We arrived at the port and looked at the massive pile of luggage that we were taking onboard. Where I can go for eleven days to Europe with a bag that will fit in the overhead compartment, I've found that it is apparently dangerous for me to be given free rein with a big bag. I packed enough clothes for a week, and then had a carry on with everything I had forgotten but needed to shove in there and another small bag.
Five day cruise. Not thirty.
Granted, I had a full size container of Lysol wipes, a huge can of Lysol spray, full size shampoo and conditioner (WHY? WHY?), two kinds of lotion, things I might need, a first aid kit, two cans of sunscreen, bingo markers for everyone, enough underwear to last for two weeks and what amounted to every wearable piece of clothing I own in case I needed it and five pairs of shoes.
What was not included was a bathing suit, shorts, the top to my pajamas, and AA batteries. But whatever. I spent so much time trying to get everything that the experienced cruisers told us we might need that I most assuredly overpacked. Rookie mistake.
We arrived in Mobile, where getting on the ship is more organized than I'd imagined, and then we went up and around, and here and there, and then finally took a walk up a ramp to get onboard. Everyone was feeling excited and a little bit ready to see how it was all going to look once we got there. Brochures or photos online can only do so much.
We arrived at our midship cabin near an elevator (sadly, not the one we really needed to be by but all together. We unpacked, and then began to explore just a bit. Found the Lido Deck for lunch and began to get our bearings. We then pulled away from the dock and were off on our adventure.
Bear in mind that in my opinion...the adventure was everyone getting along and having a good time for five days. Even sightseeing in Progreso or Cozumel couldn't tempt me. But then again, that's because I didn't want to pay 25% of the entire cruise amount for one outing. Even if the tour of the chocolate factory was awesome. Even if there were adventures to be had that I missed beyond the shops on the pier. To me, the real adventure was learning how to cruise.
And learning how to sleep on a bed that was a wee bit small for me and remembering to step up when I went into the bathroom. Learning how to find anything on the boat without getting hopelessly lost. Understanding that since steps are not my friend right now, patience at the elevators was a must. That taking breaks for naps with Brooklyn meant that I would have some downtime that I honestly needed more than I knew. That my goals of enjoying bingo would be seriously curtailed when I realized how much those games cost to play.
The food was fine and there were plenty of healthy options. Not that the burger I ate on Day 2 would be considered "healthy" by any stretch of the imagination. But we ate at different places every time and I even enjoyed tea twice while we were out to sea. Nights were spent together dining in the main dining area - but due to the fact that we were a bit late signing up for the cruise - we ended up in "choose your own dining" - which meant we ended up sitting somewhere different each night with different wait staff. Some were better than others. All tried to give us a good experience.
We were on a Carnival cruise - and their specialty was the chocolate melting cake with a side of ice cream. I believe that each of us had it at least once. There was enough variety, though, to not want to repeat dinners too often. One night, they offered us escargot. Probably my favorite thing that I had on the ship.
The weather was in the 80's, so Big Dave and Brecksyn went down the big water slide a number of times, and we spent a lot of time out by the pool deck people watching and listening to the activities. Dean entered the "Hairy Chest Contest" and made it to the second round. He wasn't all into "breaking it down" as much as one guy so he took his participation medal along with a few others and then we sat and watched the two finalists get dressed up as women and start conga lines. There are sometimes upsides to not being crowned the victor.
The best parts of the trip were sitting around together doing absolutely nothing...although Brecksyn and I did play bingo once and blew $60 in what amounted to fifteen minutes. Um, no. I didn't really venture into the casino other than to walk through it to get to trivia - but the guys did. Both of them were fixated on a "claw' game in there and I'm fairly certain that one came away down a little and the other came back ahead a bit. Nobody won a jackpot or free cruise or anything, although Dean was there when some guy described as a "huge redneck" won $8,888 in a slot machine. Good for him.
Speaking of trivia, I went down and found a group and they were very kind. I offered up a few correct answers and made myself a part of their team. When we won, I got the participation medal. It was very unexpected but nice of them. It wasn't the "ship on a stick" trophy that was also offered intermittently, but it was fun. And will probably be fun to hold onto until I find a teacher who needs an award to hang on her bulletin board or something. It did, however, make me feel really nice for fifteen minutes while I wore it feeling really, really smart.
We did a couple of comedy club visits...and due to my early bedtime...we were at the "clean" version. Both were extremely different and yet hilarious. We did not get picked on at either although we were a little afraid we would be due to our close proximity to the stage. It was good to laugh...and other than the singers in the atrium or in the bar as we passed to go to the comedy show...we didn't see any shows. It was fine. Folks, I was in bed before 10 most nights because that is how I roll. But I was up at 6 to welcome room service with my bagel and carafe of coffee.
I truly adore room service. Especially when it is free.
It was an interesting group of people on board the ship - folks from all walks of life - and in all shapes and sizes. I'm not judging, but it was a slice of life that ranged from average to truly "what the ?" If you really want to feel good about yourself...get out there sometime. Just quit judging yourself and be grateful that all you have is Problem X or Problem Y. I had fun getting to know a few random people that I kept running into like the woman and her completely silent husband from Michigan who knew all of the words from AC/DC's "Shook Me All Night Long" and sang them on the Lido Deck. Or the lady with the purple hair and the walker who was super fun to talk to. Or the man in a wheelchair and his wife who were conversing with me during lunchtime one day. We had conversations with people from every country you can imagine and some I'd forgotten existed.
And every single one of them was enamored with Brooklyn Jean Bolden.
I met some ladies that I did "tea" with both times because I was hanging out lost by the elevator (not an unusual occurrence) and they asked me where I was trying to go. They didn't know about the tea, and so they decided to join me. Big Dave felt bad thinking I'd be up there alone, so he joined us just to chat the first time. All I'm going to say is that I have now had enough cucumber sandwiches to last me awhile and that I've finally truly had a tea where I've had my fill. It was glorious.
The "having of one's fill" is also something that happens about day 3 of the cruise. I suppose it is the portion controlled dinners that made it possible for me to see how much better it is when I'm not being presented with so much food that I cannot possibly eat it all. We are in the habit of taking food home, so it was a little weird to see a smaller portion. But it was actually quite perfect. They have that down, by the way. I was given enough and maybe a tad over. But not enough to gorge myself on or to leave the table feeling miserable. I spent the last two days eating a whole lot less than I did the previous three, and I came home not really interested in eating anything at all. I'm sure that will pass. But it was a great lesson to learn. And so far...it has stuck.
We had two stops at Progreso (Yucatan) and Cozumel. We planned no excursions. The truth is that it was just too difficult with a party of 7. We got off the boat at both ports and spent time at a duty-free shop at Progreso and a shopping area at Cozumel. At the latter, there were two or three other cruise ships there that day, and we had a lovely light lunch at a place called Pancho's Backyard. We bought souvenirs and tee shirts (Big Dave) and just had a good time.
The trip was not without its little bit of drama, however. Our cabins were extremely warm for the first two nights...something that took going through housekeeping to guest services to finally resolve. It is hard enough for me to sleep at 68 degrees in the house...78 is something different entirely. We ended up with two Carnival bathrobes, Jill and Dean received free internet, two steakhouse meals and a bottle of wine. Brian and Brecksyn received two steakhouse meals and a bottle of wine as well as a discount on her spa visit. Once we resolved the temperature in the cabin, the boat ran into some rough seas for two days. The first day wasn't so bad heading into Cozumel, and we were delighted that the weather was fine for us to go ashore. But at dinner that night, the captain came on to announce that we were going to be in choppy seas through the next day. He wasn't kidding. You know it is bad when barf bags suddenly appear in the receptacle by the elevator. We spent the last sea day rolling around and basically doing nothing but resting. Brooklyn was the only one who got sick and it was one and done, bless her heart.
I'll admit to still feeling that rolling just a bit even as I write this two days after getting off the ship.
Towanda only made a couple of appearances...the most notable calling out the family who broke in line to get on the elevator when we'd been standing there. Naturally, we ended up back in line beside them as we were getting off the boat. Bunch of jerks. She also was a bit insistent in guest services since being nice that morning had netted nothing being done by that afternoon.
But all in all, it was a wonderful time. The trip was reasonable, I had towel animals on my bed every day. I went to learn how to do it at a seminar they had and did one and was lost at the other. I now own the book, and Brian's only fear is that he'll come home to find one on his bed every time. I'm sure that there are worse things that could happen. And probably will.
Jill turned 28 on this cruise...something that we were able to celebrate as a family. They gave her a gift certificate to the spa, two pieces of cake, and we had a cake sent to her room. She had a really lovely birthday and I hope felt as special as she is to us.
I'd highly recommend taking this cruise if you want some family time that is within reason cost-wise and will give you plenty to do and eat and drink and see. I hope we can do another one sometime soon...and have every intention of keeping my eyes open for good deals down the road. You never know...I may just get to swim with the dolphins someday.
On an excursion...although of late there are a number of people taking unauthorized dives into the ocean. Mercy.
Thank you for reading about our little "adventure." Can't wait until the next one. :)
Monday, January 29, 2018
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Family Vacation - Part I
First post in a very long time, and it will be in two parts, but I wanted to keep this recap in a more permanent form. I have yet to figure out how to add photos, but I'm not going to worry about that right yet. There's time to add those somewhere down the line. Maybe. Possibly.
The family vacation is something that has been immortalized in Chevy Chase's "Vacation" movies, something that occurs with frequent regularity in many families if the crowds I see at the northwest Florida beaches which are crammed full of tourists is to be believed. Likewise for every tourist site in other places I've visited such as London, Paris, and New York. I witnessed crowds in Highlands, North Carolina when my folks lived there every Labor Day Weekend, and we won't even get into what Orlando looked like last year when Big Dave and I finally said "yes" to the Hilton people who wanted to give us three nights for $99 if we would sit through an hour and a half time share presentation. Knowing he was the "King of NO" after the weddings...I knew we'd be okay. What I didn't know is that they'd sell our name as a form of punishment to other sites who wanted to give us like trips to see if they could do better and crack the nut of our resolve.
Hilton has been contacted by Towanda on two occasions for that breach of confidence. They deny it vehemently, but I'm not buying it. Or their time-share either. I did, however, enjoy the three nights there, getting to see Epcot after all of these years, and a particularly fun afternoon involving margaritas and tiki glasses in a restaurant. We still have those glasses, by the way.
Family vacations are unique - like fingerprints. Some families have a second home that they visit on the weekends. Everyone gathers there and spends time as a group. These folks may occasionally plan something different, but they spend a lot of family time together at the lake or beach. We've been blessed to be invited a number of times to join people and have had the best time.
Others might have a trip that they take each year to Disney World or to a condo somewhere at the northwest Florida beaches. Some families like to go camping, or to do something educational, or just take off to visit family that lives too far away to see on the spur of the moment.
My family vacations have traditionally been to visit family. It might involve something fun at the other end or along the way, but it is primarily a long car trip. We load up, pack a cooler of snacks, try not to lose our minds, and arrive somewhere that is normally not a hotel but someone's guest room or fold out couch. This has been the pattern of my vacations throughout my childhood and into early adulthood. I'm grateful for this time...day trips to Disney...some time at St. Simons Island when I was ten...but for the most part the family vacation involved family and more family. I honestly believe that it was those days of being in my Uncle Jimmy's pool that made me want one so badly in my own backyard when we built our home out here. It has brought me such joy to watch my children, their friends, and my niece and nephew enjoy it all of those years. All that is missing is Aunt Lorraine's Charles Chips tins with potato chips and chocolate chip cookies in them that we ate for snacks.
In 1986, my folks, sister, and Big Dave and I went on a family vacation. We did some touristy things. Ate well. Enjoyed each other's company. Until one got seriously sunburned and the fun turned to trying to get him comfortable. Fast forward to 2006 to another family vacation. This time, a group of us went out to conquer London and Paris. Three days of rain, fractured nerves and exhaustion provided a perfect storm to match the rain that was messing up our (read: my) carefully laid out plans. I've written extensively about this trip by day...so I'm going to just let that sit right there and keep on going...other than to say that once we got to Paris...things got easier...and I'll never forget hearing the news that Linda was expecting Tara standing by the Arc d'Triomphe as traffic buzzed around us.
This year, Big Dave and I were floating around the pool one lazy afternoon trying to come to grips with the fact that we'd survived two weddings and a wonderful but exhausting foray into the world of grandparenting. Our kids have lived independently since 2008 for Jill and 2013 for Brian and we've long come to grips with the "empty nest." There are some things about this that are absolutely wonderful and we've adjusted to very well. However, several years have gone by and we are trying so diligently to spend whatever scraps of time we have that often find someone or other in the midst of something that is making them tired or frustrated or schedules have conflicted to such a degree that it has proven impossible to get everyone corralled and happy for any period of time beyond 48 hours.
Basically, life has intervened. That happens. And now our family is growing. Brooklyn has a schedule. We know not if there will be other grandchildren to consider in the coming years. We all have different work schedules and more to work around. And since we don't have a beach house or a lake house...we wanted to figure out something that we could all do that would be fun for everyone and not break the bank.
Floating around on the water in the pool that we don't get in nearly as much as we should, we discussed the possibility of paying for a vacation that we could all enjoy. But there would be limitations. Things we'd need to work around. Different ages and interests. Cost of entertaining that many for that long. Different goals for vacation time. It was a big discussion...but very enlightening.
We discovered that all vacations can be broken down into one of four categories. There is the family vacation...where you spend all of your time visiting family. The relaxing vacation...where you just want to sit somewhere and read, hike, chill or sit in a beach chair. There is also the "event" vacation - where you are doing something specific...such as Disney, Six Flags, Dollyworld, camping, or something similar. And then there is the sightseeing vacation...where you run off of an itinerary and just want to see as much as you possibly can since you may never pass that way again.
Naturally, I have always done family vacations and when we visited Europe, I have since found that sightseeing vacations are my preference. Big Dave prefers a relaxing vacation where he just sits and does nothing because the man runs from can to can't most of the time and really just needs a few days to sit down. Both of us are okay with an occasional event vacation...like we did last January for a few days at Epcot. But we realized on that afternoon that it was time for us to make some concessions. Big Dave doesn't want to fly. I don't want to sit at a resort. We aren't made of money. His best time to be off is in January. He likes tropical. I like tours.
We finally decided that we would consider a cruise out of Mobile, AL if one was in our price range and everyone wanted to do it. We checked into it, got a great deal on a cruise in January, and counted four other enthusiastic "yesses." Brooklyn didn't really get to vote on this one. But we figure that there will be time somewhere down the road for her to have some input. Loosely translated...at some point we are doing Disney. All of it.
We booked the cruise as part of their Christmas gift and started the countdown. And before we knew it...it was the Mardi Gras ball in Mobile for LaLuna Servante that Aunt Wendy is in...a day to recuperate in Mobile and then we got in the car and headed for the docks...
For Family Vacation 2018. :)
The family vacation is something that has been immortalized in Chevy Chase's "Vacation" movies, something that occurs with frequent regularity in many families if the crowds I see at the northwest Florida beaches which are crammed full of tourists is to be believed. Likewise for every tourist site in other places I've visited such as London, Paris, and New York. I witnessed crowds in Highlands, North Carolina when my folks lived there every Labor Day Weekend, and we won't even get into what Orlando looked like last year when Big Dave and I finally said "yes" to the Hilton people who wanted to give us three nights for $99 if we would sit through an hour and a half time share presentation. Knowing he was the "King of NO" after the weddings...I knew we'd be okay. What I didn't know is that they'd sell our name as a form of punishment to other sites who wanted to give us like trips to see if they could do better and crack the nut of our resolve.
Hilton has been contacted by Towanda on two occasions for that breach of confidence. They deny it vehemently, but I'm not buying it. Or their time-share either. I did, however, enjoy the three nights there, getting to see Epcot after all of these years, and a particularly fun afternoon involving margaritas and tiki glasses in a restaurant. We still have those glasses, by the way.
Family vacations are unique - like fingerprints. Some families have a second home that they visit on the weekends. Everyone gathers there and spends time as a group. These folks may occasionally plan something different, but they spend a lot of family time together at the lake or beach. We've been blessed to be invited a number of times to join people and have had the best time.
Others might have a trip that they take each year to Disney World or to a condo somewhere at the northwest Florida beaches. Some families like to go camping, or to do something educational, or just take off to visit family that lives too far away to see on the spur of the moment.
My family vacations have traditionally been to visit family. It might involve something fun at the other end or along the way, but it is primarily a long car trip. We load up, pack a cooler of snacks, try not to lose our minds, and arrive somewhere that is normally not a hotel but someone's guest room or fold out couch. This has been the pattern of my vacations throughout my childhood and into early adulthood. I'm grateful for this time...day trips to Disney...some time at St. Simons Island when I was ten...but for the most part the family vacation involved family and more family. I honestly believe that it was those days of being in my Uncle Jimmy's pool that made me want one so badly in my own backyard when we built our home out here. It has brought me such joy to watch my children, their friends, and my niece and nephew enjoy it all of those years. All that is missing is Aunt Lorraine's Charles Chips tins with potato chips and chocolate chip cookies in them that we ate for snacks.
In 1986, my folks, sister, and Big Dave and I went on a family vacation. We did some touristy things. Ate well. Enjoyed each other's company. Until one got seriously sunburned and the fun turned to trying to get him comfortable. Fast forward to 2006 to another family vacation. This time, a group of us went out to conquer London and Paris. Three days of rain, fractured nerves and exhaustion provided a perfect storm to match the rain that was messing up our (read: my) carefully laid out plans. I've written extensively about this trip by day...so I'm going to just let that sit right there and keep on going...other than to say that once we got to Paris...things got easier...and I'll never forget hearing the news that Linda was expecting Tara standing by the Arc d'Triomphe as traffic buzzed around us.
This year, Big Dave and I were floating around the pool one lazy afternoon trying to come to grips with the fact that we'd survived two weddings and a wonderful but exhausting foray into the world of grandparenting. Our kids have lived independently since 2008 for Jill and 2013 for Brian and we've long come to grips with the "empty nest." There are some things about this that are absolutely wonderful and we've adjusted to very well. However, several years have gone by and we are trying so diligently to spend whatever scraps of time we have that often find someone or other in the midst of something that is making them tired or frustrated or schedules have conflicted to such a degree that it has proven impossible to get everyone corralled and happy for any period of time beyond 48 hours.
Basically, life has intervened. That happens. And now our family is growing. Brooklyn has a schedule. We know not if there will be other grandchildren to consider in the coming years. We all have different work schedules and more to work around. And since we don't have a beach house or a lake house...we wanted to figure out something that we could all do that would be fun for everyone and not break the bank.
Floating around on the water in the pool that we don't get in nearly as much as we should, we discussed the possibility of paying for a vacation that we could all enjoy. But there would be limitations. Things we'd need to work around. Different ages and interests. Cost of entertaining that many for that long. Different goals for vacation time. It was a big discussion...but very enlightening.
We discovered that all vacations can be broken down into one of four categories. There is the family vacation...where you spend all of your time visiting family. The relaxing vacation...where you just want to sit somewhere and read, hike, chill or sit in a beach chair. There is also the "event" vacation - where you are doing something specific...such as Disney, Six Flags, Dollyworld, camping, or something similar. And then there is the sightseeing vacation...where you run off of an itinerary and just want to see as much as you possibly can since you may never pass that way again.
Naturally, I have always done family vacations and when we visited Europe, I have since found that sightseeing vacations are my preference. Big Dave prefers a relaxing vacation where he just sits and does nothing because the man runs from can to can't most of the time and really just needs a few days to sit down. Both of us are okay with an occasional event vacation...like we did last January for a few days at Epcot. But we realized on that afternoon that it was time for us to make some concessions. Big Dave doesn't want to fly. I don't want to sit at a resort. We aren't made of money. His best time to be off is in January. He likes tropical. I like tours.
We finally decided that we would consider a cruise out of Mobile, AL if one was in our price range and everyone wanted to do it. We checked into it, got a great deal on a cruise in January, and counted four other enthusiastic "yesses." Brooklyn didn't really get to vote on this one. But we figure that there will be time somewhere down the road for her to have some input. Loosely translated...at some point we are doing Disney. All of it.
We booked the cruise as part of their Christmas gift and started the countdown. And before we knew it...it was the Mardi Gras ball in Mobile for LaLuna Servante that Aunt Wendy is in...a day to recuperate in Mobile and then we got in the car and headed for the docks...
For Family Vacation 2018. :)
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