Terry Family Cruise

For Christmas, Mike's family decided to go on a cruise together and it was so great! We left on Dec. 30th and got back Jan 7th - it was a Mexican Riviera cruise and stopped in Acapulco, Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa, and Manzanillo. We (jokingly) said the vacation was a success because we were all still talking to each other at the end of it! It was a long cruise, with 4 little kids (and a few big kids) but we all had a good time and really enjoyed ourselves...it was hard to come back to work and cold weather!

So, here is a review and some pictures of the trip! Enjoy :-)

Days at Sea

The first and last 2 days of the cruise were "Fun Days at Sea". It was unfortunately not very warm those days - so we didn't spend much time at the pools. We did some mini golf on the top deck (it's quite challenging on a rocking ship!), played lots of bingo, Mike and Steve became regulars at the casino (though not winning very often), Connor and I each won a lovely trophy: Connor for a basketball free-throw contest, and me for winning a round of a trivia game (I went to the final round, but didn't try too hard since the prize was a bottle of champagne)! We kept ourselves busy and had fun.

The Nordgrens: Mollie, Devin, Connor, Eliza, & Travis

The Parkers: Mia, Melissa, & Steve

All of us at dinner on New Years Eve - don't we look nice?

Happy New Year!

We enjoyed playing SPOONS together at night - with only a few minor injuries and warnings from the security guards to quiet down!

Jan 2nd - Acapulco

Our first port was in Acapulco, which is a big city and was very busy because of the holiday. We hired a very nice driver named Roberto to taxi us around all day. We went to a beach first. It was very crowded and there were TONS of people trying to sell you all sorts of garbage! (Massages, bags, hats, food, jewelry, shirts, I could go on!) The beach was very steep and got deep quickly - it made for some good sized waves. My loving father-in-law pushed me into the ocean not long after getting there and I had sand everywhere, it was very uncomfortable!


We went back to the ship and all took showers then Mike, Steve T., Mollie, Melissa, Kathie, and I went to see the Acapulco cliff divers. Years and years ago after the fishermen of the city were done fishing for the day they would go to these cliffs and dive off them...people would go and watch them and in the 1930s it became an official job and tourist site of the city. They climb up the cliffs and jump off into the water - from the very top it's 105 feet! They were pretty amazing to watch.

Mike insisted that I get a picture with one of the divers!

Me, Kathie, Melissa, Mollie, and Steve waiting for the show

After the show we asked Roberto if he could take us to a good (but most importantly clean) restaurant for some authentic Mexican food. He took us to a place that was inside a little department store and there we had the most delicious chicken enchiladas I've ever tasted! They were in some sort of amazing green sauce - yummy. It was a great way to end the day (and even better the next day since none of us got sick)!

Us and Roberto waiting for our food.

The last thing I have to say about this day is: GO UTES!!!

Jan 3rd - Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa

This city was the smallest of the three we stopped at, and it was my favorite. We did a little shopping but spent most of the day at the beach. The port was small, so we had to tender in from the ship, and from the dock we took a small local boat across the harbor to the beach. The beach was less crowded than the one at Acapulco, and had less people trying to sell crap to you - so that was nice. The water was shallow for a quite awhile, but was very rocky. Mike got a cheese-grater-like scrape on his heel from the coral. But overall it was a nice little place.

Us on the beach

Connor, Devin, Kathie, Mollie, Melissa, and Steve going for a ride.

Mike posing with a local who is "dressed" in a traditional Mayan costume.

Jan. 4th - Manzanillo

In size, this city was between Acapulco and Zihuatanejo. It was a nice little place. We did some shopping and the boys decided to do some deep-sea fishing with a local fisherman. The girls didn't have anything else to do, and there was room on the boat, so we all went. We saw dolphins and got to enjoy some pretty scenery...and about half of us got sea sick (including me)! I had never been out on a little boat in the ocean before and didn't know that I was going to get sick - if I had known I wouldn't have gone since I ended up barfing over the side of the boat! The fishermen gave me a slice of lime to suck on to help with the nausea - and it worked for a while. I'd never heard of using lime to help stop nausea! So, never again will I go on a small boat out in the ocean! I think everyone else enjoyed it - even if we didn't catch a big fish.

Mike enjoying the boat ride, while I was throwing up!

One of the fishermen showing a marlin lure - no hook, it's nose is rough and gets easily tangled in the string! Who would've thought?

Some of us resting in the shade after shopping.

Mike in front of a huge marlin by the Manzanillo port.