CRUISE!

Jeff and I went on a CRUISE this past week! We found a really incredible deal for a 5-day Carnival cruise out of Galveston and Renita offered to take Luke (and the girls, since I wouldn’t be there to watch them during the day), so we went for it! The whole thing was actually Renita’s idea - talk about an amazing mother-in-law! We love that lady!

Day 1: Our cruise got off to kind of a slow start on Saturday; first because after we dropped Luke off with Grandma and Grandpa I didn’t notice I left my laptop (with the camera memory card inside) at their house until we had been driving for 25 minutes, and we had to go back. But also, because it was a very foggy morning in Galveston and with zero visibility, our cruise ship couldn’t dock to let the previous cruisers off and us on. This ultimately resulted in a 6 hour delay, but Jeff and I were too excited to be upset, so we enjoyed our time waiting in line as best we could. It was a nice little perk that I didn’t have to tip the guy that took our bags because I took them by myself while Jeff saved our spot in line and the nice man was just concerned with getting the heavy bags off of the little woman.

We finally got on the ship around 6pm and immediately went in search of our beloved Turkey Sandwiches. Our first Carnival cruise was for our one year anniversary 2 ½ years ago and we were obsessed with the incredible turkey sandwiches from the deli. We ate them every day and I could honestly eat one for lunch every day for the rest of my life and be so happy. When we arrived at the deli, we were ridiculously excited to discover that they were still being offered there. People probably thought we were crazy, but it was for good reason, because when we got back to our table and tasted them, with their thick flavorful slices of turkey, and unbelievably delicious country rolls toasted to perfection, they were just as heavenly as we remembered! Haha, okay, maybe we are crazy.

As we continued to explore the food area, we were happy to find all of the other things we had loved about our first Carnival cruise: the good kind of ice (the kind that is like little cylinders of condensed ICEE), frozen yogurt (in addition to the chocolate and vanilla, they had strawberry this time and it was surprisingly amazing!), and hot chocolate (the most perfect taste and temperature – we really missed this on Royal Caribbean).

We explored the rest of the ship and planned to see the stand up comedians at 10pm and 11pm, but I had taken Dramamine and I was unbelievably drowsy. I could barely keep my eyes open, so we didn’t make it to the shows. I didn’t take Dramamine again for the rest of the week. Turns out I didn't need it!

Day 2: Our first full day was an at sea day. We worked out in the morning and we were the first ones down the water slide when it opened. For some reason, the ride down the slide was s-l-o-w the first time. But we tried it again later and that time, Jeff zipped down and whipped around every corner. I, however, came to a dead stop on the third turn and had to scoot along to get myself going again and I still had a slow ride to the bottom. I wondered if my butt was really that big that it was slowing me down, until I saw a woman with a bigger booty than mine cruise down at top speed! I tried at least once a day with the same results. It wasn’t until the last day, when Jeff pushed me that I finally had a really fast and fun ride down the slide! Ridiculous!

After lunch, we watched the hairy chest contest on deck, which was really embarrassing to watch with big, drunk, hairy men dancing around, but we couldn’t look away! Then, Jeff was really excited to find out that both NFL games deciding which teams would go to the Super Bowl were going to be on the big screen on deck. Jeff watched the Patriots-Ravens game while I worked out and then came back to snuggle with him for the second half. When I came back to sit down, I was lamenting the fact that I hadn’t reached my goal weight before the cruise (far from it), so it was really great to hear that the friendly women sitting next to Jeff had told him that he had the “cutest girlfriend ever” while I was gone. I need to make more of an effort to make people’s days by saying nice things like that to strangers.

After dinner, we caught the family-friendly comedy show, before coming back out on deck to catch the second half of the 49ers-Giants game, while relaxing in the Jacuzzi. Well, we tried to relax, but we were sharing the hot tub with a large and very boisterous drunk Polynesian man, who was very excited about the game. Even though we were sitting about 2 feet away from him, every time he wanted to get our attention, he would yell, “HEY!” and this was usually followed simply by, “ELI!” (as in Eli Manning, quarterback for the Giants). Then he would stand up and yell to random strangers sitting behind us, “HEY! ELI! ELI! HEY! ELI!” until they acknowledged him with a wave or a fist pump. Then, he would sit back down and say something like, “Eli’s a freakin’ winner!” (only replace “freakin’” with an expletive, which was clearly this man’s favorite word, based on how many times he said “F@*% off” in response to bad calls or bad plays or good plays if they were from the 49ers). We watched the guy fall more than once getting in and out of Jacuzzi. I did not envy what his wife would be dealing with that night.

Before bed, we went to the adult comedy show, which ended up being a little too suggestive for our taste, so we avoided those for the rest of the cruise.

Can you believe that this is the first picture I took on the whole cruise so far? Our towel animal on our second night on board: an adorable koala(?) offering us chocolates. It doesn't get much better than that!

Day 3 (Mon): On Monday, we docked in Progresso, Mexico. Jeff and I had an early excursion scheduled. We were supposed to meet at 7:30am, but I made us a little late. They were waiting for us. Crap. But they were very nice about it and let us onto the bus anyway. We had a long bus ride listening to our very interesting and personable guide tell us about the area, it’s history and the fascinating history of the Mayans and the events behind all of the 2012 end of the world hoopla (December 21, 2012 to be exact).

 Welcome to Progresso!

When we arrived, we chose goggles, snorkels, life jackets, and mountain bikes. We put our things in the van and jumped on our bikes for a 10 minute ride to the first of two cenotes. The ride was a little bit bumpy and rocky. It was enough to make clumsy me slightly nervous at first, but I got the hang of it and it ended up being really fun! Jeff and I rode out front and led the group.

"A cenote is a deep natural pit, or sinkhole, characteristic of Mexico and Central America, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater underneath" (thank you Wikipedia). The first cenote we went to was connected to another cenote by a kind of underground river. Scuba divers swim from one cenote to the other in the in the pitch black underwater tunnel. I'm sure they bring lights, but it still was a pretty terrifying thought to me! We could look down into the opening of the tunnel while we were snorkeling and we could see why ancient Mayans thought these were entrances to the underworld. The water up in the cenote, however, was beautiful, blue, and clear. Jeff and I were happy that it was fresh water so we could snorkel without the taste of salt in our mouths. The rock formations in the cave were beautiful and intricate and so interesting to look at. 

My camera lens was all fogged up so the picture is blurry, but this is the first cenote. Ground level is at the top of the picture.

The water was SO nice!

It was only about a minute bike ride to the second cenote, which I think was even more beautiful than the first! It was less covered than the first one and surrounded by gorgeous scenery, although the water was a little less clear. Like in the first cenote, there weren’t any big fish swimming around, just a bunch of little guppies. 

Doesn't it look magical?

Before we snorkeled in the second cenote, we gathered nearby around a local Mayan-speaking shaman who taught us all about the natural remedies he creates out of plants in the area. He gives them away for free to local people who are too poor to go into the city to see a doctor when they get sick. He says he doesn’t charge for his remedies because he knows God pays him. He was such a good, humble man. And the shaman’s grandfather lived until he was 113 years old, and he wasn’t sick when he died, he only died because he fell, so those natural remedies must really work!

One of the plants the shaman showed us had little pokey bulbs that could be popped open to reveal little orange berries with some serious dying power. We each got our own bulb full of little berries, which we rolled between our fingers to extract the dye and then had a blast rubbing it all over our faces, arms, and legs ...

Are you ready for some football?

I loved all the lily pads in the water.

After some snorkeling, we all jumped back on our bikes and rode back toward the place where we started, stopping on the way for a seriously tasty authentic Yucatan lunch.

My studly husband getting ready to ride to the restaurant for lunch.

Our tour guide explaining and serving our yummy lunches.

Each person got this huge plate of food to themselves! It was all homemade and fantastic!

I thought it was cool that the roof of the restaurant looked like it was made of dry palm tree leaves.

We saw this soldier on the drive back to the ship. I had to take a picture for my brothers, who love guns. It wasn't all that impressive or surprising that this soldier had that giant gun strapped to him, but it was crazy that all of the Mexican policemen we saw on our drive had exactly the same gun! I just failed to pull out my camera fast enough to get a picture of one of them.

Back at the ship, Jeff and I hung out on deck for a little while. Jeff left to go work out and since I felt like I needed to digest my lunch a little longer before I joined him, I stayed on deck and watched some of a Cher concert on the big screen while sitting at the end of a line of middle-aged gay men on deck chairs. At first there was just one, but his friends kept showing up and filling the chairs next to me. It was pretty entertaining listening to their comments: “Oh Cher! She’s the man!” 

Later, I got in a solid workout running 1250 stairs. My calves were sore for the rest of the trip!

I was a little accident prone on this cruise. At least at the ports. This happened when I tried to get my bike ready to ride in Progresso and it fell on me. I got blood on my poor Pumas. In Cozumel, I cut my ankle on a coral reef. However, I didn't slip once on the slick decks of the ship! So that's something!

That night, Jeff and I went to the "60 Seconds or Less" show (exactly the same as "Minute to Win it"). We were hoping to participate, but a lot of people put their names in the buckets for the random drawing for contestants and we didn't get chosen. Bummer. But we had a great seat up front to watch the very entertaining show from.There were three guys and three girls and they took turns trying to do different tasks in under a minute (stacking and unstacking a pyramid of 28 cups, drinking from a soda can until they could balance it on its rim, get two cookies from their forehead into their mouth without using their hands, and keep a feather in the air for 60 seconds using only their breath).

One contestant totally made the show. His name was Ted, from Katy, TX. He was super tall and thin and he cracked us all up with his dance moves every time he won a challenge. In the end, Ted and another girl tied for the win. It was fun to watch and of course, Jeff and I tried all of the challenges ourselves later. He was slightly more successful than I was.

Crab. Our stateroom attendant made the best towel animals all week!

Day 4: Jeff and I woke up on Wednesday to beautiful Cozumel. This was our favorite port on our one-year-anniversary cruise so we were excited to be back! And to add to our excitement, we were signed up for the "Amazing Cozumel Race" and we were ready to go!

We got off the ship before our excursion was supposed to start so we wandered around browsing shops and taking pictures. We also go to Skype with Luke and Renita on Jeff's iPod Touch for a few minutes! It was so great to see him! We missed our little boy! Luke was happy to see us and gave us a giant grin, but pretty soon, he got bored with us and squirmed out of Renita's lap so he could go back to playing. Apparently, he wasn't missing us as much as we were missing him!

There were the most random props all over the place just off the dock to take pictures with.

Jeff and I made our way over to the meeting place for the race and saw Ted there (from minute to win it the night before)! When he saw us walk up, he said, "I pegged you two for Amazing Racers." I guess the fact that we were both wearing Camelbaks and I was wearing tennis shoes with a skirt might have tipped him off.

Ted and his wife, Elizabeth sat at a table with us while we waited for the race to get started. Within about 10 minutes of meeting them, were about 99.9% sure that they were LDS (young couple with 3 kids, she was dressed modestly, and he was a (very) white guy speaking Spanish with one of the race coordinators - mission? probably.) We soon found out they were LDS and Ted did serve a Spanish-speaking mission (in Brazil). They seemed like a really fun couple, but that didn't mean we weren't going to kick their butts in the race.

There were 12 teams and we all got our equipment for the race (a map with numbers and locations, a little guide book to the city, a marker, and a cell phone in case we got lost and needed help from the race coordinators) and listened to all of the rules and instructions. The race started when we got our first clue: a picture of a flagpole that said, "Wish you were here." We were easily the fastest team out of the gate because we had read over our map on the drive over to the start of the race and Jeff remembered where he has seen the flagpole on the map. All he had to do was glance at the clue and we were off running!

I kind of wished I was in better shape as we ran from place to place. It wasn't a short race! But we managed to keep running/jogging for the whole race, even if we were totally out of breath. I don't want to reveal too many details of the race in case it might ruin it for others who do this excursion in the future, but it was a BLAST! We had to go from place to place looking for clues and deciphering messages to figure out our next location.

Ted and Elizabeth were never far behind us. They caught up with us when we were about halfway through the sheet of questions we had to answer in the museum (our second location). We thought we had a solid buffer, but those smartie pants's got through all of the questions lighting fast and by the end, we were searching for the last answer at the same time! Jeff and I took off running for our next location, hoping to put some distance between us!

About halfway through the race, we ended up at the ferry pier, where we stopped and waited for other teams to arrive. Each team's time so far was recorded so that each of us could start back up where we left off after we found our clue. It was really nice to have a little break from running around while we waited for the other times to arrive. Ted and Elizabeth came speed-walking down the pier in second place after a few minutes. Apparently, Elizabeth, who was wearing jeans, didn't feel like running behind her long-legged husband anymore. Enjoying the experience was a higher priority for her than winning. Jeff and I felt we would most enjoy the experience if we won.

When half of the teams were on the pier, we all jumped on a little boat and sped out to sea. I was surprised how soon we stopped and those team members who had volunteered to snorkel (Jeff, Ted and two others) were told to jump out and look for the name of the sunken ship there. The name of the ship gave us our next location. And this is where Jeff and I ran into problems. We were the first ones to our next locations and the first ones to find the next clue, but we had to find a clue in our guide book and no matter how many times we flipped through it, we just kept missing it! We knew what we were looking for, but apparently we didn't have the patience to look closely enough! Finally, we figured it out by asking a man across the street where he had told Ted and Elizabeth to go and of course, he turned right to the right page in our book and showed us! We should have started with that strategy! All of the locals knew exactly where we needed to go and gave us hints throughout the race.

Anyway, enough info about the race! I fear I have revealed too much! After a few more clues and locations, Jeff and I ended up at a little restaurant a good mile into Cozumel (far from the touristy stuff on the coast). Approaching the restaurant, Jeff and I had no idea that it was our final destination, but then, all of the people inside the restaurant started to clap and a man started playing our victory music. We won! We were the first ones to finish the race! Sweet victory!

Winners!

We sat down at a table and were served free chips and salsa and virgin strawberry daiquiris while we waited for the rest of the teams to finish the race.

Ted and Elizabeth walked in a few minutes after we did, securing second place. They were followed by another young couple and a group of three girls, who tied for third, and so on.

While we were waiting, Ted showed me an iguana on a wall outside the restaurant. They were everywhere - in Cozumel and in Progresso the day before!

Iguanas are to Cozumel as squirrels are to Texas.

This henna tattoo was a clue. It still hasn't washed off 5 days later!

The green, white, and red bracelet was another clue.

When all of the teams had finished the race, it was time for the awards ceremony. Stats: the average time for completion of the race is about 2 hours, the winning time for each race is typically around an hour and a half. Jeff and I completed the race in 1 hour and 1 minute (just 3 minutes longer than the record of 58 minutes! Gah! If only we hadn't taken so long to find the clue in our guide book! We would have had it in the bag!). Ted and Elizabeth finished the race in 1 hour and 10 minutes (9 minutes after Jeff and I). Pretty impressive, considering they mostly speed walked. If it were up to Ted, they probably would have ran. He really wanted to win. But he was a good husband to do what Elizabeth wanted.

Ist, 2nd, and 3rd place got medals. Jeff the trash talker to Ted: "How does that silver taste?"

Ted dancing while he and Elizabeth received their medals.

"And in first place, the Sneaky-tacks!" It took them about 5 tries to pronounce that right, probably because Jeff wrote it without the hyphen and it's not a real word. We were really pressured to come up with a team name fast and it was the first thing that came to mind (it's an inside joke - Jeff tried to say sneak attack, but it came out sneaky tack and for some reason that was hilarious)!

Surprise balloons for the winners!

Gold medals!

This race was seriously the funnest thing! If you get the chance, DO IT! It is so well put together and all of the race coordinators and friendly and hilarious and awesome. Seriously, you won't regret it! 

Jeff and I decided to forgo the free taxi ride back to the ship because we were sure that the ride over to the the start of the race had been really short so we would have plenty of time to walk back to the ship and stop at the beach for a swim on the way.

Well, it turns out the walk was a little farther than we thought (make that a lot farther). We walked for an hour and half, leaving us just enough time to swim for 15 minutes and get back to the ship 15 minutes before we needed to be there. But it gave us plenty of time to chat and enjoy the sights. And those 15 minutes in the water were pure bliss!

We had to jump in off of some pretty rough and pointy rocks and the water was deep right away, so we hesitated for a minute, wondering if we would get cut up climbing back out.

But once we took the plunge, it was perfect! The water was so beautiful and clear and just the right temperature. And fortunately, we didn't sustain any injuries on our climb back out of the water (I did however, get a little cut on the way in).

Back at the ship, we got in line to board right behind our new buds, Ted and Elizabeth. We had a nice chat, and then parted ways as we headed to our rooms, assuming we'd see each other around the ship that night and the following day. But somehow, we never saw them again! I thought for sure, we'd run into them again so we could exchange contact info and maybe get together for a game night or something one day after we got home. They live less than 30 minutes away from us after all! Oh well, maybe we'll run into them again one day.

Still super excited to be in line for our turkey sandwiches on day 4 of the cruise.

The rolls were a little over-cooked on this day, but they were still oh so delicious!

Our gorgeous view every night at sunset.

After dinner, we snuggled up on deck to watch a movie on the big screen. It was wonderful. We really enjoyed having the freedom that we missed on the last cruise when we were held to an 8pm bedtime with Luke. We love that boy and we love doing fun things with him, but if you're going to go on a cruise, sans kids is the way to do it!

I don't understand how an elephant made out of towels manages to be this adorable!

Day 5: The last day of our cruise was another at sea day. We spent most of the day on deck enjoying the sun and ocean breeze. It was hard to believe that it was the middle of January when it felt like summer and everyone was walking around in swim suits!

Amazing ice carver! He made a beautiful, flawless ice figure in 9 minutes!

Indian chief

Jeff waited in a long line to get this awesome swan ice cream scoop, grabbed two spoons, and brought it up to where I was lying out on my a deck chair. Such an amazing (and scrumptious) little surprise!

Jeff and I brought a little plate of cookies back to our room after lunch so we could try the challenge from the minute to win it show for ourselves. I think I was a little more confident than Jeff that I would be able to complete the challenge (get one cookie from forehead into mouth without using hands and eat it, do the same with a second cookie, but just get the cookie locked into your teeth, not required to eat it) in under 60 seconds. But apparently my confidence was unwarranted and Jeff wasn't giving himself enough credit! I totally failed at my first attempt, dropping cookie after cookie, but I got better after a few tries. At least I got a couple into my mouth, no matter how ugly the process was! Jeff, on the other hand, was a machine! He was so quick. I snapped the following three pictures one right after the other, so this is exactly how it went - 1.. 2.. DONE!

Those engineers just do everything so efficiently, in as few steps as possible!

Jeff took these pictures of me one right after the other too. And as you can see, I took several more steps...

Now I understand why the chef at Bari Bari Japanese Steak House (one of those places where they cook right in front of you) said, "Wow! She has a big mouth!" right after he tossed a piece of egg into my mouth. He was right.

Finally! Success! But it came at a price...

My face was covered in crumbs and they were all stuck in my hair and eyelashes!

 Jeff and I get a little stumped trying to find something we want to do on the cruise ship when we have to fill a full day on board (you know, when we don't want to shop, gamble, or drink), but we make due with the occasional show, a game of mini golf, wandering around, lounging, etc. Of course, we'd rather be at port every day, but really, how can you complain about spending the day on a cruise ship!

The two of us spent another lovely and snuggly night watching a movie (Mr. Popper's Penguins) on the big screen on deck. We brought Jeff's old quillow (a blanket that has a little pocket sewn into the bottom that the blanket folds up into, turning it into a pillow - the pocket is also perfect for keeping your feet warm) from home specifically for these nights and it was oh so cozy. Everybody else wished they thought of that.

Floppy-eared puppy dog towel animal on our last night.

The next morning, we made our way off the ship and through customs smoothly and in record time! We were so excited to see Luke! And it was such a happy reunion. Luke was so excited to see us that he started jumping up and down and laughing and he gave us the biggest hugs! We love that boy!

What an awesome vacation with my sweet hubby! I have now been on 3 cruises (over the past 2 1/2 years) and I am officially hooked! Such an unbelievable price for so much fun and adventure in so many gorgeous places! I am spoiled, spoiled, spoiled! And I appreciate SO MUCH all of the people (hard-working husband, kind grandparents, etc.) that make it possible. It is really, really nice to get away, just me and my man every once in a while!