Galveston & Carnival Magic~Embarkation

We went to beach early to watch the absolutely gorgeous sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico

Afterwards we enjoyed complimentary breakfast at the hotel before heading to the Port of Galveston and our ship.  

Check-In was a breeze but boarding was delayed due to an emergency on previous cruise. They finally started boarding Priority guests almost 1:00pm, our kids were starved so we headed straight to buffet lunch.

After lunch it was fun time!

Carnival Magic ~ Little French Key, Roatan

We decided to book an independent tour with Little French Key and we were so glad we did!  It really is a tropical Oasis.  They met us outside the gate to the port and drove us to boats, from there we rode to an amazing island with monkeys, lions,ducks,horses,tropical birds and more...all rescued.

The kids loved the monkeys and horses.

We were fed a delicious lunch of lobster, shrimp, chicken & steak.

The island was really fun.

Carnival Magic ~ Belize

This was our third visit to Belize.  The last two visits we went snorkeling.  This visit we chose something different, horseback riding and swimming.  The only drawback was the very long and boring bus ride to/from the pier to Belize City.  It really was horrible.

We loved the waterfall pool.

The horseback riding was great and I recommend.

Carnival Magic ~ Cozumel

We decided to spend our day at Chankanaab (word that comes from the Mayan language and means “little sea) it's located inside Cozumel´s National Marine Park.  We loaded 9 of us into a taxi and off we went!

We found a few umbrella chairs to relax in and enjoy some tropical drinks and buckets of beer.  

A few of us did zip-line.

The kids were fascinated all day by iguanas who lived in the park.

Of course the main attraction for the kids was snorkeling.  They loved swimming with all fish.

it was a wonderful day.

Galveston & Carnival Magic

Our roadtrip to Galveston began 5:30am.

 We are cruising with a total of 11 family & extended family members for Mardi Gras week.

We made it to Lafayette before we stopped for breakfast @ Cracker Barrel.

Of course we had to stop for photo ops

at the Texas Border;)

Our next stop was to get some yummy beef jerky 

...then it was Galveston Island or bust..

We had dinner @ Rainforest Cafe to celebrate Gavin & Nick's birthdays

We checked into the Hilton and unloaded the truck....

It's really a nice hotel in a great location across from the beach..

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset then passed out from our long drive LOL 

 

Carnival Dream 2015 - Day 5;ROATAN HONDURAS

We arrived in Honduras at 7:00am to overcast skies.  After a leisurely breakfast we headed out for a relaxing day on the beach.  This is our second time here and we love that you can simply walk to the beach.

 There are tons of lounge chairs available at no charge.  They were covered by tropical palm trees blowing with gentle breezes from the water.

 We chose chairs that had the perfect amount of sun/shade for us and settled in.  The skies cleared and soon we were relaxing under blue skies with a cold drink.

The water was on the cool side which felt really good under the hot sun.  There is also a long pier which ladders that lead into the water for complimentary snorkeling for those who brought their own equipment.  

It was a very relaxing, no muss no fuss day 👣

We strolled back to the ship for a late lunch and spent the rest of the day lounging and using the jacuzzi.  We settled in at the front  of the ship to watch our SailAway from our last port of call.

Supper tonight was potato soup, lamb and coconut cake for dessert.  The entertainment didn't interest us tonight so we headed for the casino to play a bit then headed to bed after a very long tiring day.

Cruisin with Granddaughters 2012-Day 4

Today was our first day in port, Roatan, Honduras.

We woke up to a beautiful day as we docked in Roatan.

Our plans today were to spend the day Mahogany Beach.

  Our fee included unlimited rides on the Flying Chair, Clamshell covered beach chairs, water floats and kayaking.

 

This beach is so-so.  The water was clean but it was so packed with people.  When I bought this excursion on the ship, each ticket was for two. I bought 2 tickets (4 people), leaving one person out.   I rode the flying chairs with the kids & Hubby did the Kayak with them (we shared a wrist band) shhh!  It was very convenient since we had the kids.   The kids enjoyed it but, if we go here again, I would try a different beach.

Cruisin with Granddaughters 2012-Embarkation

Carnival Conquest leaving New Orleans

Our Itinerary

Although we have now have the flexibility to do last minute vacations, I don't find that we have done it very often.  What I do find is that we tend to go for much longer vacations since we retired.  We booked this cruise with our granddaughters during a Memorial Day Sale, very last minute for us.  Most of our cruises tend to be planned far in advance and then I watch for price drops.

This cruise is 7 days onboard the Carnival Conquest, leaving New Orleans for Belize, Roatan and Cozumel.  We have all  been to Cozumel many times.  Hubby and I went snorkeling in Belize once but the Granddaughters have not been there.  None of us have been to Roatan.  We have booked beach days on both islands with Snorkeling and Kayaking, we will probably do some shopping in Cozumel. 

We have booked 2 cabins on the Lido deck, close to the pool, not sure how we are going to like being on the" party"  deck. We are very excited to spend a whole week with the girls!



We arrived at the cruise port around Noon and was surprised to find a line waiting to enter the building. We have taken other cruises here and never was there a line to enter.

Thirty minutes later we had our zone number and waited to be called.  Once we boarded the ship we were happy to discover our cabins were ready.  We had a quick lunch and then the girls put on their swim suits and had fun on the waterslide as we prepared for sailaway.