I am finally getting to posting about our cruise. Yeah! I will just post a few pictures at the end and try to keep this brief. If you want more details you know where to find me!
First, I will say I loved it. It was really fun. It was fun hanging out with most of the adults in my family and just having a good time together. The weather couldn't have been more perfect, honestly. We dropped off Max at Jason's parents house and headed home to pack. Sunday, Elena and Kevin came to pick is up in their Excursion and we went and picked up Jeff and Kami and off we set. We stayed in a city just on the edge of the border of California in Nevada, called Primm. We stayed at an exotic hotel called Whiskey Petes. Only the best for us :) Didn't much matter as we got up early and headed off to San Diego. We arrived without incident, which we were all glad for. We arrived to the pier and parked our cars and waited for the shuttle to take us to the boat. Apparently they were short staffed, cause we had to wait for 45 minutes to get taken from the parking garage to the cruise ship, but it was no big deal. We all enjoyed just letting the sun warm us up from leaving cold Utah! We all got our cruise ship cards and loaded the ship. Our rooms were on the lowest level (the Riviera deck) so we were able to find our rooms pretty easily. Jason and I weren't sure what to expect of the room and had heard it was going to be tiny. We were pleasantly surprised to find that it really was pretty good sized considering we were on a cruise ship. It was fun to have a window in our room so we could watch outside. That first night we had our first experience with the fancy dining. We got assigned tables to sit at and we sat there all 5 days for dinner and had the same waiter. Since we were traveling with 16 people we each were assigned to two tables of 8. The food was fun. I tried and ate quite a few things that I just dont eat at home. My brother in law even had me try escargo, which wasnt half bad. The food was always presented really beautifully and tasted great. I couldn't find any good pasta, but that was ok. Thats why I have the Olive Garden. :) We got a good relationship with our waiter, he was a really cool guy.
Carnival is totally committed to fun. That's all they talk about! We went and watched quite a few shows and were in the audience for Family Feud, Newlywed Game, a hypnotist and a comedian. They were all really entertaining and funny. Most of them were a riot. :) On the ship we played some Miniature Golf, which was fun with the boat moving, and enjoyed sitting and watching the ship sail. I got a little sick the first day, but I wasn't sure if that was from exhaustion or what. Jason and I were fine the whole time. Whew! We played some games and ate lots of food. A good time was had by all. We got a coupon for a spa thing and I made an appointment and did it. I got a back massage and a facial. It was nice to relax. It was also really fun to come back every night and see what towel animal they had left for us. They were all really cute. I didn't do a great job of taking pictures, but I've got it all in my memory :)
The two ports that we stopped at were Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada. We went to Cabo first and we did an excursion called Cabo by land and sea. It was pretty fun. Cabo was absolutely gorgeous. We first took a catamaran out into the port and sailed around the famous "El Arco" which was cool. We were on the water for about 40 mins. Then we boarded a big bus that took us to a glass blowing factory. They are amazing artists. It was really cool to watch it. Then we drove for quite a while to a small city that had a church and some interesting history. Our tour guide was a bit of a talker which got a little obnoxious on the way back to the port. We also drove by a cactus museum place which was pretty cool. Overall it was pretty cool. The glass blowing factory was the cool part and the tour ended up taking a lot longer then we expected. The ship was unable to get into the port so we had to take boats to and from the cruise ship. We had to wait in a pretty long line to get back on the cruise ship but it was a fun day.
Two days later we went to Ensenada and we ended up doing one of my favorite things on the whole trip. I had heard from most people that Ensenada wasn't that great but I really liked it. We did an excursion called the Taste of Mexico. We took a bus to a restaurant called Mango Mango. While there they gave us all a cutting board and a bowl with avocados, tomatoes, onions, cilantro and lime. We had a chef who walked us through how to make "Mexican salsa." It was seriously a ton of fun. The salsa was delicious and I had a yummy mango colada. Man I love those Coladas! Then they showed us how to make a smothered burrito and a tostada. It was really good and the chef guy was really funny. After it was over we got a certificate saying we know how to make Mexican food. I don't know that I would go that far but we did have fun!
After the cruise we drove up to Oceanside and saw the ocean and beach which was cool. Then we drove home. The cruise was really fun and we are sad its over. Now we just have to plan our next trip :)
Also, Happy Birthday Jason. I love you! 
