Carnival Ecstasy

Last Monday we took off for the cruise.  Today I will report that I am below average.  On the cruise, we were told the average cruiser gains a pound and a half PER DAY on a cruise.  This time, I only gained a pound.  LOL!  So, yeah, below average.

I left for the cruise last Monday at 265.5 and weighed in Saturday morning at 270.5.  Terrible numbers all around, but those are the facts.

This morning, my official Monday weight is 268, so I'm back on the right track.  Hopefully, I can stay on track for awhile.

The cruise was magnificent.  Mark and I agreed that it might be one of our all time favorites.  We went on the Carnival Imagination last October with Rudy and Georganne.  This ship is the same class and has the same layout.  We like the smaller size of the ship.  Also we took a porthole cabin up in the bow because it was cheap and available.  We LOVED it.  It was probably lovely because the sea was as smooth as glass the entire time.  This was one of the calmest sailings we ever had.  There's a big risk in booking something in September, the height of hurricane season, but we got lucky.

It was just a quick four nights to Key West and Cozumel, but we still found a lot of fun things to do in those ports and on board.  Here are some pictures from the cruise.

I thought the fake palm trees on the Lido deck looked nice!

This says it all.

At the Sail Away party we toasted to Rudy and to Georganne's memory.  Our cruise on the Imagination was with them.

Once we pass Miami Beach, it's time to go get dressed for the first night's dinner.

Our room, up in the bow on the starboard side.

Our first shore excursion is on Key West.

We liked our little portholes!

Karl was our guide for our walking tour of Key West, haunted house stories.

This house was owned by a man named Robert with a doll named Eugene.  Little by little, he convinced everyone that he was Eugene and the doll was Robert.  Robert stayed up in the turret and haunted the house.  Now he's in a glass case in a museum.  The movie Chuckie was based on this.

The Hard Rock Cafe was originally owned by a very wealthy family whose son squandered the fortune and then killed himself in the upper rooms.  He is haunting the house to this day.

Mark is standing by the "Hanging Tree" in the original Sloppy Joe's.

We visited Andrea, Ron K's sister, in her new shop.

Me and the ship in Key West.

Mark with one of the cool op-art pieces by every elevator.

Formal night!

On the way to Cozumel we played on the upper decks.

Heading up to walk around the deck.

Mini golf.  Mark beat me by one stroke.  Usually Georganne would win.

Pumping iron in the gym before exiting the ship for our shore excursion.

This was a lot of fun.  If you ever go to Cozumel, I highly recommend it. 

Karla was our dancing chef.

Mark made this margarita all by himself.

I drank FIVE margaritas, and we made five kinds of salsa.  All delicious!

We made a donation to Lela the pig.  This month it was going to an orphanage in Cozumel.

After salsa, margaritas, and dancing, we went to Pancho's Backyard and drank more tequila!

On our sea day, we always donate to St. Jude.  This time we bought the bear to give to Rudy to give to his grandchildren.

Our sea day was Sept. 11, so they hung a big flag in the atrium.