After our long and amazing journey across the United States we were not able to travel much due to Alyssa starting teaching again at Orange County School of the Arts. We were thinking of making a trip up to Utah during Thanksgiving break but were forced to stay home when Alyssa signed us up to be at her 10 year high school reunion. The reunion was fun and enjoyable but we probably could have had more fun spending a little time in Utah. Alyssa was a little upset that some of her old high school friends didn’t show but there were still some that she hadn’t seen for a long time.
Christmas finally came around and if you never received our Christmas card it is posted below.
Our Christmas break was quite enjoyable with some moments of the casual illness flying through the air. We began the break by going on a Carnival Cruise on the ship Miracle, headed down to do the Mexican Riviera with the whole Caserio Clan. It was Alyssa and I, Alan and Tammy, Trenton, Trevor, Grandpa Fred and Grandma Marjorie, Brian Caserio, Julie, and son Spencer. It was a 7 day cruise with 2 days in Cabo San Lucas and 1 day in Puerto Vallarta. We also spent 4 days traveling on the seas. On the way down to Mexico we had quite a smooth ride there because the swells were small.
On the ship were limited activities. They had comedy shows, dance shows, Casino, basketball court, miniature golf, a few pools and hot tubs, workout rooms, lots of food, board games and a couple little shops. It definitely wasn’t as big and elegant as the Royal Caribbean Cruise line but it was still fun. The food was delicious, we ate 3 course meals every night on the ship and got to try a good variety of foods. Everyone’s favorite dessert was the Carnival Chocolate Lava Cakes. I think I ate at least one every single night while on the ship, even while I wasn’t feel 100%.
Once we made it to Cabo we took tenders to shore and enjoyed walking around and shopping a little bit. The highlight of the first day in Cabo was the Whale watching tour we did. We got to follow two humpback whales around for about an hour or so. It took us an hour of riding the rough seas to find them and then another 40 minutes to get back to the shore. Some of us didn’t enjoy the boat rocking as much as it did but thankfully Skylar brought some ginger chew candy to help calm our senses. Alyssa and I found out after a trip to Catalina that Ginger helps calm your stomach and your brain from becoming seasick. They helped us out throughout the entire cruise.
The second day in Cabo San Lucas we walked around the shore shopping for a brimmed hat to keep the sun off my face and then we tried to take a water taxi to Lovers Cove. Unfortunately the water taxis were no longer heading over to the cove due to large swells taking over the area so we just went back to the ship.
Puerto Vallarta was quite pleasant. We went to downtown and walked up and down the boardwalk where there were several large metal statues. We did a little more shopping and found Alyssa a new hat that matched mine but a little different styling. We had true Mexican Coke Cola and it was delicious. We ate some Mexican food as well while we were there and it was still very delicious, I’m just happy we didn’t get sick from the food. Their Walmart was quite difficult to explore because everything was in Spanish and Alyssa and I didn’t take any Spanish classes in High School nor College, I could navigate a little bit because of Portuguese but it was still quite different.
The days at sea to head back to Long Beach were fine until the last morning before we made it into port. The seas were rocking but the ship was doing well and I guess my body just got used to the swaying and I didn’t need any medicine or Ginger Chews. We did sleep a lot on the days we were sailing and only got up for food. The last morning the seas were very rough and the boat was rocking and swaying more than ever and I woke up too early so I wasn’t feeling good the rest of the day. Back at home it took us nearly three days to get over the rocking but just thinking about the cruise I am still rocking and it has been 2 weeks since we got back.
