Sometimes an event can inspire a trip. This year, Jim’s parents celebrated 50 years, their golden anniversary. We asked them how they wanted to celebrate and they said they wanted to try a cruise. It would not be their first time on a ship. They traveled transatlantic via a navy ship the first time dad was stationed in Germany. They wanted to see how different this was going to be. They also wanted to share it with family. We put out the word mom’s sister stepped up. And we started planning the Western Caribbean Cruise for their 50th anniversary.
Western Caribbean Cruise
We had sailed Carnival before (for our honeymoon) and many cruise companies want you to come back. They will give past cruisers discounts, perks and more. We priced out several cruise lines and decided on a Western Caribbean cruise leaving Tampa.
We took the time to get PADI scuba certified, something we did not do before our Hawaii trip. This time, I worked less about Teresa completing her skills and focused more on my own. While I still had some issues, I overcame them and even fixed a problem while underwater without even thinking about it (or panicking).
We flew into Tampa and met up with mom and dad, who had driven down. Dad drove us all to Channelside and we departed. Mom, Dad and Aunty Patty were in awe of the ship.
Grand Cayman (Atlantis Sub)
After sailing, our first stop was Grand Cayman. Unfortunately, Teresa had gotten sick about a week before and was on the mend, but it meant no diving until the end of the trip. We got onto the Atlantis submarine though and took it down to depth.
Afterward, we went topside and met up with my parents for a drink.
Later that night, we were at dinner. Anyone who has cruised before knows that the chefs prepare exotic, themed meals. Dad looked over the menu and said he to us that he wished he could have just a steak and potato. The waiter was not around, but another server must have heard him. When our server returned, he had a different menu for dad. It made dad’s night.
Belize (Mayan Ruins)
We sailed into Belize and we all wanted to go see the Mayan ruins. Teresa and I wanted to go to the further site whereas the others did not want to be out that long and chose one closer. We got to the bus and listened to the history of the land. Once we got there, the ruins were hands on and climbable.
It was hot.
After all, this is central America. The topics in the middle of summer are nothing to be trifled with. The ruins were in the middle of a jungle and when the tour was over, we were offered sodas and some local Mayan Beer. I opted for the soda and our bus set off back to the dock.
Our group, having gone out the farthest, was the last one back. Most of the resort city had packed up and closed since the ship was set to sail in just minutes. We rushed to get on the ship. It was the formal night and we wanted to clean up, going straight to our cabin.
Teresa needed a bit more time to freshen up, so I went over to my parents cabin. Mom was still getting ready, but dad was ready. We shared our stories and dad told said he tried the Mayan beer and even brought some back. He reached over and grabbed one of his water bottles. In it was a dark brown fluid and dad handed it to me. Now I am not a beer drinker, but it was dad. Taking the bottle from him, I opened it and took a swig.
It was the most GOD AWEFUL stuff I ever tasted. I broke out into a sweat, my face contorted and I gagged and coughed. “Good”, dad said with a smile, “I thought it was just me.” He laughed at my misery.
A knock on the door and Teresa comes in. Still waiting on mom, I told Teresa it would be a few more minutes. Dad told her about the ruins and the trip and mentioned the beer. I still had it in hand and offered it to Teresa. She opened the bottle and took a drink. Dad and I watched as she reacted in much the same way. I smiled and said to her, “Good, I thought it was just me.” Misery does NOT love company.
Mom came out and we all left for dinner, with all the buffet’s.
Cozumel (Scuba)
In Cozumel, there was a scuba dive excursion. Teresa was well enough to dive, but here the dives were all boat dives. I was still new and had experienced some issues diving a rope. It was not that I could not, but that I would most likely be the last one down. Since I did not want to hold up a dive, we decided to go into town to find a dive shop that would have a shore dive.
We found a dive shop who said they had a dive master who would take us to San Fransisco reef. We got our gear and got into a truck. It drove us to shoreline just a couple hundred yards from the ship. We started putting our gear together when the dive master turned his valve on and blew an o-ring. He did not have a spare (bad dive master!) and no one around would give him one. He needed to go back to the dive shop to get one.
While we waited, we swam and snorkeled and waited. It took him an hour or so. When he got back, we rechecked our gear and went out and down. We were about 25 feet under when I noticed I was having an equipment issue. Specifically, my BCD (the vest that holds the tank in place and has an air bladder in it to help with buoyancy) was not inflating. Air was coming out of the tank and valve, but not going into the vest. The most important skill you need to have when diving is not swimming, or breath control or anything else. It is problem solving. It is knowing that when you are underwater, you closest source of air is not above. This means that you do not need to “pop” to the surface when something goes wrong. Knowing that, I signaled the dive master and Teresa (my dive buddy). I stopped and removed the BCD and examined it. It looked like the hose had come off from its fitting. I worked to replace it and get it in place. It would not stay on. I moved the vest around and worked out to get the air out of the bladder. I figured if I did need to surface, I could drop my weight belt and swim up. We continued on with dive. It was a good dive and we got to see a shark and several turtles.
Day at Sea
We had some time at see and that night, there were storms brewing. I’ve always loved nature’s light show. I took my camera up to the top deck of the ship and started shooting. After several minutes, it dawned on my that perhaps being on the top deck was not the safest place to be.
