Our last two days…sigh. I swear the first few days go by slowly and then BAM! It’s the end. We were at sea on Thursday and then at Great Stirrup Cay (NCL’s private Island) on Friday morning.
Our day at sea we actually found ourselves some lounge chairs. Were they by the pool, no. Were they three levels up in the middle of fifty chairs? Yes….But we had a place to call home base. We made nice with our neighbors and then decided we were going to go to a wine tasting.
Wine tasting
We had the best time. Turns out we know a little about oenology. Some called us “teachers pets” which just made the experience that more fun.
So, we didn’t leave after that, we stayed for another wine tasting.
Blind tasting along with some macaron’s. We were swapping wines and cookies with are table mates, taking the ones they didn’t love and vice versa.
The next morning we were in the Bahamas. A little island that a big company owns. Great Stirrup Cay.
This was the only stop that we tendered into. With that, it’s one beach and first come first serve.
You can’t just get onto the Tender because you are first in line. You have to have an excursion or a ticket…something.
I read about this before our trip and was prepared. On our first sea day, I went to the excursion desk. I rented us an umbrella and two chairs on Great Stirrup Cay. That got us a first class ticket off the ship and on the first tender/ biggest tender ever.
You guys, I am not kidding when I say that the island was empty when we arrived. The beaches were newly combed, not a footprint in sight and two hours later, the place was packed. If you take any advice from our trip, let it be that. Especially if you want a chair by the water.
We got some nice chairs by the blue water. We drank some drinks, duh. Then we went and played some corn hole. We meandered around the small island and some shops. We shortly contemplated walking to the other side of the island. However, we weren’t sure how far the other side was (the view was sand and trees). We decided against it, we didn’t want to waste our day lost on a hot island.
We spent the afternoon in the water. I took out a paddle board for awhile, we swam, we ate and we just soaked it all up. This was our last stop and we weren’t ready to go home.
But sadly, that was it. That’s the end. It was a great trip, a little too crowded. A little to0 long of lines for dinner and drinks, BUT at least it wasn’t full of college students . That was bad.
Cruises are still our favorite way to travel. And I most definitely want to go stay on St. Thomas or Tortola or both in the future.
One day, you will find me on one of these beaches. I will be the one with the beach bar renting out water toys. Follow the music.
Not unlike St. Thomas, the Tortola port was also semi closed off and vans were the only taxi options. But, we didn’t venture out so please don’t take my word for it.
We went to Cane Garden Beach on the north side of Tortola.
It was everything I wanted it to be.
We found some chairs to keep, we pulled them into the lapping waves and just soaked up the sun.
There isn’t an exciting story about people we met or the amazing sea life we saw. It was just the best day on an amazing beach.
That is all we did. When the time came to leave I was heartbroken.
I vow to return to that beach.
This time our cruise entertainment wasn’t as exciting as the last one. Maybe because this cruise was packed. Either way, we stuck to drinks in the lounge and karaoke for our nightly entertainment.
Our plan for the day was to take a taxi to Magen’s Bay. Getting around from the port was super easy and reliable. The only downside was the taxis were vans and they waited until they had a car full of people before we left. Once we hit the roads, it made sense. It was a long winding drive but so beautiful.
Once we reached the beach we all piled out of the taxi and found someone to rent beach chairs from.
We had to pay for two lounge chairs, I think it was only 25 dollars. Once we settled in we made our way up to Fairchild’s Bar and Grill. It was crowded and lines were long. I guess that’s what we get for going to a popular place.
We don’t have many pictures of our time here and let me tell you why.
We were sitting next to a couple who was on another NCL cruise, the Outlaw Country cruise. {we will call them Carol and Bud.} I asked about their cruise and who was playing on board. I am a country music fan. I didn’t know anyone they mentioned. I guess “outlaw” means someting else. But now we were talking to them for our entire stay at the beach.
The time came for a drink refill so Carol and I went and stood in the long line for rum drinks. While we were waiting she told me that she had been in prison. “Oh, really? I asked. Then she said she’s been out for a few years. She is a whole new person. I mean obviously she is. So, I asked her what she was in for. You guys… She tells me this story. She was arrested in an Oklahoma casino. At the time, she had 40 packs of Sudafed stuffed inside her boots. She told the cops that she “had a cold”…Somehow she ran from them and was on the run for months. I am not kidding you. She told me how she would go to estate sales while evading law enforcement. She’d buy furniture without having a place to put it. Eventually she was caught after a shoot out and a car crash, I mean, of course. HAhahaaa…
She talked about how amazing prison was for her..blah blah blah. She said that she met the man she was now with (Bud ) while incarcerated, (that is another story) That makes sense right? Long story shorter, she got out early for good behavior and made her way to him. Now here they were.
We spent the afternoon drinking, swimming and chatting. They were fun, it was like watching a train wreck happen in real time. But as the day went on, their story changed. They spoke about being clean after their prison stints. They mentioned that they never wanted to end up in prison again. Her loose lips admitted that she keistered some Molley onto their cruise. She didn’t tell him because he has a guilty face.
Good times you guys, good times.
Before we new it, our alarm went off and it was time to head back to our ship.
We shared the taxi with them. These pictures should show you how we were SO glad that they weren’t on our cruise!
Once we poured out of the taxi , we said “Ok Bye” to our friends.
Then we had one more rum drink before getting on our ship.
After dinner we went to the lounge to watch Karaoke.
I took videos but I’ll spare you. It was basically the same people each night. We all sound good on vacation, right?
We decided on a Caribbean cruise for my birthday this year. One week in paradise with warm water and beautiful beaches. This itinerary had us leaving out of Port Canaveral Florida on my birthday stopping in the Dominican Republic, St. Thomas, Tortola and the Bahamas.
Our flight left San Diego late on a Friday night and we arrived in Orlando before 6 am.
We got some coffee and charged our phones while we waited for our ride.
We arranged a transfer from the airport to the port for 9:00 a.m and were at Port Canaveral before 10:00. Unfortunately the previous cruise arrived late {or passengers weren’t disembarking} whatever the truth was, our boarding was behind schedule.
Alas, we were making our way onboard. Our rooms weren’t ready so we headed straight to the pool deck we went.
We sat and people watched. Sang along, more people watching, made friends and then found our room to unpack and shower. We had a nice dinner in one of the two main dining rooms followed by espresso martinis and music.
Day two was at sea which meant we slept in. The only downside to that was the pool decks were packed. This cruise was full which we weren’t used to. There were lines and limited seating for most everything. So instead of sitting poolside we decided on wine and chocolate tasting.
Followed by a night of dueling pianos.
Our cabin at the end of the night.
Our cabin stewardess was the BEST!
The next morning we woke up in Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. Our plan was to take a taxi to Umbrella Street and Costambar Beach.
Can we talk about the port though?
It took us a good 30 minutes to walk through the port of Taino Bay. I mean it was beautiful and full of things to do, see, drink, eat and swim in…but WTF. Half of an hour just to get to public transportation.
Once we got in a taxi and made it to our first stop. He didn’t just let us out, he parked and walked with us to Umbrella street. Actually, he took these photos for us.
He suggested that we go to Playa Dorado instead, because “Costambar is too quiet”. Stupid me said OK because Playa Dorado was also on our optional to-do list.
We pull up to a beach and a little bazaar. Our taxi driver was greeted by buddies whom walked along side us through a maze of bright sarongs, t-shirts, hand-made ceramics and then to the beach.
It’s fine, we thought…We are where we want to be.
Sun, monkeys and calamari…. I mean what is better than that?
We swam and soaked up the sun until our time was up. Then we bought shit we didn’t need before our taxi driver took us back to the port.
We ended the night with a nice dinner and listening to music, our favorite hobby.
We woke up eager to get off the ship. Shawna had some anxiety leading up to her big day so we wanted to make it the best birthday ever.
We still weren’t sure what or where we were going that day because being in a brand new place is just the best so it all sounds fun! I have family that has lived on the little island of Roatan for years but unfortunately they were on the mainland during our visit. However ,we were encouraged to try Roatan’s famous Monkey La La’s.
We wandered off the ship and through the port, taking it all in.
When what do you know….
We took this as a sign and stopped for a drink.
These were very good. I think they are made with Kahlua, Bailey’s, vodka, creme de coco and condensed milk blended with ice, or something like that. Filling and sneaky.
Still not exactly sure on our plans moving forward, we walked outside to see about a taxi. This is where they are all waiting, the taxi’s, tour companies aka everyone wanting your money. We ended up walking with a man who called himself Dusty, explaining to him that we wanted a place where we could park ourselves for the day, eat and swim and be picked up when we were done. We walked, he talked and before we knew it stumbled upon were lead to a little place on the water called Aqua Bar.
We popped in so we could figure out our life and Dusty sat down with us. I was wondering if he was going to be with us all day. He told us about growing up on this small island and that his moms house was right next door this this bar we were at, of course it was. When we decided that he most likely wasn’t going to have us murdered we set out on our day, but not before popping by his moms house. She was out front of her cute yellow house selling a few souvenirs, shirts, sarongs and some homemade elixers.
She told us about how she made these concoctions during the pandemic and everyone who drank them never caught Covid, or that is how the story went. We went ahead and bought a small bottle to try but decided to wait until we were back in the safety of our house to try that risky little game.
{So…. it’s gross, tastes like gasoline blended with a hamburger.}
Dusty had called us a ride to take us to Sundowners in the West End. A beach front bar with beautiful views of the bay with a super laid back vibe. We staked out a prime spot on the beach and then headed to the bar.
Margaritas and Mojitos were made while I met the local bar cat.
Then straight to the water.
We met a lot of expats who were there for repeat vacations or diving trips and they all had nothing but great things to say about this little island.
We swam and talked the day away.
Then just like all great days the time flew by and before we knew it we were piling into our ride and headed back to the ship.
We never once felt unsafe being in Roatan, just putting that out there.
When we reached our room, her birthday cake was waiting.
Congratulations on turning another year older, ha.
We cleaned ourselves up and made our way to dinner. We had a very good meal at Le Bistro the ships French restaurant.
That night was 90’s night which I was super excited about but the 80’s music turned out to be a little more more fun.
The reason we chose this cruise was because of the itinerary. NOLA to Cozumel, Roatan, Belize and Costa Maya. I know right? NCL really does the have best deals, what they lack in certain areas they make up for on their price tag.
We woke up in Cozumel and as soon as we stepped off the ship we were in heaven. The weather was perfect, the water blue and before we knew it we were hopping in a taxi to go eat on the beach.
I read all about the all-inclusive beach clubs and we decided against it not wanting to commit to one place our first time there. However, looking back, I think that is a good way to go. There isn’t much to do in Cozumel unless you are doing a certain excursion or renting a car. So if eating, drinking and swimming is what you want to do, then head to Mr. Sancho’s or one of the other popular places.
We started at Albertos Beach bar and we had the place to ourselves. We ordered fresh caught seafood and margaritas and we were in a happy place.
When we were ready to mosey on, we had our waiter call us a taxi. We were on the southern part of the island so we decided to head closer to the port.
Money Bar beach club.
This place was very nice, reminiscent of Europe. Located on a reef, lounge chairs are above with stairs to take you down to the clear and warm water. And they made delicious espresso martinis.
When the time came to head back to the ship we made one last pit stop. Welcome to Miami is right across the street from the port. A small hole in the wall bar with a Captain Jack Sparrow character stumbling around out front which in itself was strange, but who am I to judge? We stopped in for one more drink.
Once we were back on the ship and clean, we went for dinner. Then, yep you guessed it, back to Syd’s Pour House. We took turns waiting in line and grabbing drinks at Malting’s whiskey bar which was located right outside Syd’s. After the show we wentto pool deck for an 80’s party.
This pool deck was supposed to be adults only but that rule was lenient. I also tend think all young people are 14 years old when they are in fact, legal drinking age and that saddens me. There were a lot of those around this cruise, dancing to music that came out before they were born, sigh.
We ended each night at O’sheehan’s bar and grill. A pub that’s open 24 hours a day and a perfect spot for late night snacks before bed. The pub also had two pool tables but those were being run by professional 14 year old billiard players, or so they thought.
They next day was Shawna’s 50th and we woke up in Roatan.
Packing for a vacation is one my most favorite past times.
Remember when I said we most likely wouldn’t cruise Norwegian Cruise Lines again? Lies, sorry. We took another Norwegian cruise for Shawna’s 50th birthday. But, this ship was bigger than our last one, and checked all of our boxes in terms of on board entertainment and ports. You guys, this trip was amazing!
We were at the airport early because we must make sure the gate is where its supposed to be and then we hit the bar for the obligatory pre flight spicy bloody.
We were on our way to New Orleans which was a first for us. Once we dropped our bags in our hotel room, we hit the ground running. We only had one night to get it all done. We walked along the river and straight into town for dinner.
We had gator, oysters and delicious cocktails. Then we strolled our way to Bourbon street .
We people watched, bar hopped, and listened to all the music. We ended with a nightcap at our hotel bar and then to bed.
Our transfer to the port was included in our package and was effortless. Our time to “check-in” on the ship wasn’t until 2:00 but we just went ahead and got in line right when we got to the port at noon.
I probably shouldn’t spill the tea but you guys, we walked right on (knocks wood for next time). Our cabin wasn’t ready but that wasn’t a big deal because we took our asses straight to the pool deck and made ourselves at home.
This ship was very different from our first rodeo with Norwegian. There was a lot of everything, people, bars, entertainment, people…Once our cabin was ready we went back and got ready for the evening. We had a small dinner in one of the smaller dining rooms but since there was a short wait we sat at the adjacent bar and ordered ourselves an espresso martini. This is where we learned that one can’t just order an espresso martini anywhere, those were only available at the martini bar, so we had something sort of like it, but not as good.
So many options on evening entertainment but we chose The Pour House the first night and every night after. This was a group of four singers with their band that just blew us away, they were so much fun. All of this while we sailed down the Mississippi river.
Day 2 was a sea day which meant a pool day.
This is when it really sank in that we were on a cruise with a lot of people and kids who were on their spring break. Lesson learned, no cruising in March.
The pool was packed but we still had a great time. We met so many fun people, a lot who were on this cruise for their second time, that was good sign.
Dinner, I am sure we had it. I will still stand by the fact that the food on Norwegian’s dining room is just O.K. nothing spectacular. After dinner, you guessed it, back to the Pour House. This time we were in line early. Yes, I said “in line” that’s how packed this ship was. If we wanted a seat we had to get there super early. But this night was important because they were doing a Fleetwood Mac tribute.
We woke up Tuesday morning to a Royal Caribbean ship docking right next to us in Puerto Vallarta.
Our plan for the day was to get to Los Muertos beach, eat lunch and lay in the sun.
We walked around until we found a place that had some open chairs on the sand and that place ended up being Burros Bar.
We ordered margaritas, I had a Cadillac and my babe got the mango, and apparently it was two for one.
For food we ordered the shrimp aguachile to share, a shrimp quesadilla and a shrimp burrito. Her burrito was the best and I really wish had ordered the snapper, food regrets are the worst.
After lunch we walked down to the beach and laid out for awhile.
After a couple of hours we found ourselves ready to head back to the ship where we could lay by the pool and the drinks were already paid for.
We stopped for some ice cream at one of the ports shops, dropped our stuff in our cabin and situated ourselves by the pool.
Before heading back to our room we watched the Royal Caribbean ship depart port.
After dinner we decided to watch a show called “Rock you Tonight” It was bad, if we were watching a high school performance then it would have been pretty good, but for cruise ship entertainment it was really not good. The entertainment in general was poor. I ended the night not feeling very hot so we went back to the room and said goodnight to Tuesday.
Wednesday was Mazatlan and sadly we were only there from 7:00 to 2:00. We got off the ship around 9:00, took a cab to a beach somewhere, and then we just walked until we found a man who offered us a couple of lounge chairs for a small fee.
As we were lounging in the sun wishing for a drink, a man with a menu appeared. He claimed that him and his mom were from Cabo and that they are making drinks in the alley. Shawna and I glanced at each other questionably and then said “ok, why not?”. My babe was braver than me and she ordered a very large mango margarita…..I ordered a Tecaté, playing it like a wuss. Her drink was really good and once again I had a drink regret because the nice man never came back, sigh.
We had an alarm set to make sure we allowed time for lunch.
We walked back down the beach until we hit Joe’s Oyster bar and popped in there.
Once again we ordered ceviche and shrimp tacos.
The shrimp in the tacos were fried, and they were SO DELICIOUS!
Our time was up so we went back to the ship and to the pool which was already crowded. We spent the afternoon swimming, drinking and meeting new people.
We took that night off, brought dinner down to our room and just watched a couple of movies. Oh, I forgot to mention the food at the buffet. It was set up by different stations, salad, pizza, entrees, desserts etc. But every day one side of the entree station had four or five Indian dishes, plus condiments such as chutney and raita. You guys, it was the best thing on the ship. Every dish, each day was phenomenal. Anyhow, that is what I had dinner that night.
And just like that it was Thursday which was our last day at sea. When we woke up we were rocking and rolling, we peeked out our window and this is what we saw….
Obviously, we wouldn’t be outside so we looked at the daily schedule of events to try and plan an inside day. Norwegian didn’t have as many fun ‘at sea’ activities as Holland America did. I am not sure if it was the actual games, the cruise staff or the guests, maybe all of the above, but it was all just blah.
We wandered around, popping into the bridge.
Played a little basketball in the arcade.
We watched a dance class from the safety of the back of the lounge while sipping Dirty Shirley’s.
Then we saw the sun really making an effort so we bundled up, grabbed our books and went to the pool deck.
But we couldn’t hang. The wind was ICE. So we took that as a sign to just go read in the room until dinner. We had reservations at Le Bistro that evening. I opened last years birthday gift to enjoy while getting ready.
It was DELICIOUS!
We both ordered the Escargot Bourguignonne, I got the Coq au Vin and my babe got the Duck de Canard. I guess I only took one photo and it was of the escargot, so voila!
The dinner was pretty good and after we headed to Bliss lounge to watch Karaoke and that was a lot more entertaining than the rock show, that’s for sure. The next day was our final day and we spent it in Ensenada.
We said adios to 2022 while cruising down to Mexico. The cruise deals lately are phenomenal, I highly recommend taking advantage if you can. Most cruise lines are now offering unlimited drink packages which are really hard to beat, if you like that sort of thing. Since flying anywhere lately is not only expensive but also a shit show, we decided to go back down to the Mexican Riviera but on a different cruise line. We were really spoiled with our Holland American cruise last year, very few people, ZERO children and great musical entertainment so there were big shoes to fill. We decided on Norwegian because it was a first for both of us, the dates worked out and the price was really easy on the pocketbook.
The itinerary had us leaving San Diego on New Years eve and hitting Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Ensenada, then back to SD.
We arrived at the port mid day and had a very simple embarkment. Unfortunately, new years eve was a cold and drizzly day, not an ideal way to start the trip. Pool deck activities don’t hit the same when it’s cloudy and cold, but we still gave it our all! Once we found our cabin, we hit the Lido deck for lunch, took a stroll around the ship, grabbed a couple of adult beverages and snagged a couple of pool loungers for people watching.
Norwegian’s selling point seems to focus on freestyle cruising. That means they give you more freedom from the OG of cruises. Instead of fancy dinner attire in the dining room at either the early seating or later seating, they have multiple dining rooms where you can go eat at anytime. While you can’t show up in board shorts and flips, you can wear pants and a t-shirt. However, I feel like most cruise lines offer that now, on Holland we went to dinner when we wanted to not at a certain time each night. Besides the two main dining rooms, there were also a handful of places to eat that were included. A buffet on the pool deck along with a poolside bar and grill. There was also an Asian restaurant and a 24 hour diner type place called O’Sheehans. It looked like a Hennessey’s but the food wasn’t great. The 24 hour part was exciting as we really needed that on our last cruise, but it turns out we didn’t need it on this one.
The view wasn’t bad.
These days the cruise lines have a few extra restaurants that you can dine at but for a price, some may have a fixed price and some are priced by entree. The Jewel, which was the name of our ship, had six to choose from. Italian, French, Sushi, Teppanyaki, a steakhouse and a Churrascaria. When we booked the trip, our package included all beverages $15.00 and under, wifi, one excursion and one alternative dining choice.
The captain pulled anchor at 4:00 and… we were off like a prom dress. Then the wind kicked in, so we bid a farewell to the pool deck and went to see how the casino was doing. Maybe we played some Roulette, and then we went to get ready for dinner and some dancing.
There were two dining rooms to choose from and honestly neither of them were anything grand and sadly, either was the food.
After dinner we chose to go to the Spinnaker lounge where the house band was playing top hits and then a DJ was going to count down the night. This would be the place we went to end each night, sadly it wasn’t anything great either.
We woke up to a new year but the weather was still in 2022.
Knowing that the sun was in our future, we spent the day playing Battle of the Sexes, Majority Rules and Bingo.
We tried the other dining room for dinner and this was a clear look into Norwegian’s “free-style” dining. Some guests did not care about what they wore, ordered or acted at the dining room. Classy is the opposite of what we saw. The night ended the same but we ordered room service and watched whatever we could find on the tv until we fell asleep.
We woke to sunny skies in Cabo San Lucas.
We were excited to head back to Medano beach and just lounge with food and drinks with our toes in the sand. That was all we wanted to do in each port. We walked around the marina, stopping for a couple of margaritas.
Then we walked through town to Medano beach seeking out The Sand Bar.
The beach was packed so we weren’t going to be able to lounge on the beach, the holiday brought ALL of the people. We were lucky enough to find a seat at the Sand Bar but then we proceeded to wait forever to be served. Sadly they were out of the octopus so we ordered a spicy shrimp ceviche, fish and shrimp tacos. Nothing was memorable aside from the view and the weather.
When we were finally able to wrap up our meal, we hit the street and got a cab to take us back to the main drag. We were going to pop into Cabo Wabo (don’t be judgy) for a drink but with three cruise ships in port, that was a HELL NO. So we asked around for a place with a good margarita and we were sent to The Monkey Bar.
This place was literally just an outside bar with about eight bar stools and a handful of tables. We chatted up a couple who just moved to Cabo and met a man who was a tour guide. We got his card for when we head back in June, hopefully he can hook us up with some fun activities.
The margs were pretty good.
When our glasses were empty we hopped on the tender and went back to the boat. We soaked up some sun at the pool, had dinner and then tried our luck at the martini bar.
Two days into the trip we knew that this cruise wasn’t going to live up to our Holland American cruise, sadly.
We woke up in Puerto Vallarta, and after some coffee we hit the ground running. Familiar enough with the city, we hopped in a cab and headed to Playa Los Muertos. The plan was to walk along the beach until we found a place to lay out, swim without dying, and have some adult beverages.
We didn’t have a hard time.
It wasn’t the prettiest beach, and to safely swim we had to walk south a bit, otherwise the undertow would’ve taken us to the Bermuda Triangle. Nonetheless, it was exactly what we were looking for.
We had fish taco’s and coconut shrimp, both were delish.
Oh, can we talk about the beach vendors for a second? If you’ve been down to the Mexican Riviera beach towns then you’re familiar that the beaches have vendors that sell everything from sunglasses and jewelry to basically junk. However, this time we were offered cocaine, you guys is this a new thing? It wasn’t just at this beach either, it also happened a couple of times in Cabo. So anyways, if you’re looking, I know a guy.
After a couple of hours of floating in the ocean and soaking up the Mexican sun, we gathered our stuff (no, not cocaine, I bought sunnies) and walked up the beach to the Malecón. I really, really, really wanted to get another passion fruit margarita at the Devil’s Bar. I guess the secret got out because every seat was taken and it was only a Thursday, ugh. Having seen all the shops and bars already, we dragged our feet back to the ship.
Look who greeted us.
For dinner we went to Tamarind, Asian cuisine. The shrimp dumplings were incredible. We also shared a pork belly char siu, along with crispy duck and panang curry. The waitress talked us into a ginger wasabi martini that didn’t taste at all like wasabi but Shawna enjoyed it.
That night we requested a couple of songs from Colin and Clara, the pianists. They were so great, they both sang our requests, songs they have never performed before.
After the piano bar, I’m pretty sure we danced for 2 straight hours. Sweaty and barefoot is how the night ended.
You know it’s a good night when the shoes come off.
Friday and Saturday we were at sea, and it seems like they went by in a flash.
Friday we were still far enough south that the weather was quite warm, meaning a pool day. Hopping from hot tub to pool is how the afternoon went, stopping for pizza and a ping pong break. While sitting in the pool we met this couple from Arizona. Interesting folks, a little TMI but friendly. Sitting on the steps of the pool, we talked to them for a good 45 minutes. As we talked the wife steadily became more and more intoxicated. Gradually getting more inebriated with each minute that passed, but she wasn’t intaking anything. Anyhow, that was a topic of conversation for the rest of the day.
It was our second gala night but before we hit the dining room for dinner, we popped by the pool bar for a martini happy hour.
It wasn’t a ‘choose your own martini’ type of situation, we got a trio of martini’s, that we shared and they tasted like, well, exactly as they look…fruity.
Sure enough, the Arizona couple from the pool was there. He was eager to talk and she was still upright. However, rumor has it, she passed out later at the dinner table.
Our dinner wasn’t terribly exciting, I think this was the one evening that I was actually disappointed in everything that I ordered. Luckily, we had stashed Parisian sandwiches in our fridge for late night dining.
We met two brothers early on the trip who were traveling together, and they were from La Mesa (East San Diego). Turned out that they grew up just a street away from where Shawna did, small world. Nice men, we called them our guard dog pit bulls. However, one of them fell asleep on the job.
This wasn’t like a nod of the head. You guys, he was OUT. Nowhere-ville, it was amazing…and then a little scary, but he was fine, just completely knocked the f*ck out. He slept through the bands set, he slept through cowbell, he slept through more cowbell and he slept through slaps on the cheek.
That’s the doing of tequila shots, or so they said.
SO GOOD!
We dusted off our Macarena dance moves on the dance floor ending another great day.
Is there anything sadder than waking up on the last day of a vacation? No, the answer is no.
We reached Saturday, the last day of our cruise. Somewhere near Baja California, because when we stepped outside, ready to soak up the sun, we were slapped with November San Diego weather. Meaning it was not quite warm enough to get wet.
So we played some ping pong and wandered along the outside of the ship.
I wanted to play the music trivia at the pool later in the afternoon, so we went to the Lido Market for lunch. It was delicious, I piled my plate with poke sushi rolls and crispy pork belly. Oh, so so good. After we ate, we went back to the room to change into warmer clothes and then headed to sit out for a bit at the stern of the ship.
Somehow we ended up scoring poolside lounge chairs right before trivia started. The sun came out, of course, and then it was time for a quick wardrobe change back into swimwear.
I love trivia, and I felt confident with music trivia. But you would think that I have learned my lesson by now. These ships are full of people that have lived decades longer than me. The first five questions were about classical music so there went that win. Then it was songs from the 1950’s, so unfair. I guess I don’t need to tell you that we didn’t win.
Even though it wasn’t hot outside, we knew we had gotten some sun. We took the next hour to pack our luggage, leaving out only what we needed to disembark. Then we made our way to the casino. That was a bust for me, although Shawna won some money on a slot machine. We ran into our besties, Cliff and Gail and we sat at the casino bar for a drink. Why does time fly when you’re having fun? Before we knew it, it was time to get ready for dinner. That was the one thing that I got tired of doing, getting ready. Having to do it every night is just so much to ask of me.
After a dinner of braised lamb, pasta and pavlova, we went straight to the rock room, no time to spare.
Clara was performing in the theater, before she hit the ivory keys.
Once the music was over, we all stayed in the Billboard Onboard lounge and hung out with the crew. Talking and laughing.
Laughing and talking, we stayed up past last call, which means quite late, or quite early.
Since we had packed earlier in the day, once we got to back our room, all we needed to do was set the alarm and hit the sack. Welp, the alarm didn’t go off, so we woke to the sound of the hall intercom calling disembarkation numbers. That put a pep in our step, and in minutes we were dressed and heading down to the gangway. The only good thing about running behind was that our car was already at the port waiting for us, so we were home in no time.
That’s it, that is the end of our fantastic trip. It reminded me of why I have always loved cruising and we are looking forward to another one soon, someplace new and warm.
The Art of Thyming 