The Cruisin' Life

A few months ago one of our good friends decided she was no longer in love with the Sonoma, CA wedding she had been planning for the past six months. She wanted to do something fun and outside the box and make a weekend long celebration for her friends and family. A radio advertisement for Carnival Cruise Lines caught her attention and before she knew it, she had crossed out "Sonoma, CA" on her Save the Dates and replaced it with "We're going on a cruise!"

She asked us to tag along with her and her fiance on a trial run of the cruise to help with the logistics of planning a cruise wedding in Mexico. Next thing we knew, we were on the Carnival Fun Ship, Paradise, in route to Ensenada, Mexico.

We decided that getting married on the boat was less than ideal so we toured around Ensenada the day we were docked to look at potential wedding venues. Out of four lovely venues, they decided on a beautiful hotel overlooking the beach. Guests would be shuttled from the ship to the hotel for the wedding and reception and then taken back to the ship to continue the celebration. The perfect situation.

Things we learned about the cruisin' life:
-24 hour soft serve ice cream is heaven on earth
-Having a windowless room is bizarre but ok since you don't spend any time there
-Talking on your cell phone while at sea costs $2.50/minute but if you sweet talk AT&T they will reduce your bill
-You will walk a lot getting to different areas of the ship...but not enough to counteract the effects of the buffet
-Bingo is a rip off
-Alcohol is expensive on the ship so bring your own in your suitcase. They don't search it!
-There are different dress codes for different nights. "Cruise Elegant" for example means every woman over 50 wears 10 pounds of sequins. We had major outfit envy.