Thursday, October 13, 2022

20 for 40- Costa Maya

So This is What Forty Feels Like
September 5, 2022 
Costa Maya, Mexico

Hello Costa Maya!
We love you! 

Morning
We were so very tired and we did not really wake up until 9:15AM. Each of us woke up prior to that but was able to fall back asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night with a CRAZY cramp in my leg (much like a "Charlie-horse") and then woke up with a terrible pain in my neck from sleeping wrong. It felt as if I added 1 day to my life, got an "older title" and felt like crap. Is this just how I am going to feel from now on? Geez... This is 40! 

We enjoyed a beautiful morning on the balcony and then hurried to breakfast in the Main Dining Room. The MDR offered Sea Day Brunch on Sea Days and Port Breakfast on port days. We enjoy the Sea Day Brunch but the port breakfast offers more of what we like. However, the port breakfast is only offered 8 to 10AM on port days. 


Carnival's Avocado Toast... ONLY available on the "port day breakfast"! It is SO GOOD! They really know how to do this trend RIGHT! 

The food and service were both great and we enjoyed our breakfast very much. After we ate, we went to the Casino Annex Bar on deck 4 for some drinks and to try and win some money back at Blackjack. It was just wishful thinking at this point. I lost even more money and I could tell this just wasn't going to be my trip for casino winnings. 

Chris went back to the room as he was not feeling 100% but I went to the Lido Deck to try and enjoy some sun while we approached Costa May. The Carnival Breeze was in the Costa Maya port from 1 to 8PM so we knew the lunch options would be crowded. We decided to go to the Lido Deck for lunch. Chris got the Mongolian Wok and I opted to get Blue Iguana. TIP- The Mongolian Wok on the Carnival Breeze is cooked to order but you have to stand in line (similar to an omelet station). This means a LONG wait if it is busy at lunch time. I was able to get my custom made burrito and eat about 70% of it before Chris even sat down. Just be mindful of this if you are with a large party or children and eating Mongolian Wok. 

Afternoon
After lunch we went back to the room to get our backpacks to get off the ship in Costa Maya. TIP- Be sure to take your ID (or passport) at every port, in addition to your Sail and Sign card. You never know when you might need them. 


A view of the Costa Maya pier from our Cove Balcony! 

We got off the ship and slowly walked to the Costa Maya port area where we would go directly to the Mayan Ritual Healing Spa right there in the Costa Maya port. We found this place 4-5 cruises ago and they offer the BEST massages right there on the beach. We opted to get the full body Swedish massage for only $55/ per person. Even with a TIP this was still 50% less than what is offered ON the ship! This is not a full service spa (mean you do not get naked) but swimsuit attire is recommended. I think we will do this EVERY time we go back to Costa Maya. The massage therapists are incredible and the price cannot be beaten. This new 40 year old needed this massage now more than ever! TIP- Wear a swimsuit and BRING CASH! 


Mayan Ritual Healing Spa in Costa Maya. 
Right at the port... If you don't know what you look for, you'll miss it! 
SERIOUSLY a MUST-DO for us! The massages are INCREDIBLE and so budget friendly. Plus the views are PRICELESS! 

Once we got done with our massages we walked around the port area in hopes of finding free Wi-Fi to contact our children, who were being watched by Chris's parents. This was their last day of the holiday weekend before they had to go back to school so we wanted to be sure it all went smoothly for Jackie the following day. Unfortunately, we were not able to get in contact with them due to slow Wi-Fi. 


This is on the way back to the ship. 
This port is SO BEAUTIFUL and passenger friendly! 


40 years old and ONE DAY! 
(Too bad I'm an idiot and held up 04 and not 40... #EpicFail) 

We walked back to the ship and enjoyed a fairly empty aft pool and hot-tub area. The pool was very cold as it was in the shade but the ho-tubs were SO HOT. We stayed here for about 2-3 hours with excellent bar service before going back to the room to shower up and get ready for dinner. We used the stateroom phone to call the kids and were able to talk to them and Jackie for a brief 5 minutes before heading back to Alchemy Bar. (This phone call costs $27... Be mindful if you need to make a ship to shore phone call! It is pricey) 


Another view of Costa Maya port from the ship! 
TIP- The walk to the port is fairly long but they offer a shuttle! 

Evening
We went to dinner and enjoyed our back corner table, except this night there was a table of 4 single women near us and their conversation was questionable at best. The topics of conversations were more risque' than the ADULT comedy shows. It was awkward and weird. But there were some prayers "Lord, please help us raise our daughter to be more like YOU and less like THIS". Dinner was fabulous and the service was top notch, yet again, despite the awkward discussions going on nearby!


Night #3 in the MDR is never great but these Mozzarella appetizers were GREAT! 


A handmade cappuccino became a standard for us! 
Just another Ultimate Drink Package perk!
These are usually $5.95 but are included in the drink package! 

After dinner we went to the Love and Marriage show in the Main Theater with the Cruise Director Jasper. This CD was EASILY the WORST CD we have ever had on any cruise. In fact, we disliked him SO MUCH, if we knew he was a CD for an upcoming cruise, we would cancel and reschedule! YUCK! Jasper has an amazing story and we enjoyed him sharing his STORY... but often times he would share WAY MORE THAN ANYONE SHOULD EVER SHARE! The stories and events would ALWAYS go back to HIM and I was over it REAL QUICK. Not to mention the attention he brought to the very vocal and rowdy crowd on the ship. In fact, it was around this time on the cruise that we realized the Carnival clientele on these shorter cruises is BAD! People were drunk and vocal ALL the time. The kids situation was not near as bad as I thought it would be but the passengers were just TRASH. It made me miss ROYAL CARIBBEAN! (In fact, when we got home... we booked a ROYAL CARIBBEAN cruise). The amount of LOUD, rowdy and straight up DRUNK people was astonishing. Vocal threats, fights and just stupidity was the NORM. I hope this was just a bad cruise and not the new NORM for Carnival. 

We ended the night in the Alchemy Bar (our home away from home) and called it a night shortly after midnight! 

Up Next- Our Caribbean Home... Cozumel

God is Good... ALL THE TIME!  

Click on a link to see our past cruising adventures:
Carnival Vista- July 2022



 


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Monday, October 10, 2022

20 for 40- Sea Day #1

Forty is The New Twenty
September 4, 2022 
Sea Day #1 
Happy 40th Birthday, Kellie! 

It's going to be a GREAT DAY! 

Morning
We woke up to blinding light at 7:15AM. We had an east facing balcony and this meant the sun not only came in each morning but seemed as bright as scientifically possible. We didn't go to bed until well past 1AM so we were really tired and wanted to go back to sleep but our teacher bodies would have none of that. 

We got up and immediately went to the aft for some wake view therapy! There is nothing quite like the aft view on a cruise ship. 


This day could not be any more perfect! 


There is NOWHERE I would rather be on my 40th Birthday! 


I am loving my birthday shirt! 

Then we went to the Lanai to get some coffee at Java Blue Coffee Bar. TIP- unlimited coffee is included in the Ultimate Beverage Package and begins on the SECOND day of your cruise when sailing from Galveston. This is such an added bonus to the drink package. 

We grabbed some birthday breakfast in the MDR at the Sea Day Brunch! The service was great and the food was tasty! I splurged on this breakfast since it was my birthday!


Eggs Benedict... Yummy! 

We then made our way to the only other bar that was open onboard, the Atrium Bar to get a birthday cocktail... LITERALLY as we got the Carnival Birthday Mai Tai to celebrate my 40th birthday. This was the first of many drinks on our drink package. TIP- The Ultimate Drink Package is $54.95/ per person, per day if purchased ahead of time and offers each person up to 15 alcoholic drinks per day. We enjoy this package as it includes pretty much EVERYTHING and in the end is still cheaper than a la carte waters, Gatorades, coffees and a few alcoholic drinks per day. However, if purchased ONBOARD, the price increases to $69.95 so it is worth it to book and pay ahead of your embarkation day. 


Happy Birthday to me! 

After our coffee and cocktail, we started our journey to collecting "Ship on a Stick". This is a tradition we have when playing trivia on Carnival ships. In July, we were able to win FOUR "Ships on a Stick" and were hopeful we could get at least one on this Birthday Cruise. Unfortunately, Carnival Breeze only passes out Carnival Medallions as prizes but we were ready to get a few. 

And we did just that! We first played the Golden Girls trivia in the Atrium and I won that one on my 40th birthday... If that doesn't SCREAM OLD LADY,  I do not know what does! We tried our hand at the Country Music trivia but that was a joke... we ain't country! We did come up with a 2nd win at the Office Trivia as Chris won that one HANDS DOWN! 


Hey y'all... I am officially a LAME old lady! 
Golden Girls trivia winner! 

Afternoon
I decided I wanted to have a more formal lunch on my 40th birthday so we went to the Bella Pasta Bar on Deck 11. TIP- This is 100% FREE option during lunch and offers made-to-order pasta with full service. The food is exceptional, as is the service! This is a MUST DO if you like Italian food. 

Homemade lasagna, Caesar salad and focaccia bread! 

Lunch was delicious and then we went back to the room to enjoy a nice cool breeze and a short nap on the balcony. On our way to the room we saw the Cruise Director, Jasper and we tried to get a tradition picture with him. This was on the pool deck and as I was getting into position to take a picture, I slipped on the water and fell on MY BUTT! On my 40th birthday. People were laughing and I was laughing but it HURT! I guess this is 40! 

The aft pool on Sea Day #1 (About 2pm) 


Our traditional CD picture with Jasper! 
He was nice and gave us "Groove for St. Jude" t-shirts for my embarrassment! 

When we arrived back at our room shortly after 1pm, our stateroom was still not cleaned but our steward made it up while we were napping on the balcony. This was the first time in years our room was not made up before 2pm. 

This is SO PERFECT! 


40 and FABULOUS! 


Ok my new selfie stick from my sister is AWESOME! 


And so are these goofy glasses! 

After our nap we made our way to the Casino Annex Bar on Deck 4 to catch up on College Football. TIP- This is a HIDDEN gem on the Carnival Breeze. It was hardly ever crowded and the bartenders were very generous... with their pours and service! Plus it offered 4 TVs with college football all week. The Carnival Breeze lost it's sports bar in the drydock of 2020 so this was the best sports option in our opinion. 

We enjoyed some cocktails and then tired our hand at Blackjack in the casino. We were able to play for about an hour before I ran out of money. Chris remained up the whole time and walked away with $14! 40th Birthday gave me NO LUCK... I lost it all!

Around 4PM I made my way to the Spa for my hair appointment at the Carnival Breeze salon. This was something I had NEVER done in all 20 cruises but I really wanted to look "fancy" for my 40th birthday dinner and celebration for the night. I paid $75 prior to embarkation to get a "blow out and style" from a Carnival stylist. I enjoyed the experience and it was definitely a "you only live once" type of ordeal but I am not sure if I would pay for that again. Plus my stylist not only tried to sell me every single thing that Carnival offered for hair, he insulted my hair and called out what I feel like was every single GREY hair on my head and then ended up charging me an additional $35 for a cream he used. I did not notice this until the next day but I called the Spa manager and she removed it form my bill. Again, it was a cool experience for my 40th birthday but I would much rather spend that $75 on a shore excursion or other experience on board in the future.


About halfway through my "blow out and style"! 


While I do not think I would do this again... I sure as heck cannot get my hair to look like this maybe EVER AGAIN! It was so pretty... and SOFT! 

Evening
After my hair appointment, I met Chris back at the room and got into our formal attire for birthday pictures and dinner. We do not really like to do pictures but again, this was a special night! We planned on going to 3-4 different formal backgrounds but after just one, we opted to quit. I actually got a few really good headshots of my 40 year old and a few good pictures of the two of us but in true "Kellie fashion" I forgot to buy them on board and once we got off the ship, I never saw them again!  


One of our fancy pictures (from my phone)! 


This. Is. Forty! 


After our pictures we went back to the Alchemy Bar to enjoy a few pre-dinner drinks and birthday cocktails. The girls at Alchemy knew it was my birthday and really hooked us up! The drinks were AWESOME and it was so fun to celebrate together onboard the Carnival Breeze. 


There were 3 of us from our FB group that were born on 9-4-82 so the bartenders made this the drink of the day! It was SO COOL! 


And seriously DELICIOUS! My new favorite! 

We then made our way to dinner in the Main Dining Room and enjoyed an exceptional dinner with outstanding food and even better service. We asked to be moved to a table "just for two" and in the back and it turned out to be the best table we have had on a cruise in a very long time. 

After dinner we went back to the Alchemy Bar for more birthday drinks and live music then to the adult comedy show in the Comedy Club. It was standing room only at 10:15pm for a 11pm show but we luckily found 2 seats together. The show was still a little risque' but we enjoyed the laughs. We ended the night back in the piano bar with Orlando and shut it down shortly after 1AM. It was SO MUCH FUN!  


Hey, hey... I found out cabin at 1AM! 


Our steward "Sugar" set this up for me! It was so cute! 

This is 40... It was a PERFECT day and way to celebrate turning the BIG 4-0! 

Up Next... Stop #1- Costa Maya, Mexico! 

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Sunday, October 9, 2022

PCB... Where. To. Begin- Day 7

 Panama City Beach- Day 7
It's Not How You Start but How You Finish
Friday, June 10, 2022 

Let's DO THIS! 

Morning
Game 6 vs Scorpions Black 10U
For our bracket game on this day, we had a bright and early game time of 8AM. This game turned out to be against the #2 seed in the tournament, the Scorpions Black 10U team from about 5 miles from our practice facility. This is a rival organization we had played frequently, but we had never played this exact team. We expected to not win this game, as this organization is known for being very good and their pool record was great. However, Luke's team came to play and we ended up winning this game and were headed to the CHAMPIONSHIP game immediately following this first one. 


In the end... this is ALL that matters. It doesn't really matter if he got mound time, played infield or sat the bench the entire time. In the end, we will all meet Jesus face to face and all bow down before Him. I am so glad we are raising our children in HIS ways! 


Field 9B where we played our 1st game had a huge POND with alligators in it! They would go swimming after foul balls thinking they were food. 


Luke spending some time at 3rd base. 

One of the baby alligators in the pond! 

Luke played 3rd base for most of this game, although he did play 1 inning behind home plate as the catcher. He was still batting 10th out of 11 and was able to get on base with a walk, a catcher's interference and then a very hard hit ball pop-up his 3rd at bat. Unfortunately, he still did not get any mound time. 

Game 7 vs Diamond A's 
As soon as this game was over, we went to the main 10U field for the Championship game against the Diamond A's, the very first team we played in the tournament. This was a really neat experience as the tournament treated this game like a REAL MLB game and played the Star Spangled Banner at the beginning of the game and called out all of the players at the beginning. Despite all of the emotions, tears and frustrations... this was a very special moment to this mama! A moment I may never get to experience again... 


This was really cool! 

Luke was feeling very overheated at this point and did not eat the hotdog offered to the team and wasn't even able to keep Gatorade or water down. He started the game in right field but had to sit out the next 2 innings since he was not feeling well and dizzy and feeling heat exhaustion. By the 4th inning, he came in and played at 3rd base, where he would end his season. He was still batting 10th out of 11 and had a ground out in this game. Overall Luke had a .375 average for this tournament and only TWO strikeouts. That was one of the better statistics on the team and more importantly his attitude and effort were far and away impressive.


Luke playing his last inning at 3rd base.


This team was VERY GOOD and we lost 15-0. 

After the game, there was a trophy and ring presentation and Ripken Baseball did a phenomenal job with this and the entire tournament overall! I would HIGHLY recommend any Ripken tournament event. 


Congratulations Luke! 


Ripken Experience World Series, PCB


Marucci 9U Codrington 


I am so very proud of Luke


Luke the Duke


Proud family! 


This boy was so happy... and that is all that matters! 


Way to go Luke the Duke 


This girl right here... WHAT AN AWESOME BIG SISTER! 
She was his biggest cheerleader the whole week and NEVER complained! 


I am so proud of you Luke! 

Afternoon
Once the tournament was complete, we grabbed lunch at Jimmy Johns and then went back to the condo to spend literally as much time at the beach as possible. We stayed at the beach from 1:30 to 6:30PM before our beach chairs and umbrella were taken from us. The kids LOVED being able to bounce back from the beach to the condo pool. This was a perfect afternoon of rest, relaxation and family time! 


A view looking WEST from our condo balcony! 


Finally, true rest and relaxation! 


Picture Perfect! 


Even the kids LOVED these chairs and umbrella on the beach! 


We just got done with baseball... and here he is working hard again!

Evening
Since our previous seafood restaurant outing was so bad (see that post ), I wanted to go to a local seafood place for dinner. I found a few closer to our West end of PCB but each of them had an hour to 90 minute wait just to get a table. Even though I was REALLY frustrated with not being able to have seafood on our last night in PCB, we found an AMAZING pizza place called Bubba's Pizza. This was some of the best pizza I have had outside of NYC and Chicago! The prices were extremely HIGH but so worth it! 


Dinner time! 


After dinner we stopped at Publix to get water, gas and snacks for our 9-10 hour trip home and then went back to the condo to finish packing and do a quick load of laundry. We ended the night watching The Office in the condo and went to bed early. We planned to get up and get on the road BEFORE 5AM. 

This was a day filled with excitement as Luke brought home a ring and a medal for his team's effort in this tournament. 

Up next... our crazy trip back to Texas. 

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