Karen

My hubby and I are going on our first cruise (Carnival) later this month. We're looking at some shore excursion options. Our cruise heads to Mexico, Belize, and Honduras. We have a few in mind that we'd like to do, but if we were to do a shore excursion at each place (4 ports), it is going to get pretty pricey for us. Are we allowed to get off the boat and explore on our own without a guided tour for some of these places? We just didn't want to pay (i.e.) $60 each to go shopping if we could roam the town on our own.

Also, my hubby has his passport that he'll be using. I'm taking mine as well, but since mine says my maiden name I'm told that I'll need my birth certificate and marriage license to get on the ship. If we ARE allowed to go off the ship on our own, are these ID documents ok for the other countries? Or would they ONLY accept a passport with my married name in order to get off the boat and explore?

Lots of questions, I know....Any advice would be helpful. Also if you have done this cruise, and enjoyed (or hated) certain shore excursions, please let me know! Thanks!

I want to build a home in North Florida, and would like to know the pros and cons of a home that is 1) stick built, and 2) cinder block ...

These seem to be the two biggest building architectures used in Florida, but not sure which one is better or for which reasons, and the Realtors won't give up any good dirt, they just sell their own architecture.