Thursday, March 29
We left home on Thursday to drive to San Antonio TX where we stayed 2 nights. Let me just tell you if you haven't driven through Texas....it is a lot of tiny roads, small towns and NOTHING. We drove 877 miles the first day. It took us 16 hours with breaks.
We stopped at Buc-ee's in Amarillo around lunch....
Friday, March 20th
After some much needed sleep and breakfast, we had the whole day in San Antonio.
We strolled on the River Walk.
After lunch we relaxed by the hotel pool, then went back to the River Walk for dinner where we had mediocor (at best) Mexican food but a great table right on the river.
Saturday - March 21st
**Cruise Day 1**
We got up early to drive the rest of the way to Galveston. It took about 4 hours. One of the bad things about driving was that we had space to take as many bags as we could fit in the car. Normally we all pack one backpack and one carryon for a full month of vacation. We ended up with an obscene number of bags for 10 days -- 8 in total. But in our defense, we had to pack for theme nights, dress up nights and had no access to a washer.
We took the shuttle to the cruise terminal and we were onboard and having lunch by 12:30.
Around 1:30 we were able to get into our cabins, 14434 and 14436. We had adjoining rooms with balconies, mid ship on deck 14 (of 18).
After a quick change into swimsuits we went to explore the ship and reinstated "ice cream o' clock".
We stayed on the lido deck to watch the ship leave port and go to the Sail Away party. It was a fun way to start our week. Our cruise director was Kyndall Fire, and the name really says it all. We had a good time dancing and singing.... well, I did. The girls were mostly embarrassed by me.
We had more ice cream as we headed back to our staterooms.
Showers, dinner and a show rounded out our first night.
Sunday, March 23
**Cruise Day 2**
Day at Sea
We took our time getting up and moving for the day before finding breakfast at the buffet.
After breakfast we went out to the Lido deck pool for some sun.
James and I went to Guy's Burger for lunch while the girls went to the Lido marketplace (buffet).
Then more ice cream....
...and more pool time at the Tide's pool at the back of the ship.
It was "dress up" night so we had dinner in the dining room.
Then we went to the show.
Monday, March 23
**Cruise Day 3**
Cozumel Mexico
Our first port was Cozumel Mexico. We were able to go ashore around 10:30 am. After breakfast we left the ship to meet up with the driver we had hired for the day. Our first stop was to snorkel on the west side of the island.
James and I snorkeled. Elin refused to leave the table. Anikka came in for about 2 minutes.
After snorkeling we drove to the east side of the island to a little place for tacos.
Our last stop was at a Mayan Ruins called San Gervasio which dates to 600 AD.
We even saw some Coatimundi.
We were back at the port in the late afternoon. We looked in the shops but didn't find anything that we wanted....
....so we got back on the ship and went up on deck 17 to watch as we left Cozumel.
Tuesday, March 24
**Cruise Day 4 **
Costa Maya Mexico
In our research of things to do here, people said it was mostly expensive beach bars. So, we decided we would not book an excursion and we would take our time getting off the ship. It was late morning when we ventured out to the port. It was hot, really crowded, and the shops and food were overpriced.
We walked around and saw the flamingos and a good view of our ship...
...and saw the local show where they climb a pole then, while spinning, unwind the ropes attached to their feet as they are hanging upside down.
We went back to the ship for lunch and pool time after about an hour and a half in the port.
We found a nice place to relax at the back of the ship and had a quiet afternoon.
As always, dinner and a show. After dinner we walked around the ship and looked in the shops then watched the Cash Bash.
At 10:30 there was an 80's glow night party with Kyndall Fire on the pool deck. It was so much fun!
Wednesday, March 25
**Cruise day 5**
Roatan Honduras
This was the last port on our cruise. It rained overnight so the skies were gray that morning.
We snorkeled at a deep reef that was actually living and still had color. There were lots of fish.
After dropping off most of the people from the first snorkel, we went to a 2nd location that was shallow.
Our last stop was at a beach called Brady's Cay. It was pretty....but would have been even more spectacular in the sunshine. The water was torquoise blue and the sand was white.
We had a snack and took some pictures.
We stayed an hour then our water taxi picked us up and took us back to the dock
where our driver was waiting. She took us back to the port where we did some shopping before getting back on the ship.
We were a little cold so we sat in the hot tub while the ship left port. Then showers, dinner and The Family Feud Live show, which was really funny.
Thursday, March 26
**Cruise Day 6**
Day at Sea
Our last two days of the cruise were sea days as we headed north to Galveston. We took full advantage of sleeping in and doing whatever we wanted.
We had pool/sun time
played Bingo
rode the Bolt rollercoaster on the 18th deck of the ship (all but Elin). It was fun but too short.
We had a nice dinner in the dining room, then we split up for the shows. James and I went to Love & Marriage and the girls went to Celestial Strings.
We met up later for the White Hot nights party.
Friday, March 27
**Cruise day 7**
Day at Sea
Our last day on the ship. James and I went to Serenity which is an adult only area on the front of the ship while the girls went to the Lido deck pool.
Then found some chairs by the pool to relax for the afternoon.
For our last night we had dinner at the Italian restaurant...
...before watching the final show called We Are One.
We had an amazing time on the Jubilee. Some of our favorite things were:
-Unpacking once and having connecting cabins with lots of space
-All day self serve ice cream (we had ice cream at least 3-4 times a day) and lots of pizza!
-Finding ducks and other little animals. We found 15 including a tiny Jesus
-Different dining options so we could try new foods
-Sea days!!! so much to do and so relaxing
-Towel animals that appeared in our cabins everyday
Saturday, March 22
We disembarked and we were off the ship by 10 am and on the road towards Colorado by 10:30. We stopped at Buc-ee's for gas near Houston then drove and drove and drove. We were near Waco, Texas so we made a detour for late lunch at Magnolia Farms.
Then we drove and drove and drove through Ft. Worth where we found a Swig.
Sunday, March 23
From Amarillo the drive to Colorado Springs was only 5.5 hours. We left Amarillo after ANOTHER stop at Buc-ee's for breakfast. (We ended up at Buc-ee's four times on this trip...but hey, when in Texas...)
We had an uneventful drive home through the vast nothingness of Texas and arrived home in the late afternoon. I have vowed NEVED to drive through Texas again.
Some stats:
-We drove 1,125 miles and 20 hours on the way to Galveston
-We drove 1,021 miles and 18 hours on the way home
Which is a total of 2,146 miles and 38 HOURS in the car! But, despite the long drive we had a great time and the girls can hardly wait to go an another cruise.
M
