First Port Day–Costa Maya

May 22, 2023 | Stacy

We visited Costa Maya in 2016. We had a great day there on that visit, but the region had been hard hit by both the lockdowns and hurricanes. We knew going in that our day would be a little weird.

The ship was not going to dock until 1PM or so, so the morning was ours.

Daddy visited the coffee shop and brought the girls back some pain du chocolat.

We went to the main dining room again for breakfast. It was such a nice view and our meal was excellent.

We all did, um, things? for the next few hours. Johanna tried the rock climbing wall.

Tab absorbed vitamin D.

Marie found a covered lounger.

Johanna went for a swim.

And came back with a beverage. These kids know how to cruise!

John and Nigel.

After some lunch from the buffet, we got the all clear for disembarkation.

I had some basic idea of getting through the port area and finding a cab to take us to the Malecon where we could find a beach to chill on.

On the outer edge of the port, there was no shortage of men and women offering beach packages. We found one that sounded safe (you need to re-read our 2019 nightmare to understand this was a HUGE leap of faith for us), and we headed to a very popular beach. The package was inexpensive, and drinks were also reasonable. But we had to endure SO MUCH SOLICITATION. To the point that I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. It was exhausting.

We had real Coke! Yum.

And after a few hours we decided to request a cab back to the port. Here, we paused to enjoy some flamingos.

And take a photo with the same sign we have a photo of Tab and Hanny with from 2016.

It was few hours until dinner, so we all kind of found things to do and eat. The pizza was not terrible. The sauce and cheese were actually good.

This is where I need to brag on Katriel.
The area where you can get pizza is also the area where you can get small sandwiches and pastries. The pizza line is often super long, while the sandwich/pastry side is much shorter. Katriel had discovered earlier in the cruise that if you were in the line for a sandwich or pastry and also asked for pizza, they would get you both.

She’s a genius! She got a donut for her and two slices for me and no one was sad.

As the ship was pulling out of port I was able to get a cool video of the sun setting.

Tab was with us for dinner, but wasn’t feeling photo-y. No problem.

Most of us had coconut shrimp.

Tab had bao tacos.

Katriel had the fruit cup.
She also had mac and cheese again and ice cream again.

We really did try a wide variety of dishes.
DH and I had the jerk pork. It was amazing.
I only ate 25% but it was so so good

Tabby had tiger shrimp.

Nigel is the least excited about food with a Caribbean flair; he opted for pesto pasta.

Johanna had NY strip AGAIN
And Marie had the Caribbean chicken. We’d been told it was quite spicy, but she said it was perfect

Most desserts were represented.
The carrot cake was a 6/10 to Tab and I. Needed more frosting.
The sunshine cake was a 7-8/10 for three of us.
The brownie was 10/10, as was the chocolate cake.

Day at Sea–

May 21, 2023 | Stacy

Tab and I got up and hit the gym. The view was gorgeous. It was the only sunrise we saw, and the only gym time we logged in.

I got some coffee at the Starbucks included with our drink package.

And ran into these two. ♥

After getting cleaned up, I grabbed a picture of the shower so I could demonstrate just how compact they really are.

We took some photos around the ship and had a seat to enjoy our coffees.

And then headed in to breakfast.

This is the one main dining room. At dinner time we eat on the third floor at 8PM.
For breakfast we are seated on the first level.

The girls enjoyed picking out pastries.

I had bagel with salmon and avocado.

And grits.

When we headed upstairs we saw that our steward had visited our room already.

We lounged around the pools most of the morning. Some went to play golf, and others did some slides. Katriel spent some time in the kids’ club.

We went to the buffet for lunch because we didn’t have other options. I ate two kinds of fish and some fresh veggies. It’s so weird how little appetite I have anymore.

We went to the lounge to play a Disney music trivia game.

We tied for first place.

The kids had ice cream number 2,420… or close to it.

After much hanging around we finally got ready for dinner.

We struggled to find great lighting.

It was dress up night.

French onion soup

Rainbow salad (Katriel)

Calamari

Caesar salad

Butternut squash soup

Lobster tail.

Katriel got fettucine alfredo.

Beef Bourguignon

Beef tenderloin

Some asparagus risotto

Cappuccino chocolate cake

Creme brulee

Apple cobbler

We went back to the room to watch a movie.

We were pretty tired.

Let’s get afloat!

May 20, 2023 | Stacy

I had planned this cruise to go out of Galveston because we had hoped to couple a shorter cruise with some TX road tripping. As it is, we will not be doing that post-cruise. There are a few activities going on with our homeschool co-op that Tabitha and I would like to attend, so we essentially drove two days for a five day cruise, and then will drive two days back home.

Breakfast was as good as yesterday’s.

We had to stop for a hole punch, bc I had noticed this morning that mine was missing from my cruise bag. We use it to punch a hole in our cruise card so we could put it on our lanyard.

I sincerely enjoyed the drive down the Bolivar Peninsula on the eastern coast of TX on our way to Galveston. It is a beautiful area, and yet you can see how it would have been devastated by Hurricane Harvey. So much of the area is newly built up. We had to take a Ferry to Galveston Island.

As soon as we exited the Ferry we could see our ship just a few miles away.

The parking was a bit hectic compared to most of our other cruise experiences, but everyone had an awesome attitude and we hoofed it to the port authority.

It wasn’t long before we were almost to the gangway.

And next thing you know, we were at the buffet followed by a trip to the ice cream.

We looked around the ship a bit.

And when we made it to our room I just about died. This was absolutely a terrible error on my part. The room did NOT have a couch/bunk bed set up. This tiny space was for four of us. (Nigel, Marie, and Tab had a similar set up, but with twin beds.)

I panicked for a moment, and then realized there was nothing we could do but suck it up.

We all went our different ways. Johanna, Katriel and I went for sodas.

And to look around the sports court.

We ran into John and hung on the deck for a while.

Some opted to try water attractions.

And we went to the art gallery.

Prior to dinner, we went back to our stateroom to get dressed up. This is how the room would remain for the rest of the voyage.

It was cramped, but we did what we could to maximize space.

The main dining room was gorgeous – I took photos another night.

Crab cake

Escargot

Artichoke dip

Pan-roasted fish filet

Prime rib

Stuffed portobello

Fried chicken

NY Strip

ahem

Key lime

Boston creme pie

Royal cheese cake

Dinner BEGAN at 8PM and was done around 9:40PM. We were all tired, and we headed back to our rooms for the night.

And the view from my bottom bunk.

Carnival Elation

March 6, 2023 | Stacy

John and I have been married almost 26 years and we have never gone away.
With Nan coming in for a month, and us living so close to cruise ports, we decided we’d do something crazy and take a four night cruise…

I was medicated to the hilt, and I mostly slept and moved from sitting in X to sitting in Y, but we had a nice time being fed and looking at the sea. And I would have been about good for nothing at home with the steroids and antihistamines.

The port is small and easy to access. We went out of Jacksonville.

Parts of the ship are kind of dark and ugly, and other parts are updated and lovely. All of it was clean and the staff was outstanding.

We hung out waiting for our stateroom to be ready.

It was a great room for two people.

We had a beverage package that allowed us to frequent the coffee bar.

Guy’s Burgers are the best.

The adults only quiet area of the ship. It got very busy at times.

We also got slushies with our package.

And Blue Iguana tacos. I had a few fish tacos over the days.

We visited Freeport.

The beach was lovely, but the waves were rough.

We got back to the ship in time for dinner.

We went to Nassau the next day.

And returned to the ship for some quiet time by the family slides.

Sea Day we went to the Dr. Seuss breakfast.

And had more Guy’s Burgers and Blue Iguana for lunch.

Before you knew it, it was time to go home.

And I would feel like I was on the ship for over a week.

Last Day–Sea Day

August 22, 2019 | Stacy

Me and the Ocean…. not really Kodak ready.

For breakfast we splurged ($5pp) for the Seuss-at-Sea character breakfast.
Soooooooooo cool.

It was our first meal in the Lincoln Dining Room besides dinner.

It was adorable.

We made some new friends.

And tried some fun foods.

Green Eggs and Ham…..

Um. Some were pretty standard.

I could barely eat one of these. So sweet. But awfully pretty.

Our waiter from dinner was part of the Singing Things.

Somehow I had room for lunch a few hours later. I really went outside the box and had tacos instead of burritos.

They had a gigantic chocolate buffet today. I barely scratched the surface. They had at least 40 different chocolate based desserts.

Hanny kept making friends both inside Club Ocean and out.

John met a guy from Elmira, NY!

I reluctantly gave up my lounge chair and we got ready for dinner.

Marie continued her try-new-food streak…

This is how the peach soup starts. I don’t know how I deleted the photo of how it looks when it is completely served.

Someone was tired.

But at least she had her favorite dinner.

Marie’s ox tongue.

She pronounced it excellent.

The parade of the Baked Alaska.

The waitstaff actually danced for us three nights. They were a lot of fun.

John Alex served our dessert table side. We could barely eat it.

The kids and our team.

I wish this had come out better.

The thing is – after dinner the kids are in a hurry to get out of their dress clothes. Meanwhile I hurriedly scout out a photo op and a photographer.

Then it was the usual…

Club Ocean

Movie by the pool.

And Fro-Yo.

Port of Progreso–A/K/A the day we didn’t die

August 20, 2019 | Stacy

But I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

The day started with us all moving more slowly than we had been, but that was fine; we were not in a hurry. From our window we could see the water was teeming with jellyfish. Progresso has one of the longest cruise ship piers in the world. It has a shopping mall and some other businesses actual along this pier that juts out into the ocean.

I didn’t take any photos of breakfast… but it was as excellent as it has been.

We ended up deciding the boys would stay on board today as the girls and John and I went on shore. We were barely to the bus stop when we remembered stuff the girls left on board. John and the younger girls waited while Marie, Tab, and I headed back to our stateroom.

We boarded the free bus that takes you to the mouth of the pier. We didn’t have a plan. We knew the free bus would take us within a few blocks of beach clubs and that we’d just need to walk to one and then rent some chairs, etc.

So this is where we don’t have pictures. But we do have a vivid memory and a story to tell.

So we walk through a small crowded mall-like area with people robustly suggesting that we purchase their products. It was a little intimidating and we were clutching onto our girls. We exited on the street side and there were then a lot of vendors suggesting their beach related products. We had read that we were just a few blocks from the beach and I do have a pretty map-ready brain and sense of direction. But as we took some steps we heard an offer for $10 per person for a beach club with chairs and transportation. John and I made eye-contact then we circled back to that vendor to hear more. He described a clean beach with restaurant and changing rooms and chairs and umbrellas and the opportunity to purchased meals or other amenities. This sounded like a great price. He indicated it was a short distance away and made a call for a driver. We paid him cash just as the driver arrived. We then climbed into an 8 passenger minivan… John and I and our four daughters then started driving away. And though John was in the front seat and I was in the way back our brains seemingly had the same thought at the same time: “Did we just pay someone to kidnap us?”

As we drove due east I kept my eyes turned to my left as I watched between the buildings for the sea to stay in our view. I sternly whispered to Marie and Tabitha to stay alert. They sensed my concern. Meanwhile John tried to make conversation with the driver, who did not speak much English. John kept asking how much further. The man kept saying, “short drive.” I kept praying and praying and asking God to forgive our stupidity and protect us. HOW STUPID! Oh, how stupid. My brain started to wonder great and wild and terrible things. We must have driven 10 minutes on that straight, one-way street, when we finally turned left, then left, then right into a little closed off restaurant and beach area.

It was beautiful. There was one other family already there. A short while later a few others also arrived. I can’t say I completely relaxed, but we did relax enough to enjoy the gorgeous, if not shabby, beach.

We spend a lot of time in the water. It was warm and lovely.

The girls built gorgeous sand castles.

I asked John to buy some sodas for each of us and some of the food. There had to be 10 employees taking care of the 20-25 guests. That would not make for much earnings per person. Ships don’t come to Progreso nearly as often as the other Western Caribbean ports. Its a very under/undeveloped port as yet. We will one day be able to say we visited when it was a diamond in the rough. And we lived.

Sadly, the empanadas were taste-less.

The deal was we were to ask them to call for a cab when we wanted to return to the ship. Mmmmmm – they weren’t all that keen on calling.

I started to get very stressed again. Maybe we were being held until we paid more?

Finally about 6 others we also ready to leave and the dozen of us got into a bigger van that the one we came over in and headed back to that intense shopping mall where the free buses were.

Eventually we got back to the port. Seriously exhausted. We did do a little shopping – you’ll see later!

We had a late lunch and I got another Guy’s Burger. I had one yesterday, too, but since I didn’t take a photo it didn’t happen?

Oh – would you look at that? Fro-Yo!

She liked to pretend she was a spy of sorts as she went down the hall. She’d hum “spy music” and look back and forth up and down the hall as she’d shimmy and stop, and lean and shimmy again…

They did not have Mac and Cheese on the menu tonight.

The girls wore the new dresses Daddy bought them in port.

Marie had an amphibian hind appendage.
(frog leg)

I stuck with beef.

The little girls went to Club Ocean and John and the big kids watched Shazam! I chatted/texted my friend Tara. Somewhere in the last 12 hours I suddenly had free wi-fi. I had paid for the Social Media package to allow me to use Instagram. But I was suddenly able to use iMessage and I wasn’t complaining.

Cruise Day three–Cozumel- Stewart is 19!

August 20, 2019 | Stacy

Gorgeous sunrise.
For those of you who do not cruise, you might not realize how hard it is to see a great sunrise. There is so much cloud cover in the early morning. Maybe it is just fog because of the contrast in sea and air temperatures. But a crisp sunset is far more common than a crisp sunrise.

This one is through a sea-splattered window… so it was never going to be crisp. Smile

Early breakfast. This time we had a window seat in the Washington Dining Room.

Tab had been up all night long with emesis. She was not feeling well at all.

Though it was a smaller, “Port Day” breakfast menu, it was exceedingly generous.

I enjoyed another parfait.

As did Marie.

And Nigel.

This would become my breakfast go-to. Poached eggs on avocado toast.

The birthday boy enjoyed his frittata.

We went back to the stateroom briefly to grab our gear and that was the first time I noticed that our daily news papers were personalized!

It was raining on and off and had slowed to a sprinkle as we disembarked.

But it started pouring again as we waited for our excursion.

The girls dodged raindrops to take a few cheesy photos.

And in a short while we were escorted to our catamaran for our jaunt to the north end of Cozumel.

This marks my third time to Cozumel and the rest of the family’s second time.

Our first trip was in 2016 when it was a port for our Norwegian Cruise. In fact, that stop was the whole REASON I had picked the cruise I picked; I wanted to go to Playa Mia. Here is a link to that day. However, our take home from that day was that the sand was unpleasant and the beach was kind of yucky. I learned after the trip that the sand on the north side of the island is different than the sand on the west side where most of the beach clubs are.

I visited again in 2018 with Jenn. Although I was not eager to visit the west side again, we weren’t eager to spend any more than the minimum on our excursions. We got into a group with a discounted rate to visit a club on the west side (Nachi Cocum).

When we picked this Carnival Cruise we did so because of its rock-bottom-low-price. That left us a little wiggle room to splurge for an excursion to the north side of the island.

We had about a 40 minute ride to Pasion de Isla.

We passed the Disney Fantasy. I am SO GLAD we weren’t in the same port. Speeding past it was enough to tempt me.

It was a smooth ride and though it had rained on and off on our way, the sun was really breaking through as we arrived.

Tab was holding it together, but she was exhausted.

Let me confirm right now that the sand was exquisite.

We got the spiel on what is and is not included and how you can add on 572 different options to make your day nothing short of paradise. (We passed on most.)

We found spots and started to the water. It was a while before I remember to take some photos.

Now, I was not at all interested in sleeping through any of my beach day, but if I were going to allow myself a nap I can think of no better place on earth than in the sand in the Caribbean, canIgetawitness?

Non-alcoholic and well-alcoholic beverages were included. We had plenty of the former and none of the latter.

Lunch was good. The guac was not as good here as at Nachi Cocum last year, but it was still better than I what I buy at ALDI or Walmart. Winking smile

Before we knew it they were telling us it was time to return.

I took a bunch of photos as we were leaving as if I could somehow capture this place and take it home.

I bought some vanilla for me and my friend Tiffany. I confess I was a little worried we’d get home and find out it was water. LOL.

Back on deck we took quick swims, got more drinks, and moved through the stages of cleaning up.

Marie drew a while on deck.

And we went to dinner. Poor Tab was still tired and her appetite had not yet returned.

Prettier than it tasted.

You don’t say?

Ratatouille.

Blobbity-glob-glob??

I was ready for something a little simpler.

Do you see the Hidden Mickey?

Not going to lie – we gobbled dessert, quickly ordered Stewart’s dinner for tomorrow, ~~threw the girls into,~~ walked the girls carefully to their Club Ocean…

And watched Endgame.

Marvel on a cruise ship with coffee at my side. I’m not sure there is much more you could offer me this side of Heaven. (Just kidding. Sort of.)

John found Tab and I loungers half-way through the movie. This is where we had been sitting and where they sat.

Cruise Day 2: A/K/A That thing where we eat…

August 18, 2019 | Stacy

The first thing you’ll notice about today is that our photos are overwhelmingly related to food. Ahhhh – cruise-life.

We were up early-ish and got ourselves right to breakfast. They sat us at a large, round table on the lower level. We had breakfast in the Washington Dining Room (our dinners are served in the Lincoln Dining Room.) Our waitstaff was excellent. Because it was a sea day the menu was a brunch menu with expanded options.

I snuck out to the bathroom and when I returned the girls had been given two hat shaped cookies each, along with frosting dispensers and directions on how to make Cat Hats.

So they got to enjoy some pre-breakfast sugar.

Which should not be confused with the Breakfast Sugar… those are square marshmallows on her pancakes, along with some kind of custard type sauce.

Marie, Tab and I enjoyed our first parfaits of the trip. These were so good. The chewiest yogurt you can imagine, and worth every spoonful.

Katriel had asked if she could have macaroni and cheese. As I was about to explain that macaroni and cheese is not on the menu the delightful server said that of course – he could get her macaroni and cheese.

After breakfast the girls wanted to go to the Camp Ocean.

At 10:30 John had second breakfast.

The boys chilled with dad while I went to find Marie and Tabitha.

I found them in what was our favorite pool. There is never a lot of space to swim on cruise ships, but we do like to jump in and cool off. These salt water pools were just perfect.

I had to go back to the room for something and our cabin steward had already prepped our beds for the evening.

The boys got into some swimming action. That little waterslide is actually a lot of fun.

Johanna and Katriel are fish, like their siblings, and they left the club long enough to do some swimming before lunch.

Lunch was so much fun. This ship had so many options.

I did return to Blue Iguana, because, well…

“Burrito bowl, please, with everything.”

Hello, “everything.”

So crazy yummy.

Look at what Katriel chose for her lunch.

At 2PM we headed to one of the lounges to assemble for a Dr. Seuss parade.

We played around a bit and then the kids got to pick out signs to carry and instruments to play for our parade from the back of the ship, through the center lobby levels (down the stairs) and up to the theater.

Katriel had Daddy carry hers.

Then we had a Cat in the Hat show.

Our 2:45PM Fro-Yo. (Not to be confused with the 12:30PM Fro-Yo.)

The girls went back to their clubs so John and I went in search of desserts.

We went to “Teatime” in the Washington Dining Room

I did NOT care for this… um… raw fishy thingie.

This was more my speed.

Before we knew it it was time to get ready for dinner.
This was our “Formal Night” as it was the first sea day of the voyage.

The magician was a lot of fun.

Oh look. Katriel ordered mac and cheese for dinner.

My mushroom appetizer.

Someone’s crab cake.

She ate three of the four bowls (she gave one to Marie).

Creme brulee. Normally this is my favorite dessert. Carnival did not blow me away with this. While their tiramisu was good enough to book another cruise for, this stuff was sort of runny. And with that – I’ll have more of a story for tomorrow.

We changed out of our duds and the little ones went back to Camp Ocean, while others of us played some Scrabble in the semi-open area of the ship.

About this time Tab told me she wasn’t feeling very well. She and I went back to the room.

We passed my favorite sign.

NOLA cruise ship embarkation

August 17, 2019 | Stacy

We didn’t need to set our alarms for Saturday morning, and we all enjoyed a solid night’s sleep after the overnight drive the day before. Nonetheless, we were up early-ish. We got ourselves together and packed up and headed to the kitchen area of the hotel for breakfast by 7:30 A.M.. It wasn’t awful or remarkable. I DID have the best cup of coffee I’ve had in a while!

We hoped to find some NOLA type items in the local Walmart around 9:30 A.M., but left empty handed. We also tried a drug store nearer to the city and port, but again had nothing to show for it. I figured we’d certainly find something in shopping center around the port, but as we approached the parking garage the signage was just so convincing to head into directly into the parking ramp and before we knew it we were parking the van!

This is one of the most fun ports I’ve ever arrived at. You can see the ship in the Mississippi River as you come over the bridge.

Pulling into the garage, porters come directly to your vehicle and unload your tagged luggage. For us, however, with such a large vehicle and so much luggage, our porter directed us to an emptier area of the garage and walked over to meet us there.

The older four kids took their documents and John and the little girls and I took ours and we split into our two cabin groups to navigate the boarding. My group finished a bit before theirs and we held on just past security until they caught up. We arrived to the terminal about 30 minutes before our pre-scheduled boarding; but remarkably, we were ushered right onto our lovely vessel. The gangway was the most convoluted one I’ve been on with lots of twists and turns, but that just built the enthusiasm for me.

We got on board AND…

sat?

It took me a moment or two to start collecting my brain and make some decisions about which way to go first. It was just after 11AM and our state room wouldn’t be ready until 1:30PM or so.

We headed up to the Lido deck and made our first stop at the fro-yo. There were two fro-yo stations on opposite sides of the ship and many-a-Butler visited often.

There were many dining options available in and around the buffet, and I made my first of many visits to the Blue Iguana.

We split up again to explore the ship.

We visited the Camp Ocean and got the girls their bands. We weren’t sure at that point how often they might visit, but we were glad to get band assignment taken care of.

It was finally time to find our staterooms and unpack. This is the last time their stateroom looked clean…

They were plenty big. We were on deck two, starboard, with connecting ocean view staterooms. They were perfect for our family.

I got my hacks working…

and we hung our still wet swimwear from the night before and change into our other suits.

We missed our chances to get drinks before our muster drill (the thing where they tell you what to do in an emergency) and we were all hot and cranky…

BUT

THEN

We set sail at 4:00 P.M.

Out on deck and hydration finally underway, we found some loungers and saw the Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2 come out.

So we went down to dance with them a little.

Marie and Tab tried out the one slide. It was actually very entertaining as I would find out a few days later.

They were willing to make us some non-alcoholic “mocktails” with our soda packages. Because the first 7 hours of the cruise actually take place in the Mississippi River, we had to pay taxes on all our drinks until we hit international waters. One weird thing about sailing from NOLA. It was a few cents per person.

Lots of lounging and hot tubs and a little bit of swimming and somehow it got to be dinner time.

We really do like dressing up for dinner on the cruises, but I admit I was far less creative in coordinating our clothes this time around. At least they were all clean. I think.

Table 656 was our dinner zone for the next five nights. Our head server was John Alex and he helped Stewart order meals for the following night after dinner each evening.