Our Cruise

Daryl and I just got back from a 5 day cruise down to Mexico. It was the first vacation we have taken alone since Brynna was born. She'll be four in January. It was hard for me to leave our little ones, but we had such a wonderful time just the two of us. We cruised to Progreso and Cozumel on the Carnival Ecstasy. This was the Ecstasy's first trip since getting out of a month long dry-dock where she got a $42 million up-grade.

Here's our boat.

We left late Saturday afternoon and spent all day Sunday at sea. I got a little sick at the beginning of the cruise, so we didn't do much Sunday.

I felt much better by Sunday evening, just in time for formal night. Don't we look like a happy young honeymoon couple?

Monday morning we docked in Progreso, which is at the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. We met up with another Carnival ship, the Fantasy, in Progreso. The Fantasy was a twin of our ship before the dry-dock. In this picture, you can see some of the balconies that were added to the Ecstasy.

Two friend ships. Youcan see more new balconies on the Ecsasy.

From Progreso we took a bus to Merida, the capital of the Yucatan. We saw the governor's mansion, a church that was built from bricks from old Mayan edifices, and did some shopping. It was fun and interesting, but fairly uneventful.

We signed up and only paid for an interior room, but we were pleasantly surprised that our room had two port-holes.

On our second night we wandered down to the Karaoke lounge and had some of the biggest laughs of the whole trip. The Karaoke MC was fabulous and kept everyone entertained and comfortable for hours. Daryl and I both agreed that he could probably make it as an entertainer somewhere other than a cruise ship. We went back every night after that just to see him.

On Tuesday we docked in Cozumel.

Here's the Fantasy on her way to catch up with us. We left Progreso a couple hours before her, and some of our people got left behind. We heard that happens pretty frequently, and usually people are just on their own to get back home. The people from our ship got lucky and were able to catch a ride on the Fantasy.

In Cozumel we did an excursion that included rock climbing and ropes courses and snorkeling.

There were several towers, and Daryl and I both climbed the tallest one.

The view from the top.

Daryl on one of three zip lines.

Together at the top of a zip line platform.

After the climbing and ropes we headed over to the water for some snorkeling. Snorkeling was by far the highlight of the trip. But of course we don't have a water proof camera, so we have no pictures. I guess those memories are just for Daryl and me. :)

Walking back to the ship after a wonderful and memorable day in Cozumel.

This water slide was one of the dry-dock upgrades. Wednesday was another full day at sea, and we decided to check out the pools and slide. That's Daryl waving from the top.

Daryl splashing to a stop.

Me at the top.

At the bottom, making a graceful exit.

So, in my planning, packing, and getting the kids ready for their 6 day play-date, I forgot to pack my swimsuit. Our tour guide at our first port-of-call helped us find a little shop with a handful of swimsuits to choose from. Under normal circumstances I would never have chosen this one, but the pickings were quite slim. So here's my belly seeing the sun for the first time in about 10 years. My sweet husband says it was the best $32 he's ever spent. I don't know about that, but I don't think I look too bad considering I've carried two babies.

Daryl relaxing on deck.

Enjoying our last day on ship.

Our last night aboard ship.

The trip was wonderful and we made some great memories. One of the things I love about our marriage is how Daryl and I love to laugh together. We've had so many laughs and built so many happy memories since Brynna was born, but one thing I loved about this trip was laughing with Daryl about things that had nothing to do with our kids.

Thank you, Rob & Marti and Granna & Pop for taking such good care of our kids and allowing us to take this trip without little ones tagging along.