Day 10, March 2 - Spring Miami-Cuba - 2019

Today is the switch day when we leave Celebrity and go cruise on Carnival.

The last time we were on this ship, it was with the kids in 2000!!

We were able to be in the first group to leave the ship at 7:15am and our bags were ready for us as we walked off the ship.

A porter took us to a cab and the cab took us to the airport where we picked up our Dollar rent a car for the drive to Tampa.

The drive across lower Florida through the Everglades was fast and uneventful; however, when we got to the other side of the state, things changed.  We were supposed to arrive at the airport at 12:08am, drop off the rental car and get to the ship which sailed at 3pm.

All of a sudden the gps told us of road construction in a couple of places and a car crash on the Sunshine Bridge.

We were virtually stopped at one point, then took a detour off the interstate for about 5 miles and finally made it across the bridge and into town and out to the airport.

We arrived in just enough time to drop off the car and go downstairs just as the last buy was leaving.  We were the last people on the bus and if we had been 3 minutes later, the bus would have left without us.

Then it would have been a cab race to get to the ship on time.

As it was, all of the porters had left for the day so the ships staff got a worker bee to take our luggage right up to the cabin and we walked on right behind him.  There were no lines and we were in our cabin quickly.

The cabin is just fine, the bathroom is smaller than Celebrities but it is just fine.

We went up on the pool deck and had sandwiches as we sailed away.

After the lifeboat drill we walked around and looked at all of the shops, etc.

For dinner, we had a nice round table for 8 and the other three couples seen just fine so we should have good company for dinner each night.

After dinner we went to the casino where Barb lost a little and Ed won.  It sure wasn’t the same as we knew nobody; however, the cards, chips and slot machines are the same.

We then went to the 11pm comedy hour and the comedian was very funny.

It is after midnight and time to go to bed.  Tomorrow is Key West arriving at noon.

Night

Sunrise over Miami

Leaving Celebrity

Going out for the evening on the Carnival Paaradise

Day 9 –March 1 - Spring Miami-Cuba - 2019

The first day of March, 2019 and the last day of this cruise.  The weather was perfect and so after breakfast we were up to the deck and in the sun.

For lunch we went to the main buffet and ate and ate!!

Then it was time for the blackjack tournament and neither of us qualified.

After that we played an afternoon session in the casino and both Barb and Ed won.

At 3:30pm we were back in our cabin packing to leave first thing tomorrow.

The entertainment tonight was a comedian who was very funny.

For dinner, Bill and Sandy again joined us and we had a great time talking at dinner.  We hope they are able to join us in a future cruise as they would certainly fit in with the blackjack group that we are part of.

Of course after dinner we went to the casino for the last time on this cruise and Barb was even and Ed lost for only the second night.  This was one of the best casino wins we have every experienced – so a very successful trip in lots of ways.

This has also been a wonderful and relaxing cruise and we made some new friends.

Night and tomorrow we head to Tampa and the Carnival Paradise.

Going out for the day

and of course out for the last evening on the ship

Day 8 – Febuary 28 - Spring Miami-Cuba - 2019

When we woke up the ship was still in open waters and did not arrive at George Town, Grand Cayman until 10pm, right on time.

Grand Cayman does not have docking facilities for large ships so we anchored in the harbor and were tendered in.  There were a total of 6 cruise ships in the harbor.

What a mob at the dock as that was 20,000+ people all coming into one small port.

As we have been here many times, we really didn’t have any reason to go into the port; however, we did because of the glass that we made.  There was no easy way we could have taken it to our next cruise and then on the airplane in a week – it was just too big.

Our solution was to take it to the FedEx store and ship it.  That was a perfect idea except it cost us $112 to ship it.  But it’s done!!

We then walked around for a bit and then took the tender back to the ship.

By then it was time for lunch, change and sit outside in the sun which was beautiful.

The jewelry store was having a free cleaning service, so we had our rings cleaned and then walked around and listened to music before going to dinner.

We had seen the show before and were not interested in going to it again.

Dinner was really great – Barb had lamb and a lobster tail and Ed had beef wellington.  

We said good bye to our table mates as tomorrow we will be eating with the two couples who we met playing blackjack.

Then of course we went to the casino where Barb lost and Ed won.

Tomorrow is our last day of the cruise and it is a sea day.

Night

Going into Grand Cayman

Sending our glass

Tasting Rum Cake

Our ship with a tender

Going out for a great evening

Barb's dinner - lobster and lamb

Day 7 – February 27 - Spring Miami-Cuba - 2019

Today is Cozumel, Mexico and since we have been here before and seen all that we would want to see, we took our time getting up and going out to the port.

When we opened up our window, the ship docked right next to us was the new Symphony Of The Seas, Royal Caribbean’s newest and largest ship.  It carries 5,500 passengers and we carry less than 3,000!

Now that’s a big ship!!

We booked two cruises today, one for Alaska in July 2020 and the other a trans-Atlantic crossing from Rome to Ft. Lauderdale in October 2020.  We are not sure we are actually going to take them, but at least we have locked in the prices.

The show tonight was a singer who performed a show based upon the music of Whitney Huston and she was very good – probably the best show this cruise.

We had dinner tonight in the specialty restaurant called Murano as a guest of the casino and it was a very good meal.  We also got to spend time with a couple from Virginia, Bill Sandy that we had met while in the casino and it was fun to spend casual time with them.

Then we went to the casino were both of us lost for the first time.

Tomorrow is Grand Cayman – so good night for now.

The ship next to us

Going out for the morning

The two ships 

Time for the evening

Bill and Sandy at dinner

Day – 6 – February 26 - Spring Miami-Cuba - 2019

Day – 6 – February 26

We have arrived in Costa Maya, Mexico today.  This is part of the Mexico region that is just south of Cancun and goes to the Belize border.

The port is a made for the tourist port and we walked right through it to the exit gate, and went outside the tourist village and rented a golf cart to go into the real town.

We first drove about 20 minutes to get to town and then drove to the other end where all of the hotels and beaches are.  We parked the golf cart and walked and walked and of course we found some “stuff” that we just had to have.

On the way back we stopped at a local restaurant because the smell of food was so great.  The pictures show the restaurant, the cook and Barb eating something – and it was so good, we had two of them and our bill was $4.  We haveno idea what we had to eat!!

Next was a stop at a Tequila factory where we had a tasting that consisted of 11 ½ shots of their different Tequilas.  YES - it was FUN!!

 

The price per bottle was from $60 for the non-aged bottle to $250 to the bottle that had been aged for 18 years in French barrels!

We tasted, enjoy a lot but didn’t buy any!!

Back on the ship we changed into our swimming suits and spend a couple of hours out in the sun until we felt that we had been out long enough – the weather was again a perfect day.

The production show was one that we had seen before so we went for just a bit and then left to walk around and people watch until dinner.

We had asked that our group be moved to a table that was quieter and the new table was perfect as we could all hear each other.

Then it was time for the casino where Barb lost a little and Ed had a big win.

It was a really fun day andnow it is time to say goodnight!!

Tomorrow is Cozumel

Good night

Leaving for the port

Our golf cart for the day

Guess what she bought

Barb's new best friend

The cooks and the kitchen for lunch

Lunch

1 of 11 1/2 shots

Yes - we tasted them all!!

Day 5 -February 25 - Spring Miami-Cuba - 2019

Day 5

This is our first sea day and of course the first thing that we did after eating breakfast was go up on the deck and spend a few hours in the sun.  The weather was perfect, with no breeze except from the ship and not one cloud!

Just by accident we met Brenda  while we were out sunning and Brenda became our (mostely Barbs) sun deck friend.  A neat person who just seems to enjoy life and we hope to stay in touch with her along the way.

We went to the main buffet lunch and then went to the casino to play in the blackjack tournament.

Participants were assigned to one of 7 tables with 7 people at each table.  At each table, the top two finishers after playing only 7 hands moved onto the semi-finals at 8pm. 

Barb was given the opportunity to play and was one of the two winners from her table.  She played her hands perfectly to move on.

Ed played 20 minutes later and also qualified for the semi-finals!!

The semi-finals consisted of 2 tables of 7 each and the 3 highest scores at each table moved onto the final round.  Just by the luck of the draw, Barb was at the first table and played her hands perfectly and was one of the 3 moving on to the finals.

Ed was next up and he also was able to qualify for the finals at 10:30pm.

The finals were very exciting and Barb came in 4^th out of 7.  On the last hand, Ed pulled a blackjack to tie for the tournament win!!   Instead of playing off, we split the money between 1^st and 2^nd.

All-in all a very successful tournament – that’s for sure.

Night

Going out for the day

Now for the evening

The final table

The Casino Manager - Daniela and Dimi, our Host

Day 4- February - Spring - Miami-Cuba - 2019

Day 4 - February 24

Key West is an island that is only 2 miles by 4 miles and we had taken a sightseeing trolley a month ago when we were here so we looking to explore places we had not seen.

This time Ed surprised Barb in that he had rented a large gas-powered cart (a little bigger than a golf cart) to go around the island in places we had not seen the last time.

After picking up the street legal cart we went to the Catholic Basillica on the island just in time for the 9am Mass and it was jammed packed.  The sides of the church were open with tall doors at every other pew so we stood just outside the church in one of the doorways.

After mass, we drove around enjoying the town.  Then we headed out of town on Hwy 1 to Stock Island to a restaurant we had read about and even the person who rented the cart to us suggested that we go there for lunch.  It was called Hogfish Bar & Grill and it was amazing.  It took us about ½ hour to drive there and it truly was the best seafood restaurant that we have ever been to.

It is right on the fishing docks and we arrived at a little after 11:00am and they were just writing up the menu on chalk boards.   The do not make up the menu until they see what the fishermen bring them each day.

We first had an order of conch fritters, that an order of Key West pink shrimp and finally the main dish was swordfish with a fantastic sauce.  The fish was just caught!!  There is no question that we ate more that we normally eat for dinner – but everything just looked soooo good and it was!!

Then we drove back to town, walked around an art fair, turned the cart back in and then had a banana mango icy.  Then we took the tram back to the ship. 

One of the features on some of the larger Celebrity ships is an outdoor glass studio and at 5:20 we were able to make some glass for ourselves.

The show in the theater tonight was a musical production number that was ok except the music was very loud.

Dinner was fine and the couple that we were missing showed up tonight and he is from Chile, where we will be going next March so we will learn things from him.  That gives us a table of 8.

After dinner of course we went to the casino where Barb lost a $1 and Ed had another nice win.

Tomorrow is the Blackjack tournament with 7 tables of 7 in the first round.  The will take the two highest scores from each table and they will go into the semi-finals tomorrow night at 8 with the finals later on in the evening.  It is for a total prize fund to the 7 in the final table of $15,000.  Barb has also been given a place at one of the preliminary tables and plays at 2:20pm and Ed plays at 2:40pm.  With only 7 hands played at each table it is going to be exciting.  Wish us luck.

Tomorrow is a sea day and it will be fun.

Night

Church for the 9am Mass

The Hog Fish Bar & Grill 

A great start!!

The main course - shrimp and swordfish - WOW

Leaving Hogfish Bar & Grill

Working the bowl

A cool down before leaving Key West!!

The Hog Fish Bar & Grill, Key West, FL