We were awake bright and early again that morning. This was our first port day, but we were not due to arrive until lunch time. Considering how busy the solarium was the day before, we figured that if we wanted some hot tub time, we better have it in the morning. This worked out well. There were a couple of people in one of hot tubs in the solarium, but the other hot tub was empty. The temperature was lovely, and it was a nice relaxing start to the day. By the time somebody else came, we felt we had soaked for long enough. We got our and dried off. We then headed back down to the cabin to get showered and changed.
We decided that we fancied a light breakfast that morning. We headed down to the crown lounge where they serve a continental breakfast every morning. They had quite a spread. We both had coffee and orange juice. Graham had some fruit, smoked salmon, toast, yoghurt, and some pastries. I had a crusty roll with salami and cheese, a yoghurt parfait, and a chocolate donut. We definitely did not leave hungry. Our decision to have breakfast at the crown lounge that morning had an added advantage. Cabo San Lucas is a tender port. As we did not have an excursion booked, we needed tender tickets, which were due to be given out in the dining room at 09:30. I realised that our concierge had tender tickets. I asked him about this, and he gave us our tender tickets. This saved us a lot of time. I saw the line for the tender tickets later and this was not pretty. I was only too glad that I did not have to get into that line. We also lucked out and got group 1.
After breakfast, we went back to our cabin. Our stateroom host was hard at work. We left him to it. The Next Cruise area was on our landing. I had noticed that so far it had been really quiet, but I figured that this would probably change as the cruise went on. We wanted to book a cruise for my birthday this year. I had spotted a very tempting cruise about a month before we left for this trip. This is a transatlantic cruise from Civitavecchia to New York. The price for this was amazing. It is also on a ship I really enjoyed when we sailed on her before. We do have unfinished business in New York and the ports are definitely speaking to me. We will have a day in Barcelona, which gives us the opportunity to visit Montserrat again. We also visit Madeira, which I loved in 2010. It also gives me the opportunity to visit the Alhambra in Granada, which has been on my bucket list forever. I had been wondering what to do for my 50th birthday for ages and this ticked all the boxes. I had to smile though. The cruise sets sail on 3rd November and the person who made the booking for us picked up that this is less than a month after Graham’s birthday. He however completely overlooked that not only would I be celebrating my birthday on that cruise, but also on the cruise we are currently on. I was not upset about this at all. I am not all that keen on the idea of half the dining room singing “Happy Birthday” to me. I do however sense a pattern. In 2012, I spent my birthday on the Disney Magic. On the first night, the dining room team came to celebrate Graham’s birthday. My birthday a few days later however went completely unnoticed.
The booking process took a little longer than normal. If you make a booking on a ship and you made the booking for the cruise you are on through a travel agent, the new booking normally automatically goes back to that agency. I had made the booking while still working for a travel agency. I most certainly did not want the booking to go to them. Fortunately, you have the option to fill out a form stating that you want the booking to stay with Royal Caribbean. I have to say, the first time I did this, I was more than a little nervous, but it did work, and all looks fine with this booking as well.
Once this was taken care of, we quickly headed to the cabin to drop off the booking confirmation and to pick up some odds and ends. On the way to the Schooner Bar, we stopped by the crown lounge for some take away coffee. We managed to get some seats by the window. Before morning trivia every morning, they had some kind of puzzle challenge. That morning, it was Sudoku. As we were there, we thought we may as well have a go. We did not do particularly well, but it whiled away 30 minutes.
Morning trivia consisted of a good selection of questions again. We felt quietly optimistic that we may have a winning score with 18 out of 25 points, but the winning score was 22. Shortly after morning trivia, they did Dingbats puzzles. I quite fancied this, but Graham wanted to head out to the helipad. We agreed that I would join him after the trivia. It turned out that Graham had made the better choice. I was definitely in crash and burn territory. I did not even take the answer sheet as I normally do. I figured this performance did not need to be preserved for posterity.
After trivia, I went back to the cabin to get organized for our port day. I then joined Graham on the helipad once I was ready. Graham was deep in conversation with a very nice couple. They were called Laurie and Ken and from Denver. Like me, they are big Disney fans. We had plenty to talk about. Ultimately, they became part of the trivia dream team. I thoroughly enjoyed their company.
The sail into Cabo San Lucas is very pretty. Near the anchorage for cruise ships, the Pacific, and Sea of Cortez merge. They are completely different colours and then creates some amazing colour effects where they merge. The famous arch is also in the vicinity. I took a few photos and then just enjoyed our beautiful surroundings. Once we were no longer moving, we headed inside.
It did not take very long until the announcement was made that the ship had been cleared and tender operations had commenced. As we were in group one, we headed straight down to the tender lobby. There was a tender waiting there and it was almost full. We did not have to wait long until we were on our way. Whenever we had been to Cabo San Lucas before, the Pacific has been very placid. That was not the case that day. The trip on the tender was quite bumpy. We had originally planned to do a fantastic snorkeling excursion again that we had done back in 2014 when we visited Cabo San Lucas during a Panama Canal cruise on the Disney Wonder. Unfortunately, by the time our on-board credit was sorted out, there was only one spot left. That was no good. We had tried again once we were on the ship just in case they held some excursions back, but we were out of luck. We figured that we could probably make arrangements locally and just headed ashore. There was no shortage of people offering excursions near the tender dock, but considering how bumpy it was on the tender boat, we did not think that snorkeling was such a great idea. Everything happens for a reason.
When we got off the tender, we stopped for some photos. They had some “Mexican princesses” that were posing with the passengers. Once we had taken care of the photos, we initially did not get very far. We enjoyed a bit of dry snorkeling. The reason why the snorkeling is so amazing in Cabo San Lucas is the combination of all kinds of colourful fish and crystal-clear water. For some reason, there were a lot of fish that were hanging out near the dock. Because the water was so clear, we could see them as clearly as we would have seen them if we had been able to go snorkeling. I had never realized that puffer fish came in so many different colours. I would never have dared to observe them from so close up if I had been in the water with them.
We decided to go for a bit of a wander. We had always enjoyed Cabo San Lucas, but looking back, it probably was because we always did some amazing excursions there. This time round we were not impressed. There were a lot of aggressive vendors, which rather spoiled things. I was not all bad though. The wildlife was amazing. We saw sea lions, pelicans, and green herons as well as numerous fish. We did have a quick look at the Cabo Dolphin Centre. I did a trainer for a day program there back in 2011 and this is an amazing facility. Their prices also used to be very fair. I decided to check if they had availability for this afternoon. They did, but the prices for even the most basic dolphin interaction was more than I was willing to pay.
I got talked into a free facial and also checked out a jewelry shop by the port entrance that had some beautiful silver jewelry with opals. The prices however were truly eyewatering. I can bargain with the best of them, but with a starting point that high, I did not feel inclined to waste my time. I headed back to catch up with Graham who was waiting for me on one of the benches near the dock. He had been talking to one of the photographers and we got some more photos. Then we got in line for the tender back to the ship. We had a bit of a wait. They were sending the smaller tenders back empty. When one of the large tenders arrived that was taking people back to the ship, it took a while for the tender to fill up. When we were finally on our way, it was even bumpier. We went very close to Pelican Rock where the best snorkeling is to be had. Normally there are boats of all sized in the vicinity, but there were no boats there that day. Even with all the movement, I did manage to get a couple of photos of the ship.
By the time we got back on the ship, Graham felt it was too late for lunch. I had no such qualms. On Navigator, they have El Loco Fresh on the pool deck. This is a Mexican quick service concept. I have previously enjoyed this on Wonder of the Seas and Odyssey of the Seas. On the other ships they had some grab and go items, but also the option to assemble your own dishes. On Navigator, there were no grab and go items. Items like burritos and quesadillas were made to order. Other items you could just make yourself with a choice of ingredients. Apart from the actual ingredients, they also had a toppings bar with loads of different options. I made myself a rice bowl with Mexican rice, pulled pork, beans, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole. This was delicious and hit the spot. We enjoyed the view a bit longer and then we headed down to the Schooner Bar for evening trivia. On the way, I picked up a soft serve ice cream. It is very unlike me to be on a cruise and not have an ice cream until day 3.
Even though we had got there nice and early, the Schooner bar was already packed. We only managed to get some seats around the piano. Ken arrived shortly after we got there. As Laurie was otherwise occupied, we teamed up. We scored 12 out of 23 and the winning score was 17. The previous two days, there was a visual trivia pretty much straight after evening trivia. This time it was an hour later. We headed back to the cabin to get showered and changed. On our way, we got intercepted by one of the photographers who was taking photos by the hanging sculpture. He convinced us to take some photos in our casual outfits. The photographer with the backdrop in front of the dining room got wind of this and called us over, too. As we were in no particular hurry, we stopped for some more photos before finally heading to the cabin.
Once we were showered and changed, we went to the Star Lounge. The visual trivia that day was musicals. This is not our strongest area, but it is something that I really enjoy. We were the first people there. We got a drink each. I figured that I cannot be in Mexico and not have a Margarita. The bartender made me a mango Margarita, which was delicious. Graham had one, too. The trivia consisted of various video clips from musicals. We got a score of 11 out 20 and the winning score was 18. I really enjoyed it though and this is ultimately all that counts.
We went to the dining room slightly early, but that was no issue, and we were seated straightaway. We were taken back to the table where we had been seated the day before. Winston was already waiting for us and asked if we wanted the same wine as the day before. We confirmed this. This time Rohan was there as well. We had a nice dinner again. The menu that evening was A Taste of Mexico. This was a new one to us as this is not offered in Europe. While we were perusing the menu, Rohan brought us a cheese plate to share. That was a bit of a surprise. Graham had the escargot for his starter. I could not make up my mind between two starters and I had the roasted poblano pepper soup with roasted corn, red peppers and sauteed chorizo and the grilled corn cakes with grilled vegetables and an avocado tomato salsa. For his main course, Graham had gone with the Indian option. He had the butter chicken with rice, roti, and poppadom. I sticked with the Mexican theme and had the Carne Asada, which was marinated grilled flank steak with Mexican rice, pinto beans, and peppers. For dessert, Graham had the apple crumble with vanilla sauce, and I had the tres leches cake. Dinner was delicious.
After dinner, we did our proper rounds of the photo opportunities. That day, it was a lot better. There were three different backdrops and there was also a photographer by the hanging statue. One of the photos that was taken that evening is one of my favourite photos. Ironically, I cannot remember this photo being taken, but Graham definitely remembered. Once we had got our photos, we went back to the cabin. We booth got ready for bed. Graham went straight to sleep, but I read for half an hour before settling down for the night, too.
Dolphingirl’s Travels 
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