Our AMAZING Cruise!!

Well, we're back and we had an AMAZING time on our cruise. We ate LOTS of yummy food and we each gained 10 pounds, but it was SOOO worth it! :)

Here Sam and I are on our boat in Long Beach waiting to start sailing on Monday.

Here's a pic of our boat. Sam went down the slide numerous times and I noticed that he was the oldest one going down the slide. I think the average age was like 10. Too funny!

Our boat was docked right next to the Queen Mary.

Our ship set sail at about 5PM. That night Sam and I went to the top deck and took some pics of the moon. It was so beautiful!

When Sam and I came back to our cabin, I noticed our first towel friend. . . I called him Elly the Elephant. He was SOOO adorable I had to get a pic with him!

When Sam and I woke up the next morning (on Tuesday) this was the view out of our window! So serene!

That morning, our ship docked in Catalina Island. Catalina's coast is too shallow and so the boat couldn't dock right on Catalina island. So, we had to take a smaller boat to take us to Catalina.

On our boat ride to Catalina, Sam and I noticed a pod of dolphins. I squealed like a little girl and I KNEW it was going to be a good day! :). This is a pic of our cruise liner as we're riding our little boat to Catalina.

Neither of us had ever been to Catalina and we just fell in love. It has such a quaint feel to it and we loved how everyone rode golf carts all over the place.

Once we got to Catalina, we did a bus tour around the island. It was interesting to be able to see at least a small portion of the island. Here's another pic of our cruise liner in the distance.

That afternoon, Sam and I decided to go on a semi-submersible boat ride. We actually sat underneath the water in our cool submarine and we were driven around a portion of the coast of Catalina.

On our submarine ride, we were able to see a jellyfish and TONS of schools of fish. I was a little disappointed because I really wanted to see a shark, but seeing the fish was pretty fun. We were also able to feed the fish from our food torpedoes!!

Sam is having ice cream envy right now! Hahah! This is along the boardwalk of Avalon.

Before we headed back to the boat, we sat along the beach and just enjoyed the scenery. It was so relaxing!

That evening was our formal dinner. It was neat to see everyone dressed up in their formal wear. Sam was excited to eat lobster. We had so much silverware in front of us that we had to ask people which silverware to touch first. We had a good time and the people that sat with us at our table were pretty awesome.

When we returned to our cabin that evening, I was SOOO excited to see that our room service used my sunglasses to make our second towel friend. . . Mr. Rabbit!!

On Wednesday, our boat arrived in Ensenada, Mexico. Sam and I weren't actually planning on getting off the boat in Ensenada because of all the violence that's been going on in Mexico, but we decided that a guided tour through Carnival would be pretty safe. So we did get off the boat to go and see La Bufadora (the Blowhole).

Our guided tour took us on a bus ride about 45 minutes south of Ensenada to La Bufadora. I was amazed at how beautiful the topography was!

Another view of the ocean.

Us in front of La Bufadora

La Bufadora is this blowhole that unexpectedly shoots water into the air up to 100-150 feet.

Sam took this video of La Bufadora. Sam's cackle at the end is hilarious!

Sam acting unimpressed as I give him a smooch on our bus ride back to our cruise liner. What an actor! :)

That evening, after dinner and a hilarious comedian show, we snuck up to the top deck to see Ensenada at night. As soon as we got to the top deck, we noticed that our boat started to sail. It was so romantic to be up there in the moonlight enjoying the city lights as well as the ocean waves!

When we got back our cabin, I was happy to see our third towel friend. . . Mrs. Bear and her baby. Too cute! :)

Thursday was an at sea day. The boat sailed back to Catalina Island and it just wandered around the island while everyone just hung out on the boat for the day. Sam and I (as well as 95% of the rest of the people on our boat) decided to head to the pool. The pool was VERY cold, so we went to a deck and decided to sunbathe and read. Sam didn't want to get sunburned, so he made this tent around him while he read. So inventive!

That evening, Sam and I found our 4th towel friend. . . a heart. We had told Carnival that we were celebrating our 5th anniversary on Thursday, so they celebrated with us by making this towel friend. We arrived in Long Beach the next morning (Friday) and then we headed home. Sam and I had a GREAT time on the cruise! We were worried about being seasick on the boat and everyone told us that the ship was so big that we wouldn't feel the rocking of the boat, but that wasn't true at all! I think our boat hit some storms and so the ship was definitely rocking, especially Thursday. We still had fun and I'm hoping to go on another cruise soon! :)