I do not like it when my cruise has come to an end.  It just so sad.  But, with the amount of pictures we have taken, I will be busy making my scrapbook pages (eventually).

We arrive in Galveston to a bright sunny day.  We were even greeted by some dolphins, which I always LOVE looking for and seeing.

Eventually our number was called and we were asked to leave the ship.  That is so rude!  Jim walked across the street to Galveston Park N Cruise to retrieve our vehicle and before long, we were south bound on I45.

Since the weather was nice, we decided to stop at the Sam Houston Statue on our way home.  The area is beautiful and was a diversion to the sadness of leaving the ship.

We stayed there for about an hour or so before we continue our south bound drive on I45.

Once home, our cat Talladega (aka Dega) greeted us in a not so warm manner.  And yes, all of my pets names since 2002 have been NASCAR related in one way or another.

In the next installment, it is back to reality.

Today was like most of the rest.  Coffee, breakfast from the Lido buffet, then walking around taking pictures.  Only today, there were things to be done that we haven’t done yet.

After my morning walk, it was time for me to go down at least one of the water slides.  I must confess… it was fun!!!!

Then I had to try the Ropes Course!!!  It was a challenge for me since I have a fear of heights.  But it was a lot easier than I thought it would be and the view from up there was FANTASTIC!!!

One of the ship photographers took a picture of Dawson playing mini-golf!!!

Fernando couldn’t be outdone…  So there are a lot of pictures of him all over and with numerous people.  Alcohol may or may not have been involved.  Obviously I was taking a nap at the time, LOL!

We finally went to get cleaned up after a long day in the sun.  We took an evening walk on our way to the dining room

As always, dinner was amazing right up until the people at the table next to us ordered frog legs…  Poor Fernando.  He was so sad, but quickly cheered up when the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake arrived.

After dinner, we took a some more family pictures then went to our stateroom to pack things up and to put our luggage outside.  Dawson passed out from exhaustion!

Jim and I went to the Legends show which we really enjoyed.  Then we spent the rest of the evening admiring the ship.

In the next installment, we return to Galveston.

Cozumel is one of my favorite places.  We always seem to pick an itinerary that makes a stop here and we have also done week vacations here.  We. Love. Cozumel.  As always, I was up early and out on our balcony to watch us arrive to this island.  It is definitely going to be a beautiful day on the island.

 

After we watched the ship dock in port, we decided to go get some food and more coffee.  We open the door and were completely surprised by what we saw!!!  Some people from our Facebook Cruise Book had decorated our door.  And there was a reason for the decorations.  This cruise was just after the Texas Rangers made it to the World Series for the very first time.  They were playing the St. Louis Cardinals.  So, a friendly wager was made between myself and my friend Shawna.  The winner would make sure the loser had a little something showing their team spirit.  Shawna won.  And I must say, she is a very delightful person!!!  And her brother Michael, know how to decorate a door!!!!

 

While we were eating, Dawson decided he wanted some time on the waterslide since it wasn’t crowded.  That boy really loved the slide!!!!

 

While Dawson was on the slide, I decided to walk around and take more pictures (like that is something new).  I really enjoy spending time on an open deck just watching the area come to life.  Plus it is fun to people watch!!!

 

Fernando did a little exploring as well.

 

Once we were able to get Dawson off the slide and cleaned up, we were finally off the ship.  We took a taxi to Carlos N Charlies in town.  This was also another first for Dawson.  We ate our lunch and may have had a drink or 2 By The Yard!  Then we walked to our friend’s restaurant to say hello to him.  Tony Rome’s is just off the main square.  Then we went back to the square to do some more shopping before heading back to the ship.

Apparently Fernando had a little fun in Cozumel too!!!

Once back on ship, Fernando got dressed since he finally has something that would be more appropriate in public.

As it was getting close to sail-away, we went to the Lido deck to take some more pictures of the area.

As we were pulling away from the pier, everyone noticed a group of men, on the pier with a lot of baggage.  Sitting.  Looking. Talking on their phones.  It was the men that were on the ship working on the propulsion issue the ship was experiencing.  I can only say “Thank You” to these men for working on ship so diligently.

The rest of the evening was like most of the rest…  Dinner time, then bedtime.

The next installment will be all about our last sea day, or at least Fernando’s last sea day!!!

After we rested from our day and took in the sights from our balcony, we went up to the Lido deck to watch for pier runners.  We were not disappointed.  This is a favorite past time of ours.  We have seen people running down the pier with their passed out friend sitting in a wheelchair but we have never seen anyone left at the pier.  But, for the first time, we saw the doors on the other ship close then re-open just to let the stumbling down drunk person on the ship.  This person and their spouse were very lucky!!!

 

 

 

On day two in Progreso, we went shopping at the pier in search of some clothes for Fernando and Mexican Vanilla.  We were able to find what we liked and what we need!!!

We spent the rest of the day eating, relaxing and spending a lot of time at WaterWorks.  This is something that Dawson really enjoyed!!!  Jim seemed to like is as well!!!

 

It was finally time for us to leave Progreso.  I have a feeling that I will be back to this port again sometime.  But hopefully not too soon.

 

Not long after sail away was the Past Guest party!!!  Being VIFP Gold has it’s advantages, at least for now!!!  Then it was time for dinner.  I enjoy the entertainment the staff provide.  And the food is so good!!!

 

The next installment will be about our time in Cozumel!!!

 

 

Good morning from the Carnival Magic.  I love having morning coffee on our balcony.  Last night, we were informed that our itinerary has been changed due the mechanical problem the ship was experiencing.  Our altered itinerary would now be:

Monday 11/14/2011 – Depart Galveston.

Tuesday 11/15/2011 – Fun Day at Sea

Wednesday 11/16/2011 – Arrive in Progreso for overnight stay.

Thursday 11/17/2011 – Progreso (departing in afternoon)

Friday 11/18/2011 – Cozumel

Saturday 11/19/2011 – Fun Day at Sea

Sunday 11/20/2011 – Return to Galveston

This change doesn’t bother me.  Two days in Progreso are still better than being at work.  But for now, it is time for breakfast.  It is imperative that I cam well fed and caffeinated before we start our day of fun!  But wait!!!  What is this on our door???  Our friends that we have cruised with before made something for us.  So very creative!!!!

After breakfast, we wandered around the ship taking more pictures.  I am in love with the artwork in the stairwells.  And I love how the lights by the glass elevators change colors.  I am sure I will spend more time in the Atrium just looking up and watching them change.  Yes.  I am easily amused.

Now it is time to meet our Facebook group in the Atrium for a Cabin Crawl.  I feel so lucky to be able to see so many different types of staterooms.  The crawl actually began on Deck 1 in an Oceanview Deluxe and ended on Deck 12 in a Spa Balcony.  I have to admit, my favorite stateroom on the cabin crawl was the Aft Balcony Wrap.  It has the views and the space.  Maybe one day I will be staying in an Aft Balcony Wrap.

After all the walking and climbing stairs, Jim and I were ready for lunch.  Nothing at the Lido buffet really appealed to us so we went upstairs to Cucina del Capitano.  Our food was good and it is free during lunch hours.

The next thing on the agenda is a Meet & Greet at Red Frog Pub.  John Heald and Calvyn made an appearance!!!  This was a lot of fun!!!!  This has really been a fun cruise!!!!

Since it is the first sea day of the cruise, that means it is also formal night, or cruise elegant night.  But that also means Lobster and Prime Rib are served at dinner.  And, of course, Warm Chocolate Melting Cake.  It also means that we have the opportunity to have a picture made with us all dressed up.  Something we rarely, if ever, do at home.

It was a long day and we were worn out.  We need to figure out what we want to do in Progreso since we will be there tomorrow!!!

In the next installment…  our first day in Progreso.

 

 

We woke up very early and only had one cup of coffee before we left our condo long before the sun came up.  We were on a mission to watch the Carnival Magic sail into Galveston.  We drove from the condo to Port San Jacinto Historic Point in hopes of seeing her arrive there.  But we were too late!!!  We quickly turned around and made our way to Pier 21.  What a majestic sight she is!!!

We went back to the condo to see if Dawson was awake and to have some breakfast.  We also needed to make sure we had everything packed and ready to go for our move to Quality Inn.  Since we had several hours between checking out of the condo and checking into our new hotel, we decided to first stop at the beach at the condo.  We had some bread left so we decided we could use that to feed the birds!!!  Once again, the beach was not crowded at all.  The birds were very happy to see us.  A sand crab even came out to say hello!

From there, we went back to the pier area so Dawson could get his first look at the ship!!!  She is HUGE!!!  And so very beautiful.

We spent the rest of the morning eating lunch and doing some laundry before we were able to check in to the Quality Inn.  The hotel is clean and conveniently located.

I had won tickets to the Maroon 5 concert, then I won VIP tickets to see the concert from the balcony at Willie G’s.  And what a view it was.  So much fun.  At one point during the concert, you could see dolphins playing in the harbor as Adam Levine was singing!

We didn’t say for the entire concert since Dawson was alone at the hotel.  When we got back, we decided we would have dinner at Tortuga’s which is at the front of the hotel.  This makes the third Mexican restaurant we tried since we arrived on the 10th!!!  We all agreed that it would not hurt our feelings if we did not go back there.

After taking in some sights around the hotel, we decided to call it a night.

In tomorrow’s installment, we finally board the Carnival Magic!!!!

Another beautiful morning to have coffee on the balcony and enjoy the view.  This is definitely the best part of my morning.

After breakfast and more coffee, we decide to go across the street to the resort’s beach area before heading to town.  It is such a beautiful day outside and there is absolutely no one at the beach.  Peace and quiet except for the waves!!!

But now we are on a mission.  We are going in search of a whale tail.  And we should have no trouble finding one since there will definitely be a Carnival ship in port today.

After walking around and taking more pictures, we head to The Original Mexican Cafe for the morning/breakfast/brunch meet and greet.  This is the first time we have been here and I must say, we will definitely make this a regular stop on all future trips to the island.  We had a lot of fun meeting everyone.  Even Fernando deFrog Cruz made a new friend, Spotty!!!

Now it is time for us to watch the Carnival Conquest leave Galveston for the last time.  She will be headed to her new home port of New Orleans.  There were a lot of people at Pier 21 watching her leave.  We sailed on her in August 2010 and had a wonderful cruise on her.  I’m glad we had the opportunity to sail on her before her relocation.

The evening meet and greet was held at The Spot.  There was a large turn out for this gathering of our Facebook group.  It was fun to actually meet the people we have been chatting with for months!!!

We made a rather early night of things and returned to the condo.  We have a very early wake-up call for the next morning.  Something we do not want to miss!!!  Find out what that is in the next installment!!!!!