At Sea Day and Debarkation:

            After our late night dancing, we slept in on Friday morning.  According to the Carnival FUNTIMES, the Lido breakfast buffet was scheduled to close at 10:30 AM; however, it was still open when we arrived there after 11:00 AM.  Before long, we headed for lunch in the Imagination Dining Room for a very light lunch and to redeem our free drink coupons.   We both had Mai Tais, which were very good.   Since we needed to have our packed luggage in the hallway for pickup before dinner, we spent the rest of the afternoon taking turns packing and relaxing.  After dinner, we enjoyed the customary Baked Alaska for dessert, as well as a share of Verna and Earl’s anniversary cake.  Then we tried dancing to music provided by DJ Marius in the Jekyll & Hyde Dance Club, but the music was much too loud (deafening!) for Sally, so we danced only one song.

Tomorrow morning, we will be disembarking and taking the hotel shuttle to Quality Inn New Orleans Cruiseport to pick up our vehicle before heading home.  We’ll stay overnight somewhere along the way and arrive home sometime on Sunday.

Signing off at the end of another lovely cruise!

Cozumel, Mexico:

             Thursday, 13 Dec 2012 – We slept until 9:30 AM and headed for breakfast.  We were expecting an empty ship; however, the leaden sky promised to rain steadily most of the day, so that the majority of the passengers were still on board.  We had planned to go ashore and simply walk a bit in Cozumel, but decided to stay on board and keep dry instead.  By noon, it did clear up, we heard after the fact.  Having an interior cabin for the first time, we are usually in it, watching TV (Jesse) and reading (Sally).  At midday, we went for our usual late lunch, where we sat with family and friends; and at 4:00 PM we watched as the last few passengers hurried to the ship before its departure.
              As usual, we’ve been using the stairs in lieu of elevators on this cruise; but tonight was the first time that we took advantage of a dancing opportunity.  After dinner and beginning at 10:00 PM, we danced to the High Rise Band on the Lido deck; hopefully, this will help slightly with some extra pounds that we’ve been piling on.  (The two lobster dinners each that we devoured last evening and other rich food are to blame, of course!)

Progreso, Mexico:

Pit Stop

Pyramid of Kulkulcan

             We set our alarm clock for 6:00 AM, but luckily, we had requested a wake-up call as a backup, since the alarm clock didn’t go off until 6:30 AM.  After breakfast at the Lido Buffet, we disembarked and met our tour group on shore at 8:15 AM.  We had a 2-1/4 hour bus ride to the Chichen Itza Mayan ruins, with a brief stop along the way for necessities.  Chichen Itza is one of the most important archeological sites on the American continent and was once the home of the great Mayan Empire.  Replicas of the Pyramid of Kulkulcan have been seen in many movies, such as Mel Gibson’s Apocalypso.   Although the sun was very hot and we were tired, the scenery was spectacular.  Most of us enjoyed an afternoon siesta on the bus trip back to the ship. 

Earl and Verna

             After freshening up, we went to the ship’s restaurant for pizza before heading to Verna and Earl’s anniversary party.  The party became quite lively as Verna serenaded the group with Christmas carols.  After the party, we relaxed in our cabin until dinner.

5-day Western Caribbean Cruise

            Sunday, 9 Dec 2012 – Yes, we have departed for ANOTHER cruise.  This time, we’re sailing on the Carnival Elation, roundtrip from New Orleans, LA, with stops in Progreso and Cozumel, Mexico.  We left home late Saturday morning, stopping in West Memphis for the night; and then drove the rest of the way to New Orleans on Sunday.  We left our vehicle in the motel parking lot as part of their Hotel and Parking Package, which includes one night hotel accommodations, parking, and free round trip cruise port shuttle service.

On Monday, it was raining hard as we left the hotel in the shuttle.  In fact, New Orleans was under a tornado watch, and the temperature was much cooler than expected.  We boarded the ship around noon.  Since our ship cabin would not be ready until 12:30 PM, we went to the Lido Buffet for lunch.  We were unpacked in time for the 3:30 PM safety briefing; afterwards, Sally checked out some books from the library and we relaxed in our cabin until dinner.  Although we purchased our cruise tickets separately, Jesse’s sister’s tour agent managed to get us seated the rest of the group.  Our dinner table at 8:15 PM included Jesse’s sister, Verna, and her husband, Earl; Jesse's niece, Catherine, and her husband, Mario; one of Jesse’s high school classmates, Helen, and her husband Larry;  and Shelton and Fanny.   Jesse’s other sister, Catherine; his nieces, Melissa and Dolores; his sister-in law, Julia; and other friends were seated at two other nearby tables.  We looked for places to dance after dinner, but instead, returned to our cabin for an early night – not really that early anymore, as it was 10:00 PM.

On Tuesday morning, we went to the Lido Buffet for breakfast, and a few hours later for a late lunch.  The setup on the Carnival Elation is a lot different from the Princess cruise ships, which takes a little getting used to, but so far, the food has been great.  We’re also finding our way around more easily than usual.  Today the temperature on deck is more comfortable for shorts and sandals.  The pools and hot tubs are full of kids because lots of young families are on this cruise, totally opposite from the last two long Princess cruises we have taken.  Tonight is a formal night, which requires “Cruise Elegant” attire, so Sally will be wearing an evening gown and Jesse will be wearing his tuxedo.  We will be posing in a group photo with Verna’s cruise group at 10:30 PM; then heading back to our cabin.  Our excursion departs at 8:15 AM tomorrow morning.