The cruise was way better than I even thought it would be. So much fun.
I spent the night at the Rosens because we were leaving at 5am Thursday morning. Evan also spent the night, and neither of us had a bed. So Daniel, Evan, and me all shared a bed. Awkward? yes. Evan seemed to enjoy it very much. I couldn't tell whose hands were where, and it was a bit strange. And in the middle of the night, Daniel left to sleep on the couch, so I woke up in the morning next to Evan. It was very funny.
We boarded the ship at about 11am and had lunch. Then we began exploring! The ship was beautiful. It was at full capacity with over 2500 passengers + 900 crew. Daniel and I had our own room right across from his parents and next to Rennie and Evan. We unpacked and did the lifeboat drill. Our dinner every night was a gourmet three course meal. Our waitress was very nice and funny. We were so glad we got such a great waitress. We had that night plus another whole day at sea. There were many things to do on the ship. On the first day at sea we did a wine tasting (they don't card), battle of the sexes, tea time, and played blackjack at the casino. Daniel's dad taught us how to play and we did really well! We started with one hundred and stopped when we had a little over two hundred. The rest of the cruise, we really enjoyed playing blackjack and even the slots a little. I actually won $8 on the nickel slots! That night was formal night so we got all dressed up and took pictures before dinner. Some of them turned out very beautiful.
On Saturday morning we docked in Cabo. Evan and Daniel had a scuba diving excursion planned while the rest of us went whale watching. We got in this small inflatable boat and went way out into the ocean. The boat ride itself was a blast! We went really fast over waves. It was like a roller coaster. And then we saw humpback whales! They are HUGE and actually really scary. There was one point that one was swimming right towards us and I freaked out. But it was also a magical experience. I felt so close to them. It was amazing. Later, a pod of dolphins came up and swam so close we could reach out and touch them. I felt so lucky to be so close to these incredible animals. On the way back we came very close to a bunch of sea lions laying on some rocks. They were very loud and smelly, but also very cool. It was one of the best experiences of my life. After the whale watching we went shopping in Cabo. I bought some jewelry (very cheap thanks to Julie's spanish speaking and bargaining abilities). We met up with Evan and Daniel who apparently didn't have a great day. Daniel wasn't able to equalize so he couldn't go scuba diving. Instead he stayed on the boat and ended up getting seasick and throwing up 8 times. I felt so bad because we had such an incredible experience. And it turns out that Evan drank 6 beers while in Cabo and spent the rest of the evening on the boat throwing up himself. But for me, it was a fabulous day in port.
Then we had another full day at sea filled with more activities. We learned to make animals out of towels, played more blackjack, and took a nap (I was very tired). We docked in San Diego the next morning and drove home.
The best part of the cruise was spending time with my soon-to-be in-laws. I love Daniel's family. And the whole trip they really treated me like family. It was nice to spend more time with Evan. In middle school and high school we were so close, but college has distanced us. This trip gave us some more time to spend together. A lot of people asked us if Daniel and I were on our honeymoon and we had to say "not yet!". Daniel's parents also told people that I was their soon-to-be daughter-in-law. I couldn't ask for better in-laws.
Speaking of in-laws, in a couple hours my whole family is heading over there for "buena noche", a traditional cuban christmas eve. Julie cooks a delicious cuban meal and then we'll go to church for the service. Then I'll head back to the Rosens to open presents because Julie leaves tomorrow morning to spend time with her mother in Miami. I love Christmas. It's hard to believe that a whole year has passed since last Christmas. And that by next Christmas, I'll have a shiny ring on my finger :-)
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