Sunday, March 13, 2016

Cruising out of Tampa

We had a great time on the cruise out of Tampa. It was just a week, but it was enough time away from work, and we had the opportunity to eat a couple of meals with my parents. We did the digital Workshop (sponsored by Microsoft) a couple of times, and we did the meals and lodging for a week. I'm not entirely certain what the extent of the sponsorship by Microsoft entails, but Microsoft products were used and it was interesting. The first stop, Key West was the best stop on the cruise. We got off, and got a frozen chocolate dipped slice of Kermit's Key Lime pie on a stick. Honduras and Guatemala were two ports that we didn't do much at. The one port in Mexico, Costa Maya, we had to forgo, due to higher than expected seas. The dock at Costa Maya is exposed to the gulf, so not good when the seas are rough. The safety of the ship is of most concern to the captain, I suppose. Passengers and hotel guests are probably a few levels lower. I get that the exposed nature of the cruise ship dock at Costa Maya makes it tricky with 6 meter seas. The Norwegian Dawn, also decided against stopping at the dock. On previous stops, we've noted how it seems to be centered around a touristy dock area for trying to separate tourists from money. I guess further inland there might be less developed mayan ruins, but we haven't been at this location.