Live from the Breakaway March 17-31, 2024

[YVRteacher]

After my next cruise I will be an Ambassador.

 

Today I received a card from the spa welcoming me on board my inaugural voyage.

 

🙄

 

[schmoopie17]

With all of the Flasher Malden talk, I can't get the image of a naked Karl Malden out of my head...like an earworm, only worse. Someone please help me.

[suzequ]

1 hour ago, YVRteacher said:

After my next cruise I will be an Ambassador.

 

Today I received a card from the spa welcoming me on board my inaugural voyage.

 

🙄

 

When you book your spa service make sure you can use the “coupon” on the service you want.  I found out after the fact that a plain mani/pedi didn’t apply.

[L1211]

Such a great review- what a joy to tag along!!  Thank you!!

[ggTexasGal]

5 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

With all of the Flasher Malden talk, I can't get the image of a naked Karl Malden out of my head...like an earworm, only worse. Someone please help me.

Would an image of Bo Derek in the movie "10" help?

[YVRteacher]

8 hours ago, suzequ said:

When you book your spa service make sure you can use the “coupon” on the service you want.  I found out after the fact that a plain mani/pedi didn’t apply.

I’m not going to the spa. I posted because they made a mistake in offering a treatment on my “inaugural voyage.” It was a joke.

[ceilidh1]

I thought of you while at La Brea yesterday and while hiking to the Hollywood sign today. I didn’t think of you when I dragged my reluctant kid to visit Madame Tussaud’s. In a word..creepy!

 

Miss you!

[YVRteacher]

Come with me today as we traverse the beautiful island of Roatán.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are 29 people crammed into a 28 person mini bus. We would have been 30 but Cruise Critic friend missed the bus.

 

This was the tour we opted for instead of doing The Best of the West. Now we are doing Monkeys, Sloths and Macaws and a whole bunch of other memory-making stops.

 

Our tour guide is a brilliant young fellow who already has 18 years of experience as a tour guide. His name is Elmer and his degree is in computer engineering. The money in Honduras is in the tourism industry though.

 

Our first stop was an overpriced market for tourists.

 

A chocolate factory was involved.

 

 

 

 

 

[YVRteacher]

After another short drive

 

 

 

 

 

we arrived at the animal encounter place. I wish I knew where we were because I would not recommend it. They were swamped with tourists and had obviously overbooked. Our group was combined with another group so at each of the three encounters (macaw, sloth and monkey) each person had a 30 second turn then we all waited for the other 49 people to have their turn. For the monkeys they sent us all into the cage at one time and we couldn’t move.

 

Of course I enjoyed the animals but I’ve been to Roatán before and the place we went to was a natural setting and we were in a small group and had the shade of the rainforest canopy above so it was a much more enjoyable experience.

 

 

 

 

 

The sloths were our favourite. The one we held is named Rainbow and she is a cuddly sweetie!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I look awful in my sloth photos so those aren’t getting posted.

 

The monkeys were curious and one went into my bag and pulled out the facecloth I keep for mopping sweat on hot Honduran days. My bag  is covered in muddy monkey footprints which I think is delightful. The highlight of the monkey encounter was watching people give them water.

 

 

I was not able to take any good photos during the monkey encounter but I did love this monkey who was not caged.

 

 

 This is how teachers feel the day before Spring Break!

 

[YVRteacher]

More photos through the bus window

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pardon the next bit of writing here. These are the notes I took while Elmer was speaking. They aren’t complete sentences, but the information was interesting to me.
 

Agrarian economy

Only export seafood (fish shrimp conch)

Everything else is imported

Informal economy

Monthly salaries not guaranteed 70%

Also don’t pay taxes

Difficult to get loans and credit

People don’t have credit cards

 

Years to build a home -out of pocket not money from the bank

 

Out of all the world’s most dangerous airports, Honduras International is the 3rd most dangerous. This issue to the mountains and short runway.

 

4 months ago Honduras overtook Colombia to be the world 3rd largest coffee exporter

 

Normal rain 120” year

This year 200” Nov to March 

 

One day they had a cold front and it dropped to 68 degrees so everyone put on triple layers.

 

Construction workers make $25 a day. Homes are built in stages because there aren’t any bank loans or mortgages here. People save until they can build a foundation, save more until they can add walls, save for another year before putting a roof on and perhaps 10 years later will add the second storey.

 

 

This is the natural gas plant.

 

Since converting to natural fas Roatan no longer has daily power outages

Used to be diesel and many power outages a day

 

There are also solar farms, wind farms and a waste sorting plant for recycling. We got to see the new sewage treatment plant! I sure do pick good shore excursions!

 

We drove by a Wendy’s and  Papa Johns but our guide said US fast food chains don’t do well here because people like cook here.  The only chain that does well is Bojangles. 10 years ago Wendy’s opened, then it closed now it opened again.

 

Amazon does not deliver to Honduras. People need to use a second party which holds the package and ships packages via container. No returns allowed! Out tour guide is a huge Red Sox fan. He ordered  long sleeve jersey from Amazon made by Fanatics. When the jersey arrived he looked at the label. It said “Made in Honduras!”

 

So it was made in Honduras, shipped to the mainland then sent back to the Honduras. Fanatics does not have a license to sell in Honduras.

 

 

We didn’t realize our shore excursion included a boat tour! When we arrived at the marina I asked if we were taking the  boat to the beach. 

Elmer said no. 

I asked if we were taking a boat just for fun.

Elmer said yes.

 

That was a lovely little scenic cruise! We had the opportunity to see Roatan from the inside looking out and the outside looking in. Highlights of the boat tour included the harbour, resorts, the iguana sanctuary, mangroves, Fantasy Island (yes, named after the show) and Little French Key and Big French Key. Little French Key had a pig in a cage and Big French Key had a tiger in a tiny cage on the dock in the hot sun. Awful to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

French Key is the oldest English speaking community on Roatan
 

Iguanas are hunted for food. The most popular time for hunting is breeding season because the females eggs are considered a delicacy. This is the sanctuary. 

 

Our guide said eating iguana is similar to the texture of turkey neck. 

 

There are 4 types of mangroves

Black mangrove

White mangrove 

Buttonwood mangrove

Red mangrove

 

I think this is a red mangrove.

 

 

 

look closely to see the baby barracuda

 

Protecting mangroves is one of the main ways we can manage carbon on earth

 

This is Fantasy Island. The show came first. Owner was a fan of the show.  Now it’s owned by a man from Spain.

 

The boat ride was great! I loved the sights and the breeze which provided a reprieve from the heat. 

 

 

[YVRteacher]

After seeing the sparking turquoise and azure water from the boat, we were eagerly anticipating the beach portion of the excursion.

 

When we arrived we walked along the boardwalk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to a hut

 

for a Garifuna cultural presentation which was excellent.

 

 

 

 

 

This guy with his lollipop stole the show!

 

 

 

At the next hut our group had a presentation of how cassava was prepared and we were offered a tiny sample of cassava cracker. The garlic salt made it delicious!

 

 

 

Finally it was beach time. Sadly, the water was brown with mud, muck and murk. We all went swimming anyhow and it was warm and luxurious since we just ignored the mud.

 

 

 

[YVRteacher]

I hadn’t eaten breakfast and was stomach-rumbling hungry by this point so tried to order food. That was an impossible task for a single woman so I said hi to beach cat

 

took some photos 

 

 

 

 

and browsed the Honduran market set up beside the beach

 

 

 

I mentioned that tourism drives Roatan’s economy. As a country, Honduras is a conduit to the drug industry. 
 

Wanting to do my part to contribute to the local economy, I bought pot.

 

See?

[YVRteacher]

Many of you know that when I returned from Iceland last summer my house had a water leak. The repairs have been an ongoing nightmare.

 

After a full day of travel yesterday, I arrived home at 2am, turned the water on and went to bed.

 

Today I did laundry and errands since I return to work tomorrow. At 7:00pm when I got home from the grocery store something on the living room ceiling caught my eye.

 

My place has flooded again in the same spot. Obviously there is a broken pipe that can’t handle the surge of pressure when the water is turned on at the source.

 

The ceiling now has more than 10 coats of paint since the restoration company made so many errors. The water is bulging in the ceiling under the paint. Even with a ladder I can’t reach it.

 

Woe is me. This jolt back to reality is not fun.

 

I had to pause posting to cruise critic the last few days since the internet service did not have the oomph to post photos and every time I tried to post it just froze. When I was using the Free at Sea 150 minutes the internet was great and I had no problems. When I purchased the “upgrade” to unlimited internet I could barely do anything.

[Sugar Magnolia]

5 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

My place has flooded again in the same spot. Obviously there is a broken pipe that can’t handle the surge of pressure when the water is turned on at the source.

 

I am so sorry to hear that this has happened again. I feel your fury and frustration. 

 

[YVRteacher]

Midway through the cruise Easter appeared.

 

 

 

That bunny at the top gives serious creeper vibes.

[fethiyeden]

I am so sorry to hear of your water woes. Hopefully it can be sorted properly this time.

I hope your 1st day back at school is not too stressful.

[tjatczak]

Thanks for the fantastic review! (as

always!)

 

[SenatorsFan]

Sorry you've returned home to more water woes.

Thanks for the review.

[Norwegianprincess]

Thanks for the review, I’ve really enjoyed following along! 😊
So sorry to hear about your flooding!

 

When is your next cruise (with your dad?)?

 

[Seas2mountains]

I’m so sorry to hear about the second broken pipe. I hope the repairs on this one don’t take as long as the last one.
Thank you for another fantastic review! I look forward to following along in a few weeks if you do another live review.  I hope all goes well as you return to school. 

[YVRteacher]

4 hours ago, Norwegianprincess said:

Thanks for the review, I’ve really enjoyed following along! 😊
So sorry to hear about your flooding!

 

When is your next cruise (with your dad?)?

 

In 27 days!!!

[YVRteacher]

45 minutes ago, Seas2mountains said:

I’m so sorry to hear about the second broken pipe. I hope the repairs on this one don’t take as long as the last one.
Thank you for another fantastic review! I look forward to following along in a few weeks if you do another live review.  I hope all goes well as you return to school. 

I had a wonderful first day back today!

[www3traveler]

1 minute ago, YVRteacher said:

In 27 days!!!

How is Dad doing?

[YVRteacher]

Those of us that went on the Roatan excursion were glad we did. We saw so much of the island, were treated to an Indigenous performance, swam in the Caribbean and most importantly held a sloth!!! I don’t do bucket lists but if I did holding a sloth would have been at the top.

 

Back on the ship we didn’t even stop at the cabins. We just hit the pool bar!

 

 

At one point I said to my friends “there are a lot of kids in the adult pool.”

 

Friend replied, “this is the adult pool??!!”

[YVRteacher]

Remember how wonderful last week’s Dinner with the Officers was?

 

Well this week was even better, if that is possible.

 

John, the HR Director, requested me at his table, which is just so special. We laughed so much at that first dinner.  When I reboarded the ship this week on Sunday Mariah (GM’s secretary) stopped me in the hall and said John was looking forward to dinner again this week. I told Mariah I had friends joining for this week and could they do Dinner with the Officers as well. She said of course and told me to tell them at the Cruise Next desk. Once at the Cruise Next desk I also signed up @fstuff1. He didn’t even know he wanted to do Dinner with the Officers. Can you imagine? Good thing he had me on board to sign him up for events!!!

 

Who remembers Croozy Soozy? Did you ever cruise with her when she was Cruise Director? I did and I’ll never forget the Black Forest cake making session with Soozy, Jim Badger and Tim Kaminski.  
 

In addition to John who was his charming, delightful, hilarious self, we had the absolute joy in sharing an evening with Soozy!  She is the Theatre Operations Manager.  The other 4 people who were supposed to be at our table didn’t show up so it was the 4 of us (myself, Cruise Critic friend @fstuff1 and two Vancouver friends) John and Soozy.

 

The laughter, the stories, the connections.

The friendship, the delight, the easy flow of conversation.

 

The birthday cake we ordered even though it was no one’s birthday. We all sang to each other,

 

The information and juicy tidbits I can never repeat!

 

The whole experience was delicious and delightful.

 

No one wanted the meal to end so we all ordered cappuccinos.

 

At 9:05pm Soozy got a pager ding and she had to leave.  We met at 5:45pm. Soozy told us at 9:06 that the instruction normally given to officers is to end by 7:30.  

 

Some Dinners with Officers are tedious with people bragging about how many cruises they have taken. This was the opposite. Pure fun with swiftly flowing, interesting topics.

 

There was food too.

 

 

 

This was a night to remember for all the best reasons.

 

It feels anticlimactic to tell you that we went to the Broadway 80s show in the Spiegel tent followed by Howl at the Moon and a nightcap at Shakers Martini bar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best. Day. Ever.

 

Edited April 3 by YVRteacher