Trips, Pics, and Tales

We couldn't make up our minds when we picked Chankanaab as to if we wanted to do the Manatee Encounter or the Sea Lion Encounter.  I mean, really, who could pick?  So we were able to get a discount combo package and that sealed the deal!  After we finished up with the Manatees, we met our group for the Seal Lions and went over to where this encounter would take place. This is done right in the theater where they do the show. This encounter was very different from the manatees. I assume because the sea lions are trained for shows they have to be handled very specifically and very cautiously. Not that they are more delicate exactly, but that the trainers don't want the encounter to interfere with the trained behaviors that they have learned. Everything was very precise. From where we could stand, to how we held our hands, to where we could touch the sea lion. There were 6 in our group, my family of 4 and another family of 2. We were split into two groups, with 3 of us i...

Cozumel....I love this port, and I love Mexico in general. We were docked for a nice long day - 8am - 7pm, with an all aboard of 6:30, so plenty of options! Actually too many to choose from! On a past cruise we did The Amazing Race, which was so much fun! But today, what would we do? I went back and forth among so many options....Keith and I had done the dune buggy tour of the island many years ago and we really enjoyed that. I considered something along those lines. Jeep tour? Combo jeep/snorkeling? Head over to Passion Island? Initially I was thinking maybe Mr Sanchos, but after Labadee, I didn't know if we'd want another full beach day....so, what did we decide? Chankanaab! Chankanaab and the Manatee encounter! Well, we also threw in the Sea Lion Encounter as well! How often can you interact with a manatee? We've done the dolphin experiences before, but never a manatee and that sort of just sealed the deal. We didn't do a tour, or a ship excursion. Having so long in ...

So we left off as we finished off our cupcake decorating class.  Totally worth doing!  Tonight was the 2nd formal night and we went back to our cabins to get ready for dinner.   Here's a picture from the kid's cabin looking out at the Boardwalk - it's one with the "miniature" filter setting used on the camera....kinda a cool effect! So, after the cupcake decorating class, and before our formal night dinner, there was one very important thing the kids and I just had to do.... That's right, we had to get our pictures taken with these adorable penguins! The timing really couldn't have been better. Megan and I had seen the movie just a couple of weeks before, and darn if now they weren't above the minions on my list of characters that I would stand in line to get a picture taken with!  They were true to character, I mean, they were the real penguins, right? Giving Alex high 5's and everything! And no, we weren't the only peopl...