Saturday, April 08, 2006
Review of a Cruise
As promised, a review of a cruise. This may turn into a first draft of a travel article, so if it seems to ramble a bit, that’s because I’m organizing my thoughts. It should be refreshing, having organized thoughts, don’t you think?
There are several cruise lines out there, but we went with Carnival because their bargain rates and our schedule coincided so well. It was a three night special that leaves from Long Beach twice a week, has you in Ensenada, Baja California the next morning, and then takes thirty-six hours to do the six-hour cruise back to Long Beach, so that you can experience all the fun of shipboard activity. For those who may want to skip to the bottom line, here it is: it was pretty much a good time and I’d recommend it, although I’d want to be sure I had a number of places to stop along the way.
Getting aboard was a little like boarding a plane, as we were photographed and issued an ID card to use on board for items like drinks and gift shop purchases. Okay, the ID isn’t like a plane, but that’s what happened. They take your luggage and put it outside your cabin door. Nothing was lost, which was unlike a lot of airlines these days from what I’ve heard lately. Immediately we went on a walking tour of the ship, and were accosted with people foisting fruity drinks on us, which we didn’t take but for just this one time appeared to be actually free, unlike any other alcohol for most of the voyage. The cabins were larger than we expected, although another time I’d spring for the ocean view. Not for the view per se but because we overslept something awful the first day because there’s no change in light to let you know what time it is. Before that though we went to our first dinner, where we met some nice fellow travelers and a wonderful team of waiter and assistant, he from Bulgaria and she from Lithuania, but both with fine English and very good at what they did. The food was always quite good as well, and the waiters all put on a bit of a show each day after dinner.
Next morning we were docked, in fact my wife woke up because she felt the ship being pulled sideways against the pier. We went into town, if only because we both enjoy Mexico. We took a ship sponsored tour to the blowhole, that is bufadora, one of three on the planet or so we were told. It’s where seawater gets backed up into a cave by wave action and then comes rushing out like a geyser. It’s quite impressive. On the way we heard that the water truly is unfit to drink. In fact, our guide said that Mexicans do not get used to it, in fact they drink bottled water, and use the tap water only for showers and cleaning. Or, I suppose, for any food that gets boiled. The city of Ensenada has over 400,000 people, several manufacturing facilities, and a main drag (Mexico 1) that sports an Office Depot, a Home Depot, several other familiar stores, a couple of McDonalds, a Pizza Hut, Burger King, and frankly looks a lot like the same street would look in Toledo. The signage is mostly in English, the merchants gladly take dollars, and give change in dollars, and the entire place looks pretty prosperous. NAFTA at work, I suppose. (As an aside, I think the best solution to the immigration problem is to make Mexico as rich as we are, but that’s another topic for another day.) After the bufadora we went to a winery and sampled some good local vintages and even bought a couple of bottles. The winery was bought from a monastery by a couple of guys named something like Antonelli. Obviously native Spaniards. Not! If you want such a tour, they are available in town for about one-fifth the cost, as we found out afterwards.
The next day, after more good food, and me lounging around listening to a trio play classical and adapted pop on violin, cello and piano (The French fries were the best ever, by the way), we had our “fun day at sea.” Which begs the question, ‘what is there to do on a cruise ship?’ Well, there’s a truly lousy library which is seldom open. I only mention it because it’s there. I had a glass of gin and tonic, which is a rare thing for me but I wanted to feel like a member of the Raj on my way to India so it had to be done. There is a casino, where I blew twenty bucks in a blackjack tournament. There are shops selling all sorts of stuff at not bad prices, which was a surprise. There is a walking track, miniature golf course, health club and spa that includes tooth whitening and other exotic treatments in addition to the usual, and on our day, a medical emergency. We headed as fast as the ship would go to just over twelve miles outside of San Diego, where a Coast Guard helicopter came up to the ship, which never stopped moving, lifted the victim of whatever it was up into its doors, then took on another person accompanying the victim, then took off. The skill of the pilot was incredible, and the show was quite diverting. Then we turned and headed back out to do more lazy circles and roll gently with the swells. I loved the rolling motion, but some people were pretty ill looking, and complained quite a bit. Just a note of reality: you certainly do feel the motion of a cruise ship if the seas get rough enough, so be ready for that.
Next day we were back in Long Beach, but in spite of an early breakfast and getting ready by seven-thirty or so, due to some foul up at immigration it was ten-thirty when we hit the streets of Long Beach. That is to say, getting off was the most frustrating part of the entire experience, involving a line that ran the length of the ship at least once. Still and all, we’d do it again, but next time maybe to Alaska, or the Caribbean, or if we had the time the entire Mexican Riviera, which is the West Coast of Baja California all the way down.
California, by the way, in terms of scenery and geography, is the same in Baja as in Los Angeles. I really do wonder if it keeps going that way all the way to Cabo San Lucas. Maybe someday I’ll find out.
There are several cruise lines out there, but we went with Carnival because their bargain rates and our schedule coincided so well. It was a three night special that leaves from Long Beach twice a week, has you in Ensenada, Baja California the next morning, and then takes thirty-six hours to do the six-hour cruise back to Long Beach, so that you can experience all the fun of shipboard activity. For those who may want to skip to the bottom line, here it is: it was pretty much a good time and I’d recommend it, although I’d want to be sure I had a number of places to stop along the way.
Getting aboard was a little like boarding a plane, as we were photographed and issued an ID card to use on board for items like drinks and gift shop purchases. Okay, the ID isn’t like a plane, but that’s what happened. They take your luggage and put it outside your cabin door. Nothing was lost, which was unlike a lot of airlines these days from what I’ve heard lately. Immediately we went on a walking tour of the ship, and were accosted with people foisting fruity drinks on us, which we didn’t take but for just this one time appeared to be actually free, unlike any other alcohol for most of the voyage. The cabins were larger than we expected, although another time I’d spring for the ocean view. Not for the view per se but because we overslept something awful the first day because there’s no change in light to let you know what time it is. Before that though we went to our first dinner, where we met some nice fellow travelers and a wonderful team of waiter and assistant, he from Bulgaria and she from Lithuania, but both with fine English and very good at what they did. The food was always quite good as well, and the waiters all put on a bit of a show each day after dinner.
Next morning we were docked, in fact my wife woke up because she felt the ship being pulled sideways against the pier. We went into town, if only because we both enjoy Mexico. We took a ship sponsored tour to the blowhole, that is bufadora, one of three on the planet or so we were told. It’s where seawater gets backed up into a cave by wave action and then comes rushing out like a geyser. It’s quite impressive. On the way we heard that the water truly is unfit to drink. In fact, our guide said that Mexicans do not get used to it, in fact they drink bottled water, and use the tap water only for showers and cleaning. Or, I suppose, for any food that gets boiled. The city of Ensenada has over 400,000 people, several manufacturing facilities, and a main drag (Mexico 1) that sports an Office Depot, a Home Depot, several other familiar stores, a couple of McDonalds, a Pizza Hut, Burger King, and frankly looks a lot like the same street would look in Toledo. The signage is mostly in English, the merchants gladly take dollars, and give change in dollars, and the entire place looks pretty prosperous. NAFTA at work, I suppose. (As an aside, I think the best solution to the immigration problem is to make Mexico as rich as we are, but that’s another topic for another day.) After the bufadora we went to a winery and sampled some good local vintages and even bought a couple of bottles. The winery was bought from a monastery by a couple of guys named something like Antonelli. Obviously native Spaniards. Not! If you want such a tour, they are available in town for about one-fifth the cost, as we found out afterwards.
The next day, after more good food, and me lounging around listening to a trio play classical and adapted pop on violin, cello and piano (The French fries were the best ever, by the way), we had our “fun day at sea.” Which begs the question, ‘what is there to do on a cruise ship?’ Well, there’s a truly lousy library which is seldom open. I only mention it because it’s there. I had a glass of gin and tonic, which is a rare thing for me but I wanted to feel like a member of the Raj on my way to India so it had to be done. There is a casino, where I blew twenty bucks in a blackjack tournament. There are shops selling all sorts of stuff at not bad prices, which was a surprise. There is a walking track, miniature golf course, health club and spa that includes tooth whitening and other exotic treatments in addition to the usual, and on our day, a medical emergency. We headed as fast as the ship would go to just over twelve miles outside of San Diego, where a Coast Guard helicopter came up to the ship, which never stopped moving, lifted the victim of whatever it was up into its doors, then took on another person accompanying the victim, then took off. The skill of the pilot was incredible, and the show was quite diverting. Then we turned and headed back out to do more lazy circles and roll gently with the swells. I loved the rolling motion, but some people were pretty ill looking, and complained quite a bit. Just a note of reality: you certainly do feel the motion of a cruise ship if the seas get rough enough, so be ready for that.
Next day we were back in Long Beach, but in spite of an early breakfast and getting ready by seven-thirty or so, due to some foul up at immigration it was ten-thirty when we hit the streets of Long Beach. That is to say, getting off was the most frustrating part of the entire experience, involving a line that ran the length of the ship at least once. Still and all, we’d do it again, but next time maybe to Alaska, or the Caribbean, or if we had the time the entire Mexican Riviera, which is the West Coast of Baja California all the way down.
California, by the way, in terms of scenery and geography, is the same in Baja as in Los Angeles. I really do wonder if it keeps going that way all the way to Cabo San Lucas. Maybe someday I’ll find out.
