A view from the plane.
Sorry for any grammar errors but have to get this posted.
We finally made it on our cruise. It has taken my dad three times to book and then re-book. As they say third time is a charm.
Our cruise left on Sunday afternoon of February 10th. This made for a long day for all of us. For me it started with packing all day on Saturday in between running errands and getting the house clean. I always love coming home to a clean house, plus we had our good friend Steve house sitting for us. I was all done packing by 11:00pm. I was able to lay-down and try to get a couple hours of sleep. I then got up at 1:30am got showered and finished up the last bit of packing. We hit the road at 2:50am to meet at my dad’s house at 3:00. Since there were nine of us going down to the airport we had to take two different cars.
Forget the stroller this is more fun. Thanks Michelle S for loaning me the luggage. I know Sammy enjoyed it. lol
We got down to Seattle in good time got all check in. David took Ken over and got him on his plane to San Francisco for the week. Once we got out luggage we called our transportation…the limo we set off on our 30 min trip to the ship. Since my Dad and Karla were Carnival Cruise Club Members we got to go in the V.I.P. line to check into our rooms. Mind you this is all done on shore. Then we got the line up to eventually get on the ship. Thanks to Bob, Karla’s Dad found out that we didn’t need to stand in line with the common people. Yes the V.I.P. line had gone to my head. lol We were able to go right on the ship. Once on the ship we could not yet go to our rooms, they were still being prepared for us. We were instructed to go up to the Mermaid Lounge for so lunch. This was the beginning of our weeklong feast of good food. There was a saying on the boat…..Eat until your tired and sleep until our hungry. It was good food. They seem to have something to please everyone. There was pizza, Asian, sandwiches, fried foods, burgers and dogs. Then yummy desserts as well. After lunch we still had some time to wonder around the ship to check things out. There was a lot to see. Finally sometime after 1pm we were able to go to our rooms. Needless to say we all took a much-needed nap. With the exception of the kids us Adults only had about an hour maybe two of sleep the night before. I kept the curtain open so that we wouldn’t sleep for too long. After our naps our luggage arrived, so it was time to unpack. While David and Jordan did more ship exploring, Mandi and I worked on unpacking. It was then time to get ready for dinner.
Mandi getting out of our Limo
It is preferred by the ship that we get dressed up for dinners. They have two formal nights on the ship; the rest of the time is resort casual. They do not like to see shorts or jeans in the dinning rooms. Not that they would turn you away. I saw plenty of shorts. Our first night was a resort casual. We got cleaned up, changed and headed to dinner. Each night you get to choose a started, salad and a main course. I think Jordan had either steak or prime rib each night. She was in seventh heaven. I on the other had tried things that I would have never ordered in a regular restaurant. The nice thing about the cruise that if you didn’t like it you could order something else. It doesn’t cost extra.
After dinner we walked around the ship some more then headed back to our room. Jordan and Mandi were really tired so they decided to stay in for the night. Dad, Karla, Dave and I headed out for some fun. We went to the show that night. It was cute, but when Simon says on American Idol says you sounded very cruise ship…..I now understand. They did a good job with the shows, but they for sure are not going to be recording artist. Before the show they had a Trivia Game where David and I along with another women were playing against each other. David of course won….I let him. lol He prize was a trophy. They introduced it as a 24-karat plastic ship on a stick. I won a medal. After the show we ended up at the Karaoke bar, which is where you could find us just about every night. Karla and David did all the singing. Dad and I just sat back and cheered them on.
Karla showing her singing skills.
The next day they call it a fun day at sea. We got up had breakfast then look and the daily schedule. Jordan went to the kids club for a few hours. David and I went to I think Trivia game. Played that for a while then headed up to the upper deck where we watched the hairiest man competition. I tell you some of those guys were growing their own sweaters. It was fun to watch. After that Jordan wanted to go on the water slide and swimming. So I planted my rear on a lounge chair and soaked in the sun. I know tough life. That is when we found out that they fill the pool with salt water. We never did ask why? That night was much of the same. The girls went to bed and we went to Karaoke.
Tuesday was another fun day at sea. We did much of the same as the day before, but rather then hairy men they had a Fear Factor game. To which David was chosen. Sorry didn’t have the camera. He first had to dive into the pool and get as many golf balls off the bottom. The two people with the least got cut. Then they had to drink some sort of drink and eat a banana. They never did say what was in the drink. David said tasted like chicken fat with Thousand Island dressing and fruit juice mixed together. The two that won got to go on to the last round. David made it in by the skin of his teeth. It was then the two David’s competing for the Fear Factor Title. The other David was from WA too he was a big guy. I never thought Dave could beat him and Dave was thinking the same thing. They had to eat a huge slice of pepperoni pizza with an ice cream cone on the top. Dave said it wasn’t too bad. The ice cream gave him some liquid to help get the pizza down. At one point the crowd was chanting Dave! Dave! Dave! I must say my David kicked butt. Yes he won another ship on a stick. WOOHOO!!! That evening after dinner Jordan and I stayed in the room with Sammy, who sat and watch the entire movie of Toy Story her favorite. If you interrupt her at all or she starts to cry….Woody Woody!! After Sammy went to bed and Bob came back I headed out to find Dave and the gang at Karaoke. I know we are boring, but it was fun. Lol
Wednesday was our first shore time. We were at Puerto Vallarta. We left the ship about 7:30am and went on a jungle excursion. We took several stops for shopping and photo-opts. Then we got up into the “Jungle”. It wasn’t like the one that my dad and I went on 16 years ago. We ended up going on a hike. David and I were the only ones that went with the group. It had some rough terrain, but was a good hike. On the way back to the ship we stop at a tequila factory. David said it was the best he has every tasted…Karla too. We thought about buying a bottle, but it was $35.00 a bottle. Now we are kicking ourselves for not buying it. Thanks for Jordan for taking photo’s while we were there at least we know the name of the place. We got back the ship about 3:00pm and we all took a much-needed nap. It was hot that day, but still nice. After our nap it was time for dinner. None of us really wanted to get too dressed up. So we went very very resort casual. I think every one, but David and I crashed early that night. He and I wondered around the different areas watching things.
This is the name of the tequila that they loved. If you ever go we will give you the money to buy us a bottle.
The next day was Mazatlan. David, Jordan and I along with some friends we meet went crashed the resort Pueblo Bonito. Our friends where Travis and Anna, really nice couple we meet. They had a cabin next to ours; the bonus part is that they live in Arlington. Any way the resort we crashed is the one we went to two years ago for vacation. Where we had planned on going swimming, but is was a little cold for us adults. So we sat around and had a few drinks and nachos while Jordan went swimming in their pool. After swimming Jordan got her hair braided and we headed across the street to eat lunch and our favorite restaurant for a side of cow…..I mean steak. Then we walked down the street for some shopping before we caught a taxi back to the ship.
Our friends Travis and Anna sitting next to me. Have no idea who the other couple is.
Once we arrived to the terminal to get to the ship I noticed this rather hammered young girl. She had on a bikini on and the bottoms were rather low. I asked her if her parents were there? She said no her boyfriend was there. He didn’t look too with it himself. I leaned over and told her I was going to pull up her bathing suit. She then clung onto me. I ended up taking her back to the ship. Thank goodness she was skinny girl I would have never made it. I got her to the room laid down a bunch of towels on her bed and the floor. Then I got the trashcan and put it by her. Laid her down and it all started to come up. I had hope she learned her lesson. Drinking too much it not good or fun in the end. That night after dinner I got chosen to play survivor. I made it down to the final three, but got voted out. We didn’t have our camera, but I think Karla did.
Friday was our final shore stop was Cabo San Lucas. Bob took us to his time-share for the day. It was a beautiful resort right on the beach. We went swimming in a very cold pool then walked around on the beach. Bob treated us to lunch, and then it was back to the ship for us. We did do a little bit of shopping before we got back on the ship. Since David and I were not the least bit hungry for the 6pm dinner. We waited for the 8pm and eat with Travis and Anna and of course more Karaoke.
Then next day was our last fun day at sea. It was a bit rocky going home. They go a bit faster then they do going down. It wasn’t too bad. That day we chilled and just relaxed on our last day. That night we had our last formal night. We got all dressed up for dinner. After dinner we went back to change for the show. Then we headed to the theater to get good seats. We wanted front row because Travis was in the show. Part of Karaoke was they had try-outs for parts in the show. Some of the parts where Madonna, Garth Brooks and Ricky Martin, Travis got the Ricky Martin part. I think it was the best show of the week. Travis did an awesome job. At midnight they had a big huge buffet that had some incredible ice carvings and food creations. We walked up there to check it out. The food look awesome, but I was nowhere near hungry. We then hit the hay we had to be off the ship at 7ish.
The next morning we got off the ship and headed to the airport. Our plane didn’t leave until 7:45pm. Our plan was to try and get on the 1:30pm flight. It was a no go when we got there. Lucky for us they let us check in out 12 pieces of luggage, but we were way too early to get our boarding passes. So we headed over to the terminal where we could get some food and find a place to sit. Once we got there Bob and my dad decided we would take a little detour since we had soooooo much time on our hands. It was off to Disneyland for about five hours.
On our way into Disney
Mandi, David, Jordan and I waiting in line for the Indiana Jones ride.
Dave and Jordan on Jordan's favorite ride Thunder Mt.
Waiting in line for the Buzz Lightyear ride
I must say that when the day was over we were exhausted, but I tell you we had a blast. Jordan Mandi, David and I ran around the park and got on a couple of rides. Then we met up with Dad, Karla, Sammy and Bob. Hit a few more rides. Then the highlight of the day was Sammy got to meet Woody. She was a little scared of him, but you could tell she enjoyed it. It was cute to watch her. Then even cuter when he left and she kept look around calling Woody…..Woody.
We got back to Seattle and meet Ken got all loaded up. I think it was after midnight when we finally walked in our door. We had a wonderful, fabulous, fantastic vacation, but I must tell you that it felt so good to crawl back into my own bed. We all slept very very well that night. Thank you very MUCH!! Dad and Karla for providing us with another great vacation.
