Laura and I just got back from some needed vacation to celebrate our fourth anniversary. I haven’t had any official time off since early December, and it was definitely time to get away. We had looked at renting a beach house down on the Texas Gulf, but after the price of a house, rental car, food, and money spent on touristy things, we realized it’d be cheaper and easier to simply book a five day cruise instead.
That’s what we did, and the all inclusive nature of things, with plenty of entertainment already put together for us by Carnival, the vacation was a blast with a minimal amount of planning. Laura and I love cruises for that very reason: just plug in your credit card number and out pops preplanned, all inclusive fun. Even with the oil spill from DeepWater Horizon, we saw no oil, tar balls, or anything of the like. The bigger problem came not from oil, but from Alex, a tropical storm turned hurricane. The crew of our ship, Carnival Ecstasy, did a nice job navigating around the storm, and Carnival even changed our itinerary to stop in Cozumel first and the Yucatan second, instead of the other way around, to stay behind the storm instead of right in the thick of it. I was impressed that Carnival was nimble enough to do that, and sure enough, both stops had great weather.
We were fortunate because just after pushing back from the port in the Yucatan to head home, the rain started, so the weather held just long enough. Our five day cruise began in Galveston, Texas, and we headed for Cozumel where Laura and I did some souvenir shopping and swimming in the warm Caribbean water. Progresso, Mexico in the Yucatan, had similar souvenirs, but for a lot less money — oh well. There is little to see or do at the pier in Progresso, so we were fortunate to have booked an excursion to see some Mayan ruins. That was a blast, and the tour finished us up at a private sandy beach for a few hours before heading back to the Ecstasy.
Heading back to Galveston is when we finally caught up with Alex, which had now turned into a hurricane. We paid for a five day cruise but got a sixth day and night free because the weather was so bad we couldn’t dock in the Galveston port. Yea! There was plenty of food and things to do, so we had an extra dinner that night and got in the next morning. Most all the cargo ships could get into their ports, but the cruise ship apparently needs a certain size wave before it can dock and the wind was just too high. We trolled the gulf about three miles off shore as we waited for the weather to calm. It was great for us getting an extra day on the ship, but Laura and I felt bad for the people who were supposed to leave on the ship the afternoon we were scheduled to arrive. We assume that they showed up, but there was no cruise ship in sight! High season in Galveston makes it hard to get a last minute hotel room, so I’m not sure what happened, but it worked out for us at least.
A quick side note about the port in Galveston. As a Texan, I’m proud to see that port flourish with cruise ships, as it’s a home port for both Carnival and Royal Caribbean cruise lines. The Galveston port is here to stay, as Carnival just announced that their newest and largest ship, the Carnival Magic, will be based there! It’s a huge ship with all the latest and greatest as far as amenities and it’s home will be in the best port there is: Galveston! Follow the link to see how amazing it is. The next time you want to take a cruise, consider the Galveston port on the new Magic of the seas.
After the cruise, we headed up to Palo Pinto county Texas, where my grandparents have a lake cabin and we spent a few days there with the rest of my family celebrating Independence Day. My sister Kate and her husband Scott (in the picture) bought a new Yamaha boat and we had a ball playing with it. I tried to wake board but couldn’t do much on it. Scott has done it enough that he could jump the entire wake of the boat on the board. Katie also did well and is accomplished at the newest trend: surfing behind a boat. She takes a surf board and surfs on the boat’s wake, just a few feet from the back of the boat — amazing!
The fireworks were great, the time with family was precious, and the relaxation of leaving our normal world behind was priceless. It was good to get away and celebrate four years. Now we have to start saving for our fifth anniversary to see if we can top this one. But for now, it’s back to grind stone: I’m on a Cathay 747 headed for Hong Kong as I type this and can’t wait for the next vacation!
For pictures of our cruise, click the picture of the cruise ship and for pictures of our wake boarding, click the picture of Scott in the air.