2024-12-27 Crystal Cruise and Florida: 2024

Introduction

To view a list of all of our travel blogs and slide shows, or if you want to subscribe or follow us, please go here:

We hope you enjoy reading our blog!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

For this blog:

This blog is about our cruise of the Caribbean and Central America with our friends Jim and Phyllis and followed by our time in Florida.

Note: For slide shows, once you click on the link: they may start automatically, or more likely you may need to click on the TV play icon in the upper right part of the window.

(Videos are under construction.)

Slide shows of photos in this blog:

Blog Photos (Under Construction)

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Other Journal Collections

Calendars
----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Flickr: Our Collections
Our Photostream
----------------------------------------------------------------------

December 27/28 - Fort Lauderdale, Florida

We were up extremely early this morning with final packing, getting the condo ready to leave and waiting for our Uber driver. The driver was right on time at 5:30 am. It was a quick drive to the airport. No problems getting checked in and then through security.

We had breakfast at Ruby’s Diner in the airport and then headed to the gate to await our plane. We had no delays (apparently there were a few major delays on some of the routes but we had no problems. We had a layover in Houston with about a 15-minute delay in taking off. We were in Fort Lauderdale pretty much on time. Picked up the luggage and found a taxi to the airport.

Jim and Phyllis arrived about a half hour after we did. After we both settled in we headed down for some dinner in the hotel dining room. It was good to catch up.

We both slept in very late on the 29th and weren’t up until around 10:00. So we missed our breakfast. Our hotel is right across the road from Fort Lauderdale Beach.

Unfortunately, our room views were of the marina and swim complex behind the hotel.

We walked to a nearby restaurant for lunch. The tropical “breezes” were pretty strong. It looked like a storm was coming in but we never really got more than a couple of minor sprinkles. But the air with the wind was almost cool. Not what we were expecting.

After much visiting we all retired to our rooms for a rest and whatever.

In the afternoon we took a walk to a nearby food court for ice cream.

We opted to stay in the hotel for dinner tonight due to the wind and cool weather.

December 29 - Boarding Crystal Serentity

We had a leisurely morning, breakfast in the hotel, a bit of packing, a bit of reading and out of the room by 11:00. We sat in the lobby with Jim and Phyllis, waiting for the bus that would take us to the ship.

It was really blowing as we finally headed out to board the bus. Fortunately, checking in and all was inside so we didn’t get blown away. We were on board the ship a bit after 1:00. The rooms weren’t quite ready yet so it was up to the buffet for a leisure lunch, spent time visiting and eventually hit the rooms after 3:00

Dinner was in the main dining room, Waterside. We asked for an open table and eventually were joined by Rob from the San Francisco area.

The show tonight was Crystal in Motion. Singers and dancers. Lovely show

Dec 30 – Day at Sea

We are at sea today and that means lectures. We hit all four lectures – Men vs Women’s brains, the Spanish Main and Mosquito Coast, It all started with a Mouse (info about the development of the Disney brand), and the Cuban Missile crisis. A big variety and all were excellent.

In the afternoon we headed up to Palm Court for afternoon tea. So civilized. Lovely visit with Jim and Phyllis. So do enjoy traveling with them.

We had dinner reservations tonight at Osteria d’Ovidio, the Italian specialty dining restaurant. We think they changed the menu bit since our dining experience on the Symphony earlier in the year. We enjoyed the food much more.

Caprese Salad

Beef with Celery

Chocolate Mouse and Ice Cream

Of course, we had lovely dinner companions as well. Jim and Phyllis really enjoyed the experience.

We stayed so late we missed the early show so just decided to skip it and went back to the room and to bed.

December 31 - Cozumel, Mexico

Rainy and sort of dreary but not terrible. Just not tropical sunshine. Maybe it will get better later in the day. But we did get a photo at sunrise.

The Serenity in port here in Cozumel.

We all opted for the same shore excursion today, Island Roots, Honey and Chocolate. Some of the coastal area on our drive.

The “Island Roots” gave us information about the Mayan history of the area. About 40% of the population is has Mayan ancestry and many people still speak Mayan, it is a very alive and vibrant language. We stopped at a Honey place and were given a demonstration of a Mayan ceremony, with the Shaman speaking Mayan.

The local honey is made by local, stingless bees. A typical hive of these local bees has about 6,000 to 10,000 bees and produces about 1 liter of honey per year. The European honeybee hive typically has 20,000 to 80,000 bees and produces 15 to 40 liters per year.

They gave us sample of regular honey and the local honey to compare. The local honey is much runnier and was really yummy.

We also stopped at a large taco stand on the waterfront. The beach and coast here was pretty.

We had time to take photos of the picturesque area and buildings. Very colorful. A few people ordered a quick snack We didn’t but should have. Long tour with no food.

Next stop was to see a demonstration of the making of cocoa and chocolate. We were greeted by the colorful Scarlet Macaw.

We watched a demonstration of how the Mayans originally prepared cocoa. And we were given free samples. Yummy.

Last stop was a tequila showroom where we were give samples and a lecture on the making and sipping of tequila. It was really more of a sales pitch. Mary tried it and actually enjoyed it. Very smooth.

Cozumel port area.

We were back on board by around 3:15. We all dumped our stuff and hit Trident Grill for food. We were all starved. We ate so late that we opted to not eat dinner.

This was New Years Eve and there was a lot going on around the ship. The central court area was festively decorated.

But we ended up just going to the 8:15 show (a comedian) and then to bed not long after.

January 1 - Belize was Rained Out

We were looking forward to a snorkeling trip in Belize today. Unfortunately, it was raining (no biggie, we are getting wet anyway). Bad part was that there was rough seas and lightning. So the excursion was cancelled. Bummer.

Ready to go Snorkeling

So we went back to the room, changed, did some reading, had lunch, and worked for a while. Mary went to see a movie on Queen Elizabeth II and Paul went to a workshop on using your iPhone. The day was not totally lost.

January 02 – Santo Tomas, Guatemala

It was raining cats and dogs when we docked in Santo Tomas, Guatemala but it let up about the time we headed out for our tour. There were three groups loading onto small boats for our trip. The first two got loaded and then the heavens opened again. Half of our group, including Jim and Phyllis, decided to head back to the dry, comfortable ship. We decided to brave the weather.

This is the type of boat we are on. This boat was headed up the coast along with us.

The boat was covered but the captain gave each row a large, plastic tarp that we ended up needing badly. The boat moved at a pretty high speed and the boat cover was of no use against driving at high speed into the rain. Fortunately, the tarps were large and we all hunkered down under out tarps and remained pretty dry. But because we were hidden under the tarps we didn’t really see much of the coastline as we headed to Livingston.

The rain stopped as we arrived in Livingston. Livingston from the water.