Ensenada

Friday, February 16, 2024

The ship docked at Ensenada as we were having breakfast in the buffet and we had a nice view from the window. After eating, we went back to our cabin and had an even better view from our balcony including the enormous Mexican flag that Ensenada is know for. 

At 9:30 the ship was cleared for passengers to disembark and Bob decided he would take a walk through town. My knee might have been slightly better, but not much. And maybe that was just wishful thinking. I knew I would be smart to stay off of it as much as possible before our long travel day tomorrow. I even went on the Delta Airlines website and requested assistance getting to the gate at the airport.

After Bob left, the crew went through lifeboat drills. With a cabin right above the boats I had a bird's eye view from our balcony...but oh those loud, shrill alarms!! Yikes.

Lifeboat supervisor.

I watched as Bob made his way onto shore. He texted me when he got to the big flag. 

See Bob in his bright green shirt?

Can you still see Bob? He is standing next to the shoreline. 

After Bob left I remembered that we had never gotten the ceramic tiles that HAL gives to its Mariners. On our cruise a year ago, the Nieuw Statendam had been out of tiles so I also had a card telling us we could request those tiles on a future cruise. At Guest Services the staff member said tiles had been given out several nights ago and we should have received them. She did some calling and said it would be taken care of. She also gave me two of the 150th anniversary tiles for the ones we missed getting on the Nieuw Statendam cruise. While I was on Deck 3 I realized that all of the gift shops were closed since we were in port. I asked and found out they were not going to be open at all tonight (or tomorrow) so it was a good thing we spent our onboard credit yesterday. Unfortunately Bob still planned to pick up a water bottle which now wasn't going to happen.

Bob texted me that he was having fish tacos at Tacos Lily in town. Prior to our cruise I had done some research on places to go in Ensenada and Lily's came up because it was featured on Anthony Bourdain's TV show. Bob even got to meet Lily, the owner, while he was there!

Ensenada is known as the birthplace of the fish taco.

I was ready for lunch myself and since I hadn't made it to the Dive In yet, I decided I would have a hotdog. I went expecting the lido pool area to be empty since I assumed most passengers would be in port. I was wrong. The pool area was packed. After putting in my order and getting a pager, I sat down at a small table next to the hot tubs. A bar tender walked by just as the pager was going off and I ordered a Diet Coke. I realized when I got up from my chair that whomever had sat in the chair last had just gotten out of the pool and now I had a very wet bottom. 😒

I ate my hotdog but brought the Coke back to the room to enjoy on the balcony. Bob joined me when he returned and gave me the report on his venture into Ensenada.

He wanted to get a salad and some dessert so I went with him to the buffet. (Side note: my iPhone fitness app has been showing that even with my sore knee I have been walking about 2 miles a day just walking the length of the ship multiple times.) When we got to the buffet we saw the "Cake Me Away" extravaganza was taking place. All looked very yummy. Bob got a piece of the carrot cake. 

We tried to sit on the balcony some more, but the wind was blowing and the temps had dropped. It just wasn't comfortable. I was so cold I crawled into bed. Bob, on the other hand, went down to the promenade deck to walk since his long walk into town wasn't enough. He returned 45 minutes later and said he had only done two laps. He had spent time visiting with some people he knew and also watched as a passenger was taken away in an ambulance. He decided he would make one more trip into town to see if he could find the seals (sea lions?) that he had heard barking earlier.

I showered and worked on the last of the packing while he was gone and then he did likewise when he returned. 

At dinner it was unusual to look out the window by our table in the main dining room and see a soccer game instead of water! There was still about $30 left of our onboard credit so on a whim I ordered the steak and lobster from the menu that has an $18 surcharge. Bob ordered the sweet and sour shrimp off the main menu and I think he got the better meal. My steak was pretty good, but I've eaten better lobster. My sides consisted of two tiny asparagus spears, a baby carrot and half of a small baked potato. Oh and I almost forgot...one HALF of a cherry tomato.

Husni loved parking scooters in the dining room! 

Our dinnertime view.

My $18 steak & lobster dinner.

Bob's sweet & shower shrimp meal. He said it was the best he had on the cruise!

The evening entertainment at the main stage was Kirsti Manna performing a tribute to Carole King. I felt bad I had missed her first show on Monday when I wasn't feeling well, but I wasn't that impressed with her show. Bob said some of the songs were repeats. The audience was pretty sparse. I'm sure many people were busy doing their last minute packing.

Singer Kirsti Manna accompanied by her husband on guitar.

We ended our evening with the last 15 minutes of Clara and James' set in Billboard Onboard. The bags were set in the hallway before we crawled into bed. The cruise had come to the end.

Good night, Ensenada.