Cruising to Mexico

Originally we planned to fly to New York for our Fifth Anniversary (Nickelversary) but with our new little one on the way, we decided to keep it a little less costly and more local. We had been doing some research on going on a cruise. The grand plan is to go on a Cruise to Alaska some time in the future. Since Mark has experienced Sea-sickness in his lifetime, he was nervous about a cruise, so this was a celebration and a test. We went to AAA and decided upon a 3 day weekend cruise to Ensenada, Mexico. We had a limit to when we could sail because they don't allow women after 24 weeks pregnant on their cruise. So we decided on sooner rather than later. We set sail March 20, two weeks after our Nickelversary, on a Friday night. Our experience on this cruise boils down to a couple of things. The food was Poor, 1 star out of 4 star in our humble opinions. Mexico wasn't really that exciting, which we expected, so that doesn't go aginst the cruise line and there was a storm on Sunday (the day at sea) so the boat ride was a really rocky all day long! However, each night we were greeted by a sweet little towel animal.

Friday: Embarcation Day

We were dropped off by Don and checked in around noon. After taking 2 posed pictures, by the cruise photographer that we didn't want to buy we actually got on the boat and tried to find some lunch. This was where we first learned that the food wasn't going to be a culinary delight. We arrived at our stateroom (why are they called that?) and found our luggage waiting for us. The room was about what we both imagined, small-ish, but the bed was large enough for the both of us so we were pleased. We put away our clothes, checked out the channels we receive on the TV (don't you always do that at hotels) and then walked around the ship. We found the shuffleboard (a must), the miniature golf course, and the gym. We also used this opportunity to take many pictures of the Queen Mary, since our ship was docked right next door. Jessica also booked her spa experience for Sunday. Before we officially set sail we had the required safety training where we began to realize that this Spring Break timed trip would have a lot of drunk people on it. After successfully completing our saftey check we headed to the back of the boat to watch them unhook us from the dock and set sail to open seas. We were escorted by some birds and 2 harbor patrol boats. We had a good time watching some of the boats go by and feeling the wind in our hair. That night we decided to see what was in store for us in our formal dinner experience. We were seated with another couple who were incredibly nice, fascinating and interestingly enough had just found out that they were pregnant as well. We enjoyed their company and talked with them for almost 2 hours before we headed back for some shut-eye. Upon our return to the room we encountered our first towel animal: The Ray.

Saturday: Ensenada

We awoke early to grab some of the tasteless fuel before we headed off on our excursion to La Bufadora. Upon our exit of the boat we posed for 3 more fake photos with "authentically dressed" characters and headed to our chariot which led us on a tour of Ensenada and La Bufadora. La Bufadora apparently is a bit of a tourist destination which the locals thrive on. It roughly translates as "The Blowhole" although it literally translates to the noise that a Bull makes or snorting. And it's reportedly one of 3 natural blowholes in the world, and 2nd highest. The height of the blowing is determined by the tides, and let's just say that the tides weren't all that thrilling that day. Once you pass all of the street vendors, it was a serene place to spend some time. On our way back to the bus we purchased an authentic mexican blanket, and extremely fresh and authentic Churros. We were handed the Churros directly from the flame, so I doubt we'll ever have better Churros. The bus headed back to the ship with the last stop being the Civic Center where the Margarita was invented, supposedly. It was a nice building, but nothing special. Our tourguide (aka, Our Mexican Amigo) was named Enrique and he was quite entertaining. We went back to the boat and played Sports trivia and then General trivia. We then headed back to the room for a much needed nap. That afternoon, as we sailed away from Ensenada, I watched as we passed by some more ships and then all of the sudden I see in the water 3 dolfins playing around. Unfortunately, Jessica was in the shower and missed the whole thing. I tried to take a picture, but when I got back to the porthole, they were gone. It was neat to see! At dinner we had told them that it was our anniversary trip, so we were sung to and got some cake. The dinner wasn't that good, but our company was nice. This time we sat with 8 other people and one of the couples was from Huntington Beach. We took a walk around the ship that night and swiftly concluded that it would be fatal to fall off the boat at night. Quickley retreating from the railing, we decided to take a stroll through the shops (Duty Free!) on board and headed to bed. There we found our second towel animal, The Pig. It is so cute.

Sunday: the day at sea

Sunday morning Jessica had her spa treatment planned so Mark decided to go the gym. Jessica had a nice relaxing time and Mark got a pretty good workout in. Since it was raining and really windy the miniature golf that we had planned had to be called off. We decided to play a little Shuffleboard for about 4 minutes because it was so cold and the discs kept flipping up into the air due to the wind. But at least we got to play it. The ship was really rocking around so we napped the afternoon away and then at at the buffet. We returned to our stateroom for our evening activity of watching the TV and movies in our stateroom. There we found the peace de resistance, the Towel Elephant. Sleeping wasn't so pleasant because the boat was moving so much back and forth. Thankfully morning finally came we could be on dry land.

Monday: Debarkation Day

Mark got up early to at least try and get some of the less than decent food into his body before we left the ship. He was able to catch the sun rise and it was one of his favorite moments of the trip. He headed back to the room to help finish packing up and then we left the ship. We waited for Don to come by and pick us up. While we waited we saw a seal playing in the harbor. Finally Jessica got to see some sealife. When Don came to pick us up, the first question we asked him was, "What are you doing right now, and can you take us to Super Mex?" Super Mex is our favorite Mexican food place. Now we can say that we had some great Mexican food while on our vacation.

Overall, we have to say that it was a positive experience because we didn't get sick, but we will think twice before embarking again. Only time and other people's reviews may tell. But in the near future, our family will have grown so it won't just be the two of us to think about.

If you'd like to see more pictures of this trip please follow this link: http://gallery.me.com/live.laugh.love#100017