Friday,
March 10: We left at 5:00 a.m. to drive to Los Angeles. The kids and
I slept a lot of the way while Rick drove. He stopped at a park halfway there
and took a 20-minute nap while we walked around. We drove to Walmart and
picked up a few things and then headed on our way. After driving for a bit, we
ran into really bad traffic, due to an accident. It was slow moving for an hour
or so. We eventually made it to our pier and grabbed our luggage and headed to
the ship, Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas. It was raining by this time
and there was a huge line to get on the ship. Rick said that it is unusual for
there to be a long line like that and said that usually he is able to walk
right on. When he and I went on our cruise over Christmas break we just walked
right on also. But today there was a huge line, which was unfortunate, since it
was raining and cold!
We finally made it on and went and got
lunch at the Windjammer, which is an all-you-can-eat buffet. Then we went to
our rooms. Our room was near the back of the ship, but it was in the middle
aisle and so we didn’t have a window to the outside. I didn’t like having a
room in the middle aisle because I always got lost whenever coming and going
from our room. But the room was nice because we had two rooms connected together,
and so we had plenty of space. Rick had reserved the rooms with Rick and Josh
in a room, and me and Jenna in a room (because I guess we couldn’t book a room
with two kids together and no adult). But once we arrived we switched it so
that Rick and I were in a room (king bed with the two beds put together) and
the kids in the other room with two twin beds. We had the room attendants
unlock the door between the two rooms. It was nice having two rooms. Rick said
that when he went with the girls for their Senior trip they were all squished
into one room. This set up was much better!
We took a little nap before dinner and
Rick walked around with the kids to show them around the ship. The dinner was delicious,
and Jenna and I were able to pre-order for the next night so that they were
prepared with gluten free meals for us. We went to the comedy show tonight
(Mike Pace). It was pretty good. Some of the jokes went over the kids’ head,
but luckily there wasn’t anything too terribly inappropriate. We didn’t do too
much after that since we were all tired from the long drive and so we all went
to bed early!
Saturday 11: (Day 2 – Sea Day) Rick
walked around the track on the ship this morning, but it was still pretty wet
and cold and so I thought I would just walk around the inside of the ship
instead to check it out. I mean there are a million stairs and so it is pretty
easy to get a good workout, ha ha! I ended up at the fitness center and worked
out there for a while. Our family had purchased tickets to the escape room and
went this morning. It was just okay. The room was neat, but we felt like the
instructions were not very clear and so we didn’t know what we were doing. I
guess vague instructions are supposed to be part of the puzzle, but we felt
like it would have been challenging enough figuring out the puzzles, without
trying to figure out the instructions too! And there were too many people, so
after we figured out the puzzle we were working on we felt like we were kind of
standing around. Anyway, our group made it out before the time limit, but the
guy in charge had to give us several clues, which I don’t think we would have
needed had the instructions been clearer. After our group solved all of the
puzzles, he took a picture with some of our phones of the group next to our
time, but the picture on my phone turned out blurry.
Rick said that he wanted to go to the
nice sit-down restaurant for lunch instead of the buffet at the windjammer. The
kids didn’t want to go, so they went off to eat at the windjammer and then do
their own thing while we ate. The food was good, but it took a while. Rick was
complaining that he was exhausted and wanted to go lie down. We had thirty
minutes before we were to go ice-skating, and he considered going to the room
to lie down for a bit, but then decided to just wait until after
ice-skating. Well, we signed all of our waivers and Rick and the kids went
out on the ice. I had these endlessly long laces and was trying to figure out
how to get those extra laces tucked in so that I didn’t trip over them.
When I finally walked over to get on
the ice I saw that Rick was on the other side of the ice, on his butt, with the
ice-skating manager trying to help him up. I thought, “Wow, I am not even on
the ice yet and Rick is already down!” He didn’t even finish one full loop! I
didn’t realize until later how bad his fall was. I guess he slipped and fell
backwards, trying to grab the handrail, but missed it and landed on his back,
with his head hitting the ice. I wasn’t sure if he landed on his back or his
head, but Jenna later told us that he had fallen on his back first and then his
head whacked the ice. This made me feel a little better knowing that his head
didn’t take the full brunt of the fall. Thankfully he had a helmet on! When
they gave helmets out to everyone I thought it was a little silly, but now I
was extremely grateful!
A couple of people came up to me
afterwards and said that they had seen him fall and that he hit his head really
hard. The scary thing was he couldn’t even remember falling! The worker helped
him off and I asked if he was okay. He said he was just going to watch for a
bit and take some pictures. So I went out to skate. He took a couple of
pictures and videos. He then looked confused and so I stopped to ask if he was
okay. He said he was standing there wondering why he wasn’t on the ice. I said,
“Because you fell.” He said, “I did?” Josh was laughing and saying that he was
just kidding because Rick was joking about not remembering who Josh was. So, I
totally thought he was kidding. But as it turns out, he really couldn’t
remember falling – or even being out on the ice at all. Rick decided to go sit
down and about 10 or 15 minutes later the ice captain came to check on him.
When it was apparent that he really didn’t remember, the guy said, “I think we
better take a little trip to the medical center.” I agreed. I said I would meet
them there in a few minutes.
I know that confusion and memory loss
are signs of a concussion and so most likely Rick had a concussion. Then a few
minutes later I get a text from Rick saying, “Why am I in the hospital?” Oh
dear! I said I would be right down. Anyway, the whole thing was pretty crazy.
Rick remembered signing the waivers and getting skates on, but he couldn’t
remember getting on the ice or falling. He couldn’t remember being helped off
the ice and unlacing his skates. He just found himself taking a couple pictures
of the kids and wondering why he wasn’t out there skating with them. At the
medical center they checked him, and I signed some forms explaining what had
happened. Rick kept saying, “I can’t believe I fell. I have been ice-skating
plenty of times before and know how to skate.” After a while they let us go,
but they said to watch for any danger signals, and Rick went to take a nap.
Someone from the medical team called Rick every day to check to on him. It is
nice that they showed enough concern to do that, even if it was just their
job.
Finally, the sun made an appearance
and the kids and I laid out. Tonight, was formal night and so we got dressed up
and took some pictures both inside and outside. Jenna wore one of her sister's prom dresses and looked beautiful! We ate dinner and then took some more
pictures. Everyone just wanted to go relax in our rooms instead of doing any of
the activities, and so the kids decided to just watch a movie in their room. We
were able to get Rick’s laptop hooked up to the TV, but the Internet wasn’t
working well enough to stream a show and we wished that we had downloaded some
movies before we came. They offered some pay-per-view movies, but they were $12.99,
and we didn’t want to spend that much on a movie. They finally were able to
pull up The Lorax (one of the kids’ favorite shows). They only made it halfway
through before deciding they were too tired and went to bed. Man, they are as
bad as us old people, ha ha!
An announcement came over the loudspeaker
saying that they needed help with one of their passengers and were asking if
someone with O negative blood type could come donate blood. Well, Rick has O
negative blood, but we couldn't find any proof since he didn't have an American
Red Cross card with him. He went anyway, but they ended up using someone else.
A couple of days later there was a really nice card from the captain on our
door thanking him for volunteering and they even offered us a free
"Presidential Tour" of the ship with the captain, which would have
been cool, but I didn't think we would be back from our excursions in time and
so we didn't take advantage of it. The person who donated blood was the dad of
one of the kids on board who became friends with Josh. Apparently they invited
him to have dinner with the captain. We didn't hear any more about the person
who needed blood, but assume he was okay.
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Sunday 12: (Day 3 -- Cabo San Lucas)
This morning Rick got up early and worked out and went to the spa. (He is an
early riser). I got up around 7:30 and walked the track on the deck for two
miles. It felt really good out! Today the ship arrived in Cabo San Lucas. The
ship didn’t arrive until around 12:30 or so. Our tender was #13 and so when our
number was called we headed out to our tender boat that brought us over to
Cabo. We hadn’t been able to buy any excursions ahead of time. We tried, but
they were all at the wrong times or already sold out. But it was okay, because
there are always dozens of people with signs, trying to earn money by taking
you where you want to go.
We purchased a ride on a glass bottom
boat. He brought us around to see the famous arch and rocks and told the story
behind them. Then he dropped us off at a place to go snorkeling. We had
purchased our own snorkeling gear before the trip and brought it with us. Rick
and the kids went snorkeling and I stayed on land to keep an eye on all of our
stuff. I have been snorkeling a couple of times and didn’t really like it. But
maybe there were too many people because they couldn’t really see any fish.
Josh finally saw a few. We saw a lot from the glass bottom boat though. But it
was fun to see the sights and take some pictures. We were only there a few hours,
but that was okay with me. Jenna and I went back on the ship because we had
pre-ordered our gluten free meal, but Josh and Rick stayed and shopped for a
bit. Jenna and I went back and took a shower before dinner. Rick and Josh made
it back in time for dinner also.
After dinner we went to an ice-skating
show, and it was AMAZING!!! Definitely my favorite shows of the ship. They had
this whole light show done with drones and it was so cool! And the ice-skaters
were incredibly talented! Several of them looked like they could have been in the Olympics, that were that good! They did so many amazing tricks. It was so good that Rick and I decided to come back and see it again a couple days later! The kids also came back to see it again with the teen group.
Josh and Jenna hadn't been interested in going to the
teen activities (The Living Room) the past two nights, but tonight they decided
to go check it out. They had fun and got to know some of the other teenagers on
board. Jenna finally came back, and then at 11:00 Josh came back, but said
he was grabbing his swimsuit to go hot-tubbing. I had trouble going to sleep
that first night with the kids running around at the teen activities because I
was worried about them, ha ha. But I did okay the other nights.
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Monday, March 13 (Day 4 -- Mazatlán): Man,
I totally slept in!!! I was still sleeping at 8:45 when the cabin phone
started ringing. My first thought was, “Is everyone okay?” It was the service
desk calling to check on Rick after yesterday's fall. We all get ready and went
to breakfast and then left the ship. Today's port was Mazatlán. We took a taxi
to the beach in The Golden Zone. The kids had wanted a "beach day,"
and so today was the day. It was a nice beach and we enjoyed playing in the
water and laying out and doing a little photoshoot. Josh wanted some pictures
in his soccer uniform on the beach. He wanted to bring a soccer ball, but it
took up too much space in his bag and so he brought a mini one instead.
There were some locals taking people parasailing,
and we considered it, but decided not to since it was just a one-seater instead
of a two-seater. After hanging out at the beach for a while we went shopping at
the nearby shops and bought a few things and then headed back to the beach
until it was time to catch our taxi back to the ship. We took a shower and went
to dinner. We had reserved the earlier dinner time (5:30) which was nice since
I like to eat earlier than later and that freed up the evening for various
shows and activities. The restaurant was really fancy and I really enjoyed having a nice dinner together as a
family each night. Each evening after we ate they gave Jenna and me a menu so
that we could pre-order our dinner for the next night, so that they could make
it gluten free. We loved trying all of the gluten free desserts!
After dinner we went to a song and
dance show called, "Showgirl." It was good, but a little too flashy
for my taste. It was totally Las Vegas style. Rick went to bed early to read
his book (I had recommended a new series that I just finished, and he totally
got into it.) I wrote in my journal and uploaded the pictures to my laptop and
the kids went to their teen activities. They both made friends among the teens
and then they wanted to hang out with them all of the time!
Tuesday, March 14 (Day 5): Puerto
Vallarta. This was the port that Jaiden and her friends did the really cool
excursion where they went zip-lining, rappelling, tubing down a river, and
horseback riding! They absolutely loved it! Jenna would have wanted to do that
same excursion, but Josh didn't. He said that he was afraid of heights and
didn't enjoy stuff like that. So, we looked for other excursions instead. The
problem was that we waited too long to book them and then everything was sold
out. Rick kept trying to warn us in the weeks leading up to the cruise, saying
that we needed to book our excursions, but we just had so much going on that
none of us wanted to spend hours researching possible excursions. When we did
finally start looking up excursions two or three weeks before our cruise, we
had trouble finding ones that fit the timeframe of when the ship would be
there. Every time we thought we found one and booked it, we received an e-mail
the next day saying that the excursion didn't fit the schedule of the ship or
that it was already sold out (but it hadn't said that on the website). That
happened like three times! So, we didn't end up booking anything.
We were expecting a lot of available
taxis like at the other two places, but there were only a few. We almost took
one who offered to bring us to various sites, and it was a one-time fee for the
whole day, but only part of the sites interested us. We weren't really
interested in seeing how Tequila was made, ha ha, and we hadn't brought the
snorkeling gear for snorkeling. So, we bagged the taxi and just ended up
walking to the nearby resort beach. The waves were rough, and the sand was
really rocky (like millions of tiny pebbles and rocks) that hurt our feet. Plus,
it was super crowded. I wished we had paid for a taxi to take us to a nice
beach like yesterday, but Rick didn't want to spend $45.00 each way just to go
to a different beach. We did splurge on a nice umbrella and chairs though. The
kids still had a lot of fun playing in the water and laying out is the same
anywhere, so it worked out okay, it was just a little disappointing that we
hadn't been able to get an excursion for something else.
We came back early and had time to
take a nap and shower before dinner. After a nice dinner the kids took off to their teen
activities. Rick was still having headaches from his fall and wanted to read
his book, and so I left and walked the track that went around the ship. It felt
really nice outside! They had an outdoor movie playing, Mamma Mia 2, and so
after I got my 10,000 steps in I decided to watch the rest of the movie. Jenna
was in by midnight, but I woke up and it was almost 2:30 a.m. and Josh wasn't
back yet! The curfew for the teen activities is 1:00 a.m. I started to get worried,
and Rick said, "Do you want me to go look for him?" I said,
"Yes," and Rick got dressed and opened up the door and there was Josh
sitting in the hallway talking to a couple of girls whose room was right next
to ours. Apparently they were from St. George also and went to Crimson Cliffs
High School and they had all been in the hall talking for almost two hours! I
was surprised that we couldn't hear them until we opened the door. I am
surprised how quiet the rooms are! So, Josh got in trouble!
Wednesday, March 15
(Day 6): Today was a "sea day." Everyone kind of did their own thing
-- the kids were off with their friends most of the day and went on the
waterslide a couple of times and did other activities. Rick and I laid out in
the Solarium, and I tried out the hot-tub. Rick happened to run into some
of our friends -- Mike Armstrong and his wife. Mike used to teach seminary with
Rick. So, we arranged to meet up with them for lunch at the Windjammer and ate
and had a great visit for 2 1/2 hours! Then we pretty much got ready for our
early dinner with the kids. It was formal night again and so Josh and Jenna
wore their same outfits as last time and I wore a dress I had purchased on the
beach yesterday. After dinner Rick and I went to the ice-skating show again.
Then he went back to the room, and I went to a really cool juggling show. I
wished that the others had come with me, the kids would have really liked it!
Thursday March 16 (Day 7): Today was another sea day, only
now it was cold! It had been cold and drizzly in the morning and so the pools
and pool chairs were empty! I had wanted to try the waterslide, but now it was
too cold! The kids took off with their friends again and Rick and I ate
together and did some other activities. We met up with the kids for miniature
golf, and that was fun. Rick went and spent some time in the spa this afternoon
and I took a nap. We all went to a dance party where you wear headphones that play different music. Then the kids went to play laser tag with their friends, but there
was such a long line that it took well over two hours and so they were very
later for dinner. They eventually made it though! After dinner, Rick and I went
to the comedy act. It was okay -- a little too negative for my taste
though.
Friday, March 17: Happy St. Patrick's Day! Back to California!
We got up early and went to breakfast at 7:00 a.m. and then gathered up our
luggage and headed out! Getting off the ship was a lot quicker than getting on. We drove
home, stopping at an extremely crowded Costco for gas on the way home. Josh
wanted to be home for his soccer game at 4:30 (and then again at 7:30). So, we
drove straight home and arrived at 4:15!! He made it to his game and then I
went to the varsity game at 7:30. Josh played in both games, and they won both
games. All in all, the cruise was very fun and I was glad that we had the
opportunity to go!!
Jenna's write-up:
The
cruise was sooo fun, it was definitely one of my favorite vacations. At first,
before me and Josh met anyone, we just kinda explored the ship and chilled in
our room and that wasn't very fun. So, one day, I think it was the second day,
we went to the teen club at night. We had been there before during the day, but
not many people were there, but at night it was packed and since everyone
already knew each other from the previous nights it was kinda awkward. But it’s
okay, because we all played this game called Scattergories and it was boys
versus girls and it was fun. After that we all played Capture the Flag and it
was really fun to get to know some of the other kids there. I was tired so I
went to bed and Josh went hot tubbing.
The next
day we stopped at the port Cabo San Lucas and there we went on a tour and saw
all the pretty rocks and then stopped at a beach and went snorkeling. It was so
fun, but my snorkel didn't work. After that we went back on the boat and went
to dinner. The dinners there are crazy nice and sometimes they have formal
nights where you dress up nice and go, but tonight was just casual. It was very
nice because we got to pre order our food and get it all gluten free. That
night me and Josh went to the living room (teen place) again and Josh was
already friends with most of the guys because he went hot tubbing with them the
night before, but I was still looking for some girls to hang out with, and that
night they were playing a game called fireball for the activity, and that was
fun, it’s kinda like dodgeball. That night I met two girls named Gemma and
Vanessa and I went hot tubbing with them, and we became friends. Also, here are
the names of all the friends we made on the trip: Riley, Gemma, Ella, Trey,
Jay, Gabe, Preston, Sam, Vanessa, Tyson, Alex, Logan, Kade, Lindsey, Max,
Paisley, Elena, Emmy, and a lot more.
On the
third day we stopped at Mazatlán and had a beach day. The beach there didn't
have very clear water like Cabo, but it was still a nice beach. We also went to
look at the stores and I bought a bracelet and a hat and that was fun. After we
got back on the boat we ate dinner and went to the ice-skating show and comedy
show and those were really good. Then me and Josh went to the teen club again
to see all our friends they didn't have an activity that night, so we all just
kinda hung out and this group of guys came over to me and Gemma and Vanessa and
they were like, “Hey, our friends think you're cute and stuff,” and we talked
to them for a little but they were just funny friends and then me and my
friends and those other guys we met just were talking and then me and my girlfriends
just walked around the ship till it was pretty late and we said we would meet
up the next day and that night me and Josh stayed up to watch The Lorax haha.
The last
port we went to was Puerto Vallarta, and there we just went to the beach. Then
we came back and had dinner and went to the club and it wasn't very fun there
so we just all went hot tubbing and that was fun. The next two days were at sea
and so me and Josh just hung out with our friends, and we went on the water
slides and went to all the different fun things they had on the boat and that
night was also formal night, so we got dressed up and went to that. Then the
teen club was having a teen dinner and that was fun and we also all went to the
ice skating show then we got home and me and Josh watched “Horton Hears a Who.”
The last
day was so sad, we woke up and got ready and played mini golf with our family
and then me and Josh found our friends and we did a lot of stuff. We were about
to play volleyball but instead we did Laser tag, and we also had lunch at the
Windjammer and we did a silent dance party and that night was karaoke night in
the club so we went to that and it was a blast, but I didn't sing, because they
ended before it was my turn. I was gonna sing with Alex. So overall this was
such a fun experience and I would love to do it again but I will really miss
all of my friends that I made there!
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