Previous Cruises

I didn't go on my first cruise until I was in divinity school. I have been on two my whole life, and I am eagerly awaiting my third. And as I gear up for the next one, I can't help but look back on the first two and consider the ups and downs of them both.

The first one was a five day out of Mobile that went to Cozumel and Costa Maya Mexico on the Holiday. The weather was not horrible, but the sea was a little rough. I didn't get seasick and I actually enjoyed the rocking of the boat, but many folks disagreed with me. I went over spring break with my friend D. and at dinner, we were at a table with 8 other random college-aged kids from all over. It was fun (especially on the last night when one of the guys was buying drinks for the table!) but not something I would eagerly sign up for again! I did enjoy having the late seating at dinner. We went on one shore excursion (Cozumel) where we went to this little beach park. It was nice because they had bathrooms, beach chairs, a pool, shaded places to sit, and an open bar. I don't know that it was worth what we paid for it though! We were supposed to get to go snorkeling, too but the water was just too rough.

The second one was also a five day. It went to Cozumel and Progresso on the Fantasy. We were supposed to leave out of New Orleans, but there was a minor oil spill that was just enough of a headache to screw up everything. The boat couldn't get in the day we were supposed to leave, so we all had to show up at the terminal in New Orleans and then ride a bus to Mobile to get on the boat there. Then, they still didn't have it cleaned up when we got back so we had to come back to Mobile, ride a bus to New Orleans, then get on a plane to Birmingham (and after that I had to drive back to Nashville!) Yeah, not cool. It was CRAZY hot so it was kind of miserable weather-wise. I guess because it was summer and there were a lot more families, there were lots of kids that were totally unsupervised and just allowed to go nuts, which I did not appreciate at all! We went with Jeff's WHOLE family, so there were 30-something of us on this boat together. It was a lot of togetherness! At dinner, Jeff and I sat with his aunt, uncle, and cousins. His parents and grandparents were at the next table. We did a little table shuffling for one or two meals, but it was kind of a pain. It was a good cruise for hanging out though! And the family photos on formal night were great! We went snorkeling in Cozumel and I wasn't a huge fan. I'm just not a strong enough swimmer for that!

This next cruise is going to be a very different experience. I'm expecting more great pictures from the formal nights (we get two because it's a longer cruise) and we will be having the early seating for dinner again. We will be going to Cozumel and Costa Maya again, but we won't be doing either of those shore excursions I've done before. I won't tell you what we are doing, you'll just have to stay tuned and find out!