Cruise Days–Costa Rica, Mexico and San Diego return

Nov 4, 2011 by Joel

On the return leg of the cruise, Aruba was the only port of call before the second transit of the Panama Canal. It really was a great idea to take the time and do the cruise over 28 days which meant two full transits of the Panama Canal. Today there were three cruise ships transiting the canal at the same time as the MS Statendam, the other ships were the Island Princess and Celebrity Century.

The best thing about getting to do two full transits of the Panama Canal is you get to see both ends at the opposite end of the day. Because of the way that the transit is timed for the cruise ship, each direction the ship was entering in the morning on one side of the Canal and exiting at the other side in the afternoon. So doing the two transits is good from the point of view that you do not really want to be out in the heat and humidity all day, you have the opportunity to choose what you see when.

Puerto Caldera – Costa Rica

Costa Rica was one of the ports that I was really looking forward to seeing. Not so much for what I might see, but more so for the tour that I had booked here. There were a few pieces to the tour, however the primary piece I was looking forward to was zip lining. The rest of the tour included a one hour bus trip from the ship to the forest area where the zip lining was. A 20 minute ride in an gondola to get to the top of the zip line course, and a reasonably good offering for the included lunch.

The zip line course was a series of ten different zip lines of various lengths, with the longest one over 1000 feet long. Depending on the individual zip line you achieve speeds up to 35+ miles per hour. The benefit at this course, over what I had heard about some others, was that you did not need to worry about braking, this was done for you.  The only issue at times was the amount of time that you had to wait between lines, but then again the view while you were waiting was generally quite amazing.

Doing this tour did not leave time for really anything else, it was a full eight hour tour. Which left less then half an hour before the ship all aboard time. This was not helped by the fact that it started to rain on the way back to the ship. However this was not a concern. I don’t think I could have found a better way to spend the time in Costa Rica myself.

—

The next port after Costa Rica was a second stop in Huatulco, Mexico. Again this was just a day at the beach. comments I heard from the people who did tours the previous time here, there was really little to see.

The stop in Huatulco was followed by a day in Acapulco, Mexico. A port that I was not really interested in. Some cruise lines had already started dropping this port, while other’s still listing it and making the decision on the day. We still did dock here, and tours operated, however I decided to stay in the port area and not venture out. Which seemed to be the best option from some of the stories that were being told upon other’s returning to the ship. At the same time I am not sure that I missed much by not leaving the ship here either.

Cabo San Lucas – Mexico

This was to be the last port of call for the cruise, which in a way was kind of sad that it was coming to an end, however it was a fantastic port to end on. This was also the second of the two ports in which we needed to use tenders to get ashore, however this was not really an issue.

Right away from the ship you can see that the area around here was really a beautiful scene. The water was a deep dark blue colour. The land is mostly stark rocky mountains and cliffs, with a rare patch of green away from the city area. A white sandy beach cuts a line along the edge of the water. While there are a number of small alcoves cutting into the rock cliffs, with smaller beaches on. Although nothing is really secluded in anyway there is an army of small boats, acting as Taxi’s taking people in every direction from town to the beach and back.

Once ashore the town definitely had a different feel to it then the other Mexican ports that I had visited throughout the cruise. It felt like a more fun place to be. There were still people trying to sell you their wares, or get you to ride in their boat to the beaches. But it was not so much in your face. There were plenty of places to get food or drinks. Sporting sign’s such as “Free Tequila with your beer” or offers like a bucket of 7 Corona’s for $10 US. There were a number of different market’s offering a lot of different Jewellery, and trinkets. This really was a nice place to just wander around and see what there was on offer.

That’s All Folks

With just one more sea day after leaving Cabo San Lucas, before arriving in San Diego, this was really getting to the end of the cruise. It was kind of sad that the cruise should come to an end what seemed so soon, but in fact it has been 28 days since first leaving San Diego. This really was a fantastic way to spend the time seeing some new places, meeting a lot of people, and getting to do it all with only having to unpack and pack once.