Our Cruise to Mexico!

Yes you read that right we just went on a cruise to Mexico! 

It was kind of a whirlwind vacation.  My friend Amy that I run with, always has such crazy fun ideas and we text back and forth all the time.  Last month she texted me we should go on a cruise together.  I brought it up to Spencer and he said you know what, we should! I was kind of surprised since we just did our big Hawaii trip last year but hey if he is up for another mini honeymoon I'm totally on board.  Amy and Lynn originally wanted to go in May and I told her if she wanted us to go with her we would need to go in April since May is so busy with school ending.  So we looked in April and got a great deal on Carnival Cruise lines.  It left out of Long Beach on a Sunday and was 4 nights.  The first stop Catalina Island, second stop Ensenada Mexico, a day at sea and then home.  I actually did this cruise right after I graduated High School with my parents.  I was super excited to go with my hubby this time and to hear his Spanish skills that he has in Mexico.  This trip would not have happened if it wasn't for my amazing mom that took a whole week out of her schedule to come and be "me" for a week with the kids.  

Sunday April 17th 

We left early Sunday morning for our drive down to Long Beach.  It was about 4.5 hours and we all talked the entire way.  It was so fun sharing stories and really getting to know the Spain's.  We stopped for breakfast at a very yummy diner in Bakersfield and then made it to the port at around 2pm to board the ship.

Our stateroom was M55 it was great! I went with an ocean view because Spencer tends to get sea sick and I thought that might help and I think it did.  We did a cruise on our honeymoon to the Bahama's and he got really sick that time. He did good this time, but I think the Dramamine helped too. We were on the same floor as the Spain's.  They had a room right across the hall so it was perfect.  We were also on the front end of the ship so the gym, dinning room and where the shows happen were right above us.  I remember on the Royal Caribbean our room was tiny. This room was perfect we had plenty of space and didn't hear a thing outside of our room.

 After we got settled in our rooms we went to tour the boat and to have some ice cream.

Then it was time for our emergency briefing that took forever!

We were pretty hungry at that point so we decided to go to dinner.  We had a thing called any time dining so we could go anytime between 6-9.  It was really cool and made it so we could choose day by day what time worked for us.  On the way down we all talked about how we wouldn't be scared to try everything on the menu and sure enough we pretty much did every night.  We didn't take advantage of all the food on our last cruise so this time around we went crazy.  Every night they had a different menu and every night something unique for us to try.  Sunday night it was alligator.

Dessert every night was amazing! The Spain's got us hooked on Lava cake and ice cream so that was a must every night.

 After filling our tummies we went to a welcome on board show and then the hot tub where we met a couple from Texas that hated the cruise food and two ladies from Utah that we think were friends with benefits, lol. Then we came back to the room to find our fun towel animal and get a good night sleep.

Monday April 18th
 Monday morning this was our view! We all headed up to the gym and did our work outs.  Then we cruised the breakfast buffet to fill our tummies for the day ahead.

 We all got dressed and headed out for our day on Catalina.

 The water is really shallow around the island so you have to take a small boat into the port.

 We hadn't planned anything really for the day we just all wanted to go with the flow.  We decided it would be fun to drive around the island and check things out so we rented a golf car and all took turns driving it.  It was such a great way to see everything and to explore.

We found a beautiful beach and decided to do some sun bathing.  We all got comfortable and then a guy came by and said it was $75 each to sit in the lawn chairs, no thank you to that! So we left and then found a very yummy chocolate store and porked out on candies.

After a day on shore it was time for our formal night on the cruise.  It was fun getting dolled up for a romantic double date.

The girls!

 and the guys!

 Dinner was delish but dessert that night won my heart! How can you go wrong with creme brulee and lava cake!

 The boys made us rush through our amazing dessert to get good seats for the show that night.  Lynn always wanted front row. It was neat for us to be that close that night because it made us fell like part of the show.  We joked after that we could feel there sweat drip on us.  Also there was a point that one dancer really got close to Lynn and Amy.  The show was amazing.  We really enjoyed it!

 After the show we said our good nights and got a good night sleep for Mexico in the morning!

Tuesday April 19th
Hola! Mexico! We made it to Ensenada on Tuesday morning.  We did our usual routine of gym, breakfast, get ready and then of the boat.  When we got off they had photographers snapping pictures with a parrot and then with Mexican people.  They were super weird about us taking our own pictures and then they would charge ridiculous amounts for their pictures we tried to snap some of our own but only got Amy with the parrot.

 Here are the ones they took of us that I illegally took after they printed them out.

I think I should have gotten this picture for free since I din't even know they were taking it! 

Paparazzi up in here!!!

 Sorry but I'm not paying what it cost to buy a new camera for their pictures! But I still wanted them lol so I got them in a kind of weird way.

Anyways back to Mexico....After we got of the ship we were instantly bombarded with deals and things to do while in Mexico we walked through the mini market and then made it to the buses.  We boarded a bus for $2 each to go into the city.  They were pushing the El Bufadora tour, it's geyser that sprays water.  I went on the tour with may parents and it was a never ending bus trip that took up our whole day so my parents advised us not to do it.  I'm glad that they did because we just had a nice day exploring the shops in Ensenada.  Spencer's Spanish was amazing.  I loved hearing him talk to the locals.  Our first purchase was some personalized bracelets for the kids.  

 We then just shopped and looked around.  I got a beautiful shirt that I love! We got the kids lots of cute wood toys and Aubrey a beautiful dress.  We also bought some other pretty trinkets for the family.

 I would have shopped more and more but I could tell the other 3 were kind of over it.  We passed an area that had a big sign for massages.  I'm not a big fan of massage but Spencer is.  He was actually debating get one on the ship but when I saw the sign for ones in Mexico I told him he should talk to the lady and get a deal.  I guess it slipped my mind at the time that we were in Mexico and this might be a shady kind of massage.  Amy also likes massages and Lynn had never had one and wasn't a big fan of the idea of some one touching him.  We let Spencer talk back and forth to the lady in nurse scrubs and then next thing we knew we were all be guided up the stairs to tour the "Spa." It was actually very pretty considering we were in Mexico and the people seemed really nice.  Spencer then told us that we could all get a 30 minute massage for $10.  What a great deal considering the ones on the ship they charge like $200 for 60 minutes.  It was set up like a couples massage so we said good bye to the Spains and went into our own room.  It was very clean and I was shocked at how trusting I was to this whole event.  We got ready for the massages and then our masseuses came in.  It was a pretty good massage but I would be laying if I said I was relaxed.  I worried the whole time being in Mexico and so vulnerable with my head down in a pillow.  We survived and I actually felt pretty relaxed since it was over.  We all had similar feelings and laughed so hard after it was all said and done.
After our massages Amy spotted a place that did henna tattoos and wanted us to get matching ones on our feet.  We had fun picking a design and sitting waiting for our turn people watching.  I'm so naive and the cute school boys I was watching I thought were good kids were actually buying drugs.  Our tattoos came out cute but what we didn't think about was the drying time after it was done so we ended up walking down town Ensenda barefoot the rest of the afternoon.

After that Spencer was done with Mexico he was stressed with all the drug stuff and with me being barefoot.  I wondered a little in one store and he was so worried for my safety.  It was cute having an over protective husband at times.  When we crossed the road to go back to the buses I jaywalked right in front of a police (on accident) Spencer got so mad! He was for sure that I was going to get arrested for something stupid and that he was going to have to pay hundreds of dollars to bail me out.  I'm a lot more carefree when it comes to this stuff.  I wanted to eat in Mexico but the 3 others were scared of getting sick so I had to just wait until we were back on the ship.  When walking back to the buses a cab driver stopped us and offered us a ride back to the ship for half price, $1 instead of the $2 bus trip.  The Spain’s jumped on the deal but my worry wort hubby did not like the idea he wanted to just do the bus since he knew that was safe.  Well it was 3 against 1 so we jumped in the cab.  The whole time I was trying to get Spencer to talk to the cab driver just because I wanted to hear his Spanish.  Once the cab driver was driving through the customs I could sense the site of relief on Spencer's face.  We got out of the cab walked through the mini market, went through the metal detectors and almost on the ship my happy husband was back, yay!.........until......Amy notices she lost her iphone and she thinks she left it in the cab.  Spencer was so done with Mexico and basically had given up hope for the phone but I just knew we could find it and if it were my phone I would have been devastated so back out to Mexico we went in search of the phone.  Spencer talked to one cab who talked to another cab guy who figured out our driver was Jose and they would call him.  Now remember we are in Mexico and these men are talking on phones from the 1990's the thought of finding Jose with Amy's iPhone 6s seemed impossible but we stayed positive and sure enough Jose was found and all we had to do was walk about a mile out of customs to get it.  So we did and Amy got her phone back.  What an adventure! Well Spencer was pleased to be back on the ship and we took some time to relax and then got ready for dinner.    

Frog legs were on the menu that night.

They were pretty gross.  After dinner we went to a family game show and then to a couple games show.  We stayed up late that night dancing on the pool deck and checking out the midnight Mexican buffet.

Wednesday April 20th 

 This was our day at sea.  We sleep in and then had a great work out.  We then had a nice long brunch on the deck.  We saw dolphins swimming along with the ship which was so cool.

We took a nice late morning/early afternoon nap that day and I ordered room service which was a piece of cheese cake, chocolate chip cookies and a veggie tray (gotta stay healthy).  After our naps we got ready for the pool all day.  The had a yummy chocolate fountain that day and these adorable swan cream puffs.

Amy and I laid out and watched funny competitions like the hairiest man and ice sculpture making.  The boys played a lot of ping pong that day.  It was perfect I had a friend to lie out with and talk while Spencer had a friend to play with.

Amy and Lynn tried the water slide.  We also spent a good part of that day in teh hot tub and enjoying pina coladas.

We were excited to go to the family game show again that day.  Lynn and Spencer got us the perfect seats so that hopefully one of us would get picked to play.  Sure enough look who got picked....

and that's not it Amy got picked too!

Lynn and I had a great time cheering together.  They did great in their game they played.  They didn't win the whole thing but they did win a game to bring home and they had the excitment of playing it was fun.

Such a small world.  One of the nights that we were looking for our pictures on the wall I found a picture of Spencer's sister in laws, sister.  sure enough her and her 3 kids were on the same cruise as us.  This is her little girl getting picked to play the game.  After the game we met up and got to talk for a little bit. It was cool to see a fimilar face.

Wednesday night was escargot, which I have had before and actually really like.

After our last meal of 4 different appetizers, 3 entrees and 3 desserts we went to the piano bar for some music and to relax until the big show that night.

Before the show we got to meet the dancers.  They were all so nice and we joked that they felt like family since we had been watching them for 4 days straight.

The show was unbelievable and we got great seats again.

This guy cracked us up he was always front and center to every show I just had to snap a picture for funny memories.

I loved this formal picture of us from the formal night.

Thursday April 21st

Our last day came way to quick.  We were sad to pack our bags but excited to see our kids.  We had one last work out then packed and then enjoyed burnch in the dinning room that day.

We were off the ship by around 10am and heading back home.  We had an incrediable time.  It was so much fun getting to know a really great couple but also having just some us time.  I felt so ready to conquer the crazyness the last month of school always seems to bring.  It was a perfect spring break for us and I can't wait to do it again hopefully soon. We came home to happy kids and a very clean organized house, thanks mom so much! (What the kids were up too next post)