Touring the Caribbean like a BOSS

One night, back in January when we were iced in for a week or so, Rob and I planned our annual “Let’s Find the Sun” trip. It’s a promise we made to ourselves when we decided to move from not-quite-perpetually-sunny-but-close-enough California to the not-quite-perpetually-rainy-but-close-enough Pacific Northwest. The promise to have a planned escape every year to some place warm, sunny, and mostly dry.

So last January, when we were a little punchy from all the snow and ice, we decided to book this year’s LFTST. One of us might have been sipping a snowgarita at the time. It made immense sense then…and thankfully also the next morning…when we declared this year’s escape to be to the Western Caribbean. Via cruise ship. Because it sounded perfectly glorious.

We’ve been on the Caribbean Princess for a few days now. We still have a few days to go. I’m currently wearing a slightly damp swim suit, no make-up, and the tops of both of my feet are slightly sunburned despite what I thought was more than adequate applications of SPF 30. In other words, a perfect vacation so far.

I’m elated and grateful to report that my new ACL is handling my cruising “no elevator rule” like a champ. It even successfully managed a few flights of stairs last night in some substantial heels for Formal Night before I conceded to the wisdom of not pushing things (Formal Night is the only exception I allow to the NER in which I ride in the electrical box with other woman wearing non-sensible shoes).

A couple of nights ago, Rob and I proved ourselves to officially be Smarter Than A Crew Member with a 20 question trivia game. We have a ribbon-festooned bottle of champagne to prove it. Truth be told, Rob could have won by himself; I would have come in second place. He knows his currencies better than I do, although neither of us knows birthstones very well. My biggest contribution was the absolute certainty of the year the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. One of those indelible memories from my senior year of high school (1986).

Last night I convinced Rob we should attend the highlight entertainment event for the cruise – a stage production called “Piano Man.” It consisted of very young and mostly synchronized dancers belting out the greatest hits of Billy Joel, Barry Manilow, and Elton John. It immediately struck me and my gray hair that I could not compare childhood or adolescent memories of the songs with any of the whipper snappers performing them. I wondered with a sigh if any of them knew the songs before they were handed the music.

I also now have a much richer and deeper appreciation for the magic and wonder of Elton John’s voice. Hearing it butchered by well-intentioned Millennials nearly drove me in search of Isaac’s rum punch at the Pirate’s Cove Bar.

Today was our first port of play. We spent the day in Honduras. Specifically in the warm turquoise waters off the Island of Roatan. I was honestly a little surprised at first that Honduras is a tourist destination. I remember thinking it was a pretty scary place when I was a kid in the 1980s.

But scary no more! Especially since we signed up for an excursion that just looked too hysterical and goofy to pass up. Rest assured, I will have pictures of us to share as soon as we get home but for now, feast your eyes on this novel way to explore pretty fishies and coral and other underwater Caribbean life:

Yes, those are underwater motor scooters complete with cartoon-inspired bubble helmets!! And they were a BLAST!!

(Note: BOSS = Breathing Observation Submersible Scooter ™)

All the instructions seemed easy enough, until I forgot every single one of them due to the enchantment of riding a scooter through the ocean. I had to take two tries to get my head in the bubble, and it took some patience to get my ears to pop appropriately as I descended. But once I was set, I couldn’t stop smiling. I kept looking at Rob in his bubble and could only imagine how ridiculously fun I looked in mine.

Once our group of 10 was mounted and breathing without ear pain, we were given the signal to start following our dive master who was SCUBAing in front of us. As soon as I pushed the little throttle button on my BOSS scooter, I laughed so loud my entire bubble echoed. I am pretty sure I scared some fish. Motoring around in the ocean was so dang hysterical, I just kept laughing and sort of forgot I was supposed to be looking at fish and coral and stuff.

Instead, I kept steering left and right in search of Rob so I could try to take his picture with my disposable underwater camera. We had been warned that the bubbles would distort proportions. Indeed, Rob’s body looked large and his head looked small. Cue more laughing. He was SO ADORABLE!

We propelled around a reef for about a half hour. Apparently there was a big manta ray in the distance but I never saw it. I had to settle for seeing a baby stingray skimming the water next to the pier as we were later walking back to the ship. That was still pretty darn cool. We also got to snorkel for about an hour. I got to see all sorts of fishies that don’t live in Kauai and I proudly managed the entire water excursion without even a hint of hyperventilating. Maybe my water phobia days are finally behind me?

Tomorrow we are either whetting an appetite for a future, dedicated trip OR we are crossing a destination off my Travel Wish List. Either way, we will be in Belize…soaking up more glorious sun and hopefully not adding to my sunburn.