I woke up a bit before 7am, and went up to Topsiders and loaded a tray of food for DW and DD and took it back to the stateroom. We ate and got down to the Buena Vista theater at 7:30am, which is when they start giving out tender tickets to go ashore. If you aren't on a
DCL tour, you gotta go get a ticket and go when your number is called. There weren't many of us at 7:30am, so we all went off on the first tender together.
Got to shore a bit before 8am. I thought the ride was smooth and uneventful, but I don't think I'm a good judge. I seem to be immune to rough seas. Several folks aboard have commented that they feel the seas more than they have on east coast trips. Seems like I've seen a bit more patches and wristbands this trip. However, I don't think the seas have even approached moderate...I've had a night or two in the past where things were really tossing, and we've had nothing like that yet. The weather has been generally warm and nice. Today was fabulously sunny; not a cloud in sight, Mr. Blue Sky was talking to us (love that song!).
Anyway, DW had to hook up with her guide for a bird trip, and I needed cash for parasailing, so we headed out early. We didn't bring any checks and I was surprised guest services would not give us an advance on our ship account. About two blocks into town we found an HSVC (whatever that stands for) ATM that dispenses dollars. Then we walked back to the dock because that's where all the vendors were. There were lots of them, but I found them far less pushy than elsewhere. They offered snorkeling, parasailing, jet skis, fishing, you name it. DD and I headed out for some parasailing. We did a tandem run. I tipped the boat guys $20 in advance and they left us up there forever. Drove around the island and gave us the royal tour when we got down. There's a sea lion colony near the great arch. Beautiful scenery. Then I sent DD up by herself (no, she's not spoiled). We had an 11am snorkel/sail cruise set up with Shoretrips, but we still had time to kill, so I rented a jet ski for a half hour. We had a great time wave running, and wake hopping. I circled the Magic! At a respectful distance, the rental dude said that if you got too close to the ship that the WOULD arrest yout. We also went back and took another look at the sea lions.
We got done jet skiing and the water taxi took us back to the dock. We got there just minutes before our sailing cruise took off. Oops, left our flip flops back on the beach. We asked if they could bring them back and we'd pick them up later. DD got hers, but I didn't get mine, so I had to hot foot it back to the ship at the end of the day. Actually, the white tiles stay pretty cool, so I didn't suffer too bad. I'm gonna miss those $5
Walmart flip flops; they had been very good to me.
Our snorkel cruise was to Santa Maria island. It took about an hour to get there. Very pretty scenery along the way. We saw a few sea lions and one menke (sp?) whale. We snorkeled and played in the water for about 90 minutes. Plenty of fish to see. I've seen better in Hawaii and Cayman, but this wasn't bad. We did see the biggest single school we've every seen...literally thousands in one school. We went out against the wind by motor, and came back via sail. The boat was a catamaran so the sail back was spirited and fun. A bit bouncy with the odd wave breaking over the front. The kids on board laid out front on the webbing and got sprayed. They served fresh ceviche, salsa and guacamole that was all dynamite. Plus, sodas, water and beer. Add good tunes and we had a pleasant ride back. As they neared the harbor, they cruised the island shoreline very closely, so we could get some really good pics of the shoreline, arch, and rock formations. All in all, a very nice cruise. As I said, this excursion was with Shoretrips, but the operator was actually Pez Gato. There were plenty of ships making this run, so there are lots of other operators to choose from too.
We got back ashore at 3:15 and the last tender was 3:30pm. DW was getting nervous, but I knew they wouldn't get everyone aboard till well after 4pm. We waited less that 5 minutes to catch a tender and had an uneventful ride back to the ship. I recall standing in the line from hell for a tender at GC, and there was none of that today. Things might have gotten bad at other times, but they were running LOTS of tenders. I know, because we saw them going back and forth while we were on the waverunner. They have nice big wakes to jump!
So, back aboard we showered and changed and caught the 4:30pm Disney Dreams show. Still awesome. The young lady singing the Circle of Life was outstanding --- that's my favorite part. Still a fantastic show. With Twice Charmed and Golden Mickeys, DCL is kickin' butt with their shows. I wish they'd dump some of the variety stuff and add Herc too, we still like that one.
DD and I watched A Lot Like Love in the theater at 6pm, then the whole family caught the juggler act in Rockin R at 7:45. Lots of fun.
We had dinner in PC, complete with Chocolate Lava Cake which gives the Palo Souffle a run for its money. I recommend it with a cold glass of milk.
At 10pm they had singing and dancing in the Atrium for a big party atmosphere, then dropped a ton of balloons. I was too tired to be very festive, but DD did good for the both of us. DW had already retired.
The husband of the lady we rode horses with yesterday went fishing at Mazatlan and again today at Cabo. He landed 3 big ones in Mazatlan, and I don't know how he did today. I'll catch up with him tomorrow and get details for those fishermen out there.
Our tablemates took no tour today, they just caught a water taxi to the main beach. I don't know it's name, but there's one very long stretch of beach with watertoys galour. They had a fabulous day playing in the water and parasailing.
By the way, the water is a good 10 degrees cooler in Cabo. It was cool when you first got in, but it was such a hot day that it was refreshing. We were never cold. However, if you ever caught a windy cloudy day, you might easily get cold, so be prepared. Today, however, it was HOT, so the water was grand, grand, grand. And, so clear and pretty. Visibility down to 30 feet or more easily.
So, I think I'm out of news for now. Melinda, glad you got your coloring books. I learned that they only have generic books, not a "cruise" coloring book, but was prepared to purchase for you...and still can if you want more. We get an hour back on the clock tonight so we get to sleep in AND have a sea day tomorrow...you gotta love that. That's 4 time changes. We only got messed up once when I woke up and thought we were late, but it was just me.
I'm gonna take a stroll around deck 10 and turn in. Send questions if you got 'em. See ya tomorrow.
