Ryan and I celebrated our 10-year anniversary in style this year. We decided to go on a cruise!!!
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| Our ship was the Carnival Triumph |
Port of Galveston
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| We were very excited to go. And very thankful that Grammy and Papa McP. were willing to watch the kiddies. |
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| While in port we saw a couple of dolphins swimming around the port. It seemed weird since this particular area was for oil rigs and tankers. |
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| Our ship looking back (stern) towards the promenade deck. |
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| The slide. We didn't go on it, but had fun watching other people enjoy it. |
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| Ryan checking out Galveston. So handsome! |
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| The view from the stern (back of the boat) |
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| A tug boat chugging along by us. |
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| A nice lighthouse on an island. We saw ferries carrying cars from the island to the mainland. There didn't seem to be a bridge. |
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Me
Once on board we ate lunch and switched our dinner time to a later time. Dinner was amazing every night and the staff on board were wonderful. We were able to eat as much of any and everything we wanted. Dessert was my favorite (I had at least one every night) and I think Ryan enjoyed the choices of appetizers and main dishes (again at least one every night).
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| We saw quite a few tankers coming and going, but this one was by far my favorite because it was so brightly colored against the blue of the water. |
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| A pelican cruising along with us. |
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| Depending on which port we were in depended on what flag was being flown. Since we were in Galveston, it was the good ol' U.S. of A. |
Out to Sea
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| We spent two whole days out to sea. It was really nice because there was lots to do and see. |
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| (In the theater) There were shows, trivia challenges, games, swimming, eating- oh, my goodness the eating, and so much more. I have never seen so much food in my life available about 24 hours a day. And I thought it was really good. |
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| They had a map on the wall to track how far we'd traveled. |
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| We really didn't go to the casino and play, but Ryan did give it a go at this game to try and win an iPad and money. |
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| The ship had a small art gallery that we visited when they changed up what they were showing. They also had an art auction where we purchased a couple of paintings that are now hanging around our house. |
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Our menagerie
The cleaning staff would make hand towel animals as part of the turn down service. We loved coming in to see what animal would greet us each night.
From left to right: rabbit, gorilla, seal, elephant, pig |
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Our "24-carat plastic ship on a stick"!!!
Ryan won this for being team captain during a battle of the sexes charades game.
We also played progressive trivia while on board. That is a game that happens every day and your points accumulate from day to day. |
Progresso
Progresso was an interesting city. It wasn't a place I would have expected to stop. It wasn't really touristy or all that well developed. But as the name suggests, Progresso is definitely a work in progress.
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| Progresso had a very long pier. It was about a 20-30 minute bus ride from where we were docked into town. |
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| Once "in town" or the area they built to sell their wares to us unsuspecting tourists we saw a tiger cub... |
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| a monkey... |
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| and a lion cub. It was so strange to look over and see animals that we only normally see in a zoo sitting right there waiting for a photo op. |
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| And it made it crystal clear that we are in Mexico! |
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Where we are going to kayak as we pulled in.
For our excursion in Progresso, we decided to go kayaking through the mangroves. |
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Mangroves like to grow where fresh water rivers meet and mix with the salty ocean.
While kayaking our tour guides gave us a bit of history lesson and information about the area. The Yucatan Peninsula continues to have a Mayan influence due to the many descendant still living in communities in the area. |
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Kayaking was really fun...once we figured out how to steer our little boat and how to communicate what was needed to go where we needed.
Our tour guides took us through narrow areas between the mangroves and through tunnels created by the mangrove branches. We had a blast!!! |
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| Ryan may have forgotten to apply his sunblock...oops! |
Cozumel
Cozumel was much more what we expected. They had a huge touristy shopping area, people dressed up as pirates, native Americans, mermaids, and more waiting to take pictures.
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| Cozumel had a much shorter pier that we walked down to get to shore. |
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| The Carnival Triumph |
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| In Cozumel we decided to go sail boat racing. This was SO MUCH FUN!!! Our boat was the "Stars and Stripes." This was so great because we were the ones working the ropes and rigging to make us go. |
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| Our competition and eventual winners (by a hair), the "Nova Scotia". |
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| The group for the excursion was split into to groups, given assignments and assigned a boat. We are in the back under the flag. |
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| Once aboard we got familiar with our assignments and then we were off on an official America's Cup racing challenge. It wasn't until later that I realized that it was my turn to forget putting on sunscreen. Don't ever forget sunscreen in Cozumel. I was a bit crispy! |
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The sailing ships all moored up for the day.
This was taken from our cruise ship. They were actually quite a bit away. |
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| We worked up an appetite while sailing, so we stopped at this little restaurant based on a recommendation. Pancho's was really good and a nice treat. |
We had a blast and are so grateful for my family (and, yes, it was a family effort) for watching my kids while we were away. Thank you to Grammy and Papa, Auntie Erin and family, and Uncle Pat for walking constantly with a cranky and whiny baby J.
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