4:31 p.m. - 2006-12-05
The Mexican Cruise
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
So, here goes the detailed explanation of where I have been and why it has taken so long for me to post . We drove our pickup truck on Saturday, November 18th, from Northern Indiana. There was my husband, myself, our son and our daughter-in-law.
We left about 4:30 AM and drove until about 6:00 PM. We spent the night in a motel and had a nice dinner. We got on the road about 8:00 AM Sunday and arrived in Galveston, Texas in the afternoon.
We stayed at a motel right on the Gulf and the seawall. We had dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. In fact, the waiter was the same one my husband and I had when we were in Galveston earlier in the year. The waiter didn't remember us, of course, but I remembered him. Our son and DIL had never eaten at Joe's so they enjoyed it. We drove them to the dock so they could see where we would be leaving the next day. We went to Kroger's to get some "nibblies" and pop for the cruise.
The next day we slept in and had breakfast at Denny's....The Big Grand Slam.....mmmm!
Then we drove to the dock and unloaded the luggage. My husband parked in the security lot and was shuttled back to the Departure area. We were already in line and by the time he joined us, we were quickly cleared for boarding! We got on the Royal Carribbean ship about 12:30 P.M.
We were departing about 5:00 PM so we had our son and DIL come to our room on the 7th deck to watch on our balcony as we left Texas. It was sunset and the lights and soft colors were so beautiful.
We had some wind and high waves for about 2- 1/2 days so we had a little trouble getting our sea legs but none of us were sick. We had our first dinner at 6:00 PM and were delighted that we had a table for four. My husband and I needed to talk about Carolyn and we had been asked to toast her at our first dinner.
My husband didn't think he could get through a toast so I offered...all I got out was..."To Carolyn, she always brought light into the room"...and I couldn't go on.
On Tuesday, we were at sea all day and enjoyed exploring the ship. It was a smaller cruise ship than we had been on before. The casino was half the size and the shops were about half the number as well. Nevertheless, our son and DIL and I did check out the Spa.
My son and I went to an acupuncture seminar and he won a $150 acupuncture session! I went with him to see how it was done and was very impressed. He did feel he got some stress relief from it and we may look into finding a local acupuncturist and Chinese Herbal Specialist here in our home town.
Our son also got a hand and forearm massage and felt great relief. He does a lot of work on computers and his job as a Police/Fire Dispatcher is certainly stressful. His wife got a nail polish session. The two dockside trips they had planned on were cancelled so they had the money back to do these other things.
On Wednesday, we docked at 7:00 A,M. at Cozumel, Mexico. We went shopping and bought a few things for family and friends. We went to our favorite shop, VIVA MEXICO, which we had visited over a year ago. Our son and DIL wandered around and made some purchases too. We drank Coke manufactured in Mexico...it had a slightly different flavor.
The ship sailed at 7:00 PM and the next morning, we docked at Casa Maya, Mexico.
There was a central area of open market shops within walking distance of the docks. We spent a couple of hours there and then returned to the ship. We left at 3:00 P.M.
On Friday, we were at sea all night and day again and we arrived in Galveston about 7:00 A.M. on Saturday. I attended an art auction and purchased a picture for myself. My husband found a painting he liked also. I will try to locate the
pictures online and post them tomorrow.
We decided to try the early departure from the ship by carrying our own luggage down to the gangplank. We got through Customs in just a few minutes although it took nearly 2 hours to get off the ship, through Customs and into our truck again.
*******
On the previous Sunday, as we were driving to Galveston, my husband had remarked that at a certain highway, if we turned North, in 5 hours we would be at my sister's house. I told him not to tease me like that. That night at the motel, he told me he had been thinking about what I said. Because we had just lost his sister (who I was very close to) he decided he would take me to see my two sisters when we got back from the cruise. We had quickly called to make sure it was ok with her and then booked a one way flight home for me for December 3rd.
So, off we went towards my sister's house. It seemed like it took nearly all day to get there. The traffic was terrible and we were all tired and quiet because the cruise was over. My husband and our DIL had to return to work on Tuesday. They decided they could drive home in two days and have Monday to rest and get back into the swing of life.
The next blog will be about my visit with my sisters.....
