All About the Cruise!

We had a blast on the cruise. Three of us ladies went from our church to celebrate one of them having a "milestone" (40) birthday.

We left on a Monday at 4 PM out of Galveston, TX. We were on the Carnival Cruise ship "Ecstasy." I couldn't stop squealing from excitement. This was my first cruise. We got to our stateroom and found our luggage waiting on us. The room was bigger than I had expected, actually, though "large" as an adjective would be a lie. We grabbed out life jackets out of the closets, reported to our muster station, and had a trial run on what to do if the order "abandon ship!" came on the overhead. This was the equivalent of how to buckle the seat belts and how to breathe oxygen from the yellow masks on an airplane. We learned how to put on our life vests and where to go to get in a life boat. These life boats were no pirogues. They were huge, covered watercraft that would seat over 100 people each!

After the training, we were free to explore the ship until our seating for supper at 6 PM. We got a free neck massage w/ hot rocks outside of the spa (trying to lure us into paying $129-199 for a massage!) then explored some of the shops on board. Forgot your Estee Lauder mascara? They had it. Wanted a new Clinique lipstick? Step right up! Plus jewelry, liquor, electronics (who buys a TV on a cruise ship?) and casual clothing. By then it was suppertime, so we were shown to our table. As it turns out, the 3 of us were at a table for 6, and our 3 tablemates never showed up. It was nice to have the room and the privacy. We never did find out if they were even on board, or if they just ate at one of the casual buffets or self-serve restaurants. We didn't care. By the 2nd night, our 2 waiters remembered and knew what kind of dinner roll each of us liked (sourdough, whole grain, baguette) and what we liked to drink with our meal (water, lemonade, iced tea). By the 3rd night, they knew which of us wanted a 2nd roll (not me!) and who needed more lemons for their tea refills. We were treated well.

The next day was Tuesday, and a full day at sea, crossing the Gulf of Mexico into the Caribbean. You knew when you hit the Caribbean because the water turned from an ugly old brown (thank you, muddy Mississippi river) to a deep bright blue (thank you, limestone on the ocean floor). The whole day was pretty much taken up with eating, napping, and exploring. There were all sorts of on-board activities planned, and you were notified of what was going on (and where and when) by a daily notice slipped under your door during the night. We'd spend time while getting dressed discussing what we wanted to do. I won a trivia contest (got 15 out of 20 random questions correct). I had been telling my two com padres I would win, and I did! I got a genuine trophy with a cruise ship on top for my efforts. I was especially proud because I beat out a table of cheaters who were comparing and sharing answers.

We also hit the casino the first day. I had heard that on cruise ships, you practically can't lose the first day. They do that to get you hooked, but by the end of the cruise, you can't win. So I told the girls I wanted to take $20 and go to the casino. I fed quarters in the slot machine (big spender here) out of my right pocket, and put my winnings into my left pocket. When my right pocket was empty, I quit. I walked out with $33 in my left pocket! So I'd had an hour's worth of entertainment and they paid me $13 to do it. Not too bad.

The next day, Wednesday, we awoke to weird engine sounds and realized we were docking in Progreso, Yucatan. The engines were kind of jettisoning, I guess, blowing all different directions to smoothly dock. We ate breakfast, sitting by the window to get a view of the exquisite blue waters. Progreso has only recently gotten on the cruise ship docking circuit, which was quite a financial boon to them, I'm sure. Apparently after one of the hurricanes, the town rebuilt with tourists in mind and the Mexican government constructed a deep-water dock for them. We walked through their outdoor market for a bit, but I was anxious to get out of the tourist area and explore. We walked about 3-4 blocks away from the beach, and discovered a grocery store. I suggested we explore it. The two with me weren't too sure what kind of exploration we'd do in a grocery store, but were soon rewarded for their gullibility. We saw "washing machines" that were hand-operated (turn this handle back and forth to agitate the clothes, pull this one to spin dry) for what we calculated was about $25 US. We saw clothes with pirated (fake) Disney and name brand motifs on them. We saw their egg display, which did not include refrigeration, just sitting out at room temp. I remember learning in college that this is actually safe if the shells are intact, and that eggs are not refrigerated in Europe, but sold on the shelf next to the flour and sugar. But it was still odd to see. We watched the employees in the deli slicing meats wearing gloves, hats, and even surgical masks, impressed at the measures taken for food safety. Then turned around and saw a display of breads, baked goods, and sweets laid bare, totally uncovered, no tissues with which to select your snack. One sneeze and half of Progreso would come down with a cold. We had fun looking at their bakery goods (they love fluorescent pink icing, apparently) and got a chuckle from their Spanish version of Activia yogurt... had a man and a woman pictured on the label smiling serenely with their hands on their stomachs. The grocery carts were not push buggies that held a lot. They were baskets with pull-up handles, similar to carry-on luggage, and not much larger. They might hold 2 grocery bags' worth of food and that's it. The scents of their detergent and fabric softeners were very strong and very sweet, compared to US scents, and packaged in very small containers compared to ours. We found strawberry Oreos, and I bought a stack to bring home, since we don't have strawberry Oreos in the US. The total came to 37 cents US, but I gave them a US dollar and said keep the change. The cashier had no idea what I said, so she handed me my change: a Canadian penny and two pesos. It struck me as funny that in Mexico, they probably wondered why a woman (QE2) was on a coin and not some grumpy-looking man or snakes (what is usually on Mexican coins). There are 12 pesos to the US dollar. I used one of the pesos to play a sidewalk slot machine (I lost) and kept the other one to show my kids. It's a nice little two-tone coin. My kids thought it was funny that I went to Mexico and came home with Canadian money.

After the grocery store, our attentino was drawn to a beautiful green and white building. It was some kind of open-air governmental building, but we never coudl decipher what kind. We explored it, climbing twisting corkscrew staircases to get to the very top of the bell and clock tower. We got some nice pictures of Progreso from up there, with our cruise ship docked in the distance. (Once I get the pics downloaded, I'll post them.) We had enough Spanish between the 3 of us to talk to some school children in a classroom, studying math. They seemed thrilled to see US tourists at their open-air window. There was no teacher in the room at that moment, so no, we were not disturbing any lessons. I asked "Habla Anglais?" (speak English?) and they all nodded yes eagerly. I asked what their name was in English, and got blank stares. So then I said "Que su nombre?" which is a poor grammar way to ask "What's your name?" I heard from Margarita, Maria, Jose, and Manuel. They might have been first or second graders.

We walked on, taking in the shops there for Progreso residents. A taqueria was putting out some seriously delicious-smelling food, but after I'd scared my friends with hepatitis risks from the baked goods being out in the open at the grocery store, they weren't at all willing to venture forth to the taqueria. Alas, I did without. We saw tire retread shops, pharmacies, bars open at 9 AM with patrons inside, and even a group of dogs, just roaming town together. One was big and pregnant. It kind of made me sad to see that, but the other dogs kind of seemed to surround her and protect her. I guess once she gave birth, they wanted to be first in line to knock her up again. A resident called out to the dogs and they went running. It tickled me to think even the dogs spoke Spanish!


Next installment: Cozumel!