Just Cruisin

Its been 3 weeks since my family and I got back from our cruise and man, what a fun time it was!!  It was only my second cruise, but both times I didn't wanna leave the boat.  If you've ever been on one, I think you'll understand why. 

So starting from the beginning.  A limo came and picked us up 10:30 Sunday morning.  Yeah, we're that cool.  Haha, I think Diana was the most excited for a limo ride, she gave us all celebrity personas just for the occasion.

We get in, and of course, beverages are provided, so Christina and I being the lushes we are, started our vacation with cocktails!  Christopher Bear joined in as well.

We set sail around 4 and headed down to Cabo.  Dinner that night was a bit disappointing.  Now, forgive me in advance if I sound spoiled or unappreciative.  But if you've ever been on a cruise you know how great the service is.  EVERYONE treats you like royalty.  Your table staff knows you by name and after the first night, know your drink preference.  They literally put the napkin in your lap.  Seriously, its probably my favorite part of the cruise.  Even the people who clean your room are amazingly sweet and again, always remember your name.  Dinner the first night was horrible by this standard.  They took forever to take our orders, took forever to give us our food, never introduced themselves, didn't bring half of what we ordered and even the food wasn't that great.  I had beef and barley soup, chicken a la grecque, and creme brulee.  The beef and barley soup had 1 piece of barley and 2 tiny pieces of beef, so really it was just broth.  I know, I know, I sound quite snooty but there are certain things you expect on a cruise and this service was crappy by normal restaurant standards.  So yeah, slightly disappointing, but we just went to bed that night hoping for a better rest of the week. 

Monday was our first of 3 days at sea.  Dad and I started off by jogging on the jogging track.  It started as a walk, but he surprised me by offering to run and actually did really well.  Who knew?  It was hot out, but that sea breeze made it really nice.  We all went to breakfast and thus started a week long binge on great buffet food.  Breakfast is my favorite meal so as hard as I tried to keep it under control, its hard to say no to all your favorite breakfast foods all in one place.  =)  Anyhoo, Manuel, Christina, and I went to a jewelry presentation because there was gonna be free champagne.  Haha, anything for alcohol, right?  Then we did a scavenger hunt to pass the time, but didn't win.  Then I did what I do best....

I promise I didn't do this too often but what goes better with lovely weather than a good book?  So then came dinner, and I admit, I was a little nervous, cuz dinner on a cruise ship is an experience that needs to be enjoyed!  Luckily things were much better all around.  We had 3 great servers who were just adorable.  They must have just had an off night the previous night.  I had this delicious Indian pumpkin soup, caesar salad, and pork loin. Cherris jubilee for dessert.  YUM!!!  Then was a late night, 18+ comedy show, which was HILARIOUS.  I'm not a huge fan of comedy but the ships always have great entertainment and they brought in two comedians and really, they were super funny.  It was a nice small club, so it had that comedy club feel to it. 

Tuesday was our first day in Cabo San Lucas.  Again I started the day with a jog/walk with Dad, then breakfast, and then off to our excursions!!  Manuel, Christina, and I went snorkeling in the Sea of Cortez. 

 












It was about an hour boat ride and the water was super choppy but we saw a lot of fish and it was really fun.  Plus, on the way back they had open bar!!  Haha, so you know Christina and I took advantage of that.  Free drinks are my favorite.  The crew was super great to and kept coming over to talk to me in Spanish cuz they knew I didn't speak it and apparently liked my reaction when I didn't understand.  Plus, we kept asking for more drinks and I think we're the only ones that had more than 2 so yeah, good times.  We even took a shot with the crew!  Don't we make friends easy!

 

I liked this one cuz it has the pretty Cabo landscape behind us plus our boat!

Sun + Tequila + Swimming = crashing once I got back to the cabin.  Definitely had me a good nap after that one.  Mom, Dad, and Diana went on a city tour for their excursion but they definitely didn't have as much fun as we did!  Dinner was great that night.  I had lobster for the first time and it was ok, a bit overrated I think.  Had a green salad and french onion soup as well, and the soup was amazing!  After dinner, we decided to see the comedy show again cuz it was so good.  It was the same two guys but different acts and this time my mom went too, so that was nice. 

Wednesday I woke up at 6:30!!!!  Didn't my internal clock know I was on vacation?  Apparently not, but that ok cuz Dad was up too so we went for our exercise session again, then more delicious buffet breakfast, then off to Cabo for day 2!!!  This time, we all went together.  Diana and Manuel did a dolphin encounter excursion, but the rest of us were able to watch.  Man, it was HOT!  I'm sure I sweated out my entire body weight and then some.  After that we had the rest of our day to shop and do whatever we liked.  I bought a hat and then my brother made fun of me endlessly for looking like a tourist.  Well hello, I WAS a tourist!!  Lol.  Christina told us to get together to take a picture and he said I had to take the hat off first.  The result was this picture....

aww, can't you just feel the sibling love there?  Lol.  So anyways, lots of shopping, lots of bargaining.  Then lunch which included tacos and beer.  Oh yum. 

$860.00!!!!  Expensive lunch! =P

Then it was off to our ship.  Now, I didn't write down what I had for dinner that night, but I know I definitely had escargot.  This was the second time I'd had it and it was every bit as delicious as the first time.  My family were wimps and thought it was disgusting so they didn't try it but trust me, if you ever get the chance, TRY IT!!  There was no comedy show that night but there was some sort of juggler guy, who was weird but entertaining, and my bro got to go onstage!!  He asked for a tough looking man and we were sitting in the second row, and lets face it, my bro has his tough moments, so he went onstage to help tie the guy up for his "get out of the straight jacket" routine. 

 

 

 

He's wiping the sweat off...yuck

So very fun times. 

Thursday, Dad and I got up early again for walking, but only did a mile cuz we had to get off the boat early for our excursion in Puerto Vallarta.  I think this is the one I was most excited for, cuz it was a tequila factory tour, tasting included!!  It was actually very educational....but to be honest, I had learned some of the tequila making processes a few years back from a novella my madre was watching, Destilando Amor, which took place on a tequila plantation.  Silly, I know, but at least I learned from somewhere!  Haha.  Anyhoo, our tour guy was funny.  Anyhoo, the tastings were actually really good.  I believe we had 5 at the first place and 5 at the second.  The second place we had these delicious margaritas that had chile powder in them, so it was like, and extra kick.  Delicious =).  I bought a coffee flavored tequila that was so delicious I'm tempted to have a glass of it every morning instead of my regular coffee.  You couldn't taste the tequila.  (Don't worry, I'm not that much of an alcoholic!)

Delicious!  Dinner that night was just a buffet cuz we got back on the ship after our dinner seating time.  I had pizza...yum....My brother was bummed cuz he didnt get to have the dessert he had fallen in love with...the chocolate melting cake.  Still good tho.  I just crashed that night, with all the tequila and so much sun, it was exhausting. 

Friday was our second day at sea.  It was also my dad's birthday!!  We went for our run then everyone kinda just wandered around the ship.  I shopped a bit, read a bit, sat in the sun a bit.  It was just a catch up to relaxing time. 

Saturday was our last day at sea, and our last day of cruising.  We did not go for a run that morning.  I wanted to relax a bit so we just ate breakfast then staked out a few chairs by the pool and pretty much stayed there all day.  Diana and I went on the water slide a few times, but it was COLD!!!  It was cloudy and just plain freezing.  I went in the pool for a bit but really just read my book by the pool, hoping the sun would come out so I could tan some more.  It was a quiet day, so I'll just jump down to dinner.  Now, I am a picky eater.  I always have been,  I don't like my food to touch, I don't like lunch meat, and just like my few normal things that I've always liked.  Nothing too adventurous.  In the past few years, I've kind of told myself I need to mature a bit and branch out, try a few new things or at least be open to them.  So i have.  I now put salsa on my eggs and burritos, I'll eat ham sandwiches if that's the only thing in the house, and I'll taste what others have ordered if its new and I hadn't tried it before.  Small miracles, I know.  Granted, this came in handy on my last cruise, two years ago when I tried escargot.  I'd say that was a big step in the right direction.  This time tho, I wanted to try something new.  They saved the best for last.  Frog's legs were on the menu.  Now, I had been intrigued by this the last time around but made the excuse, only one new things per trip.  So, I asked the waiter what he thought of me trying them, and he said he would put them on the table and whatever I did with them was up to me.  (He apparently never tried them.)  So that's what I did. 

Right there, the just look like chicken, but once you picked them up, they really did look like frog's legs, so that was a bit intimidatng.  But I tried them!! 

Lol, I love my face on the second one, cuz I swear I liked it.  I think that was just the realization that I had just bitten into a frog leg.  But then, guess who wants in on the action....

Little Miss All I Ate All Week Was Burgers actually ate some!!!  I had to bribe her with $15 but still, she didn't take that bribe for anything else!!  I was shocked 

Overall, a great trip.  Relaxing and fun, plus some great family time.  Can't wait until my next cruise!!  They are seriously so addicting!!