Our First Cruise: Day 5

Next stop: Roatan Island, Honduras

Initially, it looked like we might not get onshore at Roatan. As we were in the stateroom getting ready for the day, we heard an announcement stating that the captain was having trouble docking in port due to winds. They had one failed attempt already and were attempting again shortly.

We went finished getting, then headed up for breakfast and to watch the ship hopefully dock.


After two failed attempts to dock, another Carnival ship attempted docking. The word was if that ship successfully docked then our ship would go for a third and final attempt.

The large ships had to back into this bay in a narrow area and it took quite some time for each attempt.

But our ship finally did it! We were almost two hours late getting off the boat, which meant we were also late getting to our excursion.

Carnival owns Mahogany Bay, where we docked, and does not allow outside vendors into their port so we had to walk outside the security gates in order to meet with our tour.


Wow! It seemed so chaotic. Whether from the excursion tours or from the cruiselines, there were people everywhere! The woman here said it was under control; she was in charge of everyone doing the same tour as us. She broke us into groups, assigned us to a tour guide and sent us on our way.


It was so hot already. Notice all of the people along the road in the background, that's we gathered.

After packing in to a large van with seven other people, Carla, our tour guide, drove us across part of the island to South Shore Zip-line Adventures. Walt rode in the front passenger seat and chatted with Carla the whole way. He really learned a lot about her and the area.


It was time to zip-line! We geared up, listened to instructions and hit the lines.


I am scared of heights. You know, the fear that sends your heart speeding, your palms sweating and makes it hard to breathe? That is how I feel about height,s typically. I have been working on controlling it over the past two years. I thought I might chicken out on zip-lining but I didn't. It actually wasn't that scary. The canopy of trees below me made it feel not as high as I expected.


We traveled nearly two miles of zip-line.


All of the lines where 25 to 45 feet off of the ground.


Our weight determined our speed. Carley is so light she didn't make all the way across the longest line. The staff person had to attach himself to the line, pull himself out to Carley and then pull her.


The views from the line were fantastic.




The kids got to hold a monkey before we left South Shore Zip-line Adventure.


The monkey did not want to show his eyes to the camera. His owner, the man on the left, said he was playing "peek-a-boo" but I suspect he was just done being passed around for the day.


After zip-lining, we went to West Bay Beach. Unfortunately, our time at the beach was cut short due to the ship docking late. We had an hour to hang out before heading back to the ship.






I wanted to try something different so we ordered fried conch, which was delicious. The whole family loved it.




Carley passed out on the van ride again.


That afternoon and evening, after the ship left port, a couple of the upper outside decks were closed due to winds. That meant no water slide, mini-golf and other things for entertainment. The kids and I sat in this area on Deck 10 for a while but the winds there were quite strong so we made our way inside shortly after hitting open waters.


Almost nightly at dinner, the waitstaff would provide some sort of entertainment. That night Gangnam Style was played while the waitstaff and kids (and a few adults) danced the Gangnam Style dance.

Gus, in the hat, was our server for dinner throughout the cruise. We absolutely adored him.


We still joke at home that we should "just ask Gus" if we want something to eat.