CRUISE VIGNETTES 49, Elation

A CRUISE ON OUR 50th ANNIVERSARY
When our Golden Anniversary (50th) approached, we decided we wanted to celebrate that day on our own. We have a tradition that we celebrate each anniversary by eating in a restaurant we have never visited before. We had never been on the Carnival Cruise Lines ship, named Elation, so this cruise fit our tradition just fine.

Our wedding had taken place in a huge church with $10,000 to $15,000 (at least) worth of decorations, and we didn’t want to make a bigger deal out of this anniversary. Get that: The wedding was in a huge church, the 50th celebration was on a huge ship.

When we got married, I had gone to an US Army surplus store and paid $13 for a new khaki shirt and pants, a whole new US Army Uniform (I was on active duty). Emmy had borrowed a dress from a girl-friend at work. Lee and Whitey, two long time friends, were with us as the wittnesses.

There were a dozen busy men, some on high ladders, stringing wires, and attaching flowers throughout this church. As we approached the altar in the church, the pastor said in a loud voice, “Hey there you guys, quit hammering for a few minutes, it doesn’t hurt to use this stuff twice!” As soon as we were married, the hammering continued. We often wondered who was getting married in this same church, later that same day and had paid for all this fantastic decoration. So as you can see, we didn’t want the 50th to be more of a fuss than the wedding.

We boarded the ship in the Los Angeles harbor on May 27, sailed to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas, on the Mexican Coast, then returned to Los Angeles.

One day we docked in Mazatlan, and since we had been here before and had not been all that excited about it, we stood on deck and watched as hundreds of others left for tour bus rides, and taxi rides here and there. I then saw two church steeples in the distance, and since we have visited hundreds of churches and cathedrals during our visits in Europe, we disembarked, found a nice looking taxi and asked to be taken to the steeples. The taxi driver was thrilled that someone was interested in something other than stores and bars, so gave us quite a tour. However, while the churches were interesting (one was closed for renovation so we didn’t get inside), when we returned to our cabin on the ship, Emmy noticed that one of her hearing aids had disappeared. No big loss, so much for that.

At both Puerto Vallarta and at Ensenada we got off the ship, shop-looked around the stores and markets at the harbor, rode a taxi here and there, then back to the ship. We were on the ship for the cruise, not the shopping nor to visit ports we had visited a time or two before.

When we returned to Los Angeles daughter Linda, who had taken us to the ship, was at the harbor to meet us, and take us home.