Christmas Cruise Part 3: Ensenada, Mexico

This was my first ever trip to Mexico! I have to admit I thought it would be nicer. I guess I'm more ignorant than I realised. I won't go into detail because it will only make me look bad...
But we still had a blast here and I have a million pictures I want to share, so bear with me.

This is how Mexico does Christmas, I guess. I think I prefer the mashed-potato Santa. (See recent post).
I have to remind myself people down south have to makeshift their own evergreen trees.
My adorable hubby showing off our cruise ship.
We rented a four-wheeler!! Believe it or not, these are legal to drive on the streets in Mexico! The salesman wanted $70 to rent the vehicle all day, but we said no way. We walked away and they chased us down the road to offer us a better deal! Turns out, I'm a pretty ruthless negotiator! We agreed on $50 for the whole day. Pretty good considering they were charging other people $25/hour.
We drove the four-wheeler all the way to La Bufadora, or "The Blowhole", about 45 min away from Ensenada. I'll explain what that is in a minute. It got pretty windy and cold along the way. Tom was going pretty fast the whole time. We don't know how fast, because the vehicle didn't have a speedometer! How these things are street legal is beyond me!
They gave me a pink helmet! How did they know!!! :-D
There's a parking lot at the blowhole, but then you have to walk through a super-long flea market to get there. There are people yelling at you and trying to sell you stuff everywhere you look...
...including prescription drugs like Viagra! Tell me this isn't the most hilarious thing you've ever seen! It's Viagra Man! I tried to stand as far away from his "package" as I could. (If his hands are any indication...) So creepy!
Here is La Bufadora, or "The Blowhole". It's a cove along the coast of Mexico that gets really narrow as the water rushes in.
And then gets even more narrow...
And then...
The water gets drawn into an underwater cave and then it explodes! Creating a geyser every minute or so. It also makes the coolest noise. Like thunder rolling across the sky and then a huge crack of lightening. This is the second-largest blowhole in the WHOLE WORLD!

The explosions vary in size and when they get really big, they splash everyone watching! These pictures made me laugh.


This was definitely one of the highlights of our cruise. I'm glad we made the long trek there and back on our sketchy four-wheeler.

When we got back into town, I wanted to see what a Mexican Wal-Mart looks like... It wasn't hard to find.
Still cool though! "Precios Bajos" means "low prices".
Sunset on the beach with our four-wheeler!
Saying goodbye to Mexico. I don't think I'll be back anytime soon, but I definitely have fond memories of our visit.


Back on the ship I got to show off a new purchase! I bought this necklace on the streets of Mexico. The salesman wanted $18 for it. I got him down to $6! Totally worth it! It's so pretty! It's one of my favorite souvenirs of the whole cruise!

This picture was taken a day later, but I'm wearing my new hat also bought in Mexico. The lady wanted $10, I paid $5. :-D I love bargaining!
(Ignore the fact I'm stuffing my face with breakfast food in this picture. The plates were for both me and Tom.)

If you got all the way through this post and you STILL want more, you're in luck. There will be one more post of our last day at sea and the day we spend in Long Beach before our flight home. Until then, Adios!

Christmas Cruise Part 2: Catalina Island

Can you believe this pictures were taken on Christmas Day? Didn't really feel like Christmas, but it did feel like the vacation of a lifetime. This is Catalina Island, off the coast of California. It was so picture perfect. Not a cloud in the sky, sunny, and warm enough for t-shirts. This is me and Tom on the tender boat. We had to take this boat from the cruise ship to the island.
I was just liiiiiittle excited. Can you tell?
Did you notice I bought new sunglasses part way through these pictures? Tom hated the ones I bought for 99 cents at Charlotte Russ so I bought new ones in Catalina. Personally, I don't see much of a difference, do you?
The first thing we did was SHOP SHOP SHOP! This is the hat I almost bought. It was super cute, but I couldn't think of any other time I would wear it, so I didn't buy it. Looking back, I wish I did. I would make up reasons to wear it around my house.
Don't ask me what Tom is doing with this seal...
Random eagles.


This was the best part of Catalina. Rather than renting golf carts to drive around the island, we rented electric bikes! They're regular bikes, but they have batteries attached to the back that help propel the bikes. On flat roads, you don't even have to pedal! If you ever go to Catalina Island, this is the way to go. It's cheap, super-cool, and you can go everywhere around the city in no time!

With the bikes, we were able to ride up a mountain and get some amazing pictures!

Saying goodbye to Catalina. It was such a romantic day!
Next blog...my first trip to Mexico!

Our Christmas Cruise...In More Detail

Part One: Long Beach and Carnival Paradise.

One of the main reasons we decided to go on this cruise is because it was cheaper to FLY to California AND pay for a cruise, than it was to fly home to Ottawa for Christmas. That being said, it's not like the trip was cheap, so we still had to save money wherever we could.

When we arrived in Long Beach, California, we still had a lot of time to kill. So we did a little research and found a nearby mall. This was not your average mall. It was HUGE! And attached to it was a Target AND a Costco! It was also crazy busy since it was the day before Christmas. We spent most of the time in Target so we could push around our luggage in a shopping cart.

Wondering how we got around in Long Beach? You guessed it! Good old public transportation. A taxi to the cruise ship would of cost us $40!! A bus ride was only $1.10 each. It was a no-brainer.Notice the palm trees?? Jealous yet? Did you notice I'm also in a t-shirt IN DECEMBER?
By the time we got on the cruise ship, named Carnival Paradise, I was ready to scream with excitement! Good thing there were already hundreds of kids screaming, so I didn't feel the need. There were seriously sooooo many families on our cruise. Every few minutes there were kids running up and down the hallways. I didn't mind though, it kinda added to the experience. But it did make me miss my own nieces and nephews.
Our room was great! We had a king bed, which always feels huge to us, since we only sleep on a double at home. I loved when our room was cleaned because they would leave chocolates and fun towel creations.
Our first morning on the cruise was Christmas morning. This is what sunrise looked like from our window. Gorgeous, eh??
I'm still amazed Santa was able to find us in the middle of the ocean! Can you guess which stocking is mine?
Tom got a 16 GB flash drive, a tie (which coincidentally matches one of my headbands), a Pass the Pigs game, a belt, gum and, of course, lots of chocolate.
I got lots of jewelry, flowers for my hair, a couple LillyMae bags (a flower wrist bag and the gym bag), chocolate, gum, and, my favorite gift, a subscription to STAR magazine. Bring on the celebrity gossip!
We spent Christmas Day on Catalina Island. Wait until you here what we rented to get around the island! Stay tuned for the next blog post!