Greetings, Blog Readers! It has been a lonnnng 9 months!
Well, not really. It has actually gone by in a flash, as most months do these days. However, it had been a lonnnnng 8 months of no travelling whatsoever after our last trip of 2017, a week at Great Grandma Bette's house in L.A. over the 4th of July, which I regret not blogging about! While I am still on a break from the blog, I do intend to continue posting about our travels, if nothing else!
Our travel hiatus was economically strategic, as we have some rather extravagant trips on the docket for 2018 and 2019. Still... eight months of not leaving town was rough! (As much as I love nearly everything about my quiet 'lil life in Clarksburg, I crave a shake-up in our routine every once in a while!) So I have to admit, I went a little crazy with anticipation for our first trip of 2018... a 7-day Mexican Riviera cruise on the Carnival Splendor, in honor of Shaun's 40th birthday.
Shaun's birthday cruise was planned to be a family affair. We threw the invite out to many and were excited that my parents as well as my brother and his girlfriend accepted and planned on cruising with us. Unfortunately, we received some sad news only days before we were to set sail on February 24th. My mom was diagnosed with rapid heartbeat and Atrial Fibrillation and was strongly encouraged to start new medication immediately. In light of this, she and my dad decided to cancel their cruise. Naturally, we were all very disappointed--but we agreed that it was the right thing to do. After all, there will always be another cruise. ;)
I am happy to report that--even while missing Nana and Papa--the seven of us managed to have an absolutely FANTASTIC time on our cruise! As we have done the Mexican Riviera itinerary many times (the most recent being only
a year ago), we treated the ship itself as our destination. It was our first time on the Carnival Splendor, a ship unique to the fleet as it was originally built for the Costa cruise line and wasn't transferred to Carnival until it neared completion. Since we booked so early (more than a year before sailing), we were able to snag two of the most sought-after staterooms on the entire ship, with enormous balconies that we connected to create our own epic "party deck" truly worthy of a 40th birthday celebration!
Since our balcony was easily one of the highlights of our cruise, those are the pics I will start off with. (However, to get a better idea of how truly awesome it was, you should also check out
this room tour video that Shaun posted on YouTube!)
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| A shot of our Premium Vista Balcony (better known as an "aft wrap") from the far right, aft side. |
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| A view of the "wrap" from the other side |
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| But wait, there's more! Here's the balcony of our next-door Premium Balcony stateroom, which we were able to open the divider of to connect to our aft-wrap |
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Eddie getting some exercise on our massive balcony as we sailed away from Mazatlan
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| Shaun taking in the sights of Mazatlan from the Premium balcony side |
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| Eloise enjoying the balcony on a sea day |
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| This shot shows where the two balconies joined together. Ellie is basking in the sun on the aft-wrap while Eddie is relaxing in the shade of the covered Premium balcony on the starboard side. One unanticipated perk of having the two balconies was that we always had our choice of sun or shade! |
Okay. So now that bragging about our epic balcony is out of the way, let's start at the beginning...
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| Avalon having fun in the sun on the balcony before we sailed out of Long Beach. That's the Queen Mary in the background. |
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| First dinner in the dining room on Embarkation Day. Look at those sleepy eyes on Eddie... |
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| Approximately 5 seconds later, sweetie pie fell asleep while still clutching his dinner roll. |
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| We pushed together Nana and Papa's empty chairs ::sad face:: to make a bed for our Sleeping Beauty. |
All the fun of Embarkation Day had us thoroughly worn out and we called it a night after our 6pm dinner. The next day, a day at sea, was a day of few photos as we set the tone for the rest of our cruise by RELAXING HARD! (An inside joke that went on to become the theme of our cruise.) We slept in, hit up the buffet, and the kids checked out Camp Ocean for a few hours while Shaun and I made our first of many visits to the amazing Cloud 9 Spa. The spa was easily another highlight of the cruise! Shaun and I purchased a couples pass for the week and managed to spend some time in the Thelassotherapy Pool and Thermal Suites nearly every day of the cruise. After some spa time, we picked up the kids from the kids club and headed back to our rooms to get ready for the first Elegant Night of the cruise.
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| While Shaun took a shower in our other stateroom, the kids and I scrambled to get a few birthday decorations hung up in the aft-wrap room. |
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| Happy Birthday to Daddy!!! Behind him you can see our wonderful dining room team, who took such good care of us and never showed the slightest annoyance at us being 15-20 minutes late for dinner each night (oops!!). |
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| My loves ready to dig in to some birthday cake! |
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| Our partners in fun, Uncle Jesse and his lovely girlfriend, Gretta. |
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| After dinner we walked by the nightclub, which we couldn't help noticing was unlocked and completely empty...so Shaun pulled out his cell phone and we started our own dance party! |
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| Soon after, Shaun ran back to the room to grab his bluetooth speaker and we really got the place bumping! (Meanwhile, I'm wondering how long our shenanigans can continue before someone kicks us out!) |
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| It wasn't long before a couple other families noticed what we were into and popped on in the club to join the fun!Shaun played DJ for at least an hour while about 12 kids and several parents boogied to some tunes! It was one of those special moments you just can't plan that will never be forgotten! (And by the way, we never got kicked out...though an employee or two quietly sauntered through the club at a couple different points, no doubt making sure that our antics were copacetic!) |
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| After tearing up the club, we took the party back to our room |
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| Hanging out with Gretta before bedtime |
Day 3 of our cruise was another day of few pics, as the five of us decided to stay on board while in Cabo San Lucas. Since Shaun and I have been to Cabo many times, and we had the biggest, best balcony on the ship to enjoy as well as a VIP pass to the spa... staying on board was a no-brainer! I inexplicably woke up at 6am and enjoyed an amazing sunrise from our balconies as we sailed into Cabo. Shaun and I started off the day taking turns going for a run on the jogging track, which we followed up with lunch and then time at the spa while the kids were in kids camp. Soon it was time for dinner, which was followed by some night swimming and hot tub time for the girls, and an early(ish) bedtime in anticipation of our horseback riding tour the following morning in Mazatlan.
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| Shaun and Ellie greeting our arrival in Cabo San Lucas from the aft end of our balcony |
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| Ellie taking it all in |
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| Avalon getting some homework done |
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| Goofing around at dinner with Gretta and Uncle Jesse |
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| In this pic I believe Ellie was mad at Uncle for stealing one of her shrimp cocktail. I was so proud of the girls for ordering off the regular menu almost every night (instead of selecting junky crap off the kids menu). They both discovered a love for shrimp cocktail, which they ordered as their appetizer every single night! |
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| And once again, Eddie passed out mid-meal. (And once again, got a second wind as soon as dinner was over!) |
Day 4 of the cruise took us to Mazatlan, my favorite Mexican Riviera port and the only one able to lure us off the ship. I love Mazatlan because it is offers a little more authentic taste of Mexico than the more typical resort towns of Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta do. Since our horseback riding excursion with
Maria's Happy Horses was a highlight of our cruise last year, we decided to do it again! It was a perfect day, start to finish.
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| The whole gang on the gangway as we debarked the ship in Mazatlan |
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| On our water taxi to Stone Island |
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| View of our ship from the water taxi |
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| Closeup of the Carnival Splendor |
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| It wasn't long before we were mounting our caballos! Since Eddie met the minimum riding age of 3, he was able to join us this year! (He stayed behind on the ship with Grandma and Grandpa last year.) |
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| We came prepared to fend off Eloise's allergies this year with wraparound sunglasses and gardening gloves. |
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| The "E's" saddled up and ready to ride! |
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| Avalon getting settled on her horse |
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| Trotting down the beach on Stone Island |
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| The lady in the red shirt is Maria herself, who stayed right beside Eddie, leading his horse the whole way. |
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| Avalon and Eloise, on the other hand, were on their own with their caballos this year (though there was another guide who kept a close eye on them)! They felt like such big shots and were all smiles the entire ride! (The girl in this pic with Avalon was also on the tour with her family... there was a total of 11 people on the tour). |
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| Picture time!! |
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| Shaun's horse totally ruined this otherwise awesome pic! LOL! |
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| The whole familia |
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| After the ride it was time for a drink and snack at Victor's on the beach |
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| Eddie and I shared a coconut...so good!! |
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| Relaxing hard! |
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| Delicioso! |
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| Hermanos |
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| After some refreshments, it was time to head down to the water (which was Lake Tahoe-cold, but just right for some splashing!) |
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| Shaun risked getting his tennies wet for this family pic. ;) After some fun on the beach, it was time to water taxi back to the cruise ship after an absolutely beautiful day on Stone Island. |
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| After getting cleaned up for dinner, the girls settled in for a game of Old Maid. I couldn't help snapping a pic after noticing how well they were getting along! |
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| Fun on the balcony during sailaway |
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| My lovely ladies. They are growing up so fast! :( |
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| Now that's more like it ;) |
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| Even my baby isn't a baby anymore! |
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| Daddy's Boy |
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| Ellie wanted to continue the photo shoot on the way to dinner :) |
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| She looks so grown up! |
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| At dinner we were visited by a roving "Table Artist" who did magic tricks for the kids |
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| Ellie got to try a trick! |
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| It wouldn't be a cruise without a little dancing in the dining room! |
Day 5 of the cruise took us to Puerto Vallarta, but the five of us again decided to stay on board and enjoy the ship's amenities sans crowds while Jesse and Gretta spent the day in the city.
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| Our first stop was the miniature golf course, where Shaun snapped this pic of the girls. The kids weren't very interested in golfing, however (much to Shaun's and my disappointment!) so it wasn't long before we headed back down to the pool. |
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| Chillin' poolside |
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| Time for a swim! |
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| On to one of my favorite features of a Carnival cruise ship--the water slide! |
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| It took a little coaxing, but Avalon tried the big "Twister" water slide for the first time and LOVED it! She went over and over! |
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| Relaxing hard in the hot tub! (Which was actually not hot at all, but refreshingly cool!) |
While we were enjoying the bubbles, Shaun wandered off to grab a drink and a bottle of water and was gone for an inexplicably long time. He returned to surprise me with the news that he had just stopped by the spa and booked me a massage for that afternoon! While I enjoyed an absolutely blissful 75-minute "Head to Toe" massage, Shaun took the kids to the on-board splash park, where they played with a girl we had met earlier in the day. A great time was had by all! After a late lunch and some downtime in our room(s), we reunited with Jesse and Gretta at dinner that evening and later headed back to our balcony for the late sailaway from Puerto Vallarta.
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| Balcony party!!! |
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| Jesse and Gretta were nice enough to pick up this child-size poncho for Avalon in Puerto Vallarta. (Buying a poncho in Mexico was on her "cruise bucket list"!) |
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| Uncle and his Mini Me |
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| Shenanigans |
The final two days of the cruise were spent at sea as we sailed back to Long Beach. After a leisurely morning in the spa on Day 6 (Shaun and I took turns while the other hung out in the rooms with the kids), we enjoyed a fantastic Sea Day Brunch in the dining room with Jesse and Gretta, followed by some wandering around the ship and downtime on the balcony. It was during this downtime that Avalon was fiddling with a loose tooth... and pulled it out! Talk about a memorable moment! It had been over a year since she last lost a tooth! After the excitement of that we managed to get ourselves ready for the second Elegant Night in the dining room, which was followed up with some gambling time in the casino for the grown-ups while the kids hung out in the kids club.
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| The whole gang at brunch |
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| Showing off the new hole in her mouth! Oh what fun to lose a tooth while at sea! |
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| Eloise buttering her bread at dinner time |
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| Me and my dapper dudes! |
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| <3 |
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| Avalon with Uncle and Gretta. They rarely got to sit next each other at dinner...it seems like Avi or Ellie was always claiming the seat between them! |
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| Goofing around in the casino |
The last day of a cruise is always a little sad, but this time it started off in the best possible way... a whale sighting! After watching the whales play for a while, we headed to the dining room for the
Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast. Carnival offers this every sailing, but this was our first-ever time partaking in event, which was made all the more special by the fact that it fell on Doctor Seuss's actual birthday! We spent the afternoon trading off trips to the spa (yay) and packing (boo) while Eloise hit up the kids club for the last time and Avalon and Eddie soaked up some screen time. After our final dinner in the dining room we topped off the cruise with a "Dive-In Movie" on the pool deck (Despicable Me 3).
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| Whale tail! |
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| Jesse and Gretta watching the whales from their balcony (only a few rooms down from ours). |
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| Getting in the Seuss Mood! |
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| A visit from the "real" Thing 1 and Thing 2 |
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| I think I may have enjoyed this event even more than the kids did! |
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| Up close and personal with The Cat in the Hat. (Ellie was the only one who agreed to take a pic, but wasn't thrilled about it!) |
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| "I do so like green eggs and ham!" |
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| All set for the poolside movie with popcorn and strawberry smoothies |
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| Avalon opted for a Shirley Temple (she jumps at any chance to drink soda, as it is still off-limits in "normal life"!) |
Debarkation the next morning couldn't have gone smoother. We enjoyed a final breakfast (and final ice cream cone) and were off the ship and headed home by 11am. But before we hit the road, we made sure to snap a few farewell pics in front of our wonderful home for the week, the Carnival Splendor.
The end of a cruise is always sad... but as any cruise aficionado will tell you, the best way to beat the post-cruise blues is to book another one! Fortunately, Shaun and I took care of that long ago and don't have much longer to wait until we set sail to Alaska to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary this summer! The kids have a little longer to wait until our next family cruise, scheduled for April of 2019, but it will be one worth waiting for... a 2-week transatlantic cruise to Europe! Time flies so fast these days that it will be here before we know it!
