Ship Shape smiles, Cruising with my John part 3

It has been a good week for me. I am starting to feel better and stronger at last. I was actually able to get some work done in our patios last week. It feels so good to be out of bed, outside in the fresh air and able to do some work.  I’m thankful.

Last week I interrupted my cruise blogging to put in a Father’s Day post. Today I would like to share the ship pics and smiles from our cruise with you.

For us being on the ship is as much a fun part of the vacation as going to the ports of call.

As soon as we get on board and find our cabin….

… We start exploring the ship.

I’m always impressed by the atrium and elevators. They are always pretty, no matter what ship we are on.

Next we make our way to the Lido deck to check out the buffet and pool.

John and I rarely play in the pools and have never gone on the water slides but our family does when they cruise with us. It is fun for us to watch other’s enjoying these activities.

The hot tubs are more our speed. They are especially relaxing  after a long day of walking on a port shore excursion.

For us it is fun just walking around the ship, going from deck to deck, seeing the sights.

We usually eat breakfast and lunch from the buffet….

…where the food is good and beautifully presented….

…But we nearly always eat dinner in the dining room where they have all kinds of exotic foods as well as the regular fare.  Here you see us having frog legs and escargot.

The food is delicious every night but formal nights in the dining room is especially nice. That is when they serve the fanciest food like lobster tails and filet of beef. The waiters put on a cute show for us too.

After dinner there is still lots going on to enjoy before the night is over. We like to attend the live performance show each evening in the big theater, listen to some of the musical groups around the ship and even dance to a slow song or two. (We don’t dance very often, so it always makes me smile when we do on the ship.)

Each night when we return to our room, cute little towel animals greet us and make us smile. One of our favorite things about cruising is that we just have to unpack once and get to return to the same room each night. That makes the trip much easier and more relaxing than having to change our hotel room each day as we travel.

We love sea days when we are on the ship all day and don’t have a port of call. There are many things to enjoy on the sea days like this ice carving demo. There are also all sorts of classes and activities to do if you are so inclined.

We like to play miniature golf , get our walking exercise on decks & enjoy the ocean views.

We also enjoy having a pizza snack or an ice cream cone.  24 hour pizza and ice cream are available on Carnival Cruises. That makes John smile.(All the cruise lines have pizza and ice cream but Carnival is the only line I know of that serves them 24 hours a day.)

It is also fun just to relax and read or watch a movie in our cabin.

Cruising is the perfect vacation for us. We can be as active or as lazy as we want.  I had just had surgery 11 days before we took this last little cruise and I did fine…. it was a great get away and a change of pace.

Dollar for dollar, you can’t get as much for your vacation budget anywhere else. Cruising is very economical considering your hotel, food, entertainment, classes, activities and transportation to wonderful ports of call are all included in one price.  That makes us smile too.

We love cruising through life together….. That is one reason I became a travel agent after we retired from teaching.  We also love cruising with friends. Come join us next time….. or let me plan a cruise for you. Leave me a comment on this blog or email me at

jandltravel@charter.net  if you would like me to find a good deal on a cruise for you.

Until then…. I hope you are cruising along OK and everything is ship shape for you.

Hugs, Grammy Lura