Our Massive Cruise

I hope all my siblings and spouses are reminiscing about how many times the word "MASSIVE" was heard on our cruise. Our cruise director was from England, so anytime he described anything big or great is was "massive." Really it was a massive ship and we had a massive time!
The 1st week in January my parents took all 5 children and spouses on a cruise to Mexico. We left out of Los Angeles on Sunday the 2nd. We had some waiting time at the the terminal as cars were getting returned and we checked in but it was so nice to just sit with my mom and my 2 sisters and my 2 sister-in-laws and just chat. It felt so weird for the 1st couple days to remember you have no little ones to chase and feed, but so relaxing. Once we finally got on board we were all starving so of course we ate. That was something our group excelled at was eating. I think it we would of had eating competitions with other tables we would be ranked high. Day 1 was mostly unpacking, exploring the boat and hanging out. We did go to dinner that night and a show. Both good and fun.

our room- we had a window with a view down to the promenade (it looked like a fancy outdoor shopping mall, bakery, ice-cream, alcohol, make-up- stores like that)

Day 2
Out at sea. The had a cool gym on the boat. The treadmills all lined floor to ceiling windows that faced the ocean. It was nice to run along side others since I usually run by myself downstairs. I remembered how I am a bit competitive when it comes to sports. I haven't competed against anyone in a long time, so I'll just say I whipped all the old guys on the treadmill. I did try to run most morning because of all the eating I planned to do. There were lots of hot tubs and pools to hang out in on the top of the ship. It was a bit chilly so we sat in the hot tub a lot. Brad and I did the rock wall and I was again a bit competitive with the girls in front of me. It was fun though. Brad was mostly interested in how the boat worked and the engines and all that boy stuff. He was the 1st up every morning checking stuff out. That is one thing I love most about brad- he is not lazy. It was hard for him to just relax and have nothing going on, but he TRIED for me. We went to dinner, ate a ton and went to another show. That night was a fancy dinner. I brought my normal church clothes and felt a little under dressed compared to some people in there prom dresses.

Mom and I had breakfast at the bakery together- I love my mom, she is someone i can sit and talk to for hours.


The front of the ship




Royal Promenade




Hanging out together



All dressed up for dinner






Day 3
1st stop, Cabo- oh how I loved how clean Cabo was. It was what I had pictured it to be. Clean and nice beaches. We got off the ship and walked around town shopping a little for the kids. The town was so cute and had lots of big rocks surrounding it. We finally hit the beach and relaxed. The water was clean and clear and the sand was white. We all hung out together eating (again) and playing in the water. We headed back to the ship by late afternoon and sat in the hot tub while the boat left Cabo. We of course ate a wonderful dinner and watched a not so entertaining show- so we left.

















Back on the Boat
My Brothers-Brent and Dan



Day 4
2nd stop, Mazatlan- dirty! This was not the prettiest stop, but when your with lots of fun people any place can be fun. We walked along the not so clean beaches and found a nice resort to hang out for the day. I enjoyed sitting by the pool and swimming. I even got some color.
Hanging out at the resort- getting a ride back to the ship was interesting. We felt like we were getting smuggled. Lots of Laughs!!!!









They had a really good ice show one night.



Day 5- 3rd Stop- Puerto Vallarta
So Brad and I , Aaron and Court, Dan and Jenni and Brent and Angela all decided to do a excursion at this stop. Brad and I were planning on going on the zip line tours but decided to stay with the rest of the group. I think we will always remember that day, we made really good and funny memories. At the time none of us were laughing. We did an excursion which we were supposed to go snorkeling at this famous spot, then hike to a waterfall, then have time at a private beach to relax and eat dinner. We signed up to go and got on the cadamaran. The 1st sign of trouble was the lack of English spoken. The guys in charge of the tour spoke no english except one who spoke broken english. We told him we needed to be back to our boat by 5:30pm, so we didn't get left in Peurta vallarta. He assured us," we be Back, we be back" YEA RIGHT! 2nd it turned out to be a really slow ride to every stop, which made everyone a little naseous, plus the wonderful mexican rap was blaring the whole time. When we finally got to the snorkeling place, they didn't have enough gear for everyone (gear in the looses of terms- they had googles and a mouth peice), so they wanted everyone to take shifts. Of course our little group was on the 2nd shift. So someone got out of the water took the snorkeling stuff out of there mouth and then they handed it to me. GROSS, there was no way I was putting that in my mouth. Luckily I had some googles packed so Brad I jumped in. By the way the sun was behing the clouds so It wasn't very warm but I was determined for Brad to go and see fish. Well we had a total of 5 minute to look, saw nothing and had to get back on the boat. I was cold and a little frustarted by this point. The hike was very pretty and I did enjoy that. We stayed for maybe 30min at the beach and ate an ok dinner. The sun is starting to set and we are realizing how far we from the cruise ship. We all start panicking. We are hounding the guys in charge to get us back. I swear they went even slower on the way back. Everyone was drunk besides us so we ere more than ready to get off and get out of Mexico. Luckily because there was so many of us, the one guy who spoke broken english finally called for a water taxi to come get us and take us back to the boat. If he hadn't of done that we would not of made it back. Lots of prayers were said, and they were answered. I will say that we did see lots of dolphins that day and I loved spending the day with my brothers and sister and there spouses. They are all such fun people.
















Day 6 and 7
Were spent on the ship. I wish the weather had been nicer but we still had fun eating, playing games, soaking in the hot tub, listening to karoke (which Aaron did a fine job at)and just being together. We did have another formal dinner. We had the best waiters. We had a wonderful time and are so glad everyone was able to come. A big thanks to Grama and Grampa Nielson for watching the kids. We love you!
( I have a few more pictures to post with this, but they are taking forever to upload.)