Let me start by saying I have the best boyfriend who surprised me with a cruise for Christmas and my birthday! We both love traveling and exploring new places, so we were already counting down the days. He knows how much of a planner I am so he let me decide where we would be going.
After lots of research, we decided to go to Cozumel and Costa Maya on the Carnival Fantasy. We ported at Mobile, Alabama, which was so fast and easy to get on the boat. We stayed at Microtel Inn and Suites by Wyndham in Saralandand got a great deal on a package that let us leave our car for the duration of the cruise and also included shuttle to and from the port. I cannot remember the price, but it saved us a lot of money instead of parking at the port. The night we got to Mobile we ate dinner and went and looked at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park.
Our port time was 12:30 p.m. and we were on the ship by 1 p.m. WOW are the only words I had when we walked on to the ship. There were so many levels and I was in awe the entire time. There was a bar in the middle of the area and lots of people and music blaring through the speakers. We waited about 30 minutes to get to our room. Surprisingly, it wasn't as small as I thought. We unpacked and headed up to the deck to get some sunshine and food. We saw the pool (too small for me), the lounge chairs, and the food. We ate at "Blue Iguana Cantina" and got some yummy burritos. We roamed around the boat (got lost a few times) and then headed to the room to get ready for dinner. We opted for "your dining time" and it was perfect for us. We just went to dinner whenever we wanted and only had to wait 10 minutes, one time. We got our waiter that we came to love through the week. His name was Rafael and he was from India. We asked for him every night after because he took such great care of us. After dinner, we went to the piano bar and listened for a little bit until the big show. Every night they had a different show which included dancers and singing. Always a different time period or genre, we (mostly me) loved it.
The next morning, we had room service for breakfast (nothing special). We roamed around a little before we went to lay out and get some sun. It was definitely crowded (mostly the pool area) but we found a spot that didn't have lots of people around. We waited until noon and grabbed "Guy's Burger" for lunch. Y'all, let me stop here and say you have to eat here if you go on a cruise. I had these burgers 4 times on a 4 day cruise.....(don't do the math okay). After we got tired of laying out, we went to play putt-putt in the back of the boat. He beat me somehow and then we decided we were hungry again. You can eat as much as you want on the boat, you already paid for it. We got a burrito again at the cantina and headed back to bask in the sun with a good book. It was formal night so we headed back to the room to get ready for that. Formal night can be as fancy or as casual as you want, we were somewhere in the middle. Let's talk about dinner on the boat. You should always go to the fancy dinner, there are so many good options. Don't skip out on that, you will regret it. We ordered whatever we wanted. Two appetizers typically, sometimes two entrees, and always a dessert. You don't have to eat it all, but try everything (even the weird stuff). After the big show (which Tyler ended up going on the stage), we went to the comedy club. We absolutely loved the shows and went almost every night.
Day 3 was Costa Maya! We were excited to get off the boat and explore. We decided not to book with Carnival and instead opted for a private resort that only allowed 10 people. After a little scary taxi ride, we made it to Almaplena Hotel Eco Beach Resort. It was so peaceful, although there was a large amount of seagrass at that time. They were working hard the whole day trying to get it cleaned up. We didn't care enough to leave so we enjoyed open bar and a wonderful lunch. I even got another round of chips and guac. We both got a massage which was an hour for $50 a person. The only downside was we didn't get them together. We did not want to leave, but when time came we headed back in the taxi and went shopping for an hour before port call. We were too tired to go to dinner afterwards and headed to bed because the next day was Cozumel.
We enjoyed Costa Maya, but we were very excited about Cozumel! We heard all the rave about how beautiful it was and it did not disappoint. This was my favorite part of the trip, although I really loved it all. We booked an excursion with Carnival this time which was a catamaran sail and snorkel. Something I loved about this specific excursion was the limit of people. The other sailboats were much more crammed while we had plenty of room to lay down and relax. We met the crew,got our gear, and learned how to use it for snorkeling. I have snorkeled before but it was Tyler's first time so we were super excited. We both absolutely loved it of course. The water is absolutely beautiful and there were tons of fish to see. We had lunch and an open bar on this excursion as well. After lunch, we sailed around for a while and then stopped for swimming, snorkeling, and just relaxing in the water. Tyler attempted to paddle board and did pretty well. Our excursion lasted about four hours. Note: make sure to reapply sunscreen after you get out of water. We both got burnt because we did not. We shopped around a lot more in Cozumel. There were lots of little shops that we bargained with and bought different things. Tyler did his best bargaining (failed attempt, but still bought them) to get me these beautiful plates that I really wanted. We got a handmade ornament (one in Costa Maya too) as well as a few other things. After, we got back on the boat and ate another burger (told you it was good). This is when we realized I was sunburnt and Tyler looked like a lobster. Sadly, we were done with the sun. Later we had dinner and headed to the show and then the comedy club, followed by lots of aloe vera for him.
The last day, we didn't do a whole lot. We relaxed by the windows and got all the food we wanted. If you are wondering if we ate the whole trip, the answer is yes. We went to the casino, read, watched some TV, and just relaxed until it was time to get ready for dinner. This was when we had to say goodbye to our waiter and I all but cried. We went to the show again and then just roamed around the boat. We packed up our stuff and headed to bed.
Getting off the boat was a little more waiting in lines but nothing too bad (at least on this ship). After we got off, we called and got our shuttle pretty quickly. We got the car and were headed back home. First, we had to stop for lunch (food again I know). We stopped at Brent's Diner which was a filming location for "The Help". It was yummy and filled our tummies enough for the ride home.
We absolutely loved the cruise, but would do a few things differently. Going in a group would be more fun since you are surrounded by people anways! If you are just wanting a romantic trip, a cruise is not for you. A newer ship has even more to do than the one we went on (although smaller ship means less people). A Carnival cruise can start to feel like a summer camp with all of the announcements and activities, but you don't have to do them. While you can't avoid the announcements you don't have to go to knitting 101 (but feel free). Those were really the only negative things we had to say about our trip. We had the best time getting to experience it together. It was Tyler's first time out of the country so it was a big deal.
Overall, it was a great vacation with lots of adventure and relaxation!
If you have any questions about my cruise or experience, send me a message! I would be happy to help you plan yours! Also, if you need a packing list (which you do), click here!
Happy cruising,
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