Crusin'

         The morning after our wedding we were off! We headed down to the Long Beach port to wait in multiple lines! It was quite obvious that everyone was anxious to get on the ship and leave. People were not too happy while waiting in the insanely long lines. But once we got through three long lines we were on.  Well, we got on to wait in another line. Our tickets were not at the check in desk. Somehow they got lost or something strange happened. So we had to wait in a line on the ship. Once we got our keys we were free to roam the boat.  It was HUGE! The first thing we did was go find our room. I was so nervous when we finally found it! It was at they way, way back of the ship. And when I say way back I mean it, looking out from our window we saw the waves breaking from the ship. We were above the propellers. So yes, we were in the way back!

            After we found our room we decided to wander! The first thing Jaron wanted to find was where all the food was. So of course that is what we did. We found the Buffet, the adult only areas, and the main dining hall, and other small things that we knew we would attend on our cruise. So earlier I mentioned how our room was in the way back of the ship? Well it turns out we were in the best location ever! All we had to do was get on the elevator and everything major was right above us, the buffet and the main adult only area. So we were quite pleased since most of our time was spent in that general area!

            A few short hours later we were on our way to Mexico! However before we could do anything we had to do our fire drill.  This was by far one of the best events on the cruise. The thing that made this drill so great were the drunk people providing entertainment for all of the sober people.  The drunk individuals had some pretty interesting comments about the matter. One of them went off saying; if there is a fire or we are sinking there is no way I am coming here to get on a boat. Ill jump off and swim. It was pretty amusing! Once that was over we were free to enjoy our first evening at sea.  Basically all we did was go to the Black Pearl (one of the restaurants) for dinner.  This quickly became Jaron’s favorite place on the ship.

            The next day we woke up and of course we went straight to the buffet to get a delicious breakfast.  They had more food then one could ever dream of. Once we were done with that we hit the deck to tan.

        So our first day out at sea was pretty fun! Until we got really cold! Once we decided it was too cold to lay out we wandered the ship for the rest of the afternoon.  While wandering the ship we got to witness the harry chest contest. Some of the people were pretty hairy! It was quite nasty if you ask me! 

         Day two was another day at sea so there was stuff to do but we decided to just lay out for the afternoon. This is when Jaron started to get his ice cream every time he walked by the machines. Not only did he get ice cream every chance he had but he would also get a Mr. Pib whenever he was asked he wanted a soda. 

      He definetely made his unlimited soda card worth it.  After laying out for a while we decided to go miniature golfing. Who can say they played mini golf in the middle of the ocean? It was awesome. Instead of looking over a fence and seeing the freeway we saw the ocean. The best part was we tied. The course was easy enough that I was able to do just as well as Jaron did.

     Before we went to dinner we decided to watch an outdoor movie on the deck. That was fun but this is when Jaron started his huge meal! Once we got onto the deck for the movie Jaron decided it would be a good idea to go look at the food at the buffet! Thats where he grabbed three FULL plates of food. And of course he ate all of it, give or take the few bites I had.  

Jarons pre-dinner, and one of his main dishes at the Black Pearl. 

Then about fourty-five minutes later we were off to dinner. There he had about four ship cocktails, two main dishes, and dessert. Once we walked down to our room we both felt like dying.  We ate so much that night that the only thing that felt good was to lay down. 

At the Black Pearl

          The next morning we woke up to the sound of our cruise director going crazy with announcements.  The reason being, we were in Mexico! We had finally made it too our first port. However we were not docked yet.  The first thing I did was ran up to one of the main decks to get a sticker(because there are so many people on the ship they have you exit by number so they are able to have control while checking ID and what not). Once I finally had our stickers I went back to get Jaron then we went back up to eat breakfast.  Once we were done with that they called our number to exit the boat. 

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

      Our first experience in Puerto Vallarta was Jaron getting sunglasses.  That was the one thing he forgot to pack with him.  So we found this street vendor, it was more like a mini outdoor mall it was insane how much stuff he had.  The first thing we saw were the sunglasses, perfect I know! After a few minutes of looking at sunglasses Jaron finds this pair of Oakley’s and he goes to pay for them. So takes the glasses to the man working and he said they were twenty-five bucks, well Jaron was was not about to pay that. The bartering began.  To make the story short Jaron went from paying twety-five to eight. The best part was jaron said he only had eight dollars to spend. It gets better, he gave the guy a twenty dollar bill and asked for change.  It was awesome. 

       Once he had his sunglasses we went for a short walk along the beach and then decided we wanted to go do something fun. We narrowed it down to either zip lining or swimming with the dolphins.  We got over to these travel agents and we decided to go zip lining. It was only one hundred dollars for the two of us to do eleven lines though the jungle. How could we turn that offer down? Well the group people who were also going on this trip had already left. This is where our experience in P.V. gets interesting. The travel agent walked us through this sketchey alley. Once we were through the alley he took us to a nice building and handed us over to this lady. She calls a taxi driver and then she hands us over to him.  First of all it was nothing like the taxis I have seen in California.  So we get in this car and neither of us have any idea where we are.  So there we were, sitting in the back of this taxi that is swerving in and out of lanes.  I was positive that we were going to die that day.  Then he pulls over at this random gas station. We were goners.  And then we found out he was lost.  I wasn’t sure if I should be more scared or laugh because he had no idea where he was.  After another twenty minutes of driving I felt safe once I saw the signs of the company we were going zip lining with.  So we drove for another ten minutes and we passed the sign that said turn left. I got worried again. Apparently he was lost once again.  After he asked another man on how to get to the zip line place we finally made it. 

In the middle of the jungle at the zip line place.

    Right when we got there they had us put on all of our gear. Not going to lie at first it was not the most comfortable thing in the world.  It was hot outside and the harnis kept riding up. Not fun. 

       And then we were off.  He had to hike a little, but then we were flying through the jungle.  Jaron had a blast.  When we were first planning out honeymoon this is the first thing he said he wanted to do. Of course I was against it but it turned out to be amazing.

    When we were finally done we ended up at the same place we started. It sure did not feel like we were going in a circle but we did.  It was amazing. The last line of the day went so fast and it was so long.  Not going to lie I was so scared to go on it. You couldn’t see the end of it and it was a pretty steep fall. I had to toughen up though. I went down and I was able to race Jaron.  My line went a little faster, I’m  not sure if it is cause I am lighter but I was flying and it was insane.

After zip lining through the jungle in Mexico.

      The car ride back to port was much easier. We were in a van full of people.  It was less scary but it was way hot and sticky.  We were all dirty from doing the zip lines and there was a weird smell.  It was fun though and the driver this time knew exactly where he was going which made the drive a lot quicker.  Not only was it not as scary as the first ride but he drove us through a different part of town that we were not able to see on the first drive.  Overall it was a beautiful drive.  Once we got back to port we were both tired and ready to get back on the ship and eat lunch.  So that is exactly what we did.  And Jaron got is ice cream.  One of his favorite things on the ship was the self-serve ice cream machines that were placed throughout the boat.  Just about every time we passed the machine he would get one.  One of his favorite things to do was to make a King Kong cone like they do at Macys.  

This cone was slanted and not as tall as some of his others!

     That night was so relaxing.  We ate dinner at the black pearl then went out onto the dock and watched us leave Puerto Vallarta.  It was so pretty watching the city lights fade into the distance.  Then we were on out way to Cabo.  We were supposed to go to Mazatlan for a day but because of the violence we were told last minute we were headed to Cabo where we would be for the next two days.  Oh how we were excited to be in Cabo. 

       The next morning we woke up to an announcement saying we were in the beautiful Cabo San Lucas. So we looked out our window to see, but since our room was at the way back of the ship all we were able to see was the ocean.  Oh well it was still a beautiful view.  This time it took us a lot longer to get off the ship. One was because I didn’t want to go up at six in the morning to get a sticker. So we were number twenty-six.  So we had all morning to kill.  Another reason it took so long was we had to take boats to port. The port in Cabo is too small to hold multiple cruise ships, and there were four of them there.  When we boarded our ship to take us to port we saw the arches at lovers beach. It was honestly one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. The rock formations are amazing down there.  Right then I decided Cabo was my favorite port of the trip, even though there were only two! It was a very easy decision to make. 

       After walking around the streets of Cabo and going into ocean side shops we decided it was time to do something. The first thing we decided to do in Cabo was go to lovers beach. However, the only way to get to lovers beach was to take a water taxi. The hardest part was getting a taxi. There were so many people holding signs yelling their deal at you trying to convince us to go with their taxi. And these guys were tough to bargain with. They had their set price and they were not going to budge.  Then we found these guys that went down. It was going to be twenty-four dollars for the two of us to go to lovers beach, round trip of course.  Which we thought was a little too pricy for a five-minute boat ride.  Then we talked them down to ten dollars for the both of us. It was awesome! We hopped on our water taxi, saw seals, fish and birds, and within five minutes we were on lovers beach. 

        After we had been on lovers beach for a while we decided to head back to the main port of Cabo.  While there we walked deeper into the city and went into many shops.  The next thing we did while in Cabo was we got a massage.  Yup, that’s right, we got a couples massage! And it was amazing.  We were able to relax and really enjoy ourselves.  It was defiantly a treat.  I had never had a professional massage before that day, Jaron on the other hand had had a few and he loves them.  All I have to say about the massage is I would love to get another one soon.

        We had been walking around Cabo for a long time at this point and we decided we should head back to the boat.  We only had forty-five minutes until the last boat would take us to the ship. We figured it would be better to leave earlier then risk being stuck on land and we were getting hungry.  On our way back to the boats we came a cross this lady with a Mexican Iguana.  The next thing I know is the iguana is in Jarons hand.  This lady was crazy.  Then Jaron puts the nasty thing on me.  I did not like it! It was dirty and rough and not something I would sign up to do again!

      Our second day in Cabo we spent it on the cruise ship.  We were only allowed to be off the boat until about one in the afternoon and we decided that we would rather enjoy a day by the pool then have to rush around Cabo and be back on the boat quickly. So that is what we did, we layed out by the pool, ate more ice cream, unlimited soda for Jaron and just enjoyed the warm sun along with the beautiful view. 

      After leaving cabo it was time to get ready. We had a formal night the night we started to head back to port.  Formal nights were so fun.  Everyone got dolled up and it was crazy to see people not in swim suits.  

      Saturday was our last full day on the cruise ship.  Most of it was spent inside and going to shows and movies.  The weather was not that great.  The ship was going really fast and we were coming up towards the United States, it was time to say goodbye to the hot Mexican sun.  Even though it was cold and raining we still had a blast.  Due to the fact that it was cold and we didn’t want to be outside we got our virgin drinks.  Jaron was wating all week to get his virgin Mojito.  However, when she told us what would be in the virgin version of a Mojito we decided it was not worth it.  I got a strawberry pina colada and jaron got a raspberry peach type drink.  They were both delicious.  It was a great way to splurge and spend our last day on the ship.

     Sunday morning we were back in Long Beach. The lines began and it was time for us to get off the boat and face reality.  I wish we could of stayed longer, it was amazing having no cares and no worries.  It was a great honeymoon. After a picture perfect wedding and reception we had the picture perfect honeymoon to top it off!