Yesterday was a sea day, time to simply become refamiliarized with the ship, finish unpacking (I really love how much closet and drawer space there is in the cabins on this ship), have a nice dinner, and take in the first “exctalk” (Magnificent Mexico) and the Humanity show by Step One Dance Company. Oh, and attend one of Holland America’s ubiquitous “shopping” presentations – largely because the first crew member we met on the ship was the effervescent Kira, from South Africa, who is the onboard and portside shopping “concierge” (she took that great photo of us during yesterday’s sail-away party).

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After dinner we listened to live music in Billboard Onboard (dual pianos) and the Rolling Stone Rock Room (5-piece band) before having a late-night snack of chicken wings at the New York Deli and heading to bed, where a towel puppy was waiting for us.

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Today marks our first port of call: Cabo San Lucas, where we’ve done excursions and spent time wandering 3 times previously on other cruises. Episode 52 (Dec 2019) , Episode 159 & Episode 167 (Jan 2022) . Cabo is an “anchor” port necessitating a transfer by tender (lifeboat) from the ship to shore.

We awoke (late) within sight of the coast of Mexico, and Cabo…

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…and headed onto our balcony to catch a glimpse of the pilot boat which would take us to our anchor point…

…but more importantly, a pair of California grey whales!

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The Gulf of California is prime whale-watching water, and we’ll likely see almost as many by staying on the ship as we would on a tour – just not as up close.

Since we’re not shopping, not snorkelers, and not interested in the local whale-watching excursions, we decided there wasn’t really much left that we wanted to see here that would make it worth tendering ashore.

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Instead, Ted and I took advantage of the fact that most passengers would be gone to spend the day on a quiet ship. No lines. No crowds. No competition for lounge chairs around the pool or reading spots in the Crow’s Nest….

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… and, more importantly, no competition for lunch tables in the Lido buffet.

On our short Alaskan cruise on the Koningsdam last August we didn’t eat in the buffet at all, because there was never a free table when we came through. Today was our chance to finally experience it.

First, a word about Holland America’s Navigator app. The daily events are posted in the app (in addition to the paper itinerary delivered to stateroom’s each evening) and you have the option of adding events to your personal itinerary. That “add” is not an obligation, but does ensure that you get an alert 5 minutes prior to the event’s start time so that you don’t miss it. The app issues the same kind of alert for dinner reservations, which is a nice touch. It also includes the daily menu for each restaurant, including the features being offered in the buffet.

Today’s lunch in the Lido buffet looked like this:

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And here was the posted dinner menu (although we ate in the Main Dining Room with table service by our waiters for the duration of the cruise, Edy and Ricko):

The buffet selections are good (with the exception of the sushi, which is pretty blah) and definitely sufficiently varied, but compared to our Viking experiences the presentation is decidedly lacklustre. That, and the shortage of tables on sea days, is what generally sends us to the deli and pool grill at lunch, and the main dining room at dinner.

As the afternoon progressed, and we settled our lazy selves in deck chairs and our balcony, more and more tour boats appeared – including the Diamond Princess.

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“Dinner” tonight was pizza and more negronis on the pool deck – or in Ted’s case Red Stripe beer and a corned beef sandwich – watching the Washington Huskies/Michigan Wolverines NCAA football game, which meant going to Elliott Finkel’s second piano show in the World Theater at 9 p.m. Apparently when you watch football on a ship it’s a “sailgate” party! We (sort of) live in BC now, so we have to root for Washington, our nearest neighbours to the south. During the game, we were plied with chicken wings , sliders, popcorn, and various “game” treats. Fun!!

All in all, a nice relaxing day. Tomorrow we’ll get off the ship to explore La Paz.