For our Belize day, we booked the zipline and cave tubing tour with Jaguar Paw resort. Both activities were wonderful, as was lunch at the resort. Ziplining was easy- the hardest part was the uphill climb to the first run, but this was only because with no one ahead of us in line, we were climbing quickly. The hike to cave tubing was very easy, and we were given life vests and head lamps and linked together for safety reasons. 
Our only drawback for the day was wasted time. We were on the first tender off the ship and were at the meeting place by 8am, after a quick stop to buy sunglasses for those of us who had forgotten or broken ours. We waited an hour before everyone else arrived and we could depart. We lost another hour or so in smaller chunks waiting to regather everyone after bathroom breaks, lunch, etc. We ended up making the last tender back to the ship with about 10 mins to spare. If I had this to do again, I'd book with NCQ Adventures, because they would have taken us in a private group and we wouldn't have wasted so much time or cut it so close. 


Belize City

Our group booked two separate tours here, both with The Native Choice. Four of us (Mom, Dad, Me and Stephanie) did the Mayan Experience, and two of us (Matt and Emily) did the Chacchoben Extreme. We all started out doing the Chacchoben Ruins part of the tour together. 
We were greeted by David at the meeting area, and he took our cash, got us checked in, directed us to restroom facilities and gave us bottled water very efficiently. We then boarded the bus, where Ivan gave us lots of info about the area and Mayan history on our way to the ruins. During our ruins tour, Ivan gave us tons of info about Mayan history, religion and culture. I've done one previous Mayan ruin tour in Belize, and what a difference it makes to have a tour guided by someone so proud of his heritage and culture! Listening to him talk was amazing. We also got to learn about some of the indigenous plants of the area, including chewing on an all-spice leaf and learning about its anesthetic qualities, which was very cool. 
Afterward we split up- Matt and Emily enjoyed the Baclaar Lagoon, where they went kayaking, and had lunch and margaritas (which were included). Our tour took us to the modern village of Chacchoben, where we had a tortilla-making lesson, ate lunch, and watched as our hostess demonstrated a traditional Mayan dance. This was a great opportunity to connect with local people that view tourists get to experience- I can't recommend it highly enough. 
On a side note, we got to take pictures at the pier holding a spider monkey for $5 each- that was my best-spent souvenir money because it was so much fun to hold him! 


Costa Maya

Again, our group split up here. Matt and Emily went to Playa Uvas, where they did an all-inclusive drinks, food and snorkeling package. They had a good time, and made it back to the ship even after their 9 drinks each! 
The rest of us went to Playa Palancar. We arrived just as they were opening up, and had the beach to ourselves for picture taking- truly gorgeous. Once the dive shop opened, Stephanie and I checked in- she's certified, and I was doing a Discover dive. I had done a previous "Discover Scuba" experience back home in a pool, and was glad that I had because the class here was just verbal- they didn't have a pool to try anything out until I was in the water. That said, it was a great experience! I had trouble equalizing my right ear at first, but Miguel took me by the hand and helped me all the way down. Once we were down, it was amazing- the coral (we were at Palancar Gardens) was beautiful, and we saw tons of gorgeous fish, a barracuda, a crab the size of a dinner plate, and the rest of the group saw a turtle, but I had to come up at that point because my nerves in the beginning ate up too much of my air. After the dive, we went back to the beach and relaxed in the sun, and had lunch and some cervesas with my parents. 


Cozumel

Because we had late flights, Matt, Emily, Stephanie and I did a RCCL-sponsored excursion to the Everglades which dropped us off at the airport afterward. This tour was a lot of fun. We saw 4 gators and tons of gorgeous birds on the airboat tour. Two of the alligators were sunning themselves up on islands pretty far off, but one smaller one was very close to our boat. Another big one was swimming within 20 feet of our boat- very cool! After the airboat ride, there was a show that illustrated many of the ancient Indian alligator-hunting techniques on "nuisance gators" captured and rescued from extermination elsewhere in Florida. The park's owner, who gave the show, was a very interesting guy to talk to- he does a lot of work with Animal Planet and Discovery. After the show we were able to take pictures holding a baby gator- lots of fun! 


Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)

Great location- obviously small as interiors can be, but very conveniently laid out, perfectly adequate for two adults (even the two women sharing a room). We heard nothing with the door closed- had to open it to hear any of the PA announcements.

My roommate for the trip is Stephanie- we went to college together and now work together (technically she's my assistant), also 25, and has never cruised before, but has traveled extensively, including two backpacking trips the previous two years- the first to Europe, the second to Australia, New Zealand, and Great Britain.This is my second cruise, having taken one on Enchantment of the Seas two years ago- two of the ports of this cruise (Cozumel and Belize) are actually repeats for me, but I enjoyed them both and this cruise fit everyone's schedule best, so I was happy to return!

Independence of the Seas Review

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