The Honeymoon: Part One

Our honeymoon was a 4-day cruise to Ensenada, Mexico and Catalina Island. Originally, we had planned to do an all-inclusive thing at one of the Sandals Resorts, but Sean, one of Steven's friends--and groomsman --was getting married on the ship. Well, we couldn't do both, so we decided on the cruise. I'm glad we did.

Sean and Sofia (pictured at right) got married on Monday, Sept 25th, before the ship sailed at 530pm and the ceremony was quite beautiful. Sean has a daughter from a previous relationship and they included her in the ceremony by giving her a ring as well. Very cool. When you check in, you get what's called a Sail and Sign card; and when you actually board the ship, they slip the card into a slot on a wooden podium that has a web-cam type camera attached to it. It looks like a credit card and acts as such while you're on the ship. Anything you buy on the ship--anything--is charged to your room when you show them the card. This card also works as your ID when you leave and board the ship. They have real tight security, so if you lose it while your docked at a port of call, you're screwed.



For the record, this was me and Steven's second time cruising on a Carnival ship. The first time was 6 yrs ago, 8 months into our relationship. I don't remember the name of the ship then, but this one was called the Paradise (see picture at left) And this time was definitely a whole lot better than the first. And I'll tell you why: Sean and Sofia (read: we knew people and we got to know more of their friends). If you've never been on cruise, here are some reasons why you should:




~ They feed you well
~ The exotic ports of call
~ The shopping in exotic ports of call
~ The excursions in exotic ports of call
~ Activities on the ship. There's plenty to do to keep you and your kids busy
~ They feed you well
~ Gratuity for the servers is already included on your bill. The only person not covered is the maitre'd in the main dining hall
~Animal towels. Those cabin stewards are quite talented. (see picture above). Those are my sunglasses and a rose from Sofia's bouquet, BTW. They use props from your room. Too cool.
~ Formal night. You get to dress up (YAY) once or twice a week depending on the length of your cruise.
~ Pictures. They take a crapload of pictures: in the main dining hall, on the main floor (inside) every night, formal night, when you leave the ship at a port of call, when you first board the ship...it's kinda crazy. You'll get an idea of what it's like to be Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
~ And did I mention they feed you well? Yeah? Ok, just making sure.

The downside, if you see it as such:
~ Alcohol is not free
~ And neither is soda. *shrugs* Yeah. Go figure.


This time, Steven and I took in some of the activities on the ship. We saw a couple of shows (of the dancing and singing variety), took in a comedy act (the R-rated material shows are at midnight--but this one was ruined by a loudmouthed heckler who wouldn't shut up), played bingo a couple of times (we won $500!) and got our pictures taken (I wanted to post it here but Blogger wouldn't let me).

We stopped in Catalina Island first where we dropped anchor for 8 hrs. Stay tuned for The Honeymoon: Part Two and I'll tell you all about the excursion we went on.

*If you missed my posts about the wedding--Parts One and Two--be sure to check them out below before they get archived*