This likely would have received a higher rating, but the weather was terrible. Although I had planned on just catching a public bus or taxi once on shore to the West End where the best snorkling (and touristy area) is, by the time we reached the gate from the port, it was pouring down rain. The avenue just outside the port was lined with booths selling various excursions. We were stopped by the Victor Boden tour booth, and since I’d read up on them before on CC, and given the rain, we decided to take them up on their $25/person offer of a group tour. There were two other women waiting for that, and we were told they needed two more to join before we could go. However, they managed to grab a group of around 6 more, and so we were pretty crammed into the rather small van. The van took us around the East side of the island, though some very, very poor towns, through the rain, up to the highest point on the island. There was a nice view, but the area was also filled with booths of locals selling souvenirs. Given the rain, it was not a particularly pleasant experience. Stan was becoming increasingly unformfortable with the whole thing, particularly the poverty. His background growing up in extreme poverty himself in the USSR made him essentially flash back to it, and definitely not what he was looking for in a vacation tour. After rolling around through some more towns, our guide finally took us to the Monkey Farm owned by the tour company. THAT was great. the cost is normally something like $5/person, but our tour included it. Only a few of us chose to do this so the group was not large. a nice young guide took us in and immediately led us to a large caged enclosure housing two capuchin monkeys. we were warned to allow them to come to us if they chose, and NOT to in any way go after them, and that if we made them feel frightened, they would remember and not come to us again. they were inquisitive and friendly, and I enjoyed the experience thoroughly. We were allowed to stay in that cage as long as we wanted, and then were taken to several others, one of which held very young monkeys. these were capuchins.. they also have spider monkeys and some other species, but only the capuchins were considered to be friendly enough to allow us to enter with them. we could feed the spider monkeys through the cage, and they would take the food with their prehensile tail if it was too far for their very long arms to reach. We were also allowed to hold a kinkajou, and entered a large enclosure with macaws, who would (if they chose) flly to you and land on your shoulder or head. I liked that there was no sense of the animals being forced to interact if they chose not to (and many did choose to stay away for all or part of the time). they were very clean, well fed, and had plenty of room. We were told that the enclosures were primarily for visiting time, and that at other times they were allowed to free roam. they didn’t leave the area, because they thought of it as home, and were fed there, so they had no incentive to. Similar to the Golden Tamarins at the National Zoo. I had some great photos, but unfortunately some of them were lost when I accidentally deleted them off of my phone. I particularly am sad to have lost the photos of myself with the macaws.After that we drove to west end. It’s a cute.  If wed gone here to begin with husband wouldn't be so agitated—while it was still very obviously third world, it was somewhat sanitized for tourists. The  Water was very muddy due to runoff, so we didnt get out at the beach, even though the rain had slacked off.  After we returned to the ship, I decided to step out of the port to do some shopping. This was again quite depressing.  Young kids would ambush you as you walked past the gate, trying to get you to hire them to give you a tour and take you to “the best shopping). The street was extremely muddy from the rain. There was trash everywhere.  Skinny, half wild, mange covered dogs ran around freely. It was quite an experience, and I’m glad I saw it, since it helps me appreciate what I have. Unlike my hsuband, it didn’t give me flashbacks, but rather gave me some guilt about my luxurious life compared with these people. I  picked up some random stuff from the various booths, and gave some cash to the local kids just because. Same t shirt i got for $5 was for 17 in pier.  At the designated all aboard time I went back to cabin, then to the spa, where watched from the aft windows as the Dawn sailed away fro Roatan. All in all not a bad day (the monkeys really made all the difference), but definitely not the day I thought I’d have. darned rain! additional cost due to change in plans: $50 for overpacked, depressing, and relatively uninformative tour (the guide was friendly, and happy to answer questions, but by his own admission not talkative). I would love to come back here some time when the weather is nice. 

Roatan

Today’s excursion went as planed. The weather held out, although it was overcast, it did not actually rain. Because we had a tour booked through the cruise line, we had a priority tender (smaller boat that takes you to the pier, as the large ships are not allowed that close in due to the reefs). Once there we were ushered to a large bus (there were around 30 of us). During the first part of our tour (really just the 45 minute drive to where the real things tarted) once of the guides kept up an interesting narrative describing life in Belize. After a short bathroom break, we boarded another small boat for a scenic river trip up to the Lamanai ruins. A different guide made sure we saw some wild spider monkeys and described other wildlife and scenery on the way. The driver of the boat took his job seriously, and we whipped around some corners in a way which might be frightening to some, but which my husband and I (and apparently most of the passengers) loved! I love a boat ride of any sort, and this was definitely high energy and fun.We got to the ruins and yet a third guide took over to describe what we saw. I won’t go into all of it, because the info is readily available online, but my impression was very positive. although the tour group we were with was quite large, and there were other large groups there, we were still able to have relatively personalized descriptions and time to just look around at each stop. We were allowed to climb one of the pyramids. I was hesitant, and started taking photos instead. I looked around for my husband to ask him something, and he was nowhere to be seen.. until I glanced up at the top of the pyramid, where he was waving down to me! That settled it, now I HAD to go up. it was hard, but not as hard as I feared. A large roap was available to help you pull yourself up the steepest part. The view from the top was definitely worth the climb. but apparently we (the entire tour group) took so long there that we ended up rushing past the last stops on the tour. no great loss, I imagine, at any rate I didn’t feel cheated of any experience, and would rather have the time on the things we did see to experience them thoroughly than whizzing though more sights. We didn’t have time to spend at the souvenir area, and were rushed back to our boat for a speed ride back to the starting point, where we had a simple but tasty lunch. There was an artisan there selling hand carved wooden bowls, and I ended up spending far too much to buy a couple of these. a quiet bus ride back to the pier just in time to catch the last tender back to the ship.

Today I had booked a swim with dolphins activity which included a day in a park where there was also snorkling. We happened to be among the first off the ship, and immediately caught a taxi for Chankanaab park. $12 for the both of us. at the park we were also among the first, and I wish I had booked my dolphin swim for an earlier time, but I didn’t want to take the chance of being late (since this was not through the cruise line). so we found a beach area with loungers, dropped off our stuff, and went swimming. the water was warm and clear, and we were almost immediately surrounded by beautiful fish. I quickly ran back to get my snorkel gear and camera, and started shooting pictures. I am, er… naturally bouant, so diving down to get better shots of certain things was a challenge, but I still enjoyed swimming around taking photos.At the assigned time we went to the dolphin swim area, signed in. By now there were many groups from multiple cruise ships (there were at least 6 ships in port, including one of the giants from Royal Caribbean). Our small group (6 people) was somewhat lost in the shuffle. but we got our own “pool” area just for our group, so at that point it didn’t matter. Our dolphin, Noel, was of course amazing, and we got to interact with her in various ways for around an hour or more. There was no rush to get us out. I can’t begin to describe the experience, other than to say it was everything one imagines and more. the only thing that would have made it better is if I didn’t have to wear a life vest, and if we could just freely swim with her in the water. My husband was initially grumpy (after all, I’d pulled him away from the sun), but once in the water with Noel, he regained his usual cheery mood, and by the end he told me it was the best part of the cruise. After getting out of the water we were ushered to a very crowded area where we were shown our photos on computer screens and were offered the opportunity to buy them. I’d have liked to leave that and come back later, on our way out of the park, to make that decision, but of course they wouldn’t keep them for that long.. so I had to decide then and there whether to buy individual photos at $35 a pop (we’d want at least two.. one for each of us), After the dolphin swim, we went back to our things on the beach (I had taken any valuables with us, so was not afraid of leaving things just lying there). by now the beach was extremely crowded, so it’s good we had our loungers “reserved”. Stan sat in soaking up the sun, and I went snorkeling. once again, amazing. The reef itself is visibly dying/dead. but the number of fish is still incredible. I’m sure it doesn’t compare to what I’d have seen in Roatan, but since I missed that, I made the most of this chance. At some point my camera jammed up, and since I couldn’t clear it underwater (by taking out and replacing the battery), I had to stop taking pictures, but I continued to take in the sights “in person”. I would have gladly stayed here longer. I spent a short time walking around the park, but didn’t see even a fraction of what was there, and we left beach sooner than I’d have liked (but probably actually good timing). I still had some time to venture out for shopping in town. fortunately, our ship was docked at the pier which was right in the middle of “town” (there are other piers further away), so I could easily walk to the shopping area. On the one hand, Cozumel is very Americanized.. you didn’t really feel any poverty, or “local” flavor. on the other hand, the sales people would jump out at you at every step trying to entice you to come in to buy THEIR version of the same things. I did make some purchases but mostly a block away from the main drag, where it seems no one goes! I spent more than I meant to, but also got at least some of the specific items I had planned on getting. Returned VERY tired to the ship.

The cabin was nice. not exactly roomy, but then I didn't expect that. I had no problem finding enough storage space for everything. I liked that the shower had a real sliding door, and not just a curtain. the bed was comfortable. the balcony was small, with two deck chairs and a teeny little table (barely large enough to put a drink or ashtray). the chairs were rather uncomfortable, and I wish they could recline. the barrier was clear plastic with a railing, so in theory one could see through it. but in practice it was rather cloudy and if you were sitting in a chair you really could not see the scenery very well, I wish it was a bit lower, but then I see the safety issue in having it as high as it was. and that was perfect standing an leaning on. I couldn't figure out the TV settings (the remote worked, but you had to sort of play with the buttons to get them to react). Overall I have no complaints. it was relatively quiet except one day when the folks above seemed to be thumping around a great deal. fortunately not at night. the mid ship location meant we were fairly close to everything.. but as it happens most of the things we wanted to be close to were aft, so an aft cabin would likely have been a better fit for us. Overall, I was happy with it.

One nice thing about the spa was that it was generally quiet, with no kids or rowdy folks out to have a good time.one for each of us),
After the dolphin swim, we went back to our things on the beach (I had taken any valuables with us, so was not afraid of leaving things just lying there).

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