Robert goes to Mexico

So, I mentioned in an earlier post that I took a little vacation. My wife and I took a 3 day cruise to Ensenada, Mexico. We like to cruise, but we always find the end of the cruise very depressing. To avoid that depression, we decided to also spend a couple of days at Disneyland.

I'd never cruised before I got married, so I was not sure how much I would like it. I now find that it is my favorite thing to do on vacation along with Disney and riding trains. For me, a cruise is really the best of all worlds, you get to go places you have never been, you get to eat well, you can just be lazy and do nothing or you can get involved in a myriad of activities on the ship. My wife and I take different "kinds" of cruises. There are those that we take to actually goto the places and see the sights, for example we did an Alaska cruise which was incredible. Then there are our "don't get off the ship" cruises, which are usually to places we have already been. We take advantage of those cruises to sleep in, read, eat, swim and really enjoy the ship and having nothing to do for days on end.

Our cruise started with a flight from Salt Lake to Long Beach. After nearly missing our flight due to a long TSA line, we had a nice Jet Blue flight to Long Beach. Long Beach is an interesting airport. It's not quite modern, but just short of third world. I don't know if I've ever collected my bags, outside, at an US airport. No airstairs either, just a roll-up platform. After that we ate at the Airport Marriott (highly recommended!) and then headed to the ship.

One of the best things about cruising is the food. We were cruising on Royal Caribbean, and the food on this particular ship was above average for a cruise line.

One problem on the shorter cruises is that the clientele is younger, and a certain number of them are there, first and foremost, to get drunk. It was clear, that even before we left port, that the partying had begun. I don't mind it so much, except for the idiots that get rude and feel like they have to yell and scream at the top of their lungs. Other than that, I find drunken 21 year olds pretty funny.

I must admit, that I have a really hard time getting away from work, even when on the cruise. But there is nothing better than sitting on your balcony with the fresh sea air blowing in your face and the sound of the waves below as you cruise. It makes working so much less work.

On the way back from Ensenada, I was taking a bit of a restless nap in the late afternoon. I decided to get up and go out on the balcony. Lo and behold, WHALES!! Holly smokes, not just one but a whole pod of the things. It was amazing. I saw more whales on my 3 day quick cruise to Mexico than I saw on my 7 day Alaska cruise!! I yelled at my wife to come and see the whales and she was just so excited... I love it when she gets excited, it just makes my day to see her happy. It was amazing to watch them break the surface and see them exhale. Then you could see their big tails break as they headed back under the water. Amazing.

Every time I see whales though, I must admit.... I think of Star Trek IV and Mr. Scott's line, "Keptn', there be WHALES here!". I'm not a nerd, I'm not a nerd!

Disney was a great experience too, but I must admit that I prefer DisneyWorld to Disneyland. Thats just personal preference I am sure, and Disneyland is a perfectly wonderful place to go, but I miss seeing the Contemporary, for example. Plus, there is just so much more to do at DisneyWorld. I'll talk more about Disney in a later entry...

Well, enough goodies for now...


[Edited for spelling]