My first day
I was able to leave on Friday, January 31st to fly to Vegas to be with Todd for a day before we actually left for the cruise. It was nice just to be together and get a feel for where we will be living.My sister Lacey and her husband Brad flew into Vegas Saturday night and stayed with us. We left bright and early Sunday morning and drove to Long Beach CA. There we met up with the rest of my family. It was a lot of waiting around while the guys returned rental cars and we checked in. Finally we got on the ship and it was HUGE!
We went to our rooms to drop of some of our stuff and see what they were like. We had a view of the Promenade which was pretty cool. Only down side was that you could see into other peoples rooms and sometimes saw things you'd rather not. We were sure to close our curtains most of the time.
Once we'd seen our rooms we headed to the buffet to eat. There was SO much food. I was expecting good things from the food from all the things I'd heard about cruises but I wasn't overly impressed, not bad but not fabulous.
Brent, Brad, back of Ang and LaceyOnce we had our fill we headed out to explore the ship and see what there was. This thing was huge! An ice skating rink, a movie theater, a theater for the live shows, a dance club, pools, hot tubs, a spa, game room, and a mini golf course.
Dan, Dad, Jenni, & Mom
We found the dining room where we would be going each night for dinner, it was enormous!
This is our table
We had the VanTraps right in front of our table. The staircase was beautiful.
There was a welcome aboard show that night that we went to and for the most part the entertainment was pretty good but the ships dancers and singers were not so good, like you'd cringe when they came on stage.
It was an overwhelming first day, a lot to take in, but so fun to see it all.
Dan, Dad, Jenni, & MomWe found the dining room where we would be going each night for dinner, it was enormous!
This is our table
We had the VanTraps right in front of our table. The staircase was beautiful.There was a welcome aboard show that night that we went to and for the most part the entertainment was pretty good but the ships dancers and singers were not so good, like you'd cringe when they came on stage.
It was an overwhelming first day, a lot to take in, but so fun to see it all.
Second day on the ship
The second day was all day at sea. We tried to meet up for meals and to do something together. This day we played miniature golf. It was kind of windy and a little cold but still fun to be playing golf and look out to see the ocean stretch on forever. I miss that.
Dan, Mom, Aaron, Court
Dan, Aaron, Todd
Court & Aaron
Jenni
They also had a sports court up here where there was basketball & volleyball. They also had ping pong tables out but they were almost always occupied by the teens on board.
The rest of the day was spent lounging around and playing games. We'd bump into one another randomly and see what each other was up to and hang out. Unfortunately this wasn't a sit by the pool and drink Pina Colada's kinda cruise, the weather just wasn't cooperating. I did drink my fare share of Pina Colada's though, yum! (virgin of course)
Dinners each night were great, it felt like we were going out on a date every night. Twice there were formal evening where I got to really dress up. Our head waiter, Toar, was great as was the side waiter Mahar. They made dinner worth coming to, not that the food was horrible, it was actually really good most of the time.
Dan, our head waiter Toar, and Jenni
Third day on the ship
Dan, Mom, Aaron, Court
Dan, Aaron, Todd
Court & Aaron
JenniThey also had a sports court up here where there was basketball & volleyball. They also had ping pong tables out but they were almost always occupied by the teens on board.
The rest of the day was spent lounging around and playing games. We'd bump into one another randomly and see what each other was up to and hang out. Unfortunately this wasn't a sit by the pool and drink Pina Colada's kinda cruise, the weather just wasn't cooperating. I did drink my fare share of Pina Colada's though, yum! (virgin of course)
Dinners each night were great, it felt like we were going out on a date every night. Twice there were formal evening where I got to really dress up. Our head waiter, Toar, was great as was the side waiter Mahar. They made dinner worth coming to, not that the food was horrible, it was actually really good most of the time.
Dan, our head waiter Toar, and JenniThird day on the ship
We were in Cobo on our third day and I have to say this was my favorite stop. The town was clean and cute. The beaches were beautiful and the water was clear and blue. Gorgeous!
Mom, Dad, Dan, & Jenni
Part of the fun was bartering prices on the souvenires we wanted. I wasn't very good at it.
Lacey, Brent, & Todd
Dan, Aaron, Lacey, Brad, Court, Ang, Brent Jenni, Mom, & Dad
One of the many Pirate ships we saw on our cruise.
Most of the day was spent in port. When we got back we cleaned up and headed down for dinner. Each night there was some sort of show after dinner and since we ate so late each night and always went to the late show we usually headed back to our rooms to crash. Not much to do that late anyway. The casino or the clubs/bars were really the only thing going on.
Day Four on the ship
Mom, Dad, Dan, & JenniPart of the fun was bartering prices on the souvenires we wanted. I wasn't very good at it.
Lacey, Brent, & Todd
Dan, Aaron, Lacey, Brad, Court, Ang, Brent Jenni, Mom, & DadThis is where we parked it for the afternoon and hung out, beautiful!!
One of the many Pirate ships we saw on our cruise.Most of the day was spent in port. When we got back we cleaned up and headed down for dinner. Each night there was some sort of show after dinner and since we ate so late each night and always went to the late show we usually headed back to our rooms to crash. Not much to do that late anyway. The casino or the clubs/bars were really the only thing going on.
Day Four on the ship
Day four we were in Mazetlan. I'll say that this was my least favorite stop. The beaches were dirty and the water not clear at all. We walked a ways down the beach to a hotel and lounged on the beach for a while then headed up to the pool.
Much like the day before we headed back to the ship for dinner and a show.
Day Five on the ship
Day five was Puerto Vallarta. This was a beautiful city and Todd's favorite stop. Most of the group decided to go on an excursion so they headed out early that morning to get going. Todd and I and my parents decided just to do our own thing and head in later that morning. We weren't sure what to do or where do go so we got talking with this guy at the information spot and in the end we were all going on a tour of the city in a small cab with our very knowledgeable but very limited English speaking cab driver. We got some beautiful pictures of the area.
This was the board walk on the beach, loved it.
We went and saw some of the rain forest they also had a zip line here but we didn't have the time to do the whole zip line run.
I couldn't get over how huge the palm fronds and banana leaves were.
They had lots of sand sculptures on the beach as well. Pretty cool.
Todd and my parents and I got back to the boat around 2pm so we had some time to kill before everyone else got back. We found the shuffle board deck and played a few games and enjoyed the nice weather while we could.
Day Six & Seven on the ship
This was the board walk on the beach, loved it.
We went and saw some of the rain forest they also had a zip line here but we didn't have the time to do the whole zip line run.
I couldn't get over how huge the palm fronds and banana leaves were.
They had lots of sand sculptures on the beach as well. Pretty cool.Todd and my parents and I got back to the boat around 2pm so we had some time to kill before everyone else got back. We found the shuffle board deck and played a few games and enjoyed the nice weather while we could.
Day Six & Seven on the ship
The next two days were spent on board headed back to Long Beach. We played more games together and ate a ton!
Lacey, Brent, & Angela
Brent trying out his new camera
Todd and I tried out the club but when we went down they were playing the YMCA so we left.
This was the club, the Dragon's Lair. We knew the boys would love the dragons.
We watched Aaron sing Kareoke as well as some others and had a great time laughing. It was so fun to spend time with my brothers and sisters and their spouses, I love being with them and to not have to worry about kids and everything that comes with them was heaven.
All of us waiting for our departure time.
It was a fun cruise and I would do it again but maybe not to Mexico. After talking to others that have gone on cruises they said that they'd never had that many consecutive days on the ship before. That was one of the down sides so much time trying to keep ourselves entertained. If it had been spread out between ports that might have helped. But it was wonderful to be with Todd for a whole week with out kids.
A HUGE thank you again to my amazing friends and neighbors who watched my kids so that I could go.
Lacey, Brent, & Angela
Brent trying out his new cameraTodd and I tried out the club but when we went down they were playing the YMCA so we left.
This was the club, the Dragon's Lair. We knew the boys would love the dragons.
We watched Aaron sing Kareoke as well as some others and had a great time laughing. It was so fun to spend time with my brothers and sisters and their spouses, I love being with them and to not have to worry about kids and everything that comes with them was heaven.
All of us waiting for our departure time.It was a fun cruise and I would do it again but maybe not to Mexico. After talking to others that have gone on cruises they said that they'd never had that many consecutive days on the ship before. That was one of the down sides so much time trying to keep ourselves entertained. If it had been spread out between ports that might have helped. But it was wonderful to be with Todd for a whole week with out kids.
A HUGE thank you again to my amazing friends and neighbors who watched my kids so that I could go.
