Our Cozumel Cruise Stop

Cozumel, Mexico, was our first and favorite stop of our Caribbean cruise. The island thrives on tourism. As we learned on the tour we chose, 95,000 people live there, and tourism is basically the only industry. Four cruise ships were there the day we docked. The record, we were told, is 12.

Our excursion first took us to the San Gervasio Mayan ruins. I'm sure they were interesting, but Paul and I basically listened to half the tour each while the other took care of an active Edith.

She liked the beach we went to afterword better, Truth be told, I did too. We ate along the Caribbean Sea, feet in the sand. Edith loved playing in the water and sand. The water was crystal clear, warm and almost stereotypically blue. We easily could have spent longer than the 90 minutes allotted.

The bus rides to and from the city, ruins and beach were interesting for the terrific views and changing scenery. Back in the main section of town, we strolled along the main strip and headed back to the ship -- a great day in Cozumel. But next time: all beach.

Our First Cruise: A Week in the Caribbean

Norwegian Jewel

Our vacation this year had to meet a couple of specific requirements. First, it had to be easy. With a toddler and a baby in the oven, I wasn't up to planning a complicated jaunt. Second, it had to be soon. We wanted to fly somewhere before Edith's second birthday at the end of November to make sure she could be a lap child and we wouldn't have to pay for her plane ticket!

Since we didn't buckle down to figure out our vacation plans until late September when my morning sickness was largely over, these requirements weren't easy to meet. But we figured it out in less than a week: a Caribbean cruise stopping in Cozumel, Mexico; Belize City and Trujillo, Honduras during the last week of October.

It fit the bill perfectly. It was relaxing, completely stress-free and allowed us to visit places we'd never before been. And since it was a closed-loop cruise -- meaning that it started and ended in the same port (in this case, Houston) -- Edith didn't need a passport. Her birth certificate was just fine.

I loved the constant food since I am now hungry ALL OF THE TIME. I was worried about motion sickness -- never a problem for me except during the first trimester. But all was good. We got a great deal on a balcony room, and we used it enough for me to vow never again to go on a cruise without one. We sometimes left the balcony door open a crack at night just to hear the sea -- a real-life sound machine.

Our room was small but well organized, even with the ship-provided pack-and-play. The worst of it: the room's phone was so low that Edith could (and did) often play with the buttons.

Edith slept well in the cabin, and there was a kid's playroom available for most of the day. She was too young for the formal kids' programs, so we couldn't leave her and explore on our own. But that was fine. Since I'm pregnant, it's not like I wanted to go off to zipline or hit the bars anyway!

I'll be posting several more posts about our experiences on board an in each port, so stay tuned.

Sassy Edith waiting around in Texas.

On our balcony.

New Baby on the Way!

This blog has been silent for a few weeks, but there was a good reason. There's a new baby on the way in April! The bad news: it came with the all-day, non-stop "morning" sickness that Edith also brought with her. So while I wasn't writing blog posts, chances are I was hunched over the toilet (or felt like I was about to at any moment).

But I'm well into the second trimester now, and that has mostly gone by the wayside. Though not completely. I still have hours of yuckiness, but I'm generally back to my old routine.

My new routine, however, probably won't include three blog posts per week. I'm going to start posting them as the urge to write arises, and as time permits. Put together a toddler, a kid on the way and a busy freelancing schedule, and it doesn't leave a lot of room for much else.

Still, I hope to share the ups and downs of life as I long have-- for about seven years now!