Bon Voyage ~ The ship part 2

The first day, Saturday and Sunday we enjoyed some much needed leisure time...no wondering where Tate has run off too or what he just put in his mouth. No telling Kai to stop kicking and hitting his brother for the 3rd time this hour. We just laid on the deck with our books, read, ate lots of junk and got sunburned. What a blast!!!
As I mentioned there was food everywhere, even after meal times the pool has a deck with a buffet going most of the time. It was only closed during dinner hours.

The evening meals were really special. It is not necessary to eat at the dining area every night because there is always food to be found. Our idea of eating out at a nice restaurant is a little hole in the wall Mexican place and PF chang's, so we were not going to miss this opportunity to eat in a nice dining area, with amazing gourmet meals and be waited on hand and foot! Your every wish is the waiter's command...well just about.
If you order steak but you want a different side they bring you the steak with the sides it is served with plus the extra side. If you want to order the steak and chicken plate they bring you both with all the sides....if you want to try 4 appetizers Go for it! They bring it all! And you can imagine....dessert....try one of each! We didn't go that far, and besides by the second night we had discovered heaven on earth.
A small bowl of dessert which looked quite innocent. The top was a chocolate cake, with a small sprinkling of powered sugar. But when your spoon broke through the top you discover the need for self control ..and working out!!! HAHA The inside was a melted rich dark chocolate that I could not even begin to give justice to with my words. So if you dare, go on a cruise and order it! WARNING go on your diet several months before the trip....
Sunday was formal night. Dinner is served in a nice dining room with china and nice glassware. Cloth napkins and waiters wearing tuxedo's. The lights are dim giving an atmosphere of romance but not so dark you can't visit and enjoy the other dinner guests. Each table is assigned certain guests, we were with a couple that only came twice so we really ended up by ourselves. Either way we did not mind. It would have been a blast to go with a few friends....you know who you are!!! For formal night my sister had prepared me, having gone on 2 cruises before us. She loaned me a beautiful formal dress, it was black trimmed in pink. The train was long, had tiny straps and beautiful pink embroidered flowers down the train. I was so excited to get dressed up. We never have the opportunity to get dressy so I was really excited about my chance. But because of my foolishness that day and my choice of bathing suit, I had a very red v-neck sun burn on my chest that I was too embarrassed to let people see.....so I went with another option, cute but nothing as formal as I had planned. It was disappointing but definitely did not ruin the trip. That evening was lobster night...a meal David had been much looking forward too. He ordered two! I couldn't even get through one...new discovery.... not my favorite food.

After dinner at 8:00 we changed from our fancy duds to our bathing suits and went to the hot tubs. We loved being on a boat where everything is right there. Usually on vacation you spend so much time getting ready and going out that you get back to the room and just want to watch tv or veg....since everything is right there we enjoyed the hot tub for a little while got out and froze due to the wind...and then changed and enjoyed an evening show...can't remember much about the show but I was not impressed. I enjoyed the comedians and the cruise director was hilarious! But in my opinion teh show was not worth the time...just a personal opinion.

Well that was day 1 and 2... Stay tuned, DAY 3 was my favorite day! Although the 4th day was when I captured my FAVORITE picture of the entire trip....I guess you will just have to keep coming back to see what made it the best for me! I hope that peeks your interest!





Look at my red face.....well you should have seen me 2 days after the cruise my tan was great! But of course it is long gone now!

Formal Night, we are in the front of the dining area.

Bon Voyage ~ Part 1 The ship, first day at sea

I know I know it is about time, it is almost the end of the year and I am just now getting the cruise posted! Quick recap, I will try to be quick you know how I can be long winded.........

David starting planning a cruise last year for our 10th anniversary...only it was really our 9th oops. It just so happens my birthday is 3 days before the big day...the BIG hahaha 29! We also paid off our car last year, and our small mortgage this year!!! HIP HIP HOORAY HIP HIP HOORAY...Thank you Lord for providing, strength, determination, Dave Ramsey for a great plan, and David and I for working our butts off!!!! He worked as many extra things as possible as did I...nursery 2 days a week for awhile and watching a little girl 3 days a week. WE DID IT!!! So time to celebrate!

Since Ike pretty much destroyed our port the weekend before we were to depart we were a little nervous about the plans. Carnival kept telling us they were hoping it would be re-opened I thought ..."Are you insane?!?!" They just got wiped out by a massive storm! But you know how those business' run...money money money! The Wednesday before we were to leave we found out we would leave from a new destination, and thankfully it was not New Orleans as feared. It was a new port located in Pasadena right outside of the city. And we were still leaving Saturday morning.
I was SO excited as you can imagine....it was not only my first time on a cruise but our first trip together, by ourselves outside of our very short honeymoon, 9 years and 4 boys ago!!! YIPPPEEEEEE!!!! Plus I had some really cute new clothes and bathing suits I was dying to wear...LOL!!!!
Again I will go in segments because I am just a writer, and I want to give details! Too many fun things to share...so bear with me, in a few days you will get the entire trip!

We arrive at the ship around 12:00, after the confusing directions and turning around once, we finally found it. It was HUGE!!! We got out and a man took our luggage, labeled it and had it at our room later. We had a few "details" before we could board. Line for security, line for payment methods and more security as well as paperwork. This was the last year a passport is not required, we were able to use a birth certificate with DL as ID. I was born in Germany, so I never take my original with me because if I were to lose it I am afraid what the process is to get a new one....probably not as hard as I imagine it. But it said on the website that a copy would suffice. So that is what I took, not aware of teh serious issues that can cause....! When we were going through our paperwork the man told me that if I were to miss the ship on an excursion I would be detained in Mexico for weeks. and he said...."So just make sure you are not late." Hey thanks for that...I feel really comfortable and safe and no I am not scared at all....WHAT??????????????????????? Are you kidding me....Apparently not! It sure left me with warm fuzzy feelings for the very beginning of my first cruise ever.....Actually no, I don't think that was warm and fuzzy it was downright FREAKED OUT...LOL....No I am just kidding, if any of you really know me that is not my personality. Actually I wasn't scared at all...but I also made sure I was always early!

Once on the boat we didn''t have much time to explore and boy was I dying to begin work on my tan....so overdue! And for your info I really can tan! I have pictures...!!! But we were immediately taken to a room...yes inside, no sun!!!....to be given a "short" (not sure of their definition of short) run down of safety procedures in case of Emergency. Once done we could leave the port.

And we are off! The sky by this time is covered in clouds no sun to be seen! I was really disappointed because there is nothing better than a beautiful, crisp sunny day! But we managed to enjoy our time anyway. We played some miniature golf....which is quite a fete on a moving ship on the top level where the wind blows 30 MPH..or so. But it was fun and it gave me an excuse to lose...!

The food...Oh the food!!!! Everywhere, all the time, plenty of it and we didn't have to pay for any of it...of course we already did, but no other vacation can you eat that much for so little. Really I am surprised we didn't come by twice our original sizes. No we tripled...Just kidding, David gained 5lbs and it is not polite to ask a lady that question! Besides I did not weigh myself, for good reason.

Our stateroom (isn't that word exquisite..sounds like we were special...really we weren't we didn't even have a window!)

Toddlers pool

The great pool with awesome slide, that was open only one day of our voyage...it was what David looked forward to for a year, and said it was going to be his first thing on board!

Here we are looking our best!!! LOL

Here I am totally smoking him at ping pong....actually I am horrible, I lost EVERY game!

These adorable creatures were a highlight of my day! Each night when we arrived to our room after dinner, or a show, our room was cleaned and we were left with a new adorable animal made from towels! The dog, elephant, ???? and my personal favorite was the monkey that was actually hanging off of a shelf, and like a goober I forgot to get a picture.

Putt putt at sunset! It was really a beautiful light blue! Like nothing you see in Houston!