Panama Canal Trip Report: Day 13 Cabo San Lucas

Day 13:  Cabo San Lucas

 If you would like to start this trip report from the beginning, click here.

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You can see this day’s Daily Navigator by clicking here: Navigator Day 13

Today was our day in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  We didn’t plan an excursion for this port as none of the DCL options really appealed to me.  I woke up about 8:00 and we were already anchored offshore.  This was the view from our window.

Once everyone was up and ready we headed to Cabanas for breakfast.  While there, I realized that the other side of the ship had the much better view which you will see in a minute.  On the way, we passed the Goofy Pool where they appeared to be setting stuff up for the Freezing the Night Away Deck Party.  We didn’t have this on our sailing, so I assume they were practicing for the upcoming Alaska sailings.

Cabanas was not busy at all and we got a great table by the windows with a beautiful view.

I remembered to take a picture of my plate this morning.

After we ate we walked to the outdoor seating area to get some pictures of the beautiful scenery.  This was the view in one direction:

And the other direction:

Next time I’m in Cabo I want to take a boat to this beach:

Our assistant server Putu was working in Cabanas and offered to take our picture:

After breakfast we headed back to the rooms to decide what to do next.  We walked through the Quiet Cove Pool with the girls only because no one was there.  At this time I discovered that they actually clean the tops of the shade covers:

In the room, I spent a few minutes catching up on trip notes while we decided what to do.  We eventually decided that my husband and I would go ashore for a couple of hours to do some shopping, but the girls weren’t interested so they would stay onboard.  Up until this point we had allowed all 3 girls to be on their own for short periods, but we didn’t feel comfortable doing this when we would not be on the ship.  So, we made the unpopular decision to send the younger two to the Oceaneer’s Club.  They weren’t happy about it but off they went.  We told our 12 year old that she could either hang out in the Oceaneer’s Club with her sisters (we had given her checkout privileges, but not the other 2), hang out at the Edge, in the rooms, or on the pool deck but nowhere else.  We told her that if she needed an adult for anything to go get a youth counselor from the Edge.  I was a little bit nervous leaving her on her own with no way to contact us, but I decided this was a good opportunity to stand back and let her spread her wings.

By this time it was 10:15 and there was no line for the tender as all ashore has been at 8:00.  Cabo San Lucas is a tender port, which means that the ships anchors offshore and people get to land on small tender boats.  These were the tender instructions that we received in our room the night before:

We walked right onto a tender, which was smaller than the ones in Grand Cayman which are the only other tenders I have been on.

This was the larger seating area.  There was also a slightly smaller one at the front of the boat.

One thing I love about tendering are the amazing views you get of the ship.

This was such a pretty port.  I took a lot of pictures of the scenery on the boat ride to shore.

As we got closer to shore we started to see lots of sea life.  There were sea lions jumping out of the water and riding on the backs of boats:

We are from Texas so I had to take a picture of this boat:

There were lots of pelicans as well.

They’re a little hard to see but there are 4 or 5 of them perched on this boat:

We pulled into the marina and saw lots of neat boats.

The marina was very pretty with the hills in the background.

As we walked off the tender I noticed that there were tons of crabs on the rocks.  At this point I wished we had brought the girls with us because I knew they would have loved to have seen all of this sea life.

This was the area where the tenders loaded and unloaded.  It was really nice with lots of shade and seating.  Even though the Navigator said the high was going to be 76, I’m not sure that was correct because it felt much warmer than that.

DCL had their ice water table set up:

The first thing we did was walk through an indoor flea market right next to the marina.  As we approached, there were some vendors wanting to sell us excursions.  We told them no and quickly walked by.  I wanted to buy a magnet, and I quickly found one that I liked for $4.  I took a few pictures as we walked through.  Every booth was pretty much selling the same stuff.  The vendors talked to us but weren’t pushy at all.

We left the flea market and walked towards town.  Here we encountered a lot more vendors trying to sell boat rides and such.  I wouldn’t call them pushy, but there were just a lot of them and we felt like broken records as we were walking and repeating “no, no, no”.  I guess if you were wanting to buy something you might appreciate the competition.  At this point I changed my mind and was glad we hadn’t brought the girls because I don’t think they would have liked how the vendors kept approaching and talking to us over and over.  I also know that they would have been complaining about the heat.

There were lots of restaurants and pharmacies very close to the ship.

I think this group was part of a DCL port adventure:

The walk towards town basically had you circle the marina.

These guys always creep me out a little.  At least this one didn’t jump out at us like the ones  in Cozumel do.

As we walked we popped into a few shops but didn’t buy anything.

We decided to walk down this street and see where it led.

These homes on the hillside must have incredible views:

There were some really nice boats in the marina.

There was also a Dairy Queen.  I was tempted to go get a blizzard but we got distracted and then forgot.

Another Texas boat!

At one point we stopped some fellow DCL cruisers and asked them to take our picture.  Too bad his thumb was in the way.

About this time it was 11:45 and we were getting pretty hot so we decided to head back to the ship.  Back on the dock, this was our view of the ship:

I’m not sure why I took this picture, but it reminds me that we had an AT&T Mexico signal in all of the Mexico ports which allowed us to use data.  We didn’t call anyone, but I think we would have been able to do that as well.  Our plan includes this at no extra charge.  We both checked our emails and sent some texts while onshore.

As we waited for a tender I noticed more sea life:

I think this was one of those semi-submarine excursions:

On the tender ride back I managed to get a picture of a sea lion swimming near the boat:

And another one looking for an easy meal:

Back on the ship, we picked the girls up from the Oceaneer’s Club.  They were glad to see us.  We went to the rooms to look for the other one, but she was not there.  The girls were ready for lunch so we went up to deck 9 where we found her reading by the Goofy Pool.  This is not a sight you typically see on a Disney ship:

The girls got some lunch and ate by the pool.

While they were eating, a bunch of jet skis rode by:

I also noticed this motorized hang glider thing flying around.  I’m sure it has a real name but I don’t know what it is.

It flew very close to the ship:

Over lunch we decided that we would take the girls onshore just so they could ride the tender back and forth and see the sea life.  I knew they would enjoy the boat ride.  We went down to deck 1 and once again walked right onto a tender.  The line we’re in is where you disembarked the ship, and the line on the left is where you return.

This is the x-ray machine and metal detector for returning cruisers:

We did see some sea lions on the way over, although I didn’t get any pictures.  Once we got off the tender, we showed the girls the crabs.

We also saw Santa.

Of course I made them take some pictures before we went back to the ship.

On the ride back we saw even more sea lions, but once again no pictures.

The girls enjoyed the quick trip ashore and I’m glad we did it.  Back on the ship, we went to the rooms so the adults and 12 year old could change for the pool.  I loved our view:

The younger two didn’t want to swim, so we told them they could stay in the room and left the iPod with them so that we could communicate.  The rest of us when to deck 9 where I decided to eat lunch.  I got a plate from Cabanas and ate next to the pool.

I had a great view:

Pluto was out and about.

Brother Bear was on funnel vision while we swam and relaxed.  The ice cream flavors today were pina colada and mango.

While I was getting ice cream I saw our room host Greg eating on deck 9 so I waved.  He was wearing street clothes and I meant to ask him later if he was able to go ashore this day but I forgot.  I also went up to deck 10 to take more pictures of the scenery.

About 2:15 I decided to walk down to Shutters and look at our photos on a kiosk.  When I got there I was surprised to learn that the kiosks are only operational when Shutters was open.  I don’t remember this being the case in the past, so either it changed or I am remembering wrong.  Shutters wasn’t open so I wasn’t able to view our photos, but I did take one of the new portrait studio that was added during the dry dock.

Someone on our cruise did a portrait shoot and she shared the prices.  For all digital files on USB drive: 5 photos for $550, 12 photos for $900, 100 photos for $2500. She also mentioned that only black & white was available and that color was not an option.

I went back to the pool and after a few minutes, the two younger girls appeared because they wanted ice cream.  After they ate, it was time to go to family karaoke at 3:15 in the D Lounge.  Yeah for another early karaoke session!  On the way I noticed that the characters were wearing their Mexico attire today:

I know this is a terrible picture, but it was the only one I got of Minnie in her Mexico dress:

We were the only people at karaoke until one other family showed up about half way through.  The girls were able to sing as much as they wanted.

During karaoke, Pluto came to visit wearing his poncho and sombrero.  Behind him you can see the Japanese girl who copied all of Minnie’s outfits.  Here she is wearing a replica of her Mexico outfit, complete with fruit hat.

From my seat in the D Lounge I could see the portholes across the hall and I noticed the amazing view:

Karaoke finished at 4:00, just as the ship was pulling out of the bay.  I went to deck 4 to get some pictures.  My husband took the girls back to the rooms and then rejoined me.  Pulling out of this port was just breathtaking.

Goodbye Cabo San Lucas!  I hope I return someday!

At this time we were thirsty so we went to the drink station on deck 9.  When we got up there, it was suddenly VERY cold and windy!  It was amazing how quickly the weather changed.  We had planned on swimming this evening because the show was the premier of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 in the Walt Disney Theater, which the girls were not interested in.  It was also rated PG-13 so we wouldn’t have let the younger two watch it any way.  Now we were not sure if the swimming would happen after all.

Next I went to Shutters because it was now open and I wanted to purchase our pictures before the last day rush that was bound to happen the following day.  I was able to view our photos and ended up buying 2 8×10 prints for $20.95 each.  I don’t like that the sizes are preset because I would rather have bought 6x8s for $14.95 each but I asked the CM there and it wasn’t an option.  He said that most of the prints are only available in 8×10, and only a few of them are available in 6×8, which are mostly character photos.  I also noticed that the 10 digital photo package was not an option on this cruise.  I have bought this one in the past, so I don’t know if they have done away with it on all sailings or just on this one.  Here are the photo prices for our sailing:

These are the two photos that I bought:

I purchased them straight from the kiosk and after I did, it told me to return the following night after 8:30 to pick them up.  Boo!!!  I was wanting to avoid Shutters on the final night because that place is insane.  I have seen too many meltdowns and irate customers in there on the final night to want to be anywhere near it.  Oh well.

Next I went to the gift shops to purchase a couple of items for giveaways for my readers.  I’ve already hosted one giveaway, but will be hosting another one at the end of this week so don’t miss it!

Giveaway items purchased, I went back to the rooms to gather everyone for dinner.  Tonight would be our last night in Tiana’s Place and it was the menu we had been waiting for all cruise – the Mardi Gras menu and more importantly, the famous beignets!!!

I finally got a picture of the complete place setting:

Our server Levy brought us all beads to wear.

The band began playing right away.

This herbed brioche with roasted onion dip was outstanding!

Tiana soon joined us.

For my appetizer I ordered the Sautéed Gulf Shrimp and Grits which was very, very good!

My husband ordered the Boudin Sausage Fritters which were good.

At one point the guests were invited to go up and dance.  My husband and 10 year old gladly obliged.  They are just to the left of center:

This was just a really, really fun night.  It was by far my favorite night in any MDR on any ship, ever.  Louis also walked around, although once again he had to stick to the main aisles as he was too big to walk in-between tables.

Our soups arrived and we both chose the New Orleans Seafood Pepper Pot.  It was good.

I noticed that a table near us had purchased a souvenir glass with a light-up Ray the firefly which I thought was adorable.

For my entree I chose Charlotte La Bouff’s Bucatini Pasta.  It was just okay.  It wasn’t bad, it just didn’t have a lot of flavor and the pasta was kind of weird.  It was a tad too thick and chewy.

My husband chose the Cajun Spiced Sea Bass which he enjoyed.

When the dessert menus arrived I was delighted to see that they lit up!

 I was so excited about it that I took a video for you so you could get the full effect.  I’m sorry that it is sideways, but I don’t know how to fix it.

Right after we ordered dessert, Tiana dropped by the table for a visit.

And finally, the BEIGNETS!!!  They were every bit as delicious as I had heard!

I also wanted to taste the Lemon Raspberry Mousse Bomb which was excellent.

Someone else got the New Orleans Bananas Foster Sundae:

Our servers gave us crayon tricks pretty much every night, but I didn’t always photograph them.  This one we were never able to solve.  We were supposed to move only 3 crayons to make 4 triangles.

This was the answer:

As we were finishing dessert, there was a little photobombing going on by head server Geffrey while my daughter was taking pictures with her iPod.

He kept doing it and the girls thought it was hilarious.  They thought he had finally stopped until this happened.  I get the feeling she knew what was happening behind her:

We were all laughing so hard.  I love it when the servers make dinners fun like this.

Well, the fun was not over yet because now it was time for the Mardi Gras parade!  I didn’t take any pictures of it, only video but I made a little montage for you:

Like I said, I think this was the most fun we have ever had in an MDR on any of our cruises.  I was kind of glad that we had to wait until the second to last night because it ended our cruise on a great note.

After dinner, we went to family karaoke in the D Lounge at 7:30.

This time, Goofy joined us in his Mexico gear and even stayed for a few songs.

About 7:45 my husband left us to attend the Guardians of the Galaxy Premiere in the Walt Disney Theater at 8:00.  The girls and I finished karaoke and the plan was for us to go swimming.  But, first I had us walk up to deck 9 so the girls could see just how cold it was outside.  They decided it was too cold to swim and we went back to the rooms where they watch Cinderella on TV and I did two loads of laundry.  We ended up going up to deck 9 briefly at 9:30 when the pizza place opened to grab a few slices, but other than that we stayed in the rooms until bedtime.

I loved our towel animals this evening:

We also got our tip envelopes which is always sad because it means the cruise is coming to and end:

Up next:  Day 14 – At Sea

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