One Year Anniversary - Cruise to Mexico!!!

The way we saw it, 365 days of marriage entitled us to a quick vacation. True to our recent vacation history we opted for a quick skip and a hop down to Mexico on a 3-day cruise stopping in Ensenada.

The Carnival Paradise departed LA on Friday the 11th and would ultimatly bring us back to reality early Monday the 14th. We got to Long Beach mid-afternoon and luckily beat the rush of people behind us to get onboard. Unlike on our honeymoon the embarkation process was a breeze with no technology issues to hold us up. The Paradise was essentially the same as the Victory that we sailed on last year just a bit smaller. Our cabin was the very front room on the port side, instead of a window our room came with 2 portholes lookng out onto the water. The portholes actually ended up being one of our favorite features of the room (the other being that the bed was two twin size mattresses pushed together - an ocean of room compared to our full sze bed).

We spent the first afternoon walking around the ship and just unwinding from a busy work week until it was time for dinner and for the ship to set sail. The trip wound up being our first experience eating with fellow passengers (last year they gave us a table for 2) and we wound up meeting some great people at our table: Nils and Katrina, from Utah, and Brooke and John from Fresno.

The only thing on our schedule for the weekend was a tour of the Bufadora (one of 3 blow holes in the world) and a tour of one of Mexico's oldest wineries, Santo Tomas. On the walk to see the Bufadora we came across a kiosk for an animal reserve in Mexico. As a gimmick for donations, they would allow you to take a photo with a baby lion or tiger ($20) or both ($35). Mahina and Brooke were in heaven at the idea of holding a tiger and a lion. Before they knew it they each had a baby lion or tiger in their arms, as John and I stood by with camera in hand.

We spent the rest of the morning checking out the winery and tasting an assortment of their wines. The winery has been producing award winning wine since the late 1800s and the winery is one of the only wineries to be run by a woman. We were able to not only try, but also buy some great wine.

Back on the ship, we all took advantage of the opportunity to just relax and unwind. The weather, while overcast for the entire trip, was still pleasant enough for us to enjoy the outside decks of the ship. That night we went to the ship's first show of the weekend which was loosely based on a western. Mahina also found and quickly became addicted to each evening's Bingo game. Although we never ended up winning any of the Bingo games we came pretty darn close.

Sunday, Mahina had found out about a backstage tour of the ship as our "at sea excursion." The tour took us through the kitchen, the laundry facilities, the engine control room, the bridge and also behind the scenes of the ship's performance stage. It was a great chance to see the behind-the-scenes of this huge cruise ship and get an insight into the day-to-day lives of the staff and crew on board.

Our weekend was a huge success for us - we got the chance to relax and enjoy ourselves for the weekend while celebrating our 1 year anniversary - and we got to meet some great new friends. Hopefully we'll be on our next cruise sooner rather than later.