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By Katrina Kane, on April 24th, 2014 With an 8am plane flight scheduled the next morning to get Bernie home to Idaho, we had to get up pretty early and skip breakfast. Thanks to Bernie, I finally got to see what the Transit icon on my GPS is for. I searched all over the GPS for a listing of the airport but was having no luck. Finally I looked under Transit which I had never looked at before. There I not only found the airport, but I found the exact terminal she needed to go to. The GPS did a great job directing us in and through the airport maze. I dropped her off and said goodbye until the next cruise. We both now know we want to cruise again. Unfortunately, my next two vacations are already planned so my next one will likely be April 2015. I’ll have to be content with my memories until then.
Heading home wasn’t in my plans just yet. I had personal business to take care of in Livingston, TX for one night and then off to New Braunfels (again) for a couple nights to see my doctor (again) and do some shopping. I had planned to do some tent camping but the weather didn’t cooperate. It was too wet and cold to sleep on the ground. I had to motel it. In Livingston I stayed at the Economy Inn just south of town on 59. Nothing fancy but for one night it was OK. I wouldn’t vacation there. Just so you know, the pool they claim to have no longer exists. They filled it in with concrete so they wouldn’t have to bother with it and have never updated their listings. I hear breakfast doesn’t exist either. I wouldn’t know since I had a fridge and microwave in my room to use.
While in Livingston, I finally tried out Church’s Chicken (since I haven’t been able to find KFC down here in Texas). It’s cheaper than Popeye’s and good but not a replacement for KFC. NOBODY does coleslaw right but KFC.
I saw my insurance agent who happened to be at the Escapees park while I was there. I have said it before, if you want really great service and prices from someone who cares, knows their stuff, and isn’t just trying to sell you something, call Chris or Charles Yust with CandCRVInsurance. DON’T tell them I sent you. I’m one of their more “messy” customers but they still do great work for me and I love them!
Once my personal business was finished, I had to leave in a thunderstorm with high winds to get to New Braunfels. If I had my trailer with me, I never would have travelled in that. It was not at all fun. Thank goodness Chris and Charles told me the best way to get around the horrible Houston traffic. It was worth the tolls but I had to reprogram my GPS to get it to use the toll road. I had turned off toll roads long ago when the toll roads all over the East coast ate my bank account and spare change. I drove straight to the Red Roof Inn which I had checked out and programmed into my GPS long ago as a backup for vacations. I got one of their King rooms which I liked very much. It is very large, has an L-shaped desk for business travelers and computer geeks, and had a fridge and microwave oven which I love to get. Their pool does exist though it was too cold to try it out. The location is excellent right in town near the Wal-Mart and HEB. I would stay there again.
I had to get my Texas driver’s license while I was there and I have to say it was the first time I ever enjoyed the experience. Their office is automated using a kiosk you sign into with your cell phone number and text alerts sent to your phone. Whatever you do, don’t reply to the one telling you how long a wait you have with the letter “M”. It adds another 20 minutes wait time. Don’t ask how I know. Oops! The gals working there were very nice and one was especially funny. When the office started to fill up, she turned to us and started telling us “Go ahead and go to lunch if your hungry. We’ll text you when it is your turn. Ladies, go get that new Easter dress or shoes you know you want. You have time. We’ll text you. Guys, you need a new tie for Easter, don’t you? Maybe you have some other shopping to do. Go for it. Oh look there’s a smart one leaving.” She waved at me as I trotted off to lunch. After lunch, I started heading back when I spotted a propane place so I pulled in and filled my empty propane bottle in the back. Geez! The price of propane sure has soared! So glad I figured out how to heat my RV solely with the free electricity I get from my company’s generator. Just as they were finishing, I got a message that I was next in line. They weren’t far but by the time I got there, I missed my turn. No problem. All I had to do was reply to the “we missed you” text message and they put me next in line. What a great way to run a DMV! Love it. Got a temp license. Hope the picture is decent when I get my permanent one in the mail. A girl can dream.
I got a chance to hit up Red Box to see Hunger Games: Catching Fire. It was very good. I stayed up late to watch it with a Domino’s pizza I had ordered in. Haven’t done either of those in quite awhile. Can’t wait to see the next Hunger Games movie. One of Katniss’ beaus has got to go because her flipping back and forth is making me dizzy. What they did with the dress was terrific as a form of flipping the finger to President Snow. All I’m going to say.
Finished up the shopping and made the doc happy with a visit. It was time to go back home though I had no idea where my home was. We were released from my gate while I was on the cruise and my support folks had to move my trailer off the ranch. I was homeless! I was about to call to get a destination to go to when one of them called to tell me we got called back again so they took my trailer back to the same gate. Criminy! What a waste of time, effort, and gas! I returned back to the gate and work. Traffic is not slow but easily handled. I’m getting some sleep at night. Zzzzzz.
By Katrina Kane, on April 23rd, 2014 In the morning our final Sail and Sign card bills were shoved under the door and taken care of. Mine was less than $100 so I was happy I had controlled my spending onboard. I’m sure others who were drinking a lot were not so happy. Oops!
We went up on deck one more time and then to breakfast. As priority FTTF passengers, we were put in the number 2 group to disembark. We were given instructions to be in the Rome Lounge on deck 3 at 8:30 am. It proved to be very confusing because the cruise director, Jen, kept constantly announcing that everyone should stay off deck 3 as they would be turned away. They need to clarify their special instructions about that to tell us to ignore the announcements. We made it down to the lounge a bit late and found quite a few people already there. It took a long time after we docked to get customs to clear the ship and start unloading. They took the self-assist people first (those carrying all their own luggage off). That took a long time too. The big screen in the lounge was showing cartoons to try and keep the kiddies entertained. An hour later when they finally got to us, they called our number then immediately starting calling a bunch of other numbers behind us. That really swelled the line. It moved reasonably fast though. Once again they scanned our cards and we headed down the never ending turns of the gangway. While out on the open part of the gangway, we waived for several minutes to the Galveston cruise cam mounted on the Harbor House while Bernie got her daughter on the phone to grab a pic of us. Score another webcam geocache for us! You can’t really see us but it was good enough.
Down in the terminal, we found our bags. One of mine was put in the wrong group despite the clearly numbered tag so be sure to look around if one of yours goes missing. With my duffel bag now much fuller than when the cruise started, I whined a bit about the weight and my friend went to get a porter for us. That turned out to be a very fortunate and smart whine. The porters get to bypass the long line that snaked back and forth through the terminal. He grabbed all our bags and whisked us off to the far side and right into a short line at customs. We showed our passports and handed over our customs forms to a very nice smiling fellow who waved us right through. Next came the Texas tax authorities which we were able to bypass since we hadn’t brought any booze or cigarettes back with us. BEWARE: Texas charges big taxes on that stuff so most of it will not be any bargain when you are done paying tax on it. I think they charge $4 per bottle of liquor. Know before you go!
Our porter swept us past the tax authorities and outside where he dropped off our bags with Bernie while I went to get my truck. He offered to take the bags all the way to our parking but the terminal was so busy and I felt he was really needed there to help others get through the long lines. We tipped him well. I got my truck and didn’t have too hard a time getting into the terminal area and finding Bernie. Everyone seemed to be pretty well behaved and there wasn’t any horn honking. We went straight from there to the Inn at the Waterpark nearby in Galveston.
The Inn at The Waterpark was pretty decent. They were nice enough to give us a room on the first floor and I really liked how it was laid out and how spacious it was. We put on our bathing suits and headed over to the Schlitterbahn Waterpark almost next door. The waterpark parking lots are right behind the motel. I had a coupon to get one of us in for free I was itching to use. I got it with my New Braunfels Schlitterbahn yearly pass at the end of last season. Now for any of you that are wondering how we got in during April which is out of season, the Galveston waterpark is part inside and that part stays open. We had a fantastic time! We went round and round on Torrent River, explored the wave pool, hit the hot pool which is very hot and has a bar in it, and hung out on the beach. I introduced Bernie to smoked turkey legs for lunch. YUM! We stayed until closing time.
Before going back to the motel, we went after a geocache very close by. It was at an aircraft museum and was hanging in plain sight (if you have good eyesight) on the fence. Just as I found it, a couple pulled in near us. Considering the odd place we were parked, we knew it had to be more geocachers and it was. We all got to sign the log and they put it back.
We went back to the motel to change and go to dinner in their restaurant. The food was pretty good. We also looked over their miniature golf course which looked very interesting. We didn’t have time to play but will keep it in mind for the next time we stay there. It was that time… Zzzzz.
By Katrina Kane, on April 22nd, 2014 The weather was great. Breakfast in the dining room was great. Alas, it is time for a down day. We’ve had enough sun and just felt like resting that day. After a nice round of golf topside, we decided to veg out in our cabin with some TV and the nice soft beds. Our steward poked his head in a couple times so we told him not to bother with us until evening. We did go up topside for food at lunchtime and to try out the tacos. They certainly had a lot of fixings to put on them. They were good. I spotted turkey on the menu in the buffet area so we hit that line up too. The turkey was fine but they have no clue what dressing is supposed to be made of. It was some sort of white glop with beans. Yuck! At least they do know how to make cheesecake. Mmmm!
 
After lunch we rolled ourselves back down to the cabin for awhile. It’s nice to be able to just rest on a cruise and not be pushed into doing activities if you don’t feel like it. I tried to get a shower but the water was just barely warm. We weren’t entirely sure if that was normal or not with so many people on a ship but we didn’t feel like bothering to report it since we were headed back to Galveston and would be off the ship in the morning. I’m told that isn’t normal.
The show that night was passenger talent night and after seeing their performances at karaoke, we weren’t too excited to go to that. After packing our bags and leaving them outside our door to be picked up for tomorrows return home, we did check out the bingo game which was far less boring than you would imagine. The emcee was very lively and funny. Somebody won $1,000! I would definitely go to that next cruise.
We went to dinner in the dining room and finally got put on the upper tier of the main floor. There, we had a wonderful view of the singing and dancing waiters. They do their own little show for a few minutes at every dinner. We got to twirl our napkins with them and sing along. The second song they did was the Macarena and lots of guests joined in. It was very cool!
  
After dinner, we just moseyed around listening to the live music here and there. We checked out the final sales in the ship stores too. When we got back to our room, we found our room all made up by the steward with beds turned down and our nightly chocolates waiting for us. I wish I could have brought our steward home. I miss that. A little more packing of our carry-on bags and it was time. Zzzzz.
By Katrina Kane, on April 20th, 2014 Our excursion for the day was going to be more laid back so we had more time for a nice breakfast in the dining room. Yay! We really like the dining room breakfasts. Once our hunger was satisfied, we made our way back down to the mysterious deck 0 again and had our picture taken as we were getting off. This time, we shared our berth with another Carnival cruise ship, the Breeze. We could see it had some different recreation from ours such as a waterslide with a bowl to go round and round until you are flushed down through it and they have a rope climbing course. I for one will be going on that ship someday to check those out!
  
We wandered around the marketplace a bit, took a picture to set the tone of the day, and then made our way to the taxi stand where many folks were lined up to get to the local beaches by sharing a ride and splitting the $16 cost.
We caught a cab to Nachi Cocom beach resort for an all-inclusive excursion we had booked through a private company (not the cruise line). For $55, we got our own lounge chairs and umbrella, access to their pool and hot tub, access to their beach, and all the drinks (alcohol or otherwise) as well as food we wanted. This beach club limits the number of people allowed in to 100 so it is quieter and less raucous than others. The pool is a little cold but we still enjoyed it. We especially liked the wading area on the end. The large hot tub was fine and filled to capacity with happy people. The beach was white loose sand, not at all like our beaches. Whether you walked on the dry part or the wet, you sank right in since it doesn’t pack down like American beaches. That made making sand castles pretty hard to do. The water is warm and gorgeous though. I have never seen such colors! It was shades from a light green, to cerulean, to true navy blue. I tried out my snorkeling equipment I had brought with me and snapped some underwater pictures to test out the waterproof pouches we had bought on Amazon. The pouches didn’t leak and while a little odd to use when taking pictures, they did work as advertised. Next time we’ll have to try snorkeling a reef. Sorry, you don’t get to see any goofy pictures of me in my snorkeling gear and fins. Too bad! Do think I got a pretty good pinup picture of Bernie by the pool for her husband though. He he!
  
After awhile, hunger set in so we sat ourselves at a table on the patio and ordered lunch from the menu. The service wasn’t particularly great but the food was good. We took our time enjoying every morsel. I forgot to try the non-alcohol pina colada I had heard they had but enjoyed the soda.
At 1pm, we went out on the dock to await a boat that would take us parasailing, an extra add-on we purchased for $90 for both of us. It was on my bucket list and I figured if I was going to do something foolish, it would be nice to do it with another fool. Hence, the tone setting picture above. LOL The boat was a little late but did show up before we chickened out. They hooked us up in tandem so we could share the moment and were kind enough to agree to take pictures of us and boy did they ever! Here it is folks! Despite those who doubted we would really do it, we went flying like kites on the wind! Yeehaw!
  
We got back in time to do a little more swimming then joined a group in a cab ride back to the dock. We got a little bit of time to do some shopping. Gotta have those postcards ya know! Living in an RV as I do, I don’t have room for bunches of bric brac souvenirs and it seemed like the prices were higher in Cozumel than in Progresso. I know a flute that sold for $1 in Progresso cost $4 in Cozumel. T-shirts were higher too. Don’t ask me about the cost of booze there or bringing it back since I don’t drink.
Getting back on ship took longer. Everyone seemed to come back at the same time, the last few minutes before we were supposed to sail. Once we were onboard, we went to our room to change and then up to the sail away party on the Lido deck. The music was loud and good, the ice cream was flowing throughout, and everyone was having a good time. Our DJ teased the Breeze passengers who were hanging over their rails watching us.
There was another wonderful show later. This time it was a magic show. After the show we had dinner in the dining room again though it wasn’t as nice an experience as all the other times. The service was not as good. My water glass was empty too much. I ordered the chicken breast and mushroom fettuccine but while I got a large portion of the very delicious fettuccine, the chicken breast was nowhere to be found despite much searching and stabbing the plate. By the time the waiter came around to check, I was already angry and getting full. I didn’t appreciate him laughing at my loss.
Oh well, there was plenty more music to be had that evening. We took some quick naps then got up to catch the raunchy adults only show in the Del Rio Lounge. It was standing room only by the time we got there. I liked the dancing and singing very much but was very glad none of the scantily clad girls was my daughter. Once again I am very grateful to God for only giving me sons. Time to retire for the night after checking the news on that plane again and hoping for the best. Zzzzz.
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