Sunday, September 8, 2013

Best Cruise Ever

You might read about our vacation and think, "Weirdos."

Who takes their parents on vacation? Who has a good marriage *and* parents with good marriages? Who has two sets of parents who enjoy being in the company of each other?


We do!



Our first cruise celebrated our 10th anniversary in 2011. We loved the experience, the friends we made, the places we went, everything! When we went on a second cruise in 2012, we knew we wanted to bring our parents with us. We discussed it with them, making sure that those prone to motion-sickness were on board. (Pun intended.) Everyone wanted to go and we began to make plans. Things fell into place when we found out that we didn't owe taxes this year, which freed up one of the quarterly bonuses that Joel receives from work. We did the math, and announced to our parents that we were taking them on an all-expenses-paid trip to Mexico. We told them we love them, we appreciate all they've done for us over the years, and we've had so much fun cruising that we wanted to share it with them also. Along the lines of 'what do you buy for the person who has everything', we figured that our siblings already have them covered for grandchildren, so we'd get them a cruise.

Last week, the wait was finally over. We left after church on Sunday, which was also Mom's birthday. Our first stop was Cracker Barrel, where Joel advised everyone to start 'stretching out their stomachs'. We enjoyed the ride south, adding new states for some of our parents.

I had gotten a really cheap rate for our first night's stay at Days Inn in McComb, MS. But when we attempted to check in, around midnight, they had lost our paid reservation, and the printed out email with a confirmation number stumped the apathetic front desk person. No apology was offered, and although rooms were available, it seemed too difficult for her to rent them to us. After far too long of standing in the smoke-infested lobby, we got back in the rented mini-van. On the same exit, we tried Comfort Inn, with a locked front door and no one to buzz us in, and Howard Johnson, with a nice lobby, but no attendant. Feeling like we were in Bethlehem during a census, we drove on down the road until we hit Louisiana. Turns out that God wanted us to stay at the ah-may-zing Holiday Inn Express in Amite City. At 1:00am, we stepped up to the door, and the most friendly hotel representative I've ever met buzzed us into the lobby. Debra was wonderfully cheerful and accommodating. She gave us all three rooms at the veteran rate that Dad requested, which was almost $50 less than the advertised rate on the internet. We all slept wonderfully, in beautiful rooms!




Monday afternoon, after a scenic drive around the streets of New Orleans that we've so often seen on episodes of "Cops" and after a trip to Wal-mart, we boarded the Carnival Elation. We saw our rooms on the Empress deck (107, 111, 117). We ate at the buffet. We walked around the ship. We sat on the deck as the ship departed down the Mississippi River. When our suitcases were delivered to our rooms, we wondered why it was taking them so long to deliver our garment bags. Joel came back to the room for nap time, and I mentioned that our garment bag and Dad's garment bag hadn't been delivered yet. He realized right away that we had never taken them out of the Dodge Grand Caravan's 'stow-and-go' beneath the seats. The garment bags weren't missing, they were in the rental van, in the parking garage. When I saw Dad, he had also realized where they were. We had each been worried about each other, but it turned out that everyone had plenty of clothes for dinner, but it'd be on the casual side, since no one could 'suit up'. We had a private table for dinners in the Inspiration Dining Room, so everyone enjoyed being casual, and Joel didn't wear a tie on elegant night.

On our first cruise, we found it difficult to know if we were walking towards the front or back of the ship, and got turned around several times. I shouldn't have been surprised when Dad was instantly oriented to the ship, knowing where everything was, and which way to take. Navy knowledge of port and starboard must be easily translated from destroyers to cruise ships. 

Tuesday morning, our first Sea Day, my parents were camped out on the starboard side of the ship, which was shady as we sailed south. They had secured the perfect location for our morning relaxation: shade, breeze, near food, overlooking the water. We all sat there for the first half of the day, admiring the royal blue water and enjoying the cool breeze.





Lobster Night was a hit. Our waiter, Edwin "Eddie" from the Philippines, was fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. We enjoyed his serving at dinner and his talented dance moves. On the much anticipated Lobster Night, Joel and I felt like parents taking their children to Disneyland, in that we don't care to eat lobster, but we're happy to see others enjoying it. Dad, Mom, and JB all got lobster tails. Dad skipped the starters, so he could save room for lobster, and ordered two plates, which also came with shrimp and mashed potatoes. Eddie offered to bring more lobster before anyone could ask for additional helpings. I think that JB and Mom each managed two lobster tails. Dad set a new personal record by eating three lobster tails in one sitting. He couldn't even finish his shrimp on the final plate. When Patrick heard the story, he had assumed that it had been over the course of a week that Dad had eaten three lobsters, and was surprised when I clarified that, no, it was in one sitting! It was no surprise that JB tried everything weird and unusual, which he claimed wasn't that weird and unusual, but his choices were listed under the "didja ever..." section of the menu, and included things like frog legs that still looked like frog legs, sushi, alligator bites, escargot (Joel says, "escar-nasty"), and more. JB said, "If you always try everything, you never know what will be your next favorite food." My favorite food is Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. Everyone thought I was exaggerating when I said I was going to get it every night, but I proved them wrong! We all laughed about Anne's cold soups, which were each brought with a very small portion of flavorful something in the middle of a bowl, and then the waiter would return with the soup to pour around the asparagus, or strawberry, whatever it was. It was especially funny on the first night, when some of us ordered two starters, and she was presented with a large bowl, with barely one bite of food on it, and Eddie didn't return for some minutes, leaving us all wondering about the tiny portion.



Wednesday was our first stop: Progreso, Mexico. We got off the ship, rode the bus in from the five-mile-long pier, and booked our excursion to a private beach through Auto Progreso. (While waiting to depart, no one would pose with an iguana on their shoulder, no matter how much I begged.) Our tour guide, Marianna, made the 25-minute bus ride seem short, by telling us about the area and the history of the Yucatan Peninsula. I found it most interesting that "Yucatan" means "I don't know", because when the Spaniards asked the Mayans what the name of their land was, the Mayans didn't understand their question, and answered, "I don't know." The private beach was so much more enjoyable than the public beach that Joel and I had visited the year before, where people were selling things up and down the beach the entire day. The private beach was clean and pretty and relaxing. The water was shallow for a long ways out. Our only complaint was the music that was playing when we arrived. It wasn't our style of music, which we might have overlooked, except that it was very R-rated. Apparently, if Spanish is your first language, English curse words and explicit language aren't offensive. Joel complained (after I complained, with no results) and they changed it to Spanish. The lyrics may have been just as bad, but now the fluency was reversed, and I was the one who wouldn't know the difference. Later, a Mariachi band came, and walked around singing "Happy Birthday" for people. We'll never know if they could play or sing anything else, because they only did many rounds of "Happy Birthday". Anne and Joel got massages on the beach (only $40 for two people, supposed to be 30 minutes, but lasted an hour). The excursion was all-inclusive, with food and drinks. We enjoyed sodas, but people riding back on our same bus had enjoyed lots of alcohol, which made for an annoying bus ride back to the ship. Marianna was amazing, joining the party of drunks in the back of the bus and somehow calming them down.






Thursday was our second stop: Cozumel, Mexico. We went to Joel and my favorite place, Chankanaab State Park, where the Caribbean Sea gets deep right away, super salty, and has more fish than JB and Joel can see in one day. They barely came out of the water all day, enjoying the fish and taking photos and videos with JB's new underwater camera. I had brought JB contact lenses to wear for the day, and it was the first time he'd been able to see underwater! He and Joel could have stayed there for a week and not been satisfied that they'd seen enough fish... we were only there about five hours. Mom liked the water, but wearing a life jacket makes you bob more with the waves, so swimming in the Caribbean Sea gave her more motion sickness than being on the ship. 




We had only one night on board that was rocky. We could feel the ship swaying at dinner. The weather was windy and we were sailing at 42 knots, rather than an easy-going 12-15. After dinner, both JB and Mom were feeling queasy, and we all decided not to go see the magician or the comedy show, but instead go to bed early. JB, Mom, and Dad all ended up wearing wrist bands for motion sickness and taking Dramamine, but everyone fared well overall, with no puking, thank God.

Usually, on our returning Sea Day, Joel and I feel let down, disappointed that our cruise is already over, and wondering how soon we can do it again. This time, we woke up on Friday, feeling like the week was finally complete. We were able to pack enough enjoyment and relaxing into our 5-day cruise. Our dream of taking our parents was a reality at last! We spent our last day lazily eating more food, playing cards near where the food is served (Shanghai, and I won), taking final naps, and seeing the comedian who told a joke that JB had already told us the day before. Even the drive home seemed to go quicker with good company. 





Our final hurrah was Saturday night dinner at Lambert's restaurant (home of the throwed rolls), in Miner, Missouri. We had memorized the exit number as we drove south, and talked about stopping on the way home. Even though everyone had followed Joel's advice thoroughly, arriving at Lambert's with our stomachs ready, we still weren't able to finish our dinners there. They threw rolls, they walked by dishing out fried potatoes, fried okra, beans, macaroni and tomatoes, apple butter for the throwed rolls, and cracking jokes along the aisles. Anne drank a bucket of tea. The food was delicious and the staff was entertaining and we only wished that we lived closer to a Lambert's and that it wasn't signaling the end of our trip. 

Though I can't tell it the same, Mom and Dad said that JB ended the trip perfectly with just the right joke, told as we drove down our street... that he went on a business trip, and was getting ready for the evening. He put on his tie, and heard a voice say, "Nice tie." He looked around and didn't see anyone, but was kinda creeped out. Next, he was combing his hair, and heard, "Nice haircut." Now he was getting really creeped out. Finally, as he was putting on his jacket, he heard, "Nice suit." It was too much, and he called down to the front desk, and told them everything. They assured him that everything was fine, and that was just the complimentary mint on his pillow.

Even though Anne insisted upon thanking us at every turn (she can't help it, she even hugged me and thanked me in the Cracker Barrel bathroom), we have even more to be thankful for. We are so blessed to have such great parents, who we count as our closest friends, who get along with each other, who went on this adventure with us, who we love so much. 

It was the best week ever.