After arriving in Mexico’s largest port city, Manzanillo, just before dawn, we were up and on the aft deck for breakfast. Our early morning was to enable Kay to disembark for an 8:00 AM “shore excursion“ consisting of a tour of the city and its surrounding areas.

While Kay was touring, I escaped to the upper indoor lounge to send and read emails and Facebook, and work on photos and this blog. After several attempts to publish the blog, I gave up and resorting to posting the write-ups and accompanying photos on Facebook. From here internet becomes prohibitively expensive! After completing all this, an audio book provided the rest of the morning’s entertainment.

A quick soak in the hot tub was followed by lounging on the deck in the warm breeze. Subsequent to Kay returning from the shore excursion, we had lunch and a brief afternoon nap. Dinner at the Orchid Garden, the complimentary Asian restaurant—best food yet—and the Flying Fingers of Stephen Kane, a really good pianist and the day’s featured show, were followed by lounge time listening to live music, ending another fine day.

Early risers again, before sunrise, and armed with strong coffee, the quiet of the forward  lounge provided a great opportunity to work on the blog and “read” an audio book. Just before sunrise, we were off to the other end of the ship for breakfast outside. As Mexico’s western shoreline came into view, we were again treated to blowing and breaching whales. 

We arrived in port about an hour early, but Kay and I opted to remain on the ship and enjoy a relatively quiet and peaceful day.

Fifteen minutes in the sun-shrouded hot tub was enough; the cooling wind off the ocean provided just the right amount of relief from the sunny day as we lounged in the shade by the pool. 

The day went quickly, perhaps because of an afternoon nap. We left for dinner at the complimentary Asian restaurant at 5:30 PM in order to avoid the later crowd and make a 7 PM show; the restaurant was packed and there was a wait to be seated. The food was good. We left with 10 minutes to spare to make the show, but found it already underway at 6:50 pm. And then an internal alarm went off; we were supposed to turn the clock ahead last night. We had operated all day one hour behind schedule, but no adverse impacts as we made the 9 PM show. Oh, the joys and benefits of retirement! The show, Swing, was perhaps the best cruise production we’ve seen— both the dancing and singing were superb. Afterward, we sang a couple of songs at the karaoke bar before retiring for the evening.

Up early and loaded with strong coffee, we went to a lounge in the front of the ship to watch the sun rise over the Baja Peninsula; what another beautiful day God had provided! As the morning wore on, we reversed direction towards the back of the ship and food finding a table on the open deck. While eating a lite breakfast, whales were observed blowing and breaching in the Cortez Sea. We sailed along the western shore of the Baja Peninsula until the terminus of the Peninsula came into view. As we entered the Gulf of California, a cell signal from Mexico pinged our phones.

The Norwegian Gem anchored in the bay and the first tenders transported  passengers to shore for excursions. Kay and I waited until after lunch to “tender” to shore where we walked around the much too commercialized area, stopping near a small “7-11” type shop for cheap beer (Ultra at $1.50 a can versus $9 + 20% gratuity on the Gem). After a long walk we caught the tender back to the ship for hot tub and sun time.

Dinner was at one of the complimentary restaurants, and just okay. A stand up comedian, Johnny Cardinale, performed the show tonight; Kay liked him, but I thought he was not too funny.

About mid-morning, we took our Norwegian-tagged luggage to a collection room and caught a pre-arranged shuttle to the ship. We were quickly checked in and boarded (thanks again, Dana).

We immediately headed to the dining room for lunch (no breakfast). The cabins were soon available, where we changed into swimsuits (we made sure they were in our ship carryons). And then it was off to the pool to begin almost three weeks of R&R. A “sail away” poolside party soon began and the music was great. Dinner followed a safety brief. A preview show wrapped up the day for us. As retirees, we so needed this “vacation”!

Monday was an all day sailing day, providing impetus for sleeping late. After awaking and breakfast, we attended an advanced bridge lecture by a bridge playing couple from Little Rock (small world), before the hot tub and pool called. A soak, sunbathing, and lite lunch preceded a long afternoon nap. Dinner was followed by a show featuring Carole’s Kings, a trio of guys from New York who performed a tribute to Carole King. When they sang in the preview performance Sunday evening, they were not great, but their performance was really good Monday evening.

We were ready to escape the cold (at least to us) and wet (40% more rain in 2018 than normal) of Arkansas. Our first real winter at home in 10 years has  proved better than expected so far, except we weren’t quite ready for the weather and soggy golf courses.

Up next on our life list was a cruise thru the Panama Canal, and this winter provided a perfect opportunity. Working with Dana at Vacation Valet in the Village, a 19-day Norwegian cruise from Los Angeles to New York was selected, as it provided 12 ports of call, excluding LA and NY. 

We left home two days early. Uncertain of the length of time to go through security (TSA was not getting paid because of government shutdown) early Saturday morning, we drove to Little Rock late Friday afternoon, staying at the Comfort Inn. There was no delay and we flew to LA via Dallas arriving just after noon—a day prior to sailing (previous cruises have taught us to arrive at the departure port a day early because of airline schedules and customs inspections).

We were met by Norwegian representatives and caught the arranged shuttle. Check-in at the hotel was uneventful (thank you Dana), and a restful afternoon and evening ensued. The window of our room overlooked the northern hills of LA.