Sometimes you just need to step away from your normal daily routine and do something else. Today was one of those days.
Today I decided that I would not work on any wreaths, or scrapbook pages, or anything else craft related. Instead, I spent some time with my granddaughter Victoria. Just like my other grandchildren, she brings me so much joy just being near her.
So, we started off with donuts!!! There is a donut shop, Sweet Donuts, not too far from the house so the plan was to go get donuts and relax a bit.
And then we went to Metro/T-Mobile!!!! Sometimes you just need to do the things!!!!
Now it is time to do my regular job and start worrying about not getting things done like I should!!!!! Oh well, there’s always tomorrow. Maybe I will just dream about our cruise in February…. of the year 2024!!!!!
Getting off the ship is always a sad time. Yesterday, we decided that we would not do the self-assist and instead would leave our luggage outside our door. That definitely freed up a lot of space in our room.
We went to the Lido deck in search of food. I had there ever so yummy (not really) scrambled eggs, pork sausage links, hash browns, croissant, butter, grape jelly, strawberry compote, and coffee. Jim had his usual Blue Iguana breakfast burrito consisting of eggs, sausage, ham, hash browns, onion, cheese, guacamole, creme fraiche, salsa rojo, and coffee/hot chocolate combo. His coffee was actually yummy!!!! I wish we would have tried that sooner. We decided to eat our breakfast in our stateroom so we could do any last minute packing and double check several times to make sure we didn’t forget anything.
After we finished eating, I stepped out onto our cold balcony to see the Carnival Vista at terminal one. We knew we would be at terminal two. No big deal.
While we waited in our stateroom until we had to leave, I straightened up the bed and left some goodies and an envelope for our room stewards. They did an excellent job of making sure we had everything we needed which was basically only ice.
Once we were finally off the ship, the cruise really was over. That means the post cruise depression is right around the corner.
Our drive home included a stop of Buc-ee’s to stretch our legs and relieve ourselves. Once again we did not purchase any drinks. We also stopped at a Taco Bell in College Station to grab something to eat. This was not my choice.
Another stop at the Little Czech Bakery in West, Texas for some Kolache’s. Then a stop in Waco for gas. Then we were home. Our critters were so happy we were home. And we were happy to be out of the car.
My final thoughts on the cruise. Cookie is the BEST cruise director and definitely my favorite. Jim and I hope we sail with him again some day. He really puts himself into every activity he hosts and makes everything so very entertaining. He is also very personable. Just the best.
Overall, the cruise was great. There were a couple of things that were not really what we expected things to be. For instance, we had reservations at the steakhouse for the first night on board. When we got there, the hostess was not very friendly. She asked if we wanted to sit at the bar, which is situated just off the walkway to the area the tables are in. We told her we would prefer a table so she sat us quickly after that. The steakhouse was crowded which I expected since it was on Valentine’s day. It also seems much smaller than the steakhouse on the Carnival Dream. The meal itself was excellent and our waitstaff was good. But the entire meal felt like we were being rushed. I do not like be rushed when I am having a wonderful dinner for my birthday. With my birthday being on Valentine’s day, it is very rare that I go out to eat as everywhere is packed. I learned on this cruise that it would also be packed on my birthday.
The only other thing we noticed was the seating in the Ovation Theater. We went there to see the Love and Marriage show. We decided to sit on deck 5 so we could get a good view of everything. We had GREAT seats, but the seats had a very straight, hard, upright back. It was very hard to get comfortable. After that, if we went to something in the Ovation Lounge/Theater, we sat on deck 3. Lesson learned.
Those were the only 2 things that were just off for us but definitely did not impact our cruise negatively in any way, shape, or form. We would love to sail on Carnival Breeze again and we definitely want to be on a ship with Cookie again.
It’s our last sea day. On our way for our pre-breakfast snacking, we came upon the towel animal invasion. So many towel animals all over the Lido deck!!!! Of course I MUST take some pictures.
Then is was on to grab some pastries for myself. I decided on banana nut bread, apple strudel, and a cinnamon roll with coffee to wash it down. Jim had a Blue Iguana breakfast burrito which had eggs, ham, chicken sausage, hash browns, grilled onions, guacamole, creme fraiche, and salsa rojo.
After we finished our pre-breakfast snack, we decided to go to the morning show held in the Ovation theater. I have never had such a good time at a show. So much fun!!!! Cookie is so entertaining!!!
We briefly returned to our stateroom to find our last sea animal. I wonder if our towel animal will miss us as much as we will miss them…
We sent down to the Blush dining room for our last sea day brunch. Jim ordered his usual eggs Benedict, hash browns, bacon, orange juice, coffee and a Bloody Mary. Ordered steak and eggs, hash browns, honey butter biscuit, orange juice, coffee, and a Mimosa. The food was great, the service was great, and since we were seated with others, the conversations were great.
We did not feel like packing up all of our stuff, so we went to watch the Family Face Off at Ocean Plaza. But first, I had to make myself a mimosa.
We have not gone to the Pasta bar and today would be our last chance. So for lunch, Jim had a Caesar salad, bread, and lasagna. I had a Caesar salad, bread, and linguini with meat sauce. For some reason, I did not take any pictures of the lasagna or linguini. We must have been real hungry.
After we finished our lunch, we went to think about packing. The weather had cancelled my plans of hanging out on the Serenity deck the entire day. So, we went to the Q and Awesome with Cookie in the Ovation theater. Cookie is still the best!!!! Unfortunately, the BINGO people started coming in and talking. They were talking so loudly that we could not hear what Cookie was saying. Definitely a rude bunch but they didn’t spoil my fun.
We have a tradition on the last day of each cruise. We must take a picture with Jim emptying his pockets to show he’s broke and I’m trying to convince him that we need to book another cruise. The photographers always manage to get the perfect shot for us.
For dinner, we decided to go to the Lido Marketplace buffet again. Luckily, Guy’s Burger Joint was still open so I had a patty with cheese, no bun, fries, and a Mango Magic while Jim had a pig patty, fries and a beachcomber. Since it was cold outside, we decided to eat our dinner in our room.
And now, the last day is over. We spent the rest of the night/evening packing then we had some cookies and other sweet goodies from the Lido Marketplace. Sorry. No pictures.
This is our fifth time to Progreso. Our first time was in 2009. It felt like a small fishing village. We went to the beach area and found a place to sit and eat. Then we were approached by a lot of people wanting to sell their stuff. Usually, a simple no thank you works. But it is really hard to say no to a child that should actually be in school. Our next time to Progreso was in We have heard that a lot has changed in the area so our plan for today is to go to town and walk around. Nothing special at all. Just walk around and see how things have changed and improved. Our next time to visit Progreso was in 2011 on the Magic inaugural cruise from Galveston. Due to some mechanical difficulties on the Magic, we had an overnight stay in Progreso. Something we learned of once we boarded the ship. No big deal. We were on a cruise. On this particular cruise, we had our son with us. So, we took him to town and we decided to do the double decker bus city tour that is offered once you arrive to town. It was very inexpensive and was interesting to see the town away from the tourist area. After that tour was over, we started walking to the beach, but Dawson was not comfortable with the amount of people coming up to us to sell their items so we went back to the ship and basically stayed there the remainder of the time. Next time to Progreso was in 2014 and Dawson was with us. We booked an excursion with Carnival to go to some Mayan ruins so we did not go to town at all. When Jim and I were on the Carnival Dream in 2019, we stayed on the ship only getting off to shop at the vendors at the pier. So, on this cruise, we were really looking forward to see how things have changed.
We started out day in the Blush dining room to have a leisure port day breakfast.
While we waiting on our food, we talked with the couple sitting next to us. She had found several ducks on their way to the dining room. I have yet to find any.
Shortly after our food arrived, something strange happened. All of a sudden, the ship was shaking and making very loud rumbling noise. It was not anything I was concerned about but someone sitting next to use was a little nervous about it. If my guess is correct, we were turning around so we could back into the port. It was definitely a very strange sound and something that I have never experienced before.
Time for food porn!!! Jim ordered the Eggs Benedict, bacon, hash browns, coffee, and orange juice.
I ordered the port day express breakfast which consists of orange juice, eggs, sausage, toast, and coffee. In full disclosure, I added a LOT of sugar and a LOT of cream to my coffee. The coffee on the Carnival ships I have been on is strong. Too strong for me! And yet, I still order it and I still drink it.
After breakfast, we went to our stateroom to make sure we had what we needed to get off the ship. We also took some time to admire our port neighbor. I have never heard of this cruise line or ship but I am looking forward to do some research on it once we return home from the cruise.
Time to get off the ship! But first I must have a port photo for my scrapbook. I’m sure everyone feels bad for my hubby. Being forced to take a picture all the time!!!!
We did not have to wait long for the next bus to arrive and before we knew it, we were getting off the bus and walking toward the Malecon. The beach looks amazing but we did not come here to get into the water. We came here to just walk around and take it all in.
The walking was rather short lived as it was not as easy breathing in Progreso as it was in Cozumel. So, we found a place to sit in the shade and order a Margarita and some guacamole. Hands down the saltiest Margarita I have ever tasted. I had no idea so much salt could be put into a frozen Margarita. The guacamole was nothing to write home about. To me, it was more like the refrigerated guacamole you get at the store. You know the ones I’m talking about. They come in a plastic bag. And the homemade chips were stale. Not exactly a great experience taste wise, but the view was fantastic. Luckily the entertainment made up for the salty beverage and subpar guacamole.
After we finished our salty Margaritas and most of the guacamole, we made our way back to the bus terminal to go back to the bus. While we were waiting for the bus, we found the perfect hat for Dawson and quickly purchased it!
Once we were back at the pier, we walked through some shops but didn’t buy anything. We were ready to get back on the ship. I took some more pictures of our port neighbor before we boarded.
After we dropped off our stuff in our stateroom we were greeted by todays towel animal. Then we immediately made our way to Guys Burgers. I needed a double order of fries to get the excessive salt from the Margarita out of my system. That seemed to have made my taste buds happy!
As sail away neared, I stepped out onto our balcony to take a couple more pictures of our port neighbor. Then a picture of actually sailing away.
Is there anything better than a sunset at sea?
Jim and I decided to skip going to the main dining room for dinner. Instead, we decided on going to the Lido Marketplace. They had the same offerings as the main dining room but we did not have to check in thru the HUB app to be seated. We actually enjoyed having dinner here. The only thing missing was the singing and dancing wait staff but for the first time, I didn’t really miss it.
My dinner selections consisted of roast beef, baked potato, salad, and some bread with butter.
Jim started his dinner selections with a Reuben sandwich from the deli followed by BarBQue pork spare rigs and salad with blue cheese dressing,
We shared our desserts with the selections I returned to the table with. We had a mocha and white chocolate mousse, carrot cake, marble chocolate cheese cake, and chocolate chip cookies. The cookies were the best things we had!!!!
After dinner, we walked around the fun shops, went to see 88 Keys in the Ovation Lounge, and attending the 80’s Rock N Glow party. I must admit, the 80’s Rock N Glow party was the best thing we have done on the ship so far!!! The Lip Sync battle was a hoot!!!! Cookie knows how to work the crowd and is really involved with every aspect of the Lip Sync battle. The winner ended his performance by jumping in the pool!!!! But then again, there was also a full moon to admire.
I’m pretty sure we ended our evening with more cookies from the Lido Marketplace.
Welcome to Cozumel. Our favorite place to visit on a cruise!
Today we have something different planned. We will be going to Del Mar Latino Beach Club Cozumel All-Inclusive day pass. I found this place by accident one day while I was on Facebook. This beach club is conveniently located to Puerta Maya and an easy walk to get to. I have COPD so when I say it was an easy walk, it truly was an easy walk. I did not have to use my inhaler at any time walking there or back or while I was there. The price was definitely FANTASTIC. When I booked this day pass online the price was $29 per person. A $6 per person deposit was required at the time of booking. Now, this place is an adults only beach club which is one of the reasons we decided to try it out. Or, as I told my friends, we were taking one for the team. And I am so glad we went.
Not only was it an easy walk, but the staff was very attentive and the food was great. It is a very small beach club that only allows up to 30 adults a day. The view was great and the pool, although small, did not feel crowded at any time and the water was warm. Unfortunately, at the time of our visit, we were not able to get into the sea to swim. The waves were a bit rough which made it very difficult for my husband and I to get in. But others were able to get in without any problem. This one very minor thing in no way lessened our experience in any way, shape or form. In fact, we look forward to returning to Del Mar Latino Beach Club.
While we were here, we had the guacamole, Mexican nachos, Mexican nachos with chicken, pico de gallo, quesadilla, and chicken. Of course we HAD to try the beverages. Between the two of us, I’m sure we tried all of the cocktails that are on the menu! Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures of the food or beverages we had. I should have, but I didn’t. I must have been to busy taking in the view.
We stayed at the beach club for a few hours before walking back to Puerta Maya to do a little shopping then back onto the ship to, in all likelihood, eat some more and take a nap.
We were welcomed to our stateroom with todays towel animal!!! I love seeing the towel animals. They really make it special.
It wasn’t long before it was time for sail away. I cannot get enough of how blue the water is in Cozumel. It is definitely my favorite shade of blue.
Dinner tonight was in the main dining room. We were lucky enough to have the same wait staff we had the evening before.
For dinner tonight, I had the Caesar salad, beef tenderloin and warm chocolate melting cake for dessert. I had the Fresh Italian for my dinner cocktail.
Jim selected the Caesar salad and ox tongue as his appetizers, beef tenderloin, and Bitter N Blanc for his dessert. He decided to just stick with iced tea to drink.
We finished our meal before the wait staff started their singing and dancing. Something I always love to watch, but not tonight. Instead, we walked around the shops for a while then decided that we would go to the Love and Marriage show. Always fun watching this. No pictures, sorry.
Afterwards, we went to our stateroom and called it a night. At least until we decided we needed a snack. Our snack needs were satisfied with cookies at the Lido Marketplace.
Honestly, I love waking up to this view. It never gets old and definitely does not last long enough, especially on a 5-day cruise.
The first thing I did this morning was to book a pedicure in the Spa. I scheduled it for 2:45 as I wanted to make sure I would have plenty of time to get ready for cruise elegant night.
We started our day with Brunch in the Blush dining room. The chandeliers are amazing.
Once we were seated, we were quickly served our coffee and I ordered a Mimosa. We also placed our food orders. I had steak and effs and Jim and a Frittata.
Once we finished breakfast, we went to Pixels to get our cruise pin then made our way to the Lido Marketplace.
Jim decided that he might need a second breakfast so he grabbed an Eggs Benedict and I grabbed some pastries. We both had some more coffee.
After we finished our second breakfast, we went to the room to rest and try to figure out how we wanted to spend our day. Upon arrival we found our towel animal for today!!! So cute.
We decided to walk around and do some more shopping, especially since I had a coupon for a bracelet in the Fun Shop!!!!
We went to Guy’s burgers to grab some lunch and brought the tasty burgers to our stateroom. Just as we were sitting down to eat there was a knock on our door. I knew it wasn’t our liquor delivery as it had already been delivered but had no clue what this was. And then Jim read the note. My good friend Leigh Ann had ordered room decorations and a birthday cake for me!!! I was speechless for some time. She is such a dear sweet friend. We were locker mates from middle school until we graduated high school and we have been friends ever since! With all the excitement, I did not take any pictures of our lunch but I did remember to make a note of what we had. Jim at a Pig Patty and fries while I had the Plain Jane and fries. The burgers are just so good!!!! As a side note, the cake said it was vanilla but when we cut into it, it was obviously strawberry and VERY GOOD!!!
After the shock of the surprise somewhat wore off, it was time for me to go to the spa for my pedicure. I will say I’m glad they view while waiting was amazing as I think they forgot about me for almost 30 minutes.
Luckily, someone did finally come get me and the view from the pedicure chair was amazing.
Unfortunately, since my pedicure was late starting, I was later than I anticipated getting ready for dinner. Luckily, all I really needed to do was to freshen up and change clothes.
On our way to the Sapphire dining room, we stopped to take some cruise elegant night pictures. This was the only one we really liked.
Then it was on to dinner. This would be our first time this cruise to eat in the main dining room. Since we were able to check in on the HUB app, we knew we would not have a long wait. And the wait truly was under 10 minutes.
We were seated at a table for two and we found the wait staff to be very attentive. Jim ordered a Spicy Chipotle Martini and I ordered a Bellini to start with. For dinner, Jim had the port tart, prime rib, and creme brulee for dessert. I had a Ceasar salad, prime rib, and warm chocolate melting cake for dessert.
After we finished eating and watching the wait staff dance, we made our way to our stateroom to change clothes and ended up staying in our stateroom the remainder of the night.
It’s cruise day!!!! And it is also my birthday!!!!! I’m going on a Valentine’s Birthday Cruise!!!!!
This morning, Jim brought me breakfast in bed. He’s so kind!!!! In all honesty, I was too excited to eat but I did try them.
We had a 10:30 – 11:00 am arrival appointment time so we had plenty of time to make a quick WalMart run before checking out of the hotel and making our way to the pier.
We checked out around 10:00 and drove to the pier to drop off our checked luggage then made our way directly across the street to the parking garage. Even though the parking garage is directly across the street from terminal 1, we still had to make our way through the maze to get to the parking garage. No big deal. We are getting on a ship!!!! As luck would have it, our favorite Kenny Chesney song we must listen to came on Sirius XM just as we drove into the parking garage. Who doesn’t like No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem? It is the absolute perfect song for any tropical vacation!!!! Listening to this song may have delayed our actually getting out of the car a little, but not much.
We walked out of the garage at 10:30 and made our way across the street. We made our way through all the check points and security and were on the ship before 11:00!!! That is definitely a record for us. There was no waiting at all!!!! Of course, we did have to stop for an embarkation photo!!!! It’s for scrapbook purposes.
Usually when we board a ship, we head straight for the Lido deck to enjoy our first Funship Special and a Guy’s Burger. That changed on our last cruise since muster is done differently now. On this cruise, our first stop was at the Breeze Bar to order our first Funship special. Always so refreshing. Then we made our way to our muster station then to the Lido deck for our first Guys Burger of the cruise.
After we finished our lunch, we decided to go to deck 5 and check out the Red Frog Pub. On the way there, we heard a rumor that some of the staterooms were open. So, we went back to deck 10 to see if we could at least drop off our carry on bags and immediately leave. The nice person at the door said we could!!!! Our luggage was already at our door so we took it in to unpack later and drop off our carry-on stuff and was about to leave the room when our room steward came to let us know he was finished with our room and it was ok for us to stay if we wanted to! This cruise is going to be GREAT!!!! I also decorated the door on this cruise.
So, we took some time to unpack before exploring the ship. And by exploring the ship, I mean going to the Red Frog Pub. While on deck 5, we found out that Guy’s Pig and Anchor was open on we decided to try some bar-b-que. It was good as always! While we were in the area and in need of something to drink, I went to the coffee shop and got a Dr Pepper and a Starbucks Carnival breeze mug! My first souvenir of the cruise!
We decided to watch sail away from our balcony which is something we usually do. The weather was great and this is definitely a much needed vacay! I even took a picture of the progress being made on the new terminal for Royal Caribbean.
When I booked this cruise I decided that it would be a great opportunity for us to actually be able to eat at a steakhouse without all the crowds that Valentine’s day usually has. So, on Halloween, I made reservations to have dinner on embarkation day. As the time grew near our reservation time, we changed clothes. Sometimes a change of clothes is really all about the shoes and this outfit was no exception. As we made our way to Fahrenheit 555, we made one quick stop for photos because it’s my birthday and it is what I wanted to do.
The food at Fahrenheit 555 was amazing. I ordered a bottle of Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc to go with my meal. I was nice and shared some of it with my husband! We were brought a slider to try compliments of the chef. It was pretty good. For my meal, I had sea salt bread, a Ceasar salad, broiled Filet Mignon, and a baked potato. Jim had the bone marrow and hand cut beef tartare, New York strip, and onion rings, We both ordered the chocolate sphere for dessert. After finishing our meal, we were stuffed!!!!
After dinner, we walked around a bit and did a little more shopping. And by shopping, I mean I bought my first Pandora bracelet and a couple of charms. I know it may not be much, but I love it!
We ended our first night on board at the Red Frog Pub where I had a couple of Pain Killers and Jim had Woodford Reserve on the rocks. The best part of the night was getting a picture of our AWESOME cruise director. I hope to be on a ship with him again.
And so ends day one of our cruise on the Carnival Breeze.
More blogs about this cruise are coming up real soon!!!!
It’s finally here!!! It seems like I have been waiting for a long time for this day to come. But today is the day we leave for our cruise. We always drive to the home port one day early so we can enjoy the island.
Today, we started with a quick visit to see my mom so we can give her some Valentine goodies!!! She was so happy.
We already knew our travel day would take us to The Little Czech Bakery in West, Texas and to Buc-ees in Waller, Texas before arriving in Galveston.
I must say, the Kolache’s at The Little Czech Bakery are beyond EXCELLENT. We loved them so much, we stopped on our return home as well. They have a large selection of Kolaches as well as sausage rolls. I highly recommend them and I will be making the drive there hopefully on a monthly basis!!!! They are that good!!!!
Our next stop was Buc-ees for gas and a restroom break. No photos this time. Maybe on the way home.
We made it to our hotel in Galveston before check-in time so we decided to see if they would let us check in early. And they did. I love staying at the Quality Inn & Suites. The staff are very friendly. We got our luggage to our room and decided to leave for dinner. As I was walking out of our room, I noticed that the door did not shut completely and could be pushed open. I called the front desk and they had someone there within minutes to fix the problem. It took maybe 15 minutes to fix the door and we were on our way out to dinner.
It is a pre-cruise tradition for us to have dinner at The Original Mexican Cafe in Galveston. The food and staff are top notch. We have never had a bad meal there. I can’t wait to go back there again!
After dinner, we drove around for a bit then decided to go back to the hotel to watch the Super Bowl and try to sleep.
And so ends another wonderful pre-cruise travel day.
I will be away for this cruise, but while I am gone, I have some craft project blogs that will be published every day at 6 am. I hope you will check them out while I’m away.
I plan on putting up photos on my Instagram and Facebook while we are gone so if you would like to be one of my friends on either site, let me know and I will be happy to add you.
I plan on starting a cruise recap series on the 22nd!!!
Normally I would immediately start on my to-do list first thing, but not today. Why? Because today is the day I have to complete our Health Assessment for the cruise. It is very quick and easy! Plus I feel like I have accomplished something major before starting my to-do list.
The first item on today’s to-do list had me going to Amazing Lash Studios to have my lashes filled in. I love coming to the place. It is so relaxing.
After that, I just knocked out all of the remaining things on my to do list like doing some shopping for our son who will be watching our house and taking care of our furbabies. Luckily it was an easy trip to Walmart Neighborhood Market as we already had everything he would need with the exception of milk. He can really put away the milk!!!!
Of course, I had to go to the bank to have a travel notice put on our accounts. This is something I always do.
Now all I need to do is laundry and some packing for my husband. That is, if he ever figures out what he wants to take!!!!
Of course, we need to have a COVID test before we leave town so that is definitely the last thing on the to-do list. And it is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. So, keep your fingers crossed that everything goes well for us!
our life reality 