Kelsi’s Graduation Cruise 2017

What:    Family Cruise to Celebrate high school graduation for my first, and oldest, granddaughter, Kelsi.

When:   April 2, 2017 – Spring Break (because it was $1000 less per family than a summer cruise)

Where:  Departing out of Ft Lauderdale – 6 nights on the Crown Princess to:

Mahogany Bay, Honduras

Belize

Cozumel, Mexico

Who:     All family members and some friends were invited.  Again, Lynne and family were unable to join
us because of the time of year and her work (and Matt had recently changed jobs).  These are the lucky few that joined us:

• Penni, Dennis, Seth, Kristi, Kesli (graduate), Lauryn, Kayna, Christian, Wade Mathison (Lauryn’s boyfriend), My mom (Ick/ Lillian), and Dennis’ mom (MeMa / Dot); Dan (our adopted son), Genie (Dan’s wife) and Reed (Dan and Genie’s 2 yr old son), and Dan’s mom Tina and step dad, Rex.

Why     Given the opportunity to plan her graduation family celebration trip, Kelsi chose a cruise. This
Would be her fourth (4^th) cruise and she knew what she wanted. We priced several and the one
We settled on was the first cruise ship she ever experienced (2012 Crown Princess trip).  Good
Ship, good food, good pools, and an exciting itinerary.  Let’s go.

Pre-Trip:

• In November 2016, during Christmas Shopping, Dennis and I splurged and signed up for Amazon Prime (free shipping for a year). During the weeks and days before the cruise, as we were putting together our travel needs and new clothes (for all – not just Dennis and I) Fed Ex or UPS were regular visitors in my driveway J   Why fight the crowds in a real store when I can have it delivered to my door – spoiled ? yeah, just a little.
• Kristi rented a car (just like my Toyota Rav-4) from the airport this time. For those of you who remember our last two vacation rental car fiasco’s, we were not chancing that again with a local Avis or Budget office. So here’s how the travel lineup looked:
  • Toyota Rav-4 (1) Dennis, Mema, Kayna
  • Toyota Rav-4 (2) Seth, Kristi, Lauryn, Wade
  • 3^rd Vehicle Dan, Genie, and Reed (sometimes Reed was in 4^th Vehicle)
  • 4^th Vehicle Rex and Tina
  • Delta Airlines Penni, Ick, Kelsi, and Christian
• Genie ordered special beach bags for Kelsi and I with our initials on it and a personalized YETI Cup. Thanks ,Genie – these looked fabulous and came in so handy.
• Packed and re-packed to reduce size and weight. Finally got it right. Time to go as Saturday morning, April 1^st

Day 1  - April 1^st                          I Asked You (is that the same as I Told You So?)

• Tina, Rex, Dan, Genie and Reed actually left on Friday evening, March 31 to drive part of the trip, stopping in Jax, Fl.
• I got up early while everyone slept, got a shower, got my purse cleaned out (lots of receipts and trash) and Ick needed a smaller purse, so fixed her items up in one of my spare purses.
• The Rav 4 (1 and 2) group left about 8:30 a.m. after a quick Martin’s breakfast at my house (a breakfast tradition). Most of the luggage fit in the two vehicles, leaving those of us who were flying minimal luggage to check and carry on; nice!
• My group that was flying did not have to leave the house until about 3:00. I had errands to run that morning, so I got started after the others left on their road-trip. I needed a couple of lanyards and since today was the first day of the month, to go pay a couple of bills for Ick.  Christian rode with me while Ick finished getting ready.  Christian and I stopped by Zaxby’s for a quick bite of lunch, and brought chicken fingers to go back for Ick. We got back to the house and while Ick was eating, I went to the bank to finalize the cash we needed.  Everything was going smoothly and I would have about 30 minutes before Lynne got there to get everything together to leave.
• Except when I arrived home, Lynne was already there. Hmm, ok – guess we should go ahead and leave. Lynne had a party to get to later this evening, and everything is packed, so we’ll just leave now. Lynne asked, “got everything? Your ID, all your bags, etc”     and we set off – well, after wrestling with Ick’s Rollater Walker and I ended up with it straddled over my lap in the back seat – but hey, we’re in – so let’s go.
• Lynne entered in the directions to the Airport in her phone GPS program WAZE, and introduced me to how great it was for managing around traffic. For those of you reading this, that may not be aware, just a few short weeks before out trip, a portion of I-85 had collapsed in downtown Atlanta and traffic anywhere near the 75/85 or 285 interchange looked like the worst rush hour.  Waze lived up to its hype and routing us down I-20 we arrived in record time, less than 40 minutes.  We said our goodbyes, got all of luggage and the rollater walker out of the car and began our check-in at the Delta Curbside Desk (love this perk of living near a Delta Hub).  I checked in,  Kelsi and Christian checked in, then Ick’s turn -  ok, you can probably tell, by the way I wrote that phrase, we have oops # 1 of the trip about to happen.   “Photo ID for Lillian, please? ”  the nice, patient lady behind the counter asked.  Ummm,  as I frantically search through her smaller purse that I put together for her – there’s not much in there, so that’s good – but where is her smaller billfold?  I know I put her ID and Insurance Cards in there -  her money is there, but where is her ID?    Oh No – it’s missing.  Now what?
• Kelsi called Lynne right quick and asked her to come back – fortunately we had time to drive ALL the way back home and hopefully I would find. I saw it this morning, how did it not make it into the purse?  I apologized a thousand times to Lynne, and the nice lady at the Delta desk said we could come right back to her and she would finish our check in.  This sounds so much less stressful while I am typing this blog than it felt that day.  What would we do if I couldn’t find it – it’s Saturday, I can’t just go to the State ID office and get another one made on Saturday or Sunday, and the ship leaves on Sunday.  I felt like an idiot. Remember earlier today when Lynne asked me if I had everything and specifically said I.D.’s ?  Yeah, well, let me tell you, it does pay to actually LOOK AND SEE that you have the ID’s in your possession… All of them.
• I literally prayed the entire 30 minute journey home (thank you again, Waze). Suddenly, as we exited onto Thornton Road, I got a blessing from above with the reminder whispered into my consciousness that possibly I had stuffed the new billfold and contents into her old purse instead of the new one.  Now, I
• couldn’t wait to turn into my driveway and rush into the house. Finally ,  bounding out of the car, key in my hand, unlocking….. running in to where I had left the old purse – there! Thank you, Jesus – literally.  I can breathe again….
• Now, back in the car (the rollater fit in the trunk now, since our other luggage was already checked-in with Delta), and trip # 2 to the airport. Please, please, please, no traffic.  Thank you Waze again, and some Divine help too, I’m sure.  Again, we made it in record time (and for those of you wondering, yes, Lynne went the speed limit).  Found the Delta Agent again, checked Ick in properly this time,  got wheel chair assistance and were on our way with our …. WONDERFUL TSA Precheck stamped on our boarding tickets (easy breeze through Security – we can leave our shoes on and no pulling contents out of purses or carry on luggage).  Done – now to the fun stuff.
• Christian’s first ride on the Airplane Train to Terminal B. He thought it was cool, and we made it – Can we please find some lunch now? I’m starved. So glad I remembered to go to the bank this morning and get a stack of $1 bills,  I had been going through them this morning, as I tipped all of the wonderful people that helped us along the way.  I got Ick settled in a chair – and holding several other chairs beside her at our gate. We had about 45 minutes before boarding time.  Kelsi took Christian to explore food options down the terminal, and I went to the nearby Fresh Crepe Stand and got Turkey and Cheese Crepes with a frozen smoothie for Ick and I.  Settled now, resting for a whole 10 minutes or so – Christian and I took some pictures by the outside window of our plane, then time to board.
• Christian and Kelsi took the seats across the aisle from Kelsi and I. I had bought ear buds for the trip and passed them out, so we could take advantage of the in-seat t.v./movie monitors provided for free during our trip. Christian played some games and watched a transformer movie, and loved the pretzels, cookies and Sprite that the flight attendant brought by.  First plane trip for him was a success, I would say.   It had been a hectic day, so far, and I was still in high gear – couldn’t settle down.  I flipped through movie offerings, tried about 20 minutes of two different movies, and then settled into Gone with the Wind, fast forwarding it to all the good parts (I love Prissy’s announcement that she don’t know nothing about birthing babies) before touch down in West Palm Beach.

• Wondering why we touched down in West Palm (WPB) when the ship leaves from Ft Lauderdale? Yeah, that might be good information to add. For the four of us, flights were a total of $1000 less to fly into WPB.  I could rent a car one (1) way from WPB to Ft Lauderdale, keep it 24 hours for $62.  Winner – done.

• Checking in quickly with Enterprise once we had our luggage, we picked up our Chevy Equinox (approximately 9:00 p.m.) to drive the 45 minute trip to our hotel in Ft Lauderdale, where everyone was waiting on us. StayBridge Suites – Plantation/Ft Lauderdale, great place if you are ever in the area. Very clean and spacious.  For our group of 16 (3 family groups) we had 3 – two bedroom / 2 bath suites: very reasonable cost.   Bed, Bed, where’s my bed? I’m tired. What a day.   But first – a couple of LONG walking trips through the LONG hallways between Kristi’s family room and mine to get the right luggage with the right person.  Ok done?  Goodnight.

• Day 2 - April 2nd                       The Big Oops
• Dennis and I got up early, repacked everything and drove to the airport in FT Lauderdale to return my rental car. About a 10 minute drive, so not bad, right? I wish it was that simple. The signage and the GPS directions to the Rental Car Return were at the least, confusing, at the most, WRONG  - take your pick.  After being routed through some back entrance of the airport and realizing this was not correct, we found a place to pull over and re-check our directions. I am sure we looked like two cars on the Disney Grand Prix race car ride following one another around and around in circles.  Finally, we found the correct road, returned the car, and about an hour later returned to the hotel in time to meet everyone for a quick breakfast out on the patio of the StayBridge Suites Hotel.
• After breakfast we loaded up luggage into the cars and Dennis was going to take Ick, Mema and Me to the Cruise Port first, drop us off (with our luggage and carry on’s) and then go back to help get the rest of Kristi’s gang to the Port. Dan’s family would meet us there.
  • NOTE: this is where the fun begins… or the OOPS
• Approaching the Terminal, no signage for where to drop off passenger, or luggage, just people standing everywhere, wrapped around the building. One of the lot workers waived us around to the far side, where Dennis helped us unload and left to get the others at the hotel. I have been on enough cruises, and two out of Ft Lauderdale previously, to know this didn’t look exactly right. I found an information desk and quickly learned that we had been dropped off (remember the man that pointed us in this direction) at the PICKUP (aka Exit), not the entrance to the Terminal.  “ Ma’m, you will have to walk all the way around the building to find a porter to help with your luggage”, I was told.  Are you kidding me?  It’s 100 degrees out here (I’m sure it was not really 100, but it was HOT), There are people crowding the sidewalks, the drive ways, everywhere. Leaving Ick and Mema propped on the luggage until I could find someone,  I pushed (gently – well, maybe) my way through the crowd, all the way around the building to the back lot and finally located a nice porter to follow me back all the way around the building to gather our luggage (yes, he got a nice tip- he deserved it).  now I am hot, tired and sweaty, but we should be able to check-in and wait on the others in the nice air conditioned terminal.
• No, of course not – that’s why so many people are on the sidewalk, they are not letting anyone into the building yet. Dennis and I are “Elite” level with Princess Cruises, and that is usually one of the perks, to at least get into the lounge area and wait until ready to board. Not today, no one is going in. So, we waited – my mom, remember has a rollater and can sit on that, so that is helpful, but Mema stood for a LONG time. There were a couple of benches and people were kind enough to offer her a seat, but she knew getting up sometimes is difficult after sitting a while, and chose to stand. We met up with Genie and her group, but after waiting, and waiting, we wondered where Dennis and the gang were?  Genie called and found out that Seth and Kristi had gotten almost to the port and realized they left all of their boarding passes back at the hotel. Ok – maybe it’s hard traveling with a group, especially when there are teenagers and a six year old, and making multiple trips back and forth to the port to get everyone and their luggage there, or maybe we are just forgetful – you can decide J
  • I wish that was the big oops you’ve been waiting for – it was one, for sure, but don’t leave me now – keep reading… it’s coming.
• Finally, Dennis and Kelsi arrived with another load of luggage. We have been in-line OVER an hour, and remember, it is HOT. Still no open doors. Kelsi is with Dennis and I, Mema and Ick, still waiting on her mom and dad and family to get back. This annoying man behind us wants to continually talk about how he is on a back to back cruise and why are we in the same line as he is. Wants to know what makes us Elite?  Ugh,  I was cordial as he kept talking, but really just wanted him to be quiet and mind his own business. Keeping in touch with Kristi and Seth, they are close, but not here yet, and the doors are finally opening. Yay.  Kelsi waited right outside the doors for her mom and dad and was keeping a constant check on where they were on her cell phone.  We entered the building, and were some of the first in line to go through Security.  I saw a few people being wheeled in (wheel-chair) by Terminal Workers, and I had actually signed up for this for ICK, because the incline up to the Gangway of the ship can be steep.  We had done this in Miami for her in 2015 and worked great. As we approached the security area and scanners, I inquired about the wheelchair.  The lady very sternly pointed us back to the entrance door and said,  “You all have to go back over there for wheelchair assistance”.  What? Really?  So, we get out of line and make our way back over to what turns out to be like a chaotic mess of a holding pen of people waiting on wheelchair assistance. No line, no organization – what a mess.  Only two men running relay with the wheelchair assistance for MANY people. Ugh, this is going to take forever – and we were so close to being on the ship a few minutes ago. The men kept coming back (slowly) for passengers, stating “it’s on an honor system here, there’s no line – we don’t know who is next, we only have two wheelchairs, so this is going to take a while..”.   Ok – I had enough. After a while, I stepped up to one of the Transport Men with a brilliant idea and whispered.
  • “ I have a proposal for you. When the doors first opened we were one of the first in line for security. No one told us until we were at the scanners that we had to come back here for a wheel chair.  That was over thirty minutes ago.  My mom has a rollater, and “IF” you can take us through security – get us back to where we were when we had to step out of line,  then I will push her, and that will free up you and one of your wheelchairs”?   Surprisingly, he jumped at the offer and said “Sure”!
• Wow, that was easy. We breezed through security and finally to the check-in desk where he left us to quickly go back to his transport duty. After check-in, we rode the elevator one floor up to the walk on decks.  With my mom seated on the rollater, and Dennis and Mema following closely behind, I pushed around the corners and up the slight inclines of the entrance-way. A few people around us, but not too crowded.  I can see the opening entrance to the Ship, the Crown Princess, now – just a few more feet and there is the Gangway, a steeper incline with the metal covering connecting the entrance path and the ship.  I muscled up and got a little speed up and then the tires on my mom’s Rollater hit the gangway and collapsed – OOPS. Yep, that’s it, the big OOPS.  Ick hit the floor, hard! I saw her head swing back after the initial hit, and I stepped forward to try and catch her head before it hit, but my arms wouldn’t reach -  bang, her head hit next. As Princess greeting crew rushed to her side, I was in shock, I just kept looking at her, and back at Dennis and saying, “ Oh my gosh, O my gosh, O my gosh “.
• She could move, she wasn’t unconscious (thank God, literally) so we declined medical help from the ship doctor, because we were afraid they would insist she go to a hospital for x-rays. Dennis and I both looked in her eyes, and she looked fine, even had good color – just shook up, bad, and sore. She stood up and pushed the rollater herself and we went very slow, but finally, finally, we were on the ship and our vacation could begin. I took Ick to our room and let her lie down for a while as I checked on all of our other group and made sure everyone was on, safe and sound.
  • Ok - that was the Big Oops – Now on with Vacation

• Leaving Ick to rest for a while, I unpacked and then left to ensure everyone else was onboard, safe and sound. It was almost noon now, so Ick decided to go with us to the buffet for lunch. We sat under the shade on the Lido deck, out by the pools while we ate and I had my first of many frozen smoothie’s of the week. Ahhh – now I feel like I’m on vacation.
  • Princess has one of the best drink packages – for about $8 a day for the length of the cruise, unlimited sodas, frozen smoothies, fruit juice, and milkshakes. Totally worth it for my group. Our Cruise card came with a “drink” sticker on the front, and all we had to do was show our card when ordering – easy!  This little perk had been a Christmas Stocking gift for many in our group, so everyone could enjoy.

• Muster Drill at 3:30 in the Princess Theater and then out on deck to enjoy the Sailaway Party.

Dinner Time

• Dinner Time is always a highlight of our cruises as we enjoy dressing up and family time: sharing stories of the day, eating good food, and just hanging together. Our dinner time was 6:00 p.m. so we all made our way to the dining room in the middle of the ship. Our staterooms were in the FORWARD section of the ship (I really enjoyed this section because it was not heavily traveled and quiet – well except for my group- lol). When we arrived at the door to be shown to our table, Dan, Genie and Reed were already seated – at a table for 4. What? We were supposed to all be together…  all 16 of us.  My table was for 5 (Me, Dennis, Ick and Mema) – so we swapped with Dan and Genie, because when Dan’s folks joined them, that was 5. Then Kristi’s family (7) was seated a few feet away at a large round table.  Not Liking this – we wanted to be together, it’s part of our tradition and something we had all looked forward to.
• Wait staff was great, as usual, and we made do tonight – visiting one another’s tables between courses and as we waited on our meal.

• Time to meet with the Maitre’d to see if there was anything that could be done for the remaining nights. Dan had watched while several people were just screaming at the poor man, and wagging their finger in his face as he or she was not pleased with something in the dining room. My strategy – smile and charm him with kindness to get what I want. Hopefully it would work. It did, with a small twist – wait, maybe a big twist.  He could seat us all together IF we changed to the 7:45 dinner time.  Ugh, Dennis is not going to like this, but I would go ask.  Kristi’s group gave an immediate YES, let’s do it – they really wanted to be together. Dennis gave a thumbs down but said he would go along with the group, because he too, wanted to eat dinner together.  Dan and Genie said it absolutely would not work for them because it was too late for Reed.  I totally understood that and Genie said we should go ahead, and they would just keep their original time slot. Ok – hated not eating with them, but out group voted and said to change. So 7:45 dinner time for the remainder of the cruise.

• Tonight after dinner, we watched an intriguing movie out on the deck, “Passengers”. I love watching movies, snug and warm under a complimentary blanket and popcorn, out on the open ship deck. One of my favorite things to do on a cruise. Tonight, however, I was more tired than I thought, and fell asleep out under the stars about half way through the movie – maybe a third of the way through. Princess has the most comfy cushions they put in their lounge chairs in the evening. What a peaceful way to fall asleep. Waking up as the movie ended, we made our way to our home for the next few days, E109, E111, E115 and E117. It’s been an eventful, but fun, day!  Good night.

Day Three (3)      It’s a Ship Day – Let’s Play

• Today the Crown Princess is making her way toward our first port, Mahogany Bay, Honduras, while we explore and play on all that she has to offer. Swimming, or jumping if your name is Reed or Christian, Tanning, Eating, and maybe a Trivia Game for Dennis and I. We found an uncrowded place to gather for lunch in the Caribe back section of the Horizon Court Buffet. Pizza and Milkshakes (Vanilla with Caramel Syrup added for me) quickly became my favorite snack and or lunch.
• During the day, when I was by my room, I noticed I had not received my ship excursion tickets for our kayak package purchased for Mahogany Bay (2 packages for a total of 2 Kayak rentals (4 people), snorkel equipment (4 people), 2 ocean floats, and 4 Clamshells (shade for beach lounge chairs). I called Guest Services and Shore Excursions and nothing showing on my account for ever purchasing this package. Fortunately, it was not sold out, so I purchased 2, again.  The tickets were delivered to my room within the hour, for tomorrow’s port day.  Ok – good enough, disappointment diverted – not sure where the mix up was, but taken care of now.
• We met our new Waiter and Assistant in the new dining room assignment tonight at dinner. He was…ok. Certainly not the best personality I have ever experienced on a Cruise Ship, but we were all together and that was great!

• It was formal night, so we all put on our “finest” and had photos taken, before and after the dinner. Kristi, Genie, and I had purchased an exclusive On-Line Photo Package for $99 that covered any and all photo’s made while on the cruise. As long as someone from our room, the photo was included(for Kristi – it covered both rooms because of minor children in both rooms).   Laughter, constant conversation, picture taking and oh yeah, eating ensued. But we were all feeling unusually tired after dinner. Strange how moving the time slot a little less than two (2) hours can have just a dramatic effect on us.  We went to see a musical comedy after dinner, and again, I fell asleep (I had company too – so don’t think I’m the only pooped one here).
• The night wave action in the Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean Sea was somewhat rough. We were in a forward room, but at least for my room, and Bop’s (Dennis), it was just like a gentle rocking to sleep. Lauryn has a slight issue with sea sickness and it did bother her really bad one night, so she and Kristi got up and walked the outside decks for a while – she felt better. Too bad, Princess puts all of their chairs up so you can’t sleep out on a deck overnight – she would have preferred that J  Dan’s mom and even Dan had problems with the lively wave action a couple of nights, but all in all – everyone was fine.   Some people get car sick on a road trip, ship movement bothers some people, and some it doesn’t.  Air travel is my nemesis – although Ginger capsules and drinking Ginger Ale in flight curb mine, and I’m fine.

Day Four (4)  One of the Best Caribbean Ports Ever

“Mahogany Bay”

• Everyone up early and either to the buffet or dining room for breakfast. We really enjoy the dining room for breakfast as the food is very good, and it’s a slower, more calm space. Good way to wake up. When we docked, we gathered all our ID’s, beach bags, towels, sunscreen and shore excursion tickets and met our group in the hallway by our rooms. Kristi was holding two (2) envelopes just like mine. What? I had purchased the excursions weeks before (online), and they delivered them to her and in her last name. So that is where the mix up happened. Still don’t know how that happened that the reservation got linked to her and not me, but anyway, now we had four (4) complete packages.  It suddenly wasn’t such a great deal, but on the up-side, we had enough kayak’s, clamshells, ocean floats for everyone that wanted one – so that, as we played on the beach, was wonderful.

• We walked (carefully J) down the gangway and toward the pathway to Mahogany Bay. Port beach area developed by Carnival Corporation (Carnival, Princess, Costa, and Cunard Cruise Lines). Once past all of the port area photographers, we began our 5-10 minute walk on a beautifully landscaped pathway. Around the first bend, most of our group, used their voucher for the flying beach chair (low altitude version of ski lift-or sky buckets) that would deposit them right onto the sandy beach.
• Dennis, Mema, Ick, and I walked the shady path. It was lovely, and had a few hammocks in strategic quiet places tucked between big shade trees. As we crossed over a bridge, I could see the beach in the distance as we approached the welcome building with a few souvenir stores and restrooms. It was HOT; while mom stopped by the restroom, Seth and I popped into one of the stores for a few bottles or water. $1 per bottle – not bad. Walking out from the shade of the building onto the beautiful expanse of the beach, meeting up with the rest of our group, we got our package contents and settled in. We were the only ship in port that day, and it was truly like a private beach experience.

• Clamshells were between shade trees and were nice and spacious. The water was slightly warm, just the right temperature and we played in the sparkling water. Several in our group enjoyed kayaking or pedal boats and played with huge sea turtles. Food was decent, a little on the expensive side, but enough to hold us over until we could hit the afternoon snack buffet back on the ship. Here is our day – in this case, I believe a picture really is worth a thousand words. Enjoy.

• We talked Mema and Ick into riding the Flying Beach Chair back, because the return trip would be somewhat uphill. I held Ick’s rollater while she loaded onto the chair and I would walk it back later when I was ready to leave the beach. Seth came running over to me asking where Mema was?  I pointed up to the chair just lifting, and he “she has my wallet and my cruise card  (ID to get back on the ship).  Uh oh – he ran down the path to see if he could communicate with them on the slow moving chair ride.  He made it in plenty of time, and they tossed the wallet and ID down to him.  Seth came back to me and said, “Bop said you needed to meet them at the Chair Drop off with Ick’s rollater”.   Ooops, guess we forgot to coordinate me leaving at the same time they did so she would have it when she landed. I gathered up all our gear and left the gorgeous beach and ocean. Absolutely one of my favorite beach ports.
• Back on the ship, Christian and I went to visit in Bop’s room while Ick took a shower and got ready for dinner in a couple of hours. Christian was hungry, so we browsed through the room service menu – PIZZA, yum, let’s chill out and rest and order a pizza. $3 Service Charge for a large Yummy, Hot, pizza delivered to our room. We were not eating dinner until 7:45 p.m. so this was a great later afternoon snack.
• Dinner tonight was our usual enjoyable time (except for our waiter, he just is not wowing us….at.all.) – trying new food, splurging on desserts, and just fun visiting one another (amid yawns – why are we so tired). Princess handles time change zones differently than Carnival. Carnival stays on the original port time (Eastern Standard or Daylight Savings Time) the entire trip. Princess changes, and if the time zone changes daily, then so does the ship-daily). No wonder we are all so tired. We are finishing dinner at what would be 11:00 p.m. on some nights.
• Tomorrow, we visit Belize, and several of us are scheduled to go on excursions. Lauryn has been feeling a bit queasy tonight from the movement of the ship and so while waiting on our dinner, I went to the gift shop and purchased her a motion sickness arm pressure band. While we were eating, we noticed our waiter, and others visiting all the tables and discussing something with a serious tone. Our waiter came over and began asking us about our plans for tomorrow. He reminded us it was a “tender port” and the ferry ride might be on any of a number of different types of boat and would take at least 30 minutes to cross to the Port Village of Belize City.  “It’s not your typical 5 minute tender ride, the water can be very rough, and ….” on and on and on.  He was clearly trying to talk the passengers out of going into Belize tomorrow.  Kelsi was sun-burned somewhat already, and Lauryn heard his speech about the rough crossing and with Kristi – decided to for-go the snorkeling tour tomorrow and stay on-board.  Not thrilled, I understood their concern and after dinner emailed the tour company to cancel the excursion.
  • Note: Dan’s parents went on their Belize excursion to Mayan Ruins and loved it. And while, yes, the ferry over took a while, the trip was not bad at all.

Day 5 ALMOST BELIZE (or a bonus Sea Day)

• Lauryn feels great today and we all woke up to a gorgeous, sunny day in Belize, or about 5 miles out to sea from Belize City. Swim suit and new cover up on and out on the Lido Deck after breakfast. Remember the Amazon Prime membership and the daily trips to my house from UPS?  I bought 2 new swim cover-ups (about $9 each) and am loving them on this trip – so comfy, and actually could pass for just cute little sundresses. We lounged out around our own private pool with Reid and Christian jumping in and splashing. No, I’m not giving any more of that secret away, just that it was one of the best perks of being on this ship.
• Pizza and Milkshake for lunch for me, while some had the buffet, or hamburger. Dennis (Bop) and I played a couple of trivia games; we do not usually win (we did once on the Carnival Spirit in Alaska), but it’s just a fun diversion to see how “almost” smart we are. I am in love with Princess’ Vanilla Milkshake with a splash of caramel syrup added before the whip crème – delish.

Dennis and I went to the Spa Adults only pool for a while in late afternoon – tucked away in the back entrance to the Spa/Exercise Rooms. So peaceful and serene, it was a nice time away for just the two of us.  I showered in the nice, roomy, spa shower today and then back to the room to dress up for dinner.  For any of you wondering, no, I didn’t have to “dress up” ,  blue jeans would have been fine, but it has become a tradition on our family cruises to “look cute”, as Lauryn says, and dress up “special” for dinner. It’s just something we enjoy.  Once again, Kelsi enjoyed Crème Brulee for dessert (she actually ordered it every night) while most everyone else tried something different off of the menu. Well, when you really, really like something – you splurge and eat it every night  .   Tonight we watched another musical in the theatre, and the singers were really good – Disney quality (that’s  a compliment for any non-Disney fans out there).

Cozumel – My Love – Wait, What just happened to my perfect plan?

• Ever since Dennis and I first visited Cozumel in November of 2013 and experienced the “Wild” East side (No electricity, just nature at its best), I couldn’t wait to bring my family and show them this island paradise: gorgeous, unspoiled white sand beaches, delicious food prepared fresh (generator on site to cook with), and excellent photo opportunities. I had contracted with a group excursion tour company in Cozumel that would give us a private tour today, following an agenda I had carefully planned. The agenda looked something like this:

• Meet up with tour guide/load mini-bus
• Mayan Ruins and Raw Chocolate demonstration and tasting (with photo’s)
• Drive to the EAST side, stop at scenic beaches, rock pier into ocean, photo op’s
• Lunch (East Side – same outside restaurant we ate at in 2013 overlooking the most beautiful ocean) with authentic Mexican cuisine.
• Horseback Riding (for 3 of us) and Mr Sancho’s Beach Club for everyone else for the remainder of the day (swim, play, snack) – then back to the Crown Princess Ship.

• Needless to say, as you may have noticed by the title of this section, the day played out more like the Robert Burns (noted poet and author, n.d.) “…the best laid plans of mice and men”, meaning, well… here, read for yourself.
• Meeting up with the tour guide and all 16 of us loaded the comfortable air-conditioned mini-bus. Our tour guide was nice and friendly with the group, and discussed the plans that I gave him for the day. He shook his head, but I had to keep repeating things and it soon became apparent that he was not really listening or did not totally understand. Arriving at the first stop, San Gervasio, to visit Mayan Ruins and the Raw Chocolate Demonstration, Dennis knew right away this did not look right. We followed to the tour guide to the gate, paid our admission fee and opted for a self –guided tour to go at our own pace, and began walking through… well, not much.  Some old gray broken ruins scattered among a rocky, thorn infested landscape that proved very difficult for my mom on her rollator and Rex, with his crutch to maneuver.  I won’t bore you with the details of how boring this site was, but let’s just say we were all in agreement to not stay long and made our way back to the bus after about 15 minutes of hot sun beating down on us. I would not recommend this site as a shore excursion if anyone is taking a trip to Cozumel.

• No Chocolate, no guys dressed in elaborate headdress for photo-ops, no spectacular mayan ruins, definitely not where Dennis and I were taken in 2013. Disappointment #1
• Continuing over to the East Side of the Island, the views were beautiful, just as we remembered, and ooh’s and ahhh’s were heard echoing throughout the mini-bus. It is truly beautiful here. Once again, I described our desired lunch place to our tour guide and located the name of it in my notes, and Dennis helped describe the Visual look of the open-air restaurant. Finally he shook his head in agreement and knew where we were talking about. Yay, success. We were all hungry and thirsty – ready for the stop. Dennis and Christian played a few minutes with an Iguana, holding it and putting in on their heads. (tamed by an Island guy on site – for pictures and a tip, of course).

• Once upstairs and seated at our large table, we ordered, then most of the group took off to visit one of the most gorgeous beaches anywhere, while the food was prepared. Unfortunately, the current and wave action is a little too wild at this location for swimming – but the view and beach time is fabulous.

• • Back to the table, once the food arrived, we are serenaded by Mexican musicians. He asked for request after a couple of songs, and I asked him to sing “ Happy Graduation” to Kelsi (to the tune of Happy Birthday) – that took about five minutes of translation and trying to explain what I meant – but finally they got it: She was so embarrassed, but think she loved it – we all clapped, of course gave a tip (again) and clapped to show our enthusiasm.

• So lunch sounds fabulous, and it “almost was” except the management of the diner had changed since 2013, and even though the look and feel were the same, the quality of the food was definitely lacking. It wasn’t bad – but had I known, we may have tried another beach dining spot just up the road.
• Back on the mini-bus and it is getting late so time to go horseback riding and to Mr. Sancho’s for a little beach and swim time that everyone is looking forward to. The drive down to the South side of the island took about 15 minutes and we arrived at Mr. Sancho’s and waited for the Tour guide to check us in. We saw him pointing to the bus and then more conversation with the greeters at Mr. Sancho’s. Our guide boarded the bus with the news that Mr. Sancho’s would not accept any more guest today as they had a huge group come earlier and could not accommodate us.  Disappointed, he said he knew of a stable next door where we could check on the horseback riding, and the bus pulled in there.  More discussions with the owners of the stable, and the same outcome – a large group at Mr. Sancho’s so they could not accommodate us (the stables are connected with Mr. Sancho’s). To say that Kayna, Wade and I were disappointed is an understatement and difficult to even describe, after months of looking forward to this. I had researched thoroughly and Mr. Sancho’s website stated that no reservations were needed for the horseback riding as there were always plenty available spots.
• Totally exasperated now, the tour guide said he knew another beach club close by that we could go to and still have beach time before needing to return to the ship. I asked him specifically if this beach would be suitable for small children (2 and 6) and for those who needed shade from the sun with ta comfortable place to sit (Mr Sancho’s had all of that, so I wanted the same from wherever we were going now).  He shook his head enthusiastically as we drove forward and assured me “yes”.
• A few minutes later we pulled into Tortuga’s Beach Club. Nice enough from the outside – looked a lot like the entrance to Mr. Sancho’s.  We had a group photo made at the entrance (that actually turned out really nice). Walking down the sidewalk and into the beach club and beach/ocean area, the shade area was a little crowded, but a nice concessions area with table and chairs looking out over the ocean. THAT is where the nice ended.  The beach was rocky, horribly rocky and into the ocean, the large boulders were so slippery, I could not even stand in the water.  A few of our group ventured out into the water (Seth, Dan (with Reed) and Christian went out with Kelsi and Seth for a few minutes).  The rest of us watched them stand in the water – not much swimming or playing) and I cried.  The disappointment of being in one of my favorite Caribbean islands and having planned this wonderful day for my group to end like this was just overwhelming and I lost it.  Thank goodness for sunglasses.  We did manage to enjoy some cold frozen slushies and coke’s before we left, but at this point, I just couldn’t wait to get back on the ship.

• Arriving back at the shopping area of the Port, before boarding the ship, Ick and I bought a few souvenirs and t-shirts for the girls and Savannah. This is truly one of the best Caribbean shopping ports, in my opinion. Very good layout of stores, where it is not terribly congested, and good deals with quality merchandise. Heading back to the ship, we hired a rickshaw buggy (with bike) to take Me Ma and Ick back up the long walkway to the gangway (separate trips as Dennis and Me Ma headed back to the ship earlier than us with Christian) and when Ick and I arrived back on board, guess what Christian was enjoying in Bop’s room? Yep, another Pizza!

• Cleaning up for dinner (Spa shower time again for me) we took advantage of our photo package and stopped by for more photo shoots and posing for our own shots on the beautiful atrium stairway.
• Night swimming and relaxing after a long day! Time for bed

Last Full SEA Day

I was uncomfortably aware off and on during the night that my right foot was hurting – no, specifically my toe. Waving the pain off, I turned over and slept a few more hours before getting up about 8:00 a.m. and heading to the dining room for breakfast, with Bop, Mema, and Kelsi joined us a little after being seated. It was getting very difficult to walk, without pain.  

After breakfast, it was time to enjoy one last day out on deck, and we headed up to our private pool. Closed for maintenance! What? really? On our last day?  Ok – back down to the Lido deck to the “busy” pools where we met up with Reed, Dan and Genie.  Christian and Reed played in the hot tubs for a while and then Genie and I decided to take Christian and Reed to “parent time” at Camp Carnival (the kids program).  They both loved the toys in the room, the games, and the interaction with the director of the program who blew up large bouncing balloons for them.  We stayed about an hour, and at lunch, the program closed for an hour. 

Pizza and Milkshake again for me for lunch (that has become my standard this week – it is so good and easy to get to). Dennis ate from the buffet.  We swam in the pools on the Lido deck as the whole family joined us now.  It was 1:00 p.m. and Christian remembered that the nice director of the children’s program had invited him to come back when they re-opened for all children 3-7 at 1:00 – he was excited to go back, and kept saying, “it’s time, Nana – c’mon, let’s go”.   This time was structured play with teachers and while parents could stay, it was not mandated like it was at open time earlier this morning.  Christian was fine with going in alone and joined several other boys and girls being checked in by their parents.  I received a buzzer when I signed him in, so that when he was ready to be picked up, they would alert me.  The program closed again around 5-6:30 for dinner.  The buzzer did NOT go off at all.  Kelsi went to pick him up at 5:00 and he talked non-stop about how much fun her had.  They were open again at 6:30 -9:00 and he begged to go back again.  He played in the pools with us for a while and time for his later afternoon room service Pizza once we all got back to our rooms.

Christian decided he DID want to go back to Camp Carnival even though he would miss family dinner time with us. He was full on Pizza, so no problem.  We were just all pleasantly surprised that he loved it so much, not because the program isn’t exceptional – because it is, but he can often be shy and somewhat clingy. This was a huge step for him and he was loving it.  We took him upstairs and then back down to meet everyone for dinner.

Last night dinner felt a bit understated, and Dennis and I still miss the Baked Alaska parade by waiters that we were introduced to in our early days of cruising; it signaled a celebratory end. I must applaud Carnival Cruise Lines here for their fun, yet meaningful good-bye song, “Leaving on a fun ship”.  Tonight, nothing more than the normal dinner. We did thank our waiter and his helpers, but this just helped set the somber “it’s over mood” move in more quickly on us all.

Suitcases all re-packed and out before 11:00 p.m. for the wonderful stewards to collect and have waiting for us at immigration in the morning as we leave the port.  Dennis and I took time to walk the decks, some much needed alone time, and sat and watched the ending of a movie on the “movies under the stars” screen. It was a nice, breezy evening as the ship sailed briskly back to Ft Lauderdale.  I could barely walk by this time and hoped that two Advil before I climbed into bed would help ease the throbbing in my toe.  A kiss goodnight as we enter our separate cabins.

            Light Out – Early day tomorrow as we debark to come hom

The Advil did help as I slept sound all night to the gently waves, but as I was getting dressed, I noticed my toe was a deep red color and swollen around the base and sides of the nail – Remember my mom’s collapsing Rollator on Day 1?  I had tried to catch her head and must have jammed my toe into one of the wheels.  This pain and swelling must be the result of that injury.

Everything out of our rooms, Mom was out in the hallway and I pulled her Rollator out last and closed our door, saying goodbye to my home for the week. Our group assembled in the Explorer’s Lounge to wait for our color coded luggage tags to be called for debarkation. 20 minutes or so and we were leaving the ship, checking out with our cruise card, one last time and into the elevator to take us back into the terminal building to collect our luggage and pass through immigration.

Super easy today, with a quick glance at our identifying documents and or passports, we were soon escorted by a porter through the exit. We said our goodbye’s to Dan, Genie, Reed, Tina and Rex, and Dennis and Seth went to retrieve the cars for their group.  They would have been on the road home within minutes, but our ship parked at a different terminal building /parking deck than we left from 6 nights before. Getting to the parking garage now entailed the two drivers to board a shuttle bus, locate the cars, pay the parking fee for the week, and then find and enter the terminal entrance to pick up our group.  As soon as we saw them arrive, I called for an UBER to take Ick, Kelsi, Christian and I to Enterprise Car Rental to pick up our car to drive back to the West Palm Beach Airport for our flight home.  Uber is fantastic, by the way, and I will definitely use them again.  I had a first time user’s coupon from the Staybridge Hotel we had stayed at our first night, and our ride to the Fort Lauderdale airport from Port Everglades was free, except for the tip I gave the professional and brilliant driver.

Getting the car was quick, and we had plenty of time, so we stopped by McDonald’s for breakfast, then planned to spend about an hour at the beach in West Palm Beach before heading to the airport to return the car.  Breakfast complete, we loaded back in the car, with Kelsi in the front passenger seat to help navigate. Suddenly, as I retraced all the luggage we had put into the Uber at the Port, and now into our rental car, my heart sank and I felt sick to my stomach. I didn’t remember seeing my computer bag. We double checked, our car – not here. Kelsi called Bop, and her mom, - everyone checked, no – not there. Oh my gosh, what happened? Think, Penni – where was the last time I saw it?  Explorer’s Lounge? I don’t know.  I distinctly remembered seeing it laying on the foot of the bed in my stateroom, as I went back in to get Ick’s Rollator out. Did I never pick it up?  I just couldn’t remember.  11 of us had been standing out in the hallway as we all wanted to leave together and there was so much going on – it was just a blur, where I actually may have left it.

I quickly called Princess Cruise Lines, and they said that I would need to speak to someone in Lost and Found – great! Except, it was Saturday, and they are not open on the weekends.  Monday morning, she said. Ugh! Ok – it is time to be at the airport to check in for our flight – can’t really do anything about it now, we have to get home.  I will just call them on Monday – and they can ship it back to me.

The Long and Winding Road Home –

While we were at McDonald’s earlier for breakfast, I began receiving text messages that our flight was delayed by 30 minutes.  Ok, no big deal, but by the time we left for the airport, it was an hour delay, then two. My toe hurts and is swollen as we return the rental car and walk into the terminal. We never found the beach (GPS gave wrong coordinates), and frankly after losing my laptop, I was not much in the mood for fun in the sun for just a few minutes. We got through airport security fairly easily, and then found our gate… only to find out, the flight had been delayed again. Time for lunch – we are hungry.

Limping through the terminal, we agreed on Chili’s and had a nice relaxing lunch. Four hours later, we boarded our flight. I sat next to a nice young man who explained the delay to me. Seems that President Trump is in town for a Conference and he flies in and out of this little airport in West Palm Beach when not in Washington. This is his Kennebunkport and Camp David. Lovely.  It was exciting a few minutes later as we were taxing down the runway, the native W Palm Beach young man, said, look close now, you can see Air Force One out of your window – there!  Snapped a photo, ok – not worth the four hour delay, but still very cool to see in person.

The flight home did not offer the in-seat games or movies, so we rested, and Christian enjoyed pretzels, cookies and Sprite again. Lynne was there to pick us up and take us home – we were exhausted but so excited to share the week’s stories with her on the drive to my house.  Traffic was horrendous for Dennis and Seth’s group driving home as it was the end of Spring Break and a hot air balloon festival in South Georgia.  They would arrive home, much later that evening.

This trip was a wonderful family get-away and one that we will remember for years to come. It certainly had more ups and downs that many of our vacations do, and some issues more painful than others.  So, what happened with my toe and my laptop?  

The Toe – I gently removed all of the fingernail polish to see if something was wrong with the nail – it looked fine. Not bruised, good color, but my toe was so red and inflamed; no fever though. For the next four or five nights, before bed, I would soak my feet in Epsom Salt and then follow up with some pain relieving cream that my mom had. After about four days, the swelling and redness was gone and I could walk without pain. Everything was back to normal. Five weeks later while changing clothes after church one Sunday morning, I looked down and my toenail was literally hanging on by a small piece on one side. It swung open like a front door – I almost threw up when I saw it.  I wore a band-aid for two days then researching, found out I should soak it again in Epsom Salt to help it stay clean and not forcefully remove the nail (giving it time for the new one to grow beneath).  On Tuesday morning, after the soak, , I gently dried my toes and the nail just fell off (completely) in my hand. No blood, nothing scary or painful, it was just gone.  A relief.  I am now growing a new one that I am told may take up to a year.

The Computer – On Monday morning I called Princess and they told me that I had to speak to someone in Lost and Found and they were on the West Coast (California); they opened at 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time. That meant, I had to wait and agonize until 11:30 Eastern Time.  At 11:31 a.m. I called and was told that I needed to file a claim (easy enough to do from their website) and it would take from four – six (4-6) weeks before I would know if they found it. AND they would only contact me IF the item was found.  Angry, yes – Scared, I would never get it back, you bet, Outraged that the items had to be sent to California before they could tell me if they found it, Absolutely. 

I was determined not to write this last part of the blog until I had a resolution, and I prayed (literally) every day that it would be found and returned. I ask God to help me through every day – of course I am taking this important matter on my knees to Him. My genius of a husband – the best computer tech in the world, quickly fixed me up with a loaner (his old computer) and loaded all of my important files that we had backed up on my previous laptop.  That helped my stress level about a million percent, and life went back to almost normal.  Almost six weeks to the day, I received an email from Lost and Found that my laptop had been found and they would ship to me. I took a moment to say Thank You, Jesus, then did a happy dance.  I don’t remember if I literally danced or not, but I certainly did in my heart.

So now, I have my laptop back, my new toenail is growing back slowly, Ick was not hurt badly from the fall, Kelsi graduated on May 26^th and the cruise is one for the memory books. I’ll close by listing some Pro’s and Con’s of the Ship and Ports. Thank you for following along with our journeys.

Things we liked

1. Princess pools are great – you can actually swim in them vs just standing along the inside walls.
2. Pizza, Milkshakes and Ice Cream were great (if you had the Ultimate Drink Card).
3. Ultimate Drink Card (smoothies, milkshakes, non-alcoholic frozen drinks) – 8.50 per day – great deal.
4. Mahogany Bay, Honduras, is one of our favorite beach port days now – Love this and Carnival Corporations owns it, so is first class and limited people allowed in.
5. Our secret Swim Hideway
6. Camp Carnival for kids
7. Room Service Pizza
8. Refrigerator in every room
9. Spa Pool/Sanctuary Deck – very nice layout, and nice pool
10. Easier to get around on elevators than Carnival, when you have someone with a walker/rollator
11. The beauty of a Princess Ship – there is just something about the elegance here.
12. My first OceanView room – I liked it, but ours was somewhat obstructed by the continuation of the Promenade Deck. I would gladly book another one if the price is right.

Things that could be improved

1. Cozumel Shore Excursioneer Tour Team – Not horrible, but not great either. Maybe not all their fault, perhaps I did not make myself clear on a few places we wanted to go. Still, I probably will not use them in the future when in Cozumel.
2. Waiter in the main dining room was not personable and friendly as we are used to being spoiled by the attention and wonderful service from all previous ones. Our waiter on the Carnival Freedom was also inattentive – maybe they are overworked – I see this complaint a lot, from travelers, that the waiters just have too many tables to wait on now.  So again, he was professional, brought us our food timely – we were just not impressed.
3. Room steward lacked personality. Ok – so we are not paying him for his charm, and our room as always clean, so not really a complaint, just more of an unexpected disappointment when you are used to a different level of attention. If you have cruised before you know what I am talking about.