Month: September 2015

Wednesday was our final day at a port (Puerto Vallarta). This would be our best day yet! Prior to the cruise when we first started looking into possible excursions, we were concerned about Jeri’s back and thus we were hesitant to try zip lining and rappelling. Early in the cruise, after talking with some people at the excursion desk, we decided to sign up for it. We’re so glad that did!

We got ready and got off of our ship. Because we had almost an hour prior to departure, we had time to visit a shopping area close by. Fortunately a local told us about golf carts that shuttled back and forth. So we easily saved ourselves a 10-plus minute walk (each way) by hopping on a golf cart. Shopping in these little stores in Mexico is fun because it’s easy to find neat stuff at good prices.

After shopping, we were able to hop on another golf cart back to the ship where we would gather for our excursion.

Our excursion started with a boat ride to a location south of Puerto Vallarta. Then we boarded the back of a truck, fastened our belts, and held on as we traveled up the mountains to our base camp. The last part of the journey was on unpaved roads.

The trip started on paved roads but ended on up on dirt roads. We were held on tight as we were bounced and tossed about.

At the camp, we changed clothes and put on our gear.

First stop was an orientation session.

We listened attentively.

We posed in front of the truck.

Then we were assigned a burro. This was our first time riding an animal! These burros were quite strong and sure-footed carrying us farther up the mountain.

Once at the top, we hiked a short distance to the first zip line. Jeri went first.

Then Tim went next.

After a couple of zip lines, we rappelled down besides a waterfall. The scenery was beautiful!

We ended up in the pool at the bottom.

After some other zip lines, we did our first water slide. Tim sat in front; Jeri was holding on to him from behind.

We slid down the slide right into the water.

Although we got a face-full of water, we thought it was hilarious and were laughing so hard.

Now we were thoroughly soaked.

Towards the end, we did one zip line upside down.

Eventually we end up back at the base camp. We picked out our photos. Then we hopped back on the truck for a ride back to the dock.

We take the boat back to the port where our cruise ship was docked.

The guys that took care of us were great. Here they are hamming it up.

We thoroughly loved the day!

Next Day 9 – At Sea

Cruise Days 1 and 2 – Departure and San Diego
Cruise Day 3 – At Sea
Cruise Day 4 – Cabo San Lucas
Cruise Day 5 – Loreto
Cruise Day 6 – La Paz
Cruise Day 7 – At Sea
Cruise Day 8 – Puerto Vallarta
Cruise Day 9 – At Sea
Cruise Day 10 – At Sea
Cruise Food

Tuesday was another day at sea as we sailed from Loreto to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. In the morning, we watched the movie “Inside Out” on the top deck of the ship. We really enjoyed it.

In the afternoon, we watched an episode of “Chopped” plus two biographies on the Art channel. One was on Pablo Picasso; the other was on Norman Rockwell. After supper, we saw a musician/comedian Steve Moris in the Explorer’s Lounge. Sometimes he had us laughing so hard that our sides would hurt!

Next Day 8 – Puerto Vallarta

Cruise Days 1 and 2 – Departure and San Diego
Cruise Day 3 – At Sea
Cruise Day 4 – Cabo San Lucas
Cruise Day 5 – Loreto
Cruise Day 6 – La Paz
Cruise Day 7 – At Sea
Cruise Day 8 – Puerto Vallarta
Cruise Day 9 – At Sea
Cruise Day 10 – At Sea
Cruise Food

What a day! Snorkeling in Loreto was the perfect excursion! We started with a boat ride around Coronado Island.

We saw sea lions playing.

For a while, a pod of dolphins came to our boat and swam along side. Here’s a picture of one.

The island was formed from volcanic activity. Here is a lava tube.

Here’s a rock formation that looks like King Kong.

Unlike Saturday at Cabo San Lucas, the water was almost perfectly calm. We could see fish in the clear blue water. After an hour or so on the boat, we made it to the white, soft, sandy beach on the island. The view was idyllic–blue and turquoise water with mountains in the background.

Unlike Saturday, snorkeling was so easy! We saw lots of different fish swimming among the coral. While we were around the coral, we could hear a constant crackling sound…kind of like Rice Krispies cereal but only sharper. When we took our lunch break, a fellow snorkeler told us that we were hearing the sound of coral feeding. We saw lots of different fish from tiny to some a foot or more in length. I (Tim) also saw a jellyfish that was about the size of a half dollar in diameter. We both saw a long tubular fish that was over two feet in length.

Such beautiful scenery everywhere!

After snorkeling, we returned to Loreto. Since we still had some free time, we walked around for a while.

Back on the ship, Jeri ordered a specialty coffee at the International Cafe and we picked up a little snack (roasted vegetables and pecan pie).

Next Day 7 – At Sea

Cruise Days 1 and 2 – Departure and San Diego
Cruise Day 3 – At Sea
Cruise Day 4 – Cabo San Lucas
Cruise Day 5 – Loreto
Cruise Day 6 – La Paz
Cruise Day 7 – At Sea
Cruise Day 8 – Puerto Vallarta
Cruise Day 9 – At Sea
Cruise Day 10 – At Sea
Cruise Food

Sunday was the fifth day of our cruise. We docked at La Paz (means “the peace”). Our excursion for the day was a bus trip and tour of Todos Santos (“All Saints”), a town on the other (i.e. Pacific) side of the Baja peninsula.

We boarded a tour bus and drove about over an hour to Todos Santos. Our guide, Guillermo, was entertaining and interesting. We learned some Mexican history and toured the small town. Here we are at the mission.

We found some fun places to shop. The town is known for its artist community.

We had lunch at The Hotel California which may (or may not) be the source for the song by the Eagles back in the 70s.

On the bus ride back, Guillermo shared about one of his loves, cacti. We stopped for some pictures next to the cardón cactus (relative of the saguaro). They are among the world’s tallest with some growing up to 70 feet tall.

Next Day 6 – La Paz

Cruise Days 1 and 2 – Departure and San Diego
Cruise Day 3 – At Sea
Cruise Day 4 – Cabo San Lucas
Cruise Day 5 – Loreto
Cruise Day 6 – La Paz
Cruise Day 7 – At Sea
Cruise Day 8 – Puerto Vallarta
Cruise Day 9 – At Sea
Cruise Day 10 – At Sea
Cruise Food

Jeri and I (Tim) woke up Saturday morning expecting to be in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Instead we were treated to the sight of watching us approach Cabo. Cabo San Lucas is at the southern-most tip of the Baja California Peninsula. At the very tip is a rock formation called El Arco (or the Arch). We sailed right past it.

After swinging past the tip, the ship came up to Cabo. The captain dropped anchor and announced that because the swells were fairly large (around four or five feet) that the tenders (boats to take us to shore) would be delayed a bit. The day before, Jeri and I signed up for a snorkeling excursion at Cabo San Lucas. After gathering our stuff and checking the checklist multiple times, we headed down to the tenders (which were now running).

Once on shore, since we had an hour or so before our excursion, we stopped at a shop (flea market) very close by. (The shops were in the center of the picture below.)

We headed back to the pier to meet up for our excursion.

We got on the catamaran and headed out on the rough waters. First we headed out towards the famous El Arco (the Arch). On the way, we saw Lover’s Beach and Neptune’s Finger.

Here we are in front of El Arco.

We continued sailing to the snorkel site. Due to the high swells, the ride was very rough. Several people on the boat got sea sick (and lost their breakfasts in trash bags). Towards the end, I (Tim) started feeling a bit nauseated.

Here’s where we snorkeled. You can’t tell from the picture but the swells were still coming in and the boat was rocking back and forth.

Finally we drop anchor. We put on our equipment and got in the water. But even in the water, the large swells kept on coming. So we were going up and down.

We were both new to snorkeling and Jeri had trouble with hers. So we decided to head to shore. That was no easy task. As we started to get close to the shore, the large waves would knock us down. And then the strong undertow would pull us back out to sea.

Every time that Jeri thought “I’ll stand up and get to shore this time,” another wave would wash over her and pull her back out a ways. Although Tim was worried as he saw her tumbling in the waves, Jeri thought it was so funny and couldn’t stop laughing…which only perpetuated the problem. Finally we each got close enough that we could crawl up to shore. The waves now began propelling us forward which was painful as the beach consisted of tiny sharp rocks (instead of sand).

On shore, we got our first break from all of the rocking and rolling of the waves. Tim showed Jeri how to bite the snorkel so that she get breathe air instead of water. While sitting on the beach with the waves rolling in over us, our swimsuits and fins filled with this mini-gravel. Jeri’s swimsuit didn’t fully empty of the gravel until she got back to our room.

Seeing the tropical fish was fun; so many fish were all around us. Even as we floated face down in the water, we were going up and down with the waves. After about 20 or 30 minutes, we got back in the boat and headed back.

Because now we were going with the waves instead of against them, the trip back was a bit better. This time, we had the sail up and we were going with the swells instead of against them.

In this picture, you can see our cruise ship in the background.

Back at the pier, we boarded our tenders and returned to the ship.

We showered and then headed down to dinner at 5:30 PM. We finished supper around 6:50 PM…just enough time to dash to the 7:00 PM show. Tonight was Jammin’ Lay Lamont. He was great! His only “prop” was a microphone.

He did dozens and dozens of song imitations. He could do drum sounds, bass guitar, electric guitar (even with high distortion), and electronic keyboards. He did a great vocal imitation of many singers. We recognized a lot of the music. He also did a perfect imitation of President Obama.

Next Day 5 – Loreto

Cruise Days 1 and 2 – Departure and San Diego
Cruise Day 3 – At Sea
Cruise Day 4 – Cabo San Lucas
Cruise Day 5 – Loreto
Cruise Day 6 – La Paz
Cruise Day 7 – At Sea
Cruise Day 8 – Puerto Vallarta
Cruise Day 9 – At Sea
Cruise Day 10 – At Sea
Cruise Food

Friday was a day at sea as we sailed from San Diego down to Cabo San Lucas. We enjoyed a relaxing day on the ship. In the morning, we saw a fruit and vegetable carving demonstration. The three chefs had some outstanding creations!

We spent some time at the tour desk and reviewing our options. We decided to do the snorkeling tomorrow at Cabo San Lucas. We’re hoping that we’ll like it because we also have snorkeling planned for Monday at Loreto. We also decided to do the zip-lining and rappelling adventure at Puerto Vallarta.

This was also our first of two formal nights. I (Tim) bought a new suit just prior to our trip. Before dinner, we got our pictures taken. We were especially pleased with two of the pictures and decided to purchase them.

We enjoyed dressing up for a nice sit-down meal. It was fun to dress up and go out…kind of like high school prom. A couple, Will and Noreen, sat next to us so we had dinner company. The appetizer was good and the “intermezzo” was nice. It was Blueberry Mojito Sorbet with Candied Lemon.

Throughout the cruise, the dessert after the evening meal was always the highlight. The lighting in the restaurant was actually quite low. A long exposure by the camera makes it appear to be bright when it actually wasn’t.

The dessert was Chocolate Raspberry Mouse with Vanilla Crème Brûlée and Crunchy Shortbread. When we first saw the dessert, we were a bit disappointed because we only saw a heart-shaped raspberry cake decorated with chocolate and a raspberry. Boy were we wrong! We were pleasantly surprised when we took a bite and discovered many elegant layers inside. It was fantastic! (Sorry for the grainy photos.)

After supper, we went to the Princess Theater for a live song and dance show.

Next Day 4 – Cabo San Lucas

Cruise Days 1 and 2 – Departure and San Diego
Cruise Day 3 – At Sea
Cruise Day 4 – Cabo San Lucas
Cruise Day 5 – Loreto
Cruise Day 6 – La Paz
Cruise Day 7 – At Sea
Cruise Day 8 – Puerto Vallarta
Cruise Day 9 – At Sea
Cruise Day 10 – At Sea
Cruise Food

To celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary, Jeri and I (Tim) took our first cruise thanks to our loving, generous children (especially the ones with jobs). Justin and Josiah dropped us off in Long Beach (about a 30-minute drive from home) on Wednesday, September 23rd.

We sailed on the Crown Princess along with over 3,000 other passengers.

Here’s a picture of our room.

Overnight, we sailed to San Diego which was only a short distance away. We woke up in San Diego Harbor.

Here’s view from our balcony. Note the submarine in the picture.

This morning we went up to the buffet for breakfast. While we were sitting, a couple in their 60s came walking by and sat two tables away from us. She was berating him for not telling her exactly where to find him. Apparently he told her that he would “be outside.” Since the outside eating area is pretty large, she was frustrated that she had to walk around to find him. She slammed her tray on the table and repeatedly told him how wrong he was. He did say that he was sorry but she didn’t accept his apologies.

After breakfast, we walked around the ship and explored for a bit. We found the highest deck.

Jeri woke up with a slight headache. Oftentimes her headaches go away after she gets up. However this one didn’t. So she took a nap most of the afternoon.

We turned on the Romance movie channel in our room and we saw the end of a movie “The Fault in Our Stars.” It’s a PG-13 romance drama about two cancer-stricken teenagers.

Tim had to eat lunch by himself…definitely not as fun. He even went to the evening show by himself. Jay Alexander, the mentalist, did some cool “mind-reading” tricks. Very entertaining. He does a second (different) show later on the cruise as well.

Next Day 3 – At Sea

Cruise Days 1 and 2 – Departure and San Diego
Cruise Day 3 – At Sea
Cruise Day 4 – Cabo San Lucas
Cruise Day 5 – Loreto
Cruise Day 6 – La Paz
Cruise Day 7 – At Sea
Cruise Day 8 – Puerto Vallarta
Cruise Day 9 – At Sea
Cruise Day 10 – At Sea
Cruise Food