I couldn't believe that the time finally came and we were getting ready to go on our unbelievable vacation! We drove down to Galveston, Texas on the day before we left for our cruise. We stayed at a nice hotel, went to the beach, and explored the pier. To top it off, we ate a po boy for dinner. (It's a seafood sandwich. Collin ate those on his mission in Houston.)
First time touching the Atlantic Ocean...
Very sunny day
The beautiful fair by the pier
We boarded our cruise ship on Saturday. I was blown away by how beautiful the inside of the ship was. There were lots of bright lights, big windows, space, and the walls were intricate. It felt like we were in Las Vegas all over again (in a good way of course. :) ) I found it mind boggling that were staying on such a fancy ship for 5 whole days. Our cabin was so nice! We stayed in an ocean view room so we can see a lot of ocean ahead. We departed from Galveston at about 4pm, shortly after we did an emergency drill. We were leaving the United States and heading to Mexico!
During our first night on the ship, we went on a few tours. We ate dinner at a restaurant The Silver Olympian. We ended up eating there every night. The food was amazing and the service was excellent. They served the best chocolate melting cake there is.. We also didn't pay for any of our food during the whole cruise! Best of all, there was all-you-can-eat ice cream cones. :) Afterwords, we went country line dancing. That was not easy to do considering we were on a moving ship, but it was still fun. Later, we saw a welcome aboard show that they put together for the passengers. We did an 80's sing-off and our team ended up winning. :) It was really entertaining.
Our vacation trailer. :) Haha. I took this before we checked out of our hotel. I love that I have a passport now. :)
Our cabin. It was super nice.
Took a picture of myself. :) I just liked the look of the light fixture above me.
Adios Texas, Hola Mexico!
The last time we saw Texas.... for 5 days. :)
Our picture as we were taking off.
Sunday was all day out at sea. The trip was a little rocky because they began speeding up in order to make it to our destination on time. I'll admit, I began feeling a little queasy, but not to a point where I got sick. We ate ginger candy on our trip and it helped a lot. I was glad we took a bag of those with us. :) It was a pretty laid back day. We ate breakfast at the Silver Olympian, relaxed on the deck (it was SO windy), took a nap, did some reading, and went to a formal night dinner. It was fun to dress up and go out with my husband. Of course, every night on the cruise was a date night with him. :) We went to bed early that night knowing that we would wake up the next morning in Mexico.
Nothing ahead but ocean.
My dinner. I had duck for the first time and it was so good!
Dressed up for formal night. You can see in the background that the Silver Olympian restaurant was so elegant!
We got a picture in front of the stage, where we saw wonderful performances on the cruise.
As far as the Spanish goes, there were a lot of people that spoke English where we traveled to, so we didn't need to know Spanish. That made it nice for me since I know "poquito" Spanish. Collin is fluent since he served a Spanish-speaking mission. He taught me to ask certain questions, such as "where is the bathroom?" (donde esta el bano?) and "how much is it?" (cuanto cuesta?). Only once did I say one of those phrases in Spanish, and that was "cuanto cuesta" when we went shopping. I was very proud of myself. :)
We ate lunch at a nearby restaurant and headed back to the bus to begin the next part of our tour. We explored the city of Merida, which was not too far from Progreso. I was glad that we were in the bus for the rest of the time, because it was so hot outside. We saw a bunch of older buildings, houses, mansions, and the second oldest church in the Americas. A lot of the mansions we saw were built in the 19th century. We enjoyed learning about the history of the city and exploring a beautiful town in Mexico. We ended our night by relaxing in a hot tub and going into a steam room and Sauna.
We woke up at 7am Monday morning to get ready for our first excursion. I looked out the window and couldn't believe that we were officially in Mexico. Our first stop was in Progreso on the Yucatan peninsula. There, we rode on a tour bus heading to see the Mayan ruins. As we were driving down the road, I noticed that the Progreso area was very dry and desert-like. We found out that the reason why is because the water is all under ground which can create sink holes. Another big reason why is Mexico is dry is because it is so hot and humid (and I thought Texas was hot and humid). We come out of the bus and the heat was the first thing that we noticed. It was already in the mid 90's in April!
However, the heat did not stop us from seeing the magnificent ruins. It was worth it to see what the Mayans built thousands of years ago. We got to see a few temples, a pyramid, and a church. All of it was so incredible. I was glad that they let us climb a few of the ruins. There is so much history behind them. I learned that the Mayans used the temples in order to predict the spring equinox to help them with harvesting. The ruins were all used for other purposes. They were all so fascinating.
The tallest Mayan temple. It was quite a workout to climb it.
This was the catholic church where the Mayans came to worship God.
This was once a government building.
Our tour guide. We were called the parrots. Can you guess why? :)
The Mayan church. We weren't allowed to walk through it, but you can still get a picture.
The back of the church. If you look closely, you can see a stone in the shape of a "T." It was the Mayan symbol for wind
The front of the church. So gorgeous!
We climbed the government building and found this opening
Obviously the opening was gated, but Collin managed to get a picture of the inside of the government building.
This room was used for storage and shelter during the hurricanes.
Pictured in front of another temple. We look red, but I promise we didn't get sunburned... yet.
Amazing!
Our picture in front of the temple.
As far as the Spanish goes, there were a lot of people that spoke English where we traveled to, so we didn't need to know Spanish. That made it nice for me since I know "poquito" Spanish. Collin is fluent since he served a Spanish-speaking mission. He taught me to ask certain questions, such as "where is the bathroom?" (donde esta el bano?) and "how much is it?" (cuanto cuesta?). Only once did I say one of those phrases in Spanish, and that was "cuanto cuesta" when we went shopping. I was very proud of myself. :)
We ate lunch at a nearby restaurant and headed back to the bus to begin the next part of our tour. We explored the city of Merida, which was not too far from Progreso. I was glad that we were in the bus for the rest of the time, because it was so hot outside. We saw a bunch of older buildings, houses, mansions, and the second oldest church in the Americas. A lot of the mansions we saw were built in the 19th century. We enjoyed learning about the history of the city and exploring a beautiful town in Mexico. We ended our night by relaxing in a hot tub and going into a steam room and Sauna.
The statue of the first Spanish man to marry a Mayan. He got to know more about the Mayan culture.
We went around this historical monument of different people that contributed to Mexico.
The mansions that were built in the 19th century
Driving down the streets of Mexico.
The second oldest church in the Americas.
Wherever we go, we always have each other. :)
Tuesday, our cruise ship landed on the island of Cozumel. We got up early to get ready for our next excursion. I was so excited for this excursion, because we were going to swim with dolphins! Ever since I was little, I have dreamed of meeting dolphins and my dreams were about to come true. We traveled by taxi to the beach where the dolphins lived. We broke off in small groups of 10 and headed out to meet our dolphin named Louis. We got in the water and it was colder than we expected. Since it was a warm day, it felt good to cool off in the water. The overall experience was so amazing! Collin and I both agree that it was our favorite event that happened on our trip. We got to not only swim with the dolphin, but touch him, kiss him, and the dolphin even gave us a ride on a boogie board while pushing on one of our feet! Our trainer showed some neat tricks that the dolphin can do, like clap his fins, twirl, and jump in the air. Dolphins truly are magnificent creatures and are so friendly. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures while swimming with dolphins, but we will always remember this moment.
When we were done, we went to the beach to do some relaxing and snorkeling. The Cozumel Beach has to be the most beautiful beach I have ever seen in my life! There were palm trees everywhere you looked and the water was so blue and clear. You can see everything at the bottom of the ocean. I felt like I was in paradise, which was exactly where we were. Collin went snorkeling first while I relaxed at the beach. Collin has always been like a fish out of water. He loves swimming at the beach. Soon, it was my turn to go snorkeling. It was my first time, so Collin had to show the ropes of how to use the mask. My first experience was overall really good. Despite the fact that it was hard for me to breath, it was still so cool. I was amazed by how well you can see all the creatures in the ocean. The fish are friendly and come up so close to you. I was glad that our friends let us borrow their waterproof camera that way we can take pictures under water. Now I want to get a waterproof digital camera of my own.
We got some lunch and decided to explore a nature park nearby. It was really cool to see the vegetation, park attractions, and the alligators/crocodiles. We caught a taxi back to our port. There, we did some window shopping and ended buying a few souvenirs. I bought 2 shirts that costed about $20. They both say "Love Cozumel" on them. Collin got a Christmas ornament that said "Cozumel, Mexico" on it and a Mayan calendar. I was glad that we bought some stuff that we can remember Mexico by. We will never forget Cozumel and how incredible it was. We someday want to go back to Cozumel and stay there for a few days. :)
After we got back on the ship, Collin participated in a super hero trivia contest. He came back and said that he won a "major award." (movie reference. :) ) It was a small trophy of the Carnival Liberty ship. He won for getting 15 out of 20 questions right. Typical Collin to be a brainiac. :) Now we had another souvenir to take home.
That same night, we watched a very creative and vibrant dance show that was called "Wonderful World." They performed dances from all over the world. It was really neat! Late at night, we each got a bag of candy we watched "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" on the deck. I think I stayed awake for most of it. Collin decided to get midnight pizza. I thought he was joking when he said he wanted midnight pizza, so I laughed when he came back with 2 cheese pizzas. Silly husband. :) I will never forget that day.
It's a fiesta!!!
Such a gorgeous place! You can see how clear the ocean water is.
Looking towards the shore.
Hey look! More Mayan ruins!!!
Soaking up the sun next to the deep blue sea.
I fell in love with this place.
Apparently, I like to take a lot of hat pictures...
A beach can never be complete without palm trees.
Now this is paradise.
Some underwater shots. This is how close the fish got to us.
Beautiful fish.
Collin said that he thought that he saw barracudas...
Spotted a lagoon
I got somewhat of a picture of a dolphin jumping out of the water.
Going into the unknown...
Amazing sculpture!
Crocodiles!!!
We found some fun musicians! We gave them some money and they asked to get a picture with us. Collin looks great in that hat. :)
Not our best close-up, but the ship is beautiful.
Our Carnival Liberty cruise ship! It was huge!!!
One of the souvenirs we got from Cozumel, the Mayan calendar. Collin joked and said that it expired 4 years ago. :p (2012 reference.)
Collin's trophy/major award!
Our ornament. Now we have something else to hang on our Christmas tree every year.
Wednesday was another full day out at sea. I couldn't believe we were heading back to Texas soon. The trip flew right by! We spent that time going miniature golfing, doing more relaxing on the deck, played games (mainly battleship), and watched a hilarious comedy show. It was a very bittersweet goodbye to everyone we met on the cruise. I said it before, but I didn't want to go home. It was great just to spend a few days not working, cooking, or cleaning. This might sounds weird, but what I liked about our cruise was we didn't have any internet or phone signals. It was nice to not use our phones and focus our time with each other. It made the trip a lot more fun, creative, and relaxing. I would highly recommend going on a cruise. We would definitely go again! It's so worth it and you learn more things traveling to a different country. We will always cherish our memories traveling through the Gulf of Mexico.
Just posing for the camera.
We got off the cruise ship, but our trip was not over yet... Since Houston is not too far away from Galveston, Collin wanted to show me around where he served his LDS mission. We only saw a little bit of an area where he served, but it was a really nice area in Houston. He showed me the places that he would eat at, where he lived, and the neighborhoods he served in. It was a good feeling to reminisce the memories of his mission. I am so happy that he chose to put 2 years of his life on hold to serve the Lord. Forever proud of my hubby! We hope to visit Houston again soon.
Then and now picture. He still looks good. ;)
