Our first day in Cabo, we went to a dance party. Our second day in Cabo, we went to another party, and invited some whales.

Cabo is the home of that arch you see in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie – you know, the one with the skeletons hanging from it. We sailed past it on our way out to the whale playground.

Here's the Pirate, dressed not at all like Johnny Depp, in front of that arch from the movies, from where there were no skeletons hanging.

The whale boat took us really far out into the ocean – far enough out that our cruise ship was a tiny little toy boat in the distance. While the boat sped away, the crew played fun dance music and every single person crowded around the railings peering into the water as if we could summon up whales by sheer power of will.

It took about half an hour to get out to where four other boats sped around in circles, following a pair of whales. The music died away, and for a second I worried that the boat would flip over as every single person rushed to one side and hung over the railing to check out the whales.

What was great was that after a very short time, we all got good at following the trajectory of the whales and spotting where the water became a lighter shade of green about five seconds before the they surfaced. At one point, one of the whales surfaced, rolled, waved, and then dove again. I’m sure there’s a really good whale-ish reason for it, like knocking barnacles off its sternum or something, but it looked like waving to all of us on the boat.

We got back from whale watching in time to rest up for the festivities – Saturday was New Year’s Eve! After dining on lobster tails and caviar (no, I’m not kidding!), we put on our jackets and headed up to the pool. Every night, they showed movies on the Jumbotron at the front of the funnel, and tonight’s movie was Wall E. Snuggled together (it was starting to get cold!), we watched the film, then headed downstairs to where the party was just starting.

Remember that really tall room where we boarded the ship? The one with the crazy glass sculpture on the ceiling and railings around the two floors above so everyone could look down at the entrance to the main dining room?

You know - this room? The only one that could accomodate enough people at once?

This is where everyone gathered to celebrate the New Year. We gathered in two shifts – an East Coast shift for those who wanted to celebrate a little earlier, and a West Coast shift for the rest of us. There were waiters handing around glasses of champagne and sparkling apple cider and the kind of adorable hors d’oeuvres that only happen at someplace run by Disney. On that little stage below, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy – well the entire gang came out and put on a lovely dance show for us. As the time drew near, we all counted down the last minute, holding our glasses at the ready. Three – two – one – Happy New Year! Toast, confetti, hugging, kissing, dancing, more confetti, laughter, fist bumping, more confetti, more kissing, finishing off that champagne and getting another, more confetti, and then…

sleep.