Feb 11

Feb 11 Day 3 - Cabo San Lucas

*Anchored off the coast of Cabo San Lucas*

This morning Carnival Panorama is positioned off the coast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Having been to Cabo many times, we decided this would be the perfect day to spend on board the ship to explore some fun activities while most guests go ashore for excursions. We head up to Deck 14 Midship where we find only two ladies in line for the SkyRide attraction. When I did the SkyRide on Carnival Vista, I had to wait in line for 45 minutes!

The SkyRide is free for all guests (under 250 pounds and at least 53” tall) and is a blast. After you are strapped into one of the two SkyRide cars, you pedal your way around a track that puts you nearly 150 feet above ocean! The cars are very easy to pedal and there are some exciting dips and turns along the route. It only takes about five minutes to make one lap around the track.

Rickee and I rode in cars next to each other and I was able to video her on the SkyRide with the famous rocks of Cabo San Lucas in the background. The lines were so short, we rode the SkyRide three times today and never had to wait more than 10 minutes in between rides!

After the SkyRide, we decided to take a shot at the Ropes Course, located just across from SkyRide. After getting fitted with a safety harness, we climb about 25 feet above the deck and start making our way across a series of rope obstacles. Balance is the key and the course is quite challenging. There are actually two courses, with the one on the left side being the easier of the two. As you can see in the photo below, the step pads on the right are much smaller than on the left where Rickee is walking.

The Ropes Course was quite challenging, but once you get the hang of it, and the fear of plummeting to your death goes away, it becomes fun. Only Carnival could figure out how to turn fear into fun!

After our Ropes Course adventure, we grabbed a quick slice of pizza before heading back to Deck 10 Midship where Aladdin was playing on the Dive-In Movie screen poolside.

It was just warm enough to warrant a couple of frosty Piña Coladas from the Blue Iguana Bar ($11.21 each). Carnival has done away with plastic straws and replaced them with thicker ones made from some sort of sugar. They seemed to work pretty well because my glass was emptied in short order. And, when you are finished with the drink, you can eat the straw! And, by the way, the drinks were delicious.

At 6:00pm this evening, we went to the lobby on Deck 3 for our reservation at The Chef’s Table. This is the premier dining experience on Carnival and is limited to 14 guests. After being greeted by a Sous Chef, we were led through the dining room and into the main galley on Deck 3, where we all washed our hands before proceeding to the first tasting area.

*Meeting for the Chef’s Table On Deck 3*

Here the Sous Chef prepares an Amuse Bouche of yogurt, white chocolate, a crumble and a thin slice of sirloin on a cold plate which freezes the yogurt/chocolate instantly. It sounds like an odd combination, but it was delicious.

After three appetizer tastings in the galley, we are eventually seated at a table in a special dining room inside the galley. Each person has a personalized tasting menu before them. We are offered a choice of a red Cabernet Sauvignon or a white Australian Sauvignon Blanc. Still or sparkling water is also poured.

*Chef’s Table Menus Are also place cards For Each Guest*

It takes nearly three hours to get through the 11-course meal. One of my favorite courses was the crispy lamb neck alongside a perfectly roasted chunk of lamb (below). There is no way to go through the entire meal here, course-by-course, but to summarize, the Chef’s Table is something that every foodie should experience at least once. The cost is $95 per person plus gratuity which, in our opinion, is a good value for this type of dining experience.

We will be posting a much more thorough, detailed review of The Chef’s Table to the Cruise Ship Dining section of this website soon, so stay tuned.