Los Angeles port waiting to sail off
The Boat
As this was our first cruise, everything was perfect in our eyes because we had nothing to compare it too. We did love our ship and all the pools (fresh water not salt), spas, workout room (yes we visited it), and just everything. We went kind of economy on our room with an obstructed view but it worked.
The obstructed view
Our fellow passengers were a little on the older side. Just estimating, the mean age was around 45 but the median age was probably more like 60. Since we don't party, it was nice to be with an older and quieter crowd. The staff on board was great, always ready to greet you with a smile and our steward was especially friendly. I think the staff to passenger ratio was about 1 to 3 and it made for a very pampered time.
Dressing up for one of the formal nights and having fun.
Bubbly Anyone?
The Food
Everyone warned us to expect to gain 5-10 pounds because of all the fabulous and plentiful food on board. I definitely believe it. We ate huge meals 3 times a day, sometimes more, so we'll have to go on a diet when we get home. It was nice to try lots of different food, especially seafood since we don't normally eat that much seafood. We had salmon, red snapper, scallions, shrimp, fried kalimari, scallops, saltimbocca, mussels (didn't like those), lobster, crab cakes and more. We went fancy one night and had a six course Italian meal with so much yummy food and have I even mentioned the desserts? Crème Brulee, mousse, cheesecake, pie, ice cream, and of course more. I don't think I could ever make a meal as pretty as what we ate in the dining halls. And then there were the dangerous buffets, we mostly went at breakfast and stuffed our faces with omelettes, fruit (had to try and do something healthy), pancakes, belfian waffles, and of course pastries. Whenever I journal, I find I talk a lot about food but on the cruise it's almost all about the food. If you eat in the dining hall all three meals, you spend a good 4 hours there a day. If you share a table as we sometimes did, you get to meet people from all over and all walks of life.
Entertainment
We really like how the cruise was self-contained with food and plenty of entertainment. During the sea days we tried to lay out or go to the pool but we also went to shows and other activities. We polished up our ping-pong abilities and watched a lot of movies. In the evening we went to a show or two with the Sapphire Dancers, and comedians like Carlos Oscar (highly recommend watching him) and Steve Moris. We watched the head chef display his talents and then took a tour of the galley. My favorite sign in there was “calories don't count, they multiply.”
Ports of Call
Puerto Vallarta
We tried our land legs out first on Puerto Vallarta and went mountain biking there. It was nice to get away from the really touristy areas and bike through the farms and little towns close to the Sierra Madre mountains.
We saw corn, tomato, pineapple, banana, pinto bean, watermelon, and mango fields.
We started the tour at a hacienda where they also had tequila tours.
We heard the process of making tequila and smelled the distilling but didn't sample obviously. After our 30 minute bus ride back to the port we went to the “American Embassy” as our tour guide called Walmart.
We had asked about a panaderia or Mexican bread bakery and he said to just go to Walmart so we did and the bread and pastries were just like I remember from our journeys into Tijuana as a kid. We didn't have much time after that and were really hot and sticky (we don't miss humidity one bit) so instead of braving downtown we went back on the boat.
Mazatlan
The next day we pulled into Mazatlan where we didn't have an official shore excursion planned. The port was a closed port, just meaning that we had to take a free but compulsory shuttle away from the ship to the exit. Then came the taxi gauntlet and we just wanted to walk so we passed through saying no or just ignoring everyone trying to offer us there services. We walked away from the port and hiked to El Faro, the highest natural lighthouse in the world. It wasn't a very long hike up but the heat and humidity (there again, we don't miss humidity) made us sweat the whole way up. We got a great view of Mazatlan and from what we saw on the ground, the birds eye view was so much better.
After hiking down we walked the coast for a little and then hailed a taxi to the Golden Zone, or what I would refer to as drop your Gold to all the millions of vendors zone. The beach wasn't even that nice by the hotel/resort we got dropped off at and then there were all the vendors that wouldn't give you a moments peace on the beach. Buy bracelets, sunglasses, hammocks, fake tattoos, drugs, go parasailing, sit in our timeshare presentation for free use of the facilities (what facilities may I ask?). I did go through a market and bought some dresses for the girls, a souvenir to say we were there, and some Mexican vanilla and then I was done. I got so angry at all the vendors that Eric and I packed up and went back on board early without even tasting “real” Mexican food.
Cabo San Lucas
We had to tender in at this port meaning the ship had to drop anchor in the bay and we took little boats in to the port. Cabo was by far the nicest looking area as it's been built up recently with beautiful resorts and US dollars. We got off too early for our shore excursion and went through the water taxi gauntlet since the main attraction is El Arco and Lovers Beach where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez. We kayaked and snorkeled for our excursion and it was great to be up close and personal to the ocean and then see all the fish in the water. Now that's the way to sightsee.
So that was our cruise experience and even though we had choppy waters and high winds our last sea day we would definitely cruise again.
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