After Costa Rica, we headed to Florida and boarded the Enchantment of the Seas for our 5 day cruise. The embarkation process went really smooth. We got through security and we were issued our seapass card without waiting. (For those who haven’t cruised before the seapass card is your combination room key, ID card, and credit card while on board.) We still had to wait a little while before they would open boarding to the ship. So, we went to a lobby area with numerous chairs and had a seat until boarding time. Boarded and our room wasn’t quite ready yet, we found an open bar had a drink and then went to grab lunch. We had cruised before and just booked an interior room this time. We didn’t feel the additional cost warranted a room upgrade. As cabin sizes go on cruise ships, our cabin had plenty of storage of all of our stuff and the bathroom actually had a separate shower, woo hoo!
That night, we checked out that evening’s entertainment, which really wasn’t that impressive. Got to dinner and met our tablemates for the duration of the cruise. They were a very nice young couple celebrating their 2nd wedding anniversary. I know people have differing opinions on the fixed dinner seating, but we actually enjoy it. The wait staff is the same for your table throughout the cruise and they get to know your preferences or in my case that I’m gluten free. Depish, our waiter, started having me preorder for the following evening. That way, I was able to choose anything from the menu and they would make it gluten free. A nice perk!
Overnight we made our way to the Bahamas. Nassau was our first stop. We had arranged a shore excursion out to Pearl Island, which included snorkeling and lunch. We first had to get our free photo and welcome drink. Then we could lounge on the beach and grab a drink until our snorkel time. Pearl Island is on the edge of a coral reef and we encountered many fish while snorkeling. The water was super clear and a great temperature. We both enjoyed the snorkeling part, but thought it was too short as we were only able to snorkel for 30 minutes.
The second day we were supposed to go to Coco Cay, which is Royal Caribbean’s private island. Currently, they do not have a pier and the ship must anchor and they tender you to the island. The winds were up that day and the Captain said that the ship’s anchor was not holding because of the winds. So, a day at sea for us and a earlier arrival at our next destination of Key West. Our day at sea was very relaxing with a leisurely breakfast. Spent the day hiding from the sun because somehow I got burnt again while snorkeling. Next time I’m using one of those rash guard shirts for sure. The guest entertainer for that night was Dario El Gaucho. He was excellent. Dario does a comedy routine that includes dancing while swinging balls attached to ropes. Really it was funny and impressive.
For Key West, we didn’t have any prior excursions planned and just thought we’d figure it out once we got there. So, got off the ship and decided to just do the Hop On/ Hop Off bus. The bus provided a nice tour of the town and we chose to hop off at the most southern point in the continental US. We had already been to the most southern point in the US, which happens to be on the Big Island in Hawaii, so it was natural that we had to stop at this one as well. The point on the Big Island is down a dirt road and you’ll find more people waiting to dive off the cliff than you will taking a picture of a marker. Quite the opposite in Key West. The line was really long to take your picture next to the marker. So, instead I just managed to snap one while people where changing spots.
Had a great lunch at Wille T’s. Had to try some of that conch chowder. It was great even on a hot day. Will needed a quick fix for a missing button on his shorts. Next thing you know we’re at the Walgreens buying a shoe lace. Worked like a charm holding his shorts up until we could get back to the ship. Next we did a free tour of Hemingway’s distillery. Sampled some of the Pilar rum and it was really smooth.
The next day we were back in Miami and had to disembark. Our flight wasn’t leaving until later that day and we wanted to do a little sightseeing on our own,so we rented a car for the day. We chose to drive to the Everglades National Park. Got there and did the Anhinga Trail. This is a short trail not far from the park entrance. This trail is packed with wild life and you’ll probably see your first alligator within 30 seconds. The trail is paved in some places and a boardwalk over the marshland in others, so, the walk was easy. We saw numerous alligators and also the trail’s namesake, the Anhinga birds. When you take the time to really pay attention you’ll see many turtles, fish and other wildlife as well. We also wanted to do an air boat ride out over the Everglades. They don’t allow air boat rides in the park, but have some concessionaires off of highway 41 that do. We went to Everglades Safari. The ride started out great. The breeze was cool and they had issued us earplugs to combat the noise of the huge fans of the boat. The pilot had stopped to explain some things and noticed a large black cloud headed our way. It started raining like crazy and we were pelted by huge rain drops. Got back to the dock and hudled under one of the shelters for about 10 minutes until the rain died. Then it was back to grab a quick bite to eat before our flight. Found a great little Cuban place right near the airport in Fort Lauderdale.
We were headed off to Houston to meet up with friends for a concert the next night. Made it to Houston and proceeded to pick up our second rental car of the day. What an absolute nightmare! They only had 2 people working and about 20 people in line at the Thrifty/Dollar rent a car. There were a couple of kiosks for self rental, but those weren’t working either. The other rental agencies didn’t seem to have such an influx of people. So, Thrifty was a reasonable deal, but the customer service was really lacking that day.
The next day, we had planned to go check out the Houston Space Center. This is place where they do the mission control for NASA space flights. We immediately jumped in line for the tram tour. When we first got in line we were told that the wait would be an hour or so and we decided to wait it out. We ended up spending 2 hours and 10 minutes in line before boarding the tram. Seriously, their skills at estimated wait times leave a lot to be desired. I had been there many years ago when they had timed entries for their tours. Timed entries have been discontinued not sure why, as we felt that our entire time was spent in line waiting instead of looking at the various exhibits.
The Historic Mission Control was fun to see. They have kept things exactly as they were back then and it is officially a historic site. We also got to tour the Model testing area. Interesting to see what they are working on now and how the development takes place. Once finally done with the tour we were able to grab a bite to eat and see most of the other exibihits. Standing in line seemed to be a theme in Houston for us.
That night we went to the Pink concert. And if you’ve never seen one of her concerts, you should. She’s really an amazing performer.
Sunday came and we were all flying out. Met some friends of a friend for brunch at Riva’s Italian Restaurant. The food was great and the company even better.