Day 6 – November 19, 2010

At Sea with a Detour to Cabo San Lucas

The plan for the day was to do nothing and we pretty near pulled it off.  Thank goodness the elevator guy didn’t decide to to nothing.  He did his job.

The morning started slow and lazy when the Captain came over the announcement system saying we were going to make a slight detour to Cabo San Lucas.  Apparently there was a medical emergency on board and the closest port was Cabo.  So we made a right turn and headed to Cabo so that the passenger could be taken to a local hospital.  The whole process was pretty fast.  We pulled in to the harbor, a boat pulled up along side,they wheeled the person off on a gurney and we were on our way home again.  In all it probably took less than 30 – 45 minutes.  BTW, we’re wondering who pays the port fees?  Anyone know how that works in an emergency? 

So once again we got a nice view of Cabo.

When we were here on Tuesday, we were the only cruise ship.  This time when we pulled in, there were already two ships anchored and in the process of shuttling people ashore. 

A Celebrity Cruise Ship	A Crystal Cruise Ship

While all this was happening, John played Bingo for the first and last time.  The bingo caller, Ricky Ricardo was either calling Bingo for the first time ever or he was having a very bad day.  After the first game he had trouble explaining the second game (around the corner), after he tried, someone else tried and confused things even more.  They finally gave up and switched to another game which he also failed to explain very well.  At this point I left John there but as John tells it, Ricky actually called the wrong number at one point causing a great deal of commotion, in fact John said the place erupted.  Needless to say John’s not going to play again on this trip.

After I left John and Ricky Ricardo, I decided to take some pictures of some really interesting art work so that I could share.

A Stack of Dinner Plates	A Stack of Coffee Cups

Plates	More Plates

Colored Pencils	Close-up of Pencils

I’ll look for more interesting art work to photograph on Saturday.

Before dinner we decided to go the the Ice Show.  It’s amazing what these skaters are able to do on such a small ice rink.

 

There were a total of 10 skaters but with all the costume changes you would have thought there were more.  We had fun watching them.

When we first signed up for this cruise, they asked if there was a special occasion.  I’m sure it was noted on all the records (someone actually wished us a happy anniversary last Sunday) but our anniversary came and went without anyone saying or doing anything.  Finally last night, we got this.

Oh well, a few days late but at least it was something and it was chocolate.

It used to be that we got a different towel animal in our room every night.  I guess things have changed and they only do it a few times during a cruise, but last night we got a monkey.

Our cabin attendant is very nice but I think she needs a little work on her towel animals.  

Tomorrow is our last day onboard, so we have more time to do nothing (which is just the way we like it), read our books, eat and wonder around. 

Until tomorrow,

We love you all.

John and Robin

Day 5 – November 18, 2010

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Good news, the elevator floor guy is still on top of things.

We spent the entire day docked at the cruise ship port in Puerto Vallarta,  Look what was right across the street.

Yup……that’s Wal-Mart right there, mocking us to come for a visit.   Well you know what we did don’t you?  Of course, we walked over there along with most of the other passengers.  We just bought a few toiletries but I saw quite a few people buying suitcases.  I guess they got a little carried away with souvenir shopping. 

We also headed to town for lunch and to find the fabric/craft shop Parisina.  As it turned out it was just a block off the main road and was easy to find.

John was a good sport while I wandered through the entire store.  BTW, I didn’t buy anything but I had fun looking. 

Back on the main street we walked along looking at the sites and figuring out where to have lunch.

Here are just a few of the sights.

Then we came upon this guy stacking rocks.  It was fascinating to watch him. 

We both loved watching him, but maybe for different reasons.  John was amazed at how the guy was able to feel the balance through the rocks, and me??????? Well I had trouble focusing on the rocks.

My goodness he was a cutie. 

Back to searching for a place for lunch and boy we hit the jackpot.  It was called ______Paloma.  We both got enchiladas smothered in the best Mole sauce we’ve ever had.

As hard as we tried, neither one of us was able to finish.  Both of us wish there was someplace near home that served this.  Yum, Yum!

Here’s our view from our upstairs lunch table.

And then this zoomed by.

The Mexican Military with their machine guns at the ready.  It was really going fast and was surprisingly close to shore.

Back at the ship, there was a little shopping area setup, including a few portable bars.  We decided to sit down and have a couple of Pacifico’s. 

This was our before dinner cocktail and this was our view looking up.

The most important thing today had nothing to do with our vacation…….it was our beautiful granddaughter Natalia’s 21st birthday.  Tali, we thought about you all day long and send you lots of hugs and kisses on your special day.

Tomorrow we are headed home and will be at sea all day. 

We love you all,

John and Robin

Day 4 – November 17, 2010

Today was a very lazy day for us, thank goodness the elevator floor guy, once again, did his job.,

We basically did nothing since we decided not to go ashore in Mazatlan.  We started the day with a little breakfast in the room.  Later we spent some time outside by the pool.  Although it was a beautiful, warm day there was a breeze that was chilly in the shade so we ended up continuing our reading sitting on our balcony. 

It was very noisy on the balcony.  We never did figure out if they are building rail road tracks and/or taking some out.  There’s nothing like listening to jackhammers while relaxing on a cruise ship,

Another highlight off our balcony is this.

The Pacifico plant.  Cerveza anyone?

Another beautiful sunset over the city.

Before dinner we actually found a bar we hadn’t been in yet.  Once again, John’s Manhattan and Robin’s Cosmopolitan.  I guess we’ll have to start repeating our bar hopping.

We had a wonderful dinner in “Chop’s” the ships gourmet steak house.  Dinner was delicious, but check out these deserts.

We splurged and had an after dinner drink.  I tried to get a picture before John could scope a big spoonful of whipped cream, but you can see I wasn’t fast enough,

Tomorrow we will be in Puerto Vallarta.  We plan to do a little shopping and have some lunch. 

Until then,

We love you all!

John and Robin

Day 3 – November 16, 2010

Cabo San Lucas

The elevator floor guy was at it again and once again I missed him in action.

We arrived in Cabo right on schedule.  The weather was perfect with clear skies and not too hot.

At this port the ship anchors in the harbor and uses tenders to shuttle everyone to shore.  Here is a picture of two of the tenders starting to bring passengers aboard for the short trip to the dock. 

The line was humongous so we sat around and read our books for a while before heading out. 

Here’s a look back at the Mariner of the Sea as we had our turn on the tender. 

We didn’t choose any shore excursions, instead we had three things on our list to accomplish while in town. 

First – I love Mexican Vanilla so a big bottle was high up on my list.

Second – A new leather, hand tooled, purse.  I got one the last time I was here but I wanted one a little larger.

Third and maybe the most important – Lunch

We took a short walk to Cabo Cantina.  Great food, great beer and very friendly waiters.  Here’s the remains,  We order way too much but still manage to put a big dent in it.  Although the food on the ship is good, there’s nothing like nachos, cheese enchiladas, tacos and burritos and of course a cold cerveza. 

Dinner back on the ship was Italian Night.  This is the night that all the wait staff parades around the dinning room, waving napkins over the head and end up on the staircase singing.  The picture on the left is the “Captains Table”.  I thought the empty seat might be for me but it actually was for the Captain.  He arrived late so I didn’t get a picture with him in it.

Another day came to an end.  Tomorrow is Mazatlan, but for us it’s a day to laze around the ship.  We aren’t planning on going ashore.

Love you all!

John and Robin