DAY 5 ROATAN

I set the alarm for 6:30am and we headed to the buffet for breakfast in search of eggs that were not runny. I was NOT successful.

I settled for the cholesterol rising french toast, yummy sugary whipped cream and the I'm gonna be a diabetic soon syrup.

Here we come Roatan...WITH my pool towels this time!

We have arrived...like seriously...we're here...where we will stay...in the water docked. Darnit. We would be tendering this time around thanks to the Dawn getting priority and they are not even here yet. 

They lowered the life boats and the hubby said we would be using those. I informed him that they do the life boat drills every week and that's probably what they were doing. (I was wrong and he rubbed it in of course).

We headed back to the room to pick up our bags (and towels) and headed down to get off around 8:15am. We were up on the pool deck and I swear they did not make an announcement that we had been cleared and could leave. I just happened to look over the edge and seen them letting people onto the boats to take them over to the port. Grr.

We flashed our VIP Platinum Special People We've Spent So Much Money With Your Company cards and we were directed toward the line for the tenders. We made it to the steps and stopped, without moving, for a good 5 minutes. The wonderful crew member at the bottom of the stairs informed us that the Dawn was making her grand entrance and taking the "parking spot" at the dock and there would be a delay. This guy was so funny and kept us entertained while we waited. You know, what we are normally use to with the NCL crew, unlike Rasfah. I'm just glad we stopped on the steps...it gave me a place to rest my newly 50 year old legs until they were moving again.

It was a short tender ride over. Sakari insisted on stopping for pictures after getting off the boat because these were the friendly characters.

The dancers were out in full force and wanting your tips.

We would quickly wind our way out of the port area and onto the street to look for our tour guide and van.

So once again, we are headed to Little French Key for the (I think) 3rd time. There are so many changes each time we go it's just simply amazing. You think they can't do any more and then they prove you wrong. This is seriously the most beautiful place on earth.

To read my full review, click the following tab:

Back at port

The tenders were going back and forth and there really wasn't much of a line even though it was getting close to all aboard time.

We made it back to the ship and there were still people tendering over well after 3pm.

We could see the Carnival ship over at Mahogany Bay. There were 2 there that day: Dream & Valor, I believe it was. The island that you see in the picture is Maya Key.

We headed to our rooms and it was time to shower and go get something to eat...again.

I decided I wanted to eat on the back of the ship outside and enjoy the view.

I always manage to get a weird combination of food when I'm cruising. 

Hanging out on the pool deck while we were pulling away.

You see how happy she is now??? It won't last for much longer....

We head back to the room to grab.... 

our HOMEWORK!!! Oh my, you would have thought that Sakari was having a mental breakdown. Remember that nice little well-behaved girl that I brag out? No more. Not at the moment. I got the whining, the puppy dog eyes, the rebellious side...she just did not want to ruin this lovely day she just experienced...doing homework to finish the day out. Well, neither did I but it was a must.

We headed to the buffet area and the hubby was in charge of helping her while I worked on one of my papers. She was in a "mood" by this time. She couldn't concentrate, she was pouting, she was not paying attention. She was really giving him a hard time. I believe she would purposely tell him the wrong answers so he would give up on her. They were simple logical questions and answers and she was doing everything to make it hard on him. For instance (this was not on there, but just an example) A dog likes to chew on a.... 1) bone 2) water 3) baby. What do you think she picks? She starts out with 3...BABY! Like seriously? Then her next answer would be 2...Water!! Ok, you're doing this crap on purpose. It went on for quite some time. She was going to refuse to be sensible for anything at all. I had the hubby walk away. I closed my computer. I made jokes and helped her out. She did the work. She did it right. He returned and she was done and instantly my computer died. That meant we had been there for 2 hours (my battery life) and it was time to go. Enough homework time for the day.

At 6pm, it was time to have adult time and Sakari headed to the kids club. She was complaining again about not wanting to go. Where is my child???? What has someone done with my child that begs to go to the kids club???? I don't get it. She told me she is so tired of going there and doing the SAME THING over and over every cruise again. I told her that means she is like the leader of the crew and could help others out since she knew everything already. She wasn't happy, but she went.

Where do you think we headed? Yep, back to the casino to try our luck again. 

WOO HOO!! I won the free spin category. Give me that money! Momma needs a new pair of shoes. Well, not really, I need another cruise.

.60¢ Are you serious??? Please tell me this isn't any indication of what tonight was going to bring. You wait for so long to get that free spin category and to only win .60¢???

Ok, that's a little better now...

As you can see...between the last machine and this one, I had managed to bring my $20 I put in up to $90 now. Not bad.

I decided that the Carnival Rio had treated me badly and I would give her another shot at making amends.

Yep, she gave me $21.10 off this spend. That will work. Hey, it's more than what I originally walked into this place with.

I cashed out and decided since I was over $100 already, I would put this ticket in with our other winnings.

I put in another $20 and started over (I normally bring $40 for each of us when we go to the casino). This time Pixie dust was surrounding me and before long I was almost at another $100 with another win.

One last try on the leopard game and it was almost time for the show. I was able to get the bonus and put my cash winnings over the $100 mark again and cash out a happy lady.

We walked out happy (well I did) and headed to the atrium to check out getting another cruise certificate. I mean I do still need to sail the Gem to complete all the ships except for the Escape that just came out. I would need at least 1 cruise certificate.

We met Barb, the nice cruise consultant that gave us our ship tour, in her office and sat down. We went over various cruises, in order to book a "cruise next" and get added value, and settled on the Escape for next year. So, I may or may not keep this booking. We'll see. We talked with Barb for a long time. We really got to know each other and she was great to talk to. She told us about how she got her job with NCL, what she did previously, her ex, her house and selling it, her life before cruise ships and her life now. She told us about their work schedule and the rooms they stay in. She told us about the crew. She told us about the Captain and "some things" he said to her... she just turned 58 and didn't look it at all. She was such a joy and we really appreciated our time with her. I love getting to know people that work on the cruise line, especially when you get to know them as a person.

It was time to head to the show. There was a comedian there tonight and I love comedians. I love to laugh. That's what it's all about. 

Well, once again the comedians have rotated ships and we have seen this guy before. He still had most of the same material, but he does like to incorporate the audience into his jokes as well, so that always mixes it up...which was hilarious and we still enjoyed it.

After the show, we picked up Sakari from the kids club and headed to get our "dinner" for the night. Once again, I wanted to go outside to eat and we headed to the back of the ship. 

I always like hanging out back here at night with the light post all lit up and a gentle breeze blowing. It's the perfect place to hang out at and just talk.

Sakari immediately discovered that the Jade had picked up a hitchhiker in Roatan.

She met a friend from the kids club and her parents came over and ask if it was ok if their daughter sat with Sakari to eat because they were "friends". Sakari told her to pull up a chair because she already had a "friend" sitting in the chair beside her (the dragonfly). The girls ate and once they were done, the parents came over and talked to us for a little while and then it was time to go.

We picked up some ice cream for desert and headed to the room. Sakari insisted on another picture by the statues.

Once back at the room, we had a new friend.

I made it a point to take this picture...

Isn't it amazing that we don't have any more early morning port days and all of a sudden Rasfah decides that he is going to start leaving us pool towels again? Nice! Notice there's a regular towel sitting on top too? Someone tell me why it's sitting on the pool towels, in our room, instead of in the bathroom with the other towels?

The family went to bed and I decided I would try to get a little more of my paper done. I had major issues trying to log on and it kept saying I was already logged on to a device. I checked and doubled checked our phones. We were logged out. The wifi was turned off. I worked on it for about 1/2 hour and got super frustrated and finally gave up. This issue would happen almost every night if you tried to log on after 11pm...the time there is no representative in the Internet Cafe to help you out of course.

Off to bed I went at 12:30pm.