Crusin' to Cabo

A few weeks ago we just decided to go on a cruise to Cabo San Lucas with some friends. It was all very spur-of-the-moment and a good way to utilize part of our tax return, but everything came together and worked out. I'd like to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who helped out with our boys back home, especially their amazing Grandma Stoker who came and stayed with them for the majority of the time. My mom, my brothers, my sister, and nieces and nephews helped out also, it's much easier to leave when I know they are in good hands. And, let me tell you, they probably had more fun than we did with trips to McDonalds, playing at the park, and getting to spend time with family.

Our adventures began on Saturday, March 5th when we dropped the boys off at my mom's for the night and headed to the airport (Thanks, Wade & Lauren for keeping our car, taking us to the airport, and picking us up!) We had a longer wait than anticipated since our flight was delayed and so was our connecting flight that would take us to San Diego. Here are a few pictures of us waiting in the airport and enjoying our McDonalds dinner...

We arrived in San Diego late Saturday night and took a shuttle to our hotel...which was an experience in and of itself. We got in the first shuttle we came to and the guy barely spoke English. He kept asking us if we were going to "Hotel or Residence?" but we couldn't understand what he was saying. He had us spell the name of the hotel several times and repeat the address before handing Jeff the GPS and having him type in the address. There was another passenger in the van with us and she was returning home to San Diego and she was giving him all of the directions to our hotel and even told him he needed to pay her, which was true. He even turned the wrong way down a one way street where another vehicle was heading straight toward us. He quickly made a U-turn and about hit another car, then came to an abrubt stop in front of our hotel and dropped us off in the middle of a four lane street, then had the audacity to ask for a tip after we had paid the flat rate. You'd better believe I'm going to fill out a complaint on their website. The only high point of the entire drive was seeing a limo with the license plate "Trump20" and believing that Donald Trump was in the backseat.

When we got out of the shuttle I almost wished I could get back in, it looked like we were in the sketchiest part of town and I would hardly call it a hotel. I spent the entire night with one eye open while listening to people yelling outside, doors constantly opening and closing, tires screeching, and a blinking light right outside our room. Ok, I'm done complaining. But it really was that bad.

We were relieved when Jeff's friend, Noah, picked us up that morning and took us to a better part of town where he walked us up and down the beach, showing us several tourist attractions. He took us to breakfast where we had a beautiful view of the ocean and I just sat in the sun listening to the birds thinking "It's the begining of March. It's sunny and I'm wearing flip flops." It was a welcome change from the chilly weather we left behind at home.

Jeff & Holly in front of the Carnival Spirit

Jeff & Noah

Before dropping us off at the boat, Noah took us up to the top of the Hyatt hotel to their observation deck and we got some views of the city.

Then it was time to board the ship and that was a complicated mess. Jeff & I had gone on a cruise with Carnival for our honeymoon and since we were traveling with our friends who hadn't been on a cruise, the guy Jeff spoke to said that we should book the rooms with Jeff & Brody together and Callie & I together so that each room would receive the previous guest discount (which I don't think either of us ever got). So, Brody & Callie got on the boat before we did and whoever checked them in gave Callie her room key and Brody my room key. It wouldn't be such a big deal if the key didn't have my name on it and was supposed to have my picture on it. However, the picture lady didn't look at the name on the card and took Brody's picture, putting it on my card. You have to have this card to get on and off the boat and it has to have the right picture on it. So. Jeff & I had to wait in line and call Brody & Callie who had to get off the boat, come all the way back to the check in station and get the right key for Brody. Then we had to get the right pictures but the picture lady said she couldn't do it, that we had to go to Guest Services and get it done there. When we got there they told us we had to go back to the picture lady but there was no way we were going all the way back there. We had to have a Securiy officer come help us and then they had to call the head honcho Security guy who took us down to the bottom of the boat and eventually got my picture and Jeff's fixed, but not Brody's. Everytime he wanted on and off the boat there was a loud noise and the computer said his card was invalid so he had to fill out a form and get his picture taken again. It was frustrating and they didn't even give us anything free after all that hassle.

But we were finally aboard the boat and ready to set sail!

...Until we realized that Jeff's cell phone was missing. But we were able to get ahold of Noah and thankfully it had only fallen out of Jeff's pocket and was in Noah's car. It is in the mail making it's way back to us as we speak...

I didn't take many pictures of inside the ship, but here's a shot of the glass elevators and part of the lobby.

In front of the "Whale Tail"

Jeff & the city of San Diego

Every night there was a different Towel Animal in our room and Jeff insited I get my picture with the elephant...

So he had to get his picture the next night with the dog. He thinks this should be an advertisment for Carnival Cruise Lines.

This is another dog.

And a creepy monkey that swung from the lights.

And a cute little seal for our last night on the ship.

There was a fancy-schmancy dress-up dinner on the second night so we got all gussied up and headed for dinner.

Our first day in Cabo we decided to do a Shore Tour and took a yacht and went snorkeling. The crew on the boat was a lot of fun and it was a relaxing ride, as long as I didn't think about all of the sharks out in the ocean. By the time we arrived at the snorkeling spot I had freaked myself out so much that I had a hard time getting off the boat and into the water.

We saw a New Zealand sailing team and a pirate ship...if you click on these two pictures you can see men up on the masts of the ships.

This is the famous El Arco de Cabo San Lucas-or Land's End. This is where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez. They said it's also a popular gathering place for sea lions, but I only spotted one.

A Pelican. I kept thinking a shark was going to jump out of the water and swallow him whole. But it never happened.

The best part of the entire cruise was when we were on our way to go snorkeling and we came upon a mother Humpback Whale and her baby playing out in the ocean. We were able to stop and watch them for awhile and it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.

Then it was off to snorkel but I must say that, after snorkeling on the Eastern side of Mexico, the Western side doesn't compare. The water wasn't as clear and blue as it was over near Cancun when we went on our honeymoon and we didn't see nearly as many fish. I spent most of my time on the beach and climbing on the rocks watching the small black crabs and poking them with my flipper fins.

Snorkel Steve. Not to be confused with Scuba Steve.

My flipper fins-ready and waiting...

When we got back to the pier we saw this sea lion.

Back on the ship, in front of Land's End.

In the Jungle Hallway on the boat. I don't know why there was a jungle hallway, but there were giraffes and gorillas on the walls and bamboo around the windows.

On our second day in Cabo we wanted to do some shopping so we walked around while trying not to get lost. This next picture is of me in front of the store where I accidentally knocked a mug off of a shelf and broke it. The lady kept telling me I had to pay $4.50 for it at the register but I kept telling her there was no way I was going to because I didn't even touch it. I was turned around looking at some little snakes when it fell and I must have barely bumped it with my bag. So we ended up paying $28 for tshirts and didn't have to pay for the broken mug. Which I kind of feel bad about, but it was really an accident.

We watched a group of people swim with dolphins-you can pay $170 to swim with them or you can watch for free. We watched for free! I snapped a few pictures before getting in trouble since they don't allow photography. I had no idea I wasn't allowed to take pictures, but I kept getting myself into trouble while in Cabo.

So, after walking through a few more stores (and being extra careful not to bump anything with my bag) it was time to say "Audios" to Cabo. We read in a magazine that Cabo San Lucas is Leonardo DiCaprio's favorite vacation spot, but it's not somewhere I would care to visit again. I would probably end up breaking another mug, anyway.

Back on the boat we had some time to kill, so I told everyone we had 20 minutes to go on a scavenger hunt and find something for each of the letters of the alphabet. Jeff was disqualified since he was late getting back, but he was the only one that found something for all 26 letters.

The next day we were at sea as we made our way back to San Diego. We walked to the back of the boat to see if we could find any whales when the Captain announced that he'd seen several. We didn't see any.

There was a game room on the boat so we played a few rounds of Mexican Train Dominos.

Every night we sat at the same table and had the same waiter, Anak. Anak is in the black and his helper is in the gold-I can't remember the other guy's name and I couldn't spell it even if I could remember it. They are both from Indonesia. Anak has been doing this for 16 years and he works for 6 months, has 2 months off, and is back at work for 6 months. He has a wife and 3 little kids at home. I had been thinking about how much I missed my kids and it had only been 6 days. He only sees his kids once a year. He was a great waiter and I enjoyed getting to know him. Every night I would ask if there was cheesecake for dessert and finally there was-he brought me a piece for dessert and sent 3 with me when we were done.

Thursday night there was a tsunami in Japan-we heard a little about it before going to bed but didn't think that it would effect us in our travels. We were supposed to be at the San Diego port at 6:30 Friday morning. When I woke up and looked out the window, we were still in the middle of the ocean and it was really foggy outside. The Captain and cruise director came on the louspeaker and informed us that we couldn't go to the port because it was closed due to the tsunami warnings on the west coast. We turned on the television and watched CNN, which was probably the worst thing we could have done. They kept playing the scenes from Japan over and over, then said that it had just hit Hawaii and the west coast could expect impact in the next 20-30 minutes. I kept thinking about how if the ship were sinking, at least we could get to the life boats, but with a tsunami, there wasn't anything we could do. I was freaking out and crying-thank goodness Jeff is a bit more calm than I am in those types of situations. I really did think that was the end for us and that we were goners. When we went up to the deck so Jeff could eat-I was too nervous for breakfast-the water was so calm, the calmest it had been during our entire trip-and there were so many dolphins swiming around the boat. Nothing ever happend and we finally got to the port in San Diego around 10:30 and waited on the boat until nearly 1:00 unti Callie & I decided we'd had enough. We didn't want to be the ones missing a flight, although our flight wasn't until 4:30. After a crazy ride to the airport (not as crazy as the ride from the airport) we boarded the plane and were home late that evening. Ethan & Kamden were still up waiting for us and they had decorated the house with signs and balloons. Owen was asleep but I woke him up anyway. He didn't wake up enough to realize what was going on and he started crying and wanted back in bed. We are happy to be home but would like to be able to stop feeling like we are still rocking on the ocean...