6/08/08 Magic to Mexico

[GrumpyMom1]

Great pictures & review of Sea Life Park. Do you think our kids will be disappointed with the Encounter only? You see my son is 6 and my daugher 8. She could do the swim, but frankly she is the more skiddish one who would be afraid to do it. My son would do anything, but thinking both tours would be all in the same pool area, I knew if I had my kids doing different things, it would be "its not fair" thing, so I just booked all 4 of us for the encounter. I read one poster wrote they called and their 6 year old gs was allowed to do the sea lion swim even though he was supposed to be 8, but then they had to argue with the manager when they got there to do that. Since I didn't want that battle, I just signed us all up for the encounter. Will my 6 and 8 year olds be disappointed with that? I hope not. I'm not really sure either of them would do the swim anyway. I just never know what is going to make them nervous, but my son is definitely the more adventurous one.

I think the encounter would be great for a 6 and 8 year old. They will have a great time!

I realized as I was posting my pictures that I didn't have any of the dolphin area. We had a waterproof camera but they didn't let us take it in because the dolphins my try and take it (or at least that's what they told us). But I'm mad at myself now for not going to the observation area afterwards and taking some pictures. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to go back again.

 

[justmestace]

This is the painted tile that I got in Mazatlan. There was also a guy at the dock in PV painting and selling similar items.

I almost bought a tile in Mazatlan also, but was worried about how I'd get it home in one piece. How did you pack it?
I ended up buying a watercolor in PV.

 

[jfletcher]

We were also thinking of taking a cab to Sea Life Park, but I'm wondering about the safety of small kids in cabs. We're obviously not dragging car seats around. Riding in a big bus is one thing, but a small cab is another. How did you do it?

 

[GrumpyMom1]

I almost bought a tile in Mazatlan also, but was worried about how I'd get it home in one piece. How did you pack it?
I ended up buying a watercolor in PV.

They wrapped it in cardboard and taped it up pretty well. We put all of our souvenirs in a duffle bag (the special from the shops where you spent $60 and got the duffle bag for $20) and carried them off. Thank goodness we drove and didn't have to pack for a flight!

 

[GrumpyMom1]

We were also thinking of taking a cab to Sea Life Park, but I'm wondering about the safety of small kids in cabs. We're obviously not dragging car seats around. Riding in a big bus is one thing, but a small cab is another. How did you do it?

It wasn't until after I had booked the dolphin programs that I realized that we would be taking a taxi without a carseat. We ended up taking the cab without a carseat and just put her on our laps. I am a major carseat freak so this was hard for me but thank goodness it all worked out ok. I thought about taking one but there would have been nowhere to leave it at Sea Life Park and we didn't take the same taxi back.

 

[vossjemi]

Do the taxis have seat belts in them? My kids are 6 & 8 and could use a seatbelt in the back seat if there is one.

 

[GrumpyMom1]

Note: This is kind of a miscellaneous post. I still need to cover the food and entertainment (aka The Important Stuff) but we took so many pictures that it's taking a lot of time to get through them.

On Monday Cruise Director Brent mentioned that some people had spotted whales. Don't these people know that the whales migrate south in November and back north in February? Well, later that day DD2 and I were up on deck while DH and DD1 were at one of the adult events and sure enough, we saw whales. We saw the water spouts and their backs as they came up out of the water. A little later we were down in Beat Street at our favorite port holes and saw some more from there. We didn't get any pictures because they were too far out and by the time the camera would focus, they were gone.

We were up on deck on Tuesday morning as we approached Cabo and DH noticed that there were rays of some sort in the water. Big ones and not just one or two, but a whole bunch of them.

On Tuesday evening after leaving Cabo we decided not to go to the show. The baby had slept through dinner and was still asleep so we went to deck 4 to watch the sunset. It was a beautiful sunset which was enhanced by the dolphins swimming alongside the ship and jumping out of the water. This was definitely one of the most magical moments on our cruise.

 

[ayumac]

This is the painted tile that I got in Mazatlan. There was also a guy at the dock in PV painting and selling similar items.

Dear Sheila,
Sorry for the late THANKS! about your camera. Your pictures are just so beautiful. It must not only be the camera, but your skills, too. Wonderful stories, also. Lastly, what a great found, I mean about the painted tile. They are just perfect for the memories. I LOOOOVE tiles. Mexico = beautiful tiles, I totally forgot about that fact. I will try not to forget to look for THAT guy in both Maz and PV on my trip .

Thanks for sharing your experiences.