Mexican Riviera, Nov 2008, Part 1: Cabo San Lucas

Being on a cruise ship was a completely new experience for me. I've been on the ocean before, of course, and boats for pretty much my entire life. But a cruise ship is no boat. One of the first things I came to realize was that my sense of direction was completely thrown off, and that's a crazy feeling for me. Anyone who has ever travelled in a car with me (especially my husband...) will tell you that I always know which direction we're facing and how to get where we're going. But once on board I had no freaking clue! It got better as I got more acquainted with the ship, but even on the last day I found myself going in the wrong direction, or in a place I hadn't expected to be.

Also, I haven't been to the ocean in quite some time (I don't even really know when the last time was...), and being there made me realize one of the reasons I don't live by the ocean: humidity. Vinnie loves it, but I can definitely do without it. My hair is the main problem. Humidity equals frizziness, which equals frustration. It also equals being hot and sticky all the time. I probably showered an average of about three times a day, because I just can't stand the feeling.

But the humidity and lack of direction were only very, VERY minor inconveniences. The trip was completely and totally fantastic! 7 nights, with stops in Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. This first picture is the sunset over the Pacific on our first night (Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008):The ship also had two giant chess sets on board. I wanted to play, but we just never got around to it. I did insist on this picture though:


Our first stop was Cabo San Lucas. Cruise ships cannot go straight into the harbor because the water is too shallow. So, we anchored outside of the marina and took tender boats into the port to be accosted by all of the street vendors (Whistles? Hats? Water taxi? Whistles? Plates? Jewelry? Whistles??? They're everywhere!) View of the marina while we were waiting to depart from the tender boat.

Cool pirate ship we passed on our way into the harbor.

We did end up taking a water taxi tour around the tip of Baja. This is the view from the ship. I didn't know that the tip of Baja California was all rocks jutting out of the ocean. It's beautiful though, and we had a good time touring through them in our water taxi. This rock is apparently the shape of Baja California in minature.

El Arco.

This rock looks a bit like Scooby Doo!

This is the very last rock of the Baja Peninsula.

There are more pictures, of course. The next installment will be Mazatlan, which was my very favorite stop on the cruise. More on that to come...