We loaded all ten of the Bakewells, Houstons and Kennedys into a 15- passenger van last Friday after work to make the trek down to Port Canaveral to board a cruise ship to Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico for five days and nights of eating, relaxing and exploring! We divided up the trip, driving five hours the first day, leaving about 4 hours left of the drive on Saturday morning before we boarded the ship. We got on board around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday and immediately began eating the best food! With an all-you-can-eat-buffet available 24-7, we didn’t go without food on this trip. We enjoyed daily ice cream treats as well (hence the daily selfies with my favorite girl). On our first day at sea, the boys loved playing basketball and miniature golf on/near the sports court. Zander tried the Flowrider where he could boogie board at the back of the ship. Dinners each night featured delicious appetizers, main courses (the boys ate steak each night) and dessert. We celebrated many milestones at these dinners: Grammy and Grandpa’s 45th wedding anniversary, Grammy’s 70th birthday, Aunt Lindsey’s 40th birthday and Zander’s 13th birthday. Daddy’s birthday is next weekend but since he doesn’t like a public celebration, Grandpa got him the lobster tail at dinner one night (instead of cake).;) At our first port (Cozumel), the Houstons and the Kennedys went on a dolphin excursion where we were able to pet the dolphin, Cielo, and watch her do many tricks. We also got to feed and pet a manatee and watch a sea lion presentation. The excursion also included unlimited food and drinks. For our second port (Costa Maya), the ten of us participated in Mayan culture: the adults had a tequila tasting, all of us saw Mayan ruins and finished out the tour with an authentic Mayan lunch (tacos). For our final day at sea, we enjoyed lounging on the upper deck, many rounds of ping pong, miniature golf, shuffleboard, chess, water slides (Aunt Lindsey and I tried this too) and Zander played in two different volleyball competitions (open play and the teens division). We had a wonderful trip filled with lots of fun, delicious food and memories to last a lifetime!
