BELLERIVE NEWS: Our Cruise!

To sum it up - I want a RE-DO! All in all, it was a wonderful trip and one we will never soon
forget. I am very grateful and thankful all 15 of us were healthy with some sniffles and sore throats here and there but nothing "major" to speak of and I call that a WIN!

The 12 hour drive to Texas could not have gone smoother (and even the one back)! The girls were wonderful and the trip went really quick. We got to Galveston about 6pm on Saturday night, found a local seafood restaurant and had a bite to eat.

Our first ever Old Time Photos :)

Sunday we ventured down Seawall Boulevard only to learn we should have been on the Harbor Side (downtown) all along - where all the great local shops are. The weather was cool so it wasn't practical to hang/swim on the beach. There was a small group of us that had a great time at the Pier amusement park, but my girls needed their nap so we unfortunately had to skip that adventure.

Emily Jo FINALLY spies our Ship at the terminal!

The real story began when we received an "URGENT NOTICE" from Carnival regarding our ship having some engine troubles (only effecting the cruising SPEED)! To sum up our 5 days on Carnival Triumph: we were late leaving, we were late arriving, and we only went to Progreso for a 36 hour port stay and no stop in Cozumel! Turns out the reason they chose to go to Progreso over Cozumel was for some "very important tools" which also delayed us leaving Progreso by FOUR HOURS - after making us all get on the ship at 4pm; we waited until well after 8pm for these "tools". So, this cruise is now to be referred to as one long ass trip to Progreso for some tools. Oh hum.

After THREE HOURS in line - we are finally boarding the ship!

The other real bummer of the trip was we only had ONE sunny day the entire trip! Urg! All the experienced cruisers tried reassuring us "its not normally like this". Seph and I are suspect and it became pretty comical just how OFF they were on arrival and departure times and really the entire cruise schedule of activities, shows etc. It wasn't the staff's fault as they seemed to be just as confused as the customers.

Great Picture of Nan and Pepere with their grandchildren on formal night

Emily Jo learned to love camp carnival; although was contained to a room because of her age group. The other older groups got to go on scavenger hunts, swimming, etc. So...I wouldn't go again with kids of napping age as it does put a damper on "schedules" and anyone who knows my girls - they need their SLEEP! We DID create some priceless wonderful family memories and at the end of the day that is what is all about! So very thankful it was just itineraries that were messed up :)