Roatan

Wednesday, March 4^th – Roatan

A very early morning. The shipped docked at Carnival’s Mohogany Bay at 7 a.m. (which was 6 a.m. local time!) We were one of the first groups to get off the ship. Our day in Roatan was a short one (back on board time was set for 2:30 pm) and we didn’t want to waste any time.

I had booked a private guide and driver for the day through Victor Bodden online. In 2004, my friend and I had Victor for a guide while our husbands were scuba diving. For that visit, Victor picked the two of us up in his car and spent the day driving us around the island. I took a ton of photos that day (as usual) and Victor ended up using one on that I took on his newly launched website.

Over the past eleven years, Victor’s business has exploded and he now has many drivers plus a petting zoo and zipline at his home. Our assigned driver for the day was to be Tex, a popular guy who gets great reviews online. But...after we made the long hike up the hill to where the private guides were located, Tex had not arrived. He told us later he had no idea we would get off the ship so quickly! We waited about 10 - 15 minutes for him to show up.

Once he arrived, the four of us got settled into his van and began our island tour with a stop at a high point overlooking the bay and then a grocery stop so we could purchase some vanilla. Since we began cruising in 2002, all of my vanilla has been purchased in the Caribbean. When the bottle starts to get low, I know it is time to book another cruise! ;) We also had to snap a quick pic of the candy aisle for my son. He used to work for the Sather’s candy company!

 We had requested a stop at the South Shore Canopy Zipline. After watching numerous videos on YouTube, this zipline looked a little higher and more exciting than the one at Victor’s house…or the others on the island. By getting there early we didn’t have any wait. (With several large ships in port that day, the lines were much longer by the time we finished.)

Once we got fitted for our harnesses we were ready to go. I think there were 11 different stations for a total of about 2 miles.

Our next requested stop was at West Bay Beach for some snorkeling. I had read online that the best spot was in front of Infinity Bay but Tex took us to the resort next door where we could get an all day pass for just $10. We plopped our bags on some chairs under the shade of a palm tree, but most of our time we were in the water. After diving all over the Caribbean, Bob claims that Roatan is the best and we found out the snorkeling…even from shore…isn’t too bad either!

The beach was fairly crowded due to the cruise ship passengers, but it made for some great people watching. We also had fun watching this guy in the water trying to master a jet pack!

I had hoped to spend some time in West End and even grab a baleada for our lunch, but the day was just too short. Tex showed us a little more of the island on the way back to the ship, even getting off the road and driving on the beach part of the way.

 A fun day and a great guide!

It was always a great feeling to get back to the ship after a busy port day. We would walk up the gangplank dirty, hot and tired and then it was showers and nap time! Since sail away was so early from Roatan I took time (before my nap!) to get some photos of the Carnival Dream and the beach at Mahogany Bay as we were leaving.

For a fee, you can ride the chair life from the dock to the beach. 

Mangroves growing near the beach.

The zoomed out view of the previous photo.

As we came out of the Platinum Dining Room each evening on deck 4, karaoke would just be getting started in the Ivory Bar directly across from the entrance. Several nights we would take time to watch for awhile, although like most karaoke, there were very few singers that could carry a tune.

Other than a comedian at midnight, the only other entertainment scheduled for the evening was the Love and Marriage show…and it wasn’t until 10:15 pm. To kill some time until it started, we browsed through the gift shops. We were still on our quest to meet crew members from different countries and ended up carrying on lengthy conversations with several different staff working in the stores. It turned into a bit of a scavenger hunt as they would help us by sending us to various shops to meet other staff. A fun evening!

We ended our day at the Love and Marriage show in the Amber Theater. Dr. E. did a great job and although it was humorous, it was in fairly good taste which I liked.