Day One: My Introduction to Cruises

All packed!

On January 4, I left for the Galveston cruise terminal for a 5-day cruise, a graduation present from my best friend Shannon. We chose a Carnival cruise that would take us to Progreso and Cozumel, two cities in Mexico. 

This trip was a lot of firsts. And I had a blast. 

Before leaving:

I packed two bags small enough to carry on. Security on cruise ships is a little bit like airport security. Bigger bags need to be checked, and there are prohibitions of what kind of items you can bring (firearms, weapons, etc.). You are permitted to bring one bottle of wine with you, but no more. There's plenty of alcohol on the ship, though, so don't worry. You don't have to take your shoes off for screening.   

I left room in my suitcase because I knew I would bring souvenirs home. I packed light layers in neutrals or other colors that would mix well with other items and that could stand some wear and at least three bikinis. I know it's January, but it was warm in Mexico. 

I used my valid U.S. passport for identification. Unfortunately, you don't get stamps on cruises. I'm sure I could have found a Port Authority and requested one, but I wasn't going to waste my time on that. 

If you are planning to check bags, you must print luggage tags and tape them to your bags PRIOR to arriving at the terminal. Do it at home.

Shannon and I got my family to drive us from Beaumont (where I live) to the terminal so we wouldn't have to pay for parking. 



After going through security and boarding the boat, we made our way to our stateroom.

Our ship at the terminal in Galveston.

My bed. I'm super-neat, so I immediately unpacked and arranged my belongings. 

Shannon chose an interior stateroom toward the center of the boat, surrounded by utility rooms. This was done for strategic purposes: the rocking of the boat is less noticeable and we weren't sure if I was subject to sea sickness or not yet. Plus, being surrounded by storage rooms means we didn't have to hear our neighbors all night. I can only guess what we missed.

In other words, Shannon's one smart cookie. 

After that, we had lunch. Now, there's an abundance of food available on cruise ships. I chose to get tacos from a taco bar on the lido deck.

And this is when all hell broke loose. 

The salsa choices weren't labeled, so, having a fish taco, I chose an orange-looking one that I thought would pair nicely. It's probably some kind of mango salsa, I rationalized. Perfect.  

This was a mistake.

The bright, almost hazmat-shade orange of the sauce should have been the first indicator that the stuff I slathered my unsuspecting taco in was thermonuclear. It was habanero. Or ghost chili. Or the souls of unborn children. Something evil, I don't know. It looked so innocent. My mouth was BURNING. That stuff is a fire hazard.

So Shannon asks me how my food is. I smiled at her, probably with the most pained expression my poor face has ever made. 

"It's... good," I managed to spit out.  

But inside I was dying.

I knew I had to play it cool. In fact, I was embarrassed in front of my well-traveled friend who obviously knew her way around the cruise scene. We hadn't gotten drinks, and I didn't know my way around the ship yet, so I told Shannon I was going to find ice cream, even though I hadn't finished my tacos. I had seen an ice cream machine on the way inside and was confident both that it would tamp down the nuclear reaction happening inside my mouth and also that I could find it again.

But I hadn't counted on how many people wanted ice cream that day. (Hint: ALL of them.) There was no ice cream left. I did manage to stumble across some lemonade, though, which killed the burn enough for me to return to my non-evil taco and finish it. I did also take one more delicious, painful bite of the evil taco, but couldn't stand anymore than that.

Carnival, if I could tell you one thing, it's this: label your damn sauces. 

But that's my only criticism so far. The food in the dining room that night was wonderful, look:

I'm not actually sure what this was. It was the vegetarian option of the night, a pumpkin-yam-squash-cheddar pie. It was incredibly good. The yellow triangles are polenta. I've never had triangular polenta before.  

Black Forest Gateau with Bing cherries 

More details tomorrow!