We were entertained by dozens of pelicans in the water by the tender pier, dive bombing the water in search of fish. They put on quite a show as we walked out to the end of the pier where there was a sea lion statue (how appropriate after yesterday's excursion). We next walked down the dark brown sand beach, which I suspect would be very nice if the weather- and the water- was about 25 degrees warmer. I was shocked by the waves coming in with regular frequency; I had always imagined that the Sea of Cortez would be a calm body of water.
We then headed down the Maleçon in search of free wifi at the Hotel Mision, a beautiful Mexican adobe-style hotel right on the waterfront. While we found wifi, it was not fast enough to prevent acute frustration on the part of one of us, who was already a little frustrated by his cold and a backache. The wind continued to pick up and the temperature seemed to be dropping, and all those grievances in total were enough to get us back on a tender to the ship.
On the tender we talked with a couple who had been off the ship before light this morning to go snorkeling on a ship's excursion. No wet suits were provided (unimaginable, with these water temps) and the water was so churned up by the winds that they had practically no visibility. Not fun! We were so lucky yesterday to have 40 feet of visibility for our snorkel with the sea lions, and to be provided adequate gear to cope with the cold water. But be forewarned that these Mexico cruises in January feature cool water at a minimum, and possibly cool air temps, too.
We stopped into the Horizon Court Buffet for a snack and once again sat on the Terrace Deck, where the day had a completely different feel- sunny and warm- than in town on the waterfront. We were showered and ready for dinner early, and met up with all our friends in the Elite Lounge in the One 5 (or is it the 1 Five? I can never remember, but we do like that lounge!). G and I had to leave early to get to our 5:30pm dining time. While the dinner menu wasn't new, the dessert menu was, and featured another Chocolate Journeys by chocolatier Norman Love dessert. White chocolate cheesecake...I've died and gone to heaven.
We made up for our two nights without entertainment by going to two shows tonight. First, production show Stardust in the Princess Theater and then comedian magician Joseph Tran in the Vista Lounge. Stardust was another production show we had just seen on the Pacific Princess (hard to believe that three of the four production shows on the Grand Princess were also on the Pacific Princess; what were the odds of that?), but it looks and feels so totally different with a bigger cast and a 7-piece orchestra backup that it was like an entirely different show. Joseph Tran's show was mildly amusing. We would have no doubt enjoyed it more if we hadn't been sitting in the very last row, but we rushed there after seeing Starsust and were lucky to get seats at all. We have had the amazing choice of two different shows every night so far on the Grand Princess, quite a change for us after some lean entertainment years on the Emerald Princess. It's nice to have options.
We are surprised by the number of people who came on this cruise prepared with cold weather clothing. Either people knew what kind of weather to expect or are wearing the clothes they left home in. People are wearing winter coats to watch movies on MUTS tonight; if it doesn't warm considerably (and I don't think it will), we are going to freeze during our Super Bowl spectatorship on Sunday.
We move clocks ahead another hour tonight, before our day at sea tomorrow, in preparation for our stop in Puerto Vallarta on Friday. It always surprises me that Puerto Vallarta is on CST; it doesn't seem like we've cruised far enough east to warrant another time change, and, while it's not easy to lose another hour of sleep, we'll have two 25-hour days to look forward to before next Monday. The only thing better than a day on a cruise ship is a 25-hour day on a cruise ship. :-)