First Time Cruise - Jamaica, Grand Caymans, Cozumel

After many years of begging, hinting, and cajoling, I finally convinced My Sweetie that she should take a cruise. She agreed, reluctantly, and told me to make the arrangements. Within minutes of that conversation, I was on the telephone with a representative of Carnival Cruise who helped me book my first cruise.

Since I wanted My Sweetie to completely relax on her vacation, I picked the biggest suite I could find which, it turns out, also had the biggest balcony available. Our stateroom was on the Empress Deck of the Carnival Magic and we were sailing away in February out of Galveston, TX!

Fast forward to February. I had already planned two different shore excursions for us. The first, in Montego Bay, Jamaica, consisted of an hour-long bus trip to a private fruit plantation. The second, in Cozumel, was a limited number of tourists who learn how to make a 3-course Mexican lunch at Playa Mia. And since this was My Sweetie's first cruise and she was a little 'stressed' about it, some additional stress relievers became part of our itinerary. Now, we were ready to go since we had new luggage for our trip.

Sweetie, on the other hand, got permission to attend a 3 day Seismic Something Or Other Conference in a special resort somewhere in Napa, California. And, of course, the conference runs Tuesday through Thursday of the week right before we leave Galveston!

Planning: First, Sweetie will fly to Napa on Tuesday after packing for her cruise and for her Napa trip. Next, I have to follow her detailed, written instructions to make sure I have everything available for the trip. Then, I have to drive to San Antonio (5.5 hours, at least) to pick her up at the airport (see, she couldn't get a flight back to our hometown on Thursday, sigh) so we could spend a night in San Antonio at the historic Menger Hotel! After that, we would drive to Galveston where we would stay at Grace Manor B&B before, finally, getting on the Carnival Magic Sunday morning. Whew.

Everything went (mostly) according to plans. [The side vacations at San Antonio, Galveston, and (on the way back after the cruise) Fredericksburg (at the Cottages at Limestone on Main B&B)are other stories that may or may not find their way into this blog at some future time.] 

Sunday morning began bright, sunny, and chilly. After attending Mass, we went to the pier to find this MASSIVE ship! We dropped off our luggage and headed over to the security area. Oh, my. What a huge line waiting to go through the security screening! But, wait! The genius that I am shown through as I took My Sweetie and we by-passed the huddled masses and walked directly to our VIP screening area! Once past the scanners, we proceeded up the escalators to the VIP waiting lounge. After a short wait, and the loading of two separate wedding parties, we quickly boarded the ship and began our exploration.

Naturally, the first thing I did was stop by a bar and get a drink. :) 

We explored part of the ship as we went to the Lido deck to have a buffet lunch. Unhurried, uncrowded, and basically to ourselves, I thought this was ideal. Of course, the huddled masses were still being herded on-board. 

Eventually, we found the Red Frog Pub and had one of their amazingly red lagers. Sitting outside, we consumed our beverages before deciding to check out our stateroom. So, heading up the elevators to the 7th deck, we found our room (port side midships), unlocked the door, and walked into a room filled with shiny and glittering ribbons celebrating Our Anniversary! Yep, I had it decorated since this was our 33rd anniversary vacation. (And, yep, that got me a big ol' hug and a big smile.)

But, wait! There was more! She then discovered her welcome aboard package containing not one, but two, shirts, hats, towels, & champagne glasses! Oh, and one bottle of sparkling wine! More hugs, more smiles!

Yes, the trip was starting off extremely well. And it only got better! Sweetie was rocked to sleep every night by the gentle back and forth of the waves. We watched flying fish jump out of the water and attempt to 'fly' away from the ship. We walked the streets of Georgetown, Grand Caymans until we found the perfect restaurant to have lion fish for lunch. We laughed and cooked our ways to chef status. We walked the plantation, sampling Jamaican specialties such as pineapple juice (from the skin of the pineapple), ginger beer, and several types of fruit I had never heard of before. We attended shows, ate at the on-board steak house and Italian restaurants, and generally spent lots of quality time together. And, of course, we had to finish our cruise by having a couples massage in the on-board spa!

Overall, our trip relaxed us to the point that neither of us had any muscle pain or difficulty sleeping! 

Unfortunately, it had to end. But we left thinking about when we might be able to go on our next cruise!

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One part of the trip became a bit worrisome to some on the ship. When we arrived in Cozumel, Mexico, for our port call, the ship hit the pier a bit hard and gashed a bit of a hole into the side of the ship. I didn't worry at all and Sweetie was hoping it would be big enough to delay our departure from Cozumel! Alas, the damage was repaired and we made our scheduled arrival in Galveston on Sunday.