CRUISING!

January 23-28, 2016

Cruising in Grand Style!

We have taken several cruises over the past 17 years, always booking the most economical cabin on the ship, most of the time an inside cabin with no window, but we have always had a good time since we usually don't spend much time in our cabin anyway, using it only to shower and sleep.  We could always go up to an upper deck to view the passing scenery.

We decided to go in style this year since we were offered a pretty good deal on a Junior Suite.  Then a couple of weeks before we sailed we received a phone call from Carnival Cruise Lines offering us an upgrade to a Grand Suite, one of the largest cabins on the ship!  We took it!  The Grand treatment began when we arrived at the Cruise Terminal in New Orleans when we were whisked away from the massive waiting area, where passengers wait to be called for embarkation, to a special "Priority Lounge" with comfy leather sofas and easy chairs, a big screen TV, and a refreshment table loaded with cookies, sweet rolls, juices, coffee, water, etc.  WOW!  They really made us feel special!  Shortly, we were led thru the massive waiting area, where all the other passengers were still waiting to board the ship, and right onto the ship where our Grand Suite stateroom was awaiting us!  Very impressive!

                        Plenty of room to spread and relax!

Why in the world do they have that many glasses inside one of the cabinets?  Nice to have a small fridge though! 

We had a whirlpool bathtub!  It was wasted on us since we never take a bath, we shower instead, but it was nice to have.

 Across the hall from the bathroom was a walk-in closet with more storage space than we could use!

This Grand Suite stateroom is larger than most hotel rooms we have ever stayed in.  Pretty awesome!

                                 BooBoo says this is the way to cruise!

                       We loved the large balcony on our stateroom!

This is where we will begin each morning of our cruise, the walking/jogging track which is up on Deck 14.  One loop around the track equals 1/3 mile.  We tried to walk about an hour each morning as we watched the sunrise.

The ship is docked facing the U.S. Hwy 90 bridge across the Mississippi River.....but of course our ship is much to tall to pass under that bridge!...

 .....the Mississippi River is a very busy shipping lane.  To set sail, our ship will move away from the dock, back up a little, then swing a U-turn before heading south down the river, taking several hours to reach the Gulf of Mexico.

 As we glide slowly down the Mississippi River, we view an awesome sunset as we enjoy our balcony before going to dinner.

 

Following a wonderful dinner, we went out onto our balcony to see this full moon! 

On our first night while we were at dinner, our room steward created this towel animal, a stingray.  I love having our room cleaned twice a day, all our meals prepared for us, and we don't even have to wash the dishes!  Nice! 

 
The next morning we went up to the walking/jogging track to get in our daily walk and captured this incredible sunrise!

Today was a "Fun Day at Sea" so we explored the ship, people-watched, joined in some trivia games, read a little, napped a little, and just enjoyed being on vacation and relaxing.

One of the many food venues onboard the ship was the Moroccan Grill.  You choose a bowl, then pick any of the many vegetables and noodles offered, pile it all into your bowl, then hand your bowl over to one of the grill chefs.  He will toss your choice of meat and sauce along with your bowl of selected veggies/noodles into a large stir-fry wok and in no time at all it is cooked and ready to eat.  Yummee!   

On our second evening, our room steward created a towel elephant!

As we walked on the track the following morning we observed several other cruise ships, all heading into Cozumel along with us.  These massive ships seemed so small as I looked out across the water!

In reality, they are behemoth floating cities and I am continually amazed at how they stay afloat.  All three of these ships are Carnival ships.....Carnival Elation, Carnival Paradise, Carnival Valor.   We are on the Carnival Elation, the smallest of the three, with only 2,000+ guests, and the other two have 3,000+ guests each!  That is a lot of tourists going onto the Island of Cozumel! 

Plus there is a Norwegian Cruise Ship and a MSC Cruise Ship docked at the next pier!  Cozumel is definitely a popular winter destination!

Oh my, Tom, what big feet you have!

 

We walked thru and bypassed all the shops and vendors and made it to the fountain and the "main drag".  We had inquired at the information kiosk about renting electric bikes and were told to walk north for about ten minutes to Beach Bum Bike Rental.

We arrived there and rented these cool electric bikes with big wide tires!

Hey, we can do this, we are ready for adventure! 

 

So off we went!  The traffic was very mindful of bicyclists and we felt safe.  On these bikes you can peddle normally or use the hand throttle to really go fast!   It was a beautiful sunny day and we are on vacation and we are in the Caribbean!  What's not to be happy about!  This is way cool! 

I enjoyed letting Tom take the lead since I knew he would want to go faster then me, plus I like to stop and take photos!

This is so awesome biking along this gorgeous clear blue water!  There's those three Carnival ships in the distance!

After awhile we stopped at this seaside grill......

 While we waited on our food order we watched divers and snorkelers coming and going......

                                 ....oh my, look at that pile of nachos!

                                 No BooBoo, you can not have any nachos!

We then rode our bikes toward the south end of the island which is not nearly developed as much as where we had just came from.

However it was still just as beautiful, more greenery, but still the clear blue water.

Before heading back to turn in our bikes, we stopped at another grill on the beach where we enjoyed something cold to drink and the ambience and just being near the water!

After turning in our electric bikes, we walked back to the ship.

        
          This was something new that we had not seen before.

Couldn't pass up the "photo ops" along our way......

Later, as we sailed toward our next port of call, we could not stop taking photos of the spectacular sunset in the western skies!

Tonight when we came back to our stateroom we found a towel dog!

The next morning as we were getting in our morning walk, we were blessed with another spectacular sunrise!

Progresso, which sits on the northern edge of the Yucatan Peninsula, has an industrial, working port.  There is a three mile long causeway that connects this port with the mainland.

As our ship pulls into port we can just barely see Progresso on the horizon.

Apparently someone on our ship needs more medical attention than the onboard doctors can administer.  There is an ambulance waiting on the pier!

What a drastic difference between yesterday (Cozumel) and today (Progresso)!

The dogs/trainers are waiting to sniff out any contraband.

No matter how many times we are reminded not to take any fruits or vegetables off the ship, this dog sniffed out a banana in this woman's bag, the one in the yellow skirt.  Naughty, naughty! 

Since Progresso can be a little sketchy sometimes, we booked an excursion thru the ship.....Scenic Photo Tour & Foodie Experience.  We board a tour bus along with two guides for the short (30 minute?) ride to the city of Merida. 

BooBoo is having the time of her life!  She loves going places!

 

The city of Merida (population 1,000,000+) is very modern and clean city.....we saw a lot of the national chains that we have in America such as Costco, McDonalds, Sam's Club, Wal*Mart, etc.

Our first stop on the tour was at a Mexican Bakery that had all sorts of pastries, breads, rolls, and more.......and it was right across from this impressive Mexican Monument that sits in the middle of a traffic circle.......fascinating to watch a couple of photographers in the middle of a photo shoot with a model dressed as Cleopatra posing in front of this monument!

All of this was happening as the traffic whizzed by around this traffic circle!  We are across the street touring this bakery!

Fascinating to see these two guys sweeping up fallen leaves with a homemade broom made with palm fronds.

This boulevard leading up to the large monument is said to be fashioned after a boulevard in Paris, France.

This is one of our guides, Carlos.  Both of our guides were very knowledgeable about the history and culture of Mexico and especially this particular area.  They are very proud of their clean city of Merida which has the lowest crime rate of any city in Mexico.

This monument was one man's dream and took him 11 years to complete it. 

Right across the road from the monument, in a historic old house is a McDonald's!

 

Remember this is a Scenic Photo Tour, lots of historic buildings!

                                         This is a very old cathedral.

                         We walked thru a city park.....

                                        ...that had hundreds of birds!

Our next "foodie experience" was at this ice-cream shop.  We were served either a chia drink or a rice milk drink.

Afterward our guide led us across this busy street, through that nondescript archway opening.......

 ....and what a surprise to see this inside......a lovely courtyard for this historic home......

 ...with this gorgeous tiled walkway surrounding it.....

 ...and each room we entered was filled with beautiful antique furnishings.....

 ...and one of the rooms had this unique ceiling......all different kinds of tiles inset into the ceiling.  Totally awesome!

I am sure most of these historic buildings are available for tours, but our excursion is the Scenic Photo Tour & Foodie Experience.

Our next food experience was lunch.....

 .....served in a hacienda type setting...too pretty!

 The restaurant had our table all set up and ready for us!

                                   This is the name of the restaurant:

 It was located on a very clean side street in the city.

 This tour far surpassed anything we were expecting!  What a pleasant surprise!  Hard to believe it was only $49.95 per person!

On our way back to the ship, Tom found Marilyn Monroe!

.....to be continued.................