mitsugirly

Getting very close to the rocks at the window. Up next would be Los Arcos ( a Spanish word meaning Land's End) or the Arch as people call it. It is the most recognizable place in Cabo and is a natural wonder showing the beauty of tidal and wind erosion that shapes the rock formation into an arch. Our tour guide took multiple pictures of us with the arch in the background. Along the rocks you would see sea lions. This one was basking in the sun with not a care in the world.

The rocks meeting the water was just beautiful!! Notice, not that crystal clear blue water you will get in the Caribbean but the rocks made it so pretty (not to mention the sky out today). Here is Lovers Beach (or Playa de los Amantes in Spanish) in the distance. On the opposite side is Divorce Beach. It is the meeting of two bodies of water on either side (the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California). Legend has it that the name comes from a fated love story of a Japanese sailor who was rescued by a Mexican girl on Lovers Beach back in the 18th century and they fell in love. This beach is on the calm side and you can swim here. Walk over to the other side and you will find Divorce Beach. It is rough and dangerous and you cannot swim on this side. This large rock protruding from the water is called Peninsula Rock. He said it was the furthest rock out from Cabo. This is called the "Pacific Window" This is a hole through a mountain of rock that joins the Sea of Cortez with the Pacific Ocean. It is referred to as the window because you can see all the way through to the other side. It's pretty cool and unique. The boats pull in really close for you to get a good view of it.

So just to give you a reference of how close Kelly Boat Cabo is to the dock... (I was researching multiple whale watching tours to use and this one was the closest to walk to). We headed down the dock and to the right. I knew it wasn't very far. However, I will say it was a little further than what I had pictured in my mind looking at the map. There are little stores up and down the dock. I stopped to ask a lady if she knew where Kelly was and she said "That's me" and pointed at their place. She ask my name and said they were waiting on us. She called the owner (I assume the guy that I had been talking to via email prior to the trip) and then handed the phone to me. It was hard to hear with people all around and the reception didn't seem the greatest but I heard the words so and so "was going to take you out to see the whales and you're going to have a good time". We got off the phone and the lady said "That will be $400". Wait what? No, no it's not. It's $79 per person and that is $316! I have the email confirming this. She called the owner back and put him on the phone. He explained that $79/pp was for a group tour and we were doing a private tour. The private tour was $100 per person. NOPE! I'm not playing that game. I specifically ask MANY TIMES about the price and if it was private. I have the email...and then I started reading it off. He states that for $79 he could put us on a group tour. NOPE! Not having it. You said $79/pp and private and either that's what we get or we will find someone else (even if it was a group tour with someone else for the same price, they would get my business). Once again, I started reading our conversation via email to him. "Ok, ok, we will do the tour for $79. No worries" he said. I honestly hate when they try to pull something like this. But I stood my ground, I paid the price I was told and down the dock we went to the boat at 11:14am. Then we were off...On the way out of the marina, we seen Poncho. If you don't know who Poncho is...he's pretty famous here. He follows the fishermen in and jumps on the back of their boats and rides back into the marina...waiting for a handout of freshly caught fish. Oh the life he has. He's so funny. There's so many video's online of him doing this that he has become famous. When we were heading out, he was on the back of a boat hitching a ride in. lol I was too slow seeing him that I wasn't able to get a picture (not to mention I was on the wrong side of the boat). So I will give you a picture of this Pelican instead to tie you over. There were sealions just laying around on the docks. We were headed to see the arch. You can always tell where the Pelican's hang out all the time...you'll see the "snow covered" rocks...to put it nicely.

I've already been on the magic. 😉 I believe this is the first and only ship I've been on that doesn't have a bar in the casino. Yea, I do remember other ships that if you don't have the balcony door handle up the right way it whistled. Took me awhile to figure it out, but eventually did. This one was just random for some reason. We did find that locking it helped some but there were certain times during the cruise you could still hear it. There was a time (long ago) that everyone was talking about seeing the flying fish and we eventually did. We've seen them on multiple cruises before (and even when doing an excursion by boat). Whales...well, the only time we have ever seen a whale from the ship was when we were pulling out of Grand Turk (I think it was) and we spotted one off in the distance. But it wasn't as easy to see as the one that we spotted this time around. You could tell that they were playing and having a good time in the water. It was so cool.

Just a little information they give you about your day in Cabo: Also the Fun Times for the day:

Thank you...they are only going to get better. 🙂 Aww, thanks! We loved Sky Reef so much. Glad it didn't disappoint. February...yep, I would be worried. You might just freeze if you are cold natured like me. Stay tuned... haha...Sakari is not alone in these traditions. Yes, and so does NCL. I hate waiting on someone else when I can do it myself much quicker. Our ship was there from 10-7pm. I don't remember the actual time they started calling us "regular" tender people down but we went down and waited and they called 1 & 2 (probably around 10:30-10:45) and then it wasn't long at all after that before we went. We were on the tender at 10:55 for sure because I took a picture at that time. We were on the dock around 11:10am.

You're welcome. We absolutely love it there!

Once the ship was situated, they started tendering people off. First the VIP people and those with Carnival excursions. As we waited for our turn, we stood on our balcony watching the boats along the shoreline and noticed this... Can you see them above my name? There was a VERY LARGE school of dolphins. Like really, so many of them! Look at this video and you'll be able to tell just how many there were. It was amazing! So now I've seen whales and dolphins and my life was complete! Just saying... We decided to head down to deck 3 and wait for our number to be called. They called tender tickets 1 & 2 and then it was our turn. We were on the tender by 10:55am. We will consider this Karl's first real boat ride. LOL It was a short tender ride over to the port and now we were headed to find our excursion. So what are we doing today....none other than going on a Whale Watching tour of course!!! After researching various companies for a tour, I had came across a vendor named Kelly Boat Cabo. We exchanged emails back and forth and they had good communication. I had told them I wanted to do a whale watching tour and also wanted to go to the Arch, see Pelican Rock and the Sea Lion area and then go to a beach afterwards for a little while. I had also mentioned maybe snorkeling if possible. Their website states they have 3 boats that can accommodate anywhere from 12-18 people depending on the boat. They offered regular tours and private tours. NOW.... according to their website, it said if you want a private tour they charged by the hour with a minimum of 1 hour. Included are pictures and bottled water. You can do a whale watching tour ($79), snorkel tour, or arch tour ($35) and then go to the beach offered as a group tour and they leave once the boats are filled up. When he gave me a quote on everything I wanted, he said $79/pp. I ask...is this a private or group tour and he replied "private" just us. Hmmm, that sounded weird to me. So I ask "Is this per hour or for the entire tour?" He replied "79 dls for the tour arch and whale watching and beach time (optional) everything". I still wasn't understanding and I quoted their website saying "I would really like to book this tour, but why does your website say private tours are by the hour with a 2 hour minimum? It states $79 per person for 1 hour. " He said "Arch and whale watching tour plus beach time in 79 dls per person the price is for all the tour not per hour.. don't worry" and then threw in "But if you want to pay $79 per person per hour that is better to me" LOL So, we booked. I mean...why wouldn't we? Why wouldn't anyone? A private tour for all of this for only $79/pp. Others were offering the tour for more and it was a group tour. I kept thinking there had a to a catch some where. But, I read online reviews and they had great reviews and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves to I was taking that chance!

Pulling into port and the ferry boats and pilot boat was coming our way. It looked like it was going to turn out to be a beautiful day. The clouds today 😶 Oh my gosh they were so pretty!!!

Our balcony was on the side of the Arch and I was happy that I had done my research and picked that side. I was able to get pictures of it as we pulled in. I had looked at a lot of pictures prior to this cruise and knew what land marks to look at (the Arch, Lovers Beach, Pelican Rock and so on). Lovers Beach (with Divorce Beach on the opposite side) The large rock in front of Pelican Beach that people climb on and jump into the water:

Coming into Cabo: I noticed that we were not alone in port today. This would be the first cruise that I didn't even bother to look up how many ships were in port with us. I don't know...for some reason I pictured us being the only ship cruising the Mexican Riviera. I don't know what I was thinking. LOL We would have a Princess ship with us today and it was already there.

April 1: CABO SAN LUCAS So today is our first port day!! I was super excited for this day and was hoping for the best. I didn't get much rest last night...you see for some reason our balcony door was whistling all night. You could hear the wind blowing right into the room and I would wake up to this whistling sound and it sure wasn't a "hey good looking" whistle either. Karl says "What is that sound???" Oh that? It's this hurricane outside didn't you know? I love messing with this newbie. I used the tv to monitor the weather outside this entire cruise. It said it was 64 degrees outside and the "apparent wind" was 38mph I had to keep reminding myself that I was NOT in the Caribbean. I honestly wasn't sure how my body was going to adapt to this. Today...we had an excursion booked that involved being on and in the water. YIKES! We all headed up to the buffet for some breakfast at 7:30am. I was completely shocked to find (or should I say not find)... Wait what? There's no bacon to be found? How can this be???? Bacon doesn't get a vacation while I'm on vacation. I need my protein! Is this a thing? I had no idea that Carnival does this. What is so special about the bacon getting a vacation on Carnival but NCL doesn't allow their bacon a bacation? I was so confused. I mean this was only day 3. They couldn't have ran out already...right? I managed to find the omelet station and found a couple pieces of what they called some type of sausage that didn't quite taste like the sausage I'm used to and actually it kinda reminded me of the Pig and Anchor Sausage links they serve. I guess that would be the extent of my "meat" for breakfast and I cheated with 2 hashbrown circles just because I was pouting about the bacon at this point. Ok, something I just have to mention (and praise) about Carnival. THE POP!! We would learn on this cruise that when you went up and ask for a pop, they gave you THE ENTIRE CAN!!! YES! This is with the soda package. They didn't pile your glass up with ice and pour pop out of a 2 liter that has been shaken up and lost it's taste. They gave you a glass of ice and the entire can! We absolutely LOVED this! No watered down pop this cruise. This alone has me wanting to cruise Carnival all the time. Everyone here knows how much I love my pop. It's my one luxury I give myself. People always think I'm weird because I wake up and drink pop. Well...don't you wake up and drink coffee? What's the difference? I get my caffeine in the morning the same way you do. Except I find yours bitter and mine sweet. 🤷‍♀️ I've just never acquired the taste for coffee as much as I've tried. So I'm looking at the time and I see we are pulling into port around 9:30am. I start to freak out thinking we are coming in late and thinkin we are supposed to meet for our excursion a little after 9. All these thoughts were racing in my head about them leaving us because we are not there yet. "I thought we were supposed to be here at 8am for some reason" I told the hubby. I raced back to the room to see what I had written down from my booking and was relieved to see that it was the excursion that said as soon as we arrive at 10am we are to come there when we could get there. Whew! And...the excursion place was supposed to be right off the dock within walking distance. I was relieved. We headed back upstairs and the kids played a little ping pong. A lot of the activities were going on up at the Sports Deck and people were on the ropes course as well. Now one thing about this cruise...I wanted to see a whale. I have been talking about it for months! The entire cruise I was constantly looking out the balcony window looking for a whale. While on the decks...you guessed it, I was looking for a whale. Karl was constantly saying "Look! Is that a whale" just to get me to look. I'm pretty sure I disowned him a few times already over the last few days of the cruise just for doing this to me. Sakari thought it was funny and started doing it too. Then she points out in the distance (on the side of the ship) and says "Is that a whale?" I glance over trying to not let them see...with a slight glimmer of hope but knew deep down in my soul knew that they were messing with me still...and I look to the back of the ship and said "NO BUT THAT IS!!!" I think they were waiting for me to say "GOT YA!' but.... Yep, there were whales playing in the water!!!! HA! I seen my whales now and was as happy as can be! Karl was amazed and him and Sakari couldn't stop talking about it. They thought I was joking when I said I was going to be spotting whales on this cruise!

Glad to hear you had a great time. I remember cruising on the Jade for my (only) birthday cruise I've done...back in the day when it was my goal to sail every NCL ship they had. I think the only older ship I still haven't done is the Gem. Glad you found it too! Good to have you here. Yea, our weather was COLD! (Something I'm definitely not used to on cruises) 🥶 I'm glad I'm not the only one that don't like sea days. I see a few saying the same thing. I always read people saying they cruise to relax and read a book and ..... maybe some day I'll be like that when I can no longer walk with this leg, but now...I still have to be up and moving or I'm bored. I love the land vacations we've had. Thinking about where we want to go next for a land vacation. This ship ornament thing is driving me insane. They are missing out on so much money. I've read so many people that collect them and can't find them. It's annoying. They are messing my cruise shelf up. LOL I check around here and there as well. Although the people on ebay and Amazon must know about us collectors because when you do find one (not the one's I'm looking for) they are an outrageous price! Oh, I guess I didn't realize there used to be a bar in the casino. Are they going to make all of Carnivals ship casino's without a bar now? I hope they realize people will still go down there and smoke whether there's a bar or not. I've seen it. I don't think they have enough employees to monitor just the smoking people not gambling. It's on every ship.

LOL, they are always up to something. You're welcome and hope you enjoy it. Glad to have you here. I hope you enjoy it. Confused. I never left? (We've been cruising with NCL still after cruising resumed and also doing land vacations). But glad you found me. 🙂 Yes, we know that Karl can order a second dinner. I'm just glad the cruise ship is feeding him and not us. LOL Aww, thanks so much. Oh how cool is that? I hope you had a wonderful cruise as well. Aww thanks so much. I'm glad the website/reviews have been of help in picking out excursions. That's the whole reason I do them. I just have to figure out my website issue still and get everything on there. I hope you have a wonderful cruise! Thanks so much. Ugh, so sorry you didn't get to do your Panorama cruise in 2020. Now you have to take that plunge! 🙂

Ok, gotta get ready for work. I'll attempt to come back later for our first port day. It all depends how busy I get. I hope you all are enjoying the review. So much more excitement to come....trust me!