This year just before the Thanksgiving break we decided to take the kids on their first cruise. We booked the Carnival Triumph sailing out of Galveston.
The boys were so excited to receive their passports!
We weren't sure how they would do on the ship with motion sickness or just being stuck on a boat for so long so we decided to take a shorter trip, only 4 nights. They absolutely loved it though! I think having a bunk was the most exciting thing for Hayden. We had them take turns so each one got 2 nights on top. Hayden's favorite part was jumping off the top bunk onto our bed, I think.
Being mid-November it was a little too cold for swimming in the ship's pool, but Hayden insisted. We talked him in to waiting until we had been at sea for a day, hoping it would warm up some. It was chilly when we left Texas, but the further out to sea we were the warmer it was. Still not warm enough for swimming though! I stayed in the room while David took Hayden out. They weren't gone for very long at all. Hayden was just too cold. We tried to tell him, but kids are stubborn. He's like his momma, has to see for himself.
The second night on the ship was elegant night. I went shopping the week before to buy the kids appropriate attire; slacks, button up shirts, shoes and ties. While we were all getting ready David realized he hadn't packed a tie. I could've strangled him with one of the kids ties, but decided to let it go. Hopefully they wouldn't kick us out. Before dinner we tried to get some good photos out on the deck, but it was super windy and made it a little difficult.
Hayden was not too impressed with dinner. I think he was annoyed right from the beginning because we had to wait for a table to open up. Not to mention, he HATED his tie! Says he never wants to wear one again (this came in very handy as a threat mechanism later in the trip).
The ship has a daily itinerary that let's you know what is going on throughout the day. There was also an itinerary for the kids clubs. The boys really enjoyed those. They were separated for much of the activities though because of their age difference. I think the boys spent the majority of our time in those centers. There was a ton of stuff they wanted to do and since it was their vacation, we let them. They decorated t-shirts one night, had kids only parties, and a lot of other cute activities.
We played mini golf a couple of times. We first introduced Hayden to it when we were in Florida. He really liked it then so it was a good selling point for this particular cruise.
We arrived in Cozumel on the 3rd day and we were all really looking forward to our excursion. We chose the Dolphin Push, Pull and Swim. WORTH EVERY PENNY! I highly recommend it to anyone considering it. Anyhow, we had to wait around on the dock for a bit before our tour left. That's when David realized he left his wallet on the ship...money and all. We had already paid for the excursion so that wasn't a big deal, but we weren't able to buy any of the pictures that they take of you there. Thankfully we had our waterproof camera and they let us use that. We got some pretty good shots too. We were divided up into groups and sent out with a trainer. Our dolphin's name was Lexie. We got to pet, kiss, and "hold" her, ride on her belly and have her push us on a boogie board. Tons of fun! Hayden was a little too small so he had to have someone help him, but he was good about trying to be out of the field of view for the cameras. I thought that was pretty thoughtful of them.
After the dolphin experience, David got in the water with a manatee. Hayden and Nich didn't want to get in so I stayed on the pier with them.
When we got back to the dock we went back to the ship to change and get some cash for souvenirs. David had $90 in his wallet and we thought that would be plenty. I grabbed my debit card just in case even though I really did not want to have to use it in a foreign country. Later I would thank myself. We ate lunch then headed back out. The boys all wanted to go to the beach so they were back in their swimsuits and I had changed into dry clothes. Bad idea. When we left the ship it started raining...not drizzling, but RAINING! I was soaked by the time we got to the first covered shop.
Hayden and his love for transportation was apparent even in Mexico! He picked out a rinky dink little wooden airplane. Who knows where that thing is now. I haven't seen it since we've been home. Nich got himself a luchador mask. Haven't seen that thing either, but they wanted them and hopefully it will remind them of our vacation from time to time....if they find them.
When all the souvenir shopping was done we headed out to find a taxi. There is not a swim friendly beach at the dock where the ships are so we had to go about 10 min down the road. Taxi ride was pretty cheap, but got us into a little bit of a frenzy. He said we could pay him when we headed back and he'd just wait at the beach for us. When we got out we paid the entrance fee plus extra for the boys to play on all their water equipment. They had a trampoline, slides, this blow up thing with different stick sticking out of it (no idea what that was) and kayaks. So David pays the guy for all of that and we realize we are now $10 short for our taxi ride back and way too dang far to try to walk it! There were no ATM's on this beach, not even at the bar where we saw these two silly parrots that acted like they owned the place. We'd just have to figure something out when we were done at the beach.
The boys all played for a couple of hours then it started pouring again. We packed up and headed out hoping the taxi guy wouldn't be there and we could just hitch a ride back with another that didn't know we hadn't already paid for the initial trip out there. No such luck. Here he comes around the corner, making sure he's the one that gets us. David asked him to take us to an ATM. Thankfully they didn't charge five million dollars to use it. It did cost me $10 to take out $40 though. Kinda ridiculous, but we had to do it.
One night David indulged in a Thriller Dance Class. So much fun to watch him do that! Nich and I took video and pictures while we made a fool of himself ;)
Each night on the ship when the stewards would turn down our beds, they would leave a towel animal and chocolates for us. The kids liked to guess what would be left for us, but of course we were never right. I never did get my monkey, but we bought Nich the how-to book so I'm expecting one out of him one of these days! These are the animals we were given:
All in all it was a wonderful vacation. We had some much needed family time and enjoyed each others company. I pray it is something the boys will remember as they grow up and have families of their own.
