Labadie

It's the "private island", it's primarily a beach resort.

But they do have a few excursions  -- a walking tour, a short cruise, speed boats....

Grand Cayman

We were there 6 years ago, on the Valor.  We did two excursions. 

The first was a submarine ride to see the reefs, fish, etc.  We both really loved it.

The second was a tour of the island.  The bus took us past several historic landmarks on our way to the rum outlet, the town of Hell, and the turtle farm.

So we're really having a bit of a problem figuring out what to do this time around, because there isn't much that interests us except the things we've already done.

weight loss and cruising

OK, so here's the thing.

When we sailed on the Valor six years ago, and when we sailed on the Breeze three years ago, I was very, very overweight.  Morbidly obese.  And yes, it negatively affected my enjoyment of the cruise. 

I mean, I had a lot of fun, ate a lot of good food, enjoyed shore excursions and shipboard activities.  But...well, being that heavy definitely wasn't a good thing.  And not just on the cruise.

After a health scare last year -- turned out to be nothing -- I make the decision to finally start eating healthy and exercising. I bought a Fitbit and joined Weight Watchers in March 2015.  So far I've lost 65 pounds.  I have a mini goal of losing another 8 pounds before the cruise in October.  I have a lot more to lose after I meet the mini goal, but I'll worry about that after the cruise.

I feel a lot better since I lost the weight, I have more stamina, more endurance, I'm not sluggish or tired.

So, how has this affected my cruise planning?

Well, I'm actually looking forward to checking out the fitness center on Freedom of the Seas.  It sounds like they have state of the art equipment.  I've been a regular at Planet Fitness for five months now, I'd like to see how their equipment compares to the machines I'm used to.   I'm also planning to look into whether they offer any classes, like yoga or Zumba,  to try something new on board, and maybe add it to my routine at home if I like it.

And then there's the issue of food.  As in, you can easily gain five - ten pounds during a cruise.  How do I enjoy the food without overdoing it, but without feeling deprived?  I'll have to come up with a plan before we sail. 

decisions, decisions

Actually starting to look at excursions. 



We pretty much know what we want to do at Cozumel.  Six years ago, in Belize, we took an excursion to the Mayan ruins.  We loved the ruins, but were disappointed by the very short amount of time we had to see the ruins.  Our excursion included a boat ride up the river to see the wildlife, lunch at a small hotel, then a bus ride to the ruins; the group that did the ruins first was late getting back to the hotel for their boat ride, so our time at the ruins was cut short.

So we're going to Mayan rins in Mexico, and this time we will pick an excursion that is exclusively about the ruins.

So...

We booked the cruise for October, but we haven't looked at flights or hotels or anything, haven't started to think about shore excursions yet.  It's 5 months away.  It feels like it's too soon to be getting involved in the details.

But we have friends who are cruising on Carnival around the same time we'll be on RCCL, and they're "literally counting the days".

oy

So the last time we cruised, in 2013, we were booked on the Carnival Breeze.  And while I was in the middle  of planning our cruise, the Carnival Triumph had ...issues.  As in, the cruise from hell.  there was a fire on board, which knocked out power, and the ship limped back to port in terrible shape. 

So now we're booked on Royal Caribbean.

And Anthem of the Seas is making news, for all the wrong reasons.

Anthem is based in New Jersey, sailing south to  warmer weather this winter.  Last month they sailed right into a storm. Really bad situation.  And the current cruise is being cut short, they say that the weather is bad, they're afraid of sailing into another storm.  But there's also a noro virus outbreak aboard that ship.  They're saying the ship is "cursed".

Oh joy.

And we'll have company...

Freedom of the Seas will be the only ship in port at Labadee. 

But the Carnival Dream will be with us at Grand Cayman.  the Dream will be in Montego Bay the day we're in Falmouth.  And the Dream and Liberty of the Seas are joining us in Cozumel.