Travel Tips

We booked our cruise from Germany two months before we and had plenty of time to look forward to the trip. Our ports of call were to be, in order, Grand Cayman, Costa Maya (Mexico), Belize (CA), and Cozumel (MX). The trip was a fantastic experience, and I can't wait to go on another cruise. This was our second cruise, and both were equally nice.
Many book cruises with the stateroom in mind, but I'm here to tell you the stateroom makes very little difference. You won't spend a lot of time in your room, especially on port days, so save the extra money for spending at port or on other things on the ship.
Anyway, before we even left we ran into problems at Frankfurt airport (FRA). My wife, Mariangela, has an Italian passport with her maiden name, and her ticket had our married name. Thinking ahead we brought our marriage license and her military ID, but the US Airways guy had no mercy. American Airlines had no problems with this last August, but US Air was being much too *** about it.
The guy wasn't going to let her fly, so we had to run across the airport, take the sky train, and find the ticket office to try and get corrections. The ticket office called US Air who magically said they'd fix it. So we made the return trip to where we started and got the ticket changed. Why the guy didn't fix it in the first place is a mystery to me. During that "fun" time we lost a carry-on bag containing all of Mariangela's cosmetics, perfumes, and my Braun Shaver (about $500 worth of our belongings). We didn't realize we had lost it until we arrived in Tampa. Needless to say Mar wasn't happy. On to happier things...

Tampa is actually a wonderful city. I think it gets a bad rap, and that's why I may choose to retire here. I graduated from the University of Tampa in 1996, so really got to know the place. The best places to see are Bayshore Blvd. and Hyde Park, Davis Island, Harbor Island, Al Lopez Park, Busch Gardens, Adventure Island, Downtown, and a drive on Dale Mabry. Dale Mabry can be best described as a parking lot highway. The speed limit is 45mph, but people generally drive 50-55, so it's like a highway. There are stores along the entire road, so maneuvering this stretch of road can be a challenge for some.

Our first day at sea was a dissapointment. Not because of the cruiselines, but the weather was uncooperative. It was cloudy all day, and prevented a good day at the pool. Nonetheless we spent time at the gym, eating, an art auction, at the casino, and attending the formal dinner.

We didn't know much about GC, and were surprised to see a hurricane had done extensive damage to the island in 2004. Surprisingingly enough most things were back to normal including Seven Mile Beach and the shopping area.
Immediately after debarking the tender boat we found some people selling the Stingray City and snorkling tour for $35 a person, which is a great deal. The trip lasts about four hours, and you will have the experience of a lifetime. Make sure you kiss one for seven years good luck.
After the trip we walked the shopping area, contemplated purchasing the watch I later bought in Cozumel, and had a couple of drinks in a local pub/restaurant. There are a few very popular places for tourists to hang out here such as Senor Frogs (still closed from the Hurricane), and another place right by the pier, but we avoided that and instead hit the local pub a few blocks away. We met a wonderful gentleman who'd been living here for quite some time. He talked about how much he enjoyed his time in GC,and we spoke of our experiences. After picking up our ritual magnet of the place we boarded the tender back to the ship.

Costa Maya isn't even listed on VT, and is one of the newest ports on the Caribbean cruise circuit. You can see ancient Mayan ruins here, or do as we did, and hang out at the extensive shopping area at the port. This is no ordinary shopping area, so make sure to bring a towel, sunscreen, and some cash for the in-pool bar. You can buy just about anything you're looking for here, but I found it odd they sold Costa Maya Corona shirts, but didn't have any Corona within walking distance. Our purchase was a magnet for our refrigerator and a cool drink served in a coconut shaped like a monkey.
Overall it was a nice stop, and especially nice that the ship went all the way to the pier.

Belize was a fantastic stop. At first it seemed quite normal, but our tour guide Rudy was fantastic. Rudy confieded in me by telling me he'd actually served four years in the US Airforce back in the'80's. We booked the cave tubing excursion at the pier for $55 a person, and it was a fantastic trip. Cave tubing is something totally unique in Belize, and you must do this if you visit this tiny, but beautiful country

Cozumel is one of a kind. You can party, shop, snorkel and scuba, buy fine jewelry, and have an overall great time here.

We started out in the port shopping area and headed out to Chankanaab park for the afternoon. After showering and eating dinner we headed to Fat Tuesdays for some fun times. I can't wait to get back to this tropical paradise...

The cruise was great, and it wasn't until we began the return trip from Tampa to Germany things went downhill. We checked in extra early at Tampa Airport and ended up sitting in the plane for 1.5 hours before we took off due to local thunderstorms. This caused us to miss our connecting flight that day and it was tough to find a hotel room with Live Aid coming that weekend. Thanks Bob Geldolf. Stuck in Philadelphia for the night we had to go across the river to Brooklawn New Jersey, which cost $30 each way for taxi fare and another $100 for the room, of which US Airways didn't do anything other than say "Sorry". The next day we again arrived extra early at the airport, (in the same clothes we'd put on the day before, as our luggage was checked in). We boarded the plane and sat at the gate in coach for three hours before we took off. Seems one passenger didn't get on the plane so they had to unload all the luggage to find his bags. Seems that if passenger safety was in mind they would have had all the passengers deboard the plane while they looked for the potential bomb (yeah right). Okay, luggage was found, and then a weather delay came, which made the flight three hours late. Heck, we could have took the later flight and arrived 30 minutes after ours did. Once in Frankfurt we went to baggade claim, you know where this is going... Anyway, we finally got our luggage delivered to our apartment that afternoon. Jet lag sucked for a few days, and I'm sorry to say our vacation is over. I won't see anymore time off this year as I'm headed back to Iraq this November.

With that said, I can't wait to go on another cruise. I love the ocean and beach so much, and it's so easy to book a trip. You get to wake up to a new area every day, and don't have to worry about food, hotels, driving, or anything else but having a good time.
If anyone wants to know more about cruises please email me.