Vacation Time! Finally!

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The time had finally arrived! It was vacation time!  After being cancelled back in November, we were set to sail on the Carnival Splendor once again. We originally were booked to go on Jan 16, which would have been the 1st sailing after the engine room fire in min-November that disabled the ship. But it wasn’t ready in time and our Jan date got cancelled. So we rebooked for Feb 20, which again was the 1st sailing after the repairs. Everything was in ship shape and we had a wonderful time! 
This cruise was to celebrate several things: 1) My 2 year anniversary of being diagnosed with cancer and more importantly, my 1 year anniversary of being done with all cancer treatments and ‘cancer free’  2)Meghan’s 18th birthday, 3) Long overdue family vacation.  We were also happy to have Adam & Leslie and family, and Lynnette & Bill and family, and Ma and Pa to come along with us.
Since this was the 1st sailing in three months for the ship, there was a lot of excitement with not only the passengers, but the crew as well. We arrived early at the port of LA only to find that many many others had the same idea of showing up early. The ship only holds 3700 passengers (and 1100 crew) so there were plenty of people arriving.  The day was beautiful! Quite a change from the day before when we wen to Magic Mountain the rain! (see last post for details). It was a little cool, but nice and sunny!

The ship was parked right next to the original Queen Mary which is now a hotel.

Once we got on board we took a quick pic on deck and then went down to the basement to find our room.  Our room was on top of the engine room where the fire was. All our carpeting was brand new and the ship smelled new! No smoke smell at all!  The halls are so long it looks like you’re looking in  mirror that reflects back onto itself. Nope. It’s a very very long hallway!

Here’s a shot of the inside atrium and the glass elevators that the kids loved to ride. Yes, the ship’s main color theme is PINK.

The first thing we always do when we get onboard, is go ‘exploring’ – walk around and find the good spots to play games, and where things are. Here are a few shots from our exploring adventure:

Meg’s first touch of a slot machine now that she’s 18!

This was one of the teen areas. Yep, the bubbles and lights change all different colors:

Our first sunset

Here is our cozy room. Notice the nice towel animals on the bed each night. And we still get chocolates on the pillows. (On our NCL cruise last year, we didn’t get chocolates).
And also is the kid’s cozy room. They loved the bunk beds! I’m not sure why Hannah isn’t in the pic!

The next day was open seas and lots of sun! It was getting warmer the further south we went.

This was the adults only area:

This also is the adults only spas and pool and deck area:

Here is the theater:

Our second day was also at sea as we were heading down to Puerto Vallarta and it takes a while to get there.  And it was getting warmer and warmer!

Here we are having yummy breakfast in the dining room:

Not sure what Jake is doing here. Being weird. Maybe seasick:

Jake being weird

Jacob and Hannah at the “piano bar” during the day when nobody was in there.

For some unknown reason, Meghan and Rachael got caught up in the moment and volunteered to participate in the women’s synchronized swimming contest!  The guys won, but the girls still put on a good show!

Sync Swimming

Our 2nd night at sea was the first of two ‘formal nights’ for dinner and photos. The kids love dressing up for dinner. They still call it the ‘fancy dinner nights’

Here is Hannah dancing with our fantastic waiter, Enrique.

Here is a trick Enrique showed us using silverware and a toothpick:

Hannah dancing with Enrique, our wonderful waiter:

Hannah and Enrique

Our pillow pet for the night:

The next day we woke up in lovely Puerto Vallarta, where our ship towered over the streets.

We shared the port with NCL and Disney ships (which would both follow us the entire trip)

We headed to Senor Frog’s where we embarked on a trip to the mountains to go zip lining.   This is the ‘Mexican Bus’ we rode in.

Anyone for the Mexican version of Chuck E Cheese? Or as it is in Mexico, Chucky Cheeze

Soon the roads turned to cobblestone….and then   to just dirt.

On our trip up the mountain, we passed a typical neighborhood:

The fish store:

The paper store:

The laundry:

Cows in the road:

Here we are on our way up the mountain on a very bumpy dirt road. Oh yeah, and bumpy. And very bumpy. And complete drop offs on one side and only room for our bus and nothing else.

Up the scary road!

Here are some zip pics:

   

This first one was a ‘test run’ to see how we did

Marissa:

Jake:

Meghan:

Hannah:

Mama:

Daddy:

This one was very long and Jake was too light, so he went with one of our guides:

Hannah and Shelley went together on this one:

I got turned around on this one:

Daddy:

Walking around town:

Jacob looks really small standing next to the side of the ship!

Too soon it was time to leave and head for Mazatlan. But we found out that we were not going to Mazatlan due to increased violence and that we were going to spend an extra day in Cabo San Lucas. We were kinda bummed, as we had planned on a nice beach day in Mazatlan, but we made the best of it.
On the way to Cabo, there was time to play.

And relax:

And goof off:

Karaoke Fun
Lynnette had some styling tunes:

Lynnette Karaoke

Joseph had some help from his brother, Andy:

Joseph & Andy Karaoke

And Andy entertained us with his singing & dancing!

Andy Karaoke

Our pillow pet for the night:

The next day we awoke in Cabo. We were sharing it with Princess, Disney, NCL and Holland America. It was crowded! They were all there an extra day as well instead of going to Maz.

In Cabo, you have take tenders to get ashore. Here we are leaving our ship to go ashore on one on a 10 min ride.

Our first day in Cabo, we turned into our ‘beach day’ – Andy was just a little red!

Back on board, Enrique showed us more tricks and games and Hannah was having a great time!

Kids Dancing at dinner:

Kids Dancing @ Dinner

Our pillow pet for the night:

You know each time you go somewhere, there is always someone that stands out in a crowd?  Well, we found her on our cruise. She was a little older, and each night she had different hair.  I finally got a pic of her. Can you tell which one she is?

So the next day was our 2nd day in Cabo. We went to do some whale watching. We had to wait for our turn to leave the ship.  While waiting, someone took the camera and spun around with it making this mesmerizing hypnotic pattern of the lobby atrium:

Here is Ma & Pa waiting with us:

This was the boat we rode to go searching for the whales. We didn’t see too many, just a few, but it was a fun ride and we had a good time.

This is “Land’s End” where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez:

Sailing in Cabo

Whale Watching–Cabo

Back on board, Jake had fun playing some basketball:

It’s been  a few hours since we last ate, (maybe 2 or so) and it was time for the 2nd ‘fancy dinner’ night.

Marissa was very adventurous and courageous when it came to trying new foods. She had some Mussels, as seen here, and actually said they were not that bad!  Remember, this comes from a family who does not eat fish. Only mom and Hannah eat Salmon, and some clam chowder and that’s it.

Then at the fancy dinner, Marissa tried some Escargot (aka: snails)

Here she is staring it down:

At first, she didn’t quite know what to do with it in her mouth-chew it? swallow it whole? And here she is after it ‘popped’ in her mouth. 

Afterward, she said it really wasn’t that bad. It was just the texture that was weird.

Here is a video of it:

Marissa Eating Snail

The next day was another day at sea, and we spent it relaxing and playing.

Ahhh! This is the life!

Relaxing

The kids loved the pool:

Kids playing in pool

We couldn’t forget the chocolate buffet! Yummy!

Here are the kids with our waiter one last time.

Here is a special song our waiters sang for us the last night:

Goodbye :-(

Here is the yummy chocolate melting cake for dessert each night at dinner:

Our last pillow pet:

We had a great time!