Cruise 2014 - Mexico

We were excited for Saturday because we were going to Mexico! We pulled into port early Saturday morning and after breakfast, we headed off the ship into Mexico. There were several little shops set up right at the port that we walked through to get out. We looked around, but didn't buy anything. We had absolutely no idea where we were going, so we just started walking up a random street. We had a map, but it wasn't very good. Almost everything was in Spanish and we were afraid to ask anyone because we didn't know if they could speak English. It's definitely a weird experience being in a different country. After walking forever, we decided to walk back to the port. A taxi driver found us and asked if we needed a ride (in English!). We told him we were trying to get to the beach. He pointed us in the right direction, but said it was about 2 miles away. We decided to save the money for the taxi and walk the 2 miles to the beach. It was a long way, but eventually, we got there. And oh! what a sight it was!

 We dropped our things on the sand and right away, Josh waded into the cold ocean water.

The waves were so beautiful and it was actually louder than I thought it would be. The water was really cold! :) Josh wanted to swim in the ocean so he ran right into the water. He said it was cold, but after awhile, it got better. I went in the water, but only to like waist-high. I was a little intimated by the waves. They aren't very big in the pictures, but in person, they are huge and very intimidating!

The sand was so awesome! There weren't a lot of people when we got there, but as we were leaving and towards the afternoon hours, more people were showing up. After wading in the water for awhile, I convinced Josh to lay out on the beach and enjoy the sunshine with me. We laid out for a little while and watched people trying to surf the waves. There was also a guy pushing a huge wheelbarrow down the beach. The wheelbarrow was filled to the max with food: treats, snacks, etc. This man and 2 boys that were near us bought some snacks from him. Then the birds arrived. There were so many birds that were flocking around them to get some of their snacks! It was craziness!!! Birds are so scary! And these birds were just right up next to these people waiting for them to give them snacks! AHH!

So after about an hour of enjoying the wonderful sights of the beach, we started our 2-mile journey back to the port. We boarded back on the ship and headed up to the buffet for lunch. We took some awesome pictures of our view during lunch.

Oh, I also forgot to mention that on Friday night, Josh got seasick. He complained of having a headache all afternoon. We got ready for dinner and went down to the dining room. When we sat down and ordered our dinner, then Josh said his stomach was hurting. We got our salads and after only one or two bites, he said he couldn't eat anymore. So I finished his salad and I got my soup. I ate a little bit of my soup and after listening to Josh complain some more about his stomach hurting, I told our waiter that he wasn't feeling good and asked him to cancel our dinner orders. We went back to the room and I ran to get some dramamine and advil for Josh. We watched TV for awhile, then Josh ran into the bathroom and I heard some awful retching sounds. He threw up the couple of bites of salad that he had eaten. However, after awhile, he said he was starting to feel better. So about an hour later, he said he was feeling ok, so we decided to go see the illusionist, Hawley Magic. It's this husband and wife couple that were on America's Got Talent. They were pretty good. It was a little different than we thought it would be. Instead of just magic, there was a lot more dancing and show-casing, I guess. Anyways, that was our interesting Friday night.

Highlights of our cruise:

1. The FOOD!!!!
       The food was absolutely amazing! The first night for dinner, I ordered just a salad and a cup of tomato soup. It was literally the best tomato soup I've ever had! The desserts were soooo good! Every day for lunch, we went and got fresh fruit and salad from the buffet (along with the "best pizza at sea"). As you can see from the picture, I ate lots of watermelon, pineapple, cantaloupe, and shrimp. One day at the buffet, there were these chocolate cupcakes that were so good! YUMMY! :) I felt like all we did was eat, eat, and eat some more! In fact, one of the comedian's biggest jokes during his show was: "Oh boy, I better let you go. It's been almost 43 minutes since you folks have last ate!" haha. But seriously...we ate a lot!


2. The SERVICE!!!
      We were absolutely amazed at the quality of service we got from all crew members throughout the entire cruise! One morning, we went to breakfast and when we came back to the room, our friend, Ricky, had already been there to made the bed and refresh our towels and whatnot. It was incredible! Another perk of the Traditional Dining is that we had the same waiter every night for dinner too. He was awesome as well! The cruise line charges an automatic $11.50 tip per person, per day. So after the cruise, that tip for the both of us was automatically charged to our account. However, on the last night, we gave an extra tip to both our waiter and Ricky for cleaning our room all week.

3. The BEACH!!!
     Josh was really excited to see the ocean and go to beach. I have been by the ocean only once before in my life when we went on a family vacation to California. I was really excited to lay out in the beautiful sunshine, especially at the beach. We had a great time enjoying the sun and the water. The sights from the ship were also great to see. One night, after dinner, Josh and I walked out on the deck to see how the ocean looked at night. It was so creepy! Everything was pitch black, but the moon lit up a path along the water. It was windy and we could heard the ship cutting through the waves below us. It was really eery though. Every day for lunch, we sat by the big windows and we could see the entire ocean out before us. It was wonderful!

So, I'll probably post some more pictures in the future that I didn't post yet. I recommend a cruise to anyone who wants a good vacation! It was really awesome! We were amazed at all the things that were included in the price we paid for the cruise; lots of things came free for us, so it was great! :)