Our vacation was just beginning. We were so excited to spend a whole week away from the world. Just us. This was the very first picture we took. Getting on the cruise took some time, but once we got on and unpacked our things--we explored the whole ship (or tried to)... that thing was huge. It was only a year old one of Carnival's biggest cruiselines. I suggested we go to the tour that they were giving so that we would feel more comfortable with where things were, Chris opposed, but gave in anyway. We stayed for five minutes and left because it was a waste of time. And wouldn't you know it, we found our way just fine.
The first night (and most nights) we had dinner in the dining room. "The Gold Pearl." We were table 544. I thought for sure we would be sitting with several other couples but it was a table for two. Being 3 months pregnant and looking at a menu of fancy cuisine kinda m
akes you just want nachos...but I found things that sounded promising and ate what I could. At first I felt bad that I never finished my food, but the staff was so understanding. Unfortunately, we couldn't always understand them: Case in Point--First night, Chris had a Shrimp cocktail for his appetizer. It came with four chilled shrimp and some cocktail sauce. He really liked it. After he had his entree, he was still thinking about that cocktail, so he asked our server to bring out another one. Our server asked, "How many shrimp you want?" (everyone is foreign and speaks with thick accents) Chris said, "Uh, four." Within ten minutes Chris had four shrimp cocktails in front of him which he felt he couldn't waste.
The first night (and most nights) we had dinner in the dining room. "The Gold Pearl." We were table 544. I thought for sure we would be sitting with several other couples but it was a table for two. Being 3 months pregnant and looking at a menu of fancy cuisine kinda m
akes you just want nachos...but I found things that sounded promising and ate what I could. At first I felt bad that I never finished my food, but the staff was so understanding. Unfortunately, we couldn't always understand them: Case in Point--First night, Chris had a Shrimp cocktail for his appetizer. It came with four chilled shrimp and some cocktail sauce. He really liked it. After he had his entree, he was still thinking about that cocktail, so he asked our server to bring out another one. Our server asked, "How many shrimp you want?" (everyone is foreign and speaks with thick accents) Chris said, "Uh, four." Within ten minutes Chris had four shrimp cocktails in front of him which he felt he couldn't waste.
While on the ship, some of our favorite places to hang out were...
Mini-golf course, Chris beat me by 2. I'll take it.
Lounging in the Spa and on the Spa deck, which had a perfect surrounding view of the ocean.
And sliding down the massive waterslide! (That's Chris up there waving.) It was mostly younger people going down the slide, but when Chris went down the first time he made the biggest splash at the bottom. All the people on the balcony watching clapped and cheered. From then on, we saw all ages taking a turn.
The second night was formal night. And the dining room had all sorts of tricks up its sleeve.
From a bunch of non-Italians serenading us with "That's Amore"
...to a crazy napkin dance--we were entertained.
One day, poolside, Chris got thirsty. The result was this carved coconut filled with Virgin Strawberry Blonde. The drink was gone pretty fast, but I actually packed the container to bring home. I couldn't resist...mostly because it was $14.95.
When we got off the boat in Puerto Vallarta, it was hot! I think I proclaimed the obvious over and over. Luckily, our day was filled with swimming....with DOLPHINS!
[I'm sure you're all dying to see pictures. Of course we weren't allowed to take pictures ourselves. I could understand that, I guess. But then after this amazing experience we had with swimming with this dolphin, we were slapped with a $25 charge for one small picture. And since we would have to buy 2, that would put us at $50! I was so disappointed. It put a downer on the whole experience. Looking back, maybe we should have just forked out the money, but I couldn't bring myself to pay someone $50 for two pictures printed out on a do-it-yourself KODAK machine. ]
These were taken after our dolphin and sea lion kiss (imagine a broom pushed against your cheek--that's what a sea lion kiss feels like...unpleasant) and after our complimentary questionable Mexican buffet lunch. Our time in Puerto Vallarta had so much potential, but it definitely wasn't our favorite stop. We're just glad we made it back to our boat safely. Our driver was crazy.
I know I said that Puerto Vallarta was hot, but I nearly melted when we arrived in Mazatlan. It was hazy, hot and humid. The triple threat. We took a city tour, saw some beaches, did some shopping and saw a show.
It's hard not to buy something from everyone because you feel so bad for these people. I just wanted to give everyone a dollar. But that would add up to around $600,000. Too much. I found a cute headband and we gave a few dollars to the people that performed the show for us and some musicians on the street.
Mazatlan has monuments pretty much every 50 ft. They are the landmarks of the city. Sadly, the bronze plaques describing what each are have all been stolen, and I'm sure sold.
This is the seafood market. Lots and lots of fresh shrimp of all sizes. Chris's eyes lit up. I was impressed with all the colorful buckets.
If the camera was turned around, you would see 20 people waiting for us to buy something from them.
This was a beautiful cathedral in the middle of the town.
And lastly, the fearless performers. Dancing on a 1 ft pole, atleast 60 ft high. (You might want to start it from 1:30 in. I should have edited. My apologies.)
When we arrived in Cabo San Lucas, we took a small boat to the pier...
From there, we took a water taxi to the beach for some relaxin'. In recent years, I have become more and more afraid of the ocean. I am not sure why or when, but it makes me nervous. There was an area roped off by buoys for swimming--but that doesn't mean it was sea creature free, just jet ski/boat free. We waded in the water at first and then the heat got to Chris. He got it and I followed. It got deep very fast and I ran out like a wuss. Eventually he got me to get back in against my will and I got stung by a jellyfish! I was mad and sad and in pain. We still had a day of kayaking and snorkeling ahead of us--so I actually ended up back in the water. (What are the odds of getting stung twice in one day). Snorkeling was amazing and our kayaks had a clear bottom so we could see all of the fish we were paddling over.
Our painful souvenirs from kayaking in the Sea of Cortez
We had a really great trip and would recommend cruising to Mexico to anyone.
What do you think?
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Hey! Fun fun! Where did you guys sail out of? LA? You should have looked us up and we could have gone to dinner or something! Looks like you are both so happy, and congratulations on the one on the way. Keep in touch!
Cute pics!!!! Sounds like you guys had a fantastic trip! I love the pic of your burned legs....SPF girl!!