Even though we had terrible weather this past week it was still a good week of cruising. We always enjoy cruising with Bill and Missy! This cruise they introduced Missy’s niece, Jennifer, and her friend Kim to cruising. It always fun to get to experience first time cruising through someone else’s eyes. I think they had a great time for their first cruise and I won’t be surprised to see them back on a ship with family in tow! We greatly enjoyed their company and we were so glad we were able to get on this cruise last minute.
This was our second time on Mardi Gras and like I said in my last post we had to book under a TBA cabin. We lucked out and were assigned a Havana interior cabin. The Havana area on the XL class ships is quite different than on the Vista class. On the XL class there is a very small pool, think plunge pool and no hot tubs. There weren’t any of the 2-person loungers either, but really didn’t miss them because the weather was so bad. I did sit out on the Havana deck a couple of time to get fresh air and read a bit. The bonus was that due to the weather if was pretty quiet out on the Havana deck. Our room was the very front cabin and there were I think crew cabins in between our cabin (odd side) and the cabins in the other hallway (even side). Whatever it was there was quite a bit of noise so I wouldn’t recommend the interior cabins. I did like the way the Cabana’s were setup as they had steps up to their patio’s. I even liked the ones on the front of the ship but down below is the crew outside deck and they can smoke there. All in all I would book again but think I prefer cabins on 16.
The serenity deck is amazing on the XL class ships. Lots and lots of places to sit the only drawback is if it’s windy it’s probably a no go!
This week we had anytime dining and ate in the Palm restaurant, ChiBang, Cucina del Capitano, Pig and Anchor, Guys Burgers, Big Chicken and the steak house. Steakhouse was great as always. I really like the grilled chicken at Big Chicken. I tried to be good and not eat much gluten but I so love the bread!
Our ports this week were Cozumel, Costa Maya and Mahogany Bay. We had a first for us on this cruise! Larry and I decided we would not get off the ship as soon as we docked, it was raining and we thought we would wait and see how the day progress before getting off and going to wander around in port. Well, at about 9:30 they made an announcement that they were going to temporarily close debarkation from the ship. And about 30 minutes later they informed us that they were calling everyone back to the ship and we would be departing. Mind you some people got off around 8:15 for excursions, the rest of our group were part of those that had already left. All excursions were called back onto the ship, some had just gotten to their tour location and had to turn back. I felt bad for them but they were refunded for their excursions. We rarely do the ship excursions so I will in the future be ensuring I turn my phone on with my day pass if we do go out on our own in case they would happen to call us back early. I sure wouldn’t want to be left behind. We had all booked a ship excursion for Mahogany Bay to a VIP Beach Day, I did think about cancelling since the weather didn’t look like it was going to get any better but we decided to go ahead and stick with it. We ended up having a great time. The water was really warm but wasn’t crystal clear. Lunch was included as well as an open bar.
“We don’t need Sun to have fun,” became our rallying cry, a testament to withstand the whims of weather and a promise to persist in our thirst for adventure. Now I just need a design for T-shirts!
I enjoyed the week but it’s always good to be home. I think Larry is thrilled that he will be home for almost 9 weeks. I on the other hand will be joining Sharon on a Virgin Voyages cruise on the Valiant Lady in 3 weeks. I’m looking forward to trying something new. So stay tuned for our review!
This trip was courtesy of new friends and old, serving as a poignant reminder of the delightful ambiguity of the life that lies ahead. The post-retirement journey, albeit concluding, remains a part of us, and there’s boundless sea yet to explore, countless friendships yet to be fostered, and an infinity of sunsets to breathe in.
