Grand Cayman was by far the best of the entire trip.  We went on the Stingray City Swim and Snorkel trip.  The boat took us about 45 minutes out into the ocean, we stopped near a cluster of other boats and told to put on our snorkel gear.  So we geared up and lined up to jump off the boat.  To our surprise, after jumping into the water, the ocean only reached up to our waist!  We’re literally standing in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight!!  Experiencing that was just kinda mindblowing. The tour guide then passed around a large bucket of chopped up squid and told us to take a few pieces in our hand and put it in the water. The moment we did that these large dark shadows started coming towards us.  It was the stingrays.  I had thought they would be small, but they were about 3 feet wide.  They don’t swim, instead they ‘glide’ through the water.  It was so cool to see a dozen or more of them all around us.They glided past us in search of the squid in our hands. When they find the hand with the squid, they glide up to you and suck out the squid from your fingers with their mouths located underneath their bodies.  To that effect it was like having a large dog jumping up on you. 

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Port-of-call number 2, Costa Maya.  Costa Maya was once a trading post for the Mayan Empire.  It is now a favorite for snorkling, kayaking and exploring Mayan ruins.  Once off the ship we went on a coral reef snorkel exploration by boat.  Jae and I had brought our own snorkels and masks.  Our last snorkling experience in Maui found the communal equipment to be a little unsanitary…all the equipment were in a large bucket of water.  For something that you stick in your mouth for an hour or so, we figured it was better to just bring our own this time.  The snorkels we bought were a little better than the generic tour snorkels that looked like a large straw.  We got ones that had purge valves on the bottom to blow out excess water and also a flapper valve at the top that closes when the snorkel submerges - keeping water out.  The goggles were also very clear and unscratched.  I was glad we got them.

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We decided not to do any excursions in Cozumel and went shopping instead.  Cozumel was touted as one of the best places to shop, so we figured this would be a good time to pick up some gifts for our friends and family back home. 

We took our time waking up and eating breakfast before finally going ashore.  For our little shopping trip, we brought our little shopping coupon book that we bought while attending the onboard “Discover Shopping Show”.  They had promised hundreds of dollars of savings and free stuff.  The lady ’shopping guru’ was good at doing her dog and pony show, figuring we should join in all the fun with the ‘cruise’ shopping, we bought a book ~$20.  The book was a inch thick and fits in the palm of your hand, and indeed was filled to the brim with ‘fabulous coupons from dozens of stores’.  Most of the stuff was for diamonds and watches. 

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Located on the northeastern tip of Central America, boredered by Mexico, Guatemala and the Caribbean, Belize is our first stop on this cruise.  The cruise excursions for Belize consisted mostly of snorkling and visiting various Mayan ruins.  We had chosen to go on the Jungle river tubing and Mayan Ruins tour. 

After departing from the boat we boarded an old tour bus for the 1 and 1/2 hour ride inland.  During the ride our tour guide gave us a brief history of Belize.  The guide was a funny one, everyone in the group immediately took a liking to him.  Once we reached our destination and stored our clothes and bags away for safekeeping in a shed we took a litte hike towards the river.  During the walk our guide showed us various vegetation and told us about the animals that lived in the jungle there.  The jungle was quite nice, coming from the city, anything green was quite nice. At one point he found a poisonous baby snake, caught it and showed it to anyone who cared to see.  Naturally all the guys went forward to take a peek while the women, cluching their children pulled away.

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