Happy Birthday Stuart!

This past weekend, as a birthday surprise to Stuart, we were off to the high seas for our first cruise. Since I packed for both of us, he had no idea where we were going.

OK, that's not entirely the truth. You see, Stuart is a slick one, and he paid very close attention to the few clues that I had to give, and was able to successfully guess the destination. He wrote it on a piece of paper the night before, and handed me that paper on the flight to Tampa. He guessed a different ship, but the correct cruise line and destination.

Yep. Foiled again. One day my friend, one day- I WILL pull off a successful surprise. Mark my words.

So, anyway, we traveled to Tampa (one of my favorite cities ever, by the way!) to meet our cruise ship, the Carnival Inspiration. Pulling out of the Port of Tampa, we passed the Westin, where we stayed on our spring vacation this past March.

The water slide on the top deck of the ship.

Excuse my ship terminology. The mast??

A cool bridge shot leaving Tampa. Still trying to figure out what this is. Anyone?

Edited: This is the Sunshine Skyway. Sorry. The BOB GRAHAM Sunshine Skyway Bridge. It spans the entire Tampa Bay.

Every night, the stateroom steward left awesome towel animals. Look for these at Casa de Stuart & Michele on your next visit.

The cruise included 2 Sea Days, and sandwiched in the middle was a port day in Cozumel, Mexico. In Cozumel, we participated in a great excursion- Dolphin Push, Pull and Swim. We traveled to Chankanaab Park where we suited up and stood on a platform in the water and met our dolphin, Ix-Chel. My dolphin sister, I suppose. Anyway, we first had the chance to kiss her, and got a great picture of her planting a kiss on our cheeks. Stuart claimed that she had fish breath. Then we got to hug her. After that, we got on a boogie board, and she pushed us along by her nose on our feet. And finally, she swam by and we grabbed her flipper while she swam on her back. Her strength was incredible, and it was such an experience to ride with her! We spent a little time walking around the park before we caught a cab back to the port. We then went to downtown Cozumel for some shopping. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate much, and we had to return to the ship in the pouring rain.

The beach at Chankanaab Park

The dolphin enclosures. We stood on a platform against the pier.

Our ship from Puerta Maya pier

For some reason, they tasted much better in Mexico

Our Sea Days were full of great weather and food. There were several buffets that we visited throughout the day. Our dining room experience was probably one of the highlights of the trip for several reasons. First, the food was amazing. Also, we had a great pair of waiters who made us laugh and made sure that we were happy and well-fed. Many people complain about cruise dinner seating, but we took no issue with it. One couple was from Alabama, and completely wonderful. Another couple was from Atlanta, and also alot of fun. But perhaps the most interesting (and by "interesting", I actually mean "dumb") was another couple from Atlanta. They kept us all laughing....at them. They were the source of such comments as "James, this is some good s***!!" (spoken LOUDLY on formal night). Sigh.



Anyway, aside from some seasickness (Yes, I will claim that. And if anyone has any hints on aviding that for our next cruise, please feel free to throw out suggestions!), it was the perfect trip. I'm a little sad that I wasn't able to surprise Stuart, but I think he had a great time nonetheless.

We returned to find Ernie and Bert happy and well- taken-care-of. And FAT! Kitty Diets begin TONIGHT!


Next up: Hawaii in just a couple short weeks to celebrate our anniversary.