Cruising is more than stuffing your face in a Jacuzzi with a Twilight Zone drink. Happiness happens when you’re in port. Although I only visited five ports in seven days I made memories to last a lifetime.

Costa Maya: My bestest found us this great deal. For $50 we could snorkel, kayak, and enjoy all the drinks we could consume. What a way to start a vacay! Tequila Beach Club in Costa Maya was worth every penny. Snorkeling at first it was scary because the whole trust this mask to breathe out of was a bit much for me. But after a few gulps of salt water and adjusting my mask I got the hang of it. The ocean is beautiful and I hope we don’t ruin it because I’m going to need for the kids of the future to snorkel at least once. We even got to see a starfish. Our instructors Danny, Eric and Hill constantly reminded us that we were all capable of swimming, there were no sharks and the life vests we had on float. We decided not to kayak and see how much we could drink before it was time to go back to the boat. Israel (Izzy) our drink attendant spotted me and my friends and insisted we sit on the beach and drink and that we did. What started out as Pina Coladas ended up in shots and him proposing I stay forever.  I smiled and politely told him I couldn’t stay. The boat wouldn’t leave without me.

I spent most of Cozumel just wandering by myself until I ran into my friends. Fat Tuesday in Cozumel has some strong drinks that are fifty shades of yummy. All their slushies have alcohol in them and it will sneak up on you.

My second favorite port behind Costa Maya had to be Belize. Belize is not an island (our local tour guide made sure he drilled that into our heads). The people are wonderful and it’s very diverse. I did not know that Creole was one of the popular languages in Belize. Straight off the boat there was a local bar and they were pleasant and had amazing chicken nachos and it didn’t help they gave us free shots. The highlight of Belize was for $80 per person we got to go zip lining in the forest. Thanks to Belize Caribbean Tours Although I was dressed for cave tubing (the rain ruined that) I went zip lining in a sun dress and flip flops.  It was fun to play the “Don’t lose your shoes in the middle of the forest,” game but I’d definitely recommend dressing for the occasion next. It wasn’t my first time zip lining but it was my first time zip lining over water. There were seven lines and one of them included walking over a bridge straight out of your favorite horror film. “Don’t look down.

I did leave with souvenirs. I got this hand crafted paper weight of the ruins, a skirt I can’t wait to rock for Christmas, shirts for everyone, shot glasses because I was a bartender in my past life and two bottles of alcohol to try. Pure White Henny isn’t available in PA and my mom who rarely drinks wanted me to buy it. To both of our surprise it isn’t white, it’s brown. I’m not a Henny person so it’ll be the bar for a while.  Patron Mango Tequila tastes yummy by itself so I have plans for it. Margaritas for days! I’m hosting a few friends Saturday so I’m going to use a bit to create a mango margarita sangria. I’ll post the recipe once I perfect it.

It’s get to get out of your hometown every once in a while. I can’ t wait to see where my passport takes me in 2017. I won’t need it for my birthday trip in February but New Orleans is going to be a blast. I’m renting an entire house in walking distance of the French Quarter with some of my gal friends. The Airbnb is booked and if you click my invite code you get $35 off your first trip.  Cheers to adventures!