Good afternoon, blog readers! I apologize for my slowness in moderating and responding to comments over the past ten days. We were blessed to have some vacation time, and our access to internet was limited.
Our trip started in New Orleans, and then we embarked on a five-day Carnival cruise to Mexico, paid for by my husband’s boss in place of Christmas bonuses for the employees. On our way home, we made a three-day pit stop for an early Thanksgiving meal with extended family.
Would y’all like to see some more pictures of our journey?
Anonymous
Oh a cruise sounds like a lot of fun. I would love to hear more about the cruise and the different places you visited.
Anonymous
Yes, we'd like to see more pictures! What a wonderful Christmas gift — your husband has a really nice boss to give such a great bonus! — Meg
Anonymous
I'd rather have the cash!
nashvillewife@gmail.com
He's definitely a very generous boss. ๐
Ellie
SuperJames526
Yes, please! I'd LOVE to see all the wonderful pictures from you Journey!
Anonymous
No, how can many relate to you? You are too wealthy and always on a trip. Save it for your rich friends and family.
Anonymous
Rude.
No one is requiring you to read her blog. She CLEARLY stated her husband's boss paid for the trip.
Also, "always on a trip" is a stretch to reality.
Anonymous
I agree that Ellie is getting harder to relate too, with all her travels. However, who am I to begrudge her for having money to go on numerous vacations? It's nice that she shares her travels with us.
Anonymous
Actually she has stated in several posts that she and her husband are NOT rich and that she tries to be frugal. I agree that the comment above is VERY rude.
Anonymous
I would hardly call going to family weddings always going on a trip. They have added a few vacation days around their trips to different weddings which is smart since they already had to travel. It was very nice of your husband's boss to pay for a cruise. We have been on several cruises and really enjoyed them.
Anonymous
She is not wealthy. Wants your problem that's a very rude and nasty coment.
Anonymous
Wow! Jealous much? I like hearing about Ellie's trips.
Anonymous
Being young and childless (and with an apparently generous boss) makes now a great time to travel. This is as cheap as it will ever be for them, in fact! Looking back I wish my husband and I would have had more opportunities to travel and see more places before buying a house and having kids! So if this trip was mostly paid for and the other was a family wedding, what's the issue? You take advantage of opportunities when you can because you never know when they will present themselves again!
Anonymous
Ellie, of course we want to see pictures! I would love to see what you saw in New Orleans! My daughters and I spent a few hours there on our way home, this summer, from Texas and New Mexico. Would love to go back. My oldest daughter, when she was in middle school, went to Mexico with her youth group for a missions trip. I'm glad that your boss has a generous kind heart. My boss is difficult to work for many days out of the week, but I pray God's Word over her and my co-workers cause He loves them as much as me and wants us all conformed to His image. I understand that it's difficult for people to be glad for other people's blessings because of circumstances they may be in. The trip I took with my daughters this summer came after many years of prayer. I was a single mother of 5, and I made sure, to the best of my ability, that I provided for them as I was able. We were never able to take vacations together as a family, but I could send them, individually, on school trips, etc. So I know what it feels like to have someone tell me of their blessings that I desired for myself, but I just took it to the Lord over and over again. Anyway, I'm glad for you Ellie, and looking forward to those New Orleans pictures. And one day, I would like to go on a cruise myself.
Susan
Ellie, I think that you are very kind and caring to your readers! I hope that you had a wonderful trip and certainly feel free to share your pictures!
Anonymous
Tomorrow is thanksgiving and we have heard about super saving on women's clothes black Friday and going on a vacation cruise. This year this is not the place to look for encouragement in taking on the task and any ideas on serving a meal. I could set everything aside and watch the live boat but no cruises for me.
Anonymous
They are working hard. Her husband has a great job. So why is it wrong to enjoy the good things of life before they have kids? They are young, they are in love, they can afford it, so who are you to say they are wrong?
Anonymous
I want to go to New Orleans so much!
Shela G
I would love to see pictures!! Hope you and Mr Handsome had the best time ever!! My husband and I have been on 2 Carnival Cruises together. The first one was in February 2013 on the ship that had the engine fire and was at sea for days. The next was in January 2015 which was paid for by Carnival because of what happened on the first one. The second one was awesome we had a great time. We would love to do another cruise adventure someday.
Anonymous
How did you not panic during a fire at sea?! That sounds like a nightmare. I would have told Carnival that they could keep their ship and the future cruise, just refund my money.
Shela G
Actually it was a very scary time there was absolutly moments of panic. One thing that helped greatly was the way pepole helped each other during this nightmare we were going through. Also the crew was awesome they did every thing they could for us. But the most important thing was my faith in God That he would get us safely back to land. There was a group of Christians that met every night to pray and encourage each other there was no doubt we were scared. That was a big thing to know we were not alone. Carnival did refund the cost of that cruise plus gave us extra money. As well as the free cruise. My husband and I did not plan on using the free cruise but decided maybe we should. As we were walking on to the ship I grabed my husband's hand and held on for dear life I was nervous about being at sea again. I am so glad we did go on the second cruise because I do not think it could have been more perfect. It gave God a chance to bring closure and healing From the memories of the first one. We called it our redemption cruise.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Oh wow! That ship was actually the exact ship we were on, although they apparently gutted the entire thing and remodeled. Was there ever a point where you thought you might have to get into the lifeboats?
Ellie
Shela G
Yes when the power went off I thought we would need to get on the life boats. When the emergency lights came on we headed to where we needed to be to get on the boats. We waited there a long time to find out what was going on. When they told us that the fire out but that it would be several hours before they could get into the engine room to see how much damage there was. It was very hard not knowing what was going to happen next.
Anonymous
Yes I would love to see more pictures from your trip.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Thanks! I would be very glad to share. I'll post some after thanksgiving.
Ellie
Robyn
Of course we want to see photos ๐ I've never been on a proper cruise before (only overnight on a boat just literally to get from one location to another). Were there many activities to do on the boat?
nashvillewife@gmail.com
That sounds like an adventure. There were lots of things to do. They had minigolf, a fitness center, some organized entertainment, and then of course a couple small pools and a lot of deck chairs. Our ship held about 3000 people, although I have heard that that is one of the smaller boats. That really surprised me!
Ellie
Sandra Toews
I would love to see more pictures of your trip! My husband and I went to Cancun and Chichen itza on our honeymoon 25 years ago.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Ooh, you must have been able to climb it when you were there. We weren't, unfortunately. I think they changed the rules about seven years ago.
Ellie
Anonymous
Ewww, when I hear Carnival Cruise, all I can think about is their (and other cruise companies') problems with Norovirus. Not to mention the problems they've had with mechanical problems and getting caught in bad weather, stranding or scaring the passengers, or making their cabins uninhabitable. The news has not been friendly these past years for the cruise industry. (Not much has changed…my great-grandfather was shipwrecked in the 1870's on his merchant ship.)
I feel that those types of cruises are a racket. There's no way you would put me at sea for 5 days with thousands of other people (including running, screaming kids), all managing to ruin my relaxation. That's not my idea of a good vacation. I'd rather sit on a quiet beach by myself and watch the tide go out. And the cruise ships full of germs and seasick people go by in the distance, without me!
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Lol, i'll admit that I was thinking some of the same things when we were planning our trip. Things can definitely go wrong, but we ended up having a lot of fun
Ellie
Anonymous
I dont even get a verbal "Merry Christmas" from my boss for the holiday,not a shake of hands, not a card, nothing. (sad face) I have a job but that is it. I'm so envious of people that get to do fun things for holidays on the expense of their boss, or they get money or gift cards. I can only dream about that stuff.
Anonymous
Maybe your boss doesn't celebrate Christmas or some of his/her employees don't. There's nothing wrong with keeping personal things out of the workplace, including holiday celebrations, cards, and bonuses. Bonuses in particular are getting to be a thing of the past. Before you think Scrooge, remember why you're primarily there…to work, not to party. Team building and camaraderie should have a work focus not a holiday one, especially if it's a diverse workplace.
Anonymous
My son's (huge) company doesn't acknowledge Christmas at all with its employees. They hire people from all over the world with all sorts of beliefs. Times have changed, and companies have policies in place for handling holiday observances without offending anyone. Public schools have changed, too. No mention of Christmas, just "winter."
Anonymous
You can work hard and have fun too. There's no need for everything to be so serious all the time.
Anonymous
That's sad.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Im sorry to hear that. You could bring some baked goods to spread holiday cheer among your coworkers. ๐
Ellie
Anonymous
Happy Thanksgiving! That sound so fun and cool!
I'd love to see more pictures!
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Happy Thanksgiving to you also! I will post some next week.
Ellie
Anonymous
Cruises must be packed full of germs
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Thankfully there were no outbreaks on ours, but I have heard that it does happen.
Ellie
Anonymous
It was a gift! Ellie didn't pay!
Jessica Browning
I would love to see more pictures. I always find it interesting to hear about others' trips.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Thanks, Jessica. ๐ Maybe I should write a discussion question post asking people what their dream trip would be. Now that would be an interesting conversation!
Ellie
Anonymous
I heard that some people got food poisoning on the cruise.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
I've heard that too. Thankfully it didn't happen on our cruise, and I think it's pretty rare, but it's definitely possible.
Ellie