Monday morning blues...having to leave the ship. So early wakeup, early breakfast and we were out of the ship by 8:30. Immigration here is so easy, that I am considering to stop flying and only cruising...wish I had so many vacation days :)
Got to out RDX-baby and hit the road to sail home on the waters of I-5. All in all - a great experience!But now all that I wanted was to be cuddling up at home under my blankets and feeling the air of home-sweet-home.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Day at Sea
The next day was one of the most idle ones. I remember hanging out the breakfast order, but when I woke up around 9AM did not see anything there. Not sure if the breakfast came and was taken away, or it never came! Had some light brunch. Sandhya picked up a new trade - making animal shapes out of towels, while I kept taking pictures. From there and then walked around looking at our photos. Sandhya had the tough part to decide on which one to pick, while I kept making sinister plans to steal the photograph! From there we went to some flat-tummy seminar...yawn! Yeah, I know - why would someone think about it during a cruise. But hey, the first day of the New Years is a perfect time to do such activities, so that later in the year you can claim that you did give it a shot!! After this we had some lunch. Then there was some shopping time for watches.
In the evening we walked into a place where they were giving some dance lessons...The final song was Jai Ho, and Senorita turned into a Bollywood diva. Found that there was no veggie sushi...so did our turns in trying to grab an ipad. Then decided to bust a few dollars at the casino. Evening was spent mostly watching some karaoke, and then mots of comedy show, mostly of our favorite Doug Williams. Close to midnight we did our photo purchase, packed our bags and were in bed.
In the evening we walked into a place where they were giving some dance lessons...The final song was Jai Ho, and Senorita turned into a Bollywood diva. Found that there was no veggie sushi...so did our turns in trying to grab an ipad. Then decided to bust a few dollars at the casino. Evening was spent mostly watching some karaoke, and then mots of comedy show, mostly of our favorite Doug Williams. Close to midnight we did our photo purchase, packed our bags and were in bed.
Second day - Ensenada and New Years
The next day started off with a little bit of scuff, as we were approaching Ensenada. I think we usually take some time to get used to the Mexican air, since we did have some light fights even in Cancun. In this process we missed out on an opportunity to be photographed in Ensenada. Finally were on a shuttle to the town center, from where we got into another shuttle that would take us to the famous BlowHole. Of course, my senorita did buy a couple of sunshades for us before we boarded the bus.
It was a good 40 minute trip, and the guide kept explaining various pots along the way. The one thing that I could not help notice was the number of horses that were there in the wild. We got to the Blowhole and were welcomed all along the way with screams of cheerios, pina coladas and shopping offers. Got close to the blowhole and were wondering what the fuss was all about when lo behold - there comes a huge wave throwing up water a couple of hundred feet in the air. This was exciting and then the next 30 minutes was forgotten in watching the water and getting drenched at times in it. Saw a lady sitting by the side doing some art work on plates. Got one for ourselves, one for Didi and Madhu-Bhanu. Then as we walked back to the bus, we saw a cute lioness cub. A $25 donation for the cub did not seem too much, while we got to pat it. Hope the money goes to its well-being. On the way back, I purchased a hammock(wonder where I am gonna hang it), while Sandhya got a few trinklets here and there. The shuttle took us back to the city. There we had a good lunch, and thereon did some more shopping. Finally around 4 or so, we decided to head back to the ship. Saw the sibling of the lioness cub, some sea-lions, took a few pics and were back in our cabin.
After a quick nap, we were in our smart cocktail dress for the Captain's meet, where we got some free drinks and to see the Captain. Thereafter we did some more photo sessions before heading for dinner. Since it was New Years eve, we went around watching some dance shows, stand-up comedy, and a few moves on the dance floor before we hit the upper deck for the countdown. It was cold, but the champagne helped us brave the weather. When the horn blew out to signify the midnight hour, all I wanted was to give a big smooch to chukku. We hung around for some time, and then had some deep discussions on the World Food Crisis (just kidding) before we hit the bed!
It was a good 40 minute trip, and the guide kept explaining various pots along the way. The one thing that I could not help notice was the number of horses that were there in the wild. We got to the Blowhole and were welcomed all along the way with screams of cheerios, pina coladas and shopping offers. Got close to the blowhole and were wondering what the fuss was all about when lo behold - there comes a huge wave throwing up water a couple of hundred feet in the air. This was exciting and then the next 30 minutes was forgotten in watching the water and getting drenched at times in it. Saw a lady sitting by the side doing some art work on plates. Got one for ourselves, one for Didi and Madhu-Bhanu. Then as we walked back to the bus, we saw a cute lioness cub. A $25 donation for the cub did not seem too much, while we got to pat it. Hope the money goes to its well-being. On the way back, I purchased a hammock(wonder where I am gonna hang it), while Sandhya got a few trinklets here and there. The shuttle took us back to the city. There we had a good lunch, and thereon did some more shopping. Finally around 4 or so, we decided to head back to the ship. Saw the sibling of the lioness cub, some sea-lions, took a few pics and were back in our cabin.
After a quick nap, we were in our smart cocktail dress for the Captain's meet, where we got some free drinks and to see the Captain. Thereafter we did some more photo sessions before heading for dinner. Since it was New Years eve, we went around watching some dance shows, stand-up comedy, and a few moves on the dance floor before we hit the upper deck for the countdown. It was cold, but the champagne helped us brave the weather. When the horn blew out to signify the midnight hour, all I wanted was to give a big smooch to chukku. We hung around for some time, and then had some deep discussions on the World Food Crisis (just kidding) before we hit the bed!
Friday, December 30, 2011
First day sail
Had our bags packed, veggies cooked and we were ready to hit the road Friday morning. It was a fun ride. It is always amusing to see chukku behind the wheel, all pepped up and singing to herself. From a moment of I will drive most of it, within an hour the sleeping beauty had the RDX seat at a 180degree angle and was sleeping to glory. The traffic was not too bad and we were at Long Beach within 5 hours. After a couple of wrong turns, and help from a friendly cop we got to the Cruise terminal. Parked our car, and rolled our luggage to checkin area. The first insight was when we got a friendly porter who reminded me that I could tip him rightaway :)
After immigration, we walked in to our first set of photographs as we were boarding the ship. Since the cabins were yet to open, and we were famished decided to hit the lunch buffet on the deck. There was food of all type, and don't even get me started on the types of desserts. After an hour or so of filling up our tummys, we went down to check our room. A nice Oceanview room on the lower deck. Small, but quite cute. After taking a shower and some rest, we went up to the deck in our gym dress as the ship started moving. Sandhya decided to hit the gym a lot more longer than me. Once she was back, we went out to our dining room. The good part was that she got her choice of Indian veggies for dinner. After this, we went around posing for photographs and idling our time checking out the ship.
Now a little bit about the ship. The ship was a good 800 ft long and 100 ft wide, and was carrying around 2000 passengers. It had twelve decks. From the fourth to the seventh were the passenger staterooms. The seventh had some Guest Services too. On the eighth level was the photobooth, casinos, a few lounges and shops. The ninth one had the dining rooms and a few more lounges. The tenth one had the open deck with swimming pools, jacuzzis and a buffet area, where there was a 24x7 pizza shop. The eleventh one was for gym and spa activities, while the twelfth had a track, mini golf and other fun things. The crew was of different nationalities, and there was help everywhere. The inside resembled close to some casinos in Vegas, and we could hardly sense any ship movements.
After immigration, we walked in to our first set of photographs as we were boarding the ship. Since the cabins were yet to open, and we were famished decided to hit the lunch buffet on the deck. There was food of all type, and don't even get me started on the types of desserts. After an hour or so of filling up our tummys, we went down to check our room. A nice Oceanview room on the lower deck. Small, but quite cute. After taking a shower and some rest, we went up to the deck in our gym dress as the ship started moving. Sandhya decided to hit the gym a lot more longer than me. Once she was back, we went out to our dining room. The good part was that she got her choice of Indian veggies for dinner. After this, we went around posing for photographs and idling our time checking out the ship.
Now a little bit about the ship. The ship was a good 800 ft long and 100 ft wide, and was carrying around 2000 passengers. It had twelve decks. From the fourth to the seventh were the passenger staterooms. The seventh had some Guest Services too. On the eighth level was the photobooth, casinos, a few lounges and shops. The ninth one had the dining rooms and a few more lounges. The tenth one had the open deck with swimming pools, jacuzzis and a buffet area, where there was a 24x7 pizza shop. The eleventh one was for gym and spa activities, while the twelfth had a track, mini golf and other fun things. The crew was of different nationalities, and there was help everywhere. The inside resembled close to some casinos in Vegas, and we could hardly sense any ship movements.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Pre-cruise
It was at Vijay's marriage dinner that Bhanu mentioned about a cruise that they were planning. This got me thinking, and I started looking up options for New Years. Found that there not many cruises from SF, and hence finally decided on the Ensenada cruise for New Years. Checked out the details and confirmed with Sandhya. All in a days work, went ahead and purchased the ticket.
The regular mail reminders kept reminding us of the cruise, but we did not do much until Xmas. For Xmas, got Sandhya a cocktail dress for the Captains dinner. There were a couple of days before the cruise when we were contemplating cancelling the cruise, but ultimately we decided to make the trip. The night before was spent in scurrying out for a change of cocktail dress and some last minute purchases.
The regular mail reminders kept reminding us of the cruise, but we did not do much until Xmas. For Xmas, got Sandhya a cocktail dress for the Captains dinner. There were a couple of days before the cruise when we were contemplating cancelling the cruise, but ultimately we decided to make the trip. The night before was spent in scurrying out for a change of cocktail dress and some last minute purchases.
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