Carnival Paradise Cruise - Celebrating Birthdays!

My former co-worker, Helen, and I went on the 3-Day Carnival Paradise Cruise (Long Beach to Ensenada) to celebrate our birthdays! I'm turning 40 tomorrow, and Helen celebrated her 50th-ish on the trip. It was our first cruise for both of us, and we had a great time. Lots of laughs and fun...and we were sober (unlike 90% of this party boat). I brought along Tuxedo Sam (Sanrio's awesome penguin character who is perfect because he is wearing a sailor's hat!) and he, as you can see in the photos, had a good time too. Hee hee!

During the cruise, I didn't have internet access and felt a bit of Twitter withdrawal. So, here is my post...all in 140 or less character Twitter posts that I would have sent had web access not been so bloody expensive.

• Eating on a cruise is like dining and dashing...only legally
• Our safety talk is conducted by a Northerner (England) #helenishomesick
• There ARE adequate lifeboats aboard. #notthetitanic
• It's been an hour and we haven't eaten #letsfixthat
• I need a nap. I need a snack. I need a nap. I need a snack. #cruiseissues
• Prohibition ended Dec 5, 1933. Cruise lines celebrate this day I'm sure.
• Cruising is part Frat party, part Summer camp, and part Las Vegas.

• We're eating at the bar to watch the Chelsea football game, and guys are already drinking. It's 8 am.
• Our excursion was the "Behind the Scene" tour. Met captain & crew, saw the recycling center, laundry and galley. #geekyawesomeness
• Walking the I-95 area on "Behind the Scene" tour was like being in a Discovery Channel show. #socool
• We figured out how to avoid most of the smoking areas.

• We went to the Menorah lighting ceremony. Got a dreidel and had some latkes and challah. #diversityrocks
• I worked out everyday on the jogging track...and ate everything to wipe out that progress. 
• Stairs are getting harder to go up. Must be the weight we are gaining.
• The Friends of Bill W. meeting is held in "America Bar" 8th level. #seriously
• The Captain and Officers are Italian #hothothot 

If you want to see more photos, here is my Carnival Cruise Flickr set.  - mary the food librarian

P.S. I bought myself a new point-and-shoot camera for my birthday. It is the Sony DSC-H55 and I really like it. Easy to use, pretty good in low light, automatic macro setting (when you get close up), and you can easily set the white balance (All these photos are taken with my new camera, and I mostly used the "automatic" setting).