Mexico Cruise

My trip started with a night in Santa Monica. I stayed at a large hostel just off the major shopping area, the Third Street Promenade.

I wandered around and ended up renting a cruiser bike (nowhere near as sweet as the one from the Denman Bike Shop in August) and peddled from the Santa Monica Pier to Venice Beach. Afterwards I shopped and ate some sushi before crashing at about 8PM. Next morning I was off to LAX to meet the rest of the fam and catch the shuttle to the ship (never call it a "boat")

The first snag of the trip was a doozie! Air Canada lost Judy's luggage and it still has not been found. The next snag was the embarcation was delayed. We waited for a at least an hour before we could board the ship. By that time we were all starving! Hil and I checked out our room and balcony and then headed for our first of many buffet lines!!


This is the main pool. There was usually a group of us lounging one the second level on the right side (in the picture) This pool seemed to be the kiddy pool so Hilary and I preferred the Lotus (or as we called it, the Buddha Pool) at the front of the ship.



The third snag was when sailing was delayed by several hours. There were 2 other ships in port at the same time and unfortunately one was blocking us in so we couldn't sail. By the time we finally left it was dark.





The first formal night. Hilary discovered this stunning sunset...the rest of us were concentrating on the drinks!





After dinner and a song and dance show set to Elton and Billy Joel, the group of us ended up at Skywalkers the night club on the ship.

This is Joanne and Jane, Judy's sisters.




Wow! Am I tanned already??








Matt and Joanne







Judy, Joanne and Allison, Matt's mom.

Lucky for Judy her formal wear was in Dad's luggage.







The next day Hil, Dad, Judy and I went to a wine tasting. We had agreed to go the night before. Sadly all of us but Dad were feeling a tad queasy after such a fun night, and we didn't drink too much of the wine. Dad sure had enough though, picking up our slack. I wasn't too concerned until I found out Dad had to pay for the seats! Oops!



Another stunning sunset!






Our first port was Puerta Vallarta. We were greeted with a nice view of Walmart! That was our first stop so Judy could pick up some clothes and essentials.
Afterwards we caught a taxi into town and shopped a little but it wasn't long until Dad was "thirsty". We sat down in a restaurant and ordered some Margaritas. The waiter didn't tell us it was 2 for 1 and brought us each 2 big drinks!! I am not sure if it was the tequila talking or not, but this place had the best chips, guacamole and salsa of the trip!!


Next stop was the River Cafe, a restaurant Dad and Judy had been to on previous trips. Another round of 2 for 1 margaritas followed by lunch at a table along the river. At one point a monster iguana sashayed down a tree and caused quite a sensation! It must have weighed over 20 pounds!! It went up another tree.



We were even more surprised when I heard a great rustling and then a splash! The iguanna had fallen from a tree and was now swimming up river!!





The next day we were in Mazatlan. Hilary and I disembark and get picked up by a couple if Chinese ladies. They must of recognized me as one of their own! They wanted to split a taxi with us into town. They were skilled barterers as well and got us a good deal! We headed into the Old Town and visited the church as well as a market. As you can see the market sold fresh fruit and veggies, knick knacks for tourists as well as freshly butchered meats.


Quickly bored with the Old Town Hilary and I caught a taxi to the Golden Zone. Here is where all the hotels and bars are. It was quite early still and there were few people around or places open. Part of the trouble was that we were just ahead of a category 3 hurricane and it was widely reported that the ship would not be coming in that day. It wasn't raining yet, but it was not sunny either. Hilary and I positioned ourselves at a restaurant in the middle of a crossroads and kept our eyes peeled for someone we knew. We were bored!! We managed to miss a van of all our shipmates cruise past us. They had a great time seeing the sites without us :(
Hilary and I chose to cut our losses and head back to the ship. Maybe we could go to the spa, we thought.