Seven days between cruises is just too short a time. That's what we're up against. After getting off the cruise with my daughter’s family, we are now going down to Galveston for a cruise with my son’s family.
I have a message from the airline that bad weather is moving into the Denver area and that is where our connection to Houston is.
When we arrive at the airport, Deb asks about changing tickets to go through Las Vegas, but that would put us into Houston a lot later. From what I hear, the weather isn't going to be that bad so we stick with the original plan. I'm glad we did because we made it into Denver just fine. There is snow on the ground but the snow plows are keeping ahead of it.
We arranged a ride from the airport to Galveston with a lady named Shugg. She runs Highrollers tours. It was a near-last-minute thing. She was very pleasant and took us straight to the hotel and then dropped us off at dinner on her way back out of town.
Bjorn and his family drove down from Wisconsin and had made it to the hotel ahead of us. They were hungry so Bjorn suggested somewhere to eat and Shugg could hear the conversation. She would shake her head. Then we said, “How about Gaido's?” Shugg nodded. So that's where we went.
I thought we were settling in for the night but then we got a call. “The kids want to go swimming.” We went out and watched the kids swim around the pool while we talked to Bjorn. The youngest’s favorite pastime is pushing her siblings into the water. They seem to expect it and don't mind.
After that, we headed to bed.
Right after we arrived on the ship Denny's caught on fire
Everyone is all bundled up
Under Pleasure Pier
Day 2 Boarding the Ship
Breakfast was the first order of the day. They didn't have the selection that some of the hotels we had been in lately, but they did have Belgium waffles, cold cereal, and that sort of thing. A lot of carbohydrates. We lost forty degrees overnight. We all grabbed our jackets before heading to the beach. The water was too choppy to go in even if we would had wanted to. There were No Swimming signs all over the place.
After walking around the pier and other places, the group went up to a souvenir place on stilts overhanging the beach. I went down to take a picture of the hotel Grand Galvez because one of my author friends wrote a book about it.
When I came back, the store wasn't open yet and I found three of them huddling against the door to keep warm while they waited for it to open. Luckily they opened five minutes early so they went in to look. The store left the front door open. I wondered why. It was cold outside and the clerk, stationed in the front, was shivering. It was a lot of touristy stuff. Deb bought a postcard which I accidentally left in the hotel room when we checked out. I hoped she didn't spend too much on it.
The rooms weren't ready yet, so we registered the kids for Adventure Ocean and then went down to lunch. The buffet was packed. We had trouble finding a spot. We finally settled on two tables next to each other.
The food is good. I tried not to overdo because dinner was in a few hours. Our staterooms were ready by that point. Coleen asked if the luggage would be there.
“Maybe but probably not.” I was correct, it wasn't there. As of nine that night, it still wasn't there.
The kids went swimming anyway and stayed in the hot tub for about two hours. I joined them for the first little bit and decided to be brave and jump in the pool. Boy, was that a mistake. It was like being in the Arctic without a coat. Usually, you can duck underwater to get warmer but the water was colder than the wind. No wonder Bjorn and the kids had given up after just a minute in the pool. I didn't want to jump into the hot tub and then get out and get cold again so I went and grabbed some towels and dried off then headed downstairs for a shower. Deb looked out the balcony window and said, “We're moving.” We missed sail away.
We went up on deck but the cold drove us back down. We decided looking out of the balcony was just fine. We watched as the pilot boat pulled up beside the ship. Bjorn and family showed up at the room and were able to see the pilot boat while Bjorn explained to them why there was a pilot on our ship.
We headed down to dinner after that.
I watched as one boy ordered two steaks and the other one ordered four appetizers and two entrees. Most of it got eaten to my surprise. I ordered prime rib medium, but it was brown all the way through. I won't be doing that again, but I doubt if I'll see it on the ship's menu for the rest of the cruise.
Having the two older boys in my cabin was interesting. I thought the boys would be hard to settle, but they went right to sleep. All in all, a good day.
Day Three Sea Day
Deb and I, with the two boys, organized and then went up to breakfast. We were almost done when the rest of them showed up. Oh well, there's always room for a little more. A steward came and brought us drinks. He said to the oldest boy, “follow me and I'll get you some chocolate milk.” So the grandson did. I thought that the milk was just in the corner of the buffet, but he led him to the back of the ship. I had to remind him not to follow strangers offering him chocolate milk or candy. One of the boys began playing blocks with the empty chocolate milk cartons. He was really sad when his mother made him leave them on the table.
The morning was spent in the pool, on the Flowrider, or the water slides. The kids were enjoying themselves. I took some time out to write at the Promenade Cafe. I went up to be with them after a little while. Taking the boys back to the room we watched TV. After flipping through all of the channels we agreed that there we no channels we could agree on. We then dressed and went to lunch. I tried the chili cheese dog. It was better than Princess Cruise Line but not as good as Dairy Queen.
Deb and I went down to the room to get some relaxation in. She donned her swimsuit to go up on the pool deck to soak up some sun. Then she thought it would be too noisy up there so she went out on the balcony to get some quiet. That didn’t work because crewmembers began grinding on the ship a minute later. She didn’t get any quiet out there either.
We met the family for dinner. It was only going to be the boys, but then the girls showed up too. They were all in their Halloween costumes. I thought it was silly that they had formal night on Halloween. A third of the people were in costume, a third were in formal clothes, and a third couldn't be bothered. I put on a tie and called it good.
The cutest thing happened during dinner. The two-year-old was fussing and wanted to get out of her high chair. Coleen told her to wait because she had ice cream coming. When the waiter arrived back to clear off the dinner plates she said, “Can I have my ice cream now please?” He went back into the kitchen and brought the ice cream out for her. She gave him a dazzling smile. When we left the dining room, she said to the waiter, “Thank you for bringing me ice cream.”
We made it to the show with the boys. It was singing and dancing to Broadway songs. Bjorn stayed with the girls because it was bedtime. The two boys were unimpressed by the show. I wished I recognized more of the songs. I did a few but not many.
Afterwards, we went up to the buffet and tried to find more of that yummy apple cobbler we had during dinner. We failed.
Day 4 Costa Maya
We had a lazy morning because the ship didn’t dock until noon. We had breakfast with the group and then Deb and I went down to trivia where we didn't do so well. We had a lunch snack and then went down to the dock. I've always wanted to go to a Mayan ruin and this was my chance. Bjorn and Coleen were willing so we went. No one asked the youngest two who voiced their displeasure most of the way there. We weaved our way through the dock area, which made me feel like I was in a maze. We finally found it at the back of the cruise compound. Finding the booth, they drove us over to another spot where they loaded us in a van with twelve other people. We drove for over an hour until we finally arrived at the place. Rain is the best way to describe the day. We walked through the jungle canopy which was so soaked it was dripping on us and then our tour guide talked to us in the rain as we looked up at the central temple. He kept joking about if you climbed on the temple you would be the next human sacrifice. No one seemed to think it was funny.
We took pictures. The guide would point out other lumps in the area and tell us those were buildings, but they had too many trees on them to restore as they would end up a pile of rubble. Next, we came across two stairways. He pointed and said, “You can go up that one and come back on that other one.” So we did. Climbing was hard because the rocks that made up the steps were slippery and uneven. When I arrived at the top I saw the temple of the sun. Across the way and down a few steps was the temple of the moon. They were both impressive. There was a sports court there where the Mayas would play a game of getting a small ball through a stone hole. If your team won, they would sacrifice you. Sometimes they would sacrifice the losers too. It was an honor to be sacrificed. I think dead is dead. Sports has changed so much over the years. It's not a game I would want to play. They had a gift shop there, but more importantly, they had restrooms which were needed after that long drive. That took most of our time so he drove us right back to the ship.
After taking a few minutes to shop, we headed back. Deb wanted to do some shopping but all I wanted was a warm shower and dry clothes.
We missed our dining time so we ate in the buffet. I must say it wasn't nearly as nice as the main dining room.
The entertainment that night was Michael Holly. He juggled and told jokes. He brought a lot of people up on stage. He was good. A fight broke out at the entrance to the place, something I've never seen on a cruise ship before. I wondered how many people were being put ashore the next day and told never to come back.
Day Five Cozumel
We were already docked and people getting off when I woke up. I spotted them off the balcony. We had more time in port this day. We ate breakfast and then headed down. We didn't have a plan for this day. We decided to go down and see if we could find a tour to go to. Bjorn found a Jeep tour he wanted to do and Coleen found a swim with the dolphins thing she wanted to go to. So we decided to do both. We paid the guy and then walked past these brand new-looking Jeeps. I thought we would stop, but he kept leading us around the corner, past some plywood shops to a dirt parking lot where there were older Jeeps that looked like they had been driven hard. One faint letter on the side from another tour company was painted over by this tour company’s logo. The one Deb and I sat in had had the floor side steps broken off which made it harder to get in and out. We drove to a nice beach where the kids were able to swim and snorkel. The red flags on the beach marked the sea turtle nests. I enjoyed taking pictures of the area while they played. Then we drove out to a cenote. It’s like a natural well that's really big and deep. The kids liked swimming in it even if it was a little cold. Two people in the group in front of us decided to take the twenty-three-foot plunge off the cliff. Deb asked if I was going to do that, and I said, “I might. I want to see if they survive or not.”
They both survived so I walked up there. I didn't even get nervous until I was standing on the edge. I jumped quickly because I didn't like the anxious feeling. It wasn't until I was falling through the air that the sensible side of me said, This is a really bad idea. Too late. When I hit I went way down in the water. It took a minute to swim back up to the surface. I wonder how deep it is. I know I should have thought about all that before I jumped, but then I might not have. Turns out it's sixty feet deep.
Muddy Road leading to the cenote
The way in and out of the cenote was a puddle-filled dirt road. At one point, Miguel, our driver, looked back in his rearview mirror and said, “I see I'm going to have to spend extra time cleaning that Jeep.” We later heard that Bjorn hit a puddle so fast that it went up and over the front of the vehicle and all over them and the inside of the Jeep. He had decided to take off the roof earlier.
They fed us lunch at one of the resorts next. Mexican food in Mexico. It was different from what we get in Idaho and very good.
They drove us over to the swim with the dolphin place. It would cost Deb and me to go in and just watch, so we headed back to the ship and waited until later to hear all the stories about it. They enjoyed it.
We made dinner in the main dining room. It was so much better than the buffet.
Day Six Sea Day. My birthday at Sea
Got to eat in the dining room for breakfast. I liked it better in there. The boys had their breakfast out on the balcony. I think that will be a fond memory later on in life. The kids went to Kid's Club so the adults went to breakfast by ourselves, which was nice. Afterward, we watched Bjorn, Coleen, and the oldest grandson do the FloRider. I think my son did very well. Bjorn was able to get up on all fours. Coleen got up on her knees but had two spectacular crashes.
They did the water slides after that. Deb and I had lunch in the main dining room too. It felt rushed. I think the waiter grabbed some bread off another table instead of getting us fresh bread from the back because it was stale and one of the rolls had a bite mark out of it. I wish I had eaten at the buffet for lunch.
Deb and I came down to the room where I took a nap. She went upstairs and lay out on the deck where she fell asleep too. I had a message from Coleen that they wanted to play the mystery game so I headed upstairs to write and save a spot for them. I talked to a lady at the same bench as I was. We staked out enough spots for all of our two groups.
Several in her group didn't make it and a couple in my group didn't make it so we joined forces. We did solve a few of the puzzles but didn't figure out the guilty parties. Two of the groups managed to. Dinner was in the dining room. There seem to be a lot of birthdays because I kept hearing the Happy Birthday song over and over again. When they sang it to the table next to mine, I thought they had missed.
The five-year-old got indignant and went over to tell them it was her grandpa’s birthday. They came over and wished me a happy birthday. I'm blushing a little. Then she goes and tells the Matre d’. Things are getting worse at the moment. When dessert comes, mine has a candle in it. The kids’ ice cream is nearly melted so I figure they have been waiting to get enough waiters together to sing to me. It was hard that day as they paused dinner to have a waiters’ parade since it was the last day of the cruise. A little embarrassing, but all right. I got some birthday cards from the kids too. They took turns telling me what they liked about me. Bjorn said he was impressed that I jumped.
We played games after dinner. I didn't do well. Then we had to rush down and pack our suitcases and get them in the hall by ten pm. That done, you have to leave out the next day's clothes.
Day Seven
We got up and dressed and stuffed our night clothes in whatever space we had available because our suitcases were taken during the night. Bjorn and Coleen are already at the buffet. The cruise line had already called our number to get off the ship before we sat down to eat. It seemed awfully early to me.
Our driver contacted me and said she was on the island so we rushed down there to catch our ride. She took us to the NASA Space Center where we explored until the kids arrived. We then explored things in more detail than we did the first time around. We went on the tram and went into one of the buildings where they train astronauts. It was kinda cool. Then we passed Mission Control where they managed all of the early launches. They have an American flag flying over the building. If there is an American in space, the flag flies. It's been flying for twenty-three years straight.
We parted ways at the space center and Deb and I headed towards our writer's conference and they headed back to Wisconsin.
Panama Canal During Corona Virus
Reykjavik-Paris-Rome-Cinque Terre
Deb's Cruise Books
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