Written by: Alisha
1.27.18 – Man, we just love to cruise. Thank you to my parents for the great opportunity to take another cruise. Sadly, Jeo stayed home to tend to other duties, but we were thinking about him the whole time and wishing he could be with us.
We had a plus one with us during this trip. Crishna joined us. This was her first cruise. We were very excited to be bring her with us. We left port from Long Beach, CA. We are fortunate to have the port not far from us. All we had to do was hop in the truck and make our way over.
My parents were on the cruise boat waiting for us to join them. We arrived in Long Beach a little earlier than expected (yes, yes, I was driving). The wait was well worth it though. The fun started the moment we stepped on the boat. Lunch was first on the menu. The kids found the stir fry and they were in heaven.
After lunch we played games Carnival set up for the guests while the rest of the guests were boarding. After the muster drill, it was time to leave. The excitement continues to build as we hear the horn and see the port police pull us out into the ocean. Dinner was delicious. We met a magician who came to us every night to show us a new trick. The kids, well, everyone looked forward to seeing him. Dinner was also the time to eat some rare foods. The kids and I have a tradition that we have to try the rare find each night. This will be the only time we get to eat some of these foods.
After dinner, it was time for the welcome aboard show. The cruise director was looking for a younger cruiser to help him. He picked Jade! (You have to watch the video which is grouped in with the pictures). I will tell you now, I could not stop laughing because of his responses to Jade. Make sure you find it and click on it to hear the sound.
1.28.18 – Our first sea day started with a brunch. Loved the omelets and the Fruit Loop French toast. After breakfast was over, it was time to have more fun playing games. We played the picture scavenger hunt. Our Fun Squad host told us Mario Lopez was on the cruise and would received extra credit if we found and took his picture. We had no idea but continued with our pictures. We get out on the pool deck and who do we see right in front of us, that’s right Mario Lopez. We won the scavenger hunt. Kids had a great time. It was formal night. Everyone dressed up and looked nice. I still don’t get how some of these guests can keep their dresses looking so nice when they are packed, but our family and guests looked very nice. During the day, guests were putting their cabin number inside of a balloon, blowing it up and placing it on a net. After dinner, the net was released and all the balloons came down. It was really neat to watch. The cruise director picked a balloon and if the guest was present, they won a bag of goodies. After a couple attempts, our cabin number was called. We won a tote bag, robe, champaign, candy, a ship on a stick and a couple pieces of jewelry.
1.29.18 – Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It was hot, but that didn’t prevent us from having fun. The water was so blue, the view was awesome, so of course, we had to take pictures. We were even able to get a couple shots of some whales. It was awesome! We boarded the tug boat and the excitement continued to rise. The older kids were looking forward to some tequila tasting…only in Mexico. One store was very nice to explain the differences and let us sample. They had fun. We ran into our old neighbor who moved to Cabo San Lucas. Small world. We were walking down the street when we see his truck pull up. We had to take a picture and couldn’t wait to tell Jeo who we saw. The older kids hung out at a restaurant while Jade and I went stopping.
1.30.18 – Mazatlan, Mexico. Grandma didn’t go with us as she had already seen it and we were not doing any sight-seeing. Grandpa went with Demario, Jade, and I. There wasn’t much to see in Mazatlan. In addition to the experience of saying we were there, we were on the search for a local mall to purchase a belt for Jeo. Very different atmosphere than what we were used to. Taxis tried to over charge us, but with a little negotiating, we were off to the mall. Of course, while we were on our way, the taxi driver trying to get more money out of us. I don’t think so. He did take us places we didn’t request so I took the opportunity to take pictures. Surprisingly, the mall was very clean and nice. You wouldn’t know it by the view on the way there. Once back from the mall and close to the cruise boat, Grandpa went to the boat to get Grandma and we stayed in the shops. Back on the boat we came across Mario Lopez. I asked if we could take a picture and he said yes. Of course, the whole gang joined me. Taking a selfie with a bunch of people is not an easy task, but we managed. Before the boat left, we took more pictures. Back on the boat, we played games. It was also time for Jade to redeem her coupon for the Build A Bear. We arrive and the kids are looking around getting excited to build their bears. Jade sees a turtle build a bear and her heart just melted. It was love at first sight. She picked out the clothes and help add the stuffing. After being stitched up, he was ready to join the family. She named him Turtle. He was excited to be in Jade’s arms. Can you see that big smile on his face? The night show, Grandpa volunteered to go on stage. He sure was having a good time…always a kid at heart.
1.31.18 – Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. This was another port where there wasn’t much to see…at least close to the cruise ship. The older kids walked to the mall nearby the boat and did some shopping there. I had received a coupon for a free shuttle to the jewelry store so we used it to get into town. The weather wasn’t cold but comfortable for some and a tad warm for others, however, there wasn’t much sun making it tolerable to walk around. The kids were not as patient to do a lot of walking and we were looking for a couple stores in particular. I stayed with the kids at the beach while Grandma and Grandpa walked to see if the stores were anywhere near. We took a taxi back to the boat after we did our shopping in town. During the evening show, it was the Hasbro game show. Diego was chosen to play Simon. He did a great job. He didn’t win the grand prize, but he had fun and did receive a prize just for playing.
2.1.18 – Sea day. We participated in a game, boys versus girls. The Fun Squad would tell us a sentence and as a group we would act it out. Girls definitely did not do as well as the boys, but was still a lot of fun. Another “game” played was dropping a raw egg off the 3rd floor of the boat trying to keep it from cracking. How it worked was we were able to use anything we could find to protect the egg. The cruise director was on the 1st floor to see if the egg cracked. No reward was given, but was fun to see the different ways people tried to protect their egg. Diego used two pillows secured with his belt. I used a whole roll of toilet paper. Jade wrapped hers in a towel and put it in as ice cream cone carton. Demario used a towel animal. Grandma tricked everyone and used a hard boiled egg. Yes, she found a hard boiled egg. Grandpa blew up some small balloons to protect his egg. Today was also the last formal night for this cruise.
2.2.18 – Sea day. Last day on the sea. We found more games to play. It is great to see the kids having fun and just enjoying everything. Our last dinner on the boat. We said good-bye to our servers. Jade had fun dancing with them and watching them dancing. Each night, except 2, the night show had dancing and music. After the show, Jade got to meet some of the dancers and take a picture with them. It was a great ending to a great week.
2.3.18 – Home. We were one of the first off the boat. We meet Jeo outside of the port. The morning we get off the boat is always tough. No sleep the night before trying to get all the fun in and getting up early to get off.
A special thank you again to Mom and Dad (Grandma and Grandpa). Love you.
