ROATAN HONDURAS DAY
I slipped out of the room as quietly as I could and went out on the outside deck to see if we were in Honduras yet.
The sun was shining and it was a beautiful morning!
We were just pulling into the port area when I came outside.
When I booked the cruise for my roommate and I, I looked over the excursions for the islands we were going to visit.
When I saw there was only one cabana left for the Honduras day, I decided to go ahead and get it. At that point, I hadn't been in touch with my roommate in several weeks so really I wasn't sure if she would want to have a cabana/beach day. I figured that I could cancel it and get my money back if she wanted to do something else that day. (I found out later that you CAN NOT get a refund if you cancel an excursion on the Carnival Magic.)
When I did talk to my roommate, she loved the cabana idea and told me she would pay me for half of the price of the cabana. The total price I paid for us to use the cabana for the day was $226.00
Then when the neighbors booked the cruise, and before I knew how intolerable they were, I invited them to join us for the day in the cabana and we would split it 4 ways.
The neighbors also liked the cabana idea, and they decided to join us.
I had told my roommate sometime before the cruise that she didn't have to pay me for her share of the cabana. I told her it would be my treat.
On the morning we arrived in Honduras, I was wondering what I had gotten myself into. I was very excited to get off the ship and have a nice beach day, but I was wondering how it was going to go with my 3 beach day companions.
I had a little talk with myself out there by the railing of the ship. I told myself it was a new day and everything was going to be fine with my roommate and with the neighbors. The weather was beautiful and the island looked beautiful! It was going to be a good, fun day in Honduras.
I met a gal named Jennifer that morning, she was very nice and we sat and talked for a few minutes about cruising in general and our plans for the day.
I also ran into my friends Phyllis and Myron from the night before. They said they were going to walk around the island a bit that day and maybe do some shopping. I told them we would be in the cabana area, and if they could try to stop by, I'd love to see them.
I knew the cabana area was secured, but I wasn't sure how secure it actually was going to be. I hoped they would be able to stop by and say hello, but I let them know they might not be allowed to get to the area we were in.
I went back to the cabin to get ready for the day. My roommate was up and was getting ready.
I had hoped we could put the bad stuff that had happened behind us, so I acted like everything was great. I said good morning and told her we had just pulled into the port and it was a gorgeous day out.
We finished getting ready and packed our beach bags.
We had a quick breakfast in the buffet and then we met up with the neighbors.
The four of us went down to deck 0 to swipe our cards in the machine and get off the ship.
Down on the pier looking up at the ship:
Walking down the pier, there was an old rusty ship just sitting there.
We made our way to an info desk and they told us to get on the flying chairs and go to the cabana area.
The flying chairs are a ski lift type of thing. I think it costs about $12.00 to ride it, but our ride over to the beach area was free with the cabana rental.
Looking back at the port area behind us:
The flying chair ride was nice and took about 10 minutes to get to the beach area
If you didn't want to take the flying chairs, you could walk across the bridge to get to the beach.
The beach area was nice. We could still see our ship.
The Princess ship is the one in front, and our ship is the one behind it that you can barely see.
It did rain for about 20-30 minutes that morning. It wasn't a problem for us, we just went inside the cabana. We did notice that the public beach next to us cleared out pretty quickly when it started raining.
We had our own "cabana boy" for the day. His name was Johnny and he would come by every so often to see if we needed anything.
He was very sweet, and his service was excellent.
I ordered nachos for lunch. It was a HUGE platter and I shared it with the neighbors. My roommate wasn't hungry.
We all had a slushy drink with our lunch. I think I had a strawberry margarita, but it may have been a daiquiri. Whatever it was, it was very refreshing.
The mood at the cabana was quiet, distant, strained, and a bit somber. It didn't seem like anyone was really in a good mood that day (but me), and its kind of hard to be in a good mood when your companions are just sitting around acting bored.
My roommate was acting extremely distant from all of us the whole morning. She was off by herself for the most part looking for shells and doing her own thing.
Sometime that morning, Phyllis and Myron showed up at the cabana. I was happy to see them! It was good to see some people with smiles on their faces.
I showed Phyllis and Myron around the cabana area, and we walked down to the water for a few minutes. They didn't stay long, although I wished they would have stayed all day.
I collected some shells and sand from the shore, so I could bring some home.
Not long after Phyllis and Myron left, I was thinking I should have went with them. I was more-or less spending the day by myself at the cabana and beach anyway. Even though I had 3 people sharing the cabana with me, they were all kind of doing their own thing. None of them seemed to be enjoying themselves. They might as well have been at home watching TV.
Oh how I wished I had someone to enjoy this day with.
I grabbed my camera and decided to go for a walk. I wanted to see a little of what was going on outside of the cabana area, and it was a good excuse to get away from the cabana for awhile.
I walked to the right of the cabanas and found this bar area:
THIS was the caribbean band I had been hearing all morning?? It was just the one guy??
I was impressed! He was very good. I had enjoyed his Bob Marley and Caribbean music all morning so I put a few dollars in his tip bucket.
A cute place to sit and have a drink:
Toward the left of the cabanas, I saw all these lounge chairs on the public beach.
Oh wow. I was glad I had gotten the cabana after all. These chairs were so close to each other.
I could imagine what it was like on this beach when it was full of people.
It had rained a bit earlier, so there weren't many people on the beach.
I walked down this path to see if I could find any gift shops. I wanted to find something to take home that said "Honduras" on it.
I didn't find Phyllis and Myron..................
Instead, I found Edna.
Edna was standing by a small table and as I walked by she asked me if I wanted my hair braided.
I didn't want my hair braided, but I asked her if she could do a hair wrap?
She said she could do one for $20.00 and asked me what colors I wanted.
I figured I had plenty of time and nothing else to do, so I sat down to get a hair wrap.
I told her I wanted pink, purple, and white.
Edna, giving me a hair wrap:
She put a few beads at the end. I LOVE IT! It should stay in my hair about 4-6 weeks and then I can unwrap it, or cut it out. I had her put it at the base of my hairline, just behind my ear, so it won't bother me if I have to cut it out.
I was very happy with my wrap, and with Edna's company. She was a sweet lady. When she was finished, I paid her and gave her a $5.00 tip.
I walked back to the cabana and spent a little more time looking for shells.
My roommate said she wanted to go back to the ship, so she packed her beachbag and left.
The neighbor wanted to get her hair braided so I walked with her and introduced her to Edna.
Back at the cabana, it was about 3:00PM and it looked like it was going to rain again.
We paid our bill for lunch and our drinks. I made sure to give Johnny a good tip for his excellent service that day.
The neighbors and I packed up our things and got back on the flying chairs for our ride back to the port area.
Getting closer to our ship:
As we came past the trees, we could see more of the ship:
When we got off the flying chairs, I wanted to shop for some souvenirs. I told the neighbors I would see them back on the ship.
My hair was dripping water, and my flip flops were squeeking with each step I took.
I had my yellow Carnival towel with me, and I hadn't used it on the beach that day so I pulled it out of my beachbag and wore it over my head.
I did find some great souvenirs, and I was glad I stayed and shopped even though I was soaked.
As I headed back to the ship, I saw my roommate ahead of me and I ran to catch up with her. We walked back on the ship together.
Back in the cabin, we took turns getting in the shower and then I went out to the open deck to watch sailaway.
It was still raining
After sailaway, I was hungry. I hadn't eaten anything since I had the nachos earlier that day.
My roommate was off somewhere, and I had no clue where the neighbors were.
It seemed like I was on my own for dinner that night.
I decided to go to the deli and grab a sandwich.
I walked down one deck to the lido deck and all the way to the back of the ship.
In the buffet area, I saw the neighbors sitting down eating dinner. I walked up and said Hello.
I talked to them for a minute or two, and they didn't offer for me to join them.
I said goodbye and continued on my way to the deli.
Back at the deli, I ordered a grilled corned beef sandwich.
I carried it up to the smoking area on deck 11, and sat there on one of the couches and ate my dinner alone.
It was actually a nice place to sit and still be able to have people and things to watch. There was a lot of activity in this area, and on the Lido deck below.
There were always people there to chat with.
This was my view from my favorite couch as I ate my dinner.
After I ate, Jennifer, the gal I had met earlier that morning came out and joined me.
She and her fiance Bobby (they had just gotten engaged on this cruise!!!) were both very nice.
We talked for quite a while and I was glad to have the company.
At some point I decided I was going to go to the spa.
Jen and Bobby were planning to go to the spa too - they also had spa cabins! We quickly made plans to go back to our cabins and change, and meet up in the spa in 15 minutes.
Jen and Bobby:
Funny thing, we all headed in the same door and down the same hallway. I kept thinking they would split off to go to their cabin, but they kept going in my direction, all the way to the front of the ship.
It turned out, they had a suite right by my cabin. Their door was just down the hall about 15 feet from my door.
In the picture below, I am standing by my cabin door, which is on my left.
Jen and Bobby's cabin was just down at the end of the hall on the right.
We thought it was great that we were neighbors!
They showed me the souvenirs they had found that day and told me all about their excursion. I wished I had been with them! It sounded like they had a lot of fun that day.
I went back to my cabin to get ready for the spa. My roommate wasn't there.
We had a cute elephant towel animal.
I changed into my swimsuit and robe and took the special spa elevator up to the spa
I spent some time in the blue room and in the red room. It felt so good to lay there on the hot tile beds and just relax.
When I went into the thalassotherapy pool, Jen and Bobby were in there.
We had the place to ourselves so we stayed in there and talked for over an hour.
When we had been in the pool so long our skin had puckered, we decided to get out.
I was so relaxed, I was ready for bed. I don't even think it was 9:00PM by then.
I said goodbye to Jen and Bobby, and went to the locker room to take a nice hot shower.
Before I went back to the cabin to get dressed, I remembered to fill my cup up with some cold lemon water. It was so refreshing after being in the spa
After my spa time, I wandered back out into the smoking area. It was so convenient to get there from my cabin, I found myself out there a lot.
I saw Phyllis and Myron and they were heading to the Lobby to go to the Mardi Gras party.
I thought that sounded like fun, even though I was pretty tired, so I tagged along with them.
It was fun. They played games and threw beads and masks down to us from the area above the bar.
I didn't dance or participate in the games. I stood off to the side and watched. Phyllis played the games and looking back, I should have played too.
I did manage to catch some beads and a mask:
After the Mardi Gras party, Phyllis and Myron and I went back up to deck 11. We were talking about Belize the next day and I asked them what they were planning to do there. They were going to walk around a little and shop.
I didn't have any plans for Belize at all, and I wasn't looking forward to spending an entire day with any of my 3 companions.
Being around my travel companions was just so.................strained...............and.........not fun.
I was on a cruise! I wanted to have a good time!!!
I asked Phyllis and Myron if they would mind if I came along with them to shop in Belize. They said "Sure!", and we made plans to meet up in the morning.
I was so tired that night, I said goodnight to Phyllis and Myron (and whoever else was out there in the smoking area. There always seemed to be a nice friendly crowd out there) and around 10:30PM I went in to go to bed.
Back in the cabin, my roommate was there and apparently she wasn't in too good of a mood this night either. I barely said anything to her, and she snapped at me.
I had finally had enough of ignoring her behavior. I told her what I thought of her attitude toward me. I'm not going to go into the entire thing, but I basically told her I had had enough of her crap.
I put my headphones in my ears so I could listen to my audiobook while I fell asleep, and I did fall asleep pretty quickly in that very comfortable bed.
I was looking forward to spending the day in Belize with Phyllis and Myron the next day
DAY 7 is HERE!
It sounds like the cruise itself was beautiful. I admire your ability to stay calm in the storm, so to speak... and for not letting other people ruin your time. Thank you for sharing your story. :-)
ReplyDeleteYes! The ship and the islands I visited were awesome! Thanks for reading :)
Delete