Mexico Cruise 2016: Planning and Embarkation

Joe and Kym are huge fans of cruises. They have been on a couple already, and have invited us to go several times. In the past, there has always been something stopping us.... a new baby, money, cancer. In February, they asked us again if we would like to go, and again, we were hesitant. Money as usual was a concern, and time away from work, and the kids. The list seemed to go on and on. We thought about it for a long time, and I had pretty much decided to say "no," but Jonathon kept bringing up the idea. He reminded me that we are in a better financial situation than we have been, he was just finishing up a really long first semester and could really use a break, and Jonathon's mom lived close and might be willing to take the boys. Before we discussed anything else, we called and talked to Jonathon's mom. She checked her calendar, and then immediately said that she could do it. I was shocked! It would require a lot from her... 7 days with all three boys and having to drive them to and from school. She said that she was happy to do it though, so we started seriously considering it.

I was still hesitant, but finally, we just decided to go for it. We called Joe and Kym and told them that we were ready to buy the tickets. We did it that night so that I couldn't change my mind. My other brother, Daniel and his wife, Claire, also decided to go with us. (My other siblings and parents were invited, but new babies and work didn't allow anyone else.) As far as vacations go, this cruise was relatively inexpensive. When you consider that we had all of our food and lodging completely taken care of for an entire week, the cost (around $1300 for the cruise + any excursions we went on) seemed doable. We decided that the only way that we could really feel okay doing it was to make it our 12th anniversary celebration (and birthdays and Mother's Day and Father's Day!!) And we actually stuck with our plan. We didn't spend any money on the holidays so that we could enjoy the cruise!

As usual, one of the funnest things about big trips for me is all of the planning. I love it! I love researching, planning, going over every detail, and most of all, getting excited. The cruise that we decided on was a 7 night cruise to the Mexican Riviera aboard the Carnival Miracle. The cruise left from Long Beach, and then made stops in Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerta Vallarta. I researched shore excursions, packing lists, weather, etc. We were so excited.

Jonathon's semester ended with the Spring Graduation ceremonies on Friday afternoon, and we left on Friday night. To save money, we all drove down together. On the first night, we tried to drive most of the way so that we would be ready to go the next day. Kym got us a hotel in Barstow, CA for the night. We finally pulled into the hotel at around 1:00 AM. Joe was a trooper and drove the entire way. Other than a really late night, the drive was perfect.

The hotel and town looked a little sketchy, but we were so tired that we got into the room and went to sleep very fast. There were three queen beds in one room, so we could split the cost again and keep our budget intact. And despite appearances, the beds were super comfortable and we all slept well. When we woke up, we heard lots of scratching sounds in the ceiling and walls. I hate mice, and the sounds got me out of bed pretty quickly. Joe and Kym went and bought donuts that were delish, and then we got packed up. It was only then that we opened the window and saw three bullet holes. I'm not sure if they were bullets or bb's, but it was a bit scary. Jonathon was curious about where we were staying, so he went outside to look around. He came back with pictures of the outside of our building that looked like were sleeping in a shed. Haha! Now that we were awake and leaving safely, we could laugh at the situation and found it highly amusing. Daniel wrote a funny, sarcastic review of the hotel that I am including here:

The outside of our hotel

We only had about 2 hours left to drive, so we got going. Claire's sister lives close to Long Beach, so we were able to park the van at her house and save money on parking. She was also nice enough to drive us to the cruise terminal and drop us off. She was so friendy and kind, and it was a huge help.

We arrived right on time to get checked in and board the ship. Everything went very smoothly, and we found our rooms on deck 1. After getting situated and sitting through the safety demonstration, it was finally time to leave. We went to the Lido deck and grabbed some lunch and enjoyed the view as we left Long Beach.

Embarkation