Déjà Dream: Just Another (Pictorial) Dream Review — Part Sixfeatured
Mom and Stephanie were up early, but I slept in a bit. Why not? We had no real plans for our day in Belize. We climbed at Xunantunich the last time we were here and I wanted to see Altun Ha, but I was outvoted. Our plans were to have no plans and poke around the port a bit and then relax on the ship.
We grabbed breakfast in the MDR while our balcony was serviced by our room steward and had to wait a little bit for a booth for three. It seems the MDR was popular for breakfast on port days.
French Toast with Cinnamon Sugar with some less-than-appetizing scrambled eggs, sausage and hash browns
We ran back to the room to grab some blister block and then went to disembark. Our platinum status had allowed us priority tendering. We went to the Purser’s desk, where they called an escort for us and we went into a chartered elevator that was designated just for platinum guests and taken to deck zero to board the next available tender. Quick, painless and smoother than the 20 minute tender ride to the pier.
We walked around a bit, but there’s not much to see or do at the pier in Belize. It’s not extraordinarily developed or a place you would necessarily want to spend free time in (compared to the port areas in St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Cozumel, Costa Maya, etc).
We came across a fun-looking bar, The Wet Lizard, and popped in for a drink. The Wet Lizard has an open upper floor that has some nice views of the water and ships, and every possible surface from the walls to the chairs to the tables to the napkin holders are covered in written graffiti from customers. For a dollar (that gets donated to charity), they’ll give you a Sharpie to leave your mark on the bar, too.
We split up after lunch. Mom and Stephanie went back to the ship and I went in search of wifi to check in with work. I found a small bar, Cate’s Place, right through the Diamonds International/Del Sol shop that had $5 flat rate wi-fi. You could stay five minutes, you could stay five hours, you’d still pay five bucks. They had fantastic drink specials, too (two margaritas for $5) and Cate was quite personable, but I was there for the wi-fi. An hour later and I was back on a tender to the ship.
I met back up with Mom and Stephanie and we headed up to Lido to swim for a bit before the ship got crowded again.
As our fellow passengers trickled back onto the ship and crowded the pools, we retreated back to our room to shower and nap. I’m assuming Mom ordered room service because I woke up to a late lunch of my favs.
This may or may not be the first time in three (I think!) visits that we saw the sun shine in Belize.
After a bit of balcony time, we headed out to dinner.
Vine Ripe Beefsteak Tomatoes and Buffalo Mozzarella
Lasagna Bolognese (starter portion)
Chicken Tenders Marinated in Thai Spices
Petite Filet Mignon and Braised Boneless Short-Rib
The standouts were the oysters (for Mom), the lasagna (for Stephanie) and…the rolls for me. The one time in YEARS Carnival serves me a *quasi-decently* sized filet in the MDR, it’s ridiculously under-cooked and tepid. And it takes a lot for me to think beef is undercooked. We were underwhelmed by the main courses and decided to skip dessert in favor of grabbing some fruit and soft serve up on Lido. Mom and Stephanie went to grab seats for the show and I went to the room to take a Benadryl and elevate my legs. Did I ever mention that I’m allergic to bug bites? Not, like, epi-pen on me at all times kind of allergic, but if I get bitten (especially by spiders), I swell. If I get bitten on a joint, I’m quasi-immobilized until I get some anti-histamines in me. And I don’t know if it was one of the bars or the tender or where I got bitten up, but my legs were all bitten up in Belize. Takeaway: wear bug spray in Belize.
I headed down to join Mom and Stephanie not long before tonight’s big show, but Bingo ran late and there was a bit of a delay. Dancing in the Street is probably one of the better shows on board. High energy, high level of entertainment, but the dancers carry the show in this one.
We walked through the bead toss in the atrium after the show and it was a hot mess. Adults (literally) smacking and pushing each other for beads, children screaming at the behest of their parents. It’s just plastic beads, y’all. If it means that much to you, they sell like 10 strands for $1 at the Dollar Tree.
We grabbed a plate of cookies and some iced teas from the late night grill and headed back to the room to watch Fashion Star (legitimately my favorite show on TV) before crashing. Tomorrow was Honduras and we had big plans.