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Star Dec 1 – 14 Trip Report with some pics


Oakman58
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I thought that husband and wife act was the best show on the cruise. I even liked the little film they showed about their lives and circus school in Moscow.

 

I agree they really displayed a professionalism that I'm sure was due to their circus background.

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Great review! I love the photos of the canal crossing! I'm always especially interested in photo reviews that aren't of the newer, really huge ships.

 

I'm glad you are enjoying it.

 

 

Love the review and pictures. I appreciate the time & effort involved. Did you keep the Dailies? Is it possible to email or post them?

 

Thanks for the kind comments. I'm sorry but no, I didn't hang onto the Dailies.

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Day 10 Sea Day

 

Holy Sailboats Batman, when I stepped out onto our balcony this morning my coffee cup was almost blown out of my hand. The wind was blowing harder than I have ever experienced in my life and the seas were rough and rolling. I thought there was a fine mist falling at first but no, it was sea spray blowing all the way up on our balcony on deck 10.

 

I went back inside and since Joyce was already awake I turned on the TV to the Navigator’s Channel. While the wind speed wasn’t available the seas were 12 to 18 feet. I’d be willing to bet that the gale force winds were in the Strong Gale Force or Storm Gale Force category. Surprisingly the ship seemed quite stable in the heavy seas.

This picture doesn't do justice to the size of the waves.

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After eating breakfast at the buffet we walked around the ship for a bit. Deck 13 was closed due to the high winds and the tables by the pool on deck 12 were deserted. Many of the chairs by the pool were being blown around. Eventually the crew stacked many of the chairs together and put them in a corner out of the wind.

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We grabbed a table by the windows on the starboard side since they weren’t affected by the wind as badly as the port side. I walked over to the pool bar and ordered a couple of mimosas. As I walked back to our table the wind blew the top half of our drinks out of the glass. Yes, it really was that windy.

 

It didn’t take long for us to finish our half-glass of mimosa so we headed back inside and walked around the interior of the ship to get a little exercise. On deck 7 the promenade deck was closed because of the high winds but even so, there were a couple of people walking the promenade for exercise.

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The casino on deck 6 was almost deserted this morning but there were a couple of folks playing the slot machines. Here’s a tip for you; in the morning they put out coffee, juice, and breakfast pastries on a table in the casino. I guess they do that for the people who want to gamble while they have a breakfast. Actually it was handy for grabbing a cup of coffee while wandering the ship.

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At 9 AM Joyce and I went to the Spinnaker for a trivia game put on by the CruiseNext staff. We did OK despite the fact most of the questions concerned the mega-ships. Nope, I had no idea how many beers were on tap at the District Brew House on the Escape. I don’t want to ruin this game for others by giving away the answer but the correct number is somewhere between 23 and 25. The winner actually won a prize from the staff although I don’t remember what it was. The rest of us got a punch in our activity card.

 

The trivia game caused us to work up a thirst so we went up to the pool deck for some mimosas. Although it was still very windy it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been. I was told later by a crew member that the captain had moved the ship closer to shore for the reduced wind speed there.

 

The loungers on the sundeck were still stacked up and tied down but even so, with the sun shining some folks refuse to be denied the chance to sunbathe.

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At some point in the morning we went to the casino so we could donate some money to NCL. We did a good job of that. Since we were already on deck 6, at noon we played the game Goofy Golf by the entrance to the theater. I think we had about 15 people play. There was one lady wearing a Royal Caribbean sweatshirt and I was unsuccessful in getting her disqualified. LOL.

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Continued in my next post.

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Day 10 Sea Day continued.

 

Mark let me know via IConceirge they were on the pool deck so we joined them for a drink. The wind had really subsided by that time. After finishing our drinks we went to the Spinnaker for the Visual Trivia National Costumes game. Wow we sucked at identifying countries by the costumes people in the photos were wearing.

 

I have never played the Deal or No Deal game so with the promise to potentially win $5000, I decided to cough up the $25.00 for one card and play the game. Mark and June bought a card too. The game begins by one of the players being called up on stage to open the cases. The idea is for the money value of your case to match the money value of the case opened by the player on stage. The more matches you make the bigger your prize. If you’re the player on stage you have a better chance of winning money than the rest of us poor slobs. The game was played twice on the same card. In the first game the player on stage won $350, in the second game the player on stage won $75.00. We didn’t win anything.

 

After the game I took a look at my card and realized that although each card had 20 cases, there were only 10 money values on the card. Mark’s card was the same way. The 20 cases on stage each had a different money value while my card only had 10 money values. You could potentially eliminate 4 cases with just one incorrect match. I think I’ll stick with the casino in the future.

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Our dinner reservations were at 8 in the Teppanyaki restaurant tonight so the four of us ate a very late lunch at the buffet. I had brought a trivia game from home so after lunch we went out by the pool and played some trivia, guys against the girls. The guys won but only, according to the girls, because we kept getting easy questions.

 

After the game Joyce and I went back to our cabin to relax for a bit. The sun had been out all day so once the wind subsided the water on our deck dried out leaving behind sea salt residue on everything. Here’s a picture of our balcony railing covered in sea salt.

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Just before sunset we saw a very small pod of dolphins playing in the ocean. They were taking turns jumping completely out of the water and at one point a couple of the dolphins did forward summersaults in the air. It was really a treat to see this dolphin behavior. Who knew they could be such showoffs. I wish I could have gotten some photos of them frolicking in the ocean.

 

We had a beautiful ocean sunset tonight.

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We joined Mark and June in Gatsby’s at 7:30 for a drink before going up to the Teppanyaki for dinner. It was shortly after 8 PM when we were seated in Teppanyaki at a grill table for 12. Here’s the menu from Teppanyaki.

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The show our two chefs put on was excellent. At one point each of us had to try to catch a small piece of chicken in our mouth that was flipped from the chef’s spatula. When it was my turn the chef just kept flipping chicken at me until I cried “uncle.” I think I had a piece of chicken hit every part of my face except my mouth. My brother-in-law Mark got a big kick out of that.

 

With the exception of the fried rice, I though the vegetables were excellent and the meats tender and juicy and cooked to perfection. Here’s a picture of our chef when he was displaying his juggling skills.

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The production in the Stardust tonight was put on by the ship’s cast. It was Vegas! The Show and it was a tribute to some of the entertainment icons who had played Vegas. The show was very good but to be honest I became a little bored toward the end. Perhaps I was just getting tired.

 

Eek! In our cabin tonight there was a mouse in our bed.

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Oakman58 I am hoping you can answer some questions about some things that I have seen mentioned on these boards regarding this ship & this itinerary

Can you tell me if you had to go to the Future Cruise Desk to get Latitudes Cocktail Party Info? Do you remember what night it was?

Was there a special Canal Day Breakfast that could be ordered as a free room service?

What night was the White Hot Party?

Thanks so much for all your insight.

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Oakman58 I am hoping you can answer some questions about some things that I have seen mentioned on these boards regarding this ship & this itinerary

Can you tell me if you had to go to the Future Cruise Desk to get Latitudes Cocktail Party Info? Do you remember what night it was?

Was there a special Canal Day Breakfast that could be ordered as a free room service?

What night was the White Hot Party?

Thanks so much for all your insight.

 

 

Normally the invite to the Latitudes Party is waiting in your cabin. However, I don’t recall getting an invite or any information about a Latitudes party. Perhaps I missed it but in any event we didn’t attend it if they had one.

 

No there was no special canal breakfast that could be ordered as a free room service. I think NCL must have done away with that special breakfast when they began charging for room service. However I believe you can still order the continental breakfast free of charge.

 

The White Hot Party was toward the end of the cruise. I believe it was on the 13th when we were in Cabo San Lucas. I do remember for sure it began at 10:45 PM which was too late for this old man.

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Normally the invite to the Latitudes Party is waiting in your cabin. However, I don’t recall getting an invite or any information about a Latitudes party. Perhaps I missed it but in any event we didn’t attend it if they had one.

 

No there was no special canal breakfast that could be ordered as a free room service. I think NCL must have done away with that special breakfast when they began charging for room service. However I believe you can still order the continental breakfast free of charge.

 

The White Hot Party was toward the end of the cruise. I believe it was on the 13th when we were in Cabo San Lucas. I do remember for sure it began at 10:45 PM which was too late for this old man.

 

We didn't get an invite to a Latitudes get-together either, so if there was one, we missed it too.

 

The White Hot Party was on a cold, blustery night on the pool deck (I wondered why it wasn't earlier in the cruise when the nights were warm instead of when we were on the cooler pacific coast.) We ventured to the pool deck a bit before 10:45 that night and only saw some staff huddled together in the corner. We didn't stay, so I don't know how many people eventually showed up.

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Hello Oakman58 and Clemmie -

thank you for the great review and pictures and answering all the questions. A couple more questions.

 

Do you recall what time debarkation began in LA? Our paperwork states arrival 8:00 am but was wondering what time passengers started getting off the ship.

 

We have a 4:30 flight home and are looking for an excursion that drops off at the airport after the tour with flights before 5:00 pm. The ship offers an excursion but for flights after 5 pm. I know it's only 30 minutes but don't want to miss my flight home. Any suggestions from anyone who has done excursions in LA after the cruise would be helpful. Appreciate it...

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We did this trip a few years ago and had the same issue around flights home in the afternoon. We booked a bespoke tour with "LA Insider Tours" who were very good. Their vehicle collected us at the port and then we did a morning trip round the major tourist bits of TA (including the inevitable photo of the Hollywood sign of course). We ended up right at the terminal at LAX in perfect time for our flight home. Very helpful team.

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Hello Oakman58 and Clemmie -

thank you for the great review and pictures and answering all the questions. A couple more questions.

 

Do you recall what time debarkation began in LA? Our paperwork states arrival 8:00 am but was wondering what time passengers started getting off the ship.

 

 

We have a 4:30 flight home and are looking for an excursion that drops off at the airport after the tour with flights before 5:00 pm. The ship offers an excursion but for flights after 5 pm. I know it's only 30 minutes but don't want to miss my flight home. Any suggestions from anyone who has done excursions in LA after the cruise would be helpful. Appreciate it...

 

 

The ship arrived early in LA and walk off passengers began debarking the ship at 7:40.

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Day 11 Acapulco

 

I was on our balcony early this morning and it looked like it would be another beautiful day. As I sat drinking my coffee on the balcony, I watched as a ship that had been behind us slowly overtook us and then passed us. It turned out to be the Oceania Sirena. I guess our captain had lost the coin toss as to which ship would dock first.

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Our ship was scheduled to arrive in Acapulco at 8 AM and as the ship maneuvered to the pier we were greeted by this group of people. I don’t know who they are, but since they were all dressed alike with a group of police standing behind them, I think they might have been prisoners on some type of work release program.

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Once our ship was docked and passengers began debarking I noticed a significant difference in the welcoming groups for the two ships. Where passengers exited our ship we had a Mariachi Band.

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Oh I almost forgot, we also had a lady with a big head. Yikes! This is the stuff nightmares are made of.

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Over by the Oceania Sirena there was a 16 piece orchestra with a stage and dancers. Hmmmm.

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Our excursion today was the Bay Cruise and Cliff Divers with a meeting time on the pier at 9:20. This excursion included appetizers and beverages. We met June and Mark on the pier and then our tour group was ushered into a building where we waited to board the various tour buses. The line was long but it moved quickly. Once onboard the bus it was a short 10 minute ride to our excursion boat.

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Continued in my next post.

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Day 11 Acapulco continued.

 

According to the NCL tour description we would be boarding a three deck, 85 foot custom-made Catamaran. I’m no expert on boats but I’m pretty sure the boat we boarded wasn’t a catamaran. Oh well, it did have three decks.

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Since it was a bright sunny day and very warm we chose to sit on deck 2 in the shade. Soon after leaving the dock crew members walked among the passengers offering bottled water or other beverages. As the ship cruised the bay our tour guide pointed out the million dollar mansions that belonged to famous Hollywood actors and other rich and famous folks.

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I think it took around one hour to get to La Quebrada where the world famous cliff divers perform. I was really disappointed the boat anchored so far away from the cliffs. The ship must have been 100 yards or so away from the cliffs. I booked this excursion because I thought we would have a much closer view. I was glad I brought a camera with a long zoom, but even so I had to crop the following pictures to show detail.

 

In this picture at the top of the photo you can see divers standing at the two different levels on the cliff. The divers are watching as another diver is soaring down toward the ocean.

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At one point the divers jumped from three different levels but entered the water almost simultaneously.

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After the diving show appetizers and snacks were ready to be served. The chicken wing appetizers were very good and went down well with a beer. There were also nachos and salad available.

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Continued in my next post.

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Day 11 Acapulco continued.

After eating, we cruised the bay for another hour before returning to the Star. I took this photo of the Sirena and Star because it reminded me of friends that are mad and have their backs turned to each other.

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I also noticed the Star had a boo-boo on the Starboard side at the rear. I’m guessing she got that going through the locks at the canal. You can see “X” marks the spot near the water line.

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When we returned to the dock, we boarded the bus for the ride back and arrived at the port at 1:25. After boarding the Star we stopped at O’Sheehan’s for a snack and then headed to our cabin and took another of those short “accidental” naps.

 

Acapulco is a beautiful city but I think I’ll remember it for all the VW Bugs driving around.

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About 15 minutes before our ship left port I saw a number of crew members leaving the ship with suitcases. I guess this was another group of crew members that had completed their contract with NCL.

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Our ship departed Acapulco just before 6 PM. Once again that same group of prisoners was standing by the pier waving goodbye to us.

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We met Mark and June in Gatsby’s and Tea for Two was performing. I really enjoyed their music and I think it was this night they played one of my favorite pieces, The William Tell Overture. That’s right I’m a classy guy who listens to classical music. Either that or I just like listening to the music that was used for the theme song of the Lone Ranger.

 

We ate dinner in the Aqua restaurant tonight and then went to the show in the Stardust Theater. The entertainment tonight was the comedian Landry. I thought he was extremely funny and really enjoyed his humor.

 

No towel animal in our cabin tonight.

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Hello Oakman58 and Clemmie -

thank you for the great review and pictures and answering all the questions. A couple more questions.

 

Do you recall what time debarkation began in LA? Our paperwork states arrival 8:00 am but was wondering what time passengers started getting off the ship.

 

We have a 4:30 flight home and are looking for an excursion that drops off at the airport after the tour with flights before 5:00 pm. The ship offers an excursion but for flights after 5 pm. I know it's only 30 minutes but don't want to miss my flight home. Any suggestions from anyone who has done excursions in LA after the cruise would be helpful. Appreciate it...

 

Just to add a bit about the dreaded day of debarkation. Since we live less than an hour from the port, I had selected 8:40am as our departure time. We had a friend picking us up at 9:30am. I know these times are not exact, but 8:40 came and went, and then 9:30 came and went with no one moving. It was explained that there was a back-up in the terminal. Finally around 9:45, the next round of colors were called and we headed for the exit. Not so fast. We met a huge slow moving line. Long story short, we finally exited the terminal at 10:45am or so. I believe the walk-offs, plus those with a ship sponsored excursion, overwhelmed customs for some reason. There were a number of folks in line on their cell phones changing plans, car rentals, shuttles due to the delay. Hopefully, this was was a one time thing, but something to consider on any debarkation day.

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Day 12 Sea Day

 

This was our fifth sea day so I’m not going to bore you with a lot of details since most of what we did was similar to our other sea days. I’ll condense much of what we did. I did forget to mention that last night we turned our clocks back one hour again making the cruise another hour longer. Woo Hoo!

 

After breakfast and then a walk around the promenade deck we went to the Atrium for the 9AM Cruise Director’s Staff Coffee Chat. The Cruise Director Tom was already there so I introduced myself and mentioned (complained) about the condition of the theater seats and especially the torn fabric on the seat in the balcony. He didn’t seem too concerned but he said he would look into it and see what could be done.

 

We met Mark and June on the pool deck, had a drink, and then went to the 1 PM Visual Trivia Scene It game. We did well but again, we didn’t win.

 

We ate lunch in the Versailles and we were seated in the rear next to one of the aft windows. I loved that spot.

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We took an afternoon nap that was actually intentional this time. Later we had drinks at Gatsby’s and dinner in the Ginza restaurant.

 

At 8:30 we went to the Ultimate Dance Clash Finale in the Spinnaker. We didn’t see the first competition earlier in the cruise but Mark and June had and they said it was hilarious. The Ultimate Dance Clash Finale turned out to be my favorite entertainment of the cruise. A member of the cruise staff, Jefferson, had been paired with a passenger partner in the first competition and made the cut to the finale. Tonight they appeared in outrageous costumes and put on a dance routine that was imaginative, inspired, athletic, and was absolutely hilarious, and both Jefferson and his partner were darn good dancers. The two won the competition by audience vote hands down.

 

The 9:30 show in the theater was the ventriloquist Phil Hughes. Joyce and I thought his show was stale and not funny so we left before it ended. Sorry Phil.

 

Back in our cabin we had a nice certificate for each of us declaring we had crossed the Panama Canal. That’s a nice touch on NCL’s part.

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We also had a towel animal on our bed.

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Really found your blog very interesting, we are doing the same cruise in February and wondered if you could answer a few questions? We are a group of 8 and one is a very bad sailor (his first cruise!) was sea sickness a problem on your voyage? Did you take the drinks and specialty restaurant packages, if so did you think it was worthwhile and did you have a problem getting your glass refilled particularly with wine at dinner time? Thanks very much. Looking forward to the rest of your blog.

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Really found your blog very interesting, we are doing the same cruise in February and wondered if you could answer a few questions? We are a group of 8 and one is a very bad sailor (his first cruise!) was sea sickness a problem on your voyage? Did you take the drinks and specialty restaurant packages, if so did you think it was worthwhile and did you have a problem getting your glass refilled particularly with wine at dinner time? Thanks very much. Looking forward to the rest of your blog.

 

Just jumping in regarding your seasick sailor - I am very prone to seasickness and I swear by the prescription Scopolamine patch. I would have been sick without it for a couple days. It gave me dry mouth but I'd take that over seasickness any day.

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Really found your blog very interesting, we are doing the same cruise in February and wondered if you could answer a few questions? We are a group of 8 and one is a very bad sailor (his first cruise!) was sea sickness a problem on your voyage? Did you take the drinks and specialty restaurant packages, if so did you think it was worthwhile and did you have a problem getting your glass refilled particularly with wine at dinner time? Thanks very much. Looking forward to the rest of your blog.

 

With the exception of the one day we had rough seas we had a fairly smooth sailing on our cruise. The night before we encountered the rough ocean, seasick bags were placed in various public locations throughout the ship. If anyone in your group is worried about becoming seasick then definitely tell them to bring something for seasickness. There are drugs both over-the-counter and prescription as jenniferandwhatnot suggested that combat seasickness and there are also patches and wristbands that will stop motion sickness.

 

We had both the beverage package and the dining package which was included with our cruise fare. I think the dining package is definitely worth it if you have to buy it. Whether or not the beverage package is worth it really depends on your drinking habits.

We had no trouble getting refills on wine at dinner time and we were on a sold out cruise. The only venue where they could have used another server was the Spinnaker Lounge but it was no problem to go to the bar in the lounge to get a drink.

Edited by Oakman58
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Hello Oakman58 and Clemmie -

thank you for the great review and pictures and answering all the questions. A couple more questions.

 

Do you recall what time debarkation began in LA? Our paperwork states arrival 8:00 am but was wondering what time passengers started getting off the ship.

 

We have a 4:30 flight home and are looking for an excursion that drops off at the airport after the tour with flights before 5:00 pm. The ship offers an excursion but for flights after 5 pm. I know it's only 30 minutes but don't want to miss my flight home. Any suggestions from anyone who has done excursions in LA after the cruise would be helpful. Appreciate it...

 

On December 29th, people were already starting easy walkoff at 8am. It may take longer on a PC cruise but on the Mexican Riviera cruise round trip from LA we just finished we were in by 730 and people were exiting before 8am.

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We have the drinks package included but I am told you can only get one drink/glass of wine at a time and I just wondered if they were as keen to refill your glass as they are when you are buying. Thanks for your advice.

 

We always got great service and we as a "party" of four all had the beverage perk. This last time on the Epic it was excellent as we mostly had drinks in the Haven. In the specialty restaurants, they always told you the wines available by the glass and there was no issue having a glass or two pretty quickly.

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Day 13 Cabo San Lucas

 

The ship was scheduled to arrive in Cabo at 7AM but we were at anchor in the bay at least a half hour before that. Cabo is a tender port and the crew began lowering a couple of the lifeboats before sunrise. Swinging the boats out and over the water and then lowering them into the water is not a quiet operation. I bet the folks in the cabins near those boats loved waking up to that racket. LOL!

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For the tender operations they would be using the lifeboats from our ship and some tender boats from Cabo. I don’t like tendering in lifeboats because they are enclosed and the windows are always covered with sea salt making it impossible to take pictures.

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This would be a short port day with the All Aboard at 1:30. Our excursion today was the Whale Watching Coastal Cruise. Our tour had a meeting time in the theater at 8:45 and I’m glad we went down early because we were on a lifeboat by 8:45.

 

It was a short tender ride to the pier and we were on the whale watching boat and heading out in the bay by 9:15. We slowly cruised along the coast toward Land’s End and The Arch. Along the way we passed by a group of seals on a rocky outcrop.

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The Arch and Land’s End is a very scenic area of Cabo San Lucas. We had been on an excursion to Land’s End a few years back so I was getting anxious to go looking for whales. Especially since this was just a 2 hour tour.

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Before our boat headed farther out to the ocean I snapped this picture of the Star. I put a little red arrow pointing to where our balcony cabin was located on deck 10.

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Continued in my next post.

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