We thought it would be a simple boat ride to a secluded beach off Cabo San Lucas for a few hours of swimming and making sand castles. Instead, it was an adventure that wasn't pictured in the Disney Magic cruise booklet or listed among the port-of-call excursions.

We had five hours before we'd be swimming with dolphins, so we boarded a rusty, old water taxi. As the "captain" headed for "Lovers' Beach" - his suggestion - we looked for life jackets for Hannah, 10, and Jared, 7. Nope, no life jackets on this bucket.

Not only that, but we all got soaked on the 10-minute ride on the open-sided boat. When we arrived at "Lovers' Beach," the captain throttled down the engine to idle and waited for me to ask, "How do we get out?"

"Jump, lady," answered the captain and only crew member. So that's what my husband, David, and the kids did, into four feet of clear blue-green water. I was right behind, jumping with our day bag over my head, straining to keep our passports, cameras, towels, snacks and water bottles dry. Since we were the only passengers, only my husband and kids laughed at me as I waded ashore. The bag got wet, but somehow our camera and camcorder stayed dry.

On the beach, a parade of women approached us, offering everything from dolls and jewelry to hair-braiding. I bought two sterling-silver necklaces.

After we roasted in the sun for three hours, David hailed a different water taxi for the ride back to port. Jared swam to the boat first, and as soon as he climbed on, it started pulling away.

"Stop. STOP!" I yelled. "We're all going."

I've never screamed so loud in my life, and it worked - the boat stopped, and the rest of us waded out to join Jared.

Back at the port, we made our way less dramatically to the Cabo Dolphin Center, where we were split up into small groups. Our dolphin, which was pregnant, was very friendly. We petted her, learned commands for her to turn on her side, stay in position, go and come, and swam in a circle with her while the trainer fed her fish. Jared was a bit scared, while Hannah was more at ease. David kept calling the dolphin, "Here, boy," even after Jared, who hasn't learned about mammals, pointed out, "It's a fish, not a dog. And, besides it's a girl - it's having fish."

Our visit to the Dolphin Center was one of the highlights of our seven-night cruise that sailed from Los Angeles to the Mexican Riviera. The vacation included a pre-cruise day at Disneyland and stops at Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta, plus nonstop activities aboard the gorgeous ship. Each day, Hannah was on a mission to find Donald Duck, and Jared attracted attention from all the Southern Californians with his collection of Phillies T-shirts.

"Did you really fly to L.A. just to take this cruise?" they asked.

"Do you live near that great mall in King of Prussia?"

"Do you live near QVC?"

One morning at breakfast, an older gentleman asked Jared who his favorite Phillie is. "Cole Hamels," Jared replied, and the man countered with Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton.

But, the number-one question we fielded all week was:

"Which is really better, Geno's or Pat's?"