We decided that since this was part of our celebration for our 30th anniversary, we would get a balcony room. All of our other rooms have been inside rooms and we simply could not believe that we would be happy anymore without seeing the ocean at all times. Reminded us of being at home on our boat.

First, we had to get past security and get all checked in completely. Through the lines and out to the passageway to the ship. On the way out I noticed the Rat guards on the dock lines. Pretty cool. I hope they weren't really needed here - instead they were simply standard procedure.

This is a picture from the Lido Deck which was where they were providing the early lunch. I took a quick walk around the outside of the boat since our rooms weren't ready yet. They did need some time to get them prepared from the last guests and we were about 4 hours early.

On the front deck were the spare anchor along with the spare prop blades in case they hit something at some point. Let's hope that doesn't happen on this trip.

I also noticed a guy standing watch at one of the control stations. This position is replicated on each side and it is the primary helm station when entering or leaving port. The Captain is always on the bridge and in command for these times. The guy you see however is not the Captain. He's just a watch officer. I learned from the Captain that they have a 4 hour on and 8 hour off watch schedule regardless if they are in port or not. Bottom line is emergencies can occur at any time and my guess is they are more likely when in port and exchanging bags, loading the food and supplies. Somebody has to be responsible for monitoring the fire and other systems.

As we entered the lobby, this 8 story high mural was awaiting us. This is culminating the main lobby as you can see to the lower left.

I also picked up a picture of where we were going. We leave from Tampa, 1st stop is Cozumel, 2nd stop Belize, 3rd stop Isla Roatan, 4th stop Grand Cayman, and then back to Tampa. Little did we know a Hurricane would develop while underway and hopefully it is really going to miss our house. I guess we will see when we get more reliable information.

Everybody's previous junk had to be taken off the ship and our junk brought back on. Then it has to be delivered to our rooms. Of course there is also that little detail about food. I think the Chef told me he purchased $350,000 of food for each cruise that feeds the 2,100 or so passengers along with the 900 or so crew. Now that's a bunch of food.

There MUST be a safety briefing when you board any commercial vessel. Since this is an international voyage, you must also have a muster drill. You might remember that this is something the Costa Concordia did not do. The standards have now changed overseas to meet our standards. Good thing in my opinion.

The thrusters take us away from the dock and it is goodbye Tampa.

As we pass out the port, we see another ship in dry dock. Next we follow the channel out to Tampa Bay.

There is always something going on the ship. The Fun Times explains everything on-board along with the TV and cruise director.

To the lower right you can see St. Petersburg to our starboard (right) side as we exit Tampa Bay. In our near future will be passing under the Skyline Bridge. Deb and I have been under that bridge a number of times on our boat but this time the clearance will be interesting to observe.

Yep, it is going to be closer than if it were our boat going under the bridge.

As we get past the bridge we pass the Pilot Station on the starboard side. As we pass, they dispatch a Pilot boat to pick up the pilot once we are far enough out into the Gulf of Mexico and regulations allow the Captain to maneuver on his own.

The sun was beginning to set and we also had some traffic that was going to pass us on our port (left) side.

Ships pass in the channel and they are fairly close together.

Once everything settled down the Pilot boat came alongside and picked up the Pilot while we were underway.

I was up the next morning climbing the steps from bottom to top 4 times to try and work off some of the food I am and will continue to eat on this trip. Deb is enjoying this trip by sleeping in as much as she wants while I wonder and get a few pictures as you can tell already. I may be back in form again.

The first adventure we had on Monday was to go to the cooking demonstration in the Steakhouse. It was a Wonderful explanation of the various techniques they use throughout the ship but it also explained additional techniques they use in the premium restaurant

This is a picture of the spinach salad with blue cheese dressing. They make it all fresh. Little did we know that we would get to taste three different items from the restaurant Very good food and we stuck around for the wine tasting and explanation too.

The Somalia was very good and did a great job at explaining the nuances of the wines along with why certain wines are better with certain foods.

To demonstrate what she was talking about we each received 5 1/2 glasses of wine along with some different food samples. We then, under here guidance, tasted the wines and the different foods. It truly was interesting and in my opinion was a great value for a class.

That evening was the Captain's reception and Deb and I were there on time and dressed in our "formal" (at least as formal as we own today) wear in honor of meeting the Captain and in preparation for the first formal night on the ship. I won't bore you with the details but I had my credentials with me and the Captain and I spent at least 10 minutes talking about the Costa Concordia accident along with other items with regards to his ship. This was very much a highlight for me. But to top it off, he invited me to the Bridge as we leave Cozumel. To say I was going to have a great cruise was an understatement.

The next morning we arrived at Cozumel and you can see the arrival below. You can also see to the lower right the quarantine flag (yellow one) flying on the port spreader. They also have a Mexican flag already flying on the starboard spreader. The upper flag is from Panama where the ship is "flagged."

Once again, the Pilot boat met us so the Cozumel pilot could advise the ships crew as they arrived into Cozumel. This is pretty much a "no-brainer" for the Captain but still every regulation is followed.

You can see below where we will be docking.

The Captain is now on the bridge and he is responsible for bringing the ship into the dock. The night before, the Captain had told me that this was perhaps the most interesting part of his job any more. Just like flying, landings are the most difficult given the currents and wind.

Clearly the Captain, seen below, takes his job seriously.

As you can see, there are lots of eyes on this project to ensure a safe dockage. It just makes you feel good.

The ship is secured and people start streaming off the boat.

One of the first things they stared setting up in Cozumel was water. I don't know how many thousand gallons of water was taken on but I'm sure it was many thousands. One thing I noticed was they did it right, in other words they had a bucket of bleach water out and all of the ends were being dipped in the bleach solution before being attached.

Deb and I got off the ship and took a taxi towards our first Big adventure today. This is a cooking class we booked at a ladies home. We found her on-line and she had good reviews. We figured this was going to be the highlight of our cruise. I won't spoil it for you but we had another that topped it.

Below you can see the street and the house we were going to have our Mexican gastronomical adventure within.

We were there at about 10 minutes to 11 but that was "ships time." What we found out was they wanted us there at 11 Cozumel time. Oops. We were an hour early. Time to take a walk down the street you see below and back to the ocean.

We got down to the main street where everything was located and figured, we've got time, let's get some Ceiviche from some local fish. They said there grouper was excellent and fresh and we found out it was. It was delicious. What a great way to start an eating day. Deb also had a local beer and I drank my diet Coke.

The Ceiviche was delicious.

We didn't need meet since Josephina had already picked that up the day before. That is what the assistant was cooking back at the house due to time constraints.

Regardless we walked by several meet places and it is clear the standards for meet refrigeration is different here than in the states.

We also got a warm welcome from the pianist who introduced us. This is all part of the experience and Josephina knows the people here at the market so they were very nice to us too.

For the locals, they can also stop buy and pick up a lunch if they want. It all looked good to us.

Then we encountered another meat dealer - this time chicken.

We finished our shopping and started back to the house. On the lower left you can see a picture of a tortilla "factory." This "factory" has a press and it then automatically is placed on some rollers that take it though the "oven." You can see the glow of red inside the box in the mid right of the picture lower left.

When we got back home the tomataos were boiling on the stove (10 min) along with the black beans.She had cooked the black beans for 1 hour 30 min - 2 hours prior to arrival. Very good. The only thing they do there is to wash the beans off then start cooking them. She said that if you soak them they will loose their color.

You can also see the pork that had been sauteing as we were gone. Now to add those fresh fruits into the mix.

While we were back at the street side restaurant/bar, we had met a lady who has spent the last 16 years here in Cozumel. She wrote out the note to the left which meant Bon Appetite. She just missed the spelling but the intent was great along with her company. The effect was also very good as we sat down to eat.

Prior to eating however we still had prep to do. I use the we word loosely since the only people doing the prep were me and Josephina.

Below we are prepping the fruits to put into the pork mixture.

You can see it has been added to the pot and looking like enough food to feed an entire family.

Next came the preparation of the Cactus leaves. You have to scrape the needles off (they aren't very good to the digestive track) then you slice them up really good. These have to be boiled for 30 minutes to make them soft. However, they really have no taste so the seasonings are what give it a flavor. They are chilled after the seasonings are added and now you have cactus leaf salad as you can see in one of the pictures below. You can see the fresh we cut up next to the darker cooked version.

Now that we had some food in our stomach, it was time for Margaritas. Little did I know that the Margarita was invented in Mexico in 1969. That is when they added the Tequila to the drink that previously consisted of simple syrup, triple sec, lime juice, and salt on the rim.

After the toast of the margaritas we saw the pork "stuffing" that had cooked down some. Now it is time to make something else.

Yum, Yum. Cleaned my plate!

Next it was goodbye's and many thanks. We purchased her cookbook for a whopping 5 bucks and off we went to the shops where we will be accosted by the sales people on the streets.

Down the streets where finally one of the guys "suckered" Deb into a shop. She is a bargainer so they may not have met there match but lets just say a $120 pair of ear-rings were purchased for 25 bucks. Was it a good deal? Who knows. If Deb is happy then it was a good deal.

From there it was down the street and heading back to the ship. Afterall, I had an appointment on the bridge!

Yep, that bridge to the lower right.

I put on my tie, in honor of the Captain, and headed to our meeting spot. As it turns out, I was part of a small group of "many time cruisers." Some of the 6 other people on this tour of the bridge had cruised for 9 times on this same ship. I was the only one that was really interested in the equipment however. I found it fascinating and learned quite a bit that I will be able to share in my Masters classes. Sometimes observation is one of the best tools for learning and I was all eyes and ears. Once the 2nd officer had finished answering all the questions from the other guests, I was able to ask my questions that wouldn't interest the others. Obviously I found it very interesting from the power to operate the 3 forward thrusters to the operation of the stern pods, to the stability computer, and the forward projecting track on the radar not to mention about a hundred other things. In the end, I also received a wonderful picture of the event that was sent to me by the Captain. Thank you Captain Giuseppe Donato!!!

The picture on the right is after I returned below and was able to use my camera again - we are leaving Cozumel.

But there is more!

To say that this day was our big day would be an understatement. While we were at the cooking demonstration and wine tasting we decided that we wanted to sign up for the Chef's table. This is a private 7 (seven) course dinner catered by the Chef. What a deal. Not cheap but honestly, not real expensive either. You couldn't get this deal on the mainland for anything near this price.

This was another somewhat dressy event.

You have to understand, we are getting ready to have a 3 1/2 hour dinner with the chef. What you are seeing is after a tour of the main kitchen of the ship. 46 people work in the kitchen not counting the waiters. Wow and we had a champaign reception down there as he explained how the entire kitchen operates to feed about 1500 people a night while the rest of them eat on the Lido deck. CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN and organized ORGANIZED ORGANIZED.

Deb was in fine form tonight too as we heard how the Chef operates his kitchen and supervises the cooking of the food.

Below left is the "Tomatos Our Way" with aerated tomato juice, cocoa butter coated and Chardonnay poached.

Next was the Tuna Banh Mi which is pictured on the right.

This consisted of Lemon bread, sesame crisp and miso cream avocado gel.

All delicious so far

Third course was the Cornish Hen. This consisted of a portion of hen along with caramelized, butternut squash and sofrito.

This was so tender it was crazy.

You see to the right the Cornish Hen fully prepared with the sauce.

Next, below left was the Bavarois soup. The garnish was very nicely placed on the plate before they came around with the soup. This was a spinach, green peas, warm turnip and apple juice.

And there is more. Lower right is the bread they provided with the soup. This was prepared in a crock with a clove of garlic on top. Yum, Yum.

Then as they were preparing the 5th course a magician provided some fun with card and other tricks. Deb even got into the act. He was able to pull 2 balls from her, let's just say under her seat, when she only place 1 underneath.

Now the 5th course arrived which was beautifully presented. This is Salmon. To say "this is Salmon" is an understatement. This Salmon was poached in butter giving it that delicious flavor that you can only get with butter. Don't tell me about a diet at this point. It also included herb pesto, cured tomatoes, carrots, fava, mushroom earth, and condensed beets.

But wait, there's more.

Finally came desert which the Chef called Chef in a Candy Shop. This was more than I can explain and very, very good for a guy who has been avoiding sweets.

Darn this was a good dinner. Not to mention very nice wine too.

We gave the Chef our sincere thanks and were off to try and recover from such a delicious meal.

I'll tell you now that the next day I saw the Chef at lunch and he came over and we had a wonderful 20 minute conversation. I just had to pick his brain about those delicious sauces. More importantly we got into some management styles and it is obvious he has the right style considering employees first both skills and feelings.

Next morning we are getting ready to arrive at Belize. You can see there flag on the right stanchion and the Q flag (quarantine) on the left (port) spreader.

As we were anchoring, the boats were powering out to pick up passengers. They also raised their black ball to indicate they were anchored. You can see it behind the Carnival flag.

Today we skipped going ashore since we were recovering from the night before's activities. Something about too full of stomach's. We had a great time doing nothing almost all day!