2004 July 7 nt. Graduation Cruise to the Western Caribbean with Angie on Carnival Elation: Progresso; Belize; Cozumel
July 4, 2004:
This was another mother/daughter trip. The excuse for this trip was celebration of her graduation from K-state the month before.
We got an early start to the day. Our
flight to Houston left at 6:30 am, so we were at the airport about 5:45.
We arrived in Houston about 8:30 where we retrieved our luggage, then
waited until 10:45 for our shuttle to Port Galveston to catch our cruise
ship, Carnival's Elation. One thing we discovered from this
cruise---when you cruise out of Texas, 90%+ of the passengers are down
home Texans! Lots of ye-haws and cowboy hats! Nothing wrong with that,
just found it interesting and amusing.
I picked this particular cruise for a
couple of reasons. I always heard about the great barrier reef by Belize
and wanted to snorkel there. The other reason was because I found a
travel agent selling that cruise on Ebay for $450@ + $150 onboard
credit.
And that's it for another great mother/daughter trip.
7-9&10-2004 sea days
Time to chill out and recuperate from the busy port days we just had.
I think Angie was ready to rest.
And eat---here our Maitre D is welcoming us---I think.
2 of our table mates. We had assigned dining and had some really interesting table mates.
Had great servers, too.
They use to have a talent show on board and the judges were really funny. Our table mate, Nicole, was exceptional and won the talent show.
The ship dancers performed, too. You know you're on a Carnival cruise when they wear outfits like this.
and this
Nicole with her trophy
The next night she brought a bottle of champagne to dinner and shared it with all of us.
Late in the cruise Angie and I discovered the piano bar. This guy was exceptional, too. We spent many late hours listening to him.
7-8-04 Belize!
This was my much anticipated stop in Belize.
It looked like we might be
totally washed out, but we did manage to tender off onto our snorkel
excursion to Goff Island.
Goff Island is a tiny island off of Belize.
We had a ball snorkeling there.
The snorkeling off this
little island was really good.
The water was crystal clear and there
were lots of fish and coral.
We even wandered around the little island a bit. Then the rain moved in
and we had to board our tender and head back to the ship.
On the tender heading back to the ship
The rains did find us, but at least the day wasn't a total wash out!
Back on board the ship, it was time to rest up and enjoy the warm breezes.
Then on to dinner. We had a great time with our dinner mates----at least
these 2 ladies. The other 4 single ladies at our table were rather
strange as was the one single guy (who was also there as a graduation
trip with his parents). The parents were pretty neat, though.
7-7-04 Cozumel
Again we were up early for our excursion. This one for a jeep/snorkel
tour in Cozumel.
Wonder where those ferries are going?
Hard Rock along the ocean front.
More views of Cozumel
Our companion in port---love when they leave before us and we can hear their Disney horn blow
Our ship
When it came time to get our jeeps and head out, Angie
and i were left driverless, so one of the guides (Pony), became our
driver. That was really neat having our personal guide.
Our excursion took us about 30 minutes away to beautiful Chankanaab National Park.
The roads we travelled weren't always paved, but it was fun riding in the jeeps.
We continued on about 17 miles from Cozumel to Punta Sur.
Entrance to
the reserve also includes the historic lighthouse, where you can climb
up, a small maritime museum and then onto the beach.
Here in the reserve is a swampy area where you can even go see salt water crocodiles.
Would hate come across one of these guys while I'm snorkeling!
Here's a view of the lighthouse and ocean from a lookout by the swamp.
in the little maritime museum
On the ocean side of Punta Sur, we had time to snorkel and enjoy the
beach.
The snorkeling was a bit disappointing, but the beach was
beautiful. We snorkeled in a group--they really kept an eye on everyone.
They even had a boat ride along side which did have to take a couple
people back to shore. We did see lots of purple fan coral.
And the water felt great!
Lots of shade on the beach, too.
The real highlight for Angie was that Pony let her drive back and
actually taught her to drive a stick shift. Again, our guides were
really great.
Back at the port we were docked next to the Disney Magic. Walking along
side of them really gives you a better idea of just how big these ships
really are!
Back on board the ship, we watched a Julia Roberts movie (Mona Lisa Smiles). Then we went on deck to watch as we left Cozumel.
Then it was on to dinner---tenderloin with goose liver on it (which I
didn't eat), grilled veggies and apple pie for dinner. Soon after dinner
we went to the Makado room to wait for the talent show. Our dinner
mate, Nicole, was the star of the talent show. She was spectacular!
Her winnings was a bottle of champagne which she brought to dinner the
next night and shared with us all.
After all the entertainment, we went up to the Lido deck to check out the midnight mexican buffet.
