Roatan, Honduras

We had a surprisingly comfortable night given the wind was blowing 30 knots and the ship was doing 20 knots directly into both the wind and the waves.

As we approached Coxen Hole on the island of Roatan, we went up to the weather decks so that we could have a 360° view. We found that they were closed due to the high winds. We eventually found a sheltered one that was still open. We had a ringside seat for a nice piece of seamanship as the captain brought the ship to the pier. First, he slipped sideways past Azamara's ONWARD which was at anchor. Next, balancing the force of the wind with the propulsion of the side thrusters, he floated past the stern of NCL's BREAKAWAY and alongside the pier without slamming into it.

When we disembarked, we found ourselves walking up the pier into a 25+ mph headwind.  

In the port shopping area were the omnipresent Diamonds International and a bunch of other ho-hum ships. 

This is the second port this trip where we have seen feet as fish food. The last time we saw this was in SE Asia. Apparently, it has become an international thing.

We walked along the road outside the port gate. The shops and eateries were rundown. People constantly tried to sell us things but were not pushy about it when we declined their solicitations. It was interesting to see some of the local life outside the curated shopping village in the port. What we saw we knew from a previous trip was not representative of the whole island.

This sign may have been done by the same guy who did the one in a store just outside the gate to the port. It offered a big discount on Shannel perfumes.

We had a relaxed afternoon back aboard the ship. In the evening, we watched the other two passenger ships depart, then left at about 5:00 p.m. for Santo Tomas, Guatemala. Unlike our arrival, there was no finesse required to get us clear of the dock and headed out to sea.

The wind was still strong. Getting up from dinner, we noticed the deck had some shimmy in it. In general, given that the wind was more astern of us than the previous evening, those board with delicate stomachs were probably much happier.