It has been a long, cold winter here in west Texas and My Sweetie and I needed a break from the ice storms that seemed to perpetually pop up every week or so. Therefore, we searched and searched (ok, I looked for a hour) until we found a short cruise that would get us into warm weather quickly.
We left home on Thursday morning last week (9th of April) and flew into New Orleans. The two of us met our ground transfer person and she put us on a very large passenger bus to take us to the Port of New Orleans. After waiting an almost impossible 4 to 6 minutes, she came back and apologized for the wait and told the driver to go ahead and take us to the Port. Wow. Only the two of us being personally chauffeured on a huge bus!
In about 35 minutes, we pulled into the Port where we decided to take our luggage on with us. Seeing as how we only packed a few clothes, this seemed like it would be fairly easy to do. The check-in process went so quickly that I didn't even have enough time to munch on the little sandwiches and pastries they had laid out for the Priority Boarding guests. (I noticed that as soon as we left the Priority Boarding area and went to sit down in the Priority Boarding chairs. Bummer. I was a bit hungry since I only had a Luna bar for breakfast.)
After a fairly short wait (after two wedding parties boarded), we started boarding the Carnival Elation, a rather small cruise ship compared to some of the monsters we had been on previously.
After everyone embarked, we began our slow journey down the Mississippi River. I know we left the pier about 4:40 but I have no idea when we cleared the delta. I suspect it took the ship until midnight or later. But we had a grand time anyway!
The next day we spent sailing in the Gulf of Mexico. Sweetie and I had separate massages early in the morning and then a late brunch. Just a chillin' sort of day.
Saturday we arrived in Cozumel. I had reserved an excursion online to go deep sea fishing. After making our way through the Mexican checkpoint, we got to our meeting point and discovered we were the only two from the Elation to take this excursion. When our fishing boat showed up, we were happy to see only two other passengers onboard the 28 foot boat.
After 40 minutes at high speed, the crew finally tossed the baited hooks over the side and we started 'fishin' in earnest. No more than 10 minutes later, the first hit and hook was made! Our blind companion fisherman took the seat and, about 10 minutes later, landed a 4' 6" mahi-mahi!
After an exhausting and exhilarating day on the water, Sweetie and I returned to the ship for some rest time. Oh, no! We both put on suntan lotion but both got a bit red!
Sunday was another relaxing day at sea and, this time, we had a couple's hot stone massage. Wonderful.
Coming back up the Mississippi was a bit tougher since there was some fog and the ship was delayed getting to the Port. I didn't care so much since we had later afternoon flights booked back home. The really bad thing is that both Sweetie and I came down with a sore throat Sunday night. Bummer.
Still, the trip got us out of the ice and into some icy drinks! Mai Tai, Dark & Stormy, Miami Vice, and Mango Mamas. We did come back relaxed albeit a bit sick from the sore throat.
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