Magical Moments from Mexico

I have a newfound love for Mexico after spending one month on the Ruby Princess and getting the wonderful opportunity to experience several shore excursions. There is so much beauty and adventure in Mexico I never knew about until my November/December 2017 contract.

I have listed the tour name and a link to the tour description provided by Princess Cruises. My thoughts about the tours are written below the tour name.


Mazatlan: Concordia, Copala & Golden Zone
A great tour to experience three different traditional villages and watch their craftsmanship (tile making, pottery, and masks) in action.


Cabo San Lucas: El Arco Cruise & Playa Medano
I can't go to Cabo and not take a catamaran to see the famous arches up close. After our catamaran ride we went to Medano beach where resort staff brought lunch to us while we relaxed on the lounge chairs.

 

Catalina Island: Catalina Semi-Sub
There is an option to purchase fish food which you can launch out of the semi-submarine with a push of a button. It was so amusing to see a swarm of fishes congregate by my porthole with the push of a button.

Ensenada: City Drive & Mexican Folkloric Festival
I loved the opportunity to watch a mariachi band perform live and adored watching the dancers perform their traditional dances.

Dancing with a glass of water on their head and not spilling any water!

San Diego: San Diego Zoo Safari Park
I would love to go on a safari in Africa one day but the San Diego Zoo Safari Park was the closest thing I could do to experience a safari at the moment. My favourite part was watching the behaviour of the gorillas: I was mesmerized by them.
Tip: Go on the "Africa Tram" as soon as you get to the Safari Park to avoid line-ups later on in the day.

Giraffes spotted while on the "Africa Tram"

Gorillas :)

La Paz: Snorkeling with Sea Lions
Still pinching myself over the amazing experience of getting to snorkel in San Rafaelito Bay where a sea lion colony resides. While looking at the fishes and coral reef below me through my goggles a group of sea lions came swimming by! This was unlike any snorkeling experience I had ever done. I will never forget the first time I saw a giant sea lion sneak by under me while I was snorkeling...absolutely incredible!

Some relaxing time at the beach before snorkeling

Puerto Vallarta: Kayaking, Waterfall & Snorkeling Safari
Hands down one of the best tours offered in Mexico! A full day of activities including horseback riding, swimming in the waterfalls and snorkeling were done on this tour. To finish off the tour we had a buffet lunch at a private beach. Kayaking and stand up paddle boarding were also available at the private beach for those who wanted to do it. On the catamaran ride back to the ship we saw a couple of whales breaching within close proximity to us as well as dolphins swimming by to make this already magical day even more special. 

Puerto Vallarta: Jungle Zipline Adventure
So much fun and adrenaline! The tour guides were so energetic and friendly they were able to convince me to zipline upside down as well as to rappel down 70 feet from the tree platform to the ground. The best part of the whole tour was the pendulum swing which I was initially hesitant to do but ended up loving.


Loreto:
I didn't do a tour but it was my first time at this port and I kept saying over and over "I can't believe how beautiful it is here!"
Just walking around the waterfront area and the shopping street made for a great day in Loreto.

Muchas gracias Mexico! There is so much more to discover about you. I look forward to coming back soon.

California Coastal Captured on Camera

San Francisco

Golden Gate Bridge

Alcatraz

Sea lions at Pier 39

Fishermans Wharf has lots of fresh seafood places to eat at

Long Beach

Long Beach Performing Arts Center

Courtyard in front of the Performing Arts Center

Tip: There is a free red shuttle bus (called the Passport Bus) which takes you from the port to downtown in 30-45 minutes. After exiting the port, make a right towards the parking lot of the Queen Mary cruise ship terminal and you'll see the bus stop at the end of the parking lot.
The bus comes every 10-15 minutes on weekdays and every 10-30 minutes on weekends. It stops at the Aquarium, Shoreline Village, Pacific at Ocean, and 3rd at Promenade (final stop). Then it makes its way back from 3rd at Promenade to the port in the reverse order instead of heading straight back to the port (i.e. it goes to Pacific at Ocean, then Shoreline Village, then the Aquarium before the port again).


Santa Barbara

A beautiful port with a lot of great photo opportunities but I didn't take any pictures this time. Sometimes you just have to live in the moment and capture memories without a photograph and sometimes you just spend too much time at the 99 cent store. It was a bit of both in my case.


San Diego

NBC Studios

Statue of the iconic "V-J Day in Times Square" photo

Ensenada, Mexico

Interesting head statues

Scenic view of the city

Snorkeling in Cabo and Shopping in Santa Barbara

Hola amigos y amigas! Upon arrival back home to frost on the ground and Christmas lights on display I was reminded that Christmas is just weeks away! Being away from Vancouver for ten days to work on the Star Princess during the busy U.S. Thanksgiving period I forgot all about these brisk winter days.

I had a fantastic time doing two short cruises out of Los Angeles. The first cruise did an overnight stay in Cabo San Lucas while the second cruise had stops in Santa Barbara and Ensenada.


Cabo San Lucas
Night 1:
I got off the ship after my work shift at around 7pm  and was quickly placed on a tender filled with fellow crew members. There are plenty of souvenir shops and restaurants/bars near the pier. We walked past that area and found a shopping mall with air conditioning. This was great since it was surprisingly humid even at night. After walking around the mall for a bit we headed back to the pier to catch the tender back to the ship.
Tip: There are two beaches within walking distance of the pier. If you need directions the tour operators with booths lined up near the pier that we talked to were all very helpful.

Day 2:
There are tons of amazing shore excursions to do in Cabo San Lucas which made it hard to pick just one. I did the Sea of Cortez Zodiac Raft & Snorkel and had an amazing time. Ever since my first time in Cabo San Lucas last year when I wasn't able to get off the ship I knew I wanted to see the famous landmark El Arco up close. The zodiac raft took us around the waters and we stopped within a few feet of El Arco. We saw dozens of sea lions lying on the rock formations in the middle of the sea as well as whales in the distance.

El Arco

Chileno Bay was our first stop for snorkeling. It was my first time snorkeling and it took some time for me to get used to wearing the snorkeling mask and to learn to breathe only through my mouth. From the first moment I stuck my head in the water and saw all the coral and tropical fishes I was hooked! It was absolutely beautiful to see and I couldn't believe how clear the waters were or how deep the sea was. It wasn't long until I was sticking my head underwater for longer periods and swimming around to see all the beauty around me. Unfortunately, motion sickness from snorkeling caught up to me just as we all had to head back onto the zodiac raft to go to our next snorkeling site. I was disappointed that I couldn't snorkel with the group at the second location. According to the group I was with there was an even greater variety of sea life at this site. However, there was a beach that was close enough for me and the rest of the motion sick passengers to swim to. A handful of motion sick passengers (including myself) relaxed on the beach and soaked up the sun.
Overall, even though I ended up getting motion sick from snorkeling I still had a fabulous time and want to go snorkeling again in the very near future!


Santa Barbara
This was a tendered port. There is a beach located right by the pier and the sidewalks are lined with palm trees. My first thought upon getting off the pier was how Santa Barbara looks and feels very California-esque. It's a very walkable city and the main shopping street/district called State Street is filled with stores, malls, restaurants, and fast food places. It also just happened to be Black Friday on the day we were in Santa Barbara so going shopping on State Street was an obvious choice for us. My favourite place ended up being the 99 cent store. This place had name brand snacks at the cheapest prices so we picked up some goodies. After walking around State Street for a few hours we went back to the beach near the pier to enjoy the scenery, sunshine and our snacks.

The beach by the pier

Ensenada
There was a crew drill in the morning and I worked in the afternoon so I wasn't able to get off the ship at this port.


It was a short but sweet trip. Hasta luego!