#13 Saturday 12/20

San Diego - Drive Home

 

            After a good night’s sleep, we woke up at 5:00 am to do final packing of our carry-on (backpacks,). Last night, the rocking of the ship in turbulent seas was enough to keep us asleep. Our last breakfast before disembarking was at 6:30 am at the buffet.  

Since our main luggage was set out last night, minimal packing was required this morning. We waited comfortably in our stateroom until our color “Lime 1” was called over the PA about 8:30 am.

The cold 51F air and wind hit us in the face! For almost two weeks we were in 82F to 86F weather with 50% humidity. This cold dry air surprised us!

No one checked for passports at the port; it was all facial recognition. No one checked our luggage tags either. We zoomed right through to the street. We texted the parking facility storing our car; they picked up almost immediately.

            We were in our car pulling out of the driveway at about 9:10am. It couldn’t have been faster or easier; it was just plain seamless!

            The traffic was very good; there were no traffic tie-ups whatsoever. We had lunch at home and began the arduous task of unpacking and (of course,) laundry!

 

 

 #12 Friday 12/19

At Sea - Voyage to San Diego

 

Our last day at sea was foggy, cold and breezy. The seas were calm when we woke, but the breeze picked up and the sea swells increased.  After breakfast at the buffet, we went down to Deck 1 to get our colored baggage tags for disembarking.  After a communications snafu with the staff, we got our lime green tags. 

Afterward we took brisk lap around the ship (a bit unsteady with the ship pitching and swaying a bit in the swells.) Back up to our stateroom to get our library books and returned them to the ship’s library. Back outside, we completed the remaining two laps around the ship (for a total of 1 mile) and headed up to the Crow’s Nest on Deck 11 for relaxation.

While relaxing on our veranda we entered fog bank. It was interesting since the sun was shining.

We then heading down to the World Stage and a presentation on the history of Mexican arts and handicrafts. The presentation was slick and professional, though the host’s droning voice put us both to sleep about halfway through. However, we learned that many cultures contributed to the art of Mexico and found that the design of Mexican tile was influenced by Spanish ceramic tiles which, in turn, were influenced by the tiles of the Islamic invaders of Spain. Who knew? The presentation finished around lunchtime.  After lunch we went back to our stateroom and started packing since we were docking in San Diego early tomorrow.

At Dinner, the Staff of chefs, waiters and hostesses came through the main dining room singing a farewell song in Indonesian. 

Following dinner, we walked to the other end of the ship (the bow) for the farewell performance of the ship’s performers “Feel the Beat,” a musical dancing and singing farewell show! 

They did everything from showtunes to Taylor Swift. The dance numbers were very well done.

What a last day!  Back to our stateroom for final packing before we put our luggage out in the passageway for pickup.  All in all, a great cruise. 

 

#11 Thursday 12/18

Cabo San Lucas, BC Mexico

            Cabo San Lucas was our final port before sailing back to San Diego.

We slept late! Finally, we made it to breakfast in the dining room at 8:30. Had fun talking to three people about everything and everyone. Left the dining room at 10:30 headed for our walk/job around the ship. 

Cabo San Lucas is not the way we remember it. It has grown in the last 10 years. It looked very commercial and industrialized since last time. We decided not to get off the ship.

         Instead, we went to the Crow’s Nest and had interesting conversations with the two people sitting on either side. It was nice to sit, enjoy the view and just talk to other guests. Lunch was at the buffet where a couple from Oregon sat with us. He was an ex-boxer and retired army veteran. She was quiet and reserved.

          It was time to dress for an elegant evening of dinner and show.

Dinner in the main dining room was great, always sharing a table with strangers that become friends. 

Following dinner, we went to the World Stage for a show with comedian, Warren B. Hall. We heard mixed reviews from a few people, but we thought he was funny and rather clever. We liked him, we laughed a lot and applauded.

            Tonight was the Chocolate Event, but we decided not to go. We don’t need any more chocolate today or any time soon.     

            By 8:30 continued reading the books we checked out from the library on board.  Janet picked a C.J. Box book DARK SKY a Joe Pickett Novel. Bill picked a Clive Cussler book THE DEVIL’S SEA. 

  

Tomorrow will be our last day on the cruise. We will miss it; it has been a great cruise and very comfortable. We learned to pace ourselves which worked out well. 

  

          

 #10 Wednesday 12/17

La Paz, BC Mexico

  

We docked La Paz, Baja California del Sur this morning. The desert landscape is fascinating, but the actual city of La Paz is 12 miles away. We opted to stay on board as the bus ride to town would have taken 45 minutes one way at $10 round trip. The morning sun heated up the desert area quickly.

Following breakfast, we walked the promenade until we ran into the maintenance crew painting, swabbing the decks causing us to dodge water dripping from ship’s tenders over our heads, getting everything and everyone wet that walked under them.

We cut our walk short by 1/3 mile and headed up to the fitness center.. We got a good 40-minute workout.

A High Tea was served in the main dining room. We were served by waiters with WHITE GLOVES! We never experienced that onboard a cruise before! Not only was Tea lovely, it was delicious with many choices for a tasty time.

Afterward we changed and went to the pool for a swim, a soak in the whirlpool tub and relaxation on the Lido Deck. We read the novels we’d checked out. Because we were docked, several flies found their way to the poolside and were real pests.

Bill got a table for lunch at the buffet. Afterward, we went back to our stateroom to enjoy an afternoon of watching the ocean from our veranda.

 

 

 

 

 

 #9 Tuesday 12/16

Loreto

We woke early to catch an 8:30 tender (launch) to the city for our walking tour. The weather was 82F, Humidity 40% with a soft breeze. The tender was interesting, enclosed with plenty of seating.

            We took a long walk down Ave Juan Maria de Salvatierra from the pier to the main drag in the city. Our guide picked us up and started the tour. The town reminded us of Santa Catalina Island, which is very quaint, small and beautifully situated on the coast. Loreto’s old church and the mission were originally built in the 1600s. The old town is made of cobble stone streets. The two-and-a-half-hour tour was nice, but a bit much for a short period of time. We bailed about 20 minutes before our guide ended the tour because we were hungry, thirsty and downright bored! 

            Our walk back to the pier was through a flea market. We bought our Christmas tree ornament, a purse for Jenny, key chain for Jo and a lovely copper sculpture of a tree with pearls on it. On our way back to the ship, we were stopped by many people commenting on our copper/pearl tree!

There were many Pelicans in the bay fighting over fish. I was interesting that if one pelican was sitting, waiting to catch a fish, another would swoop down and sit on the first pelican’s head causing the first pelican to fly away.
We noticed also that the trees were unusually trimmed, tiered from the top in 2 tiers below. Amazing!
We got back to the ship via tender at 11:30. Went to lunch in buffet. We ate a lot, both of us!

The class on Calligraphy was very nice, relaxing and enlightening for Janet.

Bill really enjoyed it and was excited to take the class. Both of us did rather well!

It was 6:30 by time we finished with the dining room and headed for poolside to relax and wait for the show at 8:00. It was very nice they moved the lounge chairs and had white clothed tables with small light on them. It was dark of course and very relaxing. The sky was full of stars, warm and soft breeze. Janet wanted a snack and came back with sauteed asparagus, and an order of fries delivered to our table. The show Gaby Plays was very nice. We saw her yesterday and enjoyed her very much. She had a lovely voice and played the guitar very well.

We had a full day!