After ten years of marriage, Aaron and I decided to take a nice anniversary trip. If it were not for Phil and Jamie speaking so highly of their fun experience we would likely have never even considered taking a cruise. Once we started researching about it however, there was no turning back! :) 
Surprisingly, the cost of a cruise (though not inconsiderable) was relatively cheap compared to the cost of staying in one tropical location for the same amount of time. And I will be the first to admit, I looked forward to all the food with great excitement and was not disappointed! Where shall we eat tonight? On the lido deck? Or perhaps out by the pool at the grill? No, no, tonight I want to dress up and eat in the formal dining room.
Then after dinner (however many courses we considered tempting and trying a bit of each of the evenings offerings of desert) we could always roll ourselves up to the other restaurant choices and eat more. Then, too full to even move from our stateroom we might muster up the energy to order more food to our room. Glut glut glut! I think we each gained about 5 lbs on the trip. Although we didn't eat nonstop, the option was always available and we got our moneys worth of fine food out of the trip! :) 
The weather was beautiful and each port of call was different and enjoyable. We loved snorkeling in Cabo San Lucas and had the best boat tour on the way down the coast to the best snorkeling location and back up again. We were pleased to learn we were the only ones going so we had the speedboat to ourselves. Our guide took us first to well known lovers beach and then the famous arches where we found a group of sea lions basking in the sun. Many other boats milled around, but our tour guide backed the boat right up to the rocky ledge and I didn't even realize how close we were as I was trying to take a picture and the perspective was different. When I lowered the camera, I was surprised and a bit overwhelmed by the awesome experience of having a sea lion right in front of me rise up and bark. The guide kept us close by allowing the waves to push us up almost right into the ledge and then gunning the engine to push us away a bit again. It was about 1/2 an hour down the coast to the coral.
I was disappointed by the water temperature. I had imagined it would be quite warm, but I was shivering within minutes. The powered motor we held in front of us propelled us around the coral making the experience very relaxing and we could get closer to it and not run the risk of injury by the waves. A most amusing event then took place. About half way through our snorkeling, I was floating on the top looking at some fish when I pressed the handle to start the motor to go forward. I had let the motor drift under me a bit as I was looking around and when it started up it caught the strings to my swimsuit top and tangled them up immediately in the propellers! I popped my head up and looked around for Aaron. I yelled him over and held onto his ankle as he towed me to the boat. Out of the water those motors are not light and he had to push me up the ladder as our guide pulled me up and I held both the motor in one hand and my swimsuit close to my body in the other hand. We were all laughing and I was very embarrassed! As our guide tried to untangle the strings I asked him if he has ever had this kind of thing happed before? He replied never with a woman, but men often get their trunk drawstrings tangled up in them. I figured mine was a better alternative! Finally we had to break off the strings and Aaron and I enjoyed the rest of our time. I got to hold a puffer fish- very fun! On the way back up the coast our guide surfed the waves crashing into the beach at a great speed and even continued up the populated beaches and through the other boat traffic. We were laughing and amazed at his daring! Never in America would that kind of driving be allowed. It was very exhilarating.
I was really looking forward to bargaining in Mexico and had a really fun experience in a small store there. Looking for a painted plate to bring back I struck a really low price by being willing to walk out unconcerned. Funny thing was, I really wanted to wait to purchase and look around at the other stores prices first. But they took me as a really hard bargainer and called me back to give me the low price. Woohoo! I do love a bargain! :)
We were not as pleased with Mazatlan. Except for the 'golden zone' it was a dirty town. Our excursion was not at all what it was advertised to be and ended very poorly by our almost missing the boat because of their inability to take funds they had previously been willing to take. We literally jumped on the boat as they were pulling up the planks. I was VERY angry at first and was having a hard time letting it go until I considered what the alternative could have been. As Aaron had lost both his credit card and Drivers License in Cabo the day before, we would have been left stranded in Mazatlan (not a nice picture here) with just my drivers license and our boat ID cards- with NO money. And we would have to either try to fly down to Puerto Vallarta by the next day to join our boat (HIGHLY unlikely) or try to get new passports to fly back to the states and get home. Once that reality sunk in, I was able to move on and enjoy the rest of our cruise. Which was really wonderful! The next day in Puerto Vallarta was a real highlight! The water was ever so warm (hmmmm..what I had been expecting) 
and our excursion took us down the coast again to a beautiful inlet where we rode up in a long truck into the Sierra Madre and then on mule back up higher and then had a wonderful zip line adventure zipping over small valleys, rappelling down a waterfall, and even a freefall which had me shrieking (in delight and fear!)
Our boat stayed late in port so we shopped in the marketplace and played on the beach. By this time we had made friends with many couples and most especially with Carolyn and Doug & Stacy and Jake. They had gone with us on the zip line adventure and we played together in the surf. 
Once I found out Jake was afraid of water animals I thought it would be great fun to toss into the water the small jellyfish found on the sand. He TOTALLY freaked out and we girls were having a bit of fun at his expense until Aaron and Doug yelled at us that the tiny harmless jellyfish actually had a nasty sting to them. Then we felt horrible and apologized most profusely to him. I did get a big chuckle later though when in the water I felt something slip past my leg and exclaimed aloud then turned to see Jake swimming madly away. There is a bit of the mischievous devil in me :)
That evening the boat turned around to sail back up the coast and we had another two enjoyable days at sea before disembarking on the morning of the eighth day in San Diego. What fun memories! Beating Aaron at chess out on the deck using the chest high playing pieces, getting the highest score for a perfect belly dive (NOT something I volunteered for), losing almost every game of shuffleboard to Aaron,
dancing in the evenings, playing Settlers of Catan with our new friends out on the deck, laying in the sun doing NOTHING hmmmmm..... 
The last evening on board we went to the finale show (we almost never went to the shows as Aaron wasn't really into the singing and dancing) and sat up front. When the magician came on to do his act, it was really more just entertainment stuff and he asked for a volunteer. Of course, I wanted to go up and Aaron yelled loudly for him to pick me. He responded that he usually picked a man and did Aaron think his wife could handle it? Aaron said (and I quote) "Hey, It's your funeral buddy". So of course then I had to go up.
Surprisingly, the cost of a cruise (though not inconsiderable) was relatively cheap compared to the cost of staying in one tropical location for the same amount of time. And I will be the first to admit, I looked forward to all the food with great excitement and was not disappointed! Where shall we eat tonight? On the lido deck? Or perhaps out by the pool at the grill? No, no, tonight I want to dress up and eat in the formal dining room.
Then after dinner (however many courses we considered tempting and trying a bit of each of the evenings offerings of desert) we could always roll ourselves up to the other restaurant choices and eat more. Then, too full to even move from our stateroom we might muster up the energy to order more food to our room. Glut glut glut! I think we each gained about 5 lbs on the trip. Although we didn't eat nonstop, the option was always available and we got our moneys worth of fine food out of the trip! :) 
The weather was beautiful and each port of call was different and enjoyable. We loved snorkeling in Cabo San Lucas and had the best boat tour on the way down the coast to the best snorkeling location and back up again. We were pleased to learn we were the only ones going so we had the speedboat to ourselves. Our guide took us first to well known lovers beach and then the famous arches where we found a group of sea lions basking in the sun. Many other boats milled around, but our tour guide backed the boat right up to the rocky ledge and I didn't even realize how close we were as I was trying to take a picture and the perspective was different. When I lowered the camera, I was surprised and a bit overwhelmed by the awesome experience of having a sea lion right in front of me rise up and bark. The guide kept us close by allowing the waves to push us up almost right into the ledge and then gunning the engine to push us away a bit again. It was about 1/2 an hour down the coast to the coral.
I was disappointed by the water temperature. I had imagined it would be quite warm, but I was shivering within minutes. The powered motor we held in front of us propelled us around the coral making the experience very relaxing and we could get closer to it and not run the risk of injury by the waves. A most amusing event then took place. About half way through our snorkeling, I was floating on the top looking at some fish when I pressed the handle to start the motor to go forward. I had let the motor drift under me a bit as I was looking around and when it started up it caught the strings to my swimsuit top and tangled them up immediately in the propellers! I popped my head up and looked around for Aaron. I yelled him over and held onto his ankle as he towed me to the boat. Out of the water those motors are not light and he had to push me up the ladder as our guide pulled me up and I held both the motor in one hand and my swimsuit close to my body in the other hand. We were all laughing and I was very embarrassed! As our guide tried to untangle the strings I asked him if he has ever had this kind of thing happed before? He replied never with a woman, but men often get their trunk drawstrings tangled up in them. I figured mine was a better alternative! Finally we had to break off the strings and Aaron and I enjoyed the rest of our time. I got to hold a puffer fish- very fun! On the way back up the coast our guide surfed the waves crashing into the beach at a great speed and even continued up the populated beaches and through the other boat traffic. We were laughing and amazed at his daring! Never in America would that kind of driving be allowed. It was very exhilarating.I was really looking forward to bargaining in Mexico and had a really fun experience in a small store there. Looking for a painted plate to bring back I struck a really low price by being willing to walk out unconcerned. Funny thing was, I really wanted to wait to purchase and look around at the other stores prices first. But they took me as a really hard bargainer and called me back to give me the low price. Woohoo! I do love a bargain! :)
We were not as pleased with Mazatlan. Except for the 'golden zone' it was a dirty town. Our excursion was not at all what it was advertised to be and ended very poorly by our almost missing the boat because of their inability to take funds they had previously been willing to take. We literally jumped on the boat as they were pulling up the planks. I was VERY angry at first and was having a hard time letting it go until I considered what the alternative could have been. As Aaron had lost both his credit card and Drivers License in Cabo the day before, we would have been left stranded in Mazatlan (not a nice picture here) with just my drivers license and our boat ID cards- with NO money. And we would have to either try to fly down to Puerto Vallarta by the next day to join our boat (HIGHLY unlikely) or try to get new passports to fly back to the states and get home. Once that reality sunk in, I was able to move on and enjoy the rest of our cruise. Which was really wonderful! The next day in Puerto Vallarta was a real highlight! The water was ever so warm (hmmmm..what I had been expecting) 
and our excursion took us down the coast again to a beautiful inlet where we rode up in a long truck into the Sierra Madre and then on mule back up higher and then had a wonderful zip line adventure zipping over small valleys, rappelling down a waterfall, and even a freefall which had me shrieking (in delight and fear!)
Our boat stayed late in port so we shopped in the marketplace and played on the beach. By this time we had made friends with many couples and most especially with Carolyn and Doug & Stacy and Jake. They had gone with us on the zip line adventure and we played together in the surf. 
Once I found out Jake was afraid of water animals I thought it would be great fun to toss into the water the small jellyfish found on the sand. He TOTALLY freaked out and we girls were having a bit of fun at his expense until Aaron and Doug yelled at us that the tiny harmless jellyfish actually had a nasty sting to them. Then we felt horrible and apologized most profusely to him. I did get a big chuckle later though when in the water I felt something slip past my leg and exclaimed aloud then turned to see Jake swimming madly away. There is a bit of the mischievous devil in me :)That evening the boat turned around to sail back up the coast and we had another two enjoyable days at sea before disembarking on the morning of the eighth day in San Diego. What fun memories! Beating Aaron at chess out on the deck using the chest high playing pieces, getting the highest score for a perfect belly dive (NOT something I volunteered for), losing almost every game of shuffleboard to Aaron,
dancing in the evenings, playing Settlers of Catan with our new friends out on the deck, laying in the sun doing NOTHING hmmmmm..... 
The last evening on board we went to the finale show (we almost never went to the shows as Aaron wasn't really into the singing and dancing) and sat up front. When the magician came on to do his act, it was really more just entertainment stuff and he asked for a volunteer. Of course, I wanted to go up and Aaron yelled loudly for him to pick me. He responded that he usually picked a man and did Aaron think his wife could handle it? Aaron said (and I quote) "Hey, It's your funeral buddy". So of course then I had to go up.
He tried to give me a real hard time to entertain the folks and I gave back as best I could. At one point he exclaimed loudly "Rule number one is you cannot be funnier than me". Can't you just see me up on stage hamming it up? ...yeah, not hard, I know! :) 
So then for the short rest of the cruise couples recognizing me would stop us and ask for the truth- was I a plant? No, we would answer and my ego would grow. Not a good thing! :)
By Friday evening I realized I was ready to see the boys again- I looked forward to going home and seeing them very much but I never felt homesick or lonely for them. I thought I would- but I think having such a wonderful time and knowing they were well cared for and that I would have heard if anything was wrong gave me great peace and relaxation.
So I had heard it said that if you cruise once you are hooked for life... we shall see... :)
So then for the short rest of the cruise couples recognizing me would stop us and ask for the truth- was I a plant? No, we would answer and my ego would grow. Not a good thing! :)By Friday evening I realized I was ready to see the boys again- I looked forward to going home and seeing them very much but I never felt homesick or lonely for them. I thought I would- but I think having such a wonderful time and knowing they were well cared for and that I would have heard if anything was wrong gave me great peace and relaxation.
So I had heard it said that if you cruise once you are hooked for life... we shall see... :)
3 comments:
You guys look like you had soo much fun! I'm totally jealous and wanting to go on another cruise. I'm glad you were able to look back with only the good memories and overlook the negative ones. That really is the key to life!
It was a lot of fun...and I think I am jealous of me right now too! :)
Looks like SO much fun! I loved hearing about it when you came to visit. I think we'll definitely try that in a few years.
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