Western Caribbean 2019:
Day 7 - Harvest Caye, Belize

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Western Caribbean 2019: [Day 1 - Great River Road] [Day 2 - New Orleans] [Day 3 - New Orleans Sailout] [Day 4 - At Sea] [Day 5 - Chichén Itzá, Mexico] [Day 6 - Roatán, Honduras] [Day 7 - Harvest Caye, Belize] [Day 8 - Costa Maya, Mexico] [Day 9 - At Sea] [Day 10 - Drive Home]

	Thursday, November 21, 2019: We usually love being on the starboard side of the ship because it has the best views more often than not, but this was the second port where we had no idea what was on the other side of us.
	Norwegian Dawn followed us to this port too.
	Where were we? Belize, baby! That's Country #106!
	We went upstairs for breakfast (muesli!) ...
	... and got a look at the port from the back of the ship.
	It wasn't quite 8:00 AM when we got off the ship, ...
	... and headed onto Harvest Caye, a private island owned by Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL).
	We checked in pretty early for our snorkeling tour.
	Belize!
	How are we all going to fit on that little boat?
	We grabbed a seat for two in the center of the boat so we had space to ourselves.
	It was about a 40 minute boat trip from Harvest Caye ...
	... to a little cay on the reef.
	We were split into small groups and assigned a guide, just like the day before. Our guide was Tatiana.
	It took over 10 minutes for everyone in our group to arrive.
	Finally, we were off.
	Here are a brain coral and two Christmas tree corals.
	By this time, Debbie was really struggling with her chronic cough (which was diagnosed four days later as pneumonia) and her mask. But she powered through it.
	More brain coral.
	Coral.
	Coral.
	Coral and Christmas tree corals.
	Jellyfish.
	Coral.
	Coral.
	These distinctive markings belong to a porkfish.
	These dinner-plate-sized fish are paired Atlantic spadefish.
	This is a gray angelfish.
	There was a miniature sergeant major in this coral.
	Dead coral.
	Tom.
	A half hour in, we started to snorkel the other way back toward the cay.
	Jellyfish.
	Here are a couple of sergeant majors.
	Dead coral.
	Live coral.
	Sea slug. We had expected amazing snorkeling but it was pretty disappointing.
	After an hour in the water, it was time to get out ...
	... and have some rum punch.
	We passed some parasailers on our way back.
	There's our pretty ship.
	Where's our cabin?
	There it is! It's the one right in the center of this photo.
	We were back at Harvest Caye by 11:15 and ready to get some lunch.
	Harvest Caye is a private island, but the food isn't free like it is at other cruiselines' private islands. We headed to LandShark Bar and Grill because it was closest.
	We got a table for two in the sun on the second floor ...
	... overlooking the pool.
	Debbie had the LandShark burger, ...
	... and Tom got the fish tacos.
	After lunch, we dropped our gear in the shade and got into the huge pool.
	Tom approves!
	From the pool, we could see our table at the restaurant. It's the last one on the left on the upper terrace.
	We had a nice, relaxing time playing in the water.
	The pool consists of two very large areas connected by a narrow section with a bridge over it. We went over to the other side to explore a bit.
	Here's the obligatory artsy shot, complete with water droplets on the lens.
	When we had soaked up all of the sun we could stand, we grabbed our not-yet-dry towels and gear.
	We got one last picture of the restaurant and pool as we crossed over the pool bridge.
	Having a separate disposal bin for coconuts is really pretty smart.
	Pretty flowers!
	Pretty plant!
	Whoever thought to put misting machines at the entrance was a genius.
	The walk back to the ship is a little long but the shade made it quite pleasant. Golf cart rides were available for anyone not wanting to walk.
	Mangrove trees lined the shore next to us.
	Still walking...
	Oooh, that's an interesting thing. Probably some sort of nest. But for what? Birds? Bugs?
	Our ship flew the Bahamas At Sea flag. And yes, we had to look that up when we got home, because we didn't recognize the red portion of the flag.
	When we got back onboard, we walked through the atrium and saw the latest combination of colors on the chandelier.
	We really liked these optical illusion paintings by Dominic Pangborn.
	The walls of the little rooms change perspective as you walk by them.
	Here's another example.
	Here's some more art that was going to get sold to a drunk passenger during an exclusive champagne art event sometime this week.
	So, yeah, Peter Max art. For years, we've been mocking these paintings, noting that it is mathematically impossible for Peter Max to be painting all of these, and yet cruise passengers continue to go crazy for them. After returning, we learned that in May, the NYT exposed that Peter Max has dementia and can do nothing more than sign paintings that are created by a stable of artists churning out identical works. So cruise passengers have been buying fakes for years, and yet it it is still on display for sale.
	But enough of that. We hadn't yet changed out of our wet swimwear so we decided to ride the twin waterslides.
	On our way up the stairs, Tom's sharp eyes spotted this bright green guy so we had to grab our camera out of our gear.
	Here's a closer look at him. Then we stowed our camera again, along with our wedding rings, and climbed the stairs to ~~our doom~~ the twin water slides. It was terrifying getting into the tube enclosure, and more so when the floor dropped out, but the ride itself was really, really fun.
	After we rode a couple of the water slides, we spent some time on deck looking at Harvest Caye.
	To the far left of this photo is LandShark restaurant.
	There's lots to do further down the island, so two giant boats of passengers were able to fit.
	Here's a closer look at the beach, We never went there but we decided we didn't want to get sandy and we had been in ocean water enough, so it wasn't appealing to us.
	We went for a stroll along Deck 8 again, ...
	... hoping that this calamari appetizer menu meant that this area would eventually open for business at some point. There was no documentation anywhere about this here, online, or in the daily program. We later asked a staff member who told us it would be open for 90 minutes on Saturday. So convenient!
	We departed Harvest Caye at 4:00 PM ...
	... and enjoyed the sunset from our balcony an hour later.
	Our route would take us south in order to get past the reef into deeper waters before turning north for Costa Maya.
	Hey, watermelon! What night is it?
	It's Asian Night!
	Oooh, pretty.
	Yes, we love buffets. So very much. Day 8 >