Lee Family Cruise

For Lowell and Judy's 40th anniversary, they wanted to take the family on a cruise. So Mom, Dad, Kathy, Jordan, Kristin, Amber, Matt and I headed to Galveston, TX where we took off on a 4-day cruise to Cozumel. Matt had never been on a cruise before, so he wasn't sure what to expect, but ended up having a lot of fun.

 Before we even left TX, we were all treated to a comedy show by George Lopez, then it was up to the top decks to enjoy the casting off. The ship was being escorted out of the bay by a Coast Guard boat that had a machine gun mounted on its bow. It was fun to watch other boats quickly get as far away as possible when they saw the Coast Guard boat! After casting off we all went to our rooms to relax since a lot of us had been up since 2am or 4am. We met back up for dinner at the Paris room where we ate every night. Our waiter, Romel, was really fun and memorized our names after the first night. The dining staff also treated us to singing and dancing throughout the cruise.

Friday was a day at sea. Matt and I got up early and went for a run on the track. Running on a cruise ship is a weird feeling, but we got our exercise in! After breakfast, we had a family mini-golf competition. Mom, Amber, Matt and me against Dad, Kristin, Kathy and Jordan. We did assess penalties - if you went off the course, it was a 1 stroke penalty; if your ball ended up in the ocean, it was a 10 stroke penalty (luckily no one lost their ball in the ocean). I'm happy to say that Mom's team won that round!
The rest of the day was spent laying out, going down the water slide, drinking margaritas, taking naps, reading books. After dinner, we went to the main show and were treated to some singing and dancing. Then we went over to the piano bar and Russell, the piano man, treated us to great sing-a-long songs.

Saturday was when we docked in Cozumel. Mom and Dad went on a tour of the Mayan ruins. Kristin, Kathy, Jordan, and Amber went to a beach for some more sun - and Jordan and Amber went snorkeling. Matt and I went on the Xrail to Jade Caverns excursion. It was basically a sand dune buggy type machine and you drove it through multiple mud puddles/small ponds to get to a cave where you swam around and then drove back through some mud. We had a blast! We had read reviews of the excursion beforehand, so were prepared with shirts we could just throw away afterward and secretly giggled at the people who wore nice clothes and went quite slowly through the mud so they didn't get dirty. If you're not muddy, what's the point??  :)  After everyone's excursions, we all randomly saw each other on the boat dock and had a group margarita (well, some drank margaritas while others shopped). Matt and I got some weird looks while in line to get back on the ship - we had even tried to rinse off, but were still pretty darn muddy. After we cleaned up, we met up with everyone for dinner. Mom and Dad then went to the main show, while the "kids" hung out in Kathy and Jordan's room. We all met up later in the piano bar for some singing and drinks.

Sunday was another day at sea. After breakfast, we had round 2 of the family mini-golf tournament. Dad's team won this time, so we ended the cruise tied with 1 win a piece. Of course, I claim we let him win for Father's Day, but I don't think he bought that. After golfing and lunch, we all did our separate thing for a while...laying out, napping, hitting up the pizza buffet, having a margarita.

Once we all had enough sun, we brought the bottle of champagne Kristin brought on board, found a quiet place, and had a rousing game of Up and Down the River...a Lee family traditional card game. We toasted to Father's Day and a really fun cruise! After dinner, we all went to the main show, which was a tribute to New Orleans. I definitely liked it better than the first show! Then, of course, we all went to the piano bar for one last night with Russell. By that time the waiter in the piano bar knew us. Matt, Dad, and I were the first ones there and the waiter looked at me and recited what we've all been drinking the past three nights!

Monday morning was a quick breakfast and then debarking the ship. Matt and I were the first ones of our group to go because we had the earliest flight. Overall, we had a great time!! It was a great way to celebrate Mom and Dad's 40th anniversary. Now if we can only convince them to do the same thing for their 41st...or 42nd? :)