Cruisin'

Well, Jeff and I are back from our cruise where we celebrated our 20th Anniversary. We went on Carnival's Ecstasy and really enjoyed ourselves.

The main thing we kept hearing about was THE FOOD on cruises. Jeff & I enjoy high-quality food, and we were definitely NOT disappointed. You get to choose between eating at self-serve buffets to quality restaurants where you are seated and served your choice of appetizers and entrees' or room service if you preferred. Here's what I had for my entrees' each night:

• Night 1 - Flounder (Jeff had Duck)


• Night 2 - Lobster & Shrimp


• Night 3 - Chateau Briand


• Night 4 - Turkey


• Night 5 - Salmon (Jeff had Lamb)

Keep in mind that this is just the entree' and you usually had about 5 to choose from. They were totally okay with choosing more than one appetizer, so in addition to this you had a delicious appetizer (or two) as well! The yummiest thing was the Chocolate Melting Cake and I plan on finding a recipe to try out soon! For breakfast we had DELICIOUS Eggs Benedict.

There was quite a bit of entertainment to choose from - shows, dancing, casino, music, tea time and seminars like ice sculpting and scrapbooking. Our first stop was in Cozumel which was lots of fun. The excursions were cancelled because of high winds and choppy waters, but we found a small beach and were able to relax and go snorkling. I wasn't as impressed with our second port stop in Progreso, so "next time" we will probably take the 4 day cruise with only the stop in Cozumel.

Our main goal on this cruise was to REST, and unfortunately, that goal was not met. Our room was an interior room, meaning it was located on the interior part of the ship vs. a room with a window. There were loud banging noises intermittently on one of the walls and the crew was unable to pinpoint where it was coming from. It didn't help that every time we called them it stopped, so they never got to hear it themselves. Needless to say, we didn't get a great night's sleep while away. They were very gracious and gave us an onboard credit for our purchases while on the cruise, so I was grateful for that. I also need to mention that photographs are a BIG source of revenue on these boats - they're always taking your picture and also provide various stations with a variety of backdrops and each night they post these pictures for you to review and purchase if you desire. The photo above was my disembarkment at Cozumel and I have more to come!

If you're thinking of a fun getaway with your honey, I would highly recommend a cruise. It took me a little while to get over the gaudy casino-like feel to the ship, but I enjoyed the quality time I was able to spend with Jeff. It was nice to stop everything and intentionally invest in our marriage. I feel so blessed to have a husband like Jeff!