January 22
For the first
time this trip, we awoke to the alarm at 7:45 a.m. and got ready for breakfast
in the dining room where we sat with three American couples. We have a sunny day with the high
temperatures around 29 C again. We arrived in Cabo St. Lucas at 11:25 a.m. and
for the 90 minutes before arrival, the upper decks were lined with people, on
the port side, watching the coast line and taking photos. We took advantage of
the opportunity to walk 2 km and stop to take photos. Whales were spotted
spouting and there was a group of a dozen dolphins jumping and playing around
the ship, not far from the turn into the Cabo St. Lucas harbour. We had a light snack at 11:45 then got ready
for our excursion. We were to meet our
excursion group in the Celebrity Theatre at 12:15 then have our tour sticker
issued, and wait for our tour to be called to go board the tender (small boat)
to ferry us to the pier. We were on
shore at 12:50 and had to go through a quick security check, but no passport
control or Customs checks. After getting waivers signed, the group of 36 walked
past the boardwalk shops to the bus, being led by our Mexican guide, David from
Cabo Adventures. It was a 25 minute ride
to the property. We were transferred to covered off-road Unimogs trucks that
could carry 12 passengers to take us to the 40 minute walk location to
experience the flora and fauna of this region of Mexico. We saw a 280 year old cactus that was 8
metres high and other bushes, like the acacia bush, were explained. Things looked dry, but if there was rain
within three or four days the landscape would change to green bushes and plants
would flower. There is only about 15 cm
of rain per year. Next was a drive to
the camel ride along the beach. The
camel sound was recorded for the movie Star Wars to be used as Chubaca’s voice.
We all got to pet a camel and have photos taken, then put on helmets before
mounting the double saddled camels and being led in a train of six camels along
the beach with the surf spraying a cooling mist in the 30 C degree heat. The
ride took about 20 minutes, then, it was back to the trucks to go for lunch,
about 3:20. First we went to the photo hut to view the photos of our camel trek
and decide if we wanted to buy photos or a CD of the event. The lunch had quesadillas, chicken molé,
refried beans, potato salad, beef stew, pasta salad with corn and beer or
hibiscus water. When we were finished,
we enjoyed a tasting of four different kinds of tequila before returning to
Cabo St. Lucas about 5:15. One of the couples on the excursion told us that
enjoyed watching us dance in the evenings. We walked less than five minutes to
the harbour to get a tender boat back to the ship. We changed for dinner, had one dance as we
passed through the Rendez-vous lounge on our way to dinner, and were in line at
5:55 to ensure that we got our correct table. For dinner, we chose as an
appetizer thinly sliced scallop & red pepper, followed by either a Waldorf
Salad or garden salad, then, either a veal chop with mashed potato and
asparagus or Seafood platter with scallops, squid, shrimp and mussels on rice. For
dessert we both ordered chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream. Our waiter
reminded everyone to advance their watches one hour, since Thursday we are in
the Central Time Zone. We returned to our room, write the blog & check the
newsletter for Thursday events, before going to the 9 p.m. show featuring a
vocalist. We returned through the Rendez-vous lounge to dance for
30 minutes before the band’s set ended, then went to the Crystal lounge where
the fifties theme party was in swing, then returned to room to call it a day
about 11:30.
January 21
We started
the day with breakfast in the dining room just after 8. The day was overcast with
a temperature probably in the low fifties (11 C ) with little wind. We sat with
a couple from East Anglia, England who have cruised on several different cruise
lines and have travelled a lot. Then, we went to a Trivia quiz on 12th
deck for 20 questions. Best team had 14
correct. Then wandered the ship to discover what the different decks offered.
We ate lunch in the dining room with Joyce and Bob from Ohio, then attended the
first of the Panama Canal history presentations on Sea Days. After the talk we
went up to the pool & cafeteria deck and had some fresh butter pecan ice
cream. We counted the 123 stair risers from our deck 5 to deck 12 for the
jogging/walking track, just two less than from our sixth floor hotel room to
the lobby. At 2:30 went to the music
trivia quiz, then went out on deck to see how the day was warming and found,
that the temperature was in the mid seventies, but remained overcast. We explored
a four storey stairway on an outside deck that ended at the pool deck, then
went back to our stateroom, then went to the casino before getting ready for
our first formal night of the cruise.
Got ready for the first formal night,
left to room at 5:15 to dance before dinner to the ship’s Big Band. On the way, we passed two of the photographers’
formal night stations and posed for pictures, before dancing for 20
minutes. We sat at the correct table
tonight. For dinner we chose as an
appetizer either Salmon Tartar or Chicken Live Paté, followed by either Tomato,
Watermelon and Feta cheese salad or Baby spinach salad then either Shrimp
Scampi on linguini or Beef Tenderloin with roasted potato wedges, beans &
carrots and for dessert we both ordered Apple Crumble with Tahiti vanilla ice
cream. After dinner we danced for 25 minutes to the Celebration Band before
going to main theatre for the 45 minute song & dance production of hit
songs from New York’s Broadway and London’s West End productions at 9. We
danced to a few songs that the Headliners Band played in the Rendez-vous lounge
and chatted with Helen and Zanny, then when the band took a break we left &
went to the Crystal Room to dance to the Celebration Band and sat with Lavona
& Roy and danced until the band’s set ended and then danced to some recorded
music before saying good night to Lavona & Roy about 11 and going back to
the cabin to read the newsletter with Wednesday’s activities.
January 20
We started
the day with the buffet breakfast in the hotel atrium, just after 7. The day
was sunny at 8 a.m., the temperature was 55 F (13 C ) outside with a bit of
wind, and the high is expected to be 75 F.
We left the hotel about 8:45 for our last self guided walking tour, from
our Frommers guide book, of the San Diego Waterfront – The Embarcadero. We walked
along Pacific Highway street less than 1 km, passing the Santa Fe railway &
trolley station. Then turned on Ash Street to get a street closer to the
harbour, Harbour Drive, to get to The Embarcadero esplanade, where we strolled
for 2 km passing the Maritime Museum with a fully rigged 1863 merchant sailing
ship, a 1898 steam powered ferry, a steam yacht, two submarines, a pilot boat,
an eighteenth century Royal Navy frigate and more. Also lining the pier was the
terminal for the ferry to Coronado, our ship, the Celebrity Century, the USS
Midway museum and the harbour with the tuna fishing fleet. We returned to the hotel about 10 to gather
with the group for the bus arrival at 10:30.
However, the best laid plans began to unravel, due to a scarcity of
porters who scrambled to get to our group’s entire luggage down to the lobby,
then the bus was 30 minutes late. Meanwhile, we enjoyed waiting on the benches
in front of the hotel where the sun warmed our backs and we chatted with other
group members. The scarcity of porters delayed the luggage transfer for 45
minutes, until it was decided that we locate our baggage in the collection area
and take them, ourselves, to the bus.
Then it was just a 5 minute ride to the ship’s terminal. The next hour
consisted of lining up to pass through security, then getting in line for
check-in. With ID card key and ship’s
plan in hand, we were welcomed to the ship, first having a Bon Voyage picture
taken by one of the ship’s photographers, followed at the ship’s security check
point where another photo was taken, to be used when leaving or returning to
the ship. Then we found stairs to take us to the gangway to board the ship,
where we were offered champagne. Since
the staterooms were still being cleaned, people were directed to the bars and
restaurants to wait or enjoy a lunch. It was 1:30 p.m. when we found a place to
sit down to eat lunch. Shortly after, it
was announced that the staterooms were ready and that the Lifeboat Drill would be at
3:15. We scouted the ship before going
to our muster station, which was in the Celebrity Theatre, at 3:10, where we
waited until 3:50 for the drill to begin.
The delay was due to the requirement that all passengers attend the
drill and some people still being checked-in.
At 4:05, with the drill over we returned to our stateroom to see if our
luggage had been delivered, not yet. We explored more of the ship then watched
the activities for the 4:30 departure of the ship, which was delayed by 20
minutes for a last minutes delivery of a small parcel. As the ship departed the
pier, we watched the large gangway structure being moved to a new position on
shore. As the sun set the ship sailed
through San Diego Bay out to sea. As we
approached the Pacific Ocean we noticed the small pilot boat waiting and it
slowly came along side to fetch the pilot who had guided the ship through the
bay. It was close to 5:30 when we returned to the stateroom to find the luggage
delivered. Lost track of dinner time and changed quickly to join group members
for the early dinner seating, which was at 6.
We arrived at 6:20. There was a seating mix-up and we were seated at the
table that Carol and Don were assigned.
But first day, there are usually little hiccups. We should be at our correct table
Tuesday. The rectangle table included
Helen & Zanny, three empty seats and two other couples at the far end. From
a menu of five appetizers, six soup or salads and five appetizers, we chose an appetizer
of small cubes of beet & small cubes of feta cheese, followed by either hot
Wild Mushroom broth soup or cold white grape & almond gazpacho soup then
jerk spiced chicken with brown rice & black beans or seared salmon with
mashed potato and cooked tomato & zucchini and for dessert either crème brulé
or blueberry & banana crépe.
After dinner we wandered through the shops and
casino, then went to the Crystal Room, where the Headlines 5 piece band were
playing to 5 guests in a room that can hold 150 people. The dance floor was empty, so we had it to
ourselves. The band played a rumba, cha-cha, waltz, swing and fox trot, before
we left to find seats for the 9 p.m. live show.
The Cruise Director was MC and reminded everyone to advance their
watches one hour since Tuesday we are in the Mountain Time Zone and it is a day
at sea. We returned to our room shortly after 7:30 to write the blog and
organize the 95 pictures that we took today.
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