We recently tried the Cozumel, Mexico Bar Hop excursion and it was GREAT!
We hopped between 4 bars on the back side of Cozumel where it is much more quiet and unspoiled. Our hopping guide was excellent, and we had an amazing time. You might think this was an all-out party, but it wasn’t. It was all people about our age, having a great time. We met some wonderful people from a Carnival Ship as well as some form our Royal Caribbean Ship.
Mike and I took a trip down to Texas as our daughter and son-in-law have given us our third grand baby. We have three grandsons now!
They live on a farm with 3 dogs, 3 cats, 2 cows, 9 sheep and too many chickens, turkeys and geese to count. They raise and sell both eggs and chicks. It is a fun and exciting place to be on the spring. Not only do we have an new grandson, there are many new babies on the farm.
Living the empty nest, phase 2 life is honestly the best. Even though Mike and I are not yet retired and still run our own business, it is running well with an amazing team which enables us to travel and enjoy our blessings.
Have a beautiful day friends and enjoy living in phase 2.
We are comparing Cruising on Carnival Cruise Lines with Royal Caribbean. Is Carnival the Walmart of the Seas? How does it compare to Royal Caribbean. We just got back from our first Carnival Cruise and (Spoiler Alert!) it was great! We will compare 10 areas between Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean to see how they stack up. You might be surprised!
Today we are sharing the latest on selecting reef safe sunscreens that are best for you and for the environment. Don’t get burned when going to your long-awaited tropical vacation destination with banned sunscreen! Did you know your sunscreens may now be illegal in many areas you may be visiting? More and more places around the world that are implementing more and more strict regulations on sunscreen. Banning certain ingredients and only allowing certain formulations.
Sun protection is absolutely critical for your health and safety. How do you navigate the changing rules while still protecting yourself? We have dug in and reviewed all the latest regulations and also investigated what sunscreens are safe, effective, won’t break the bank, and you can use at that tropical paradise you are visiting!
Let’s go over each ingredient and are they reef safe or not:
Para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA): This was an effective UV blocker, however there are some people that have allergic reactions to PABA, so most sunscreens have gone away from this ingredient.
Oxybenzone: Again, this was a safe and effective UV blocker, however this is the first ingredient identified in some reports to have possible reef issues. Therefore, it’s the first ingredient been banned by some locations. Most “Reef Safe” sunscreens label themselves that way by not using oxybenzone.
Octinoxate: This was the next chemical UV blocker used, but again, there were concerns raised this may also impact reefs, so this was the next ingredient banned by some locations.
Now most “Reef Safe” labeled sunscreens will not have these three ingredients: parabens, oxybenzone, or octinoxate. Most will now use octocrylene.
Here is a list where certain sunscreens are banned, so you can prepare and purchase them in advance, where you can get the best price and availability.
Hawaii: Hawaii enacted a sunscreen ban on the over-the-counter sale of those containing oxybenzone and octinoxate. The state also has more legislation pending to broaden the list of banned sunscreen ingredients. So check before you go to see the latest regulations.
S. Virgin Islands: has outright banned sunscreens containing oxybenzone, octoerylene, and octinoxate. The island chain does not permit the sale or use of sunscreens containing any of those three ingredients. This basically dictates mineral sunscreens.
Aruba: Aruba has outlawed sunscreens containing oxybenzone since July 2020 and are contiplanting additional bans.
Bonaire: The island, which already charges steep environmental fees to divers in an effort to conserve its colorful reefs, now allows only reef-friendly sunscreen to be sold on the island. However, this is poorly defined and the guidance is that tourists only bring biodegradable sunscreens, which is best translated to mineral sunscreens.
Ecoparks in Mexico: Natural water parks like Xcaret, Xel-Ha and Cozumel’s Chankanaab Beach Adventure Park, require visitors to use only “biodegradable” sunscreens. Unfortunately, “biodegradable” is not well defined, however mineral sunscreens are approved. When entering these parks they will check and if you have any chemical sunscreens they will be confiscated.
Palau: The sunscreen banapplies to the sale and use of sunscreens containing 10 chemicals, including oxybenzone, octinoxate, octocrylene, and certain parabens (or preservatives). Again, only mineral sunscreens.
Key West: banned the sale and purchase of sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate. However, being a local jurisdiction, this has currently been blocked by the state of FL.
Australia, When you visit Australia it’s a whole different world when it comes to sunscreen. The short version is: In Australia any sunscreen listed with an SPF over 15 is considered a medical product and regulated as such. Therefore, all you find are SPF 15 or lower on the shelves. Since no manufacture wants have it regulated as medicine. It would be WAY to costly. Therefore, you have to actually compare ingredient concentrations to get an idea of what would be an SPF 50 everywhere else. Our recommendation here is bring a good mineral sunscreen from home, so know what you are using.
Our #1 pick for a chemical sunscreen that don’t contain Oxybenzone and Octinoxate
Walmart Equate Ultra Sunscreens. These are very affordable, highly available and are considered reef safe in most places
$5 for 5.5 oz. this is the best buy out there for spray sunscreen
NOTE: the Equate SPF 70 Ultra has Oxybenzone, so it wouldn’t be considered reef friendly, so stick with the other 2 that are SPF 50
We also recommend
Alba Botanica Hawaiian
Trader Joe’s Spray SPF 50+
These have the same formulations as the Walmart Equate Ultra products but are more expensive.
It’s important to note all these all still have Octocrylene which is soon being banned in many places. That brings us to mineral sunscreens.
Our pick for mineral safe sunscreens
If you are looking to go the mineral route, which is considered the most reef safe and are not currently banned anywhere. Here are our recommendations:
Coppertone Pure & Simple SPF 50 mineral sunscreen
This is nanoparticle zinc oxide based product that is water resistant to 80 minutes and goes on almost clear.
This is currently legal around the world
You can get this on amazon and some retailers
Here’s a link to the lotion which was about $10 for the 6 oz.
This is microparticle, not nanoparticle, zinc oxide product which is water resistant for 80 minutes. This is one of the latest and greatest meeting all the new theories on being a healthy and reef safe sunscreen.
We found on this was on Costco.com for about $10 at tube, in a 2 pack. This makes it about the same cost as the Coppertone Free & Simple
Here is your Coco Cay Beach Club review. Today we show you around Royal Caribbean’s Beach Club at their private island Perfect Day at Coco Cay. Is it worth the extra cost? How’s the food and the atmosphere and is it a perfect day? Come with us and see if this makes for the perfect shore excursion.
Here’s our best hints and tips to help you book your first cruise.
Whether you are booking Royal Caribbean, Carnival, or Disney, we will cover all the don’t miss points for booking you cruise. Should you use a travel agent or book yourself? How do you select a travel agent? We will talk about all the items that have to come together to make your cruise vacation a low stress success.
• Booking yourself or with a Travel Agent
• Transportation to your departure port city and our #1 tip!
• Transportation from your hotel to the cruise port
• Travel Insurance tips
Here’s a few links we mentioned to travel insurance sites:
Friends, we hope this series has been very helpful with booking your first cruise and has helped take some of the stress off what should and will be an amazing fun vacation!
Hi Friends. In this video we are covering selecting your first cruise as well as budgeting for your cruise. This is Cruising 102, the second in our series of classes to help you get the most out of your cruise vacation. We hope to help you learn the basics about cruising.
Today we will cover all the things to think about when selecting your fist cruise. We will cover setting your budget and all the items that go into budgeting for a cruise. We also hope to dispel some of the internet and social media myths related to cruising and take the stress out of booking your cruise.
Thank you so much for watching and enjoy living in Phase 2.
It’s a New Year with that comes a new resolutions, including being more healthy while cruising.
Here we pass on our best tips related to being more healthy when on vacation, especially on a cruise. Just click on the video above to be inspired to live a more healthy lifestyle.
We will cover our top 3 tips to help you cruise more healthy while still having a great time!
As you all know, a new year is a time for us to review our goals and plans. And for us, 2023 is going to be a full year. I thought I’d share with you what we have coming up.
3 Cruises are Scheduled, one in January, July and December
Grandbaby #3 coming in March
Grandbaby #4 coming in April
Gaining a daughter-in-law, wedding in July
Currently planning to judge 8 barbeque contests
Sharing our story with our franchise we own coming to YouTube and this website in February and March
Suffice it to say, it is a busy schedule. I’m a pencil and paper girl and Mike likes his schedule and planning online. Regardless of how you do your planning, it is best to have it written somewhere where it can be reviewed and revised.
I am using 2 planners. They are very different. The first is the Homemaker’s Friend by Sue Hooley and it is a daily planner. This is my 5th year to use her planner and I love it. You can find it in our Amazon store here. I’ve also linked the Zebra pens I use there as well.
The second planner I’m using is Commit 30. It is a daily/hourly planner that focuses on reaching your goals through 30 day increments. This can be found on the Commit 30 website.
This is my first year to use the Commit 30 planner, so I’ll let you know how it goes in the future.
My biggest goal this year is to remain healthy through clean eating and moving my body. I sometimes feel as if I’m slowing down and I want to stay in Phase 2 for many years to come. I want to live life to the fullest and enjoy each and every day God gives me.
As a reminder, Phase 2 in our life is when we are becoming empty nesters and around retirement time. Phase 3 in our life is when our health declines.
Please feel free to share your plans and goals for 2023 in the comments below. Also, if you haven’t yet, consider subscribing to our YouTube channel. We are trying to continue growing with it. Thank you.
This is a port that often gets a bit of a bad rap. Most people look at it as just having some shopping, Atlantis resort waterpark, and some beaches, but not much more. Also, being such a close port to the East Coast, many cruisers stop there quite often and frankly don’t see much to do there.
However, we found a GREAT tour that explores the culture of the Bahamian through food, while walking around the wonderfully historic city of Nassau. We had an excellent tour guide LISA!!!!!!. She made the tour fun and well as educational.
We hope you enjoy this overview of our tour and that it encourages you to try this excellent tour.
Today we are aboard Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas attending the Royal Caribbean Leadership Coffee Talk Question & Answer Session with CEO Michael Bayley. This was a great session and the leadership team was open, candid, funny, entertaining, and quite informative. It was good to hear all about Royal Caribbean post COVID and the pause. Royal Caribbean has a lot of great plans for their future, some they could share, other not so much, like the plans for their next private island!
We hope you enjoy this glimpse into Royal Caribbean’s plans and leadership.
Today we have the full Royal Caribbean Ultimate World Cruise Q&A session from Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas.
We recorded the entire session so those that were not in attendance could listen to all the great information presented.
There was so much valuable information and we want to thank Michael Bayley and all the Royal Caribbean staff for their hard work putting together this amazing adventure.
Make boarding your cruise ship in Port Canaveral effortless and stress free. Today, we walk you through our boarding procedure and show the first things to do when you get on your ship.
Don’t let this small portion of your vacation cause you any anxiety. We want you to enjoy every step of the cruising process. Afterall, your cruise is a vacation of a lifetime.
Make it a great day Friends and live life to the fullest in Phase 2.
Welcome to cruising 101 our class to help you know the basics about cruising.
There is a lot of miss information on cruising basics. What food is included, what entertainment, what is there to do? We will walk through everything a new cruiser needs to know. Our hope is to dispel some of the internet and social media myths related to cruising and take the stress out of booking your cruise.
We’re doing a cruise ship comparison today Friends.
We compare our cruise on Royal Caribbean’s newest and largest cruise ships, Odyssey of the Seas and Symphony of the Seas to a trip on their smallest and oldest ship, the Grandeur of the Seas.
How was our cruise on the newest mega ships? How can an older ship like Grandeur, known as the Lady G, compare? Did we have a good time? How were the cabins on the newest ships compared to the older ship? Did being the largest ship vs. the smallest ship make a huge difference? Today we give our hints and thoughts on these very different cruise experiences.
In the video we referenced some of our other videos here are links to those for your viewing pleasure:
Hi Friends, today we take a very unusual luxury cruise. We cruise the great lakes and experience the ultimate in luxury cursing….or did we??? From the arrival at the port to disembarkation this is unlike any cruise you’ve ever taken. Follow along with us on this very “special” cruise. Be sure to stay to the end for a real surprise and some great information.
Today we continue our upper Michigan travels by visiting the Keweenaw Peninsula. In our opinion, this is one of the world’s most beautiful places. It is a very sparsely populated, get away from it all place is a true bucket list destination. The Keweenaw Peninsula is full of amazing natural beauty, with lakes, vistas, trails and of course waterfalls.
We will show you the RV park and cabins where we stayed as well as our hiking, ATV riding and touring adventures. A trip here wouldn’t be complete without a visit the world famous Jampot for some amazing treats!
We hope these videos are helpful and inspire you to make your own visit to this piece of paradise.
Have a beautiful and full Living Phase 2 day friends,
During a recent visit to our daughter in TX we drove from Dallas to Galveston to catch our cruise on Grandeur of the Seas. On the way we stopped at a Texas icon Buc-ees! Yes, it’s a convenience store, but it’s NOT just a convenience store. It’s the world largest convenience store. We had to stop and check out this Texas landmark.
Upon entering this 60000 square foot mecca you will find everything you could possibly need to make your cross country trip enjoyable.
First you will find the cleanest bathrooms in the world! They pride themselves on having large clean restrooms. Yes, it is pride for them. 🙂
They have fresh BBQ brisket sliced and chopped for breakfast tacos and burritos, and at lunch try a brisket sandwiche, chopped or sliced.
Since we were traveling both in the morning as well as the afternoon we got to experience both breakfast and lunch at Buc-ees. I had the breakfast brisket taco, it was very good. For lunch we tried the smoked sausage on the stick and the brisket sandwich. It was all delicious. In fact, it was too much to eat!
One thing to note about Buc-ees is they carry their own brand products. So don’t expect to see name brands, just Buc-ee the Bever brand products. Fortunately they all seem to be very good.
Other things we picked up were some everything bagel flavored cashews.
We also tried the Beaver Nuggets. These are kind of a cheese puff or a corn puff but covered in a sweet coating. If you have ever had Chicago mix flavored popcorn salty and sweet, it’s a bit like that. We had to get the white cheddar beaver nuggets as well as the original. Both were very good, but the original was just down right evil. YUM!
If you like soda (or pop in Michigan) they even have their own brands and flavors.
For coffee they have a TON of creamer flavors, including many that are sugar free.
Don’t miss the jerky counter, it’s the biggest I’ve ever seen! About every flavor you can imagine. At the jerky counter you can also pick up bakery products, and order custom burritos and tacos.
Other items not to forget are the fresh roasted nuts and the cups of cookie dough!
Beyond all the snacks and drinks they have a whole shopping area that is like a Cracker Barrel on steroids.
All in all, it is a must stop if you are driving and see one just off the exit of your freeway.
