Western Caribbean Cruise…. Part 2…

Welcome to my, Miss Kaylas’, Cubby and moms’ cruise to the Western Caribbean leaving Galveston visiting Costa Maya, Roatan (Honduras) and Cozumel… 

The next morning was here and it was gorgeous out but very chilly and windy with no humidity. Previous days were windy, chilly for me but not mom as the humidity was high (very muggy) so she was hot.

So I got bundled up and we headed out for our cruise. Yay, we are going. I, Miss Kayla was so excited to be going.

Ok, so kind of bundled up in my thermal long sleeve and cruise shirt. I am still at the hotel here in this pic, but you will see later just how bundled up I, Miss Kayla am. 🙂 Oh, these our mom and I shirts for our cruise..

As we were driving to the port, to the parking lot we were going to park in (called EZ Cruise Parking) we came across the fire department where there was a dalmatian dog tree and fire hydrant tree sculpture. Mom stopped and grabbed a quick picture.

We arrived at the parking lot and parked the car. Mom got me out and all our stuff and rearranged what was being left in the car and then we waited under a canopy.

Mom hurried to get over there as it seemed like the shuttle that was there was waiting for us (even the employees working there made it seem that way) but it turned out they weren’t as when we got over there they were leaving and mom was told ours was still on the way. Mom wished they would have told her that before she got me out of the car so I could have waited where it was warmer to minimize my time outside in the cold windy conditions. Oh well, all was fine and our shuttle arrived, I got on, mom got in and so did all our stuff and we were off to our cruise ship just a block or so away. Mom asked the shuttle driver about the tombstones and such at cemeteries how they withstand the hurricanes and tidal surges. Mom just couldn’t understand how they were still in tack and still there after the devastating hurricanes and floods Galveston has experienced over the years. Apparently, the tombstones are moved to safety for these storms and replaced via using a map as they are all mapped out. Or they just survive the elements and sometimes are a few feet away and are just placed back, etc. As far as the coffins, they are cemented into the ground. As we drove by some older buildings our driver pointed out the waterlines that some have on them to show where the water levels have been. He also commented on how the older buildings were built better to withstand hurricanes, tidal surges, etc to where the newer buildings are not despite all the new codes, etc. He said that his parents’ house that was built in the mid-1900s survived the tidal surge to where their house that was built in the 1990s was demolished to the ground just two blocks away. He said the same amount of water went through both areas. He said it was just the quality of how the houses were built that they loose more of the most recent buildings that are built than those that are 100 years old or older. Mom says she totally believes it. Things were built much better many years ago than they are now. He told us a lot about some of the history and such in our short ride to the port. It was really cool and interesting.

Arriving to the port mom desperately needed a porter as we didn’t have a way to get all our luggage from point A to point B. We only needed it for the suitcase as we carried everything else on to the ship with us.

Our driver of the shuttle grabbed us a porter immediately and the suitcase was off with the porter. Mom and I made our way to the entrance of where we started the check-in process.

People were so nice through the entire process and screening. And the best part is that it was not crowded nor were there any long lines. My, Miss Kayla’s passport was flagged, well maybe not my passport but my account or something was. The lady that checked our passports is the one that left with my passport (not mom’s – usually its mom with the issues) and was gone for so long. I, Miss Kayla waited patiently for her to return but still. What was up with that? The lady returned – she wanted to make sure we had everything that was requested on our account and then something to do with my nebulizer machine – oh I think an extension cord or something. Mom nor I really wasn’t sure what all that was about, but she sent us on our merry way. Security was a breeze and then onto the ship we went.

We entered the lobby Atrium where there were so many people hanging out and the ship was all decked out in Christmas decor. It was gorgeous! We went to guest services as it was just to our right. Mom had a few questions and we had to take care of a few things before the cruise was on its way – like where is the special needs area for the Muster Drill –  we were told it was in the library. 🙂 Staff at guest services were so nice. All week people we have helped us at guest services always greeted us by name when crossing our path and asked how everything was going, etc. Oh, mom bought Faster to the Fun and it was so worth it – for ex: there was a LONG line at guest services for those without FTTF. Our line was super short (just one person ahead of us), but ya know, it is also special assistance line too so mom and I, Miss Kayla are thinking we could have gone in that line even without it since I qualify for special assistance.  Off to our cabin we went.  YAY. Our cabin was ready for whenever we boarded since we had FTTF. That was a huge plus.

On our way to the cabin we ended up behind the person pulling our suitcase to our cabin. 🙂 How perfect timing is that? We arrived at our cabin, opened the door (very heavy automatic door that liked to close before we were ready) and it was a lovely cabin, huge (wheelchair accessible). Oh, there were Dr Seuss things hanging from the ceiling over and near the bed. It was really cool. I think the cabin would feel too empty without them. 🙂 Yeah, mom got those for me.

Mom took me out of my chair and put me on the bed – YAY! I checked out everything. I was very excited to be there.

Cool balcony and they put my lounge chair that I requested on it too. 🙂 Oh, and our room came with a shower AND a bathtub so I get to have a true bath while on our cruise. I love those even though I know it’s a safety risk and hard on mom, but still, I LOVE them! Not that the shower would be any easier and safer plus I don’t enjoy those as much if I don’t have my special shower chair with me which it always stays home.

I didn’t last long laying down as mom was wanting something to eat – hadn’t eaten all morning and I was ready to go explore some anyway.  Ya know me, I LOVE to explore.

Oh, our cabin is in the forward section of the ship; Carnival Freedom so we went upstairs to a deck (via elevator), I think 9 to explore

and hoped to run into food for mom – oh and me too! We came across the Blue Iguana which is a Mexican food place (go figure, mom loves Mexican food) – very simple and there was a line so that speaks volume as it must be good. Looked and smelled good too. Mom had heard a lot of good things about this place as well so.  Mom ordered and I, Miss Kayla got a side of guacamole which here is my plate of it:

Mom quickly ate as we were needing to get to the Library for the Muster Drill, and we didn’t want to be late. Mom took a quick photo of me in the library as we waited for the Muster Drill to start.

I did GREAT waiting as they started almost a half-hour late because not everyone had checked in to their stations yet. It’s mandatory. Once it started it went quickly and then they let our group leave first. Another group of special needs that was across from us also left at the same time. We were not shown our stations or lifeboats which is a little concerning but oh well nothing is going to happen. They also didn’t really discuss how the process would go in an emergency for someone like me. Hmmm. But again, all is good as NOTHING is happening while I, Miss Kayla, Cubby and mom are on this ship!

So back to our cabin. I got to look outside at our balcony and somewhat of the view from inside because it was so chilly and windy out. Mom did go out a little later as we were sailing off leaving Galveston, Texas – it wasn’t too bad then, but I was on the bed watching my videos, playing and having a grand time. Oh, and guess what? We can see the captain and crew in the wheelhouse (I think that is what its called) from our balcony. Pretty cool. You can see if in these pics mom took. I, Miss Kayla hopes to meet our captain and co-captain as well on the cruise. We shall see.

Mom took a few photos while in port and then on our way out. The above and just below. 🙂 Oh, there were no Sea Lions on the buoy.. Hmmmm…

And while we were getting ready for dinner, we had a pretty nice sunset that I, Miss Kayla watched from inside our cabin.

Oh my gosh, mom almost forgot to put the banner for our door up. How could she? She loved it! And I, Miss Kayla loved helping mom put it up as you see in the first photo on the left.. 🙂 On our way out to go to dinner, we put up the banner on our door. 🙂

So now off to dinner. Looking at the map at the elevators it looks like our restaurant for dinner is two stories or is on two decks so that is good as we have options. At this point, mom didn’t pay attention to the deck of the restaurant that was on our sail n sign cards but just the restaurant and the decks it was on. Could we go to either deck? Not sure but when we got to deck 3 of the restaurant which was right up against the atrium/lobby it was super crowded, long lines, very chaotic and noisy mom was like no way. She was not putting me in that situation at the start of our cruise especially after our day so far. So, mom said we are going to go check out deck 4 (other level for this restaurant) in hopes its less crowded. So, we did and there was nobody in line and the restaurant was basically empty, so we asked the nice hostess if it’s okay we come here for dinner that evening and she said, “of course” and took us to a table.

A few more people came in after us, but it was such a peaceful and lovely place. However, we were tracked down by the Maitre’d; Mario of the restaurant. He came to our table to introduce himself and to let us know they have a table for us by the window downstairs on deck 3 in this restaurant. Mom nor I had any idea and mom explained why we were on deck 4. Everything was good, but how sweet of them to have a table for us. And it is ours every night for whenever we would like to eat as we are on “My Time Dining” but mom told him she would do her best to give them a heads up on approx. time we plan to dine and if we will not be dinning any specific evening so they can release our table to others. We had a nice chat with him. Our waitress and servers that evening were terrific.

They offered to bring me, Miss Kayla anything I would like to try and or taste and if something didn’t work out, they would bring something else. Mom doesn’t like to take advantage of that, so she is very cautious with what she and I order. We don’t like to waste food so try not to. I, Miss Kayla ordered soup and sweet potatoes. Mom knew she wouldn’t eat the sweet potatoes but hoped they would have brought just a small portion, but they didn’t – oh well. Neither one of us cared for them.  Mom ordered the shrimp and didn’t realize it was fried but she said it was still good. Mom doesn’t really do fried foods. I liked the sauce mom got with her meal and the soup. Mom liked the soup too.

Mom ended up getting a small side salad to get some veggies in her meal (opps forgot to take pic of it). Taking pics of food is a challenge for mom (surprisingly) because she doesn’t like having/using her phone in restaurants, but she is going to try to take photos of our food on our cruise for my blog. 🙂 Mom said the bread was good too despite her not really eating bread. She only had a small piece since they brought us some.

Ok, moving on. We are already off to a fantastic cruise – such nice staff and the people on board are really nice too and I, Miss Kayla love it!

I, Miss Kayla got my pic taken in front of the beautiful Christmas tree once the crowds were gone from this area.

Oh, by the way which I totally forgot. When we got on the ship and went to guest services the really nice lady that helped us made a phone call while we were there and said that the person in charge of entertainment would like to speak with us and will meet us in the theater just down the way there. So, we met with him (Jeff) who was super nice. He wanted to know a little bit about me, where a good spot would be for shows if we were interested in coming to any of them, etc. Mom shared with him what is best, and he then proceeded to tell us how the seating works and what area would be good then for me and so on. Wow, how great was that! So, we got to the theater a few minutes early to watch the game show CLUE.

We found a spot in the area that would work well for me a few minutes before the show started. Perfect!

Waiting long is not my thing so being able to arrive shortly before it starts is great for me. Mom loves solving mysteries, crimes, and so on and used to love playing CLUE as a kid so thought this would be great for us to do together on the cruise this week. We watched the first part as its spread out throughout the entire cruising until the last evening when the case is solved. That was pretty cool to watch, hear and we got our booklet (first CLUE photo I posted above ) for solving the CLUE mystery.

After CLUE it was Bingo, so we stayed for that. Mom and I didn’t do too well with Bingo, but it was so fun.

We went back to our cabin to get settled in.

Update on me, Miss Kayla: Mom let me not get as many treatments today as I have been, but she is still treating me aggressively and staying on top of it. She is also being very cautious with what I am being exposed to the best she can – what is in her control. I am stable and doing well, but not 100%. And I, Miss Kayla am NOT letting this interfere with my fun on our cruise.

The next morning, I, Miss Kayla woke up bright and early ready for our big day at sea.

I, Miss Kayla got my treatments done, both mom and I got dressed and mom did my hair in a braid. Well, the one side she did a braid in my hair. I really liked how mom did it.

Then out the door, we went. They were having a sea brunch today, so we decided to try that. Plus, mom was hoping for a sit-down restaurant type breakfast which the sea brunch was. Mom was expecting a buffet type (brunches we have always been to were buffets) but this one you order from a menu so that was nice. We first were seated just as you walked into the restaurant at a large table for just mom and me, but mom asked if we could sit next to the window as it was gorgeous out. So they did. 🙂 Mom ordered just a basic breakfast – scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit, coffee, water. Breakfast was okay. It was really nice to sit next to the window and look out at sea. I, Miss Kayla didn’t see any dolphins, but maybe at some point on my cruise, I will. Ya think?

After breakfast, we went strolling around the ship to check out other areas and the store. Oh, guess what??? Mom forgot to pack my pajamas for the cruise. How was that even possible? Come to find out, I, Miss Kayla thinks mom forgot a few things or they got mixed up somehow with our pre and post-cruise bag. Mom added some things to our cruise suitcase the day before we got on our cruise because of how my body was handling my body temp so mom was a tad nervous. So, we went to find the shops, but there was really only one shop. I got a cool pink Carnival t-shirt that was 100% cotton from the shop to use for my pajamas. It was a small shop, not much of a variety (nothing like the number of shops and items on our Disney cruise) but this was enough. Safer this way anyway as I wouldn’t be tempted to want this and that :). And it was important that I found a 100% cotton top because anything else would make me overheat at night, so this turned out to be perfect.

We strolled around on as many decks as we could especially outside since it was such a gorgeous day outside and I loved it.

We played a game of Bingo which was fun!

We went back to our cabin a few times throughout the day for my, Miss Kayla’s treatments and such. On one trip back to the cabin this is what we came “home” to:

Mom and I, Miss Kayla both LOVE the towel animals!

That evening was formal night, so I, Miss Kayla got to wear my fancy dress. Mom didn’t dress up as formally as I did but she still dressed up. Since I was still under the weather mom tried not to have me eat too much because its harder for me too when my respiratory is flaring up like this. Mom ordered some soup for me which I only had a few bites of due to it being difficult. It upset me but I did get some. Mom felt so bad I was having a difficult time handling food today because of my flare-up. Mom realized I am stable but just not getting better and now having these asthmatic coughing attacks even though I am getting all my treatments in. Mom ordered the lobster and shrimp which she said was good. She is not a huge lobster fan, but it was highly recommended by Mario so she thought she would try it. The soup was good.

 

After dinner, Mom decided that I, Miss Kayla really needed a round of prednisone to get this respiratory flare-up to go away so mom asked if I could be seen by the ship doctor. Their office was closed (very odd hours) but mom spoke to the nurse on the phone and he asked mom to bring me into their office to be seen. John, the nurse, and the doctor were super nice. The Dr seems very worried as she isn’t used to dealing with kiddos like me but mom convinced her that I was stable and I just needed a short course of prednisone to get rid of these asthmatic coughing attacks as treatments aren’t working and that this is a typical course of treatment for me when I am like this, but mom didn’t want to say too much so the Dr could do her job and come to her own conclusion, but still. Mom just hasn’t been able to back off on my treatments and I seem to be extra sensitive to things causing horrible coughing attacks now even an hour after treatments where I need another one. Yep, signs I need prednisone. It took some convincing from mom, but she finally got the doctor to prescribe three days’ worth. Oh, mom hopes it works as when I am this bad three days rarely works but then again, we have to be careful with the number of days so we shall see. Mom was grateful to get three days so we will take it from here. The doctor was very cautious and leery to prescribe it but she just doesn’t know me, my history with how we do use it, but that is okay. She also didn’t like how I, Miss Kayla was having seizures but again, she didn’t understand how I do have seizures, when they usually flare up and how they are stable but not controlled and how my body doesn’t react the same as others so this is all normal for me in this state. Bless her heart. The doctor (Dr B) was from South Africa and has been sailing on cruises as a doctor for a year now, but first time on the Freedom. She has an interesting background as she worked in the severely poor area of South Africa where a lot of medical attention is needed. John, the nurse was from Columbia. The medical quarters on the ship are interesting and down on deck zero where all the employee’s cabins are.  I, Miss Kayla got a glimpse. We barely got out of there in time to go to the production show that evening that we were really wanting to go to. The area I was hoping to sit in was full, so we went to the next best area for me where there was room. It was okay and doable, but mom wasn’t sure exactly how much I was able to see of it, if any. It was a GREAT show. We could watch it again. 🙂

Back at our cabin, it was still early on PST (my, Miss Kayla’s time) but mom said it was time to relax, get in our lounge clothes and I watched some of my videos before going to bed… Until tomorrow…. 🙂