Mexican Cruise Day 1

Of course most of the other people in the hotel were going on our cruise too so we joined the rest of the parade of people wheeling their luggage across the street to the terminal the next morning…even I couldn’t justify paying a cab to make a U turn. The cruise terminal is very very dinky…which is good and bad. Good in that there were virtually no lines. Bad in that this is the last cruise on our VIP status and there was no special VIP lounge….bummer. But we were still first on the boat so who cares? The boat is called the Spirit and I like it much better than the Triumph but not as much as the Liberty or Conquest. We’re not even going to discuss the Eurodam extravaganza. It was business anyway but I would sure never pay to go on Holland America. Carnival does it so much better and the sad thing is they are the same company! It’s like Wal-Mart and Saks being owned by the same corporation and Wal-Mart kicking their butt! But enough about corporate America.

Our stateroom was a new experience this time. We got one of those extended balconies near the elevators – it was the same price as the regular balcony so we opted for more space. We had no idea how much space!! It is a foot & a half wider and three times as long as a regular balcony. We have as much square footage outside as in! It reminds me of that long hallway in the Shining, but with an ocean view and deck chairs….totally cool.

We set sail at 4 pm – it was getting dark as the sun sets very early on the west coast and as soon as that sun started dipping the temperatures plunged!! We were shivering as the boat pulled out of San Diego bay. I got some great pictures of the skyline and military base as we went by. We also saw a pod of dolphins as we left. It didn’t take long for the decks to clear and everyone scurried inside.

We met our dinner mates for the first time – Bonnie and Howard from LA. They both work for the electric/water company in LA so Kevin had something in common with them. They seem nice and very normal.

I’m looking forward to two days at sea to work a little and relax a lot. Our first port of call is Acapulco so it will be a couple of days before we get there.