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March 30, 2005

Mexican Riviera Cruise, Part 1

Here's some photos from our first days of cruising!

Day 1 (Saturday, boarding)

We've had a great trip so far; all of our travel between home and the ship was trouble-free, and we had nice birthday dinner with Ryan (who couldn't join us on the cruise) in Los Angeles the night before we boarded the ship.

The ship is amazing, truly a floating resort. Our room is quite spacious compared to my expectations, and we have a nice private balcony.

Dinner on the first night was at "Sabatini's", a special restaurant onboard. It was a seven-course extravaganza, culminating in a delicious lobster tail entree. And yes, you can have as many deserts as you like!

During Saturday/Sunday night, we crossed the border into Mexico.

Day 2 (Sunday, at sea)

Sunday, our first at-sea day, was very pleasant, with calm waters and not much wind. After breakfast, Steve and I went on a guided a tour of the boat, which helped us learn all about the various entertainment and amenities on board. There are a lot of pools! It was warm enough to have a swim with the kids and lounge in the pool area for a while before lunch.

We spent most of Sunday afternoon napping and catching up on sleep. It was very indulgent! The ship moves rapidly and it's taken some time for me to get used to looking out the windows and see the the ocean speeding by. We do feel some of the ship's movement -- but usually not very much. At first I usually wonder why I feel a little dizzy and then realize it's not me, it's the ship. Yesterday we heard that some whales were spotted, but we haven't seen any ourselves yet.

Sunday night was the first of two formal nights, so we spent some time getting into our finery. Steve looks great in his tux! I realize now that we should have taken more photos. (The ship also has photographers, with photos you can buy of course). While waiting for the formal portraits, Peter, who loves dressing up, saw an even younger boy also in a tux and exclaimed, "Hey, he has tails!" I suspect that had there been a tux store on the boat, a stampede of aunts, uncles, grandmas, etc. would have ensued to find Peter a tux with tails. However, he looked quite dashing in his traditional tuxedo with bow-tie and red cummerbund, and Juliana was elegant in her red evening gown.

Dinner was delicious, of course -- I had lobster cocktail, spring pea soup, and beef tenderloin. And, of course, dessert! I'm starting to understand why they say people gain a pound a day on the cruise!

Dinner ended just in time for use to catch the show, "Piano Man", in the main theater. This was a music-and-dancing show, featuring the songs of Billy Joel, Elton John, Liberace, Neil Sedaka, and other pop pianists. My favorite number was one in the LIberace segment, where the guys came out first in split black-and-white tuxedos, and danced as if they were the keys on the keyboard during Liberace's "Chopsticks". The Liberace theme continued, with the ladies coming out in extravagant costumes with huge candelabra head pieces, and finally one rode a crescent moon across the top of the stage.

After the show, we had a pleasant after-dinner drink, and then spent some time in the piano bar, where we played "Name that tune". This is a musical family, so our table of musical experts won, of course, and we'll be arriving at dinner one night with the bottle of champagne given to us as a prize.

Day 3 (Monday, at sea)

Monday was another day at sea. The weather seems to be getting warmer as we continue south. Thanks to the tour, we now know where the best coffee on the ship is.

I tried to get online yesterday to make a post, but the wireless wasn't working. So we spent the morning reading and napping. I can't seem to get out of the habit of waking too early and then feeling tired later...the excitement of the trip itself wakes me up.

We had a late lunch and then spent some time in the coffee bar watching for whales. Others have seen them, but our luck wasn't as good. Still, it was very scenic passing the tip of Baja.

We took a wine tasting class in the afternoon, where we sampled five wines, including a dessert wine in a cute glass we get to bring home. It was entertaining; as we came into the restaurant for the class, an accordion player serenaded us!

Dinner was in the Mexican restaurant (there are several "restaurants", and you can arrange to have your dinner in any of them as part of the "personal choice" dining). After our order was taken, the captain announced that sunset would be in about 5 minutes, and there was a chance we'd see the green flash. So we left our table and dashed out on the deck to watch. Alas, no green flash, but sunset itself was beautiful.

Day 4, part 1 (Tuesday, Puerto Vallarta)

Today is our first shore excursion, to Puerto Vallarta, where we're going to visit a "Jungle Paradise" with hiking, swimming, and the promise of interesting scenery. I'm hoping for a Crested Caracara! The city is just coming into view as I write this -- better scramble for some coffee and to see if I can get online!

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The ship's internet access was still down this morning, so I'm adding on again this afternoon after our shore excursion.

We chose the "Jungle Paradise" excursion, which is a bus trip thru Puerto Vallarta, with a stop at a scenic overlook with arch rocks in the ocean. We saw Black Vultures here, a new raptor for us. (Well, I'm pretty sure they were black vultures!) Also along the drive we saw mangos and coconuts on trees, and some iguanas on a rooftop. (The guide also pointed out the house where Liz Taylor and Richard Burton stayed, and the one where they filmed, "Night of the Iguana".)

The official description of our excursion is, "Drive along the scenic coastal highway to Mismaloya and into mountain foothills; one of the most exciting jungle locations in the area. You will take in brightly colored plants and flowers as you travel through exotic tropical forest. Several movies, such as the "Predator" starring Arnold Swarzenegger, have been filmed in this area because of the dense vegetation and absolute primal nature of jungle. I this paradise, you can explore the surrounding jungle, swim in natural pools formed by the river. Lunch is served in the shade of a riverside palapa."

Once we arrived, we had a really pleasant hike up the hill and around through the "jungle", more like a tropical woods. There were lots of interesting palms and plants, including the coconut that suntan lotion is made up (they're small nuts that grow in clusters). The guide was seemed very knowledgeable and happy to answer questions about the things we saw. Towards the end of the hike, we had to take off our shoes to cross the river. (Some people were ill-prepared for a hike, but somehow I think everyone made it!)

After the hike we had a nice lunch in tehir open air "palapa", while a band serenaded us. They were enthusiastic and fun, and we were happy to tip them. Then it was swimming time; I passed this time, but Steve took a quick dip in the nice clear pools, where we could see fish darting about.

On the way back thru town, we stopped at a shopping area. We managed to pick out a couple of nice things to take home, but I was mostly put off by the hounding of the shop keepers eager to get our American dollars.

After returning to the port, we walked around a bit and stopped at a port restaurant, where we had ice-cold Pacifico beers (after all, we have been warned by our parents not to drink the water!) and some of the most delicious chips and guacamole ever. (All of the food we've had in port have been fantastic and tasty!).

Now we're back on the ship, transferring photos to the computer, writing this, and doing a bit of laundry. Then, maybe, onto the internet to post this -- if you see this, it worked this time!

Posted by terrie at 12:10 AM | Comments (2)

March 08, 2005

Painting Plates

Here's some photos from a fun time we had painting on Sunday!

Posted by terrie at 03:42 PM