San Diego – Day 5

WE PULL ALONGSIDE THE HUGE PORT of San Diego on schedule. San Diego was originally centered in the Old Town district, but by the late 1860s the center of focus had relocated to the bay front in the belief that this new location would increase trade. As the "New Town" – which is the present day downtown - the waterfront location quickly developed. It eclipsed Old Town as the center of San Diego.

Currently the tallest building in San Diego is One America Plaza standing 500 feet (150 m) tall, which was completed in 1991. The downtown skyline contains no super tall buildings that stems from a regulation put in place by the Federal Aviation Administration in the 1970s that set a 500 feet (152 m) limit on the height of buildings due to the proximity of San Diego Airport. An iconic description of the skyline includes its skyscrapers being compared to tools in a toolbox.

After two sea days of overcast weather, San Diego's sunshine has been a welcome treat for everyone onboard. The sun was out with glorious blue skies and temperatures in the low 20’s C.

The port area in San Diego is right in the heart of the city, close to tons of attractions and transit. The MTR is available to assist you with a thorough discovery of this amazing southern Californian city. This city has so much going for it – from the temperate ocean climate, good employment opportunities and vibrant seaside areas such as Seaport Village, Little Italy, Old Town, USS Midway Museum, Star of India and the Maritime Museum along with some of the amazing architecture found in the Gas Lamp Quarter.

This is another embarkation point on this 36-day Zaandam cruise. So we have new cruisers getting on, filling the rooms of the Vancouver to San Diego cruisers that are leaving the ship after five-days onboard the MS Zaandam.

Just like clockwork, MS Zaandam sounds it’s horns signaling our departure from San Diego. It’s 3:55 p.m. as we start to make our way out into the ocean with the help of our pilot boat that will drop off at 4:45 p.m. once we’re safely out to sea. We’ll be passing the Coronado Islands which are all but desolate save a couple of people that man the lighthouses on a daily basis. We’re heading for our next port of call – Cabo San Lucas which is 750 nautical miles away and we’ll get there at the breakneck speed of around 19 knots. According to the Captain, the weather at sea will be much improved with an expected 27 degrees Celsius under bright blue skies. With the recent hurricane that hit Cabo, there is still a question as to whether we stop or continue on to Puerto Chiapas in Mexico. Cabo has always been a tendered port, so depending on the degree of damage and the locals ability to effect repairs to the infrastructure we may just continue on southbound. We’ll wait and see what plans that Captain has on Day 7.

Yesterday couldn’t have been a better 61st Birthday. Everything was just perfect. From room service in our cabin, we headed out to walk the streets of San Diego. The weather was one of the big pluses after a couple days of overcast skies. While we were sitting in the Marriott stealing their Wi-Fi, I was lucky enough to get a SKYPE call from my son, Aaron, wishing me a Happy Birthday – it surely couldn’t get any better than that. After a great day in a great city we headed back on board to get ready for dinner. Deborah had booked dinner tonight at the Pinnacle Grill, one of Holland’s specialty restaurants. For just $29 p.p. you’ll never beat the service or the food anywhere. We started out with shrimps that we just about as large as Volkswagens. From there it was a great steak with sautéed mushrooms and grilled asparagus. Somehow they knew that it was my birthday (no real secret I guess) and they brought me out a very tasty chocolate cake that disappeared quickly. From there we headed back through the casino and wouldn’t you know it, what luck – there was a "cash" poker game going on. Deb looked at me – I looked at her – we knew it was fate. So for the next five hours I did what I love to do - play cards. The only downside to the whole day was that I was sure that the “poker gods” would look favorably on me, but regrettably this failed to be the case.

Today is another sea day and our first Formal night. We spent it very casually today taking in the first of the Dancing With The Stars qualifiers and then it was on to a biography lecture on Frida Kahlo, a well-known Mexican painter. Thank heavens that I’ve been able to manipulate the stairs since my fall now that I know the stairs are really there. Tonight is our first formal dinner after 6 days at sea. As I write this (6:00 p.m.) it’s calm waters and a cloudless sky with temperatures in the mid 20’s Celsius. It has been confirmed that we are pulling into Cabo tomorrow, as it appears that they have recovered quickly from their recent hurricane encounter with Odile.

AS WE SAIL PAST LOS ARCOS into the quiet, but jam-packed harbor of Cabo San Lucas, we’re glad that the weather again is cooperating with us for the second port in a row. We don’t have any tours planned here, just grabbing a taxi and heading over to ME Cabo, one of our favorite resorts in town. We’ll get some quality time by the pool with a good book and lunch on the ocean.

We took a pedi-cab over to ME but the whole resort is closed as a result of Hurricane Odie. So we're next door at Pueblo Bonito Oceanfront Resort and Spas. Here we sit by the pool in their recliners waiting for lunch and our margaritas, while looking out at the Zaandam parked in the harbour. We're here until about 5:00 p.m and then it's on to our next port of call - Puerto Chiapas.