Pilgrims in Mexico
Back in April, my friend Phyllis called me and asked me if I wanted to go on a cruise with them in July. Phyllis is my best friend Chris’ mother, she along with his father, George took me in as one of their own almost as soon as I met them in 1998 or so. Chris and I met while working at the Y in 1997 and I met his parents a year or so later.
“I’d love to go but changed jobs last year and took a pay cut. So, I’m probably not going anywhere this year.” She replied “No, I am going to pay for it!” She explained that it would be Her and George, Chris, and his two youngest daughters while his wife Meredith and their oldest daughter were on a mission trip to Guatemala. She wanted me to go along and help keep up with the two girls. Well I don’t like being a moocher but sold! Or in my case, mooched! Seriously, it was a very generous offer and if they weren’t good friends, I probably would not have accepted. They may not even be comfortable with me disclosing that, but I want to make sure they get their due credit.
Less than a month later, the Sharps received bad news when George found out he had cancer. I won’t go into all the details as it’s not my place to share without permission, but obviously at this point a cruise was furthest from anyone’s mind.
Then I received word from Ms. Phyllis that she had rebooked us for the week of Thanksgiving, five days out of Galveston on the Carnival Dream, with port stops in Cozumel and Progresso. The same itinerary we were going to take in July. This also meant Chris’s wife Meredith, and their oldest daughter could join in the fun.
While I can’t imagine all the stress and pain George and Phyllis went through with his numerous doctor and hospital visits over the last year, George finished chemo in September, and his prognosis looks good. He is still rebuilding strength and fighting, but a week ago Monday, he was ready to cruise along with the rest of us.
11/25/19 Carnival Dream, Day 1: Embark Galveston
We arrived at the terminal before 10 AM and were on the ship by 11:30.
After having lunch on the Lido deck, we sat and waited for our staterooms to open.
On the way to the stateroom, I took a very serious picture with a towel elephant.
Made it to our staterooms!
The younger girls took a brisk swim.
Then it was time for the mandatory muster drill where they tell you in the event of a disaster, you should go to your stateroom, retrieve your life jacket and proceed to the muster station (In our case, A-5, Deck 5 of the Encore Showroom). I hope I am never able to prove myself correct, but I’m pretty much guaranteeing it will not be calm and orderly in the event of a disaster. Just a hunch by the way people scramble for 2 for $20 t-shirts in the fun shop.
After that, the ship was underway, and the Sail Away Party led by Cruise Director Gary Blair was underway.
We all had dinner in the Scarlet dining room. Actually, all of the adults ate in the dining room every night, the younger girls skipped one or two nights.
After dinner it was time for the Welcome Aboard show. I always like going to these to see what kind of personality the Cruise Director has. On this cruise it was Gary Blair from Scotland. Very funny guy, a master of sarcasm.
Chris and I ended the night with the sounds of the violin trio Elegance. Very talented ladies playing popular songs, but they seemed to have the same playlist every appearance. I started memorizing their setlist.
11/26/19 Carnival Dream, Day 2: Sea Day
The only mornings I missed the sunrise was this day and disembark day. On this day it was an hour earlier than Texas as we were further east.
I did make it out by 7 AM or so, I enjoy getting out in the mornings before the ship gets crowded and enjoying the views.
Chris, Meredith, two of their girls (not using the kid’s names for privacy/protection), and myself had breakfast in the Crimson dining room.
I just wanted some regular pancakes, but a “skillet cake” was on the menu. I think it’s the first time in my adult life I didn’t finish pancakes. It was basically one thick cake, with a light sweet taste, and two pecan pieces. Wasn’t bad, just not my thing. We had a good waiter named Sunny from the Philippines. He showed the girls (and us) a cool trick with toothpicks.
After breakfast, we went to the Seuss A Palooza story time reading of Horton Hears A Who.
Guess who was picked to be the eagle in the story? Guess who went to story hour wearing basketball shorts, and dry fit shirt? Guess who looked like a slop on stage? If you guessed me, you guessed correct. There is video of it somewhere. For now, this pic will have to do enough damage.
Part of my job as the eagle was to make a sound like an eagle. Well, I’ve never head what an eagle sounds like, so I just let out a roar. In retrospect, I could have screeched. I’ve actually put way to much thought into how much better of an eagle I could have been for the story, hailing back to my high school thespian days I guess. If I had to grade my performance, it would have been two thumbs down, but the audience and rest of our group were entertained. The rest of the week, I was getting compliments on being the eagle. Even the entertainment staff and Gary would tell me how great and eagle I was. They were being nice.
Next up was the Veteran’s appreciation gathering. Once of the performers sang the national anthem, the song for each branch of the service was played much like is done at 4th of July gatherings. George is a Vietnam veteran who served in the Navy. I was proud to be there with him. Time was given for each veteran to speak about their service if they wanted to, several did and were very moving. They ended with a group picture. Chris’ middle daughter was there too, I told her she should be proud of her grandpa. I know she already was and gave him a hug when he came off the stage.
After lunch was the ice carving demonstration on the Lido deck. It’s always fascinating to see how fast those guys can turn a block of ice into a piece of art.
This evening was the only elegant night of the cruise, which meant I wore slacks and a polo instead of casual shorts to the dining room. I successfully converted Chris oldest daughter into a fan of the Carnival Chocolate Melting Cake on the first night at dinner. We celebrated by having it for dessert on night two, too.
The entertainment for the evening was the production show “Flick”. It is an homage to popular movies like Titanic, James Bond, etc. It has a Cirque Du Solei vibe.
One cool thing is that earlier in the day I saw one of the singer/dancers from Australia out on the promenade deck introducing her parents to fellow shipmates. They were at all the shows in the front row.
I don’t think we stayed up too late. If we did something crazy, I don’t remember.
11/27/19 Carnival Dream, Day 3: Cozumel
I was up on the balcony for sunrise, which was around 6:20 AM (Central), not so early considering Cozumel sits in the eastern time zone, but the ship stayed on the same time the whole cruise.
In Cozumel, the ship pulls up to a pier, after squeeze through the stairwell/funnel of people, you walk out, then walk some more, and walk some more to a long duty free building with lots of liquor and perfume, where you snake through all of the displays and impulsive shoppers, to be met by a Mexican guard with a dog who sniffs your bag for food or drugs. If you are devoid of contraband, you walk out and are now free to explore Cozumel. If you couldn’t tell, this was my sixth visit to Cozumel (all on cruises). In 2006 we tendered in because the pier was damaged by a hurricane. It really is a beautiful place, just getting through the liquor and perfume building is a bit like going through the hustle and bustle of an airport.
Phyllis booked us on a Dolphin Encounter excursion at Dolphinaris in Cozumel for Chris’ family and me. Her and George stayed back and left the ship for a bit after the gangway madness died down. We met up with our excursion group and walked to the taxi area, then took a ride in small groups to Dolphinaris.
It is quite a picturesque place, like something out of a postcard. As soon as you walk in, you’re staring at beautiful pools of water, and pods of people teamed up with a dolphin in each corner of each pool. As opposed to pods of dolphins interacting with ones of people.
After getting a speech about no cameras, no shoes of any kind, no hats, and taking a shower to wash off any funk and sunscreen, we were fitted with life jackets (mandatory) and split into groups. Us six ended up as a group with a middle-aged couple, and a lady and her daughter. We got into the dolphin pool and met our dolphin; I didn’t catch the name, but it was a female. We were only in a few minutes until we were asked to get out so the dolphins in that pool could all get their playfulness out of the way. Then we all got back in, and each person fed, pet, danced with, and kissed the dolphin. I have no proof, because cameras weren’t allowed, and their picture prices equated to $40 a piece. Meredith did haggle and got a “deal” for a picture of each of their girls with the dolphin for $87, which they emailed to her. Capitalism is alive and well in Mexico.
We had lunch there, which was touted as being substantially better than Taco Bell. I guess food tastes are subjective. Meredith and the two youngest girls went snorkeling.
I love to snorkel, but it was only for 20 minutes and we had to leave right at the end of the session. I skipped and sat with Chris and their oldest daughter and enjoyed the views. Then it was a taxi ride back to the pier, back through the security check, the long tobacco, and perfume building, then back to the ship.
Then a cold shower to cool down which felt really great! Then a Guy’s Burger to make up for the lunch at Dolphinaris.
We had dinner in the Scarlet dining room, then went to the Hasbro Game Show.
Chris’ middle daughter was the first one picked on stage and ended getting a Monopoly card game for her participation. She and I played several games of Monopoly the rest of the cruise. She beat me 8/10 times.
Later on, we went to the Love and Marriage show. They pick a newlywed couple, somewhere around ten years married, and longest married. This night the longest married were just about to hit 50 years. The same questions have been used for years, but it’s always fun. The questions range from asking each partner to describe the most recent ex of the husband, whether he is macho in the bedroom or around the house, and some more risqué questions. Most of the time the answers don’t match, which makes for good fun. As I mentioned earlier, the Cruise Director Gary, is excellent at sarcasm, and he was at the top of his game with facial expressions and looking up into the balcony while making faces at the 50 year couple’s son.
I don’t think it was too late of a night after that.
11/28/19 Carnival Dream Day 4: Progresso
I was up on Deck 11 for sunrise and did a lot of reflecting as it was Thanksgiving Day. The Sharps unofficially adopted me several years back, well it’s official, we just don’t have any paperwork. They are like family, but this was the first Thanksgiving I spent without any blood kin. I did go on a cruise with the Sharps in 2006 that left Thanksgiving Day but had breakfast with the family that morning. As I watched the sun come up, I thought about the Briggs and Murphy’s, taking stock of where I thought everyone would be that day, and of course the ones that have left us. Time changes a lot of things. I have fond memories of the big family get togethers on the holidays. I became a bit desensitized to the holidays when Mom was in a nursing home. The only reason I bring this up is that while I missed the family, I was also perfectly content. I think because I was away, the comparison of the days of old weren’t staring me in the face. Not sure if that makes any sense, but it was a good day.
I love going on a cruise, but wish there were a way to get the same sense of calm during everyday life you get from sitting on a ship and staring into vast ocean, knowing the burdens of life will still be there when you disembark, but not feeling them at that moment. That alone makes a cruise a great choice for a vacation, though the Guy’s Burgers and Warm Chocolate melting cake are pretty good reasons too. Anyway, I made a point to myself to remember the moment sitting there when I got to back to work this week and all the noise started cluttering back in.
The ship docked in Progresso about 10 AM. Meredith and Phyllis left for a bit to do some shopping. The rest of us stayed on board. Chris and I went to the pool with the youngest girls, then he chased them up and down the waterslides. I watched our belongings from the comfort of the brisk pool.
That afternoon we participated in some trivia sessions in the Ocean Plaza area on deck 5. Milan was the host from the fun squad. He is from Serbia, very funny guy! Our team of George, Phyllis, Meredith, and myself managed to win the Classic Rock trivia game. We only missed two out of twenty. Chris went and collected a shiny new 24 karat gold plated plastic ship on a stick. His middle girl also won one for winning a game of life sized Sorry where each person is a game piece. On my way back to the stateroom, the Dallas Cowboys were up 7-0 on the Buffalo Bills. The Lido deck was packed with people watching the game. The game wasn’t on any of the channels in the stateroom. It sounds like I was better off not watching it.
For posterity, I had turkey and dressing, and pumpkin pie for dinner.
The show this was America Rocks. During the pre-show, Chris got called on stage to be a member of Band Jessica (one of the Fun Squad) as the band’s dancer. They were up against Band Aldo. Chris riled up the crowd with his wild dance moves.
The show was my favorite of the three we saw, because it had live music instead of soundtracks.
It was a collection of American rock, even some Aerosmith. A highlight of the show is when the lead guitar player came down the aisle and tossed a pick to Chris’ youngest daughter.
On the way out after the show, I told a couple of the performers they did a great job, the one from Australia said, “oh you were the eagle the other day!” I’m a legend.
At 10:30 pm, Gary hosted the 80’s Rock and Glow Party on the Lido deck. I just spectated from Deck 11, but it was a good time.
11/29/19 Carnival Dream Day 5: Sea Day
I was up early for the last sunrise at sea of the cruise. It was a great one!
I went down to the coffee shop on Deck 5 and had my one coffee of the cruise, then sat close by in the tranquil Alchemy Bar area, people and ocean watching.
I went to the Morning Show hosted by Gary in the Encore showroom.
The show is broadcast across the ship and on the Lido Deck. His sidekick for the morning was Jessica, she’s funny too.
Then I went up to 12 and met George, Phyllis and one of the girls and watched them play putt-putt golf.
Then we went to the disembark talk, Phyllis pretty much had everything figured out already. We were returning to terminal 2 instead of 1, which basically meant we were going out at level 0 on the dock instead of level 3 on the walkway. However, we got to see the captain and a parade of crew from each department. The crew really does bust their tale, and it’s always interesting to talk to them as they are from all over the world.
For lunch tried to try the Mongolian Wok for the first time, but it was extremely slow. Phyllis waited through it and it took 45 minutes. The rest of us became impatient way before then and just grabbed a Guy’s Burger. On the way back to the stateroom, I watched the hairy chest for a few minutes.
In the afternoon, Chris and I went to the Gender Showdown (battle of the sexes). The women won; they have on every cruise I’ve been on. Might be rigged?
Before dinner I snapped a few pics of Chris’s families and proved I’m a not a great photographer.
We had our last dinner, of course I had to have a warm chocolate melting cake to seal the cruise.
The show that night was 80’s Pop to the Max, it was entertaining, but as I said earlier, America Rocks with live musicians was my favorite.
Chris and went to the late-night comedy show at the back of the ship. The comedian was pretty good. Afterward, we had our last pizza of the cruise. I think I went to sleep close to 1 AM, ironically the last night was the latest.
11/30/19 Carnival Dream, Day 6: Disembark Galveston
Not much to say, we made it back to Galveston, waited until they called our group to leave the ship. Went through customs, waited with a mass of people while George and Chris went to get the vehicles.
It was a great time! I am very appreciative of the Sharps for taking me along. Spanning back to March 2003 this was my eight cruise, seventh ship (all Carnival), and five of those have been with members of the Sharp family. You won’t find finer people to spend time with, on or off a ship.
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