in port. .and we hadn’t even been up to that area yet, and it was day 6! It was still pretty early, and we were still in swimsuits, so I talked Nick into going up to the pool-decks, and yep, lots of the bears were already back out at the pool. We walked to the back of the ship, and since Nick wasn’t interested in the slides, I went ahead and rode them alone. The Orange slide wasn’t really anything special. .it had clear portions in the slide, so the sunlight came thru and made patterns while you went down. . but the Green slide? Wow.. disco fabulous!. . this sucker had L.E.D. lights inside the enclosed tube, and was super cool, and super fun! I recommend taking a spin on Green if you ever find yourself on the Liberty.

 

We hung out and watched the people do the Flowrider while I drip dried (no thank you. . looked like a high-powered enema to me, every time someone fell off the board!), and I didn’t bother doing the other “slide” that required two people to share a tube (since Nick didn’t want to ride it). . . we walked back to the pool, and peeked at “Sprinkles”. .which everyone seems to rave about, but I don’t’ get it. It’s basically soft serve ice-cream in a cone. . and they don’t even have toppings! Certainly no “sprinkles”. . .so yeah, I never had the free ice cream while on Liberty

After visiting at the pool for a bit, it was time to go shower and change for dinner, it was 2nd Formal night.

 

I had gotten a little sunburned – silly me hadn’t put on any sunscreen after we got back to the ship, so I was out with no sunscreen at the pool/waterslides, so really wasn’t feeling like putting on heavy dress-up, but luckily, I had packed a short-sleeve shirt, and a clip tie (which lasted until we were seated I the dining room, and then the tie ended up clipped to my shirt pocket – hey, technically, I was still wearing the tie!). We stopped at the Schooner’s Bar, and helped with the trivia (themed to disco tonight), and then headed to the Main Dining Room.

 

It was lobster night, and tho not the greatest quality lobster (the full lobster I had upgraded to the night before since we had OBC still, was a beautiful Maine Lobster, these were. . .um. . not). But still, we were encouraged to order multiple tails, and so we did, and took our time enjoying dinner, and eating way too much, again.

 

Nick was starting to feel a little worn out, but tonight was the 5th Element/80’s Disco party, and since he had missed the white party, I wanted him to come with to the 5th Element party, even if just for a little while. We had bought “Diva Plavalaguna galactic Tour” t-shirts to wear, and he hadn’t gotten to wear his White Party outfit, so I really wanted him to come.

He reluctantly agreed, and we got dressed and headed down to Studio B for the 5th Element/80’s disco party.

 

I may have noted somewhere earlier, but tonight the ship was having a 70’s disco party on the Promenade (that apparently lasted about 45 minutes. .tho I never really saw it) . . . we heard some of it as we were headed down to our party, and yeah, as had been the case with the trivia, it sounded like all they had was the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack. But I do hope the folks that attended had fun regardless .

 

DJ Marcos was playing great stuff, and by now the ship “knew” and they had a bar set up on the dance floor, as well as several around Studio B. Nick sat in the seats near the top, and only hung out for about 20 minutes, since he felt that he was “cramping” me, but causing me to stay up there with him, instead of being down on the floor with everyone else, and dancing. It was early and I was tired, but I really didn’t mind staying with Nick, tho after I ran off a few times to get pictures of folks coming in costume, I think he just felt bad I was staying with him, so he said his goodnights, and went up to the cabin, while I joined the Canadians down on the dance floor.

 

I honestly don’t remember how long we stayed at the party, it ran for sure past 1am. . but I knew we could sleep in the next day, the final Sea Day, and there wasn’t really anything planned for the morning, so I recall dancing for a bit, then wandering up the mostly deserted Promenade taking a couple of pictures, as I made my way back to the room, to conk out after a very full and busy day.

 

Next: Day 7, final Sea Day.

waking up as we pull into Cozumel. . and several other ships already docked!

wow. . we're gonna be CLOSE to this Celebrity ship

you can see it outside the windows of the MDR. . . I realized i had never gotten a picture of the MDR, so stopped to take some looking up. Our group was the whole left 1/2 of the top floor for dinner seating at 8pm.

on the dock, looking back at Liberty

Nick in front of Senor Frogs with an egg. . no, I'm not sure why there's an egg there.

Me with the egg.

 

Smiling, as he hadn't turned on his cellular data yet, so we didn't know about the missed calls from the vet yet.

Stripper missus frog, in the shopping area.

 

I'm sure no one has ever taken a picture like this. . . is it assault if it's a statue? and.. . you know. . an anthropomorphic frog?

settling in at Playa Mia, in our roped off section with lots of chairs and umbrellas

Nick sunning (under the umbrella)

beautiful sand beach, and very well organized in our special section.

Bears on the Beach!

Selfie before I get into the water.

Ricky and his Mom, Marg

Bears on the Beach!

those blue towels are the ones that Arno gave us all in our goodie bags. Nice size, and very comfortable.

Our section was separate from the main food pavilion (you can see it in the background of this pic. . looks like tentts)

But we didn't have to go to the main pavilion. .they set up a huge tent area with seating and bar, and buffet just for us.

Robbie's happy swimsuit

View up the beach (the main section of the resort is behind me, so this was the non-populated view up the beach)

With the fairly weak Strawberry Margaritas

but they were "free" and if you drank enough of them, you didn't mind they were slightly weak.

Eric in the food tent

Brian and hubby in the food tent

More of our section looking towards the main resort

it's a nipple.

 

on a bear.

 

on a beach.

 

in Cozumel.

 

Looking out at the "floating" waterpark that's part of Playa Mia, and someone parasailing.

aww.. time to go??

Yeah.. we've got to head back to the ship.

. . because after spending time at the pool and waterslides, it's time to leave Cozumel and head back to Galveston.

Leaving Cozumel

Nick taking a stealth pic of me watching us pull away (and making a face)

all dressed up for dinner (and blocking the staircase to take a pic). .but damn, we look good, even with a clip on tie.

Awww

AWWWWWWw

 

(and the elderly couple coming down the stairs told us what a cute couple we are). . .

 

13 years as of Jan.

Me at the 5th Element Party with Diva Plavalaguna, in my "tour T-shirt"

Me at the 5th Element Party with Diva Plavalaguna, in my "tour T-shirt"

Ruby Rhod (s) with a bandage Lee-Loo

Ruby Rhod and Lee-Loo

better pic

VIP Stewardesses!

VIP Stewardesses!

Most of those who came in costume, group shot before the party really got hopping.

Diva guard, and Baby Ray!

having fun at the 5th Element party

having fun at the 5th Element party

having fun at the 5th Element party (one of the best pics of me from the party. . photo from J Alfonso Espinoza)

Anjeanne and Marce at the party, resting

Deserted Promenade. . . but I remembered I never got a pic of the cows!

Deserted Promenade

a monkey/sloth? . . .one of the best ones Arlene did!

[cparkes92]

A trip full of bears sounds like a good time!

[bert425]

A trip full of bears sounds like a good time!

 

oh, it was. . . lots of drinks, parties, dancing, and just all around fun.

 

by the way, here's a pic of the stinker that cost us over $1100 (the bill WAS almost $1400 from the vet, and we went and discussed it with them, since we *had* checked do not treat until contacting us).

 

At least they were willing to waive some of the fees. . sheesh.

[bert425]

Day 7 (Sea Day) and Day 8 (disembark)

 

On the final day, we both woke up by 9am, despite being able to sleep in.

 

Although there wasn’t much on the agenda today – mainly we had used our OBC to book lunch at Sabor, the Mexican Upcharge restaurant with Anjeanne – we were up, so got out of the room and decided to go to Windjammer (for only the 2nd time for breakfast).

 

We knew we had a big lunch in a few hours, so planned to eat light. That worked out fine, as with the previous breakfast experience at the buffet, the majority of the offerings were pretty disgusting. We ate fairly light, sticking to the pastry and fresh squeezed orange juice – which honestly is SO much better than what is offered for free, RCCL should be embarrassed by what they are serving for “free”.

 

We ended up sitting at a table with some extra seats, and were happy to share with a group of younger (20’s) folks who asked could they sit with us and the table next to us. The younger group was quite entertaining, and we chatted for a while, as they asked us about our lanyards and Arno’s group. They seemed to be enjoying the cruise, but they commented how it looked like our group had been enjoying it more (yep, we had been)!

 

After breakfast, we wandered down to the adult pool to see what was going on, as today was the “singlet ladies’ party, starting at noon. I had brought a leotard that would work as a singlet and had fully expected to participate, but I knew we had Noon lunch reservations, so weren’t gonna be able to do any swimming until after lunch. We still headed down that way, and spent a bit of time visiting with the folks that were out by the pool, before heading down to the Photo area, to purchase the couple of photos (the Hot Tub & the Belieze ones), and to wander the Promenade for a bit for Lattes, and to see if there was *anything* at all we were interested in from the shops, or the last day sales going on. Nope – we didn’t need watches, jewelry, alcohol, or any RCCL clothing. . so we still had quite a bit of OBC left. So we headed over to Schooner bar (across the hall from Sabor) and waited for Anjeanne to meet up with us for our reservations.

 

We were seated pretty quickly, in a nice restaurant with an impressive mural going up one wall and all the way up the ceiling. . but no windows looking out at the ocean at all (odd). They came by with a cart, and made us some fresh guacamole (two versions: spicy for Anjeanne and I and mild for Nick). The Guac was very good. . .and then another cart came by and they made Anjeanne and I fresh Margaritas – mine was a spicy and sweet version. . also very good.

 

We had mentioned to Gerald yesterday that we had reservations at Sabor for lunch, and invited him to join us with the assumption that we were a group of 3, so for sure there would be a 4th seat at the table not being used, so shouldn’t be an issue if he decided to meet us. He did show up, and sure enough, no issue seating him at the table with us.

 

the group ordered a sampling of the Appetizers, and several options of the mains, and I wish I could say the food was ‘good’. . but it wasn’t.

Others have had a better experience at Sabor, and I’ve seen raves about it – and yes, as noted the Guac and margaritas were great – but based on what we had? Food ranged from mediocre to terrible.

 

I think Nick Is really the only one who “loved” his dish, he had the Cheese Quesadillas, and my Empanadas were acceptable (not blow me away good, but I finished them). .but Anjeanne ended up sending back her main, Gerald didn’t finish his man, and the sides were uniformly awful – either undercooked (the beans), underseasoned (the rice), or so overcooked that they were inedible (the “fries”, the fish tacos, the flautas, and the house made tortillas that if you didn’t eat immediately turned to concrete).

 

The replacement dish they brought out for Anjeanne (the Red Snapper) was ok, she said, and they also brought out some sort of tacos that were decent but he didn’t’ tell us what they were – we all detected a bit of duck flavor, but when we asked after, were told they were chicken. That was some funky tasting chicken then!

 

the Desert tray was also hit or miss, but the benefit there is that there were a lot of options so even tho some of it was only so-so (the flan, the bread pudding), the good stuff (the churros) counteracted that.

 

Overall, if it hadn’t been the last day anyways? No way in hell would we have gone back there to eat again on the cruise.

 

The saving grace was the company. . we had some wonderful conversations, and ended up hanging around the table talking for a long time among us, and were almost the last folks to leave from the lunch crowd.

 

It was past 2pm by this point, so Nick and I headed up to the pool to check out the scene (with the intention of changing into the singlet and going swimming after). Apparently the Ship had moved far enough out of the Caribbean that the wind had turned a little chilly, and honestly, it was a bit too cold for us to want to swim. We looked and tho there were a few folks braving the singlets, we pussed out and just decided to blow off swimming, and to head back to the Casino for a few hours before the Farewell Meet up/ raffle.

 

We still had over $100 bucks in OBC, so we traded it in at the casino for scratch offs, and we sat at the casino bar and scratched (and “won” a little bit.. something like $30). . . but it ate up a good chunk of time, and we had fun doing it.

 

Not recalling what we did after this, but probably wandered Promenade or Schooners and visited with folks, and then it was time to go meet up for the final gathering.

Tonight’s show, was one I wouldn’t have minded seeing, to be honest, “Saturday Night Fever” but the final meet up was at the same time as the earlier show, and the later show was when our dinner reservation was. . and you know by now how I feel about the buffet. . so we blew off this show too (minor complaint tho, if I really, really wanted to see it, I would have pushed to just eat at Windjammer Buffet and skipped the final MDR dinner) but we didn’t do that. . . . so in the end we really didn’t do any of the evening RCCL shows, but had a great time on the cruise anyways, and we DID see the Ice Skating show during an afternoon (and the shows I did peek in on, I was very underwhelmed anyways).

 

Anyways, we showed up to the Star Lounge for the Farewell cocktails and raffle, and what’s funny is that I think this was really the 1st time we saw the whole group together. There were people at this meet up, that I had *not* seen the whole cruise (seriously). . . I mean, there’s no requirement that you do the “Arno” stuff when you cruise as part of his group, but it was so weird seeing some people on day 7, that I hadn’t seen yet! I guess you offer to give things away in a raffle, and folks are gonna show up

 

We joined some of the folks that we had been talking to throughout the cruise, as well as some of the guys we had met the prior day at Cozumel beach party – including one guy with a fantastic beard, that the prior day he had let a little girl bead (Bo Derek style) on the beach. . >LOL. . but sadly, he didn’t keep it in for the final day.

 

Despite not taking many pictures on this final day, I did have my phone with me for this gathering, and got some pics of the group spread out taking over the whole Star Lounge.

 

Arno made a quick speech, and we all applauded and cheered. He really did a wonderful job, and he talked about his upcoming cruises (which I really want to do the one in 2018), and talked about the Disembarkation the next day (we weren’t to put our luggage in the hall, since we were riding buses back to Houston, we’d hand carry our own bags, and meet in Dining Room in the morning to Disembark as a group). Arno then drew tickets (to match what was laminated on the back of our Multipass badges) to give away OBC for next cruise, discounts on next cruise, and a free cruise. Spoiler - we didn’t win bupkis, but still had a fun time hoping to win.

 

After another round of applause and a toast, the crowd dispersed to spend some time prior to dinner. We went back to the room and did the majority of the packing and filling out Customs forms, before we headed down to MDR at 8pm for the final sit down dinner with out table.

 

This final night had Scallops on the apps menu, that were very good. Interestingly, we heard from Jeff (who went to the buffet for dinner) that they had Lobster tail on the buffet. Not that it would have convinced me to go up there, but still. . found it interesting. We took our time at dinner, and afterwards, headed to the Schooner bar for final evening of cocktails and visiting, before it was time to turn in and go to bed. . . since we had to get up in the morning and leave the ship : (

 

The ship was really chugging along too, we think the Captain was trying to beat a storm coming in from the gulf, so the ship was hauling and there was a lot of movement this night. Which made it a little hard to fall asleep, but we managed eventually.

 

 

 

We got up a bit earlier than we had set up the wakeup call, but we had already pulled into Galveston (sad!), so took a couple of pics from our balcony, and then we headed with luggage down to our meeting place (1st floor MDR). There was a little miscommunication, as the crew directed us to join the long line of folks that were self disembarking, so we stretched back all the way thru the casino (but at least we had places to sit at the slot machines) while we waited for the line to move, and once they started letting folks off, we were allowed to move into the MDR to wait for a little bit before Arno flagged the group that it was time to leave.

 

We headed out down the gangplank and towards customs. . and just before we got to Customs, there was the Cruise Director waving at everyone and thanking us for cruising with RCCL – as I may have mentioned earlier, this is the first time he bothered to acknowledge our group on this cruise. I absolutely *should* have said something to him when we passed, as it really did annoy the crap out of me that he didn’t even bother to come greet our group at any of our gatherings, or at least say hello.. .but here he was waving goodbye? Screw him.

 

anyways, since we had our luggage with us, it moved relatively quickly, and we made it thru customs, and out to where we were supposed to meet the buses (prepaid for), 2 buses going to Houston Intercontinental Airport), and 1 bus going to Hilton Americas back in Houston. Here’s where we hit a bit of F-ery.. although absolutely NOT Arno’s fault.

 

The driver of the bus going back to Houston pulled up, and demanded that Arno supply him an extra $60 for parking at the port. Arno told him that was not in the contract and refused to pay him, so the driver said he wasn’t allowed to part without an open slot, and he would go around and come back. Meanwhile the other 2 buses came in, found slots, loaded up and the two groups going to Intercontinental headed off. About 40 minutes passed and the bus hadn’t come back for us yet, and folks were starting to get annoyed/concerned. Arno was contacted and he called the bus company, and they were unable to get hold of the driver. He refused to pick up the calls and no one could contact him (and remember, it was Sunday morning. . . ). After several back and forths, and promises the bus was coming back, and broken promises, and a couple of hours (Seriously) we got the message that the bus was *not* coming back, and that Arno was very sorry, and that we had to find our own way back to Houston and please keep receipts and Arno would reimburse.

 

I should note here too, that RCCL and the Galveston Port people were spectacularly unhelpful. . Not only could they not advise on anything, nor contact anyone, nor let us know if there was ANY way to contact transportation for a large group from the port without it being pre-arranged – but they ALSO closed up shop and all disappeared from the Bus Pick up area, about 2 hours after disembarkation, and went over to the side for folks coming for the next cruise embarkation. That I found very annoying.

 

Folks started to scatter at his point, and some went and joined the long line of people waiting for Taxis, while others starting cutting deals with the car services that were dropping people off (FYI, Galveston doesn’t have Uber). . . . some folks climbed into a Limo and took a limo back to Houston .. LOL

 

I called Dad and told him what was going on, but wasn’t going to ask him to come down to Galveston to pick us up – traffic had started getting bad as people were arriving for the next cruise, he’s 80, and he’s still grieving over Mom,. . so no way was I going to ask him to drive.

 

We lucked out and happened to be standing next to Esteban & his hubby, Darryl, who are tech-savvy, and were going to Hobby Airport (which happens to be fairly close to my Dad’s house). . and Darryl was able to book a ride via “Come Get Me” and we joined them going to Hobby Airport. Darryl paid for all of us, and Arno will reimburse him.

 

Once we got to Hobby, we wished Darryl/Esteban a safe flight, and then we made our way down to baggage claim and I booked us on Super-Shuttle to get us to Dad’s house. (we won’t be reimbursed for that, but we were planning on taking a taxi from the Hotel to Dad’s anyways. . so no worries).

 

Of course, we really hadn’t eaten all day. . . no breakfast in MDR, and we had gone right there from room. So all we had munched on was the remaining popcorn that had been in Arno’s goodie bags. So when we finally pulled up at Dad’s, we dumped luggage inside, and we almost immediately hopped in the car and we went to Five Guys for burgers/fries. (and yeah, it put Johnny Rocket’s to shame. . LOL).

 

That’s really the end of the report. . . we spent the night in Houston visiting w/ Dad and telling him all about the trip – he seemed very happy to see the pics of everyone wearing Mom’s hats. So we went to bed on a very good note.

 

The next morning, we had breakfast with him, before heading back to Austin. . and along the way I said to Nick, “I’m not feeling so hot”. . .and by the evening I had come down with the “Cruise Crud” that hit most of the folks we travelled with.

 

Luckily, I didn’t go back to work until Thursday, so although the “Cruise Crud” lasted about 4 days, I never had to miss any work (just worked from home on Thurs/Fri), and never went to the Doctor. . . just let it blow thru my system.

 

Overall, a wonderful trip, and I look forward to the next Cruise Adventure.

 

I enjoyed writing this up.. hope everyone enjoyed reading it and seeing the pics!

 

bert

Waiting for Nick to get dressed to go to Windjammer for Breakfast (yuck).

 

realized i hadn't posted a pic of the 5 rooms with the dividers open. . so stepped down to Marce/Neal's room and took a pic looking back.

then went down to Robbie/Tim's room and took a pic looking forwards.

 

It was nice having such a long balcony.

Up at the pool. . the sun was out, but it was chilly breeze

I didn't get many/any pics of the Singlets, but Mark was participating, and I got his OK to use this in my report (love the face he's making).

 

Pic by David Ham

Farewell cocktails. . look at all dem bears!

 

Some of whom we hadn't seen the whole cruise.

too bad he took out the Bo Derek braids from his beard, they were adorable.

awwww

Arno doing his speech

Arno doing his speech

Marce dressed for last evening dinner

 

(she brought different dresses for each night)

big red doggie. . not really sure why. .but noticed him every night, so finally took a pic.

from our balcony. . back in Galveston

Back in Galveston

Looking back at the ship, from where the bus was *supposed* to pick us up.

a very confused "Yellow" cab.

[Philrad71]

Glad that you had a great time, Bert...you really needed this.

 

Also glad to hear that your dog is okay (despite the high vet bill)!

[bert425]

Glad that you had a great time, Bert...you really needed this.

 

Also glad to hear that your dog is okay (despite the high vet bill)!

 

Thanks.

 

i do wish Nick had felt better on most nights, so I didn't end up solo doing so many events . . .but is what it is.

 

are y'all still considering CP to meet Bill & I ? . . .or is Michael not gonna be up for it?

[Nrthwnd]

.....are y'all still considering CP to meet Bill & I ? . . .or is Michael not gonna be up for it?

 

I am wondering as well, Phil. I must let you know, I already got myself and Bert the Fast Lane PLUS tix for the Saturday we're there, June 2.

But, Sunday during that weekend is our "No Park Day", and that means lots of time to meet up, catch up, drink up....

 

I was also thinking we might hit Famous Dave's that day as well, with a nice perimeter walk around the Secret Mean Streak project, etc.

 

[bert425]

Not mine, but found online some good footage of the slides.

 

you can see why I referred to the Green Slide as "Disco Fabulous"

 

[youtu_be]

[/youtu_be]

[Philrad71]

.....are y'all still considering CP to meet Bill & I ? . . .or is Michael not gonna be up for it?

 

I am wondering as well, Phil. I must let you know, I already got myself and Bert the Fast Lane PLUS tix for the Saturday we're there, June 2.

But, Sunday during that weekend is our "No Park Day", and that means lots of time to meet up, catch up, drink up....

 

I was also thinking we might hit Famous Dave's that day as well, with a nice perimeter walk around the Secret Mean Streak project, etc.

 

 

It's certainly looking good guys, and I really appreciate you both asking!

 

We are hoping to get Michael home from the hospital on Good Friday (or before) and that will leave a couple of months at home to recoup before Coastermania.

 

I have talked to Michael about going in the motor home that weekend, staying at Lighthouse Point (if they still have any spots open) and possibly meeting up with you guys there or in the park (drinks and snacks at the campsite would be a given! ). He already said that he won't be able to do coasters/rides, but loves the idea of going and meeting you guys and maybe even doing the Brew and BBQ fest!. He really likes to people watch and is perfectly happy watching folks while we ride coasters..and yes, FastLane Plus is the way to go, so I would get one too!

 

I'll PM you both once we get closer to getting him home. He moved out of acute rehab last week and into transitional rehab, so we are hoping only a few more weeks until the big day. It's been such a long haul...I just want him to be home where he belongs!

[Nrthwnd]

^ Awesome! However we can work it out, is great by me.

 

And continued good healing thoughts go out to Michael, too!

[Philrad71]

^ We'll keep our fingers crossed for Michael as well as for good weather on that weekend - if it happens for us - thanks Bill!!

 

It would not surprise me if Lighthouse is booked, but depending on the situation we could either splurge for another CP resort (if any are even available for that weekend) or we can stay at the KOA campground, which is about a mile from the causeway.

 

Bert - I mentioned your cruise trip report and Michael said that he will likely check it out on his Kindle. We have a couple of bear friends around the Boston area (where Michael is from) that we are certain might be interested in this cruise in the future!

[bert425]

^ fingers crossed.. would be great to meet y'all!

 

as Bill said, we have FastLane + for that Sat. . so might be perfect, if Michael doesn't mind riding "bench: the Ride" a bunch of times

 

hope y'all can make it.

 

as to Arno's. . .the next cruise we're going to do with him (likely) is in March 2018, sailing out of Miami. (ABC Islands).

Point your friends to this trip report, and if they think it sounds like fun, IM me and I'll give ya the link for more info).

[cparkes92]

^ fingers crossed.. would be great to meet y'all!

 

as Bill said, we have FastLane + for that Sat. . so might be perfect, if Michael doesn't mind riding "bench: the Ride" a bunch of times

 

hope y'all can make it.

 

as to Arno's. . .the next cruise we're going to do with him (likely) is in March 2018, sailing out of Miami. (ABC Islands).

Point your friends to this trip report, and if they think it sounds like fun, IM me and I'll give ya the link for more info).

Using Bench: The Ride allows you to avoid FFBFWMAG

[Philrad71]

^^Thanks Bert...I'll let you know if any of them are interested in the Arno cruise.

 

^ WTF is FFBFWMAG?

[Nrthwnd]

...^ WTF is FFBFWMAG?

 

Oh good. I was afraid I was the only one who couldn't figure it out.

[Philrad71]

^ I can't even guess the first letter, Bill!

 

But, yeah...I'm definitely familiar with Bench: The Ride. As long as Michael has an ice cream cone or beer in his hand, he'd likely be good on Bench: The Ride!

[Nrthwnd]

^ When I look at it now, my eyes start to hurt.

 

We had originally been planning on taking a Viking river cruise of the Rhine River (before Michael got sick)...and are still hoping that we can do it in the fall of this year. Could be tough though because those are something that likely need to be planned for well in advance.

 

But cruise we will, damn it!

 

Every time one of their commercials comes on, David and I start wistfully sighing, LOL!

So I guess we're sort of interested in doing one of those, ourself. Nothing definite, though.

[bert425]

is that not the shorthand for lockers (and yes, I typed the "L" word and let the filter do it's thing)