Saturday, January 17th. Our day started early, with sunrise over CLT (Charlotte)....
Arrival into Tampa was uneventful and quite beautiful flying over the Bay...
We stayed at the Embassy Suites Downtown. It was standard for an Embassy but offered these views from our room.....
The trolley stop is just outside the door of the hotel so we boarded and headed to Ybor City. This area of Tampa is quite eclectic and you never know what, or who, you're going to see!
Even the mannequins have a different attitude in Ybor City......
Choose your favorite.....
Beautiful Ybor......
Best Cuban Sandwich Ever
Sunday, January 18th. We head to the Port of Tampa to board the Carnival Pride. Our room, 4168, mid-ship balcony.....
Second order of business, get drink in hand and get comfy until muster drill (nailed it!)....
Neat shadow of the funnel as we sail out of Tampa....
Good bye to downtown.....
Sailing from Tampa means you get to sail under the Skyway Bridge, which is extraordinary.....
Our first night on board we visited David's, the steakhouse on the Pride. This is an experience much like the high end land-based steakhouses, at a fraction of the cost. I had the surf and turf (Maine lobster with filet mignon), while my husband had the NY strip...
Dessert brought cheesecake (which is easily 4" high!) and the chocolate sampler...
Monday, January 19th. Our first day of the cruise was a sea day with this view off the balcony.....
...and of course, breakfast on the balcony...ahhhh...paradise!
Tuesday, January 20th. Our early morning arrival in Cozumel, Mexico...
I merely wanted to take a shot of the beautiful water...I had no idea that Casper was along! Couldn't do this again if I tried! LOL! Reflection of light on the water brought a funny sight....
We visited our favorite all-inclusive in Mexico. This was the view from the chaise. I know, tough life!
Lunch with friends....
We also did a bit of snorkeling....
Had some fun....
And headed back to the ship after a fabulous day in Mexico (Pride and Dream at dock)....
The water was like ice as we sailed away. The only wake in the water from our ship...
Sunset as we sail towards Belize...
Wednesday, January 21st. Belize, Central America. Also our 10th Anniversary! The Senior Cruise Director, John Heald, was sweet to send us these gifts to celebrate...
Because of the reefs, Belize is a port where the ship must anchor off shore and tender people to land. Here is a shot of one of the tenders, to the left of the ship...
Getting close to docking the tender....
In Belize, we opted to take a tour that found us swimming with rays....
Sharks (nurse sharks, harmless, but cool!).....
A ray in the water off the side of the boat....
And a trip to Caye Caulker. On the way there we stopped near the mangrove fields that are protected by the country of Belize. We saw egrets and were graced with a bottle nose dolphin escort. They raise their young in these protected waters......
The waters off the coast of Caye Caulker.....
Once back on the island we had a yummy lunch of Creole fish and grilled lobster salad...
Caye Caulker is a quiet island where the main form of transportation is a golf cart...
Soon it was time to go back to the mainland. Four ships at anchor off shore....
On our way back to the ship we were blessed with a rainbow...
The Pride at anchor.....
Sunset as we sail towards Honduras....
With the Carnival Sunshine hot on our heels....
Love this shot of the sunset, moon, and to its left, Venus. Is there anything like sunset at sea? Don't think so!
Thursday, January 22. Roatan, Honduras, Central America....
We took the sky lift over to Mahogany Bay. You can see the alternate way over on the path below. You can walk it.
Once on Mahogany Beach, we rented a cabana from Carnival. It's the only ship sponsored tour we took. There are only 8 of these cabanas, if you know you're going to Roatan, book them early! This area is fenced off and patrolled by security so it feels like your own private island.
The view from the chaise....
The cabanas come with some pretty awesome perks, including a misted hammock area....
Your very own Fat Tuesday waiter (which is right behind the cabana!). This makes it very easy to enjoy those Attitubes :)
And 4 floats.....
My only complaint about this stop is, it wasn't nearly long enough. Five or six days would have been better! On our way back to the ship....
Back on the ship, this is the view from our balcony....
As we sail away, one last view of the glorious beach we spent the day on and a close up of the cabana area....
Sunset as we sail towards the Cayman Islands.....
Friday, January 23rd. Grand Cayman Island....
First stop is to see Big Black Dick....he makes our favorite Cayman rum!
This may be the best shot of the trip....myself and our friends in my husband's sun glasses. You can even see the ship anchored behind us :)
The only tour to take in Grand Cayman soon saw us swimming with stingrays. The owner of this company founded Stingray City and recently passed away (December 2014) at the age of 98. His legacy lives on!
Legend has it, that a stingray kiss will give you good luck and ensure your return to the Cayman Islands :)
Having a stingray come by and suck a squid out of your hand is quite the experience!
The swimming pool AKA the waters off Grand Cayman Island....
Enjoying a beer on the balcony as we sail away with the sunset...
Saturday, January 24th. Sea Day. The seas turned rough, visibility went to "yuck" and we rocked and rolled back to Tampa. Our ship threw off quite the wake!
Of course, when you rock and roll, your swimming pools turn to wave pools and water falls!
Made no nevermind....we saw a show....
Did some shots with the craziest bar waiter on the ship....
Said goodbye to what was the 2nd best wait staff I've had in 48 cruises, Wirawan, Bonn and Ahmed....
And brought the beautiful Pride back to Tampa....
Our sunset flight home was spectacular...
Because of the moisture in the air, I got an effect I've not seen before at sunset. This amazing rainbow that encompassed the entire sky...
We encountered heavy rain on approach...
But soon were out of it and saw the lights of home (Charlotte, NC). Our wonderful week now at an end...can't wait for the next adventure!
I hope you've enjoyed the blog. There will be a follow up with pictures from the ship.
If this whets your appetite to get out on the sea, visit my website, or call me at 844-321-3213 and we will make it happen! Bon Voyage!
Really enjoyed your pictures. We are headed out on Pride on 2/1....the same stops you did. We too are headed to Caye Caulker....looking to get some local food...maybe some coffee beans! Doing a Bodden island tour on Roatan and doing the Sting Ray City thing on Grand Cayman.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jon. Caye Caulker is gorgeous but a pretty good bit away from the mainland (took us about 45 minutes by power boat). As you can see by the pictures, we had a yummy lunch on island :) Enjoy your trip!!
ReplyDelete