Mexico Cruise, part 1
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This past weekend, Elizabeth and I took a three-night cruise with Royal Caribbean from Los Angeles to Ensenada, Mexico. This was an excellent weekend getaway, as we were fed, pampered and entertained throughout the voyage. We could find many good reasons to sail away for the weekend: The completion of the semester, the beginning of summer, a little anniversary of our dating, my acceptance into MBA school, the fact that neither of us has done such a thing, etc. |
This first entry will show some of the ship, and I will include some pictures from on-board in a subsequent entry.
 | The Monarch of the Seas was docked in the San Pedro harbor, just off the 110 Freeway. This massive cruise ship could carry 2,744 passengers (along with 820 crew), although I believe that our particular cruise had around 2100 passengers. The ship is 880 ft long (which is much longer than the little boats that I sailed in the UT sailing club). |
 | Bon Voyage! |
 | We were provided lifejackets, and a safety drill was run before we left the harbor. Each jacket contained a whistle (think of the movie Titanic), and a water-activated light. Neither of these, nor the months of swim training, turned out to be necessary. |
 | Our cabin had an ocean view. We were on deck 3, which was not very far above the water. This was good, in some ways, because we had a good view of the waves. More expensive rooms were higher off of the water. |
 | The first night, one of the swimming pools was not yet filled with water. Even though the ship was inaugurated in 1991, it had just gone through a $30M renovation. As it turns out, the pool had just been repainted. The pools, as we discovered, seem to use filtered (treated?) and warmed seawater, as the water was very salty. |
 | The prow of the "Monarch of the Seas", bravely thrusting forth into the dangerous waters of the Pacific. |
 | Sunset Friday night, on the deck of the ship. |
 | The moon rising over the deck. There were a number of night-time activities available, including gambling and several dance floors. |