[ There are 12 photos in this post. Much of the text is in the form of captions. ]
SUNDAY 26 February – Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
A pleasant morning on the balcony heading towards Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. In this view looking towards the center of the ship, the bulkhead at the far end of the balcony is the port side wall of the open space above the center of the Haven front lounge on deck 17.
We arrived in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur (BCS) state, Mexico around 11 AM. Cabo does not have a cruise ship dock, so we anchored out and took tenders to the NCL dock in the commercial/tourist marina area.
This was not the first time we had set foot in Mexico, having spent the 2014-15 snowbird season in Quartzsite, Arizona, and visiting Los Algodones in northern Baja California (on the California USA border). It was also not the furthest south we had been, at ~N22.87o.
In the morning hours heading into the Cabo area, we finally saw whales! Humpback whales, specifically. Always an amazing sight, we never tire of seeing these magnificent mammals of the sea.
As part of our second Holistic Holiday at Sea cruise on the MCS Poetia in March 2013, we visited Playa del Carmen (N20.63o) and Tulum (N20.215o) in Yucatan state, Mexico (Yucatan peninsula), and Roatán, Honduras (N16.264o). When I retired in 2012, we also got near the southern tip of the island of Hawaii (the big island) (we got to ~N19.058o). (The farthest west we have been, to date, was the island of Oahu, Hawaii, ~ W158o)
More of our stateroom balcony looking to the port side of the ship. It curves around and continues down the port side past the master bedroom/bathroom suite. The first portion is accessible as part of this main/front deck. A small portion farther aft is only accessible from the master suite.
With land now clearly in sight, Linda contemplates our journey to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula and Cabo San Lucas.
Four photos were used to create this composite image of the main cruise terminal tender dock area in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico. (You might be able to see it full size on an appropriate device by clicking on it.) The harbor was deep enough for the NCL Joy, but there are no cruise ship docks. Small boats (tenders) are used to transport guests and crew to/from shore. This was our first port-of-call after leaving the Port of Los Angeles, and we were glad to see that crew members were allowed shore call, depending on their ship duties at the time we were there.
Another view of the main marina area, a bit further on around to the right from the previous composite image. There were some big private yachts here, in addition to lots of more normal sized, but still very nice, pleasure boats. There were also a lot of condo / timeshare developments here, and the port area was lined with shops and restaurants (of course). Cabo has a reputation as a party town and can be noisy around the harbor until late into the night (according to some Youtube channels I follow). We left around dinner time, so were not bothered by any of that.
Our ship, the Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) Joy. (You might be able to see it full size on an appropriate device by clicking on it.) As this is the port side, our stateroom is visible at the very front (bow/left) on the first enclosed deck down from the top.
These rocks are WSW of the port/marina portion of Cabo San Lucas. El Arco (The Arch rock) is visible. Our sightseeing boat got a bit closer, but the area was crowded with lots of smaller personal boats.
I noticed that many of the motorcoaches being used to bus cruise ship quests to their various venues had this unusual mechanism on their steer tires. It appeared to be a tire inflation device designed to allow the wheel/tire to turn, but I have no idea if that was actually the case.
We had booked a shore excursion and made our way to the rendezvous point. The excursion started with a boat trip around the harbor that included a view of El Arco (The Arch rock). Back at the dock, our group was then escorted to a waiting motorcoach.
We visited a glass factory with a glass blowing demonstration. The factory makes various objects, both functional and decorative, out of recycled glass and has been in operation for quite a long time. From the glass factory, we visited a viewpoint on a headland across the harbor from the main port area, and had some light refreshments. Our tour guide, bus driver, and the people operating the boat were all very gracious and spoke English well enough that we could understand them without difficulty.
The glass-blowing demonstration in progress. We are sitting in the back/top row of a set of wooden bleachers. The small parking lot was crowded with motorcoaches when we arrived, and was still crowded when we left. There was another cruise ship in the harbor at the same time as us, and this is a popular shore excursion destination.
While the glass factory was interesting, and the viewpoint was nice, our general impression of Cabo was that we did not need to return anytime soon.
It has a reputation as a party town, with restaurants, bars, and timeshares crowded into and around the port/marina area. The harbor is often crowed with boats and loud music can be heard late into the night. At least that’s the impression I have gotten from Youtube videos. All of this was congruent with our first-hand experience of the place. Our stateroom in the Joy really did provide a “haven” from all of that. The ship departed at 7 PM and continued south, so whatever partying might have occurred after dark, we were none-the-wiser.
MONDAY 27 February – At Sea
The final product of the glass-blowing demonstration; a turtle with a sombrero and bottle of tequila.
In early October, 2022 NCL changed the original itinerary for this cruise. We were supposed to be in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico today, but spent the entire day at sea instead and overnight into the 28th. This part of the cruise took us across the mouth of the Sea of Cortez and then along the Pacific Ocean coast of the mainland of Mexico.
The roof leading from the workshop/demonstration area to the showroom / retail market area. The roof is a famous feature of this facility, and one of the reasons tourists visit this business.
Besides dining, on “at sea” days we took in the shows in the main theater and checked out The Social, a small venue with comedians and other entertainment.
We had almost all of our meals with Paul and Nancy, but on many of our “at sea” days, they had dinner in one of the specialty restaurants. We did not make use of the specialty dining during the cruise and dined at the Haven restaurant or in the Garden Café (buffet style) on these occasions. We found the buffet quite acceptable, and enjoyed the variety of things that were available, including vegan options.
A view of the harbor at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico looking southwest towards the main port/marina area from restaurant / event venue on a headland on the northeast side of the bay.
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