Cartagena

Our first port of call was Cartagena, Spain. Turns out there is a massively popular Cartagena, Colombia that this places gets mixed up with often for tourists. How odd that someone mistakes a place in Europe for a place in South American. Whatever. Clearly we need to work on geographic education worldwide. 

We did not know what to expect of Cartagena. We do not like to book excursions through the ship because they're 1. Overpriced 2. Dorky. We just disembarked and walked into the little town. Luckily they had a Burger King with free Wifi so Jackson got a coke and I got my internet fix. Ha! I like to check in with my Mom whenever I'm across the planet so she knows I'm ok. The time difference meant she was generally waking up to my check in messages. After sufficient surfing time, we headed off to explore. 

It was a pleasantly warm afternoon so Jackson decided we should climb to the highest point in the city. He does these things to me on the regular. When will I learn not to follow him around?! We took what I called the "poor man's tour" of Cartagena's ruins. We don't like to pay entrance fees because we buzz through places quickly (Listen, I don't vacation to win Jeopardy later on. I don't need to know every little thing about places and their history.) so we always feel ripped off. We climbed the hill instead of taking the elevator as the girls did. They entered the places. We didn't. To each their own. We spent hours just meandering around the city soaking it all in. We really enjoyed the little town. It didn't feel like just a cruise port. Once we'd had enough of exploring and one more quick hit of internet access, we hopped back onto the boat and hit up the adult pool. This was the other advantage to this cruise: the adult pool. YES!!! It was such an upgrade from having to swim in toddler pee. I even got a piña colada to sip on while I read my book. It was lovely. Part of the cruise package Susan booked included a bonus, non-refundable $400 onboard credit per room so Jackson and I each had $200 loaded on our cards to use on whatever we wanted. This made the idea of a $9 piña much more appealing. 

Gorgeous

The elevator we weren't allowed to take- ha!

Our boat in the background

Cartagena

Naturally Jackson had to look at the sailboats

They weren't open to let me see if they were anything close to
Marion's Pizza Kings (which are the best. Poo on Hartford City.)

Now THIS is the life.

That evening we all got cleaned up and went to dinner together. It was quite good, but far too formal for my liking. I'll place my own napkin in my lap, thank you kindly. The best thing about dining onboard is that it is all included so you can take risks without being afraid of wasting money. There was even a mixup so Grace got THREE desserts. She was not upset about it. HA! 

We decided to see the onboard entertainment that evening which was Cheaza, Remembering a Legend: A Tribute to Whitney Houston. You guys, it was awesome. I was dancing in my seat like a madwoman. I kind of forgot how much I loved Whitney's music. Jackson enjoyed laughing at me. All was well in the world. We retired to our stateroom after that to rest of up for climbing the Rock of Gibraltar the next morning. 

3 desserts? OK!

Getting excited for the show

YES!

My handsome date for the evening