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Time to start gearing up to cruise again! It's been a busy 7 months since my solo adventure on Voyager. Lots of scouting moving from Cub's to Troop with many plans coming down the pipe line. We actually don't have a cruise scheduled after this one which is the first time that has happened since 2017! This will also be our last cruise with a child 12 and under and our first cruise Diamond.  If things work out I may squeeze in a western Caribbean towards the end of next summer (before he hits 13) but for now it looks like my next time afloat will be a 24 ft catamaran off Great Abaco in 2026! 

That being the case a Holiday afloat for the family is in order. 

For this 5 day sailing out of Galveston departing Nov 25th we are booked in a Jr Suite just forward of the hump. It is a standard Itinerary from this port. Costa Maya and Cozumel are our ports of call.

Sunday Nov 24

Drive to Galveston in the afternoon. Obviously we will be making an obligatory stop at Bucky’s on the way. I think I might get a corner of my “Texan Card” clipped if I skipped this! We try to get through Houston in the afternoon but Sunday traffic is better than weekday madness down there. Check in at our hotel on the island and Supper at Salsa’s is a tradition for us.

Monday Nov 25

We normally have breakfast at the hotel since it is right there and free, however I may try and talk Herself into going to Café Canela. Pancakes are on the menu so the boy will go for it I am sure. This is where I ate in February and the food was fantastic. Absolutely worth a return trip.  Then make sure of all our bags, check out and head for Terminal 10.  I managed to snag covered parking right across from the terminal this time. We use Discount Cruise Parking and ride their shuttle many times but this spot looks pretty sweet. Speaking of Suites, A Jr doesn’t get all the perks but the Suite lounge at the terminal is one of them we do. So check our bags, through security and up the escalator we go. I don’t think we have any set plans for boarding day but I know boy will want to check out the teen area. HE is excited that he isn’t consigned to the kids in Adventure ocean. He loved his time there but has out grown it.

Tuesday Nov 26

Time for my favorite thing about cruising.. _doing nothing_ Yup time to embrace my inner vegetable. Hang out on the rail and mindlessly watch the flying fish. Watch the clouds, cook in a hot tub, Take a nap with the DW. (maybe even sleep) Good chance of Izumi for supper but nothing decided.

Wednesday Nov 27

Costa Maya. The Boy actually picked our excursion here. We are going to take the time to see the Chacchoben Ruins. I was sonly to happy to acquiesce to his choice as I am a bit of a history nut. We are booked on the Exclusive Drive tour so not quite so sardine canned into the tour bus this time.

Thursday Nov 28

Thanksgiving in Cozumel! We are going to take the Twister boat to Isla de la Passion. Something frivolous and fun after a cultural day ashore. The DW loves the beach and the boy will be trying out his snorkeling gear to start getting ready for his Scouting adventure in the Bahamas. Beach food with pygmy racoons for our Thanksgiving Feast!  

Friday Nov 29

Back to my favorite cruising activity. Relax on the balcony and watch the sea ignore us as we drift by. Sure we will have to set aside an hour or so to pack up but sea days are awesome no matter what.

Sat Nov 30

Back to the chill reality of an incoming Texas winter. Hit the road back home to Arlington with another stop to see the Beaver en-route.

 

I am sure things will shift and change as we get closer. Right now it is still 52 days away. Until then we have new cruise shirts to pack, ducks to label and door magnets to assemble. I know once we get through October Herself will go full steam into packing and planning decorations.

Getting close enough though I can almost taste my blueberry nojito!

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Well it's starting to get down to actually planning what to pack! I did online check in Friday, and keep checking on my Royal Up Bids to see if the drunk monkeys have thrown a dart and landed it on my name. This is the earliest I have seen RUB's open up. it was a full 15 days _before_ online check in! We are already in a Jr suite but we have never done a true suite so we threw out some bids and we will see what happens. 

Looking at things I need to do.

Shirts - we are doing Hawaiian print shirts. Some are already here a few more we are still waiting on to come in the mail. 

Ducks - have ducks, need to print tags, tie on the quackers and fix magnets to some of them to facilitate the fun.

Magnets - the Face Book group for this cruise is doing a door magnet exchange, got to replace the belts on my cnc laser and get cutting! 

Gifts - The wife joined in on a gift exchange on the group.. I am sure I will be part of whatever she has in mind. 

All this along with projects at work and a plethora of scouting functions to hit.. oh and also Halloween.. I have Dementors that I built in my front yard this year! 

may have to go buy the stuff and make a blueberry nojito. Not sure I can wait! 

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DH and I will be boarding Mariner the day you disembark. Checked in last night and still waiting for our suite gty to be assigned. There are lots of open cabins including suites still on our sailings, maybe we will be assigned a GS or OS, perhaps our measly $100 RU bid will pan out, or maybe we'll just be happy with our double points in a JS - that will get us to D+.

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The drunk monkeys hit our square with a dart! We have been upgraded to a Grand Suite! Our bid was a little above the min required but not a whole lot. It was still showing as "weak" on their little graphic bid strength display. I did call RC a few weeks ago and see what upgrading our JS to a Grand would cost just changing the reservation. The price hike was enough that I stayed put and took my chances with a RUB. In the end this upgrade lands us a little less than 1/3 of what a rebook would have been. This time the gamble paid off. 

So this will be our first time in a proper suite! The DW is happy, and I will see what we can do to make the most of our upgrade. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

30 Days 'till departure! 

Got my tags all ducked tonight! I might have gone a touch over, but hey a little overkill never hurt any one! The Boy is ready to defend his self granted title of "Cruise Duck Hunter International". We will see how well he does once he gets on board and plants himself in the teen room. 

I think I got my CNC laser working right I will find out tomorrow morning when I click start on a batch of door magnets. Our Hawaiian shirts are all in now so me the DW and the boy can be annoyingly matchie matchie all week. 

Turns out one of the other Scout Leaders I am working with for our Councils NYLT course will be on board this cruise as well. A pretty cool thing to have a friend on board without even planning it. Almost time to start packing the suitcases in earnest. I might need to dig up that rabbits foot out of the Halloween graveyard for a bit of luck. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

18 Days till Departure! Wow that's crazy. I have so much going on I am way behind in packing. I got my Door Magnets cut on the laser so I will be able to do the exchange, also making some trivets for the DW as she is taking part in a gift exchange. All of our cruise shirts are in and ready to be packed. just need to pull out the suit cases and start filling them! I even have our tags already printed for the bags that have yet to be packed!

The DS has a new snorkel mask to try out in Cozumel, he is really looking forward to this one. He plans to be stuffed on pizza and/or cookies at all hours. 

Oh well it will all work out. I have A Scout camp out this weekend and another Scouting activity on the 16th. might come down to the wire on this one but we will make it and be on our balcony, cold drinks in hand, watching the waves in no time! 

 

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The magnets are an awesome idea! I'll add it to the "Pros" list for my pro/con on buying a laser. 😅

I think I'll have to start checking Facebook for groups on future sailings, the exchanges are really neat ideas.

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