Cruise News

As many of you know, our family just got back from a cruise vacation! We had so much fun and it was hard to come back to reality. And rain. So much RAIN.

We left on Friday afterschool and headed down to Galveston. We stayed in a hotel that night and woke up the next morning to head down to the ship. We got there super early (before they would let us on) so we did some shopping in Galveston. We came to the conclusion that being early is overrated and vowed to never let it happen again. wink.

I forgot to mention that we went with some of our good friends, the Osborns! They are the kind of friends that can make standing in the line to board the ship for an hour and a half fun...and they did. We laughed the entire cruise!

For those of you who have never been on a cruise, let me break it down to you this way....it is not really a relaxing vacation (unless maybe you are without kids), it is a FUN vacation! There is a party atmosphere. There is stuff planned to do all of the time. Of course, you dont have to do it, but we didn't want to miss out on anything! We did dance classes, towel animal classes, went to shows, went to karaoke (several times, it is one of the funniest parts of the night!), created a build a bear, played bingo, shopped, swam, danced, ATE!! OMG, the eating! There is so much good food all of the time! Any time of day! The kids had ice cream after breakfast, lunch and dinner. everyday. You can give me my mother of the year trophy later.

The staff deserves a paragraph too. They are all from different countries but speak a little English. They are friendly and funny and we fell in love with several of them and wanted to bring them home with us. Our waiter, Arnel, was from the Philippines. He showed the kids tricks every night and entertained them the entire meal (dinner is more formal and can last for two hours...they do a little show during every dinner). Did I mention that the food was great? The kids, and Michael, ate escargot (yes, even Trinity!) and ribs and lamb....and every meal had a vegetarian dish for me to chose from. I could go on and on about the food.....

And then, of course, there was Mexico! We stopped first in Progresso. It is a new stop for the cruise line so it isn't as built up and nice as some of the other cities but it was definitely an experience. We shopped a little, the prices were dirt cheap. And then we hung out at the beach. The girls and the dads got massages on the beach-45 minutes for $10!! You cant beat that. Late afternoon, we got back on the ship.

The next morning, we woke up in Cozumel, Mexico. It was BEAUTIFUL! The water is crystal clear and the weather was perfect. Michael had planned ahead and reserved us all spots at a private resort there. It was located on a private reef which was awesome for Scuba and Snorkeling. We were treated like celebrities and waited on hand and foot. They served us drinks all day and lunch while we swam and laid on the beach.

Now, the cruise ship does offer trips ("excursions") but we chose not to use any of their tours. Everyone had told us that they were overpriced and not very good. I am so glad that we went on our own and I would definitely recommend planning your own excursions.

We had a blast and would love to do it again, maybe you all will join us next time?!

Christian made a video with some of the pics from the trip, most of them are raw and unedited but he was excited to make it and I was busy( I took over 575 pictures and did not have time to go through them all)! I think it turned out cute and funny....