The Norwegian Star – Excursion to Roatan, Honduras

The second paid excursion that we took while on the Norwegian Cruise Line ship called the Star was to an island called Roatan in Honduras.

The day before, we were in Belize City and got rained on. The weather today was pretty similar — rain, rain and more rain.

We signed up for the “Tabyana Beach Party Snorkel” excursion at $74.99 per person. Unfortunately, when you purchase your tickets for the excursions they are non-refundable and you go whether it’s sunny or rainy (unless you purchase them the same day but then you risk not being able to go on the excursion of your choice).

A group of dancers greeted us as we disembarked the ship to board a bus that transported us to the beach on a very pot-holed winding road.

It was looking pretty grim weather-wise. Once we arrived at Tabyana Beach, our group gathered around a young man who started asking the group questions. “Anyone with a pacemaker?” No hands went up. “Anyone have asthma?” My hand shot up because, although I was not suffering from asthma at the time, I have been known to get asthma when I have a bad cold and I wasn’t sure exactly what he meant.

By raising my hand, I was automatically eliminated from going snorkeling. I thought it was rather unfair as my husband and son were able to go snorkeling and all I was Â able to do was sit in a covered patio area since the rain continued to pour and the beach area was wet.

Needless to say, I was disappointed but did receive a refund for the snorkeling portion of the trip.

Shortly after the snorkelers had made it to the beach, I could see people gathering around. Something was wrong. A man had turned blue while putting his head underwater and was brought back to the sandy beach. He needed to be resuscitated as he had swallowed water through his snorkel gear.

After he was resuscitated by the ship’s nurse, who just happened to be there, they took him in an emergency vehicle back to the ship.

The snorkeling group was now able to go into the water and they had a team ready to guide them to some great places (so I was told by my husband and son).

So, what did I do? Well, I played with my new iPhone5Â on the covered deck and socialized with a woman who was sitting at another table reading a book as she didn’t want to snorkel although her husband was with the snorkel group.

Covered Deck, Tabyana Beach, Roatan, Honduras

Around noon, the snorkelers returned and they opened up the buffet line so we could have lunch which consisted of hot dogs, hamburgers and barbecue chicken along with drinks.

Tabyana Beach Buffet Area, Roatan, Honduras

After lunch, I strolled down to the beach. It was beautiful even if the day had been wet. There were many vendors on the beach selling jewelry, hats and even services such as hair braiding or massages. It was sad for me to see that they had children trying to sell things also.

Most everyone wanted to leave after the snorkelers returned as the rain really started to fall and there was not much to do after eating. I did go to the local craft store that sold pictures but didn’t see anything that I particularly wanted to purchase.

So, we boarded our bus back to the ship with the driver maneuvering his way through all the potholes.

I took a few more pictures before boarding the ship.

(I so enjoy the brightly colored buildings!)

And lastly reader, I was able to get a video of the dancers/performers while waiting to set sail (click below). The performers accepted “tips” as I’m sure the cruise line didn’t pay them to perform. It was a nice cultural performance.