Western Carribean cruise; part 7

Friday, September 14th, 2007

Nassau, Bahamas

For Jim and I, Nassau meant another trip to the Graycliff cigar factory! I'm sure Connie and Ginger were not quite as thrilled but they marched along like real troopers. Along the way to the Graycliff hotel and cigar factory we passed the Nassau Government House:

Once we topped the hill outside the Graycliff grounds, we had to stop by the sign on the wall for a pic:

On the way through the grounds to the cigar factory we passed a nice place for a photo:

Inside the cigar factory the rollers were busy rolling cigars:

While Jim and I shopped for cigars, the girls found a comfortable place to sit in the cigar lounge, which was directly next to the cigar rolling factory:

Jim standing in the doorway leading from the cigar lounge to the rolling room:
Yours truely, coolin' out:
As we left the Graycliff site, we noticed these huge cigars out front. Of course, we had to get a pic standing by them!

Sign adjacent to the "big cigar":

It was a hot day in Nassau, so we took off to find something cold to drink. We shopped in the straw market, looking for gifts for the kids.

After shopping, Jim and Ginger decided to head over to Paradise Island and visit Atlantis. Connie and I stayed behind to visit Senor Frogs!

Unfortunately, this was our last port of call and our last night onboard the ship. Once we got back on board from Nassau, we had one last pic made of the two of us standing on the pool deck with Atlantis visible in the distance.

This was a fantastic cruise! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. As this is a cigar blog it should be noted that I averaged 4 - 5 cigars per day with at least 3 of those being Cuban. I actually had a nice list showing what I had each day of the trip, but when I got home Saturday night it was gone! I have no idea where it went. Oh well, trust me...they were all good!

It was nice having Jim and Ginger along. I'm sure we'll all take another trip together in the near future. This was a very memorable 25th anniversary trip for Connie and I.

Western Carribean cruise; part 6

Thursday, September 13th, 2007

Day at Sea

Spent all day on pool deck. Worked out at the onboard gym for a while in the morning.

Here's our typical view of the sunset from our balcony:

This was another formal night. Here's some pics from the second formal night onboard the ship. By this point you can REALLY see the effects of the hot, Carribean sun on us!

We opted for some formal portraits on the ship. Here's the two we decided on:

Although they're on our bed every night, I decided to hold off taking pics of all those towel animals, except for this one:





Tomorrow, our last port of call...Nassau, Bahamas!

Western Carribean cruise; part 5

Wednesday, September 12th, 2007

Progreso, Mexico

Progreso is what you could call "real Mexico". It's not overly developed and some spots are actually very depressed. We saw some terrible living conditions on the ride to the resort. We also saw some very nice houses, one of which was owned by Hugh Heffner! No...no bunnies were spotted running around his yard!

The pier at Progreso is the longest in the world. It's over 4 1/2 miles long! It has to be that long due to the almost non-existant slope of the ocean floor in this region. Even after stretching 4 1/2 miles out into the Gulf of Mexico the depth of the ocean at that point is still only around 30 feet! Almost unbelievable! Here's a pic of the pier:

If you look closely, you can see the fin of the Glory...

We walked around town for an hour or so, and when we approached the water we were met by a guitar playing gentleman who sang to Connie:

At 11:00 we boarded our bus to the Reef Club Beach Resort.

The ocean in this part of Mexico is not as clear or blue as in other parts of the country. This is on the Gulf of Mexico where the water is much more green and mirky. Connie still looks good, though!

Jim found a starfish on the bottom which was still alive. He tossed it back in the ocean after we took the pic.

The bartenders had a "doobie crab"! First time I'd seen one!

We were at the resort for 2 hours. This is a nice place worthy of consideration of a longer stay!

Western Carribean cruise; part 4

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007

We were all excited about visiting Cozumel! Connie and I had been there about 9 years ago and loved it. Here we would shop downtown for awhile and then board a party boat for a nice time on the beach. Of course, drinks would flow freely!

This made a nice picture. Here Connie poses with the Glory in the background:

We did plenty of shopping in downtown Cozumel. Connie got a nice peridot ring that she'd been wanting for some time. I picked up some nice shirts and cigars from the Habana House.

After shopping, we headed to the Party Boat:

After a 30 minute ride to the beach, we made our way to our chairs...and drinks!

Of course, on any party boat excursion the "party" really gets going once you're back on the boat. This time it was no different! Everyone was feeling the "spirit" of the day!

After docking back in Cozumel, Jim and Ginger took off on a mission to find the ring that Ginger had seen earlier that morning. Connie and I took off in the opposite direction to visit Margaritevile where I was looking for one of their T-shirts. On the way back to the ship we past these nice looking flowers where Connie struck up a quick pose:

As I said before, we really like Cozumel. I can't wait to get back someday!

Western Carribean cruise; part 3

Monday, September 10th, 2007

The days at sea are typically the formal nights onboard the ship. I'll use any excuse to wear my tux! This was the perfect occasion. Connie looked beautiful, as usual.

Jim and Ginger looked great as well:

The girls found some perfect lounge chairs to rest in before dinner:

Here's the whole group:

Our waiters were great! L-R; Heath, Linn, Sergey

Western Carribean cruise; part 2

Sunday, September 9th, 2007

Due to recent hurricanes, our itinerary was changed. Costa Maya and Belize were replaced with Key West and Pregreso. Although not a "deal killer", it would have been nice to visit our original destinations. As we would soon find out, the new replacements would not be too bad either!

The new itinerary is:
Port Canaveral (Sat)
Key West (Sun)
Day at sea (Mon)
Cozumel (Tues)
Progreso (Wed)
Day at sea (Thurs)
Nassau (Fri)
back at Port Canaveral (Sat)

Our first port of call was Key West, Florida; Sunday, September 9th.

We decided to hit as many bars as possible while in town. I think we visited a total of 7, but I'm not sure! After 3 or so, you kinda lose count! Here we are at the Drunken Parrot bar:

Of course, we had to do the silly face cut-outs that are all around the town:

I think it worked better for Connie, than for me!

We worked our way down the street, eventually finding our way to the Southernmost Point in the continental United States. Notice the dark clouds in the picture?

Almost immediately after leaving the monument, we were hit with a driving rainstorm! It should be noted that at this point, we're about 30 minutes walk from the trolley station! Needless to say, we got soaked! It didn't really matter too much because we had already been to 4 bars! Everyone sobered up real fast. We stopped for lunch at Hard Rock cafe. We even had time to hit another bar or two on the way!

Key West is a very nice place to visit if you like laid back atmosphere. This was our first visit, but I'd love to go back.

Western Carribean cruise; part 1

This was our first 7 day cruise, and we absolutely loved it! This is also our 25th wedding anniversary present to each other. Hard to believe it's been 25 years (on November 6th officially).

Connie and I, along with Jim and Ginger, left Columbia around 3pm on Friday, September 7th and headed to Brunswick, Georgia where we stayed the night. We decided to break up the 7-plus hour drive to Port Canaveral into 2 equal pieces. We arrived in Brunswick around 6:30, had a quick supper and headed to the pool area to smoke a cigar. We got to bed early because we were leaving early the next morning for Port Canaveral!

We left Brunswick around 7am and our next stop was Port Canaveral and our ship, The Glory! We arrived around 10:30 or so (September 8th), and after checking our baggage, checking ourselves in, etc., we were on the ship before noon! As a matter of fact, after I had gone to the buffet line for lunch I sat down and glanced at my watch. It was 12:02! We were on the boat and having lunch at noon! Cool!

As soon as lunch was over it was pool deck time!

Connie wasted no time getting comfortable!

Jim and Ginger on deck!

My usual "self portrait"

The ship; Glory:

Along side another ship in port:

Rear view:

Deck above Lido (pool) deck: (our rooms were on this deck)

Water slide:

We quickly learned to love our balconies! This was our first cruise with a balcony. I don't think we'll cruise again without one!