Home Again

Muffin and I returned home last night from a seven day cruise departing Galveston for ports in the Eastern Caribbean.  There were so many Brits on board that I felt like I was cruising with Cat Deely, and must say that it was "lovely." We saw amazing sights--flying fish, clear blue-green waters, a rainbow at sea, a lightning storm at night, a butterfly conservatory, and a meteor shower. Kisses from God, all of them. 

This kiss was from God through one of His amazing dolphins.  Loved it!

Sailing back to Galveston

On the last day at sea we slept late and had breakfast on the Lido Deck, looking out at the Gulf of Mexico while we sipped coffee and ate our good-for-your-bones-yogurt.

We attended a mandatory meeting about debarkation and customs, filled out the forms we would need the next morning, strolled around the deck listening to music in various venues and savoring the moments. About 1 pm we found this restaurant that we didn't even know existed and had a wonderful lunch there.

Seriously, I had orange soup! We met three families from other cities in Texas. One of them has a daughter who is a sophomore at Texas Tech. In visiting further we asked where she lives and learned that she shares a house with two roommates and it is only three houses away from Nana, Muffin's Mom! Now that is what I call a God appointment. After lunch we looked outside to find that it was raining-hard! This photo is looking through the aft of the ship's rain-streaked window into the wake.

On the last sea day it is customary to celebrate with a chocolate buffet. We decided we could do that! Wow!!! Here are just a few samples of what was on the buffet--torte, milkshake, chocolate cheesecake, rum muffin, lemon torte with chocolate layers, chocolate fruit cake, and delicious coffee. It was all so beautifully presented with accents of flowers, fresh fruit, columns of cake and cookies, and the pastry chefs serving in their tall hats. Abundance!

Bon appetite!

Cozumel!

Three ports in three days, and the last was in beautiful Cozumel, Mexico. We enjoyed a late breakfast on board, having booked no shore excursions, and packed a light backpack with snacks for our own shopping excursion and walk along the beach. Carnival docked two ships at Puerto Maya that day--Conquest and Valor. Our shopping specialist talked at warp speed for one hour about the opportunities in Cozumel, and we decided to do some serious Christmas shopping. The jewelry, especially diamonds, tanzanite, and silver, are priced very affordably and are tax and duty free. We saw many types of gem stones in beautiful settings. I was attracted to a red coral pendant set in silver and Muffin purchased it for me. Of course crafts and vanilla are good buys in Mexico also.

Carnival's two ships docked at Puerto Maya, seen from the beautiful beach.

I love the flowers in Mexico. Love the bright colors and the abundance.

A very relaxed Grandpa Muffin.

Palm trees are so interesting. So strong, yet flexible, and producing wonderful fruit. It's what I think of when I read Psalm 1. "Blessed is the man...He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither."

Gracie's in Galveston. Ruby's in Cozumel.

Walking along the pier between the Conquest and Valor, returning after a few hours of shopping.

Dinner was lovely. We had the same waiter several nights--Alexander from Bosnia. For dessert he brought Muffin some delicious apple pie, and I ate chocolate raspberry cake served with raspberry sorbet. It's so pretty!

Muffin with Alexander.

After dinner we strolled around the ship, did a bit more Christmas shopping in the shops on board, and attended the juggling show.

This, which we stumbled upon late that night, was a party of about 200-300 Indian families. They were dancing on the Lido deck, had decorated so beautifully and were dressed elaborately. The music was so joyful. Everyone from the smallest children to the grandmas and grandpas was dancing in lines while the band sang and played what sounded to me like everything from traditional Indian music to Bollywood style dances. After about an hour, the elders got tired and lined the railing of the decks and watched. Or they sat on the deck chairs with some of the young children who were still awake. But the teenagers and twenty-somethings danced the night away, barefooted in their toe rings and ankle bracelets and saris and jewelry and it was glorious! I do believe we will all dance like that on the streets that are golden--the abandonment before the throne of God will be so freeing for all of us. But our Indian brothers and sisters will have a head start in the dancing because they know how to do it for hours now!

Or maybe those of us from Texas have begun our lessons with line dancing!

Line dancing in the lobby with the Fun Ship directors very late at night.

Grand Cayman

Our favorite port was Grand Cayman--Georgetown is beautiful, clean, friendly, laid back, and the wealth just oozes from the street signs. Even from the clock in the port plaza!

We waited at the port awhile for the tour groups to form, the guides to claim their groups and move on to the buses or nearby tenders. We boarded a tender and went a short way to our waiting submarine, the Atlantis.

Here we are inside, waiting for some "housekeeping". There were places for 48 passengers and there were 49 on board. The lady beside Muffin said she saw someone who was not from our cruise ship meet a couple and cut in line, faking a ticket. Finally another couple volunteered to get off, return to the port and take the second submarine excursion. They were the only ones on board who had that freedom, since most of us had booked a second excursion.

The reef was so beautiful. We learned that the extraordinary photos you see in documentaries are shot at night to show all the beautiful colors. We could actually see more color than the camera could, but everything was still either very blue or very white. This photo is taken as we are descending, looking at the changing coral and plants and ocean floor.

Here, fishy, fishy!

This is as low as we go.

Returning to port we ate a couple of Cliff bars and drank some water and waited for the second excursion tour guides to find us. It was really hot, waiting on the shady, humid concrete. My hair was not happy at all, but it was going to be unhappier still before returning to the ship.

Snorkel-ready Marmee. We bused to a vacant lot in a residential area where a dock at the back of the lot served as a parking lot for a tour boat in the canal behind some really lovely houses. Among our fellow snorkelers were a family from Austin with four sons, and a family of Texas Tech fans. Go Raiders! We boarded the tour boat, traded our shoes for fins, donned masks with our snorkel tubes and arriving at the barrier reef, began our first snorkeling lesson. Most of the others on board had previous experience, but we caught on fast enough I guess. The tour guides left us to explore the reef and went on to those who seemed truly terrified. I thought it was amazing! The purple fan coral was so beautiful, and just being able to see in the clear Caribbean water was wondrous. All in all, this was a three hour trip spent in pleasant company with great guides and God's amazing creatures.

After a very late lunch and shopping in the ship's gift shops we dressed for a formal dinner preceded by an early show. After dinner we watched Quantum of Solace from deck chairs with the wind blowing in our faces at the outdoor theater.

Some of our fellow cruisers on a tender from the Conquest to the port of Georgetown, Grand Cayman.

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!

What did you do this summer?

I went to Mo Bay!

Words I never thought I would say.

That rhymes.

Montego Bay is very beautiful by the sea, and very third world from the bus. The people are beautiful and sad. The music is wonderful and descriptive of dreams, not reality. The lovely old historic church we saw was in terrible disrepair, but Margaritaville was pristine and air conditioned. Our tour guide called the potholes "free massage" and the speed bumps "sleeping policemen". The resorts provide work for the locals, but there were still plenty of people offering drugs on the streets. We didn't buy any.

Returning to the ship for cool drinks and lunch, followed by a nap and a great workout was time well spent. Dinner was exquisitely served:

Rack of lamb

Wilted Spinach with bacon and Portabellas

Seafood Variety Newburg Style

Dessert: Tiramisu and Bitter & Blanc (Chocolate and Vanilla)

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galations 5:1

Evening Surprise!

Carnival Conquest's cabin stewards do everything they can to be sure you return to their ship for another cruise. The rooms are spotlessly cleaned multiple times a day. Everything is polished and folded and dusted and tweaked and there is not a wrinkle in the bedding. And every evening after dinner and the theater show, upon returning to your room you find something from the menagerie. Or, on the last night at sea, this beautiful heart. Did I mention that each towel creation comes with chocolate mints?

I really, really miss those cabin stewards. I just love fresh ice and folded towels and cute little animals and clean, polished glasses, and fluffy pillows and duvets, and chocolate mints, and all the other things they do so very well.

Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the honor and glory of God.

1 Cor 10:31

An Anniversary & Sea Day Two

Today is the 40th anniversary of our first date.

Song of Solomon 3:4

when I found the one my heart loves I held him and would not let him go

The first topic of conversation when mentioning a cruise is normally FOOD. There are good reasons for this. It is plentiful. It is pre-paid. It is delicious. It is extraordinary. The food in the photograph below was prepared by a special team of chefs onboard the Conquest. We attended the cooking demonstration and in one hour learned that we were sailing with highly trained and experienced chefs who could perform feats of grandeur with lobster, chicken, cheese, and chocolate. The Officer in charge of food operations served as extra arm and interpreter for two of the chefs whose cooking skills far surpass their English. The white scarfed chefs are the sous chefs, while the red scarfed chefs are the specialty chefs--desserts and pastry, or fish. And the blue scarfed chefs work for free. In other words, they are apprentices.

The food prepared at the cooking demo was by the entire team. First there was Lobster Bisque. Then came the chicken, seared in oil to seal in the juices and baked in a specially prepared sauce, served with ---macaroni and cheese. No kidding. But the cheese was a combination of mascarpone, ricotta, parmesan, and gruyere. Grated by hand and whipped with cream and served in small portions as individual ramekin dishes. For dessert the pastry chef prepared Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. Only four ingredients: melted 72% chocolate, eggs, sugar and flour. Whisked by hand. Baked in ramekins until lightly set around the edges and melted in the middle. Topped with vanilla ice cream. Yummy! It was served several evenings in the dining room.

Other yummy food included ceviche, tuna and melon, spaghetti squash with almonds and raisins in a salad, key lime pie, lobster and shrimp stuffed mushrooms, and cherries jubilee.

I'm talking about the second day at sea. Not for the entire cruise. This, of course, doesn't even include the breakfast buffet.

After dinner we strolled on the deck or around the ship, walking off those calories and people- watching or just looking at the ship's interiors. Below is a photo of the ceiling as seen from an angle of the stairway in the atrium. You look up: gorgeous. You look down: marble or wood. You look to the side: always interesting.
Inside the beautiful Supper Club restaurant where the cooking demonstration was offered.
We managed a nap almost every day of the cruise, here in stateroom 1266. One night we woke to see the moon and venus shining over the water right in our window.
This was a popular place. We preferred quieter places, however. I love the motion of the ship and feeling wind in my face. Puts me to sleep quickly. ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz........
Other favorites from Sea Day Two:

Art auction (observers only)

Sleeping late

Break dancers in the lobby

Point & Click show in the theater

Meeting new friends Tena and David from Arkansas

Three Weeks Ago: Our first Sea Day on Cruise

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, young men may stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord shall renew their strength. They will soar on wings as eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint. Is. 40:23-31

Muffin and I drove to the Rowdy Girls' house and spent a couple of hours on the way to our cruise weekend. That's always a good idea. We had just returned from seeing Jonah and Gracie in Arizona and were feeling deprived of grandchildren. Boo hoo.

So we found this little shop in Galveston.

After a sweaty, hot morning of hauling luggage and standing in lines, we were directed to the Lido Deck for lunch. Yum.

We could still see the lovely historic district of Galveston from the ship's deck. Here is the Hotel Galvez.

Left downtown Houston and all our cares and worries far behind.

Some of my favorite memories from the first day are:

Seeing The Strand in Galveston--making a comeback from the hurricane damage.

Walking onto the ship hearing a Chinese couple singing "Breaking up is Hard to Do". Just hit me funny.

Enjoying delicious Mango Mousse on a matching plate.

Watching Muffin relax.

Meeting Sherry and Jim from Galveston and enjoying dinner with them.

Watching a little girl of about seven fill her tray with food and say "Don't you just love this boat?"

Watching cha-cha dance class in the theater.

Enjoying the fun show with Carl the comedian.

A tour of the gym and the art gallery.

Sunset on the deck after dinner.

Opening a door to an outdoor deck and finding a group of Indian families dancing to their own band. Fabulous!