End Of Hawaii Cruise

   This is a wrap up of our 15 day cruise to Hawaii. It is a bit late but we have not had much free time since we arrived back in Tampa. We were delayed getting off the ship in L.A. The ship did arrive very early but the clearance of the ship by port authorities was delayed for whatever reason. The first groups were an hour late! Fortunately we did have an afternoon flight so the delay did not really us.

We were told that the delay had to do with Border Patrol but when we got to the agent he asked us when are going back to Canada and when I told him he called us “snow babies”? That was the delay?

    From there to the airport is a short ride. We checked tried for an earlier flight but it was full. We finally arrived in Tampa around 12:30 am Sunday morning. Our ride was waiting for us in the cell phone lot. By the time we got home, unpacked, etc. it was after 2 am. Monday morning.   Needless to say morning came early!

    We had a good time on the cruise. All the sea days in a row (4 going, 5 returning) was a bit different from other cruises. We still managed 5 ports where we took ship tours in all 5. I don't remember ever doing 5 on a cruise before. It was a good way to see 4 islands. No flight between islands, car rentals, hotel rooms, finding places to eat, etc. It sure made for a more relaxing visit but you can't do everything in one day!

Until next time.  Nothing on the horizon just yet!

Wine Tour In Ensenada

    Today was last day of the cruise with a stop in Ensenada Mexico. It is a city of 500,000 people that has growing with the tourist industry. They have a cruise ship here “every” day and today beside the Emerald a Carnival ship was also in port.

First Stop

Wine Press

We opted for a half day tour to 2 different wineries. There is a very large wine growing area that seems to have ideal grape growing areas. The wineries were L.A. Cetto and Casa Dona Lupe. One is very old small operation and the other the largest of the 98 wineries in the area. At both wineries we were treated to wine tasting. At the old winery, we were able to taste 4 wines, had pizza, olive oil to spread on fresh bread, olives and cheese. It was simply a stop with tasting the only thing that we did.

    The second stop was at the largest one of 98 We were treated to a full tour of the winery from where the grapes come in to the final product. The stainless steel tanks were huge! There was a large warehouse with the barrels filled with wine being aged. We had never been on a wine tour where they did such a good job of explaining the entire process. Afterwards, we were treated to 4 more glasses (tasters) of wine; 2 white and 2 red. Again fresh bread and cheese! It was a wonderful tour. When we returned to the bus every person received a full bottle of wine as a souvenir! It was a very nice gift! The guide was a very jovial fellow. He spoke excellent English but never learned it at school. He said he started by finding out what the instructions were to play Nintendo. Once they had cable T.V. He watched all American sit com. Quite interesting. It reminded us of a guide we had in China who learned English essentially the same way.

Wine Vats

  We were dropped off in the downtown area and walked along the stores. It was Mexico. It was a short walk back to the ship. In a square there as an very interesting dance troupe “preforming”. We never did find out the background of the many dancers but they were dressed very colourful “outfits”.

Wine For Sale

Once back to the ship it was time for a light lunch and then packing time. That is always a bit of a downer! As we sailed, the captain announced that we were expecting rough seas and high winds again. The same system that has kept the temperature down and and the seas up will have one last shot at us before we get to L.A. Early tomorrow morning.

    It was a light night for activities. A short show before dinner, a final meal with our table friends and then the “voice” of the ocean show. They pick the best passenger singer on this cruise. An early turn in followed.