10-27-08 - Cabo

 Our first port was Cabo. I had set up a tour for us without going through the cruise ship. First time I've done a non-cruise tour, but it was great. I wanted to spend some time in the water, so Carolyn agreed to this tour and I let her pick the tours for the other 2 ports.

I chose the CHILENO and SANTA MARIA 4 hour snorkeling trip with a stop at Lover's Beach on the way. It was a zodiac tour with Ocean Riders and was $64/person---really reasonable compared to cruise ship tour prices. Getting to the tour place was an experience in itself, though. Cabo is a tender port, so we got up early and headed out to get in line. Ended up being so early that there was no line and we were put on the first tender. Once on the dock, we weren't sure where the dock was that we needed to be at, so we hired a little boat taxi to take us to the side of the port where Ocean Riders was. Beforehand I had read that the taxi ride is about $4/person, so that didn't come as a surprise. But when we were getting off at the other dock, someone came up and said we had to pay to get off there, too! The bull in me came out and I jumped off saying we aren't paying. He tried to push the boat out so Carolyn couldn't get off, but I grabbed it and pulled it back in and told her to get off. Hindesight says, "pay the $1 each !" Since then I've seen way to many episodes of "Locked up Abroad"! We ended up arriving at our tour office a couple hours early. So we decided to walk around a bit along the nearly empty port.
Anyway---we found our raft and waited for our tour.

 I enjoyed looking out over the marina as we waited.

 love all the reflections.

 Soon we were on our way and looking back at our ship.

 Finally it came time to head off on our adventure. First stop was near Lover's beach. The white rocks and bluegreen water and blue sky made for amazing viewing.  The beach is by the distinctive rock formation at the southern tip of Cabo San Lucas, which is itself the extreme southern end of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. The arch is locally known as El Arco.
 Those who wanted to were allowed to jump off the boat and swim to shore (it wasn't knee high water like some of the advertisements say, but that was ok with me since I like to swim and the water felt great). Carolyn chose to stay on board the zodiac.

 Carolyn admiring the views

 We were allowed to get out of the raft and swim to shore.  Carolyn elected to stay on board.  Good thing she did.  She's a non-swimmer and the water here was rough.

 our raft with the Oosterdam in the background.

 walking between the rocks to the other side of the formation

 contemplating.

 They said this side of the beach was called divorce beach.  I think because it's suppose to be rougher then the other side.   This is open to the  Pacific ocean.

 But it sure is beautiful.

 the rocks are really cool, too.

Then we sped our way on to Chileno Bay. At the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, Chileno Bay overlooks the shimmering Sea of Cortez from two-and-a-half miles of pristine coastline and nearly 1,260 acres of richly textured landscape. The boat anchored in the bay and many of us jumped in and snorkeled around the bay. I was expecting Santa Maria to be better for snorkeling, but this particular day Chileno Bay was quite a bit better. I would have loved to stayed even longer, but after about an hour or so we were told to reboard and headed on to Santa Maria.

 Looks like all is going well so far (later she complained about her back hurting from the bumpy ride)

 the beach at Chileno Bay.

 Carolyn had said she wanted to snorkel.  Turned out she was terrified of the water and didn't snorkel. 

 But I went out for a bit.

 large puffer.

 little blue damselfish

 the raft.

 looks like a queen angelfish, but somewhat different then the ones on the Caribbean side.

 lots of little wrasses

 lots of porcupine sea urchin

 the angelfish again.

 the beach at Santa Maria

 more boats there

 pretty calm

At Santa Maria Cove Carolyn finally decided to get off the boat and swim to shore with the aid of a snorkel mask and a noodle. I didn't find out until later that she was terrified, but I did stay close by until she made it there and came back to accompany her back to the boat. I was surprised that the charter didn't supply fins, just snorkel masks. There were fish to be seen, but they were pretty far out.

 Lots of white bar butterflyfish--some of the few fish I saw at this beach

 looks like a Caribbean grouper, but probably more like a gobbie.

 back in Cabo, we wandered around the marina

 Made our way back to the tender for the Oosterdam and made it safely back onto the ship. 

 As we sailed away, we could see these guys on the rocks. 

 Good Bye Cabo!

 Hello dessert!  Key lime pie---one of my favorite desserts.

 and strawberry shortcake

 Then we went to the Elton John tribute musician. He was excellent!

 Forget who this guy was so he must not have been as good.

 but Elton was fantastic!

 later we found this guy at the piano bar.  He was excellent, too.  We spent many nights there checking him out---at least I did.

 It was a fun day.  Although it started out iffy with the guys trying to pull a fast one over on us!   I've always been a little hesitant to go to Mexico---this didn't help that feeling!  But it looks like Cabo could be a fun place to explore.

 

10-26-08 

 Today was a sea day, so I wandered around the ship some more.

Even ate a few times!  Here was lunch in the lido---

 Then I admired more of the art around the ship.  This reminds me of some art I did in high school.

 Tea time!

 more lounges

 a lone flower arrangement (back when Hal had a lot of real flower floral arrangements!)

 We spend some time in the spa, too. 
Probably saw a show (back when HAL had their own singers and dancers).

Cabin HH 4061:

This is an obstructed oceanview cabin.  Originally we were suppose to be in an inside room, but I hate them because they're so dark and you never know what time it is (at least back then before I had a cell phone!)  My sister, on the other hand, really wanted the inside room because it is dark.  Yep, we're sisters, but don't have a lot in common!  Although we do both like to travel.  Anyway, I paid for the upgrade and she went along with it.

This was our view, but I didn't really care.  I liked that we had light.  I also liked that instead of it being a porthole or small window, it had floor to ceiling windows. 

 The room itself wasn't bad.  Along with a desk, coffee table and chair, there was also a couch. 

 As with most HAL cabins, it also had a tub.  Nice, but not a necessity for me.

 otherwise the bathroom was the usual small cruise ship bathroom.

 our comfy beds.  I took the one closest to the window.

 They do have comfortable beds.  I even brought ear plugs to block out my sister's snoring.  She seemed a bit put off by that and said I snore, too, so I offered her a pair of ear plugs, too.

Our home for the next week.  No complaints.

10-25-08  Embarkation

San Diego is a neat city to catch a cruise from.  It seems so compact and there's so much right by the port.  We spent the night at a hotel near the cruise port, but I forget the name of it right now.  Next morning, we were ready to go the mile or so to our ship. 

 even wandered around the marina a bit.

 cool place to take pictures.

 Our ship was even there!

 Didn't take long to get on board.  Then we went exploring.
I was intrigued with the simplistic design of the pool towels.

 Loved the elevator doors.

 Also LOVED the spa!  I was really wanting to get the 7 nt. pass.  They offered 2 passes for something like $250.  Carolyn wasn't as sold on the idea as I was, so I offered to pay $150.  She took that offer.  We enjoyed the spa---especially this therapeutic pool--- many times.

 I also found the decor around the ship to be interesting.  This is just one of the walls.

 Lots of interesting artwork too.

 Finally we were able to go to our room.  Had to have them come separate the bed, but the room was actually pretty roomy and comfortable.

 checking out the computer room. 

 We were sharing our cruise with a surf club!

 The pretty library (before they did away with them!)

 One of the many lounging areas.

 another

 another interesting elevator door.

 looking out over San Diego as we got ready to sail away.

A successful day 1.