the doyles: Baja California Cruise

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Baja California Cruise

Ryan and I have been looking forward to this cruise for SO long! A week after we got home from Utah, we headed out! My parents were so sweet to drive all the way down, and watch Easton while we were gone. Not only did they babysit for a week, but they painted our whole kitchen, cleaned windows, picked up the backyard, and even helped us paint the stairwell as well when we got back. They are the BEST! Easton loved having them here, the morning we left for the cruise, my dad was reading a story with him, and he cried when we picked him up to hug and kiss him goodbye, then calmed right back down when we sat him back down with Grandpa for his story. That was the ONLY time I cried about leaving him. I was feeling really guilty at first, but I knew he was in good hands while we were gone.

Our cruise took us from Long Beach, CA, to Catalina Island, Ensenada MX, and then back up to Long Beach after a day at sea. So it was 4 days, and 3 nights, and I thought that was plenty of time!

We loved the dinners, and the Mongolian grill for lunchs. Our favorite food of all was the Melting Chocolate Cake. Oh. My. Gosh. I could die. It was the most delicious and rich yummy dessert I've ever had! I had to refrain from orders multiple cakes per night!

While we were in Catalina, we hung out the beach and did some window shopping. Walked down towards the big theatre in town and enjoyed the sun! We decided to go canoeing when we saw how much cheaper it was from the actual canoe company versus through the cruise excursion people. It was so much fun! We canoed for about an hour, and then headed back to the ship. That night was our 'fancy night' so we got dressed up and headed to dinner. I was too freezing to stay dressed up passed dinner, so we went back to our room, changed into comfier clothes, and then went up to the comedy show.

The next morning, we were in Ensenada Mexico. It was nothing like what you'd picture as a Mexican beach vacation! The port was part of their industrial port, and it took a 40 minute bus ride to get to the attractions advertised! We decided to go for it though! The bus drive took us through "town" and really sad big field areas where people lived in such teeny tiny broken down homes. Once we got to the flea market and the La Bufadora (the big blow hole in the ocean) we were attacked by salesmen trying to get us to buy their goods. It was crazy, and kinda fun to try bartering with them! We ended up getting a new wallet for Ryan, a wonderful head scratcher, so cute leather sandals, a great bag and sunhat for me, and a little tee-shirt for Easton. All for about $30. Screaming deals! The La Bufadora was a LOT cooler than we expected. It shot the water so high into the air, and it did it so often! It was fun to compare the different sizes of the bursts! Once we were bussed back from the flea market, we had a free buffet...different, but yummy and authentic!

Our day at sea was overcast and cold. So we were able to hang out on the deck or swim without freezing. So we played mini golf and watched a bunch of shows. It was great!

When we got back home, Easton hadn't missed us too much, he had fun with his Grandma and Grandpa, but he was excited to see us! He stayed up a while passed his nap time and was all smiles while he played with us! He LOVED the head scratcher from the flea market, and thought it was so funny!