It was my mother's idea....she decided that she wanted to take a cruise and she wanted all her daughters to go with her....it was her treat and we're all eternally grateful....my uncle and aunt decided they wanted to go.....and then two of our cousins jumped on the bandwagon, too!!  There were eight of us all together and we had a wonderful time!

Last April (2004) she sent me on the mission of finding a cruise with the least amount of travel time/expense to the coast....I found that Carnival Cruises disembark from Mobile, Alabama.....7 months later, we loaded up Karyla's Taurus and my uncle's Caravan and headed for the coast.  We had an eleven hour road trip straight down I-65...we were on our way!!

We arrive in Mobile....

As we approach the ship, we start snapping shots....

we get closer....

and closer.....

and closer....

you'd think we were there, right?

WRONG!!!

  We tried to get across those four lanes of traffic and the next thing we know we're in a 2 mile long tunnel going UNDER the bay!!!   lololol

We came out of the tunnel and we see the ship again, but this time we're on the opposite side of it and definitely "doing it wrong".....lol

and it got worse!   *laughing so hard*

Finally we got back to our original starting point....

and we're snapping shots again....

Still have to get across those four lanes of traffic.....

We finally realized that we had to go UNDER the traffic.....lol

We arrived about 10:00am but can't start boarding for another 2 hours.

So we busied ourselves with taking pictures....  ;-)

They finally let us into the terminal/parking garage...

I started snapping shots of all those terrific lifeboats!!    ;-)

The Holiday is a beautiful ship!

With plenty of lifeboats!  lol

We get to board!!!   Yeahhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Karyla and I

A shot from the gangplank walking onto the ship.

Touring the ship for the first time.

One of the four swimming pools.

They fed us first thing.....and continued to do so the ENTIRE time we were there!!  lol

Amy and Karyla kept the frozen yogurt machine empty....lmao!!

Shots from the forward deck.

Just love all those HUGE ropes and chains!

and of course, the lifeboats are ever present....lol

Our second evening on the ship, we got all dolled up for dinner...

and of course, for portraits....  ;-)

Back row: my sister Karyla, Me, Uncle Kennie, Mom, my cousin Joyce

Front row: my sister Amy, Aunt Rosie, my cousin Darlene

Amy, Karyla, Me & Mom

Mom

We had cocktails and hor'dourves.

Then on to dinner and entertainment!

Carnival has truly impressed all of us....our ship and rooms were sparkling clean and kept that way on a daily basis....and each evening we would come back to our rooms and find that our "cabin boys" had turned down our beds and left us a little surprise.

Just one of the storms at sea....we'd go right through them and get soaking wet and they'd be gone....and they were beautiful!

Day Three....we arrive in Calica.

Tugboats pull us toward the shore.

Everyone turned out on deck to watch.

I was still checking out the lifeboats....  ;-)

Calica is just a place chiseled out for ships to dock for the day on their way to Cozumel....originally created by and for the Vulcan Steel Company.

You could see all the tour buses lined up waiting for the tourists on the ship...there were little shops under tents selling wares.

Karyla and I stayed on the ship while everyone else went into Calica....it was really nice....no one around to compete with us for the hot tub....lol

We watched them all coming back from a day of shopping.

Amy stopped to film us on deck.

Karyla and I got off the ship later in the day and went to the little tented shops and had a drink and we watched as the Federales marched the perimeter.

Once back on the ship, Amy and Mom joined us at our hot tub party.

Our cabins were sparkling clean and neat as a pin....just awesome!

Tonight we got a bunny to go along with the elephant.    ;-)

Karyla and I were just totally fascinated with our new pet menagerie.

A word of advice....never take a cruise without a brand new package of bungee cords.....lol....we used them to hang wet bathing suits and everything else!!

And then there were our Karoke Nights...we came to be known as the

 "Kentucky Karoke Krew".....lol

This was a very nice young man we met named Chris...he was a terrific singer and joined us every single evening for Karoke!!

And we danced and sang the nights away, closing down the club most nights.

Even Mom joined in....in more ways than one....  ;-)

Karyla and Chris doing their rendition of Summer Nights.

And having a grand time doing it....  ;-)

We arrived at Cozumel to be greeted by a couple of really cute guys....lol

And they take your picture EVERYWHERE!!!   lol

We were on our way to Chakkanab and the Dolphin Discovery!!

We were docked beside a Royal Caribbean ship and this would have been a terrific shot if I hadn't had to shoot into the sun....:-(

The ocean was so incredibly blue...and there were lots more ships on the horizon, but they got washed out because of the sun....

Welcome to Cozumel!!!

This would have been such a great shot, but again, the sun was so bright that it just washed the picture out....Mom and I waited while Karyla and Amy swam with the Dolphins!!

Karyla and Amy played in the water with the dolphins for almost an hour.

That happened on Thursday....we were heading home on Friday.

Friday morning sunrise....it was just gorgeous!

They had alot of activities up on deck that day....contests and things....

we got back to our rooms this time and found that we had a monkey to add to our elephant and bunny rabbit.....;-)

We all had lunch on the Promenade Deck with some new friends we met.

and it was so hot, so we all decided that we wanted to play in the water and slide down the slides.....even mom....:-)

and hhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeerrrrrreeeeeee she comes!!!!!

That night was the last night on the boat and we all threw caution to the wind.....heck, we were never going to see all these people again.....lmao!!!!

Yep, it was "Delta Dawn".....lol

Mom hugging our D.J. goodbye

Chris and the gorgeous Jennifer....;-)

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