Cruzin' With the Girls

On August 26, 2012, two cousins (one from each side of my family) and my sister-in-law (who happens to be Kay's best friends from high school) left for Galveston, Texas to spend the night before boarding the Celebrity Triumph the next day. We ate at Guido's Restaurant and all had delicious seafood. Here is a picture of the Galveston seawall.

Then, on Monday morning the 27th, we piled into the shuttle to take us to the pier. After waiting in line for check-in, we had our picture taken as a group. As you can see, I never leave home without a computer in case I get the urge to write. They do have internet, but it's $29.95 for 45 minutes. Rather high.


Anna Muriel, Cheryl, Linda and Kay

 On board, we headed for our cabins. We'd opted for balcony rooms and had the partition between ours opened so we could visit back and forth in our pajamas. We'd intended to spend more time outside but it was too humid and hot.

The sea was a little choppy as a result of Isaac, but Kay is the only one who got seasick but only for a short while. We all staggered as we walked but fit right in with everyone else.

First full day was at sea we checked out the on board shops, hit the casino, and did pretty much nothing. Our first stop was in Progresso. Everyone but me took the Salsa and Salsa tour. They had a good time, learned how to make authentic salsa  and danced. It was so hot, two of them, along with another participant jumped into the pool fully clothed. I'm sure if I'd gone along I'd have been right in there with them.

Day three was a stop in Cozumel. My sister-in-law swam with the dolphins and then met the shopping group. The two you see in the pool had a wonderful time at the stores and came back with a bag full of goodies, mostly jewelry and rather tanked on margaritas. They had a wonderful time and were braver than Kay and I. She'd survived the heat the day before and said, "No more." I'd done the shopping thing before and wasn't interested in spending my money in the jewelry shops.

From the balcony at night. Isn't it beautiful!

Larry and I had taken this same cruise is November of 2009 and I don't think it was near as hot. We could sit on the balcony and enjoy the waves, but on this trip it was so humid out it was stifling. In 2009 we'd visited a Tequila factory, toured the old market and the first church on the island, toured Mayan ruins, had lunch at a ranch and were later treated to a horse show. Now, I can't remember what we saw at which port and unfortunately I didn't label my pictures, but you can look back to my 2009 posts where I blogged not only about this cruise but the one we took to New England and Canada.

Here we are the last night of the cruise. As always, our waiters were loads of fun and made sure we had everything we wanted to eat. The food was delicious! They also entertained us each night with singing and dancing.

We four girls had a wonderful time together and I think it was the first of many trips to come. Several other cousins have mentioned their interest so hopefully our group will grow.

Thank you for reading my musings today.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

Cruising from Galveston - Last Day at Sea.

This is what the water looked like early into our cruise. It doesn't look very rocky but evidently it was enough to make many people sea sic. I was fine as long as I didn't look at the oceans movement too long. Looking at the horizon helped settle my head and stomach.

Friday flew by in a blur. I paid the $24.00 to spend an hour on the internet checking emails, loops, etc. Then visited the photo gallery to pick up pictures I'd ordered. Here's the one I had made in hopes of using it on my website but it's rather formal. Onboard is a great place to have pictures made as they're only $23.00. This photographer had an opening so I stepped in line. Others have different staging and might have had something less formal but we were in a hurry to get to dinner.

Would you believe I didn't make it to the casino once. I love to play the slots but for some reason wasn't compelled to play. Larry went to a Veterans gathering. I considered playing Bingo, but Larry isn't much for games. I wish the ship's cruise director would scheduled some educational activities. I'd love to attend something on historical facts about our destinations, spotlights on other Carnival ports, or writing workshops. Heck, I'd love to give a writing workshop and would for free. They did have a wine tasting and a scrapbooking workshop. I heard at one time they'd had one on needlework. I know a lot of people like to scrapbook, but it's not an interest of mine. I do like to knit and crochet but doubt I'd attend a workshop as I'm pretty skilled at the art. I did stop in the Animal Art towel folding class for a couple of minutes but couldn't imagine where I'd use the skill.

Look how calm the sea was Friday evening at sunset. A major difference for us landlubbers. Those that had been sea sick finally got to enjoy the cruise. It was strange for it to get dark so early. Adjusting to this new time change is difficult for me. We had late seating for dinner so were able to enjoy sitting on the balcony until time to leave at 8:00 PM.

The Wild Rose Press author friends. Fleeta Cunningham, me, and Tiffany Green.

Here are all the writers, except one, on the grand staircase. A couple of people are journalists and some authors are in the beginning phase of submissions. We had a wonderful time and hope to make this a yearly function with more people attending each year.

I hope you've enjoyed my travel musings.

Thanks for Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/