January Cruise 2013

For Justin and my Christmas present to ourselves we decided to go on a cruise.  Originally we weren't even planning on getting each other anything, but Justin was obsessed with getting in one last vacation before our third addition arrives.  We found a great deal on a 5 night cruise out of New Orleans at the last minute and decided to book it.  Justin's parents agreed to watch the kids while we were away.  Although it was great to get away and a lot of fun, I am not a fan of a January cruise.  It was way to cold!  New Orleans was freezing as well as on the boat.  It only got warm the two days we were in Mexico.  So I was not a fan of that.  On a tropical cruise vacation I want to be hot!  Also I do prefer week long cruises vs. only the 5 nights.  You can tell a difference in the food quality as well as the nicer boats are reserved for the longer cruises.  We went down the night before the boat left and stayed at a really nice hotel that one of Justin's friends was able to get us at a great rate.  It was at the Hyatt convention center literally right across from the cruise port!  It also had the best free breakfast I have ever had.  Delicious!  We were also walking distance to Bourbon street and the French quarters so we went exploring that night.  Neither of us had ever been and I can say that neither of us were impressed AT ALL!  It was one of the dirtiest places I have ever been.  I don't mean dirty like litter, but just dirty bars, sex clubs everywhere, and basically just tons of people that make you uncomfortable.  We had to dart into Harrah's casino to escape these two crazy homeless people that were begging us for money.  Below are a few pics of the trip.

Bourbon street.  Hard to really see much from the picture, but it was gross.  Just bars and sex clubs every other place.

The next morning in front of the Mississippi River.  We did try some of the famous Beignets at Café du Monde and they were delicious!

Mississippi River again

 

During our stop at Progresso, Yucatan Mexico, we took a tour of the Uxmal Mayan Ruins.  We were going to do Chichin-Itza, but decided against it because apparently it has become so touristy and you are not allowed to climb anything anymore.  At Uxmal we were allowed to climb absolutely anything we wanted except for the main pyramid.  But some of the secondary pyramids were VERY high.  After climbing them, I don't think I would have wanted to attempt the main one!

 Climbing up the secondary pyramid.  Very steep and no handrails! haha!

 About to board our boat in Cozumel.  All we did in Cozumel was walk around the town and make our phone calls back home to the kids who were both doing good.  Kaitlyn would get sad at night, but they were very well entertained while we were gone!  They got to do all kinds of fun stuff.  We also loved Cozumel b/c they have drug stores at like every corner where you can just buy whatever medicine you want!  No prescriptions! haha!  So we bought some antibiotics and extra strong Ibuprofen you can't buy in the states just to have if we need it.

 

Overall it was a fun trip.  Except unfortunately we got sick on our last day.  And I am still sick 3 weeks later!  Ugh.  I am ready for this baby to be born so I can start taking some stronger medicines again as well as cold/flu season to be over in general.  This has definitely been the worst ever!  But it was very nice to have one last getaway since it will probably be the last one alone for a while since it will be a lot more difficult to leave 3 kids!