Our Cruise - 2008

Wow. What a great time we had. For those who don't know, Dennis and I took a Royal Caribbean cruise to Baha Mexico the last week of May. We finally got our honeymoon!!! "Better Late, than never" I always say.

We arrived in Long Beach about 10:30am. We caught a shuttle bus over to the cruise port. It was quite the process getting on the ship. It made me think of what it must have been like when our ancestors came over to our country and had to go through the process they did. Once onboard, we went and found our room. It was a nice room with a nice big window so we could look out and see everything on our side of the ship. We settled in a bit and then headed out to explore the ship. It was huge. A city on the water almost. We went upstairs on the top deck and got some lunch. It was strange getting food and not having to pay for it. It's all inclusive. After eating some lunch, we went back to our room and took a nap before dinner. We had the early dinner time (5:30pm) so we headed to our dining room and to our assigned table. We were put at a table of 6. We had an older couple who had cruised several times before and a younger couple who was on their first cruise. The older couple live in CA. The younger couple live in St. George, UT. What a coincidence huh? The menu choices were almost overwhelming and to think we could eat all we wanted without thought or care of the price. I believe I had the Mahi, Mahi that first night. It was prepared wonderfully and tasted good. After dinner we walked around the ship some more and went and got our port activity tickets. Then we went to a show. It was a comedian and I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. Very funny.....

On Tuesday, our first port was in San Diego. I had watched us arrive into port from our stateroom and it was quite impressive. We left the ship early morning and did the San Diego Harbor tour. It was really nice and we got to see sea lions and hear a little about the history of the harbor and best of all, just sit and relax in the warm sunshine. After the harbor tour, we walked over to the Midway aircraft carrier museum and did the self tour. That was also a lot of fun and very interesting. We found the CPO dining room and area and thought about dad and how it must have been for him to live on that ship for several months at a time. That evening, back on the ship, we got sang a Happy Anniversary song during dinner and enjoyed another wonderful dinner. I believe I had the leg of lamb that night and it was excellent. This was also the night we had to dress up formally for dinner because after dinner, we got to meet the captain of the ship which just so happens to be a female. The only female captain I might add. They had a reception for her and she talked to us and introduced us to the crew and it was another nice evening.

On Wednesday, our port was Catalina Island. I, again, watched us as we approached the island that morning. We had to take a boat from our cruise ship over to the island. We went on a glass bottom boat and got to see the going's on under the ocean. It was cool. I loved it. We had lunch at a fresh seafood restaurant on the island and then walked around the little shops there and just took in the whole ambiance of the island. It was a nice, quaint island. We enjoyed our day. We had our dinner at 5:30pm back on the ship and later that evening they did a chocolate feast. They had things sculpted out of chocolate and fruits and vegitables and ice and it was quite spectacular. We also went to a show where there was this guy that does impressions and imitations of people. He was really good and very entertaining.

Thursday was my birthday and our port was Ensanada, Mexico. We left the ship after breakfast and got on a bus that drove us into the center of Ensanda's shopping district. Our tour guide, of course, gave us some history while we were driving there. We had two hours to walk up and down the streets and shop and just take in Mexico. We went to a place that looked respectable and popular and had real authentic Mexican tacos and I had a virgin margarita. It was my birthday after all. After the shopping, we got back on the bus and went to a cultural center where we were entertained with a fiesta of sorts. It was fun. That evening at dinner, back on the ship, they sang happy birthday to me and I got a special dessert. The waiting staff also did a parade performance which was quite entertaining. After dinner we went to another show. This time they had both the comedian and the impressionist do some more stuff and then the Royal Caribbean dancers did a farewell show. It was enjoyable but also sad knowing it was our last night.

We got up early Friday morning and left the ship about 7:00am. We took another shuttle bus back to the airport with lots of time to spare so we had breakfast in the airport cafe and then sat outside for awile and enjoyed the palm trees and sunshine. We got back home to Salt Lake about 3:00pm.

It was a wonderful week that left us with some wonderful memories.