Day 5: Roatan, Honduras

We watched a most beautiful sunrise from our balcony this morning, and I’m glad we saw it, because it was the only time we saw the sun today. Clouds moved in before I even got dressed and left the cabin to go to breakfast, and it only got worse from there. 

It wasn’t really blueberry pancake day, but I had a taste for them. 

#spoiledbySona

There was a light drizzle coming down when we returned to the cabin, and, armed with our Tilley hats and pool towels we decided to walk to the beach at Mahogany Bay. We never made it that far. By the time we made it to the pier, the skies open up and it poured, hard, most of the rest of the day, with occasional periods of thunder and lightning. We initially sat under a canopy on the pier thinking it might clear up, and then we were there helping hold down the corners of the canopies when they threatened to go airborne until crew back up arrived. 

Interestingly, one of those coming to help was none other than Ionut, our wonderful cabin steward on the Pacific Princess when it hit the breakwater in Nice. He is the Assistant Rooms Division Manager and works for Cristian. What are the odds that both of them were our cabin stewards years ago?  He said he knew from Cristian that we were coming back this cruise. I had emailed Cristian from Galveston to thank him for our Crown Grill dinner, but only after Princess announced that the current cruise would definitely sail. I didn’t want him to think I was looking for him to feed us any inside info while things were so up in the air.

Had my first hard seltzer today from the Good Spirits Bar. It was pretty good. 

Once we were about as wet as we could be (my sneakers may never dry out), we took advantage of a brief lull in the rain to re-board the ship and went up to the Sanctuary to see if any loungers up there stayed dry in the monsoon. We have a bit of a plan to get Sanctuary passes for the Thanksgiving cruise to avoid the 400 kids they’re expecting, but I need to check the weather first. The initial sea days were too windy this cruise to use it and there was nothing dry up there today except the cabanas. 

Then we were well and truly soaked, as there is no way to even get to the Sanctuary when it is raining without getting drenched. We returned to the cabin where the AC which has been running nonstop suddenly felt freezing. After hot showers we went to the buffet for lunch, my first meal up there since the day we went to the D Day beaches in Normandy. 

The rain continued all afternoon, but it was dry on our balcony and we sat out there and enjoyed it until it was time to go to dinner. I’ve finally, after almost three years of trying, made it to the Good Spirits Bar for a drink before dinner. I neglected to take a pic of the drink or the menu so I simply have to return again to remedy that.

This broccoli salad from the vegan menu is one of my favorite things currently available on the ship. 

I remembered to take a pic of the dessert menu. Usually we don’t even look at it. 

Oh, I see I missed the orange sorbet. Darn. 

Speaking of orange sorbet reminds me of something I forgot to mention about the Carnival Jubilee. Every night on the dessert menu, sorbet is an option, so G asked what the flavor was, and Kadek told him there was orange, lime and pineapple and my suspicions were instantly raised. G ordered all three. Sure enough, they were sherbet, not sorbet. They had no sorbet. Lactose intolerant?  Surprise!

We were looking forward to tonight’s Princess Theater show, Rhinestone Cowgirls. If you’re cruising out of Galveston, it helps to like country music. I don’t, mostly, though I’m starting to come around a little, being influenced by my guys who love it. They’ve spent a fortune on concert tickets, cowboy hats and boots and have not stopped trying to convert me. 

But tonight’s show, with three female vocalists was excellent, and they sang country hits with almost universal appeal and were very well received. 

I am publishing this post early tonight (go me!) as we wait in the Wheelhouse for tonight’s piano entertainers (there’s a new one tonight plus Derrick Dishington. Maybe he’s Derrick’s replacement?) to begin. Something tells me this might run very late again, and that I will appreciate having today’s post behind me when I awake tomorrow. 

We’re having a great time!!  Can you tell?

Life is good. :)

Day 4: Costa Maya

I awoke at 7:30am, as the Regal was maneuvering into its berth at Costa Maya. My first thought was LAUNDRY, and G had already left a few of his leftover tokens from last year on the desk. All I needed to do was find the closest laundry, and, as it turns out, it was just a few cabins away from ours. I’ve probably passed it 25 times in the three days I’ve been back onboard but never noticed it. 

Here I have to offer another sidebar:

Our 17 year old Whirlpool washer died this summer, and we had vowed to not get it repaired when did. We had purchased a cheap, basic one, and our plan was to replace it when it broke beyond what G could fix. Unfortunately, the cheapest Whirlpool now was twice as expensive and the reviews were abysmal. We knew we didn’t need or want a washer with 14 wash cycles and four more downloadable with its WiFi. Soap, water, motion and a lid I could open after the wash started. That is all I needed. 

We researched for a few days and kept coming back to Speed Queens which were more than four times as expensive as our Whirlpool had been but had a good reputation. That’s what we bought, and we’ve never regretted it. It has greatly cheered us that the washers at the hotel and here in the ship are…Speed Queens. 

So, with the wash started I went down to the Allegro Dining Room for breakfast. I told waiter Sona from India that I would be leaving for a few minutes to move the clothes into the dryer, but by the time I had finished breakfast, it was all done. I think I will have to do it again on turnaround day. It’s hard to send out laundry to be washed later in this cruise when we’re changing cabins for next cruise. 

G wanted me to sit with him on the Terrace Deck, and I lasted about ten minutes. It was oppressively hot and humid, the hottest weather so far. We did want to get a good look at the Carnival Jubilee, berthed perpendicular to the Regal, which allowed us a better view of the water slide area and roller coaster. To think we were on that ship two weeks ago…what a ride this has been, no pun intended. 

We returned to our cabin which had a perfect view today, and I actually napped for about an hour. G found a light instrumental music station on TV and that kind of thing puts me to sleep every time. 

We did get off and walk down that long pier late morning, just for some exercise and heat exhaustion, but returned directly to the IC where we had sandwiches for lunch. Music trivia was taking place in the Piazza, and it was songs from the 70s and very early 80s and everyone, playing trivia or not, was enjoying it immensely and playing along and it was a very happy place to be. What fun. 

We stopped in Crooners on the way to dinner for a martini, and then ate lightly, having eaten lunch late. 

Vegan menu ratatouille

Fennel salad

Veggie korma 

Production show Fiera was being performed in the Princess Theater tonight, and getting a seat requires getting there very early, so we were. G spent the entire time we were waiting chatting with the guy seated next to him, so I grabbed his phone and finally (!!) Air Dropped 60 photos to my phone. He has an iPhone 15 Pro Max, while I have an iPhone 15 Pro, and his camera is a bit better than mine, so if we’re both wanting to take a photo of the same thing, I just let him do it. Not to mention that he is generally awake in the morning way before me and gets photos without as many people. I will add them back in to my posts over the next several days. 

Which brings up this MedallionNet Max internet on the Regal. The speed tests are not impressive at all, but somehow it never fails to do everything we ask of it. I was uploading ten photos at a time to this blog yesterday, remembering the days when keeping a blog at sea was much, much different, and harder. And G streams video every night to put himself to sleep.  We very nearly were on a 51-night South Pacific cruise on Holland America this fall, and I was the one who cancelled that. I just knew that, without good WiFi, G would not be a happy camper. Frankly, I wouldn’t, either. Reliable WiFi makes all the difference in our ability and willingness to cruise these days. 

We made it an early night, and skipped the piano bar at the Wheelhouse altogether. Our cabin was cool, and when G opened the balcony door, every wall and mirror was covered with a layer of moisture. That is so bizarre. I’m much more familiar with sublimation, which is pretty much the opposite thing. While I love the effect the humidity has on my eyes, nose and skin, I’m not a fan of this cotton candy hair. 😳

Day 3: At Sea

I managed to sleep until 8:30am, which was a huge improvement over last night’s four hours of sleep. I need to do a load of laundry but couldn’t motivate myself to even look for a laundry room, so I put that off for another day. I’m having the worst luck with stains on my T-shirts, and I think it’s because of the fact I always sit in the “couch” seating at our dining tables, and the height of the table predisposes me to spilling things on myself. Either that or I’m just a klutz. Most likely the latter. I will be leaving behind four T-shirts when I pack up. 

I missed breakfast all together, but knew there would be no shortage of food today. I am still having app issues and can’t see my folio on my phone. Even worse, G couldn’t see mine on his phone either. I assumed that the “start of the cruise” busy-ness had finally died down at Guest Services so I visited them to get things straightened out. How they got so broken is anyone’s guess, but all signs point to those three cancelled cruises.

I still can’t see my folio but somehow it wasn’t linked to G’s and now it is, so he can see my folio on his app.  The rep initiated a trouble ticket to get it fixed for me, but so far no luck. I won’t hold my breath. 

I met up with G for lunch in the Allegro Dining Room, and had just ordered the salmon poke bowl when he thought we should go to Ocean Terrace afterwards. Luckily, the poke bowl isn’t a lot of food, and it’s sort of in the same family. I had never before been to Ocean Terrace on any ship. I loved it. 

Poke bowl

The seaweed salad was delicious


Naturally, I had to try a mermaid mimosa. 

So pretty!

Sitting there overlooking the Piazza while a cha cha class was taking place was fun and beautiful, and we had a most enjoyable time. But it was 3pm when we finished and we only had time to squeeze in a quick swim (hot tub for G) before we needed to get cleaned up for the evening. 

We went to dinner in the Concerto Dining Room exactly at 5pm because tonight’s Captain's Circle party was starting at 6:30pm. It was Italian night and I had penne arrabbiata topped with shrimp and a Merlot. 

We met friends Francis and Larry and Barb and Callum outside the Vista (less) Lounge and they joined us as we were honored as the cruise’s second most traveled couple. Numbers ranged from 1535 days to 1930. There are only 231 Elites on board, so if I sent laundry out, I could probably get it back in two days but I think I will just do it myself. Cutoff for MTG is 268 days, very low.

After the party, we all went next door to the Wheelhouse Bar. It was pianist Nany’s 25th birthday and we had a small celebration for her after her set, and then I lasted only through Derek Dishington’s first set before I returned to the cabin and crashed. 

I guess I can only close down the bar for two days in a row before I need to be tucked in bed early the next night. I don’t know how people manage to be night owls every night. 

Day 2: At Sea

I fell asleep about 2am last night, which was 3am when we moved clocks forward. I got up at 7am for a bathroom break and thought, “What the heck, I’ll just go to breakfast and then go back to sleep before lunch”, which, I’m sure you can predict, is not what happened. We ended up sitting on the comfortable outdoor seating on the Terrace Deck until lunch, and, after that, I was certain, I’d sleep all afternoon, but no. 

We used the adult pool and hot tubs this afternoon. It was sunny, hazy and humid and, frankly, too hot for me to be sitting in the sun on a lounger, but the pool felt heavenly. We then had to do a major clean up for formal night. In fact, it was the first time I’ve worn makeup since we got off the Regal on October 27. They don’t check for that at the Hilton. 😉

I went all vegan tonight with the fennel and mushroom salad and roasted carrots entree (the chermoula sauce was delish, but the soup was a disappointment. 

Definitely not as advertised. It was vegetable soup, not tomato soup with bread. 

The champagne waterfall was held starting at 6:30pm, but we went to the Princess Theater to get seats for production show Bravo. Always good, and there was still a diva (from Canada) in the performance. 

Does anyone knew her name? She was perhaps the best we’ve seen in Bravo. 

Afterward, G wanted ice cream, so we stopped by the gelato place and he had to convince me to go to Derrick Dishington’s first set in the Wheelhouse. I was definitely wearing down. A couple of Elderflower Palomas later, I caught a second wind and stayed after G left about 10pm. In fact, I stayed until Derrick finished up at nearly midnight. We were not as rowdy tonight (being heavily influenced by a nameless one who was more subdued tonight) but, boy did we have fun. Derek informed us he’s leaving at the end of this cruise and he will be missed. 

Formal night Derrick (from Scotland)

I skulked in just before 1am and tried unsuccessfully not to wake G up when I did. Tomorrow, I promise myself, I will sleep.