Deru Cruise to Cabo Jan 2023

After the only other cruise that we have been on in recent history this cruise to Cabo in January seemed really quick. It really wasn't though. It was a five night cruise, which isn't super short. It was just out of Long Beach which was nice because we could all just drive there. This trip was a Christmas gift from my mom and dad (mostly my mom) for that year. It seemed pretty early to do that trip in the middle of January, but considering how my mom's health failed throughout the year, it was a blessing to be able to do this trip while she was still able to go. I can't believe this was our last trip with my mom. 

Our drive to Long Beach was pretty easy, I decided to crochet a blanket on the way to help prevent me from just mindlessly snacking the whole way. It turns out that crocheting a blanket is one way to make a very expensive blanket. I also made it too big and heavy, so I really want to undo the whole thing and try again. Maybe on the next road trip? :) 

Unfortunately the motel we stayed at really gave us gross vibes, so we won't be recommending it anytime soon. We made it through one night though. :) 

The next day we stood in a very long, very slow moving line to get checked on to the boat. There needed to be someone from the port out doing crowd/line control because it was loco. It is just a testament to the fact that nothing fun or extraordinary comes without a cost. Sometimes it is financial. Sometimes it is inconvenience. Often it is both. It felt annoying at the time, but was in reality just a little blip, and doesn't even register on the importance scale of being able to go on the trip with my mom. My dad didn't end up going, so this trip really was about my mom being with her kids and grandkids. Despite the long wait to get on the ship, we played a lot of games with just our family. I love them. 

Our family got two rooms right next to each other. It was fun to have balconies so close together. We paid for the bid to upgrade and totally loved it. 

We made it on the ship! That first meal always feels like a celebration!

Beautiful sunset in Long Beach. It was so fun to have cousins on this cruise!

Leaving the lights of California. We saw dolphins from the balcony!

Darcy was so funny that first night. Everything got dipped in ketchup: fries, chicken nuggets, watermelon, other melon. Yuck, but she liked it. 

We were kind of a spectacle in the dining room. We were such a large group that we got split into two tables.

All the kids wanted their pictures taken with their fancy foods. Holland got an entire pizza to herself! Fancy fancy appetizers, salads, mains, and desserts. I think I was more excited about Eliza's creme brulee than she was. 

All dressed up to go to the dining room. 

Of course we had to catch the fancy breakfast also. Those parfaits are a hit! Not to mention the decadent hot chocolate. John and I caught a workout. The kids got tp lay at Splash Academy. We also had a fun day playing in the water features of the ship with wet suits of course. 

We decided that this sunset looked like a peacock. 

We did dinner that evening with just our family. Sometimes it is nice to just do things with our little family. And I got to eat my favorite: polenta. Don't worry though. My kids had tons of cousin time that day. And we went to visit Grandma and had so so many giggles snuggling in her bed. That is actually one of two things Darcy remembers about this trip: cuddling with grandma and a whale doing a back flip.

So tired after a long day of playing. 

Our day in Cabo San Lucas was seriously the best and the worst. Miriam was up all night the night before vomiting. That continued throughout the day. It was such a bad stomach flu. When Miriam gets the stomach flu, it tends to hit her really hard. I felt terrible leaving her on the ship by herself, but all she really needed to do was rest and have soda and crackers. I got her the soda and crackers, and she slept while we were gone. Thank heavens. I was frazzled leaving her on there though. 

The other stressful part was trying to figure out the tenders getting to shore. It was weirdly difficult to figure out what tender we could all take to make it to shore in time for our whale watching tour. We ended up just getting off when we couldn't wait any longer, which ended up being fine, but was definitely stressful. 

It is funny though that in my memory of that day, the stress of Miriam being sick and having to leave her, and the ridiculously difficult tender situation is just a footnote on how amazing that day was. 

We woke up that morning to whales in the distance, and dolphins right by the ship. We just looked for all of the whale watching ships and found the spouts of mist nearby. 

We finally made it on a tender! I can't believe I have to leave Miriam in our stateroom on the ship. 

After we left the ship, we made it to the whale watching business without trouble. It was fun to walk through the touristy places of Cabo. It reminds me of when Grandpa Lucas used to wear his Cabo San Lucas hat and shirt. Grandma Deru made it off the ship and was in good spirits. 

We walked down to the dock where we split into two parties. Marc and Miriam's family and David's family went in one, while our family and Kayla's family, and my mom went in the other. 

Before long we were off. We saw some seals in the harbor as we were leaving. 

Before we went out into open water we saw the the Cabo arch. We also saw Lover's beach and the furthest west point of the Americas. 

Furthest west point in the Americas.

At first we saw three adults with one baby. They were coming up for air, and we saw the tail fin. The baby had to come up a lot more than the adults. Then the ship was radioed that there was a whale breaching. So we sped off to see if we could catch it before it stopped breaching. And boy did we!! We ended up seeing it breach maybe 30 times. Normally a whale breaches 3-4 times before it is done, but not this one. It really put on a show for us. They really don't know why whales breach, maybe as communication or to express something, but whatever it was, this whale was really feeling it. 

It was fun to hang on to the front of the boat and see it so well. The only problem was that it was even more rocky up there, and by the end we were definitely feeling the waves. 

The guide was really informative, and told us lots of interesting facts, but she also took awesome photos for us. It was fantastic to get some her from great camera and lens. It really puts my phone pictures and videos to shame. 

Lovers Beach. On the other side is Divorce beach because of the rough waves from the Pacific. 

Baby Arch next to the big sea arch.

Here are some of the facts from the tour guide that I remember: 

Whales burn 5000 calories every time they breach.
Females can have up to 20 calves, only ever one at a time. But are fertile for like 60 years.
Breaching could be a show of strength or method of communicating due to sound traveling 4x faster in water than air, but aren't really sure. Same with flapping fins.
They don't really stay as a couple. Just mama and calf. Feed up north and breed and birth down south.
Adults only have to breathe every 6 or 7 minutes, but babies it is more like 2-3.
1000 pounds of barnacles only feel like a t-shirt to them.

The whale really put on a show for us. I still can't believe it. Amazing. How can the get that far out of the water? 

This picture blows my mind. Right, right before it hits the water. No splash yet, just looks like it is floating on its back. 

Here is the other boat with the Derus. We ended up leaving to head back to shore before the humpback was done breaching. It just kept going and going. We ended up getting motion sick after an hour or so watching the whale and had to head back. Thankfully the guide had ginger gum and pressure point wrist bands to help.

My iphone pictures in contrast. :) 

Coming back to you Miriam! It breaks my heart that you weren't there for that whale watching excursion. 

Norwegian Bliss all lit up. 

That evening we had a nice dinner, a little drunk on happiness from seeing the breaching whale. Fortunately Miriam had just slept for almost the whole time while we were gone, which she needed to do a lot. Poor kiddo. I feel awful that she was so sick on our trip.

When I asked for some saltines for her, I was brought an entire bowl of them. I am glad she was happy despite the rough circumstances.

The next day we had a lovely day of sleeping in, brunch with the ladies, kids playing with cousins, stormy seas, afternoon catnaps, family pictures, and laser tag on the very top of the ship. Thankfully Miriam was feeling way better that day, even though she didn't feel up to eating much. I think she was more upset about not being able to eat the fancy food than missing the whale. 

It was crazy, crazy windy up there, but the laser tag was tons of fun. 

The next day was our stop in Ensenada. The crazy thing was that we all chose not to get off the ship that day. We didn't see any shore excursions that sounded worth it, and since it was such a short cruise, we wanted more play time on the ship.

We enjoyed a nicer dining room breakfast with David's family and my mom. We watched sea lions from our room balconies, played Skull King, went for ice cream cones, went down water slides, went for snacks in the observation lounge, and hit a restaurant dinner. One of the best parts of the day was after we got the girls in bed we watched the dark ocean off the balcony. Much to our surprise we saw maybe 50 dolphins jumping in the surf of the ship. They jumped so far and fast. It was delightful!

Such a fancy milk pourer for her Fruit Loops. She loved it, clearly.

Always going to get the parfait. I don't actually ask to take photos of my kids with their food. They ask me take the photos because they love the fancy food.

A family of sea lions!

Hanging out with Grandma on the balcony. I love that my kids wanted to hang out with her despite having cousins there too. She was a major person in their lives.

Tall ice cream cones.

Water slide play. I am so glad that Miriam was recovered enough by then to enjoy it.

Ensenada in the background.

My mom and I watching the kids in the pool together. 

Our last restaurant dinner was just with Mom. It takes way longer than you'd think to do the restaurant dinner on the ship, but it is kind of an event. We entertained ourselves by Pictionary and keeping the little ones happy the best we could. 

John didn't have a huge portion, but he loved those stuffed mushrooms. I don't know what Ellie got, but it looks a little like a taco salad, which is delightful. 

Holland got Caesar salad, which she loved. Miriam felt up to broccoli soup. Her stomach was still feeling tender. Because she missed out on the whale excursion, we took a couple of minutes in Cabo to pick her out this dress. I love it so much. I hope she likes it. 

Darcy wanted french fries so they brought her a whole plate full. Whoa!

Eliza got gnocchi, which she loved. John and I ordered shrimp because obviously.

Mom got some yummy looking fish. Darcy is just happy with her fries and ketchup. I promise, I don't let her eat like that at home. It was the last night of the cruise!

Holland wanted steak, and she got one almost as large she was. 

Because the waiting time is so long, we had plenty of time to work on this coloring page. Isn't it great??

On the day we exited the ship, we were kind of sad. It is always a let down to be done with a trip. Unfortunately the day got worse from there. On the drive to Utah, Eliza started throwing up. She got so so sick that rather than driving home in one day we decided to stop in St George to give her a chance to rest. It was disheartening because we had tried to be so careful about not spreading germs, but it was all in vain. We stayed in a nicer hotel than the Long Beach one, and the kids were very appreciative. It was cheaper than the one in Long Beach too! The next day Eliza was still sick in the car, but we made it home eventually. Poor kid. Little did I know it was coming for me too... I hate the stomach flu. 

Miriam's note about all the things that she appreciated about the nicer hotel.