Ensenada - Part Dos

Before I continue with my story of the cruise that my wife and I took a couple of weekends ago, I need to clarify something regarding the pictures on this post. Every one of them was taken by a professional photographer; an employee of Carnival. You see, even though we brought our own camera and intended to take lots of pictures - we didn't. Not because we forgot. It's just that there wasn't much to take pictures of.

There's something else I need to clarify. The weather was not clear and sunny as you would think considering this time of the year. It was really overcast, especially on Sunday. I'm talking major June Gloom. We only had two full days on this cruise, even though the website describes it as a 4-day, 3-night cruise. (The cruise leaves late afternoon / early evening on Fri., and returns early Mon. morning). So Sat. in Ensenada was overcast, but the sun kind-of burned off the clouds late in the day - right about the time we were leaving. Sunday was worse; the clouds remained all day.

All that to restate that there was really nothing to take pictures of in terms of scenery, and I'm not one to take pictures of strangers. So 3 of the 4 pictures I posted on "Part Uno" was it. That's all we took. All that film we bought wasted. . . . . . What's that Honey? Oh, we have a digital camera? Never mind about the film.

So I left off at the part where Laura and I were returning to the ship. But I forgot to show you two pictures that were taken when we got off the ship in Ensenada on Sat. morning. These were taken with an authentic local actor dressed up as an Aztec Indian.

Okay, now I'll resume my story. So Laura and I go through all kinds of security to get back on the ship, and then kill some time waiting for the early dinner seating. We go up to Lido Deck and listen to the Reggae band and watch people dance. But it wasn't just Reggae music. They had a little bit for everyone: Country line dancing, the Macarena, and some other dance that everyone (except me) seemed to know.

Then Laura and I got ready for dinner. Sat. night was the formal night in the dinning rooms. Everyone at our table was dressed very nice. I told you about our tablemates in Part Uno. On this evening one couple (Sauce and Angie) didn't show, but a new couple (Esteban and Norma) joined us instead. Towards the middle of dinner I began to feel sick. I saw out of the corner of my eye that the ship had begun to move out of port. I could also barely feel the ship move. By the time I got my main course I had lost my appetite. My tablemates noticed I looked pale, and I felt warm. The fact that I was wearing a tie didn't help. I felt somewhat strangled. Well I made it through dinner and it was time to walk the Promenade Deck and take pictures.

If you've ever been on a Carnival cruise, you would know that they set up photographers with various backgrounds throughout the Promenade Deck. We took pictures at several, and ended up buying three poses. The one that looked the best is this black and white close up.

After we took pictures, we went to the big room where stage shows are held. We wanted to get a good seat for the show that evening. They had a bingo game scheduled before the big show, so since we were already there waiting we played. Well can you believe that Laura won the grand prize of $500? How lucky is that? The show was really great - fantastic singers /dancers all in beautiful costumes, and performing to live music.

Sunday we were parked somewhere out in the ocean. There were only three things that could be seen the whole day: water, clouds, and the ship we were on. We listened to the Reggae band on Lido Deck for a while, we played bingo again in the big show room, and we watched a live show held by the cruise director that had 3 couples trying to guess their partner's answers to several questions. There was a newly wed couple on their honeymoon (married on 7-7-07), a couple who have been married 50 years, and a couple who have been married 25 years. It was a very funny show.

Dinner on Sun. night was casual, and the same tablemates from the night before joined us. After dinner we saw another great stage show in the big room. Same singers / dancers, but different songs / music, and of course, different costumes. I liked this show better than the first one, but both were great. I forgot to mention that after dinner (but before the show) Laura wanted to take more pictures. Of the 2 or 3 backgrounds we took pictures in front of, this one came out the best, and we bought the print: We woke up Mon. morning and found ourselves back home in Long Beach. After breakfast, we gathered our luggage and souvenirs, and off the ship we went. This is the quickest we've ever gotten off the ship. On the previous cruises, it took hours of waiting before you were allowed off. This time we had to wait in line at customs, but that takes place off the ship.

Laura and I had a great time on our cruise. Three mornings of sleeping in and no kids to bug us. More food than we should have eaten, and none of which we had to prepare ourselves. Time to ourselves without having to be somewhere or do something. Everything was on our terms, and we enjoyed every minute of it. It may be a long time before we can do this again.