Western Caribbean Carnival Cruise

On June 24, 2018, Jacqui, Jacsun, and I departed Springfield, MO for Houston, TX.  We drove southwest through eastern OK and detoured east of Oklahoma City, stopping to picnic at Chickasaw State Park.  Arrived at Houston at 7:30 and checked into Wyndham Hotel.

June 25: Three of us swam in hotel swimming pool for about 1.5 hours before leaving for Galveston, TX. At 12:30 pm, we arrived at Galveston port and boarded the Carnival ship called Valor. We quickly settled into our state room after which Jacsun and Jacqui swam in various fresh and salt water pools the rest of the evening.

June 26: All day at sea. Jacsun and Jacqui and I swam in various pools and watched the movie Daddy’s Home II. Attended the captain’s dinner in the evening.

June 27: Left the ship and walked a short distance to Cozumel Cruise Excursions to begin our swim at four reefs off the coast of Cozumel. We snorkeled at Planacar Reef, two parts of Columbia Reef, and El Cielo sandbar. We saw a variety of coral fish, a stingray, turtle, starfish, and other sea creatures (this was Jacsun and Jacqui’s favorite day).

June 28: Left the ship and joined our organized tour to Chichen Itza, the famed Mayan city (ca. A.D. 800-1200) on the Yucatan peninsula about 75 miles east of Merida. This, of course, was Jacqui and Jacsun’s first visit to a Mayan site. I last saw Chichen Itza during the summer of 1977, when I was in the Yucatan for a month earning 6 hrs. of credit for an ethnography course at WKU.

Chichen Itza has changed a great deal since 1977 when you just walked onto the site after departing from a bus. A large visitor center has been constructed on site, and there are vendors selling gifts to tourists within the site. Unlike in 1977, people cannot climb the stairs of the various temples. Nevertheless, we had a good time walking around the site, viewing the Temple of Kukulkan (aka El Castillo), the Temple of the Warriors, the Venus Platform, and the Grand Ballcourt.

After leaving Chichen Itza, we drove to a nearby cenote (ponded sinkhole) approximately 80 feet deep were Jacqui and Jacsun swam in the cool fresh water for about 20 minutes. Drove the 1.5 hour trip back to Progresso, Mexico and reboarded the Valor.

June 29: All day at sea. We swam and ate all day. Free food and snacks could be had practically any time of day. We all took advantage of it, especially Jacsun who must have had a total of 25 ice cream cones during the cruise. Not sure about the children, but I gained at least five pounds.

June 30: Arrived at Galveston and departed ship at 8:10 am. By 8:30 am, we had returned to our car and began a 13-hour drive back to Springfield, MO, arriving at about 9:30 pm.