Days 7-8: Sea Day & Costa Rica

Cocktails & Chaos

I started our sea day very early, in the hammock, to give Shawn a break from my sinus-drainage-induced coughing. Ugh.

The hammock is actually a very comfy bed, rocking gently with the waves as a soundtrack.

This was a relaxing day with lots of lounging about in various areas of the ship.

We had a snack at the Dock before the stand-up comedy show featuring Rodney Lane. Our Rock Star perks came in handy with not having to wait in the long line.

We got to catch up with our kids. It’s always great to hear how they’re doing and what’s happening in their lives.

It was a fun evening of cocktails and music at The Hostess’s cabaret show. She is a brilliant performer with great comedic timing, and she has a beautiful singing voice

Once again that evening my coughing fits returned, so back to the hammock at 4 in the morning I went. Bonus - I got a private sunrise dolphin show!

Going into a 7.5-hour nature marathon in Costa Rica after roughly zero sleep felt optimistic in the way people sign up for marathons and say, “How hard can it be?”

We started with a dainty breakfast because lunch was part of our excursion. We lounged in the waiting area like caffeinated zombies, ready for our Costa Rica cloud-forest adventure. It was advertised as a once in a lifetime adventure, with an amazing collection of wildlife and exotic orchids.

Act One of This Comedy of Errors: an alert announcing the tide was too low for the usual disembarkation, so plans changed and we were an hour behind before anything exciting had happened. Then, when we boarded the 1.5-hour bus trip, the driver kindly informed us construction had turned that into 2.5 hours. The route was the world’s windiest mountain road, mostly one lane, with enough switchbacks to induce nausea. Our guide mumbled what I assume were facts about Costa Rica between sympathetic shrugs.

At one point he asked the group to choose lunch: beef, chicken, or vegetarian. Everyone made their selection like eager contestants on a game show - we were all very hungry by this point.

We rolled up to Treetopia, the mystical cloud-forest venue, at 2:40 pm. This is where orchids, monkeys, sloths, and Instagram dreams allegedly live. Mood check: no one had eaten since breakfast, the bus had aged us a collective ten years, and we all felt slightly gross after those switchbacks. The tour suggested long pants (probably jungle etiquette). Our guide suggested, “You might want rain gear, but I don’t think you need it.” Famous last words.

We stepped off the bus and discovered the temperature had taken a dive. Nobody had the “right” clothes. So we were grouped with the organizational finesse of a toddler sorting Legos and shoved onto a three-minute gondola ride into the canopy. It was cold, windy, and damp; I donned a rain poncho more for heat conservation than weather protection

After we took some photos and gondola-ed back down, we assumed lunch had to be imminent. Instead, the guide announced a nearly two-hour nature walk where we would traverse two suspended bridges because, apparently, we didn’t have time for all five. We are running on fumes at this point.

Well, the scenery was gorgeous. We spotted exactly two birds, zero orchids, and a grand total of no monkeys or sloths. The air was astonishingly fresh, which was nice, because by then we’d used up our last reserves of patience and coffee. And, bonus, no one had a panic attack on the very wobbly bridges.

Confusion reigned again as we sorted getting everyone back on the busses. Then a “quick” drive to “lunch”… it’s after 5pm by now, so let’s just call it dinner. Everyone feels like hostages at this point knowing we have the very long, very windy drive back to the ship, only now it will be in the dark… and RIP to your dinner reservations- you got this bowl of rice with dry chicken instead.

The good news is that while everyone finished their food we went next door to a pharmacy to pick up some cough syrup for me and candy bars for our cabin crew.

Sometimes you don’t get the perfect day, and that’s when it pays to be with the perfect person. ❤️

Next up: a much needed sea day to recover 😂🚢