Last Day at Sea and Going Home!

After Cozumel, we set sail for Galveston.  We sailed the rest of Thursday, all day Friday and docked back in Galveston on Saturday morning. There were plenty of things to do on the ship.  We went to another Newly wed game, which was hilarious, we went to an amazing magic show and we went to a show called The Big Easy which was fabulous.


The jewelry store on the ship sells gold and silver by the inch.  Mom bought her and I matching bracelets.

Isn't it beautiful?

Mom also bought herself a necklace the same pattern as our bracelets and she got herself an anklet of a different pattern.  I really love my bracelet, it's beautiful and it will be something that will always remind me of this wonderful trip.

My cousin Chris was such a sweetheart, she bought me a spoon for my spoon collection. She wanted me to remember the awesome stuff so that I would forget the queasy battle I had on board.

I will also remember the evening Mom and I went exploring on the ship from deck to deck.  We found the spa, the track and some viewing decks tucked back in hidden hallways.  I really wanted to go to the front of the ship and hang out in the wind like Leonardo in Titanic, but we figured that was probably a no no on the boat.....Oh well.....

The other things I will remember is the great food, especially the dinners in the London Room.  The shows were great and exciting. The towel animals on our bed every night....soooo cute!

Towel Pig

Towel Seal

Most of all, I will treasure the time spent with my family and the new memories.  Here is a fun picture, my family having a drink together. I abstained because I was already queasy from the sea and did not want any help from any alcohol.

Mom, Aunt Barbara, Chris and Crystal

When we got to Galveston of course it was pouring down rain, but my super fantastic Aunt Barbara managed to get all 6 of us in her SUV and ALL of our luggage. She rocked it! We docked early in the morning, but we did not get on the road till around 10:30-11 because of debarking processes and going through customs.  Then it was back to Colleges Station to drop me off. Aunt Barbara drove and I got to be her navigator both there and back.  It was truly a fun experience with some awesome women! Thank you Mom and Ann, my roomies and Aunt Barbara, Chris and Crystal! Cheers to all of you!


I must say, Ryan was happy to see me. He ran out of the house and gave me a big hug and told me he missed me, then he whispered in my ear, "I think Dad really missed you too." Very heart warming because I missed them too!

Cozumel Mexico

The Triumph docked in Cozumel.

We docked early once again the next morning in Cozumel.  It was gorgeous!  We ate breakfast and got off the ship to go to our next adventure, the mini sub...haha, it was a boat and we sat down below and it had windows all along the side of the boat.  That was the "sub" but it was still way cool!  There were 2 other ships docked with us and we had to walk between ours and Princess to get off the dock.  It was cool.

  

We walked between our ship and a Princess ship to get to shore.

The port was gorgeous and there were a ton more shops than in Progreso.

View of the Port

Lots of shops to go to at the Cozumel Port.

Our adventure started out with a bang. We thought we were going to miss our mini sub because Mom left her ID back in the room and had to go grab it.  She  had a hard time getting back to us because we left on deck 0 and the elevators she tried to use would not take her down or they were blocked for employees only.  Finally, she made it and we got in line just in the nick of time. The tour guide kind of gave us a hand slap, but we made it and she HAD to have her ID to get back on the ship.

Once we got on the mini sub, we were taken along the coral reef. It was so beautiful. We saw colorful fish, all kinds of plant life and we even saw some divers.  

View from the mini sub.

The divers

More divers

They used tortillas to get the fish to swim so close to the glass.

     

When we got off the mini sub we decided to go into Cozumel to eat and shop.  We ate at a restaurant called Pancho's. It was excellent. They used white cheese instead of yellow.

Pancho's

Inside Pancho's

Our day of shopping involved getting Dad a hammock chair, A T-shirt for Luther and "oakley's" for Ryan. I also found Ryan an OU strap for his glasses.  We will be turning that into a bracelet.  It was an adventure, the store owners kept saying mine is cheaper and almost free.  It was kind of fun negotiating prices.  I found a really cute Cozumel tote for myself for the bargain price of $6.00.  I wasn't going to get myself anything, but I couldn't pass that up and I needed another bag to get my presents home.

A sunset view from the ship the evening we left Cozumel.

Progreso Mexico

Progreso Mexico

Wednesday, February 15th, we woke up and were in the Port of Progreso.  It was just beautiful outside and hot!  We ate breakfast early and went ashore because we had an excursion to visit the  Dzibilchaltin Mayan Ruins and swim in the sink hole.

We got on a bus and rode for about 30 minutes. It was an interesting ride. We saw soldiers in town and the houses looked poor and the the livestock looked very skinny. It was kind of sad. The port itself looked brand new, but once you left the port area, it was a whole new world.

The Triumph docked.

Leaving the port to go to the ruins.

Soldier stationed at the gate as we entered town.

A street view of Progreso Mexico.

Now on to the Mayan Ruins and sink hole. It was AMAZING!  It was hot, but when we went swimming it was very refreshing.  I did get a free gift from Mexico....a bee decided to sting my arm and boy did it sting.  It swelled up and stung for a few hours, but by the time we returned to the ship it was almost gone.  I guess it wasn't a killer bee since I am still here to tell the tail.

The entrance

One of our Tour Guides

The other Tour Guide

Do you see the "little guy" in the picture?

The path to the ruins

The ruins were white stone and our guide was half Mayan. He explained how they used the structures and the sun to determine the days on the calender.  then they used this information to know when to plant and harvest crops. He wanted us to make sure to tell all our American friends that the world is not ending on December 21, 2012.  He said the Mayan people integrated with other people and just never continued on with the dates of the calender.  He said "no worries" the days will just go on as usual.  I guess we will all see....

Look! There's Ann and Mom!

This is where the bee stung me.

This building is the key to the Mayan Calender.

After the explanation of the calender, he took us to the sink hole. It was beautiful. One end was shallow and the other end was 165 feet deep.  I jumped in the the deep end and swam to where I could stand.  The whole thing was surrounded by rock and the bottom was rock as well.  The water was so clear that you could see the rocks you were standing on perfectly and also see blue and brown fish swimming in the water right next to you.  The fish were about 2 to 3 inches long.  It was awesome!

The sink hole is just beautiful!

See the little fish?

After we went swimming, we had some free time to walk around the ruins.  It was so hot that our suits were dry before we got back on the bus.  Thank God, that would have been awful to ride back in wet clothes. The 30 minute ride back was quiet and we got back on the ship to set sail at 4 PM. Next stop Cozumel Mexico.