Caribbean Getaway: Rockin’ Back to Houston

Saturday, 23 January 2016 (Part III)
Green Caye RV Park – Dickinson, Texas
Temps: Hi 62F (17C) / Lo 34F (1C)

It’s been fun sitting in the Phaeton and recalling the Caribbean cruise we disembarked just this morning.

While in real life we might be off the ship, in writing we are still aboard NCL Jade since the previous post related the story of our three ports of call, but stopped short of returning us to Houston.  We still have two days at sea to complete the northbound leg of our itinerary.

Chocolaty treats from guest relations — a thank you for taking the time to chat with their rep and share our impressions of the cruise.

So, let’s travel back in time to bring us to the present.

Thursday, 21 January … At Sea in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico

Captain Vanja had advised us before leaving Roatán that today would be the smoother of our two days at sea.  He also said it would be warmer; and we’d have some sunshine.  He was right, but those conditions applied to the latter part of our day only.  The wind — which the NavChannel showed as a Force 6, Strong Breeze (25-31 mph/38-49 kph) — was bad enough that when I went for my morning walk on the deck 7 promenade, the starboard doors were cordoned off.  No matter.  I used the portside doors to get outside.

In the late afternoon, patchy blue skies and some sunshine grace our day at sea.

I enjoyed the veranda most of the day, alternately writing in my journal or reading as the mood struck.  At one point, Mui and I decided to check out the bridge observation room on deck 11 forward.  We’ve been on expedition vessels on which an open bridge policy is the norm, so a ship’s bridge doesn’t hold as much mystique for us as it does for others.  Nonetheless, it was fun to get a glimpse of Jade’s command center — albeit from behind the glass.  Our timing was such that we were there when Captain Vanja came on the bridge to make an announcement verifying that we had stormy seas ahead for the next day.

A quiet day on the bridge of NCL Jade.

No one’s in the captain’s seat.  the helmsman is nowhere to be seen.  Cruise control anyone?

Captain Vanja — the closer of the two officers in white — making his P/A
announcement to remind us that stormy seas await us.

A screen in the observation room shows the ship’s heading and other pertinent info.

Amongst Jade’s “first visit” plaques, Mui finds one for İstanbul and another for İzmİr.

I was on the veranda late in the afternoon when I saw hints of color in the sky.  I decided to head down to the deck 7 promenade to enjoy the sunset — and what a sunset it was … cotton candy pink dominated the sky, turning blue to lavender and all shades in between.

The aft sunset view that entices me to go to the port promenade for a glorious sunset.

How’s that for a colorful ending to a quiet day at sea?

Dinner was at Cagney’s Steakhouse.  Though this venue is open to suite guests for breakfast and lunch, it reverts to a fee-based restaurant at night.  We had dined here on the TransAtlantic as guests of Mehmet, the restaurant manager who hails from my hometown in Turkey, so we knew we were in for a good meal.  We were not disappointed; nor, I think, were the Z’s.

Friday, 22 January … At Sea in the Gulf of Mexico

One thing that small ship expedition voyaging in polar regions has done for us is to help us get our sea legs.  In 2007, we bobbed like a cork in 40-foot (12m) seas aboard the 1,753 GRT Professor Molchanov, an old Russian research vessel.  In 2015, we stood on deck photographing mollymawks off Campbell Island while it was blowing 84 knots (97 mph/156 kph) … that was on the 4,575 GRT Ortelius. With those cruises under our belt, you can imagine that the very rough sea state of 12-18 feet (3.6-5.4 m) and Force 8 Gale (39-46 mph/ 62-74 kph) didn't seem like much of a storm to us aboard the 93,558 GRT Jade.  The tonnage I noted doesn't need to mean anything to you — except to underscore that in a storm, size does matter ;-)

A promising sunrise with crepuscular rays greets us on our second day at sea.

Don’t get me wrong, the ship was moving … and we felt it whether we were sitting or moving about.  But it didn’t bother us much.  Except that we could not use the deck 7 promenade for our morning walk.  And because it was so darn cold, I couldn’t sit on the veranda much. What a bummer :-(

Worth standing in the crisp morning air to enjoy this sunrise from our aft veranda.

We used our forced-indoors time to pack our bags — didn’t take much time.  Went shopping to use up the rest of our non-refundable onboard credit — a bottle of Chanel’s Mademoiselle perfume took care of that.  And later watched a movie on the TV in the cabin — Tom Hanks’ Bridge of Spies; based on the true story of the Able-Powers spy exchange in the 1960s … two thumbs up.

We receive our luggage tags and disembarkation instructions.

We bid the Z’s farewell at dinner as we planned to be in the early group to disembark — stuff to do at home don’t you know ;-)

Saturday, 23 January … Back in Houston

Brrrr!  What a rude awakening we had when we stepped out on the veranda this morning.  The temp was 34F (1C)!!!  Good thing we had our fleece jackets and windbreakers — the windchill was ugly.

We had time for one last breakfast at Cagney’s as the sun rose on the horizon.  Then we were off to the Jasmine Garden, another fee-based dining venue, which was designated as the suite disembarkation lounge.  NCL did a good job of the priority disembarkation.  Bruno, the suite concierge, snuck us out a service door and escorted us to a check-out station set aside for suite passengers.  Our bags were waiting in a cordoned off area where they were easy to locate.  From the time we swiped our ship’s cards to when we were in the car only 13 minutes had elapsed — and that included going through immigration and customs.  Speediest disembarkation ever from a ship the size of Jade.

Houston, we have a problem!  It’s too cold.  Please warm up the temperature … fast.

Another 20 minutes found us at home.  With the sun shining bright, the temperature did eventually warm up to reach the day’s high of 62F (17C) — not bad for a winter day.

And thus concluded our Caribbean getaway.  Will we do another NCL cruise?  Depends.  NCL won’t ever be our go-to cruise line, but for the right itinerary at the right price we would consider it.  There was a convenience factor to sailing NCL twice now in short succession.  It was nice to sail the Jade across the TransAtlantic to Houston last November.  And it was easy peasy to take this Caribbean cruise roundtrip out of Houston.  But that convenience factor is being eliminated in April.  NCL is pulling Jade out of here and homeporting her elsewhere.  No plans to put another ship in Houston or Galveston, so it might be a while before we find ourselves doing freestyle cruising on NCL.

Additional photos from our Caribbean cruise are in my online gallery.

© 2004-2016 Two to Travel.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by ERIN ERKUN.

Caribbean Getaway: Ports of Call

Saturday, 23 January 2016 (Part II)
Green Caye RV Park – Dickinson, Texas
Temps: Hi 62F (17C) / Lo 34F (1C)

The previous post saw us embarking NCL Jade at the Port of Houston and enjoying a quiet — albeit a slightly rocky and fairly coolish — day at sea en route to the first of the three Caribbean ports of call on this itinerary.

Now it’s time to disembark the ship and have fun on land for a bit.

A pastel sunrise greets us on the 3rd day of our cruise.

Get ready, get set, go for landing as our buddies at NASA might say ;-)

Monday, 18 January … Cozumel, Mexico

Before we left Houston Captain Vanja advised us that the rough seas we’d be encountering on the way south would delay us by three hours, putting our arrival in Cozumel at 11:00a.  No problem.  All we had arranged was a beach day — and besides, I always welcome veranda time at sea.

The captain was spot on with his timing.  We took advantage of the suite lounge — otherwise known as the Star Bar — to wait to be escorted off the ship as soon as Jade was cleared.  This was handled much better than embarkation.  We were taken down to the gangway via a service elevator and shown to one of two security check-points to sign out for the day.  No one yelled out that we were priority passengers, and as far as the others were concerned, we could have been just a group going off on an NCL shore excursion.

The Star Bar serves as the gathering place for suite passengers disembarking Jade.

When we visit Cozumel, we normally hangout at Mr Sancho’s — it’s a great swimming beach where the warm, crystal clear Caribbean waters even entice me into the sea.  This time I suggested we go to Nachi Cocom Beach Club — not because it is necessarily better, but because it works on a reservation system, limiting the number of guests to only 100.  Occupancy today was well below that number — mostly due to the low temp, coolish-breeze, and partly cloudy conditions.  The sea was also quite choppy today, so I didn’t venture in, but Mui spent a considerable amount of time in the water.

We had heard that the seaweed that plagued us in Port Aransas last year
was on the Caribbean beaches this year … but not in large piles like we had.

Left: diligently cleaning up small piles of seaweed along the beach.
Right: Palapa, palm trees, and white sand — icons of Caribbean beaches.

Left: My favorite beach activity is to enjoy a good book in the shade of a palapa.
Right: This is not a snorkel beach, but Mui brings his mask and snorkel along to test them.

The waiter who escorted us to our waterside palapa and chaise lounges took excellent care of us.  He stopped by frequently to see if we needed anything.  Later, when we were ready for the lunch that was included in the $55pp admission, he brought our order out to the beach for us to enjoy.  Vendors selling massages and hair braiding, and others renting water toys, were present as they always are, but they accepted a polite “no, gracias” without being pushy.

Do we have enough food or what?  And this doesn’t even include dessert.
The all-inclusive lunch consists of an appetizer, soup or salad, a main course,
and a dessert for each of us — all ordered a la carte off the regular menu.
As for drinks — open bar for both adult beverages and soft drinks.

All in all, I’d say we made the most of our time at Nachi Cocom, especially enjoying ourselves when the sun came out to remind us of how beautiful the aqua waters and white sand beaches of the Caribbean can be.

I never thought I’d ever have to use fleece jackets and Cozumel in the same sentence.  But I am forced to do so for this port call.  The day’s high of 73F (23C) declined quickly in the late afternoon.  A cold breeze really chilled the air, forcing us to put on fleece jackets to watch the Cozumel shoreline disappear from sight as Jade headed further south.

Tuesday, 19 January … Belize City, Belize

A sprinkling of rain greeted us at our second port of call.  We visited Belize the first time in the summer of 2003.  On that occasion we went inland to visit the Mayan ruins of Xunantunich.  For today’s visit, we joined the Z’s and a threesome from the ship for a private excursion to the Community Baboon Sanctuary — home to the black howler monkeys of Belize.  En route, we made an unplanned stop at the school where our guide’s wife teaches school.  The kids were in class, but they took a minute to stand up and welcome us — cute kids, but I didn’t take any photos so as not to be disruptive.

Howler Monkey skeleton at the sanctuary museum at Bermudian Landing.

The sanctuary is a grassroots conservation effort that involves private landowners in seven villages along the Belize River who have pledged to conserve their land to protect the baboons (as they refer to the howlers in the local Kriol dialect).  It is an entirely volunteer effort that is working well to everyone’s advantage — humans and howlers alike.

Can’t miss this brightly painted police station near the village school.

Arriving in Bermudian Landing, where the sanctuary effort began, we went into the museum to pay the $5pp admission fee (later deducted from the tour fee) and meet up with our guide, Robert.  A local with first hand knowledge of the flora and fauna of the sanctuary, he has also gone through the official Belizean tour guide training.  After telling us about how the conservation effort came about, he escorted us on a walk through the rain forest, stopping to point out plants and trees that are used as herbal remedies.

The black howler monkeys live in the trees, going about life as usual in close proximity
to the people who have dedicated themselves to the volunteer conservation program.

Our walk ended in a clearing just outside the backyard of one of the landowners.  At first the howlers were little more than black blobs moving in the canopy.  Robert enticed a youngster with a banana, but it is illegal to feed the monkeys so he desisted from giving the fruit to the animal.  Other youngsters soon came down from their perches to feed on leaves and tender shoots that they tore off the tree branches.  The alpha male was quite vocal about making sure we knew that we were in his territory.  He came down from the canopy, but kept his distance, howling almost the entire time.  I got one photo of him, but it was the “wrong end” of the monkey — I won’t share it in the blog to protect the sensibilities of my readers, but you can click the link in the first part of this sentence if you are curious ;-)

I  lied — here’s the territorial male in mid howl.

Enjoy a minute with a Howler.

To say that we thoroughly enjoyed the visit to the sanctuary would be an understatement.  Even the light rain that was falling when we first came ashore let up during our short hike and visit with the monkeys, making both all the more enjoyable.  On the drive back to the ship, however, it started raining and the downpour didn’t let up until after Jade left its anchorage in the bay.

Carnival Glory leaves Belize during the heavy downpour that marks the end of today’s port visit.

Sorry, no colorful ending to the fourth day of our cruise.

Wednesday, 20 January … Isla de Roatán, Honduras

This was our first visit to Roatán Island — to Honduras in fact.  MBZ had said this was a primo snorkeling place.  With that in mind, I took the easy way out and reserved the same NCL shore excursion that they booked — the Tabyana Beach Break — so that Mui could enjoy the underwater world.

A pastel sunrise greets us for our day on Roatán Island.

This was another tender port and we had a very early call of 7:00a for disembarkation.  The sun came out while we were having breakfast, and it was downright hot by the time we got off the tender boat at the pier.  Alas, the sun was just passing through and spent most of the day teasing us by hiding behind the clouds more often than not.

Tenders launched and getting ready to ferry passengers ashore.

NCL Jade anchored off Isla de Roatán.

The ride to the beach was on a rutted, pot-hole filled road that wound its way up and down hills and through poverty-stricken villages.  When we arrived at Tabyana, we were given a short briefing and escorted to the lounge chairs lined up like soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder — definitely not our style of beaching it.  But the reef was just offshore, so that was a good thing.  After seeing me settled in the shade of sea grape trees, Mui lost no time getting in the water even though it was quite choppy.  That was the last I saw of him for most of the rest of the morning.

Left: Side by side loungers aren’t my idea of a good beach break, but I make do.
Right: GoPro in hand, Mui’s ready to go snorkeling.

Despite the chop that pushes him and the fish around, Mui’s happy with the day’s snorkeling.

Once Mui had his fill of the tropical fish and the coral, we adjourned to the outdoor dining room for the included-lunch — beverages from the cash bar where you could run a tab if you so wished.  The food was served buffet style and included burgers, hot dogs, and barbecued chicken.  All was tasty, but I particularly liked the fresh cut-up fruit … very refreshing.

While we were eating lunch the sun came out and stayed out for a while.  We were all set to leave on the next shuttle back to the cruise terminal, but I knew Mui would later regret missing one last swim in such conditions.  So I convinced him to change back into his swimwear and go for a dip — no snorkeling, just a relaxing swim this time.

Panorama of the beach around 1:00p when the sun was out and the water was much calmer.

The cruise ship terminal was crowded, so we didn’t dally after the shuttle dropped us off.  There was a tender just about to leave for the ship and we were on it.  I spent the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening on the veranda, enjoying the balmy Caribbean temperatures and light breezes.

NCL Dawn remains docked as we bid Farewell to Roatán and weigh anchor.

Jade was an hour late leaving its anchorage.  Turns out there was a problem winching aboard one of the tenders.  No matter ... I enjoyed sitting on the veranda until dinner time — a light meal at the Garden Café buffet with the Z’s.

Two days at sea completed the itinerary.  I’ll leave them to the next post …

© 2004-2016 Two to Travel.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by ERIN ERKUN.

Winter Getaway to the Caribbean

Saturday, 23 January 2016 (Part I)
Green Caye RV Park – Dickinson, Texas
Temps: Hi 62F (17C) / Lo 34F (1C)

A week ago at about this time we were sitting in the Grand Pacific Dining Room aboard NCL Jade.  Not for a meal, mind you.  Rather, we were there to attend the required muster drill before the ship could set sail from the Port of Houston for our seven-day winter getaway to the Caribbean.

We returned home this morning.  The bags are unpacked and the first load of laundry is in the washing machine.  I managed to stay on top of my journaling during the cruise, so I’m ready to write all about it.

A seven night cruise with three ports of call for fun.

So let’s embark Jade and seek some warmth and sunshine!  At least that was the plan.  I have to admit the weather did not cooperate — at least not like it has on past cruises to the Caribbean.  What can I say?  Blame it on El Niño … that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Saturday 16 January …

Although the online documents suggested we arrive at noon to embark the ship, I had checked the Port of Houston webcam and knew Jade was in port.  So, at 10:00a we left the motorhome plugged in at the RV park and headed to the Bayport Cruise Terminal where we joined up with the Z’s to check in for the cruise.

Hello Jade!  We’ll be aboard soon.

When we booked this cruise a year ago NCL had a sale on suites.  Since this was also a birthday gift of sorts for Mui — the big 6-0 don’t you know — I splurged on one of the aft suites.  I had heard that NCL does suites right … starting with a suite check-in desk and lounge, which kept us out of the long lines at the regular counter.  I appreciated that convenience, but can’t say that I liked the way they handled the boarding later when our escort simply cut into the passenger queue on the gangway, calling out that he had priority passengers and to let us through … it was embarrassing to say the least.

Jade reflected in the windows of the Bayport Cruise Terminal.

Anyway, once aboard Jade, we dropped off our bags in our suite and headed to the Cagney’s Steakhouse.  An otherwise fee-based specialty restaurant, this venue is open to suite passengers for breakfast and lunch.  Together with the Z’s, we enjoyed a quiet meal … and a very tasty one at that.

A quiet embarkation lunch at Cagney’s.

After lunch, we headed to our stateroom.  We were on this ship for the TransAtlantic that returned us to Houston last November.  Our cabin on that cruise was an aft cabin as well.  In fact, it was the cabin adjacent to the one I booked for this cruise.  I didn’t care for the décor last time; nor did I this time, but at least I knew what to expect when we stepped into 10166.

10166 … as seen from the entry leading into the cabin.

The en suite and dressing room are behind the wall next to the bed.

Left: Dressing area with small closet and drawer space on the left.
Center: The main closet can be accessed from either the dressing room or the entry.
Right: a coffee/tea machine is one of the suite perks — Mui will enjoy that.

A three section en suite … would have preferred a shower, but I’ll make do.

An oversized veranda … my favorite part of the suite.  The cabin we were in for
the TransAtlantic is on the other side of the white panels behind the chaise lounge.

Our bags arrived after the muster drill, so we left the unpacking until after the 4:00p sailaway.  Unfortunately, it was pouring rain at the time Jade threw off her bowline and headed off into the bay, so it was a rather soggy departure.

First time we’re having to resort to using an umbrella on the veranda.

The rain let up not long after we were on the move.  By the time we were passing Galveston the overcast and rain were no more, and we got to enjoy a gorgeous sunset … which I chose to take as a good omen for what the Caribbean had in store for us … HAH!

The E’s and the Z’s, just a few staterooms apart, bid each other happy cruising.

A colorful postcard from sailaway.

Passing Galveston, which we recognize from our week-long stay there earlier this month.

It wasn’t long before Jade started rolling gently.  The Captain had advised that we would have some rough seas on the way south, but I wasn’t expecting this much movement in the bay.  Certainly there was enough of it that Mui had to come up with a way to keep the door from banging shut with each roll while we were on the veranda enjoying the sunset.  No, keeping the door closed was not an option — we tried, but each time the ship rolled the other way, the door just slid open … it was a no win situation ;-)

Mui’s ingenious solution for keeping the veranda door from sliding open or closing.

Dinner was a quiet one with the Z’s.  We went to the Garden Café buffet for something light as no one was in the mood for a full blown meal.  Our post-dinner stroll on the deck 7 promenade was cut short by a stiff, cold wind, so we returned to the cabin to unpack and settle in.

Like a cradle, Jade rocked us to sleep when we finally called it a day.

Sunday, 17 January … At Sea

We had one day at sea before our first port of call.  It didn’t take us long to slide into our routine for days at sea — a two-mile walk on the deck 7 promenade … once the seas moderated a bit; table service breakfast at Cagney’s; quiet time reading on the veranda; a second walk on the promenade for me.  I had to wrap beach towels around my legs to sit outside in the morning, but by the time the afternoon rolled around, I no longer needed them to keep warm.  We closed the day with another lovely sunset.

I’ll leave the rest of the cruise to the next post …

© 2004-2016 Two to Travel.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by ERIN ERKUN.