Our first port to visit was Calica, Mexico!

The first task of the day was to figure out how in the world to debark from the ship, it was literally like walking through a rat’s maze, LOL! Now for future reference we know you have to go to the 4th floor and go alllll the way forward to get down to the 3rd floor and off the ship! It was much easier the 2nd day after mastering it on the 1st day 🙂

Right off the gang plank we were ‘forced’ into some photos with locals dressed up…good ole Carnival trying to make a $$. Then after we got past the forced pictures there was some locals dressed up taking pictures for donations. They were dressed like the local Indians so of course Paw Paw had to get a picture 🙂

We were able to easily get a van for 5-8 people (we had 7 people) for $20 from the port to X-Caret. It was a large van and we all easily fit. The van ride was 7 minutes and we seen interesting signs such as precaution signs for Iguanas. The ride back in a van for the same amount was cheaper, it was only $16 and we couldn’t argue with that.

Xcaret (pronounced Ish-Karray) is great park to spend the day, there is lots to do, too much to do all in one day, but we sure got our money’s worth! Me being the bargain hunter that I am decided to find the best deal…and NO we did not go through Carnival. I used the Xcaret site and bought us all the Xcaret Plus pass which included a buffet, 2 drinks, snorkel gear, lockers, & towels. So we only spend $7 in the park for the WHOLE day for our family of 5!

First we headed to the Xcaret Plus section to get our lockers and snorkel gear, it’s a separate and reserved section for those with Xcaret Plus tickets, which was a great benefit. We get to the snorkel area and we are the first and only one’s there for the first hour! The water was clear and following the fish was fun! Even after the first hour only 1 other couple showed up, we were spoiled to have it to ourselves for so long. Mr. B & Boo went further out while I worked with Bea in the cove area. Once she got the hang of is she LOVED it! Bubby on the other hand wasn’t such a big fan, he didn’t like the way the rocks and stuff looked underwater and it freaked him out a bit. If we’d had a longer time to work with him (one-on-one for a day) then I’m sure he’d be fine. He lounged in the comfy chairs and checked out the iguanas for the majority of the time.

The Flying Men was a neat little show to watch

Boys with their Mexican Pepsi’s

Next we headed to the bird breeding area (Bubby’s pick) where we saw tons of parrots and baby hatchlings. It was a neat area to walk through and enjoy the beauty of the park. We even climbed up some ‘faux’ Mayan stairs to get a birds eye view of the park.

Who would’ve gussed that baby parrots are so darn ugly?!

Then we headed to the lunch buffet, everyone was hungry and ready to eat! We choose the one over by the Puma & Jaguar exhibit. They had quite an assortment of food, something for everyone including Mr. B’s dad who does not like Mexican food. Drink options were Mexican tea (kinda like ice tea but not really) and orange juice (which tasted like Tang). There were several dessert options as well from pastries to soft serve ice cream.

After lunch we headed over to check out the butterfly exhibit, which included a waterfall and stained glass ceiling. The kids had fun trying to stand still and have the butterflies land on them. The stained glass ceiling was amazing!

We checked out the arena replica of the Mayan ball game on our way to ride the 360 view scenic overlook tower. It was an amazing view of the whole park and we could even see our ship from up there!

After that we headed to get life jackets to float the underground river, I was worried about Bubby after the snorkeling incident, and he really wasn’t too sure about it…but he loved it and had a great time! I’m so glad we got to do that as a family! It was a really neat experience! They say it takes 45 minutes to get through the whole river, we swam it in about 30 mins. The water was initially freezing but as soon as you got in you adjusted and it felt great! The only downside was that the life vests started to rub our arms and we all got a bit of vest burn.

The weather was great, it was slightly overcast and not too hot. Another thing I love about going off-season is that the park was not crowded! There were beach chairs, huts, & hammocks readily available for those who wanted them.

After that we were ready to head back to the ship. We stopped and got our free drinks and watched the baby quail hatch for a bit. It was neat seeing the kids get to watch a baby bird hatch! I noticed that the park was very clean and the bathrooms were kept very clean as well, this is always a great treat!

Watching baby quail hatch

Taxi ride back was just as fast and we were back an hour before leaving port. Mr. B & his dad checked out the market stalls with Bubby right outside the gangplank while the rest of us headed on to get ready for dinner. Dinner in the dining room was uncrowded tonight and we were done 30 minutes earlier than normal, our waitstaff told us that was normal on port days. After dinner we headed back to crash and prepare for our next excursion the next day!

Frog towel animal

Tuesday was our first official ‘day at sea’ it was also formal dining night as well.

When we woke up the kids watched the new version of the Karate Kid while we got ready for the day.

We got up and headed to breakfast at Tiffany’s around 9 am, it was a bit busy and our group of 7 had to split up at 2 tables until we could get 2 together. We found the secret to getting food quick and easy…just walk out to the buffet by the pool…there is never a line out there! While the inside lines are often backed up. There is a bar in Tiffany’s where you can use your soda cards. OJ, Apple juice, & Milk were the ‘free’ beverages available.

The buffet was okay, I’m not really a fan of buffets in general – but the food was good, nothing superb though.

Bubby & Bea headed to Camp Carnival until lunch pick up time (12:30). Mr. B, Boo, & I walked around the ship to check it out. We found the casino but just walking through it about gave me lung cancer from the smoke, LOL! So I took a pic and we moved on. Mr. B & Boo played some ping pong on the Lido deck. It took us awhile to figure out where to get the ping pong balls & paddles from…you go down to the pool deck and check them out from the little hut.

Decorative ceiling lights

View of the Casino

For lunch we decided to try the Imagination dining room where we ate our dinners. It was fun as we all tried new items that we might not normally try…Boo even ate sushi! It was good but I did not walk away feeling ‘stuffed’ which is really a good thing, LOL!

We then headed out to the pool despite it being a bit chilly. There was no rain yet it was still a bit windy. The pool was salt water and unheated. Bubby & Bea had fun on the slide & in the pool despite it being cold…we didn’t hear a complaint from them…they didn’t even want to leave when it was time. Mr. B tried swimming but said it was too cold for him, he said it was like jumping into an ice bath, LOL! Boo headed into the Mikado lounge to watch Bingo.

Some of the Diet Cokes we got tasted a bit flat…despite being poured from a can, the ginger ale seemed to hold up better.

Formal/Elegant night was a blast and much less intimidating than I expected! Dress attire showed up in the forms as simple as slacks & button up shirts to Tux’s and gowns. We rode the middle line and went semi-formal. Lobster was on the menu that night and Mr. B had 2 and said they were good, I choose the Cornish game hen. The waiters even put on a ‘mini-show’ and sang “When the moon hits your eye…”

Our waiter Ryan was great! And the drink waitress knew our drink order by the 2nd night and already knew to bring who Diet Cokes and who regular Cokes. When we went in for lunch she recognized us and knew what to bring out, it was great. That’s one of the perks of having the same wait staff every night.

After dinner we took some pics and then Bubby went to Camp Carnival while the rest of us headed to the new show “Just Rock” in the Mikado lounge. It was like watching a live version of Glee with lights and pyrotechnics-who would think pyrotechnics and a ship would go together?! They had only been showing the show for 1 months, it was neat. Bea loved it but unfortunately at the end couldn’t hold on any longer after the busy day and passed out on the mini-couch and Grandma Donna’s lap. They sang oldie classics like ‘Simply Irresistible,’ ‘Jailhouse Rock,’ & even some ‘Monster Mash.’ The costumes and the sets were well done and it was fun to watch.

Unfortunately Mr. B was left with the task of carrying a heavy sleeping Bea all the way down to the room, the elevators were hopelessly crowded after the end of the show so we braved it all the way down the 4 flights of stairs.

Also discovered that the Mark Twain library has lots of board games and tables, although we never did find out how to check them out and get them out of the locked cases. My recommendation would be to bring your own set of cards (Skipo, Uno, ect) so you’ll have them…I sure wished I had brought ours.

Our evening towel animal was an elephant 🙂

So after checking out the room & schedule we head up to the Mikado bar to grab everyone a soda and head out to the top deck to watch the ship leave the port!

Looking up from floor 7, it was decorated for the holidays

Skylight on ship

Bea waiting for her soda

Me

The boys waiting on their sodas

Soda with Sign & Sail card, the small square sticker is the soda sticker for unlimited sodas

Artwork on the walls

Bea strinking a pose

Giant Chess set

Lifeboats

The back of the boat with the Mobile city in view

See you later Mobile, AL!

Pool

Bubby watching the ship leave

Boo watching the ship leave

Bea watching the ship leave

Yes, it was a bit drizzly but as we’ve learned from traveling Iceland & Japan, rain is often part of the equation so it didn’t really put a damper on things for us. We’ve learned long ago that you can’t control the weather, you just enjoy what you have and make the most of it.

Leaving the port

We did the safety muster drill, which was a breeze, and the kids 12 & under had to get mandatory wristbands for the trip. Normally these drive Bea crazy but she was able to wear it for the duration of the trip without issue.

We ate dinner at the Imagaination dining room and despite our large party size of 7 we got seated with another family of 3. It was a great way to meet new people and I’ve since became Facebook friends with them!

Dinner was good and we had the famous melting chocolate cake for dessert, it was a must have staple for the boys, with Boo even ordering 2 and the end of the trip for dessert!

We got the kids signed up for Camp Carnival (Bubby & Bea) and Club C (Boo) and Bubby & Bea stayed and played at theirs and had a fabulous time!!

Mr. B, Boo, & I checked out the show “The Great Game Show” it was okay but I was starting to get tired from our long day.

Duck Towel Animal

Our room made for the night, beds down and towel animal on the bed with chocolates, I do have to say that the chocolates were pretty nasty…no one would eat them

Since we had left the port the boat was quite rocky BUT I do have to say that while it was rocking a good bit it was NOTHING compared to our Westmann Islands ferry trip…I think us & our friends are still tramatized from that ferry ride! So while others on the ship were apprently getting sick…which is why I assumed the staff started taping up vomit bags in the bathrooms and near the elevators, it didn’t really impact us. Mr. B said he felt a bit off, but that was it. I did wake up several times in the night and felt the boat rocking and swaying, my body is not used to sleeping and moving at the same time, LOL, but I was able to easily go back to sleep.

Oh yeah, and remember our missing luggage? Well around 4:30 pm we asked our room guy and he told us to go check with Guest Services, and sure enough it was there! Along with 20 other bags. Thankfully I had attached brightly colored ribbons to the bags so we were able to easily identify them and grab them. The scary part was that we just told them the bags were ours and walked away with them…hopefully they don’t have many dishonest people onboard. We found out that our luggage tags (that we put on when handing to the porter) had gotten so wet they had fallen off, so next time we’ll cover them with clear packing tape to ensure that they stay on.