Day 40 - Carnival Panorama Cruise (Day 3 - Cabo San Lucas)

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I woke up and opened the curtains and could see land pretty close by. We had our breakfast from the buffet and sat near the pool area as the ship made its final approach to Cabo San Lucas. Kerry bought a water bottle with its own Carnival cooler cover to keep as a souvenir the water cool for $10- (not what you’d call a bargain !).



We headed off the ship once they called for Zone 3 around 11am and there was no waiting at all and we got the water shuttle (a small catamaran for say 50 people) to the marina. It was a smooth and comfortable ride from where we are anchored and much better than using the ship’s lifeboats which was what we were expecting. In fact the Discovery Princess has docked next to us here and they are using their lifeboats so we were lucky.



We walked along the marina are which was pretty big and I looked at the maps and suggested to Kerry we should look for some shops a block back of the marina and we found a way around the back of a hotel and soon we were in a much quieter area and found a few souvenir shops and had a look around and the people were nice and friendly and not pushy at all. Kerry was looking for some nice ceramic bowls and possibly a table cloth or runner for our front deck and I was on the hunt for more t-shirts !



After a while we decided to grab some lunch and we found this nice place called the Cabo Cantina Sports Bar and Restaurant and we got a nice high chair table and had a lovely waiter who convinced me to order the local bottled beer called Pacifico for 55 pesos (and not a Corona) and Kerry was encouraged to try a Mango Dacquiri for 120 pesos and it was huge. We decided to share an appetiser which was called a Salsa Wheel and there was plenty to share.



The Salsa Wheel is now on our shopping list when we get home as it had a dip section in the middle full of guacamole and on the outside sections a few salsa dips, some cucumber and radish (really !). The tortilla chips were quite hard compared with what we are used to but the beauty was that they don’t beak so easily so when you have a bite the chip did not break and you can go back for seconds (double dipping permitted here !).



We stayed here for a quite a while as it was so relaxing and I had a second beer and they had some TV’s with NFL on and the waiter discretely slipped me a voucher offering me a free invitation for a 15 minute massage from Angela and pointed to her at the rear of the restaurant which I politely declined but later wished I had accepted ! The total cost for lunch here was only US$21.35 so very nice indeed.



We looked around some shops and some guy encourage me to enter his small shop and when he asked where we were from he started naming Australian cities and I was impressed he was able to name Canberra, Adelaide and Tasmania which no-one evert here seems to have ever heard of in Australia so I was so impressed by his nature and friendliness I bought a couple of T-Shirts here for $10 each.



After walking a couple of blocks and looking in 20-30 shops we went back to the first shop we went not and Kerry then bought the table runner for the front deck at home and we headed back to the marina to get the water shuttle back to the ship but I got distracted and went to another bar for a 3rd Pacifica and Pina Colada which cost only 120 pesos for both so even better value this time! It was just so relaxing just watching the world go by. We had no trouble getting back on the water shuttle to the ship.



Once onboard we decided to go to the pool deck so grabbed another Guys burger and fries and relaxed again. Around 5.00pm we decided to head back to the cabin and drink one of the bottles of Rose on our balcony. We were lucky in that the ship had anchored facing the right way for us to see Cabo from our balcony. We watched the boats going in and out of the harbour to the rock arches known as lands end as the sun was going down. Today was sunny and warmer around 32 degrees. We watched the sunset which was just amazing.



Soon we picked up anchor and as we started leaving Kerry. Kerry stayed on the balcony and I was inside the cabin and she excitedly came in saying she just heard the Captain sounding his horn as usual but said it sounded like he was doing little honks that was similar to the theme song of the old TV show called “The Love Boat” ! How bizarre.



We decided after last nights very ordinary dinner in the main dining room to skip the anytime dining and just went to the buffet where Kerry had some Butter Chicken with rice and a bread roll and I had Roast Lamb carved fresh for me and some Chicken tender bites, 2 dinner rolls and some pasta as well. The lamb was delicious and Kerry said the Indian was almost as good as what we had when we were in New York.



It’s very important on a cruise ship to follow protocols. Attending the muster station on day 1 to get a safety briefing is a good example so that you know what to do in the unlikely event of an emergency. Another protocol that you simply must do in a buffet is to go back for seconds so I went to the Deli section for a freshly made cheese toasted sandwich with some more fries on the side. Delicious.



Back to the room for a quick upscale in my clothing attire (T-shirt replaced with a polo shirt and Nike sliders replaced with joggers !) to go to see the comedian Jason Russell again (for the 3rd time) and I heard a really funny joke from Marty the cruise director to open the show about some statues. Ask me about that statue joke when you see me next as I’m going to practice my delivery and see if I can nail it !



Jason Russell was not afraid to pick on anyone in the audience and on this occasion he picked on a Mexican, a couple of gay men and an old lady as well as anyone who was from Utah and trust me there are a lot of people here from Utah on this ship. He was not being disrespectful at all and it’s actually good to hear jokes that are not politically correct.



What an amazing day and we could certainly imagine flying directly in to Cabo for a holiday for a week as many Americans do.

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Photos

Check out the Guacamole / Salsa Wheel
Described on the menu as “Our special house recipe guacamole surrounded by a variety of salsas. Served with tortilla chips.” 2 Beers, 1 Dacquiri, and the lunch for US $21.35 (a bargain !)

Great ambience at the Cabo Cantina Sports Bar
And I was even offered a complimentary 15 minute massage by Angela out the back !