Cruise to Mexico!

At the beginning of May, David and I went on a long awaited, much needed, getaway. We decided to "go big or go home"--so a cruise to Mexico it was!

We had an absolutely fantastic time, and we are so glad that we went now as we won't have time or funds to do anything like it again for a long time. My wonderful parents watched the boys for us for the week, so we were responsibility free! The whole trip was so relaxing and exactly what we needed after so many years of all work and no play (Dental School).

We set sail on the Carnival Miracle from Long Beach, CA on May 2.

The original itinerary had us with 1 day at sea, followed by Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerta Vallarta last, with 2 days at sea to return. Well, the weather in Cabo was awful the day we were supposed dock. So they switched up our trip, which we preferred--get those sea days out of the way early.

The first day at sea was windy and kind of cold, but we made the most of it by playing mini-golf (interesting on a rocking boat, let me tell you!), singing karaoke and exploring the ship and sunbathing. Here is a video of our first morning:

Oh, at breakfast this first morning, David had what we named the "Sugar Overload" for his meal: French Toast encrusted in Fruit Loops and topped with syrup. Yeah... sugar high!

My claim to fame on the trip was that I became known as the "Harry Potter Girl". Our cruise director is a huge Harry Potter fan and he made a Harry Potter trivia game. He said that no one had gotten a perfect score on his trivia in over 3 years of doing it. Well, I broke his record. Haha!

We spent a lot of time sun bathing (lathered in sunscreen mind you) and just enjoying the time to ourselves. The shows in the evening were incredible! Who knew cruise ships had so much talent in their performing groups! We loved them all!

Formal Night!

Finally we arrived in Puerta Vallarta. We went on an excursion to this secluded mini resort. It was heavenly! They first served us lunch and then we got to play on the beach. We swam in the ocean (such a difference from the Oregon Coast!!!!), went snorkeling, paddle boarding, laid on the hammocks... It was the best day! It was supposed to be our finale to our cruise, but since things got turned around, it was first. Oh well! We loved every minute of it. We didn't want to leave when it was time!

Paradise, right?!

The second port was Mazatlan. I had been warned by my parents that Mazatlan isn't very safe, and they weren't kidding. We heard of people going on excursions with an armed military escort, for safety. Yeesh! We played it chill that day and went to an all-inclusive beach resort. Basically we ate, and laid by the pool, or ocean, and could swim if we wanted. At the pool we saw tons of HUGE Iguanas. Talk about a surprise. They have no fear!

Our last Port was Cabo San Lucas. Thanks to my in-laws' vast knowledge of the place, we knew exactly what we wanted to do. We hired a Glass Bottom Boat tour to see the sights of the bay, shopped and had lunch at the amazing Maro's Shrimp House. Perfection! Since we only had 6 hours in Cabo, this was the perfect plan for us.

The Glass Bottom Boat tour takes you out and shows you the sights along the tip edge of the Baja Peninsula. There is a part of the bottom of the boat that is glass so that you can look down and see the fish in the water. We also got to see where the Peninsula ends and where the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean meet.

Maro's was HIGHLY recommended to us as the place to eat--tons of shrimp and lobster for cheap! And so delicious!

Our last day of the cruise was at sea. By the time we left  Cabo, we were ready to be home. And there wasn't a lot going on on the boat that last day, so it was a slow day. One last day to rest before we got home.

It was a wonderful trip and we are so glad we went. But we were happy to be back with our boys when we got back to my parents. :)

Oh! Word to the wise. Either don't go on the cruise when you are pregnant, or DOUBLE check your cruise line's pregnancy policy. We had to switch our cruise dates because I was going to be 4 days too pregnant for our original plan. Yeah... 4 days!!