Warm Holidays and Happy New Year

A year ago at Christmas, as we celebrated a quiet day with my mother and kids, we decided to Go Big in 2015 and celebrate the holidays (as well as my mother's 80th birthday) with extended family and in a big way.  Those initial thoughts and conversations transformed themselves into a week in Florida with the kids, immediately followed by a 7-day Western Caribbean Cruise with my kids, mother, brother and his wife.  This accommodated everybody's needs, abilities and schedules, and represented a Grand Celebration of the Holidays and for my mother.  This also represented a Grand Departure from how we usually do things, but in the end it turned out to be a Grand Idea.  Simply put, I'm glad we made this happen for all involved.

This is "Why!" this all happened.

There's too much that I could say; and so I think I'll just make this a picture essay for the most part.

Cocoa Beach; we enjoyed a simple stay in a condo right on the beach, just north of the municipal pier.  I could stumble out of bed to go surf fishing and the weather and water were unseasonably warm.  Perhaps this wasn't the best for the fishing, but it sure was comfortable!  I also took a couple of fishing excursions to Jetty Park at the mouth of Port Canaveral, and I even walked through a Feral Cat Colony; although I do have to ask, are they feral cats if they are being tended to?  I swung and missed on my only strike on Christmas morning, but my catch of a Spanish Mackerel on the afternoon of Christmas Eve made me Canaveral's Hot Stick that day.  Yes, the fishing was that slow!

This Blue Crab was super aggressive!  I let him go; he just didn't want to leave!

Christmas Morning at Port Canaveral's Jetty Park.

Shore-Based Spanish Mackerel

Cozumel and Playa Del Carma, Mexico; after two Fun Days at Sea we arrived in Cozumel a bit late, but rushed through a fun day that included snorkeling with sea turtles (I'd seen a bunch in Port Canaveral) and snorkeling in the sacred Mayan waters of a cenote.

Close encounter with a sea turtle

Super-clear waters of Cenote Dos Ojos

Belize; after the development in Mexico, I was surprised at how poor Belize seemed to be.  But the land was beautiful, our guides were wonderfully friendly, and the day offered some culture and learning as well as an excellent local rice and beans dish.  In retrospect, I might have gotten more out of our visit to the Altun Ha Mayan Ruins site than from our eco-dash down the Wallace River to the sea.

Altun Ha Mayan Ruins

Separate plazas at Altun Ha

Selfie Opp!

Jungle Cruise, powered by 400 horses!

Big French Key, Roatan, Honduras; conditions were perfect for a quiet day on a secluded beach for all, but also with some barrier reef snorkeling for Kate and me.  While the predator fishes were apparently depleted by local fishing and poaching activities, the reef fish and reef itself appeared to be in good shape; there was a ton of variety in the hard and soft corals that I observed from 5 feet of water to the reef's edge into the blue abyss.  Meanwhile, A and M couldn't have been happier with their time on the beach.

Warm, bright skies and clear, blue waters of Mahogany Bay, Honduras

Blue Doctors around a coral head

Kate provided a colorful target to photograph.

The barrier reef was just offshore.

New Year's Eve; The New Year's Eve Party on board might have been the highlight for many on the ship.  It was a nice opportunity to see my entire family dressed up nicely, but the party didn't really get going until after 11:15 PM.  As we passed the western tip of Cuba, everybody on board collected in The One Spot for The Countdown.  My daughters had fun dancing in this safe environment, and the rest of us variously enjoyed People Watching as things got looser.  By this point of the trip, I might have preferred to be asleep, but how often does one get a chance to share something like this?  

I wish all who might see this a Happy New Year!