I have been on a short-cruise vacation
with two friends from my past work recently. Because it was my first
cruise experience, I spent not just a lot of time preparing for what
I need for the voyage but also money, on things that I thought I
would need or use during the trip, most of those things though, I
ended up not using at all.
I have a co-worker who went on the same
cruise with his wife two weeks ahead of mine. The pictures they
posted on facebook enticed me and made me more anxious excited to go.
When he came back to work, I asked about what happened in the ship,
the food, the entertainment, their experience at shore, and most
importantly, where to go to taste authentic Mexican food in Ensenada.
I wasn't expecting too much from 6 or so hours on shore but to
sample the sea urchin tostada from the famous street cart of La Guerrerense and witness the blowhole called La Bufadora in Baja
California, which our tour guide would often refer to as the natural
phenomenon.
Day 1 at ship seemed a bit
discouraging, we boarded late because of the long lines of people who
also boarded late. I'm surprised to see that our boarding picture
still came out nice, despite us starving and tired because of missing
lunch. A couple of people were already drunk during the safety
briefing at the Muster Station. A lady who was exceptionally loud
and interrupted the safety person briefing us on how to properly put
the life jacket on must be undergoing a divorce. I wondered why
people would get drunk right after boarding. They are not having fun,
it seemed they are trying to forget something, a problem maybe, or
so, I thought. Later, I learned from my Aunt Godmother that these
people who frequent the bars are the ones bringing-in profits for
the ship. They compensate for the would-have-been higher cruise rates
that people like me with limited budgets would not be able to afford.
With liquor in their glasses, with every shot they take, they make
cashiers, ship accountants, and the crew in general, happier. So now,
I love drunk people in the ship.
Day 3 at sea was relaxing. This was
duty-free shopping for most people, if not playing Bingo or watching
afternoon shows. Certain purchases would earn you a raffle ticket for
a chance to win a set of fashion jewelry or a loot bag of whatever
from the ship. I have five tickets earned from souvenir shopping
using the cruise money given by my Aunt Godmother. That is why I am
so amazed at few people who were holding thick rolls of raffle
tickets, they must have spent thousands in one or two hours in that
part of the ship to earn those.
Day 2 was Captain's night. It is when
we dressed-up for dinner. Most ladies opted for flashy and eye
catching wardrobes, at least the younger ones I saw. Me and my
colleague, I traveled with 2 other accountants, a male and a female,
wore clothes, our male colleague said made us look like Pentecostal
ladies. I think he meant “nicer than boring,” which is exactly
how I wanted to look like, since Brack is not with me in this cruise.
Food was not fantastic, but the abundance, and how you are served
made up for some bland recipes, and made the dining experience
pleasantly memorable. The time spent at the ship with all the
pampering, first name basis from the housekeeping to your dinner
servers, the 24 hour room service, the endless food served at
buffets, the free entertainment, and little extras, made it so worthy
of a redo.
Day time on Day 2 was our day at shore.
We took an excursion to the City of Ensenada, to La Bufadora in Baja
California, and finally back to downtown Ensenada. After taking a
quick break of loading pictures on Facebook at Starbucks, we had a
taste of the popular seafood cebiche from the street cart we thought
was La Guerrerense but instead we didn't knew was El Guerro. The cart
more popular with the locals than La Guerrerense which appealed more
to tourists.
It is this afternoon on the streets of
Ensenada that made me realise how fortunate I am to experience the
pleasures and abundance in the ship. Suddenly, I felt a pinch in my
heart seeing young children and older people beg for money. They are
so careful and polite, trying their best not to bug the tourists. But
in their transparent eyes, I didn't just see, but felt their needs.
I can't give all of them money, and I don't have that money to
spare. Still I regret saving some in my purse for extra tips for the
crew at ship than giving it away to people on the streets.
“Come back again!” is the crew's
message to us, the vacationers, during the final dinner on Day 3. To
my mind, they don't even need to say. I will come back because I left
a piece of my heart In Ensenada.
At home, I told Brack, mother, and the
boys, the cruise is so worthwhile, not just for bacon at breakfast,
and that we should all go the next time. I wanted all of us to see
the full moon lit the deep waters, to smell the breathe of fresh air
in the middle of the sea. And most importantly, because I need to go
back to regain the piece of my heart I left in the city. How I'm
going to do it, I have yet to know, on next cruise...
