What is the best cruise to the Baltic capitals?

Going on a cruise to Cabo, San Lucus. Stories and recomendations please?

• My husband and I are going on a cruise 4 day 5 night 10-29-09 to 11-2-09 to Cabo, San Lucas. The cruise is through Royal Carribean, the ship is Radiance of the Seas, and the themed cruise is a Whodunit mystery cruise. Hubby and I have NEVER been on a cruise before, nor have we been to Cabo. We leave from San Diego, CA. We will be in Cabo from 730am-430pm on the 31st of october... We would love to hear stories, that are good, bad, funny ect. about your expieriances with your past cruises, and/or trips to Cabo. Especially cruises though seeing as how cruising is something that is completely new to us. ...Also any advice on anything for our cruise and/or while we are in cabo would be wonderful as well! Really we are just REALLY excited to take a vacation without the kids, or work, and we want to make sure we get the best of the whole thing. So please please please share with us! I mentioned in the first para. the exact cruise we are going on, in hopes that maybe someone has been on this same halloween themed cruise in the past and can tell us about it.

• Answer:

  That sounds like a very fun cruise. The great thing about a cruise is that you get to visit several destinations to "try them out" & see if it is somewhere you'd like to go back to for a longer visit. The issue with cruises is many times you just don't have enough time in port to do all the things that you'd want to do. I've been to Cabo many times & it is my absolute favorite Mexican vacation destination. The nightlife is fantastic, which doesn't lend itself well to the time you're there. However, Cabo is a world-class deep sea fishing destination. The snorkeling is also very good. The cruise line can set the excursions up for you. That would be my suggestion. If you're not into water sports, the shopping is excellent. The restaurants downtown are very good. If you're looking for a watering hole, let me recommend The Giggling Marlin. And going to Cabo without stopping by Cabo Wabo (Sammy Hagar's place) is like going to the Vatican and skipping the Sistine Chapel. If you like beer, try Pacifico. For tequila, go with a local brand (stay away from Sammy's Cabo Wabo brand-go to the club,don't drink the drink). They also have lots of very nice imported & domestic wine varieties. As for the cruise itself, research the ports & excursions where you stop. You only have so much time to do what you want to do, so plan ahead as much as possible. Book your excursions with registrar as soon as possible to make sure you don't get locked out. You may even be able to do this before you embark, so check it out. The food on the ship is usually fantastic, so definitely enjoy. If you have a choice for early or later dinner, choose the later dinner. Many times, early dinner is around 6:00. This means that you're still in port at this time. You'd have to be back on board by about 5-5:30 to freshen up & dress for dinner, so you'd be missing 2 1/2 hours of Cabo fun time. Later dinner is usually around 8:30; the ship will have disembarked & you and your husband won't feel so rushed. I swear the ship staff's primary goal is to get every last passenger on the boat to gain 5-10 pounds in a week. So, my last piece of advice is to avoid the elevator as much as possible & take the stairs. You'll get some much needed exercise, you won't have to wait in line for the elevator & you won't feel as guilty sampling all the yummy, yummy food!! Enjoy and Bon Voyage!!