Cruise!!

Matthew and I had a fantastic time on our cruise! We got back late Saturday night to cold, icky weather. That is not the best way to return from Mexico! We had perfect weather the whole time - 80s, sunny, no clouds, beautiful!!!

We flew first to New Orleans the day before our ship left. We didn't know this when planning the trip, but it happened to be Mardi Gras while we were there. That was definitely an experience! Our cab driver from the airport told us that he would have to drop us off a few blocks from our hotel because of the parades. Not a big deal, we had rolling suitcases and are two young sprats that can make the walk. So we get out and start walking, then realise, not only could cars not get through the parades, but neither could people, especially people with big suitcases! So we keep walking and walking, trying to find a break in the parade to cross the street to our hotel....we don't find one. At this point, we are even farther from our hotel than when the cab driver dropped us off, we are sweating because we are dressed for cold weather (we had just come from Cincinnati with sub-zero temperatures), and there is no hope of crossing the street! So I decide to find a policeman who could be kind enough to open up the gates to let us cross the parade to the other side of the street. I approached a man who turned out to be a God-send, because when he saw us, he knew exactly what our problem was. He saw us with suitcases and frustration on our faces, and said "Let me guess, you're trying to get to your hotel?" (I think our bags gave us away). This nice EMS guy decides to put our bags in the back of his SUV and take us to our hotel.

But that's not the best part! He told us that the only way to get across the street was to go back to the highway and take that to the next exit ramp over the parade. He said that cab drivers know this, but choose not to take this route because of the massive amount of traffic - and he was right, there was A LOT of traffic - but not for us! He turns on his sirens and is pushing people out of the way -on the highway, on the one lane exit ramp, at intersections and red lights...it was incredible. He came within inches of hitting cars, with the sirens and horn blaring, making them get out of our way! Turns out, he was the Chief of EMS for New Orleans, which means he runs the entire EMS in the city, and did during Katrina. I'm sure he had tons of stories and I really wanted to talk to him about it, but he was concentrating on not hitting anyone, so I decided to keep quiet.

During our free ride, I took a short video just to document that this really happened. It doesn't show much, but you do hear the sirens. I didn't lift the camera to take pictures or video because I didn't want to get in trouble or anything ( I don't know if there are any rules about documenting the inside of these kind of vehicles - plus I didn't want to distract him). Also, I must have hit the button early because I later realize that the video is a lot shorter than what I thought I took (sorry Matthew!) - but at least we've got something!

So that definitely made for a good and interesting start to our vacation! He informed us to tell all our friends back home that when they visit New Orleans and have an EMS vehicle on their tail with sirens blowing, don't panic, it's just the EMS taking tourists to their hotel!

New Orleans was an experience in itself. We walked around Mardi Gras and saw some of the parades. I did learn that during the day, they toss beads out to everyone - you don't have to give up your dignity to get any! That really relieved me because I saw A LOT of people with beads and it scared me that all these people gave everyone a peep show just to get beads. So of course, I got some beads after learning that great fact. (I didn't want to go home with beads thinking you had to do something to get them and then let others think I participated - I was merely an innocent bystander who got whacked in the head with beads from the parade!) Apparently, what we hear from the natives, that things start to get really out of control and unsafe in the evenings - so we were glad we were only out during the day. Don't get me wrong - people were still crazy and completely drunk during the day, but that was the "family friendly" version of Mardi Gras. (Trust me, I wouldn't want to bring my family to this!)

We spent the evening in our hotel for the SuperBowl and decided not to venture out after the game - I think that was a wise decision on our part. Not to mention we got to watch one of the greatest SuperBowls ever!! I'm a Giants fan now! (Ok, not really, but was for this game!) Gotta love those Mannings!

Anyways, after all that, we finally got on the cruise! I don't have nearly as crazy stories like our New Orleans experience, so I'll let the pictures tell the stories..

This is our ship at night the first night we were on it....

Trying to get artsy with a point and shoot. Oh yeah, I should mention that this was a TRUE vacation for me - the only camera I had on me was the small digital point and shoot and not my big professional one. This vacation was so freeing because I didn't lug around a big camera and laptop! It was fantastic! I was completely off duty and although I wanted good pictures to document the trip, I wasn't obsessed with getting THE picture or the best picture possible - that's what I call a TRUE vacation! :

Hanging out in Progresso, Mexico. (We have a lot of self portraits on this trip)

Our beautiful ship, docked at Progresso. (Yeah, not much to do here - wouldn't recommend it even though we had fun- we ended back up on the ship early that day).

Anther self portrait...I'm really glad Matthew has long arms and can do this...

Our ship docked at Cozumel (GORGEOUS place - highly recommended). Oh, and someone took our picture - yay!

The Fury - a boat we took on an excursion to go snorkeling, lay on rafts at a private beach, with all the drinks included, and some good music and dancing on the deck (I learned the Cuban Shuffle - for those who don't know this dance, you need to get on the bandwagon because it's so much fun!)

On the way out to the private beach - can the water get any more beautiful?

The rafts we used to float in paradise...

More Cozumel...

My virgin Pina Colada - a favorite for the trip - I think the bartenders laughed at me every time I ordered it without alcohol. Hey, I think it's better without the alcohol... Sue me! (Oh yeah, and I took this cause I like the reflection of the ceiling in the bar counter) I drank this while we listened to Justin, a fantastic acoustic guitar player who played in the lobby twice a day - we would schedule our day around when he'd play so we could come and sit an listen to him (a great excuse to get my virgin Pina Coladas) :) Matthew immediately fell in love with him when he heard him play Eve 6 the first night on the ship.

Matthew enjoying some good Mexican food at 11:30 pm - maybe not the wisest of decisions, but hey, you're on vacation, mon! (a favorite Jamaican saying from our honeymoon - still a good piece of advice for anyone!)

A beautiful sunset over the Gulf...

yay for tans!!

We got off the ship around 8:30 am, but our flight didn't leave until 6:00, so we had all day to kill in New Orleans. Based on the recommendation from New Orleans people at our table on the cruise, we went to Cafe Maspero for lunch and enjoyed some good ol' Creole Jambalaya....mmm tasty.

We spent the day walking around Bourbon street (which is all strip clubs and bars - also a place I wouldn't recommend), the French Quarter, a flea market in the French Quarter, and watching some fantastic street performers. It was a good but tiring day. We got home around 12:30 am and were in bed by 1:00 am. It was a fantastic trip, and now with the weather the way it is, I want to go back!! I do have more pictures, obviously, and am going to make a little album, so if you're interested, I'd be happy to show you. But that's the trip in a nutshell!

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day!