2024 Regal Princess Cruise – Galveston, Cozumel, Belize, Roatan

We decided to take a Caribbean Cruise out of Galveston. This was our second cruise but our first in several years.

Cruise Planning – picking a cruise, selecting a room

After spending a lot of time researching forums and checking out prices from various sources online, we decided the Regal Princess would fit the bill! We had a few specifics in mind. We wanted:
1. a balcony room
2. mid-ship and on one of the lower decks
3. an unobstructed view
4. to visit places aside from Mexico (just for the fun of adding a couple of new countries to our “visited” list)

After shopping around, I phoned Princess and spoke to a booking agent. We were slightly less than 90 days before cruising, so, in the cruising world we were booking last minute. On the Princess website I had picked a cabin slightly forward of mid-ships. When I told him what we are looking for he typed away at the computer for a while and offered us a “premier balcony” right in the middle of the ship on deck 9, which is the second lowest level with cabins. The cost was only slightly higher than the standard balcony I had found so we took it on the spot.

A note on the different balcony cabins: the premiers have a love seat couch that makes into a small bed in them that the regular cabins do not. We really liked having that love seat as it gave us a place to sit rather than on the bed.

The balconies aren’t very big on these ships. While it was interesting to go out on the balcony while in port or to go out for a few minutes while at sea, we actually didn’t use our balcony nearly as much as we thought we might. Of course, your mileage will vary. On the Regal Princess there are no window rooms – it’s either balcony or interior, but for future reference, I’d be satisfied with a window cabin rather than a balcony. After all, there are places to sit and enjoy the ocean views everywhere on the ship.

Ports of Call

We aren’t as physical as we used to be, so our focus was on sightseeing rather than adventuring (although I kind of wish I’d gone snorkeling). At Cozumel we walked off the ship and checked out the shops in the area. We then returned to the ship and enjoyed the quieter atmosphere on board for the afternoon. I know people don’t want to miss anything, but I think everyone should experience having the ship “to yourself” somewhere along the journey.

At Belize we took an excursion to the Altun Ha Mayan site followed by a wildlife spotting river tour. Just leaving the ship at Belize City is an adventure. Ships anchor about 5 miles out and passengers board tenders to the port. From there we were ushered onto a nice bus that traveled about an hour to Altrun Ha. It’s an interesting place. You can climb up on top of some of the pyramids. We learned a bit about the culture and took photos. After a short ride to a place where lunch was served we got on a boat for the Belize River excursion. We saw lots of iguanas, a few howler monkeys, some crocodiles, and just the snouts of some manatees. We had a bit more of an adventure that we expected when one of the engines of our boat died. Another boat was sent for us and we changed boats out in the middle of the river – a bit of a challenge for several! Our trip back to the ship was an ordeal because the line to get on a tender was over an hour long! I think there were four cruise ships there and that stretched the resources of the port to the limit. We thought Belize was a neat place to visit, but because of the tender situation we’d likely pass on a shore trip there in the future. Even better, I’d pick a cruise that offered a different set of ports all together.

Roatan, Honduras, though, is a Caribbean visitor’s dream. Mahogany Bay is private to Carnival and Princess ships. You walk off the ship to a nice shopping area, then can either ride a chair lift or walk a few minutes to a beautiful private beach. We strolled down to that beach, found some beach chairs and watched all the people. Then we took a nature path back to the ship. There are a lot of fun excursions available, but that beach is great and in walking distance of the ship. If you ever wanted to skip excursions and just enjoy the beach, Mahogany Bay is the place to do it.

On Board

Our journey had four sea days. As did most everyone else, we spent time exploring the ship – and there’s a lot to see! There are many comfortable seating areas. In the big four-story plaza area at the center of the ship there’s often someone playing, singing, or hosting a public game. There are plenty of places to get refreshments. There’s no need for me to try to describe everything as the internet is full of videos of the ship.

We ate most of our meals at the Horizon food court, although we also ate in one of the main dining rooms on some evenings. We tried the hamburger place, and it was okay. We also splurged at the Gelato place for some very good ice cream.

We attended a few of the big productions in the theater and heard some talented singers and musicians and saw some impressive dancers in the shows. There are also smaller productions in Princess Live. We watched an ice sculpting demonstration and checked out over activities. Depending on your tastes, during sea days you could literally go from one thing to the next all day long. We aren’t gamblers, so can’t tell you a thing about the casino.

The ship, itself, is an entertaining experience. On the last day of the cruise, we were still discovering areas we’d missed.

If you can’t find a thing to do you can always go to your cabin and watch movies on TV. Or follow my example and take a nice nap.

Odds and Ends

We had a bit of rocking the first night and second day of the cruise. Then, as we traveled back to Galveston the ship rocked a little. We never felt ill but did use Sea Bands. Not sure, but I think they did help. I took a Bonine the second evening. Slept like a log, then, the next day at Cozumel between sightseeing and exploring the ship I took not one, but two naps. In the future I’ll save taking the pills for more extreme conditions.

We made reservations for evening dining but each evening they moved us to a different table, so we never experienced the “the waiter knows us” dining experience. Then, later on, we decided we liked the buffet and settled on eating there most of the time. I do suggest eating breakfast at one of the main dining rooms at least once. It’s a different sort of dining experience. Here’s a tip: you can order off menu if you want. No promises, but we were happily served.

Our cabin steward took good care of us and cheerfully responded to all requests.

One cabin irritation is the motion sensor light just outside the cabin bathroom. We mentioned it to our steward, and she applied some silver tape to the sensor. The tape didn’t stick very well, so we kept reapplying it. Still, it lasted most nights and that’s all we needed.

The cruise offered such a variety of experiences that I’m sure you can read someone else’s cruise story and it would sound as if they were on a completely different trip!

One option when disembarking the ship is “express.” That means you are taking your own luggage off rather than checking it. If you use that option, you get the earliest departure window and can basically leave whenever you are ready. However, there were hundreds of people doing the “express” walk off and we ended up waiting in line about 45 minutes to get off the ship. Once across the gangway, things went much faster with no issues.

Overall

We had a good time on the cruise. The food was abundant and good. It was nice having people taking such good care of us and the mixture of being on a luxurious ship and then doing port excursions is a nice combination. I know some people basically go from one cruise to the next. That’s probably not my cup of tea. No doubt, that is due in part to our years of independent travel in the RV and then in Europe. Still, a cruise is a lot of fun. I think it would be even more fun to travel with a group of friends and family. Who knows? That might be in our future.

2023 – Around Didsbury, Manchester, UK


Our year volunteering at Nazarene Theological College, Manchester passed quickly. We very much enjoyed our neighborhood, Didsbury. There are many nice restaurants and shops in “the Village.” The area also has several beautiful parks. We loved the beautiful colors of autumn and spring. As you might guess we took many photos!

2023 – London views

London is a terrific tourist city with several world class attractions and also interesting architecture at every turn. We spent our last day there just looking around. We took the ferry out to Greenwich and back, and then just looked around the city.

As any of our friends know, no, we didn’t ride the London Eye. Jackie was perfectly happy to see it from the ground. I could have ridden it by myself, but what’s the fun in that! We did, though, check it out and got several interesting photos of it. Anyway, as you can see we had fun in London!

2023 – London Ferry on the River Thames and visit to Greenwich

London is divided by the River Thames which winds its way past many iconic sights. A relaxing way to get an overview of the city, then, is by traveling by boat on the River. There are river sightseeing tours and even thrilling, high speed adventures. There is also a system of working ferries that are part of the London transport system. We bought “river rover” tickets that let us get on and off the ferries as we wished. There was no tour guide commentary, but the views are just the same as one would see from a tour boat. We passed by Big Ben, the London Eye, HMS Belfast, the Tower of London, and under Tower Bridge as we made our way to and from Greenwich. Once there, we walked past the tea clipper, Cutty Sark, through Greenwich market, and then up the big hill to the Royal Observatory – the location of the Prime Meridian which divides the eastern and western hemispheres of the planet. That big hill provides wonderful views of London, off in the near distance.

Our tip of the day is when leaving Greenwich, depart on out and away from London to the next stop, which is the end of the line. Then, on a nearly empty ferry you will have your pick of seats. We thought we might want to sit in the small outside area at the rear of the ferry. However, it was loud and smelled of diesel. We opted to move back inside, to two seats at the very front, to one side. Although there were some parts of the boat that obscured our views, we had a pretty good view to the front and side.

2023 – London Transport Museum

During our visit to London we traveled by train, tube (subway), bus, and ferry. Because of the good public transportation system, London is easy to navigate. The London Transport Museum celebrates the long history of public transport in the city. As early as 1829 the London Omnibus was in operation. The museum is filled with antique vehicles and tube carriages from across the years.

A bit of a bonus is nearby Covenant Garden Piazza with many shops and restaurants. We heard a talented string quintet entertaining diners there. There’s a lot to see and do in London, but if you like old vehicles and such, you will enjoy this museum.

2023 – London, Changing of Guard, Royal Mews

Several years ago we visited London, seeing most of the famous spots. This trip was shorter and we wanted to take an easier pace and see a few things we missed before. Honestly, our “easier pace” turned out to be something other than “easy” but we did finish our days earlier than we would have otherwise.

On our previous trip we watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. This trip we went to St. James Palace to watch the beginning of that ceremony. While there were a lot of people there to watch, it wasn’t nearly as crowded as it is at Buckingham. We listened to the band and enjoyed the pageantry. The troops marched right in front of us on their way to Buckingham. If you’ve never seen the changing of the guard I recommend Buckingham. However, if you want to see just a bit of it without quite so much hassle, Friary court at St. James is a good place to go.

It’s about a 15 minute walk from there to the Royal Mews. This is the working stable/museum where several of the royal coaches are stored. Our main purpose in going there was to see both The Gold State Coach and Diamond Jubilee State Coach. These were King Charles’s coronation carriages. Having seen them in the news made seeing them in person even more interesting.

We finished our sightseeing for the day taking a double decker bus across the heart of the city back to our hotel. You can get a bus tour of London, but we’ve found that just riding the local buses is a good, and inexpensive, way to see things.

2023 – Kelpies, Falkirk, Scotland

Since their creation about 10 years ago the Kelpies have become a major Falkirk, Scotland attraction. These works of art stand nearly 100 feet tall. “Kelpies” are a part of Scottish folk lore, mythical water spirits that often appear on land in the form of horses. An additional symbolism has to do with the horses that towed the canal boats throughout the region. In fact, a canal and locks are located right between the two giant horses allowing canal boaters to cruise right between these giants. However one wants to think about the Kelpies, they are impressive and well-worth a visit.

2023 – Falkirk Wheel, Scotland

During the 18th and 19th centuries over 2000 miles of canals were dug across the UK. These canals were the “motorways” of that day, providing a relatively “fast” way to move goods. This “Golden Age of British Canals” ended as rail became king. The canals, with their many locks, were neglected and, sometimes, simply abandoned.

Then, an interesting thing happened: people began using the canals for recreation. Individuals bought, or constructed, so-called “narrow boats” and used them as a sort of RV to explore the countryside. The government took up the project of restoring the canals and lock system for the purpose of recreation. Travel by narrowboat is slow (about 4 mph) and takes the boater through picturesque rural landscapes and small villages. It is even possible to travel by canal to major cities across the UK.

That brings us to the Falkirk Wheel. Two different canals meet in Falkirk, which is about midway between Edinburgh and Glasgow. However, the topography in the area is quite hilly, meaning one canal is high above the other. At one time a series of 11 locks joined the two, but these locks were removed in the 1930’s. The Falkirk Wheel replaced all 11 locks in a marvelous feat of engineering. Really, it is a modern solution to an old problem!

Excursion boat rides are available, giving the rider an experience that can’t be had anywhere else in the world. We loved our ride on the Falkirk Wheel and recommend it to all.

2023 – Tour of Isle of Skye, Scotland

Our tour from Inverness continued from Eilean Donan Castle across the bridge to the Isle of Skye. Skye is the largest of Scotland’s Inner Hebrides islands, around 50 miles north to south. It is known for its rugged landscapes and steep cliffs. Hikers and bikers love Skye and the bed and breakfasts are always booked well ahead of time. We just happened to tour on a day with perfect weather – something that, we’re told, is no way promised. We saw the Old Man of Storr, a famous rock formation. Supposedly, it looks like a man lying on his back looking to the stars. Neither one of us could quite spot that, but it is an impressive formation. Our lunch stop was in the largest town on the island, Portree. There were tourists everywhere and the restaurants were all full. We ended up with soup and bread at a local bakery, sharing an outside picnic table with some friendly Australians on holiday. Honesty, there is no way our photos can capture the vast landscapes of Skye.

2023 – Tour of Loch Ness, Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland

We made Inverness, known as the “capital of the Highlands,” our hub for exploring Loch Ness, Eilean Donan Castle, and the Isle of Skye. This region is known for its breathtaking scenery with majestic mountains encircling the deep lakes. Loch Ness, a remarkably deep lake, has a dark blue hue and boasts the largest reserve of freshwater in the entire UK. The highway winds its way along the lake and one stunning view after another comes into sight. Sorry to say, the elusive Nessie, the legendary monster, was nowhere to be found, yet the amazing landscapes compensated for its absence.

Continuing westward from Loch Ness, we ascended through a mountain pass, pausing frequently to capture photos and take in the magnificent panoramas. Eilean Donan Castle, originally erected in the 1200s, served as a formidable defense against Viking invasions and later became a stronghold for the Mackenzie clan. Although the fortress was destroyed in the 1700s, it was painstakingly reconstructed after nearly two centuries, eventually becoming a national trust property. We toured the castle, getting a firsthand view of what life there would have been like.

Our tour continued to the Isle of Skye and I’ll write about it in my next post.