Day 5 – Puerto Vallarta
November 25, 2006
Today, our port of call is Puerto Vallarta. The weather is fabulous once again. There are very few clouds in the sky and no wind. The weather is comfortable with moderate humidity which I could do without. As it has been the entire cruise, the water remains unbelievably calm meaning very smooth sailing.
Suzanne frequents a several cruising sites every day and make multiple posts in them. She has made many friends from these forums and tries to hook up with these new founds friends whenver possible. We have met half a dozen or so on this cruise who had booked the same cruise. Another couple, Rosey and Dew N Gr8, just happened to spending a couple of weeks in Puerto Vallarta at the same time as our cruise. They invited us to spend the day with them at their resort while docked in Puerto Vallarta. We accepted.
They were staying at the Villas Vallarta. It was a very nice complex of hotel, pools and beach. The kids got to enjoy several hours in the ocean and another couple of hours in the pool. Dew and Rosey were fabulous folks and we thoroughly enjoyed the company. They are 15 – 20 years older than us, but we all related well and got along. We enjoyed many, many drinks and lunch at the resort all for about $45, quite a good deal. I think we would have a great time cruising with them.Â
We returned to the cruise ship in time for the sail away party and dinner, though we were slightly delayed, as about 30 minutes out of Puerto Vallarta, we stopped and waited for the pilot boat to bring out a passenger that had missed the sailing. It had to be embarressing for her as they announced it on the PA and everyone was at the railing on the topside decks to great the passenger back to the boat with a round of applause. Frankly, I was a bit surprised they stopped the ship and waited for the passenger to rejoin the ship.
Dinner was great once again and I sound like a broken record. The food is one of the reasons we really like Celebrity. We have not yet found a person who thinks another cruise lines food compares to Celebrities. The kids enjoyed a third night of escargot – I think they are going to turn into one. Savannah tried a filet of sole and just loved it. I was a bit surprised that she ordered it as we dont eat much fish like that. She responded “Papa, I have to try something new every meal”. Well, she ate every bit of that fish and loved it. I suspect she will be eating more fish in the future. Sean got a pasta dish. Arggh, I cant remember what Suzanne ordered. I couldnt make up my mind between the ultra thick pork chop and the prime rib, so I got both. I skipped the rest of the courses and had them put one slice of prime rib and one pork chop on a plate with a baked potatoe and that was my dinner. Wow, they were good. The sauce on the pork chop was out of this World. The prime rib was cooked to medium rare perfection.
After dinner, we attended the show. It was an Australian singer that had a four octave range. He sang pop to opera and was enjoyable. After the show, it was 50′s and 60′s sock hop time. That party was incredible and the most attended event outside of the theatrical shows on the ship. The Pavillion Lounge was standing room only. Suzanne, Sean and Savannah were dressed like the 50′s. Mr Papa was the fuddy duddy again. They looked cool. Sean even got asked to dance by the hottest dancer in the Celebrity Dancer troupe and did quite well. That should be some good fodder for the school playground. It was a wild and loud party. In all of our cruises, we hadnt yet attended this party. I dont think we will miss another one. The kids finally petered out about midnight and took them off to bed. Suzanne hung around a bit longer as her and one of the dance hosts were having fun doing some pretty wild dancing.
Tommorow is a day at sea and we plan to sleep in for a change and catch up on our sleep.
Day 4 – Mazatlan
November 25, 2006
Day 4 was in the Mexican port city of Mazatlan. This city is an industrial port with lots of commerce shipping. Upon leaving the boat you get on a little trolley that takes you through the port to the exit so you dont have to get lost or run over by the port activity. As has been the case for the entire cruise, the weather was impeccable.
This was the one port on our itinerary that we had booked an excursion through the cruise line. Suzanne, Savannah and Sean all take folklorico dance classes and they really wanted to see some authentic dancing while in Mexico. So, we booked a shopping, dance and beach tour.
Open air taxis picked us up at the dock and drove us about 15 minutes to a shopping area in Mazatlan. We had about two hours to shop before the folklorico dancing and the Paplanta Flyers show. That’s two hours of my life I will never get back :whistle: . Suzanne and the kids completed their souvenier shopping in about 30 minutes so we had a bit of wait for the show.
Savannah has been searching in every port for Barbie type dolls in Mexican folklorico dance costumes of the Mexican state that we are visiting. She has been successful thus far. Boomer’s goal is to buy a souvenier a day. He has come prepared as he has saved up about $125 for the cruise to spend on souveniers. Thus far, his big expenditures have been a sombreror and a pancho type pullover. Thus far, Suzanne and I havent bought anything ashore for ourselves.
The folklorico dancing was fun and nice. The kids really enjoyed it. They knew several of the dances that were performed as they do the same ones in their dance classes. The highlight of the show was the Paplanta Flyers. They are a long historied Mexcian Indian tribe that worships a Sun God and perform high flying acts to pay homage to the God. The highlight was their performance from an 80 foot pole. Five flyers climb to the top of the pole. Four hang off of bars while the fifth and leader Indian does a dance on a 1 foot square platform atop the 80 foot pole. There are no wires or nets and concrete is below. When he is done, he sends the four flyers outward. They are attached to ropes, but swing around and perform stunts as they descend. The show was quite nice.
After the shows, we got to go to a local Mazatlan resort to enjoy a buffet lunch and the beach. The kids had a ball swimming in the ocean. Mr Papa relaxed under a tent and enjoyed a beer. All in all, it was a nice excursion.
Mazatlan was an enjoyable town, but there was a couple of things that were a bit off. One, the merchandise vendors at the show and the beach were incessant and omnipresent. I certainly could have done without them. Second, the emcee at the show made several comments about how great Mazatlan was and how it was off the beaten path and we would enjoy it the best. Plus, he claimed there was no crime in Mazatlan. Well, there was many police pickup trucks with armed guards in the back with M-16′s out driving around town. Either there is no crime because of them or the opposite is true and thats why they were out there. I strongly suspect its the latter. That said, we always felt safe though it was odd to see those guys in the back of the pickup trucks with the guns at ready.
Thanksgiving dinner was enjoyable. Suzanne and Savannah enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving dinner of Turkey and all the trimmings. We have usually passed on the turkey on our past Thanksgiving cruises, but Suzanne thought the presentation sounded better than in the past. Sean opted for a marinated beef plate that he didnt really care for. I went for the rack of veal, but had them add a slice of turkey to the plate. The veal was fabulous. I think I have had the veal three times now and enjoyed it each time.
Tomorrow our port of call is Puerto Vallarta.
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