World Cruise Day 24/152 - Cabo Vu

Cruise day: 24/152
Ports days: 9
Sea days: 15
Countries: 4
Continents: 1
Ports: 6

It's Day 24 and we've added another port day - yea! But the port, country, and continent count remain the same as we are back in Cabo San Lucas.  As Yogi Berra so aptly put it: "It's like déjà vu all over again." Oh well, we'll make the most of it.

The day started with a beautiful sunrise as we sailed into the bay in the Sea of Cortez to anchor.

We followed the Regent Seven Seas Explorer into port. They were already anchored when as we dropped anchor.

As we were positioning, it is always interesting to see how they maneuver a vessel like this. The ship's main propulsion system consists of two rotating azipods.  The propellers are mounted on these azipods.  The azipods can rotate all the way around allowing the captain to direct thrust from the back of the ship in any direction, including forward.  That can be used in an emergency to rapidly slow the ship down to a complete stop.  In addition, the ship has side thrusters that allow the ship to easily spin 360-degrees without moving forward or backward.  This morning, we watched as they engaged the side thrusters to position the ship before anchoring. I am always amazed at how maneuverable a ship like this is.

As usual, the information I was provided is incorrect and Cruise Critic member Heidi13 was quick to point out my errors.

The Viking ships do not have an Azipod system of propulsion. They have 2 Rolls-Royce Promass integrated propeller/rudder systems with additional bow thrusters and a stern thruster. The propellers are 6 bladed and I believe the rudders are high-lift with a trailing flap.

Propellers do not rotate and are also fixed pitch. 

So, I will stop believing what I am told or read in other posts.

After breakfast, we made out way to the Star Theater for instructions on tender boarding.  Our group got called and we were off to the dock. Once on land, we boarded our tour bus for the ride to San Jose del Cabo.  I was pleasantly surprised that unlike at other ports, Cabo's busses had leg room!

On the ride over, our tour guide, Vincente, told us about Cabo's history and the history of the Baja California peninsula.  One of the more interesting items was about the whales that travel here in the winter to breed.  The area here between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo has the second largest salt mining operation in the world.  The natural salt leeches out into the Sea of Cortez, raising its salinity and making anything in the water naturally more buoyant.  Baby whales can drown as they are not good swimmers at birth.  The increased buoyancy from the increased salt content helps keep the babies close to the surface so they can breathe until they can swim better.  It is interesting how the whales figured all this out.

We arrived in San Jose del Cabo, specifically at Plaza Mijares.

We walked around and did a little shopping.  It was a quaint square and we enjoyed our time there.

On the bus ride back to the ship, Arlona spotted a nice sun dog.

We also noted that Los Angeles isn't the only place disguising cell towers as palm trees.

After returning to the dock area, we spotted some friendly crabs hanging out and looking awesome.

Lunch featured some pretty amazing-looking desserts.

We resisted, as the last two dinners were more than we expected.  

Tonight, Viking threw a meet and greet for the group of folks that have been communicating about this cruise for the last 18 months on Cruise Critic.  Another cruiser, Jim, coordinated all this communication and worked it all out with Viking to hold this event.  We had it on deck 7 aft on the Aquavit area by the pool.  We had the Captain, General Manager, Financial Officer, Guest Services Manager, and other officers in attendance as well as the global hospitality manager from Basal Switzerland. It was an impressive event.

After the last two night's amazing dinners, we expected a night off.  We were wrong.  Viking presented tacos tonight.

Fish tacos, Mahi tacos, shrimp tacos, chicken tacos, veggie tacos, and more!  They were awesome and super tasty.

Tomorrow, they are having a fresh pasta lunch and surf and turf dinner.  Our waistlines are doomed!

Tonight, at the pool, they showed Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard.  They set up chaise lounges with wireless headphone and offered drinks and popcorn.  While the movie wasn't stellar, the experience was fun.

Tomorrow is another sea day en route to Peurto Vallarta - finally a new stop!