EXPLORE-ing a New Continent, March 30, 2025, 11nt Southern Caribbean

[melmar02]

Tomorrow, we start the single digit dance because our family will be headed out soon on Explorer of the Seas for 11 nights visiting the Southern Caribbean!

 

In addition to myself, it’s DH, DD – 16yo, and DS who will turn 13 next week, just before we get on the ship.

 

Here’s the itinerary:

Fly from Dallas to Miami on 3/29 and stay at the Hampton Inn in Coconut Grove overnight

Day 1 - 3 Embarkation and sea days

Day 4 Costa Rica

            RC Excursion – Rainforest Walk, Tortuguero Canal & Limon Countryside

Day 5 Panama

            RC Excursion – Metropolitan National Park Hike and Panama Canal

Day 6 Columbia

            RC Excursion – Deluxe Cartagena and Fortress

Day 7 - 8 Aruba

            ABC Tours – Natural Pool and Indian Cave Jeep Safari

Day 9 Curacao

            RC Excursion – Beach Hop and Turtle Snorkel

Day 10-11 Sea Days

Fly back to Dallas the evening we disembark. Get up and teach the next day. Lol.

 

The kids just earned their scuba certifications this fall, and we originally planned to stay the weekend after the cruise in Florida - drive down to Key Largo and dive for a couple days. The timing didn’t work though, so we are planning a separate dive trip later this summer.

 

We have RC excursions booked for all the stops except for Aruba. We don’t get into port until 4 or 5pm that first day in Aruba, so we will just stay on the ship that evening. The next morning we have a half day tour booked with ABC Tours who will be picking us up at the terminal.

 

DS and I will be spending our sea days on the Flowrider…hopefully. I had a meniscus repair 3 months ago and I have a slight muscle imbalance now. I feel about the same as I did on our last cruise just before the surgery though, so I should be fine. DD is kind of over the Flowrider, and she is content to just relax in a hot tub. DH will be catching up on nap time. Of course the casino beckons as well.

 

Speaking of the casino, I saw this in the app last night. I searched the ship name and date, and couldn’t find any websites advertising a charter, so maybe the group is small and won’t take over the ship? I guess the group is big enough to declare the casino non-smoking though? I'm really not worried about it. I did find a Bliss charter, but it doesn't happen until late April, and I'm pretty sure they have to charter the entire ship. 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

Sounds like a fabulous trip for all!  Looking forward to many pictures and insights into those booked excursions.  Hence…I’m following!  

It’s been thirty years since my 3 children were teenagers and we still love to pull out the old photos and makeshift videos (cell phones weren’t around then!) and reminisce.  So many adventures brought back to life!  Of course…we laugh until our sides are hurting at the fashions back then along with the hairdos!  And now they are continuing the story with their own teenagers…what a blessing!

Memories are the absolute greatest thing ever!  ENJOY  

[Ampurp85]

Wow this is a nice itinerary and since you home school, a lot of the places can be educational. Looking forward to seeing and reading about all the places. 

Are you in a suite or a couple of balconies for this one? 

[Sweety]

Have a nice cruise? make me awesome memories with the family.

[JohnK6404]

Have an amazing time!!! 

[melmar02]

1 hour ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Sounds like a fabulous trip for all!  Looking forward to many pictures and insights into those booked excursions.  Hence…I’m following!  

It’s been thirty years since my 3 children were teenagers and we still love to pull out the old photos and makeshift videos (cell phones weren’t around then!) and reminisce.  So many adventures brought back to life!  Of course…we laugh until our sides are hurting at the fashions back then along with the hairdos!  And now they are continuing the story with their own teenagers…what a blessing!

Memories are the absolute greatest thing ever!  ENJOY  

I make photo books of all our trips. I'm a little behind though and stuck on making our Alaska book... from the covid restart!

 

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

Wow this is a nice itinerary and since you home school, a lot of the places can be educational. Looking forward to seeing and reading about all the places. 

Are you in a suite or a couple of balconies for this one? 

Yes! I keep threatening the kids with papers on the various cultures or engineering of the locks being due after we get back. Ha!

 

1 hour ago, Sweety said:

Have a nice cruise? make me awesome memories with the family.

Thanks!

 

We will be sailing in connecting balconies again this time. Forward-ish on deck 8. I do miss the 2 br suite, but this works for us, for now anyway. If you have read through my previous trips, you know DH is the morning person in our family. He will get up and to to the Crown Lounge to get us coffee while I sleep in. He asked the other day where our cabins were and then pointed out that he has to cross the length of ship to get to the lounge. I never even considered the cabin location in relation to the lounge since that's not my morning routine. Well, at least I'm helping him get his steps in! I'll have to keep that in mind for the next one.

We don't have any specialty dining purchased yet, but we are planning on taking advantage of the D+ BOGO. I'm fine with either Chops or Giovanni's Table. DS wants sushi on his birthday, so we will probably skip Izumi. We will most likely hit Johnny Rockets at some point during the cruise - it's tradition for our family. We are looking forward to the 4 days of MDR menus that we are not familiar with - Mediterranean, UK, Asia, and USA. We have 6:45 MTD reservations every night except for the night we are in Costa Rica. The earliest time available on that day was 7:15. 

We purchased a water package, and we got the kids the soda package because of the Freestyle machines. Internet and a photo package wrap up our pre-cruise purchases. We set up our amenity, so hopefully there will be a bottle of wine waiting in our cabin.

 

[OCSC Mike]

On 3/20/2025 at 11:48 AM, melmar02 said:

He will get up and to to the Crown Lounge to get us coffee while I sleep in. He asked the other day where our cabins were and then pointed out that he has to cross the length of ship to get to the lounge. I never even considered the cabin location in relation to the lounge since that's not my morning routine. Well, at least I'm helping him get his steps in! I'll have to keep that in mind for the next one.

Similar situation for us. My wife doesn't sleep in but also doesn't drink coffee so I'm the one who makes the early morning CL run (I do usually bring her back a croissant if the food is out). It's not the main reason but we're usually above the CL on Oasis class and I do appreciate that. I get my steps in taking the stairs during the rest of the cruise... early AM is the one time I can enjoy empty elevators.

We're waiting for a neighborhood balcony GTY in 31 days (first one ever and we haven't had a GTY in quite a while). We're rooting for Central Park for multiple reasons. If we get far aft Boardwalk I'm gonna have an awfully long walk each morning.

EDIT/UPDATE: Crisis (long walk) averted, we were assigned CP and switched to a cabin we're very happy with.

[melmar02]

I went camping with my daughter's scout troop this weekend. Now that the camping gear is unpacked, cruise laundry is officially in the works. I needed a new pair of jeans, and came back with a few other things too... a few shirts, a couple pair of shorts, a new pair of sandals, a rash guard, and a couple pair of dress pants. One of the pairs of pants reminds me of a shirt my mom had when I was a kid - they are black palazzo pants with silver running through them. I'll have to post a picture at some point because I absolutely love them. I remember my mom's shirt was the same black material but with iridescent rainbow colors running through it. I wore it as a dress for a talent show in the 2nd grade, so I'm sure I bought the pants because of nostalgia, but they are pretty fabulous. And bonus! They fit my little 5'1" legs so I don't have to hem them!  

[asquared17]

PALAZZO PANTS!!!!!

[Ampurp85]

I love a palazzo pant, I feel like they flatter every body type. 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

6 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I love a palazzo pant, I feel like they flatter every body type. 

Definitely agree!  They are a staple in my wardrobe for cruising.  They pack really well too!

[Kelseylovestocruise]

So I had to look up these pants as I have never heard the words for them. I do own a bunch though. I call them my computer dress pants for teaching lol

[melmar02]

I am way more ahead on packing than usual! I have DS about 90 percent packed, DD about 50 percent. DH and I are "packed on paper" and I'm finishing up laundry today. We have our piles started and the dry cleaning gets picked up this afternoon. I'm making what I think is the final CVS run this afternoon too, but I'm sure there will be just one more thing that didn't make it on to my list...isn't there always? I really think we will all be close to fully packed by this evening!

Ok, so here are the pants, but the photos don't do them justice. They were on a clearance rack from Christmas/New Year's season and definitely have a New Year's Eve party vibe. They are so stretchy and comfy! After 11 days of eating, should probably plan on walking off the ship in them!

Help me decide which shirt I should wear with them...I'm planning on bringing all three tops and I'll wear the pants more than one night so maybe I'll just mix and match them all. With the white t-shirt (tuck / untuck?) I plan on wearing a chunky red or chunky silver necklace. The black t-shirt (again, tuck / untuck?) has eyelash lace all across the top which is a little hard to see in the picture - not sure it needs a necklace, but I have a long silver chain with scattered black and crystal beads that would work with it. The white button front with rhinestones is also my white night shirt worn untucked with white capris. I wasn't sure how else to style it so I just tied the knot, but I guess I could tuck it in too. I am terrible at styling tops so I usually just leave everything untucked. DD likes the button front the best. 

 

[Ampurp85]

In all honesty they look great with all the tops. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

I like photo #1 - back shirt, untucked….but they are all cute !

[MaryS]

I also like picture #1 - black shirt untucked and the chunky red necklace will look great.   The white shirt (untucked) would look good with the chunky silver necklace .

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

My pick is the outfit with black shirt untucked.  Looks really great and shows your figure beautifully.  If you were to wear the white top I probably would untuck and perhaps wear a sheer bolero or kimono style overtop.  Not crazy about the button down…stick to wearing it with the white capris or even a darker bottom!

Really love the pants!  So stylish!

[Kelseylovestocruise]

So odd one out but I like a tucked in shirt. 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

5 hours ago, Kelseylovestocruise said:

So odd one out but I like a tucked in shirt. 

you must be one of the younger ones…like I used to be!     

 

 

[OCSC Mike]

This discussion is making me thankful to be a fairly unstylish guy who just grabs 8-9 t-shirts for daytime & 7 polos for at night to go with khaki shorts/pants.

[Kelseylovestocruise]

3 hours ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

you must be one of the younger ones…like I used to be!     

 

 

That I am. Late twenties over here. 

[melmar02]

Thanks for the input, ladies!

@OCSC Mike The struggle is real!

I feel like I didn't get as much done on packing as I wanted to yesterday, but it was DS's birthday, so I have a good excuse. He doesn't have a cell phone yet (next year), but we got him a "temporary" one for the cruise. We bought a pre-paid service plan that we can cancel after a month, and there was a promo for a free phone - we call it his burner.  We'll reactivate it for a month in the fall for our next cruise, and then it's his next year on his 14th birthday. Anyway, our sales guy at AT&T was from Miami, and used to live near our hotel. He recommended a couple of restaurants for Saturday night - La Carreta and Cafe Versailles. I was looking at Havana Harry's too. I think food may be one of my favorite parts of planning a trip! 

We have a busy day today, and my window to move forward on packing closes about 2pm. It is our last homeschool day before our "spring break", so the kids are wrapping up editing papers and taking math and science tests this morning. Our homeschool co-op meets all day tomorrow, and I still need to prep for my class. Fortunately I am only the lead teacher in one class this semester, and it's not baking or cooking! Instead of baking all day Thursday for 4 classes of kids and hauling half my kitchen to co-op each week, I only bring a little speaker to teach a single dance class! It really has felt like I took the semester off. Then tonight I have a parent meeting for the co-op to select which classes we will offer in the fall. DS is hoping animation and graphic design make the list. DD doesn't get as much choice since we're filling in her high school transcript - world history and physics are at the top of her list. I am offering to teach dance classes again, but I'm bumping back up the number of classes to 4 - ballroom, beginner ballet/tap, high school contemporary, and cultural dance. I am really excited about that last one. We'll spend the first 15 or 20 minutes of each class learning about the geography, history, and culture of a country and the rest of class learning a traditional dance from that region. 

I want to get the front yard mowed this morning - we have a new company running our HOA, and they are quite a bit more... rule following than the previous company. I'm sure after being gone for two weeks our yard would look like a jungle if I don't do something about it today. The kids have piano this afternoon and DH and I have a dance lesson right after that. Somewhere in there I need to go to the bank and return a couple library books as well.

3 days 'til we're onboard!

[Ampurp85]

I love that your home schooling is more engaging and also offers a lot enrichment on multiple levels. Some are so antisocial. I also love planning anything vacation-wise, just knowing you will be eating food you didn't cook is such joy.

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

3 hours ago, melmar02 said:

Thanks for the input, ladies!

@OCSC Mike The struggle is real!

I feel like I didn't get as much done on packing as I wanted to yesterday, but it was DS's birthday, so I have a good excuse. He doesn't have a cell phone yet (next year), but we got him a "temporary" one for the cruise. We bought a pre-paid service plan that we can cancel after a month, and there was a promo for a free phone - we call it his burner.  We'll reactivate it for a month in the fall for our next cruise, and then it's his next year on his 14th birthday. Anyway, our sales guy at AT&T was from Miami, and used to live near our hotel. He recommended a couple of restaurants for Saturday night - La Carreta and Cafe Versailles. I was looking at Havana Harry's too. I think food may be one of my favorite parts of planning a trip! 

We have a busy day today, and my window to move forward on packing closes about 2pm. It is our last homeschool day before our "spring break", so the kids are wrapping up editing papers and taking math and science tests this morning. Our homeschool co-op meets all day tomorrow, and I still need to prep for my class. Fortunately I am only the lead teacher in one class this semester, and it's not baking or cooking! Instead of baking all day Thursday for 4 classes of kids and hauling half my kitchen to co-op each week, I only bring a little speaker to teach a single dance class! It really has felt like I took the semester off. Then tonight I have a parent meeting for the co-op to select which classes we will offer in the fall. DS is hoping animation and graphic design make the list. DD doesn't get as much choice since we're filling in her high school transcript - world history and physics are at the top of her list. I am offering to teach dance classes again, but I'm bumping back up the number of classes to 4 - ballroom, beginner ballet/tap, high school contemporary, and cultural dance. I am really excited about that last one. We'll spend the first 15 or 20 minutes of each class learning about the geography, history, and culture of a country and the rest of class learning a traditional dance from that region. 

I want to get the front yard mowed this morning - we have a new company running our HOA, and they are quite a bit more... rule following than the previous company. I'm sure after being gone for two weeks our yard would look like a jungle if I don't do something about it today. The kids have piano this afternoon and DH and I have a dance lesson right after that. Somewhere in there I need to go to the bank and return a couple library books as well.

3 days 'til we're onboard!

Oh my goodness what a busy schedule and I thought my vacation countdowns were needed (lol I’m retired but still enjoy counting down the days). You take the high honors @melmar02  !  So now that I am extremely exhausted from your schedule…let me just say I am looking forward to you finding a bit of relaxation in between all your planned excursions !  I’m ready……

 

[melmar02]

2 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I love that your home schooling is more engaging and also offers a lot enrichment on multiple levels. Some are so antisocial. I also love planning anything vacation-wise, just knowing you will be eating food you didn't cook is such joy.

Yes, these kiddos can't just be stuck in our home classroom all the time. First, none of us would survive! More importantly, we have the opportunity to explore and do things in our community and beyond, so let's get out there and see how the real world works!

 

27 minutes ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Oh my goodness what a busy schedule and I thought my vacation countdowns were needed (lol I’m retired but still enjoy counting down the days). You take the high honors @melmar02  !  So now that I am extremely exhausted from your schedule…let me just say I am looking forward to you finding a bit of relaxation in between all your planned excursions !  I’m ready……

 

We are in a very busy season right now, but at least I didn't schedule a wedding cake this week too! I'm currently doing a little self care - I forgot to book a hair appointment so I'm coloring it right now!

[melmar02]

I haven't colored my hair at home since before the kids were born, but I put those gloves on and got it done! Didn't stain my white cabinets or floors either! I love a good vibrant tone - this one is more violet under indoor light, but I really like how it turned out...maybe because it's the same color I had when we sailed star class?

 

I woke up before my alarm went off this morning so I can get a couple more things in the bag before we leave for the day. The dogs are all packed so I can run home and get them to the kennel right after our co-op is over this afternoon. DH and I had a weekend trip a couple weeks ago and never put the suitcases back up, so the packing has gone unnoticed by the pups. They finally realized what was going on when I bagged up their food last night though. They are both pouting and the little one won't even look at me this morning. 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

Ok so your hair color is amazing…one of my daughters puts all those hues in her hair and being a Mom of 3 teenage girls she fits right in!  .  She was my rebel growing up (piercings, tattoos, whatever!) and so far her girls seem to be a bit more on the calm side…how lucky is she?   Seriously…she is such a great Mom…her girls are truly the lucky ones!  Sorry I got off the subject a bit…  

I love the pictures of your sweet little dogs!  Too funny how expressive they can be!

[Ampurp85]

The hair looks beautiful and healthy. Our fur family sure can get an attitude when we leave them. That just means extra hugs and kisses when we get back 

[melmar02]

After finally getting everyone packed last night, DH and I stayed up to watch a little TV and unwind. We got to bed around 1am and were up at 4:30 again to get everyone going and out the door by 5:30. We're currently sitting at the gate, and the kids are enjoying their first meal of vacation while DH and Ibare enjoyingour large coffees. Dunkin for the win! 

1 day to go!

[melmar02]

After a pretty turbulent flight, we have landed. On to find our bags, an Uber, then the hotel which is about 30 minutes from the airport according to Google. Then we'll figure out lunch plans.

[Ampurp85]

I'm glad the flight was uneventful. Hopefully it doesn't take long to get your bags.

I know you mostly drive so how do the children handle flights? Hopefully it doesn't cause them too much anxiety. I am looking forward to your cruise, I doubt I will get to do ports like these.

[melmar02]

2 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

 

I know you mostly drive so how do the children handle flights? Hopefully it doesn't cause them too much anxiety. I am looking forward to your cruise, I doubt I will get to do ports like these.

They actually do really well. Our first cruise after the shutdown was Alaska, and to prep we watched several you tube videos of airport tours and a passenger viewpoint of a plane taking off and landing. DD has generalized anxiety in addition to ASD, and she's very visual, so the videos helped set expectations for her. Then a few months before AlSka, we took a short 1 hour flight to visit the grandparents. We flew to Ft Lauderdale last year for our B2B, so they are getting to be pros now.

[melmar02]

Ok. A touch of drama. We got the bags and when we got outside the airport I noticed one of the wheels on the big bag I was lugging was broken. No problem, we didn't have any plans for the rest of the day. So while we waited for our Uber, I checked local Target and Walmart inventory for something just good enough to get us on the ship and back to Dallas. Target was a bust, but it looked like Walmart had something that would work. Y'all, I came all the way to Florida to go to Walmart.

Anyway our Uber xl shows up and has captain chairs (only 2 seats) in the second row and the third row was folded down of course for the luggage. DD and I made it work and shared one of the chairs for the 30 minute ride to the hotel. It will be a memorable experience...someday.

We reached the hotel close to 1pm. Our room was being cleaned, but they offered to hold our bags and we walked a few blocks to Flanagin's for lunch. The plan was to have something just to tide us over to dinner because we really wanted to try one of the recommended Cuban restaurants. Alas, we are in vacation mode and over ate. Fortunately it was all really good, and the concensus was we would come back. We got the loaded nachos appetizer (huge), I had fish tacos, DD got lemon pepper tilapia, DH a burger, and DS fried shrimp. 

We walked back to the hotel and ran into a bit more drama. There were multiple police vehicles at the intersections all around our hotel. As we walked into the lobby 2 cops were running out like they were looking for something. The front desk didn't know what was going on, but there is a music festival here this weekend, and she said it always gets a little crazy when events like that go on. We'll watch the news tonight to see if we can find any details as Google was no help. We finished checking in, got the kids settled in the room, and DH and I called another Uber to take us to Walmart for the new suitcase. Funny, this time we requested a regular / small uber and a mini van showed up. I wish the vehicle selection was more accurate. A bottle of wine may have come back with us for the traditional "put the luggage tags on with a glass of red" event. When we got back an hour later the cops were finally all leaving. 

EDIT - I promise we're not crazy people that leave our kids in a dangerous situation. I probably shouldn't type in a sleep deprived state, and rereading my post, I think I more context is needed. At no time did we feel we were in any danger. The cops around the hotel didn't have weapons drawn and were relaxed. Chatting with each other and civilians walking around. They were blocking vehicle traffic, not pedestrians,  from the area - there were tons of people walking their dogs. We checked before we left and they had started to disperse by the time we left the hotel for Walmart. - END OF EDIT

DH and I then took a desperately needed nap. There is a Subway in the shopping center next to the hotel so we walked over to get the kids dinner. The adults didn't know when to stop at lunch and decided we were too full still to eat.

We're going to open that bottle now, relax, and unwind from the active day. Tomorrow!

Edited March 30 by melmar02
Added details

[Ampurp85]

That food looks good and the portions are decent. I can see why you overate.

[melmar02]

15 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

That food looks good and the portions are decent. I can see why you overate.

Our only complaint, being from Texas, is that there were beans in the chili in the nachos.

[InmyElement]

The food looks great! Yum! So glad you made it safely with little issues..

I lost a wheel last year in Miami and Trisha found a replacement on amazon, only a couple of screws. Thats what I get using a samsonite...still have to make the move to Away $$ luggage!!!

Have a GREAT Cruise Day!! 

So exciting..we leave for the ship around 9:45a..

[melmar02]

Y'all, I just reread my previous post with the police activity, and we sound nuts! Who would leave kids in that situation? I added some details (short version is we felt totallyvsafe), and learned that I am not allowed to post when short on sleep!

[OCSC Mike]

33 minutes ago, melmar02 said:

learned that I am not allowed to post when short on sleep!

Been there done that (as recently as this week). I posted that my first cruise was for my honeymoon in 2022... I was only 20 years off, lol.

[melmar02]

Kids and DH went down to the free breakfast while I stayed in the room to get ready. They said it was the usual Hikton freebie fare - scrambled eggs, sausage, fruit, waffles, muffins. 

We're contemplating when to leave the hotel. There's a little rain this morning and we don't want to be standing outside in it, but we're ready to be onboard! 

[melmar02]

My MIL just texted us. She's getting emails today from Royal to make sure she arrives at the port at her selected boarding time. She cruised with us once pre-covid, so fingers crossed this is as far as the IT mix up goes. We'll make sure points are posted correctly after the cruise.