Thanksgiving Cruise

How great is it to spend a whole week with your family? Many would say that it sounds awful, but I am lucky to be rolling with a fun crowd.  My grandmother, who passed away in the spring, wanted us all to take a trip together for the holidays.  This year for Thanksgiving, my mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, Cole, his mom, and I went on a Carnival Cruise, sponsored by my grandmother, Miss Dorothy!


If you know my dad, you know that he has a tiki obsession.  Early in their marriage, he and my mom visited family in Florida and they went to the Mai-Kai Polynesian Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale.  My whole life I have heard my dad speak of this restaurant and how cool it is and that if I ever go there, make sure to do it at night--the place looks like a carnival in the daytime.  So we all flew down a day early so we could have drinks and appetizers at the Mai Kai.



If we ever go again, we will stay for one of the fire dancer performances.  But we definitely made use of the garden area and sampling from the many cocktails available.  The video below shows the ceremonial pouring of a Kona Coffe Grog.

For the cruise, my mom had shirts made for everyone in recognition of my grandmother!  

 This is my first time staying in a room with a balcony!

 My dad had our room decked out with lovely accents

 Thanksgiving morning turkey towels

When we go on Carnival cruises, we buy the Cheers! program, which allows you 15 drinks a day. Trust me, it's more than you'd think.  It also includes sodas--which do not count against your 15 alcoholic drinks.  We had such a fabulous time and I hope we can do this again in the future!