Christmas 2022 Trip on Royal Caribbean, Brilliance of the Seas

 

Christmas 2022

Royal Caribbean Brilliance of the Seas      December 24-28, 2022

Taking the elevator down from the condo to get our ride. Can you believe we are dressed for Florida?

Tampa, Florida

 Larry, Kay, Kathy, Chad, Donna, and Brian had the fastest, smoothest boarding on Christmas Eve. Royal Caribbean has upped their game by not having long lines to wait in. It was great to leave the area  as a cold snap arrived.

                                                                                                    

The ship was tastefully decorated for Christmas.

    We went up to the Lido Deck for lunch to find the cutest Gingerbread House display ever.

Another cruise ship followed us out of the port of Tampa.

We enjoyed taking a stroll out on the deck to see the Sky Bridge all lit up as we left Tampa Bay.

Cozumel, Mexico

After one day at sea we arrived in Punta Langosta, Cozumel, Mexico.

A Cozumel Christmas welcome tree.

Chad, Kathy, Donna, and Brian decided to take a tour of Tulum. Since Larry and I had been there, we decided to rent a scooter and take a ride around the island.  

About 25 miles out of town we came to a great little resort beach.

Since we enjoy playing pickleball, we were thrilled to find there was a club locally.

Coral was all along the coast.

I enjoyed the lovely tropical foliage.

Looks like fun place

Frigates dotted the sky.

Arches lined the ocean front as we returned back to town.

We almost made it back to the ship before it rained.

Grand Cayman Islands

The next  morning we arrived in Grand Cayman. We planned to rent scooters and explore the island....so we rode the bus into town and then walked to the scooter rental.

Grand Cayman Government Building

After finding out that everything on the island was closed (Boxing Day)  including the scooter rental, we ended up just spending the day at the beach.

Before boarding the ship Kathy and Chad visited a wildlife refuge.

Catching the ferry back to the ship after a couple hours of birding.

Last day of birding on the ship with a day at sea.

What a great sunset on our last evening on the ship.

After arriving back to Clearwater we spent the morning playing pickleball 

  

 The afternoon we rode bikes to the beach. 

After lunch at the Palm Pavilion, the beach air made us want to take a little snooze.

 

On  the way home we went by the marina to see the pelicans at fish cleaning time.

During the evening we all went to Dunedin to listen and  jam at the Woodwright Brewery followed up by pizza.

Our Virginia and West Virginia folks left the condo at 4 AM-ish to catch their flight back home.

What a great holiday!