My Southwest Airlines flight out of Hartford left at around 2pm, so I was in Orlando by dinnertime. I was curious how the new travel regulations would affect this trip, since they made a ton of changes right after my last trip, but it was smooth and quick and painless. It took me maybe ten minutes to get through customs at Bradley Airport, although the line I passed when I arrived in Orlando was scary to say the least. Anyway, we stopped at Beef O\u2019Brady\u2019s on the way back to the house, where I had some yummy fish tacos, and an absolutely vile wine cocktail. Truly, it was horrible. Something with white wine & blue curacao? Gross. Anyway, that was pretty much it for day one, and tomorrow we\u2019ll be heading to Epcot.<\/p>\n
Saturday, October 22, 2011<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n This year I had a detailed plan of exactly what I wanted to try at Epcot\u2019s Food & Wine Festival, and I pretty much stuck to the plan. It started at Brazil with Mahi Mahi (excellent!) followed by a flight of infused tequilas in Mexico. Sunday, October 23, 2011<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n 7:30am and we\u2019re on our way to the west coast of Florida! For this trip we\u2019ll actually be leaving our car with friends of my father\u2019s, Joanne & Bob Gounaud. They live in Apollo Beach, and will be dropping us off and picking us up from the port, which is super-nice of them and will save us around $100 in parking fees. They drop us off, and we check in, or try to, but NCL is having all kinds of computer problems and it takes an inordinate length of time. Eventually we\u2019re all set & each have our key cards, and now we sit down to wait. Within half an hour they begin boarding, and we head on up to the buffet, followed by cocktails at the Biergarten on the top of the ship. For the safety drill our meeting location was the Stardust Theater. Where there are no lifeboats, so apparently we\u2019re getting off last. We decided to try the Aqua dining room for our first dinner onboard, as well as our first foray into freestyle dining. Unlike other cruise lines, on NCL you go to dinner whenever you like and are seated just like in a shoreside restaurant. You do not have the same server each night, and you may be seated either alone or paired with other guests at your request. We discovered that going at 5:30 each day meant there was no wait time, and we were done just in time for the big nighttime show. The food was excellent, as was the service, and the server we had the first night made a point to pop over and say hello to us most other evenings we dined. After dinner we were trying to make a 7:30pm raffle in the casino, as well as trying to catch the moment when we passed under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa. We succeeded at the first, and failed miserably at the second. We were actually in the elevator when we passed underneath the bridge. We lost the raffle at the casino, but were shocked at how many prizes were given away. We were expecting a raffle for one item, and instead they raffled off a dozen prizes. NCL does like their giveaways! The Welcome Aboard show followed, and was the standard format for those type of shows. Basically they give you a sampling of the entertainment you\u2019ll be seeing onboard to whet your appetites to come to future shows. My assessment? Much better than Royal Caribbean, not quite as good as Disney Cruise Line. What was interesting was at the end of the show the Hotel Director came onstage and offered an apology for the delays with check-in. It seems they were having trouble with their wifi, and to make it up to everyone they would be offering a free rum punch party later in the cruise. Nice! We did a little more wandering around the ship and then headed back to the stateroom. Sea day tomorrow!<\/p>\n Monday, October 24, 2011<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Our first day at sea! We headed to Versailles for breakfast (the other main dining room) and Sue discovered that they have a chef whose whole job is to make real poached eggs (without the mold) each morning. Very cool! She said they were excellent, which I\u2019ll take her word for since I don\u2019t like runny yolks. After breakfast we went on the hunt for an open bar to get some mimosas. It turns out that the only bar open in the AM is the Java Caf\u00e9 (not good news for us vacation drinkers) but it\u2019s a nice venue and we can certainly handle it. Afterwards we went to Name that TV Tune trivia, which was lots of fun, and we did fairly well, but lost. That\u2019s kind of a theme this week for trivia \u2013 fun, and close but no cigar. Then we went to the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle. Cruise Critic is a forum I participate on, and I organized a meeting for myself & the other participants on this sailing. NCL did an amazing job with this, setting up drinks and cookies in Le Bistro for us, and inviting the officers to attend. The captain, unfortunately, could not make it due to monitoring the now-forming storm, but officers all introduced themselves, told us their roles, and gave us their extension numbers should we need anything during our cruise. Impressive! We also met lots of nice people (about fifty passengers attended) that we saw around the ship all week. After the meet & mingle, we grabbed a quick lunch at Blue Lagoon (their 24-hour eatery) and headed to the Pub Hop. Tuesday, October 25, 2011<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Today we are scheduled to visit Maya Key in Roatan, and we are meeting our tour on the pier at 9:45. We grabbed some breakfast in Versailles, followed by some mimosas at Java Caf\u00e9, and then headed off the ship. The second we step off the Star, the rain starts gearing up. We started out dealing with normal rain, and by the time our small ferry boat got us to Maya Key (about five minutes from the dock) it was a full-on monsoon. Seriously, we were soaked to the skin. Despite the weather, Sue & I opted to do the 45 minute tour through the outdoor animal sanctuary, which was well worth the soaking. The guide clearly was invested in each of the animals, and knew not only their names & species, but also their personality traits & quirks, which turned a basic tour into an excellent one. After we dried off, Sue & I decided to check out the spa, her for a French braid, and the spa taster special for myself. My spa taster selections were the scalp & shoulder massage, the hot stone back massage, and some foot & ankle reflexology. Wonderful! Some quiet time around the ship and we all met up for Pub Trivia before dinner, where the bonus question asked the captain\u2019s name and one of the tables said he was \u201cCaptain Speaking\u201d, because that\u2019s how all his announcements began. Cracked me up, and we used it the whole cruise. I still don\u2019t remember his first name, and I had ample opportunity to learn it (more on that later). We decided to try dinner at Versailles, which was fine but we liked Aqua just a little bit better. Tonight\u2019s big show was The Magic of Craig & Liz, which left me underwhelmed. Some tricks were great, some were very easy to figure out for me. My dad hadn\u2019t managed to see the band Sol Play yet, so we popped over to the Spinnaker Lounge to check them out for a bit. They were quite good, as was all the entertainment on board. Then we went back to the room, where it gets exciting.<\/p>\n Once back at the room I went into the bathroom to change for bed, and I heard \u201cEek! Whoosh! Bang!\u201d What the heck? I finished up in the bathroom and came out to discover the following sequence of events: 1) Sue went to use the balcony and turned the balcony light on. 2) The bird that had been sleeping on the balcony woke up and flew into the stateroom (Eek!). 3) My dad ran to open the door hoping the bird would either fly into the hallway or fly back onto the balcony, thus creating a vacuum effect that blew every piece of paper, and the bird, across the room back to the balcony (whoosh!). 4) The bird landed back on the balcony and Sue slammed the door (bang!). 5) The bird is now stuck on the balcony. Due to the high winds he can\u2019t fly out the opening, and due the balcony being partially enclosed (remember how I said this would be significant later?) he can\u2019t get to an adjacent balcony either and is now banging repeatedly into the top left corner of the ceiling. Wednesday, October 26, 2011<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Today we are scheduled to visit Belize City. Notice I said scheduled? That\u2019s because around 8am (half an hour before we are due to start tendering into Belize) Captain Speaking announced that we would be unable to go the port, and would instead be spending the day at sea. A new Freestyle Daily (sheet with each day\u2019s schedule) would be available shortly with additional activities to fill our day at sea. Shortly wasn\u2019t that short, as it took about two hours, but considering they had to revamp the whole thing it wasn\u2019t bad. We started out with Goofy Golf, which my dad won & I did better than expected at. For Goofy Golf you had to hit the ball back and forth between three cups, and with the fourth stroke tap the glass all the way at the end. I did fine with the back and forth, but I just missed on tapping the glass. After lunch we headed to Movie Quote Trivia (fun but we lost) and Name that 50s & 60s Tune, which we had to leave early to make it to the vodka martini tasting. At the martini tasting we were served four designer martinis, all of which were quite tasty. We decided tonight was a good night to check out one of the specialty restaurants, so we chose Le Bistro, the French restaurant. Dinner was outstanding, and Sue in particular raved about the escargot. The food was all perfectly prepared, and matched with amazing sauces. After that we went to Shout! The Mod Musical (a tribute to 60s music by artists like Petula Clark), and I liked it much more than I had anticipated I would. Tired yet? We lost Sue after Shout!, but my dad & I continued on to the Perfect Couple Game Show (amazing what people will do to make absolute fools of themselves), followed by some tunes by the Melodic Trio, and then finally ending with a round of Name That Tune, which I actually came in a close second at! Yeah for me! And it was the hard kind where they play a couple of notes on a piano, not the easy kind where they play a recording of the actual song, so I was extra impressed with myself. Finally off to bed, where we receive an invitation to dine with the captain & hotel director on Friday night. So exciting!<\/p>\n Thursday, October 27, 2011<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n And our second attempt is successful! Today we\u2019ll be spending in Belize, and the weather could not be nicer. Right around 80 degrees, not a cloud in the sky. We tender in Belize (take a smaller boat to the actual pier), but we are scheduled to do the Calypso Train Tour of the city and our ticket will serve as our tender ticket as well. We meet in the Stardust Theater at 9:45 and are immediately brought to the next tender. A fifteen minute ride (the water was a bit choppy) and we arrive at the port of Belize City. Friday, October 28, 2011<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Welcome back to Costa Maya!!! My happy place is here, at a little spot called Nohoch Kay. For a mere $40pp you can enjoy all you can eat, all you can drink, hang out under the palapas, ride the hobie cats, snorkel, kayak, or whatever else your heart desires. It\u2019s paradise, and the staff, headed by Jaime, could not be nicer or more accommodating. Unfortunately the bus dropped us off at the far end of the Malecon this year, so we had quite the walk to get to Nohoch Kay at the far end. We must have passed twenty beach clubs where they tried to get us to stop, until we said the magic words \u201cNohoch Kay\u201d, and they gave us the update on how many blocks we had left to travel. Finally we arrived, and Jaime and some of the staff remembered us from last year, and were delighted to host us again, albeit a day later than initially scheduled. I started off the day with a margarita and some guacamole & chips, which they brought me along with an assortment of Jaime\u2019s homemade sauces (delicious, although I\u2019m still not brave enough to try the volcano heat one). I spent some time in the water, and when I looked back at shore I noticed Jeff, one of the servers, shimmying up the coconut tree. A machete was tied to a rope and pulled up to him, and he proceeded to chop down some fresh coconuts. So fun to watch! Awhile later we had some lunch (I had some amazing fish tacos) and enjoyed the beach a bit more. After a few margaritas I was ready to vary my cocktail selection up a bit, and I tried a liquor referred to me by a friend, called Licor 43. Licor 43 is like drinking flan \u2013 it\u2019s just delicious, and I polished off what remained of their bottle while I was there (it was fairly low when I started). Some more beach time and we started to get ready to leave. Just before we left, Sue bought a t-shirt and asked them to sign it. Everybody got into the act, not only signing but adding a personal touch to each signature (Jeff drew himself on a palm tree, one of the chef\u2019s added Viva Mexico!, etc.) It ended up a fabulous keepsake that she will only wear upon return to Nohoch Kay. Once the taxi dropped us back off at the port we shopped our way back to the ship. I narrowly escaped buying a $70 bottle of tequila (a spectacular ten year old extra-anejo), and a $260 necklace (silver, with various shades of topaz). Back to the ship I decided to see if lady luck was ready to pay me a visit at the casino (she wasn\u2019t) then hung out a bit at the martini bar before dinner, where they had already setup tables for the captain\u2019s dinner later. Saturday, October 29, 2011<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n No time for breakfast, as we\u2019ll be meeting up for the bridge tour bright & early. The tour included everyone from our Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle, lasted about 45 minutes, and was definitely not-to-be-missed if you ever have the opportunity. The captain greeted us all and then turned us over to one of his officers (from Sweden) who was both informative & entertaining. Sunday, October 30, 2011<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n We head up to the buffet for our final breakfast, and then down to the Java Caf\u00e9 to await being called for departure in comfort. Based on our luggage tag selection we are scheduled to disembark at 9:20am. Each tag corresponds to a ten minute interval, but for some odd reason they are calling the tags in groups of three, which leads to a huge line to get off the ship. Still, disembarkation runs much smoother than embarkation, and in about twenty minutes we have claimed our luggage and are passing through customs. Bob & Joanne pick us up, and we head to Jackson\u2019s in Tampa for brunch. We are, in fact, celebrating Joanne\u2019s birthday, and the restaurant is one of her faves. Rightly so, as it turns out, since the service & food are wonderful. The crepes were simply to die for, and I had so much other stuff that I never got to my usual omelette. After brunch we parted ways and headed back to my dad\u2019s house, where we (actually Sue) spent the rest of the day doing laundry. To expedite packing on the ship we had just dumped everything in the suitcases all mixed up, and were working from the assumption that everything was dirty. We did grab some dinner from Tijuana Flats (I had black bean flautas, which made my day since you can\u2019t find them anywhere up in CT) and I stopped at the adjacent liquor store to grab a bottle of Licor 43 for my dad\u2019s house. Seriously, the stuff is just fantastic. I was a rock star at dominos that night, but lost in the end to my dad. Tomorrow is Animal Kingdom, and lunch at Yak & Yeti!<\/p>\n Monday, October 31, 2011<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Or maybe not, since it\u2019s pouring and is slated to do so until 3ish. We debated it briefly, but Animal Kingdom is just not a park that\u2019s fun in the rain, so we canceled our lunch reservations and opted to spend the day at home. Since we will now unexpectedly be there for Halloween night, we popped over to the Publix to get some Halloween candy. Ten bags total and we\u2019ll actually run out by 8pm. We played some Uno in the afternoon, and I ended up the current reigning Uno champion! I got to answer the door that night, which was exciting for me since we get zero kids back home. Weirdo of the evening award goes to the adult male with no kids dressed as a clown, trick or treating by himself. Otherwise lots of cute costumes, and we had a ball handing out candy. Nothing else for today \u2013 I fly home tomorrow!<\/p>\n Tuesday, November 1, 2011<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I wanted to make a stop at Goofy\u2019s Candy Kitchen for a peanut butter cookie, so we headed to the Disney Village Marketplace before dropping me off at Orlando airport. We made a side stop at Paradiso 37, which my dad and Sue, who live there, had never heard of but I had researched online last year. We just had cocktails and checked out their menu for future visits, but everything looked really good. The only issue I had was when I couldn\u2019t operate the ladies room faucets and had already soaped my hands up. There I was like an idiot waving my hands all over the place until the bartender used the bathroom and showed me where the sensor was. You\u2019d think they\u2019d make that obvious, but not so much, and since I\u2019d already soaped my hands I couldn\u2019t pop out to ask anybody. If only all my problems were that small! Off to the airport and once I checked in they changed the flight time. Amazing how they never do that until I\u2019m already at the airport! Only a fifteen minute change, though, and the flight was uneventful until I landed at Bradley and saw there were no lights anywhere around the airport. Bradley had been running on generators since the freak winter storm the previous Saturday, and the majority of surrounding towns were still without power. As we got closer to New Haven there were more lights, but it was a creepy ride most of the way home. That\u2019s it for this year\u2019s trip \u2013 I\u2019ll be sailing to Alaska in June 2012, so I\u2019ll be sure to post again then!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Welcome to my 2011 vacation recap! This year will once again by myself, my father (Mark) & his girlfriend Sue. Just a quick day at Epcot Food & Wine Festival, and then we are off on a seven-night Western Caribbean cruise aboard the NCL Star! Scheduled ports of call include Roatan in Honduras, Belize City…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,36,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=104"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":144,"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions\/144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![\"trip-086-small\"](\"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/trip-086-small.jpg\" "\\"trip-086-small\\"")
The flavors were Hibiscus (meh), cocoa (decent), jalapeno (best of the four) & tropical, which tasted like nothing tropical I\u2019ve ever consumed, and I hope never to consume anything like it again. I somehow convinced my dad & Sue to try the tropical infused tequila, which led to a funny comedy of errors, as my dad grabbed Sue\u2019s cucumber margarita to wash down the taste, and Sue grabbed the sangrita to wash down the taste. Unfortunately for Sue the sangrita turned out to be spicy, so she had to quickly grab back her cucumber margarita (which was delicious by the way) to try to eliminate the taste of both the horrible tropical tequila and the sangrita chaser. From there we headed to Norway, where I tried a pear infused cognac liquer called Xante, which I thought was delicious and will pick up when I return home. And then a shout out to George & Danielle Curtis, because I had me some fondue!!!
\n![\"trip-090-small\"](\"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/trip-090-small.jpg\" "\\"trip-090-small\\"")
We\u2019ve been talking about having a fondue party for years, but so far none has been scheduled. Anyway, the cheese fondue came with a sourdough breadstick, and while good, the portion size would have worked out much better with two breadsticks. Just sayin\u2019. We then stopped in Japan for some sparkling sake (I have a souvenir cup) and moved along just in time to catch the new British something-or-other show in the England Pavillion. It replaced a show called British Invasion, which did all sorts of Beatles era hits and was excellent. The new show wasn\u2019t bad, just not as much to my taste. Off to Canada for some maple-glazed salmon, and then we headed to our 6pm Mixology class, hosted by Bacardi rum.
\n![\"trip-092-small\"](\"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/trip-092-small.jpg\" "\\"trip-092-small\\"")
The class lasted about an hour and included an original-style daiquiri (classic lime flavored), a dragonberry mojito, and an absolutely yummy rock coconut pina coloda. The host from Bacardi did a nice job of keeping us entertained between cocktails, and the cocktails were quite good. After that we decided to head out of the park, and opted to take the tram to our section of the parking lot, since we were parked fairly far away. We got onboard and proceeded to take the longest tram ride I\u2019ve ever been stuck on. They did four stops before ours, including ones in parking lots so remote we didn\u2019t even know they were there, and then had to wait for traffic to clear before going to our final stop, lot D for Discovery. Seriously, it had to take at least 25 minutes, which doesn\u2019t sound too bad until you figure out how long the walk to the car takes. Off to the house to finish packing, as we\u2019ll be leaving bright and early tomorrow morning.<\/p>\n
\n![\"trip-127-small\"](\"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/trip-127-small.jpg\" "\\"trip-127-small\\"")
So we\u2019re at the Biergarten drinking the drink of the day (Tropical Passion) and I pull out the Welcome Aboard packet to see if there is a map in it we can use until we get the hang of the layout. My dad, who has paid little attention to the details of this trip, glances at the luggage tags in the packet and says \u201cSTAR, huh? Does that mean starboard?\u201d \u201cNo dad, that would be the name of the ship you\u2019re on.\u201d Good thing he planned to be with one of us in each port! Shortly after that our room was ready, so we went down to check it out. For this sailing we\u2019ll be sharing a balcony stateroom on deck 9, room 9012, all the way forward. Because of its location the balcony is partially enclosed. This will be an important detail to remember a few days later in this recap.<\/p>\n
\n![\"trip-097-small\"](\"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/trip-097-small.jpg\" "\\"trip-097-small\\"")
The pub hop, as it turns out, involves a drink in each bar, which you have approximately 5 minutes to consume, and then you move on to the next bar. Five bars in total, and then you\u2019re done. Our pub hop had 95 people participating, and you are supposed to wait for everyone to have their drinks before you toast and consume, so you can imagine how this went for us. The vast majority of participants were very nice, but then there was a guy who I\u2019ve dubbed \u201cthe woo-hoo guy\u201d. The woo-hoo guy was one of those people who can\u2019t handle his liquor, and immediately upon intoxication begins yelling \u201cWOO-HOO!\u201d over and over again. He was so obnoxious that one of his friends kept trying to lose him amid the crowd of people, but Dennis (the friend) was unsuccessful, since every time they noticed Dennis was missing they would chant \u201cDENNIS! DENNIS! DENNIS!\u201d, until he gave up and returned. Poor Dennis! Not surprisingly, the woo-hoo guy was also the only one to spill his drink. Awhile after the pub hop, Sue & I decided we were sober enough to tack on the first of three martini tastings we would do on the ship over the week. This session included a vodka martini, a Bombay Sapphire gin martini, a bourbon martini with Jim Beam, and something else that escapes my memory. My dad picked us up at the end, I gave him the rest of my Jim Beam martini, and we headed to Aqua for dinner. Again, everything was very good, and we headed over to see the first of their production shows \u201cBand on the Run\u201d, which turned out to be a really enjoyable tribute to the seventies. Here\u2019s where it starts to get interesting – sometime during the evening the captain announced that there was a tropical storm named Rina they had been tracking, and they would continue to monitor it and make sure we carefully avoided it. A visit to the Newlywed Game, followed by some music by the Melodic Trio in the Atrium, and then off to bed.<\/p>\n
\n![\"trip-105-small\"](\"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/trip-105-small.jpg\" "\\"trip-105-small\\"")
By the time we met back up with my dad it was just about lunch time, and the fine folks at Maya Key had put out a delicious spread of fried sea bass, barbecued chicken, coconut rice, salad, etc. Everything was excellent, and the service was top-notch. Actually, the workers kept towel-drying the table and chairs for people so they could try to shelter from the storm.
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We hung around for awhile with cocktails, but the storm just wasn\u2019t clearing up so we decided to head back to the ship to dry off. They do have a lovely beach and a beautiful pool, but it was not to be. A quick stop in the gift shop, and then we were back on the little boat, drenched now in both rain & sea spray. I truly could not have been wetter if I had jumped into the ocean.<\/p>\n
\n![\"trip-118-small\"](\"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/trip-118-small.jpg\" "\\"trip-118-small\\"")
Exciting! So, lacking a better idea I called guest services and asked if they could do anything. \u201cNo problem! We\u2019ll send someone down.\u201d Fifteen minutes later two guys showed up with heavy-duty gloves, a cardboard box, & a handful of towels. One of the guys went out onto the balcony, stood on the rickety table in the gale force winds, plucked the bird out of the corner and put him in the box. They told us they\u2019d let him off the back of the ship in the morning, and went on their merry way. Have a mentioned that NCL has great customer service?<\/p>\n
\n![\"trip-126-small\"](\"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/trip-126-small.jpg\" "\\"trip-126-small\\"")
And it\u2019s a lovely port area, where the vendors are not as pushy as in many of the other islands. It turns out that must be part of the requirements for being within the main port area, because the second we cross the threshold out of it we are bombarded with locals trying to sell us stuff. We are brought to the Calypso Train building, where we are given cold bottled water and plantain chips, and then brought to the \u201ctrain\u201d. It\u2019s really more like a tram, but the car that pulls you is decorated to look like a train. It\u2019s cute, and the tour was really informative. As our tour guide tells us, in Belize the policy is that if you don\u2019t work, you don\u2019t eat, and everyone we meet seems to have two or three jobs. It is the law to send your children to school or you will be fined, and they have a 95% literacy rate. Quite impressive, I thought. The tour took us through both wealthy and poor areas, as well as some spots where I would not have gone on foot for fear of my personal safety. They brought us safely back to the port, where my father purchased a beautiful mahogany walking stick from one of the pushy vendors right outside the door.
\n![\"cimg2835\"](\"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/cimg2835-300x225.jpg\" "\\"cimg2835\\"")
Once back inside I managed to find a gorgeous handmade flask for Dave, and we hit one of the local bars so my dad could try the local beer, Belikin.
\n![\"trip-124-small\"](\"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/trip-124-small.jpg\" "\\"trip-124-small\\"")
After that we meandered our way through the shops over to the Wet Lizard, which I had read about online and wanted to check out. Turns out it\u2019s a really cute little bar. One of the owners, whom we met, was from Atlanta, GA, and if you buy a marker for $1 you can write your name on the bar or the tables or walls and they\u2019ll never paint over it. Also, their large drinks came in a color-changing souvenir cup! If we had more time left we would have hung out there longer and tried some food, as everything from the kitchen smelled delicious, but we were getting close to all-aboard time. Back onboard we attend the free rum punch party, which had been promised earlier in the sailing. After that we made a quick stop at Afternoon Pub Trivia on our way to dinner at Aqua. I didn\u2019t keep track of what we ate each night, but our overall assessment of the food was ranging from good to very good, with a couple of excellents thrown in for good measure. Tonight\u2019s show was slated to be The Second City comedy troupe, but as one of their performers was ill it was changed to something whose name I don\u2019t know, but we\u2019ll call it \u201cA girl & a guy on silks\u201d. Basically it was an acrobatic show where they do all sorts of tricks hanging from two long strips of silk from the ceiling. I\u2019m told the final five minutes were spectacular, but I was bored silly about twenty minutes in and left. We were all a bit tired, so after some casino time we all headed back to the room, where we find that we\u2019ve been invited on a tour of the bridge for Saturday morning \u2013 yippee! Tonight\u2019s announcement tells us that we\u2019re going to Costa Maya tomorrow, so we\u2019ll officially be skipping Cozumel. No Cozumel Bar Hop \u2013 maybe next time!<\/p>\n
\nWe arrived at Gatsby\u2019s martini bar promptly and 6:30, and were told to order whatever cocktails we wanted (on the house, of course), and then at 7pm they would bring us to Versailles to meet the captain & hotel director. Once we got to our table, they took a group photo for us (complimentary, just pick it up tomorrow at the photo shop). Seating was assigned already by named placards \u2013 Sue was next to the captain, and I was next to the hotel director. We were then presented with the wine selection for dinner (white chosen by the captain, red by the hotel director). I had the white, and it was excellent. We ordered from our special souvenir menus (crab cake, tilapia & flan for me) and had dinner. It turns out that the captain\u2019s table is handled by three servers, none of whom are assigned any other table, so you can imagine how impeccable the service was. Everything was delicious, the conversation pleasant, and a fine evening was had by all. After dinner we stopped at the restrooms, where my dad met Kenny the Human Jukebox, the one entertainer we hadn\u2019t managed to see yet. After promising him we\u2019d keep an eye out for his name on tomorrow\u2019s schedule (his show for the night was bumped for the world series), we headed back to Gatsby\u2019s to listen to one of the production show singers accompanied by the pianist who did the Name That Tune game the other night, and we crossed paths with the captain again. Once we had dinner with him, we saw him everywhere! By the way, his real name is Captain Konstantinos Fafalios, and he\u2019s from Greece, and the hotel director was Filippo Bertuzzi from Italy. After the music at Gatsby\u2019s we decided to check out the Second City comedy troupe, which had my dad laughing so hard at one point I thought he was going to hurt himself. Ever play the game Win, Lose or Draw? Or Pictionary? You know that team that always guesses correctly no matter how bad the clues are? The skit was taken from that experience, and it was hilarious. \u201cHow can you get tuna fish from a drawing of a giant X?!?!?\u201d \u201cWell, when we were growing up in Wisconsin\u2026\u201d I can\u2019t do it justice, but trust me, it was hysterical. After that we decided to call it a night. Sea day tomorrow!<\/p>\n
\n![\"trip-132-small\"](\"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/trip-132-small.jpg\" "\\"trip-132-small\\"")
After he spoke he allowed us to roam around and take pictures and ask any additional questions we might have. Sue & I finally discovered the webcam that broadcasts the front of the ship on NCL\u2019s website, as well as the one that streams video to the staterooms. Once our tour was complete we headed to Spinnaker Lounge for How to Run a Floating Hotel, where we see our friends from last night (the captain & the hotel director), as well as the chief engineer and the cruise director. They did a basic Q&A format, and just took questions from the crowd. Everyone asked reasonable questions, with the exception of one guy who seemed to take it personally that the captain didn\u2019t confer with him before changing itinerary. After the Q&A we headed to lunch,
\n![\"trip-135-small\"](\"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/trip-135-small.jpg\" "\\"trip-135-small\\"")
where I had the worst veggie burger ever served on the seven seas. It was supposedly a black bean & vegetable patty, but it was all mushy and gross in the center. No amount of ketchup or dressing could have saved it, so I made due with the fries and some dessert. All told it was the only thing I had all week that I thought was truly horrible, so their track record isn\u2019t too bad. After lunch I decided to try the slot tournament, where I broke my streak of coming in second or third by coming in dead last. I tried some slots on my own for awhile, and kind of lost slowly until 3ish when I went to collect my activities prize. Rather than giving away a prize at each trivia, goofy golf, etc session, they give you a sheet that you get signed showing participation. One signature if you show up, two if you win. My group had shared one card so we had fifteen signatures to \u201cspend\u201d on prizes. I walked away with a NCL can cozy, and a NCL lighted keychain. I opted to skip the final bingo game (because it\u2019s expensive & I\u2019m fundamentally cheap) in favor of our third and final martini tasting, where the kind bartender has promised us if we show up he\u2019ll give us a fifth drink free. The martinis included something lemon, something peach, something chocolate raspberry, something that escapes my memory entirely & finally something espresso. No, I don\u2019t remember the actual names \u2013 that\u2019s as good as it gets. All were tasty and I was sufficiently mellow in time for our final dinner at Aqua, where I had some kind of fish covered in pina colada sauce \u2013 yummy! After dinner we headed to the Stardust Theater for Elements, their finale show, which was quite good. At the end they brought out all the officers and representatives from all the crew departments onto the stage to say goodbye \u2013 it was an excellent close to a fun-filled week. After Elements we finally managed to catch Kenny the Human Jukebox at the Red Lion Pub. Unfortunately we were early enough to catch the end of karaoke, which ranged from good to painful. If a member of your party is atrociously tone-deaf and you know it, don\u2019t push them up on the stage and pretend they are good. That\u2019s all I\u2019m sayin\u2019. Kenny, on the other hand was lots of fun and took a bunch of requests. We were actually sorry we had missed him earlier in the week. Eventually we had to head back to the room and finish getting the suitcases ready to put out, so we left Kenny. Suitcases put out, and we are leaving the Star in the morning. Tomorrow I get to sleep on a normal bed again! If I haven\u2019t mentioned it so far, the sleeper sofa bed is less than comfortable. Basically the top three quarters are hard as a rock, and the bottom quarter is squishy. Also, it is slightly overlapped at the base by a desk, so the only way to get to the balcony is to sit on the squishy foot of the bed and shimmy across.
\n![\"trip-098-small\"](\"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/trip-098-small.jpg\" "\\"trip-098-small\\"")
It\u2019s a less than ideal sleeping arrangement, but I\u2019ve been tired enough each night that it hasn\u2019t bothered me overmuch. Good night!<\/p>\n