thefouramigosblog

Today we woke to lush scenery from our balcony.

The last time we were in Roatan, I fractured my thumb. Ouch. It left me feeling mildly nauseous so we didn’t venture further than the port.

Today we hired M&J Tours with our driver, Kurt. He has only been working as a tour guide for a few months, but he was informative and fun to hang with. The tour cost $55 per person plus tips.

We had a tour of the countryside as we headed to the sloth and monkey sanctuary. We passed a giant solar farm.

At the sanctuary, we first met a few of the macaws. We were even given some seeds to feed them.

Next we met the monkeys. He loved Bruce’s hat.

And last but not least, the sloths. People are no longer able to hold them since it was causing them health issues.

Instead of the beach, Kurt took us to Bad Ass Java for coffee. It was a great spot on the mountain.

Here are some of the lovely sites we saw along the way.

We ate at a gas station with the locals. I had shrimp, plantains and rice.

Bruce had bean soup. It had a whole boiled egg in it.

After eating we headed back to the ship.

We had a fun time with Kurt from M&J Tours.

@roatan@honduras

#cruising#tourexcursion#m&jtours#monkeys#sloths#macaws

Today we decided to take the tender from the Regal Princess to Belize and immediately return.

The water was lovely with different shades of bluish green.

It was suggested to take a photo of the Regal Princess from the tender.

It was quite cloudy, and the ship was rocky. After a few minutes, it started to rain, so we headed downstairs.

As we approached Belize, we could see a lighthouse in the distance.

The buildings were very colorful at the port.

But we’ve been here before and did cave tubing, which was great fun. This time we decided to sit it out.

Back on the ship, we listened to music, met up with some people for coffee and conversation, and had dinner with an interesting group.

Someone left a cute little duck on our balcony. I’m not sure what this duck thing is, but people hide them on every cruise I go on.

Tomorrow I’m excited about going to Roatan.

@regalprincess

#belize#tender#lighthouse#cruising

This time we are on the Regal Princess.

We were on this ship in 2018 on a Transatlantic where we disembarked in Copenhagen.

We spent some time in the Piazza listening to music and watching the production cast perform.

Dinner was ok. Princess doesn’t have escargot on the menu every night, so I had shrimp cocktail.

We played in the casino a bit and are ahead, which is nice.

We were both very tired, so we went to our cabin and watched an old movie. That’s one thing Princess does well. They have a lot of movies if you want to chill in your cabin.

We had a sea day yesterday and spent the morning at a presentation about our ports, then went to the gym. It was much more crowded, but I was able to do weights and the treadmill.

I ate more beef for lunch and a tiny salad. I’m working hard not to gain weight on this cruise. They say the average person gains about 7-8 lbs. on a 7-day cruise.

We met up with friends for coffee and then dressed for the formal night. Even on Princess, there is very little dressing up. I had escargot, which Princess has on formal nights.

Today we woke early to go to Nachi Cocom Beach Resort. It was a beautiful day out on our balcony.

We took a taxi to the resort, which was easy to find, for $20 each way.

For $79 each, there was an open bar and food. I had a virgin pina colada, and there were four courses to the lunch. I had chicken, and Bruce had guacamole.

The beach was lovely, and we spent time under a palapa.

There were kayaks to rent, and people went parasailing.

I accidentally stepped on a sea urchin and have some of its spines in my foot. It hurts a bit, but hopefully it doesn’t get infected.

Now we are leaving Cozumel for Belize! Its been a relaxing cruise.

Now we are on the second cruise of our back-to-back. It was a four day and three day. Same ports but no sea day on the second one.

So how do you do a back-to-back? Find the cruise that follows the one you are on, and book it.

On departure day, all those on the back to back meet up and get off, go through getting a new photo, basically customs, and then reboard.

We met up in the Tuscan Grill. Coffee, tea, juice and pastries waiting for us. Thank goodness since no room service on disembarkation day.

We had a relaxing day sitting on our balcony, enjoying the quiet before the hordes of people boarded.

And Bruce was so sweet. He bought me a necklace I’ve admired for at least five years. I was hesitant because it was expensive and I’m not much for jewelry. But I really think I will wear this one.

We decided to venture out into Key West this round.

I was looking for conch fritters. And I found them at The Salty Frog.

Bruce had a fried grouper sandwich, which he really liked.

For entertainment, there were a half dozen chickens and roosters serenading.

We stopped in for a little ice cream.

It was very hot out so after walking around town we headed back to the ship.

Now we are heading out towards Nassau!

I have fond memories of the Celebrity Reflection. It is the ship that made us fall in love with cruising. We took it from Fort Lauderdale to Rome. We spent many a day enjoying the Persian Garden Spa.

Now, 10 years later, we are Elite, and I get a free day during port days. I will probably go when we are in Nassau.

Today we went to the gym. I actually spent 15 minutes on the bike and then did weights.

We met my friend Susan for lunch and had planned to walk around Key West, but instead we read our books.

In the afternoon, we had coffee with friends. That was really nice. We love meeting new people.

I had escargot two nights now. My feet get a little swollen from excess sodium.

Today we have a sea day, so we will just chill out and enjoy the day!

Today was a fun day. I bought tickets to Beetlejuice at the Kravis Center in Palm Beach.

I used Bruce’s Chase Sapphire Reserve to book the tickets. The card gives you $150 back using StubHub each half-year so the tickets came to $147. What’s crazy is the outrageous fees StubHub charges. The tickets were $40 each so over $60 in fees. If it weren’t for the reimbursement, I wouldn’t buy through StubHub.

We shared a sandwich before showtime.

Our seats were in Loge section. And it was great.

The show was fun and it was a musical. A bit of profanity and some sexual innuendos, so I’m not sure how parents with young children felt about that.

Afterwards, we ate at the Butcher’s Club at the PGA Resort. We shared tuna Ceviche, Caesar salad, asparagus, and a Wagyu steak.

It was $171. But again Bruce’s Chase Sapphire Reserve will reimburse us $150 twice a year. I try to take advantage of all the card has to offer.

The PGA resort looked like a really nice place to stay.

So a lovely date day with my hubby!

#chasesapphirereserve#butchersclub#pgaresort#kraviscenter#palmbeach#florida#beetlejuice#theater

We woke up to a view of snow-covered mountains in Whittier, Alaska.

We traveled by train from Whittier to Anchorage. It was a domed train that gave us excellent views.

We saw snow-capped mountains and open water for miles. I hoped to spot a whale but did not.

The water has a bluish green tint being glacial waters.

Bruce took a photo of mountain goats although it’s hard to see. They were way up high.

We made it to Anchorage with time to spare before our flight. There were no lounges in the Anchorage airport except the Alaska Airlines Lounge. It would have been $70 for the two of us to go in so we passed.

We arrived in Reno late. The view from our room at Circus Circus was ok.

We rented a car and drove to Truckee to see Kami and the kids. We went to a party at Kami and Eric’s friend’s house. There were so many kids. And they were all blond except for Emmy.

Lily and Emmy spent the night at our hotel. They went into the pool and hot tub at night and in the morning.

Lots of kid time!

We woke up to another cloudy day but with a mountainous terrain out our balcony.

We had a tour booked through Viator to include learning about the Gold Rush and also going to the Gold Rush cemetery.

As we left the ship, we sighted a whale right in front of our ship. Unfortunately, I did not have my phone out to take a picture.

We met our tour guide and traveled in a tour van with 12 other people.

She drove through town talking about what it was like in the late 1800s.

Some of the buildings were from that time and like all gold rush towns this one had a red light district too.

As we drove out of town we started climbing a mountain. Across the ravine, we could see the White Pass train that we took last year.

We made it to the top and took pictures by the Alaska sign. Bruce is growing a beard.

We stopped by a nice waterfall.

We also stopped at an overlook of Skagway.

The mountains were snow-covered and we had a few snow flakes mixed with rain.

The cemetery was old and we did a little hike to get there.

It was a very nice, fun excursion with Alex, the owner of Local Skagway Day Trips.

As our vessel sailed away, we took in the breathtaking mountains from our balcony.

Tomorrow we were supposed to go cruising at Hubbard Glacier but the captain announced we will not be going there due to time constraints in getting to Whittier. So it will be just another sea day!

#alaska#skagway#cruising#vacation

Today we woke to cloudy skies and 45 degrees Fahrenheit.

We wanted to go to the gym and then planned to get off the ship. The gym was empty which was great.

Looking out the gym windows we saw long lines waiting for the shuttle bus to town.

We decided to wait and use the hot tub in the Solarium. We had it to ourselves.

The lines were still long so we went for lunch and then I signed up for this North Star Experience where you get in an enclosed capsule with all windows and it takes you up and over the ocean. It’s free on port days.

At this point we decided to get together for coffee with new friends and then took a nap before dinner.

As we sailed away from Sitka the sun was peaking out.

This evening we enjoyed a hypnotist comedian which was fun to watch.

Tomorrow Skagway.

#sitka#alaska#cruising#northstarexperience#vacation#mountains

We spent two days at sea, enjoying the shows, eating, talking with new friends, and playing in the casino. I had escargot for two nights which I love.

One night we even had a sunset.

Last year when we were on an Alaskan cruise, Ketchikan was a tender port. We were going to get off but they were still calling assigned departure numbers at noon. So instead of getting off we enjoyed the ship.

Today it was raining. It seemed like a drizzle but it was pretty constant. It was looking misty from our cabin. I wasn’t sure how far I wanted to venture.

We walked off the ship planning to just go into the shops but a tour guy talked us into doing his trolley tour.

As we drove through Ketchikan our tour guide pointed out the former red light district where a famous Dolly made a name for herself.

Then we traveled out of town to the Tongass National Forest in search of wildlife.

We did see seals in the distance. See if you can see one’s cute little face.

We also saw bald eagles in the distance but no bears.

We visited a very interesting totem park. Totems are not religious but tell a story.

For instance, a man was carved upside down on the totem because he did not pay his debts.

William Seward who was Secretary of State bought Alaska from the Russians for $7 million. It was known as Sewards Folly. The local tribes honored him but he offended them so they built this totem of shame.

A few other interesting totems.

It was an informative afternoon at the totem park.

We met up with some friends for coffee and then had dinner.

The sun was finally coming out while we were eating dinner.

We went back to our cabin and I spent some time on the balcony looking for whales. No luck! But it was very nice out!

As we left Ketchikan, we passed the Guard Island Light which is a lighthouse at the entrance to the Tongass Narrows.

All in all, it was a nice day with a little excursion to see some of Ketchikan.

Tomorrow Sitka!

#alaska#ketchikan#totempark#tongassnationalforest#wildlife#seals#redlightdistrict