Carnival Cruise: 7 Day Western Caribbean

I love to travel and I am a licensed Travel Consultant and Vacation Specialist with Expedia Cruise Ship Centers so I thought it would be fun to share some of my trips.

Itinerary:

 7 day Western Caribbean:

Day 1 Departs Miami

Day 2: fun day at sea

Day 3: Georgetown, Grand Cayman Island

Day 4: Roatan Honduras

Day 5: Belize

Day 6: Cozumel Mexico

Day 7: fun day at sea

Day 8: return to Miami

The ship:

We sailed in September aboard the Carnival Valor which is one of Carnival Cruise Line's largest ships and can host up to 2,974 passengers. The theme and decor of this ship was very sophisticated with a lot of embellishments and rustic colors, the theme pays tribute to American and international heroes. The ship has 14 bars, five pools, spa, gym, lounges, night clubs, shops, a casino, library, theatre, an amazing dining room and much more. I liked the size of the ship, as well as the atrium with its glass roof and elevators that had a view into the spectacular lobby.

The entertainment on board was fabulous, the Broadway style musicals and comedians were very entertaining and the game shows were a joy to attend.

Atruim (from my camera)

The clubs were also very good with great music and a variety of clubs and lounges that have music for all tastes.

The food was good, there was a variety from day to day with some international cuisine and the dining room options as well as the pizzeria and soft ice cream stations were also enjoyable.

One thing I enjoyed the most on this ship which some other ships don't incorporate was movies under the stars; watching movies on the big screen while you are relaxing on the deck with a drink or in the hot tub was wonderful.

Docked in Roatan (from my camera)

The staff aboard the ship were exceptional, the best I have encountered thus far, the service was phenomenal and everyone was very helpful and went out of their way to please.

One of the best and most relaxing aspects I find with cruising is the amazing spa treatments and if you can afford to do so I would definitely recommend going to the spa for a treatment of your choice.

Georgetown, Grand Cayman:

Grand Cayman is a very small island and although many ships stop here there isn’t a lot to do. On the ship you can purchase a day excursion which are rather pricey, but you can also choose to walk off the ship and purchase a much cheaper excursion from a local tour guide like I did.

The tour guide takes you to the main tourist sites of the island such as:

Hell (from my camera)

- Hell: which is a rock formation that the locals believe looks like a representation of hell

-The Rum shop: Here you have the chance to sample different flavours of Cayman rum and cakes. If you decide to purchase the shop will have it delivered right to your ship and it will be delivered to you before you depart the ship at the end of your cruise. The cakes come in wonderful flavours as does the rum, they are tasty and make a great gift.

from my camera

-Swim with the dolphins: for this stop you can watch the dolphins play and frolic about with some of the tourists and if you have time on your tour you can pay to have your one on one encounter with a dolphin as well. (keep in mind this is rather pricey if you choose to partake but you can get some great photos)

-Seven Mile Beach: This beach is beautiful and great for wading around in the water. If you have been to Cayman before and have  already seen all the tourist sites you can opt to spend the day lounging around on this beach. Some areas have stalls where you can buy fresh coconuts and fruit juices.

-The shops: Right by the port there are many shops where you can get your souvenirs and there are a wide variety of jewellery stores. 

charm bracelet

Most ships give you a free charm bracelet and you can visit the specified stores to collect the charms at each island. It makes for a great keepsake.

There are other things you can do in Grand Cayman depending on what you like but these are the things I chose to do while there.

Roatan Honduras:

Like other stops you can also purchase a shore excursion for Roatan and in this case I would highly recommend it.

Roatan (from my camera)

Guided tour: The beginning of the tour started with a guided tour through the island and towards the Gumbalimba National Park where our tour guide gave us some history about Roatan

Gumbalimba park (from my camera)

Gumbalimba Park monkeys, jungle and beach excursion: For this excursion we had a guided tour through this beautiful wildlife park. You get the chance to take photos with the parrots and monkey. You also get some historical information, cross a suspension bridge and come face to face with animals in their natural habitat. At the end of the tour there is also some time to have a drink and spend some time at the beach.

The port shops: At this port they had beautifully dressed native dancers greet us as we combed the shops in search of souvenirs. You may also have a chance to sample some native beer.

Belize:

Belize was a bit more run down than I expected. The tender boat had a long trek from ship to port and the guards standing by the road with machine guns was a bit daunting.

However I would recommend that you book an excursion on the ship before venturing out on your own. If you venture out you may come across some beautiful beaches, however we did not visit the beach on this stop and Belize City was rather dirty and run down with garbage strewn at the side of the roads. 
 Despite this we did make the most of this stop and had a lot of fun on our air boating excursion.

Air boat (from my camera)

Beach along the cozumel coast (from my camera)

Air boating tour: On this tour a bus takes you to an air boating tour out on the marshes where if you are lucky you can see the manatees and wild birds that dwell there.

Bars and shops: They do have some bars and shops by the port which I recommend browsing.

Cozumel:

Cozumel may be small but it is very beautiful. We didn’t book a ship excursion for this stop, instead when we came off the port we rented a small car and drove around the island ourselves. We drove around the entire island in a few hours and had a chance to stop at various beaches and bars along the way as well as the Mayan ruins (which I forfeited due to an infestation of mosquitoes) and downtown. The views along the coast are breathtaking and the beaches are beautiful. There isn’t much to do on this small island but it is a nice place to spend the day

 Overall it was a wonderful trip and we will definitely be open to sailing on the valor again on another of her Caribbean destination cruises

**If you are interested in planning your next dream vacation you can visit my website at www.cruiseshipcenters.ca/ericadavis **

Travel Blog Exuma Bahamas

For my first travel blog I decided to dedicate it to one of the most beautiful places I have been to thus far Exuma Islands in the Bahamas. My husband and I went to Exuma as one of the stops we made on our honeymoon and it was so breathtaking I had to recommend going there to everyone I knew. We booked our Exuma power boat adventure from a brochure that we saw at our hotel and decided to go on the last day of our vacation, it was a bit costly at approximately $100 dollars per person but it turned out to be the highlight of our entire trip!
 note:

We found our brochure for the power boat adventure tour at our resort (Breezes Resort in Nassau) the prices I found online vary. I would suggest you ask at your resort.

Crystal waters of Exuma (from my camera)

We took a speed boat from Nassau to a private island in Exuma and when we pulled up to the island the view was breathtaking! The water was crystal clear (some of the clearest water on earth I’ve recently learned) the view was better than a postcard! And the pictures we took can attest to that.

The tour takes about 9 hours so your day has to be free to take part.
 The tour included:

-Full day trip from Nassau to Ship Channel Cay in the Exuma chain

-Powerboat cruise to Allen's Cay

- Buffet lunch and after you eat you can throw any left over’s into the water to feed the sharks and tropical fish that swim freely in the crystal water as you dine.

- A boat ride to iguana island (home to aprox 500 iguana’s) where you get a chance to feed them if you choose.

-Snorkeling (equipment provided)

-Time to enjoy the beach and swim

- A ride out into the water where you can get out of the boat and wade through the sand dune. If you can manage to carry your camera and not get it wet you can take some fantastic photos so that it looks like you are standing in the middle of the ocean with beautiful green hills and crystal water surrounding you!

- A guided nature trek of the island

- Pick up and drop off from your Nassau hotel.

Although this was the highlight of our Bahamas stay we also did a lot of other fun activities while in the Bahamas that I would recommend including:

-A visit to downtown Nassau to the Senior Frogs restaurant and bar

-Paradise Island Atlantis: If you are not staying at the Atlantis hotel you can always go to visit and take a guided tour. The resort is a tourist attraction it itself with great shops, restaurant and many lovely aquariums to visit. My friends that have been there also recommend the night club located close to the casino.

-The Straw Market downtown Nassau: This is a must for anyone who wants to get some great deals on souvenirs and a lot of nice purses and accessories for the ladies!



Atlantis resort (from my camera)

-Luciano’s of Chicago restaurant: This restaurant it beautiful, in fact a friend of mine attended a wedding at this restaurant! Not only is the ambiance spectacular but the food is great and if you sit outside on the patio there is a beautiful view of the Atlantis resort across the water. (If you do go try the rum and raisin bread pudding! It is yummy!)

Cable Beach

-Cable Beach: This beach is great for relaxing, swimming, and water sports. You can stay at a resort that has access directly to this beach.

-Conch: conch is one of the main dishes in Nassau, it can be found almost everywhere you go and cooked in many different ways. I detest sea food but I thought “ah well when in Rome” or in this case the Bahamas do as the locals do and try something out of my comfort zone. I had the conch salad and actually liked it enough to finish it.

Downfall:

The only downfall I found in travelling through Nassau was the solicitors trying to get you to go to time share meetings. Everywhere we turned even on the beach of our resort there were people surrounding us like vultures to try and get us go to their presentations. They offer you incentives such as money, and you will find these people everywhere you go! Some that we encountered were disguised as tour guides and security guards. It is up to you if you would like to attend but we found that having to constantly duck these persistent people who sometimes follow you along the street even after you say no is something that the government should look to correct for the sake of tourism.


Feeding the sharks (from my camera)

Iguana island (From my camera)

Snorkeling boat (from my camera)

                                                    

The King's Speech

Hi everyone, my first blog is going to be based on a movie that saw recently called The King’s Speech.

Movie Info:

Release date: Friday December 10. 1010,

Tuesday April 19^th 2011 (on DVD)

Genre: Drama

Running Time: 118 min.

Director: Tom Hooper

Producer: Lain Canning, Gareth Unwin, Emile Sherman

Screenplay: Davis Seidler

Cast: Colin Firth, Geoffery Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, Michael Gambon, Timothy Spall, Jennifer Ehle, Derel Jacobi

Synopsis:

Based on the true story of the Queen of England's father, King George VI (Colin Firth), who unexpectedly becomes King when his brother Edward abdicates the throne. Speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) helps the King find a voice with which to lead the nation into war. [Tribute.ca]

My review:

I have to admit the previews for this movie looked rather dull to me even though the media hyped it up and repeatedly mentioned that this film is a major contender at the Golden Globes. So today despite my first impressions I buckled down and watched it. Unfortunately for me my first impression proved to be correct. This movie was dull, boring and bland. It lacked a strong engrossing story line that could keep my attention and instead settled for being simple, straight forward and void of climax. Simply put it was about a king with a speech impediment who befriended his speech therapist; that was all there was to it, any other attempts to develop supporting story lines failed to captivate my interest.

Although I didn’t think the story line was fantastic and Oscar worthy I did appreciate the acting and the strong portrayals of the characters. Helena Bonham Carter seemed born to play the role of the queen; she exuded regal sophistication and the grace one would expect a queen to exhibit.

Colin Firth was also brilliant in his role as King George VI and Geofffery Rush was funny and fast witted. It may win a lot of awards but movies are very subjective so if you want to see what all the hype is about watch it and make your own assessment. J  I rate it 2 stars out of a possible five.