January 6, 2008: Day 9 – Back to our land legs

Well, we were up far too early, but that’s cause my back hurt so much trying to sleep all night. Even though I think I had almost 10 hours of sleep, they weren’t happy hours.

Headed to breakfast around 7 with all our gear. Only felt like some fruit and bread this morning, couldn’t even get my head around eggs or anything like that.

We were off the ship pretty quickly actually. Decided to call off our tour of Hollywood & LA that we had booked cause I didn’t want to infect the others on the tour. So we caught a cab here to the Hilton and managed to get a room, all before 9 am! Even managed to get Dayquil & Nyquil in the gift shop downstairs so at least I can feel somewhat normal, I hope.

Don’t know what else we’ll do with the day, just read and play on the computer I guess. Flight out tomorrow at 11:30 am and then we get to see our baby girl again, in Seattle.

We’ve had a nice holiday on our own, just a shame that the cold bugs had to join us!

January 5, 2008: Day 8 – Our last day upon the sea

Aaack, I hate being sick on a cruise! I never am, it’s always someone else. I usually get sick once I get home. Oh well, it’s just my chest and coughing and some aching. I do have 2 more nyquil to ration out, some Halls and both Advil and Tylenol.

Got up not feeling too bad this morning so I puttered around the cabin, collecting stuff and letting Gary sleep a bit longer. Once we were ready we headed up for breakfast around 9 am. Oh, and we’d set our clocks back an hour last night, these darn time changes, we still have one more tonight.

After breakfast we staked a spot in the Centrum, I got a latte and we relaxed until there was a cooking demonstration which was fun to watch. I purchased the one photo I liked and we headed back downstairs to start packing. Got much of it done and then went upstairs to watch the parade of nations in the Centrum. Then we did a bit of shopping and schlepped it down to the cabin. Next was lunch and I know that I’m not feeling that great, I don’t have much of an appetite. Oh well, just as well, I have many pounds to lose now.

We went up to the Viking Crown where I watched The Nanny Diaries on the iTouch and Gary read/slept. Now we’re back at the cabin, attempting to get ready for dinner while trying to pack somewhat.

Later.......

So finished packing pretty much, got dressed and headed out for dinner. Had a free glass of wine (coupons) that we took into dinner with us. I had Caesar Salad, Onion Soup and Turkey w/stuffing, followed by my fave, Key Lime Pie. I drank a couple of cups of hot tea during dinner in order to help my sore throat and voice. Didn’t eat all of my dinner, still feeling crappy. Said goodbye to our waitstaff and our tablemates, that was sad.

The only thing I wanted to do tonight was gamble in the casino! Only spent $20 but it kept me going for awhile. Then we went down to the cabin to set our suitcases out and headed to bed early after setting our clocks back one more time, I think it’s now 9 pm!

January 4, 2008: Day 7 – Sailing, sailing (on our way back up the coast)

A very quiet sea day. The kind I like. Tomorrow will be filled with last minute things and packing but today is the day to relax.

Up for breakfast around 9:00, rather late today but I forced myself to sleep longer to catch up. We start moving our clocks back tonight, an hour tonight, and an hour tomorrow night, so at least we gain those hours back we lost this week.

I signed up for the slot tournament which will be at 1 pm this afternoon.

No luck with the internet on this ship, I can check emails in the internet cafe but the wireless service is definitely down. This means all my blogging will be posted the day before we fly home!

Later.....

We headed to the casino for the slot tournament. I was machine no. 1, first round. I did lousy! I was 2nd from the bottom of 9 people. It’s only luck, there’s no skill involved so I had a crappy machine. We watched a little while then went to fill our faces.

We then took a drawing class from Linda, she’s one of our tablemates. It’s all about drawing with the right brain, it was quite interesting but lots of concentration. I did pretty well, hopefully I’ll finish my drawing one day.

We then went to a movie tune triva and it was fun. We certainly didn’t win but did fairly well. Gary and I picked up another team member who seemed to know her stuff too.

Lo and behold, it was my turn to get sick. All day long I’d been coughing a bit here and there and before dinner I felt so crappy, got dressed, took some advil and started to feel better. We had formal shots done and then headed in for dinner.

We moved around a bit this time facing Cindy and Roland and talked all evening long with them. We’re exchanging business cards so we can keep in touch. Roland is actually heading to Florida for the month of February to be a kidney donor for his father. As Cindy is a stay-at-home travel agent, she’s going along with him. Dinner consisted of Mushrooms in Puff Pastry, Cream of Asparagus Soup and I had 2 dinners, Prime Rib with Baked Potato and Fisherman’s Plate with lobster, I gave Gary the shrimp. For dessert I had a Dessert Sampler with Flourless Chocolate Cake, Cheesecake and Savarin, yum!

Gary and I then headed to the Platinum and Diamond Members Cocktail Party where we enjoyed a glass of wine and people watching. Then it was Showtime, this time the singers and dancers doing Broadway Rhythm. It was quite entertaining. Started to feel crappier and crappier so we went to the cabin where I took quite a chill and couldn’t get warm. We tried to watch a movie on the laptop but I decided to crash after taking a nyquil. Slept pretty deadlike most of the night, although I woke up to strip off the bathrobe and socks since I was then sweating. I managed over 9 hours of sleep so that was pretty good.

January 3, 2008: Day 6 – Took us 25 years to get back to Puerto Vallarta

Docked once again. This 3 days a row in port starts to get tiring. I finally rolled out of bed around 8:30 and took a shower, Gary then finally opened his eyes around 9. He never even heard the PA announcement and the ship being cleared just after 8!

We had breakfast in the Windjammer, took a stroll around deck so see how huge the city has become and then disembarked and caught a shared cab downtown.

My has PV grown. Took about 15 minutes to get downtown, lots of traffic and people but it was great looking about and seeing what we could recognize. Saw the resort we stayed at, Pelicanos, also the 2 hotels that bordered ours, Sheraton Bouganvillas and Fiesta Americana. PV has become very Americanized, saw 2 Starbucks, Chilis, Outback, McDs of course and lots of other stuff. After being dropped off we walked around and tried not to get attacked by time share vultures. Gary got snagged and it only took 5 minutes to get him away. I took lots of photos of the beach area and downtown. We didn’t buy anything, just looked about.

We had our returning cab drop us at Wal-Mart, about a 15 minute walk from the pier. There we looked around at their liquor prices, etc., but we didn’t buy any. Did buy some chipotle sauce, dulce de leche sauce, hat for Gary and some Pepsi Lights (hate the coke products on the ship). Walked back to the ship and ducked into a souvenir shop where I picked up some vanilla, two small handmade bowls and a couple of bracelets. Thus was our trip into PV.

After dropping everything we ventured up to the Windjammer for lunch and then back to the Centrum for an attempt at the internet, no such luck again.

We decided to get dressed early and then have a drink before dinner, like normal people do. We had a Key Lime Martini which didn’t taste nearly limey enough for me. Unfortunately in his attempts to wave away a gnat that was flying about his face, Gary sent his glass flying to the floor and the carpet got to drink his martini instead. We attempted to go into dinner at 6 pm only to realize that since we were in port so late (8:00 pm) that dinner was changed to 6:30. Instead we stood out on the deck and watched the sun set which was awesome.

Dinner tonight consisted of Spinach Salad, Maryland Crabcake and the Grilled Pork Chop with Apple Cranberry Relish. For dessert I had Dulce de Leche Cheesecake. Had a rousing conversation with our tablemates about movies tonight. We have somewhat similar tastes.

After dinner we strolled around the shops, then claimed our seats for showtime. Tonight it was Roger Behr, a comedian, musician and impressionist. Gary recognized him from the movie Defending your Life (we checked his Zune later, sure enuf it was him). He was very funny and I’m almost certain we’ve seen him perform before.

After dinner we had a nightcab in the Schooner Bar and then went up on deck to Dancing Under the Stars, a deck party with a rather large buffet. We listened to some of the music, then I grabbed some fruit, cheese and a dessert and we headed down to our cabin. Finally off the bed around 12:30 pm.

January 2, 2008: Day 5 – Godness Gracious

Ah up, bright and early today, especially since we both had so much sleep the night before, Gary had 11! He’s feeling much better anyway and so we proceeded with breakfast and then met up with the tour group at 8:45. It was pretty much a self-guided tour. They provided taxis to the Golden Zone where there was a small arena where we watched a folkloric show, dancing and the Papantla Fliers who did routines hanging from ropes, etc. There was a marketplace and I bought myself a pretty black shawl with dragonflies.

From there we walked a few blocks, checking out shops along the way, to the resort hotel, Hotel Playa Mazatlan. It was pretty nice, 3 pools, on the beach. We sat on the beach for a little while, hopefully gaining some colour and trying to fend off the beach vendors. We eventually grabbed our buffet lunch which was pretty good and we also had 2 free drinks. Even bought a colourful fish mobile from one of the beach vendors. Couldn’t find any chairs by the pool so we just ditched the hotel and grabbed a cab back to the ship. There was a marketplace there and Gary managed to find a nicely carved stingray.

Once back on the ship we once again tried to get internet access but failed miserably. Instead we read and headed down to our cabin to change at 5:30. Unfortunately it seems that 2 passengers didn’t show up, they probably forgot to set their watches forward last night.

Dinner was yummy again. I started with the Shrimp & Crabmeat Salad, Jalapeno Potato Soup then the Turkey Medallions. Dessert was Choco-Chino Trilogy, consisting of milk, dark & white chocolate offerings. We had good dinner conversation too, everyone was there and very talkative.

We meandered thru the shops to kill some time and then went to showtime which was BoogieWonderland. Gary and I believe we saw the same show in 2006 but the music was catchy so it was fun. After we went and staked out our spots to watch all the shenanigans at the Quest. We declined to participate this time, just watched everyone else and once again it was very funny. Never gets old.

BTW, the band entertaining us while waiting for the Quest was from the Ukraine. They played very well but the lead singer, a woman, hasn’t quite the grasp of the English language so it was terribly funny listening to her butcher Great Balls of Fire, as in Godness Gracious Great Balls of Fire. Gary and I found it hilarious.

After a slice of pizza for me and a hotdog for Gary in the Solarium, we trekked down to the casino and managed to blow $23 total between us, Gary’s lasted much longer though. We had to set our clocks ahead again so lost another hour, by the time we finished reading it was 2 am!

January 1, 2008: Day 4, Viva la Mexico!

Ah, got to love the sunshine, wish I could live in it year round. We woke up around 8 and were still heading to Cabo San Lucas, still about 2 hours out. We were along the coast though. Went to breakfast in the Windjammer around 9 and watched as we got closer and closer. After eating we headed outside to watch us anchor.

I was surprised how big Cabo appears from the ocean, it`s definitely growing too. We weren`t able to get off the ship until 11:30 when our tender ticket was called but it didn`t take long to get to the pier, maybe 5 minutes. We walked along the marina checking out all the big and expensive yachts. We were also accosted quite regularly by those wanting to sell us practically everything, mostly silver jewellery though. I`m saving my shopping for elsewhere though, I hear Cabo is the most expensive of the ports. Stopped at ``No Worrys`` bar and grill for a beer and margarita and some nachos and just enjoyed the weather and view of the yachts. Didn`t do any shopping in this port at all but that`s okay.

Once we got back to the ship we tried, in vain, to connect to the internet with our laptop. Something about interference from Cabo’s wireless networks was a possible reason given for the lack of connection. We’ll try again tomorrow.

We spent time just lounging around the Centrum until it was time to change for dinner. There were several people missing from the dining tables, even 2 from our own. Guess they had too much sun today! Dinner was good, it was Italian night. I had the Caprese Salad (fresh mozza, tomatoes & pesto), Antipasti and then Chicken Marsala which was excellent. For dessert I had Tiramisu, of course. It was also very good.

As we left the dining room Gary informed me he wasn’t feeling very well, geez does he get sick every time we go away? Anyway, he just wanted to sleep so we were in our cabin by 7:30 and unfortunately missed the previous cruiser’s cocktail party among a few other things. He went to sleep right away and I watched Licence to Wed on tv and then read and went to bed early. It wasn’t that bad, cause we had to set our clocks forward an hour so we were losing time anyway. Let’s hope tomorrow is better!

December 31, 2007: Day 4 – First Day at Sea & New Year’s Eve!

Now this was a very looooong day!

We were up by 7:30 and headed down to the gym. Gary was able to find a stairstepper but I couldn`t find a treadmill so instead did a lap around the deck. That was enough for me anyway as my legs and feet were a little sore. We met up and had showers in the cabin then had breakfast in the Winjammer. Mmmm, scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, fresh fruit, you get the picture.

After we signed up for wireless internet access, read a few emails and then headed to the Some Enchanted Evening Lounge for ballroom lessons, waltzing actually. We started out fairly good, then we were switching partners all over the place and that went fairly well too but when we got back together, not so good. We definitely need to practice! Not sure if we`ll try the cha cha or rumba lessons later this week.

Gary climbed the wall again. It was darn chilly up there waiting for him but like a good wife, I was there to take the photographic evidence. After we went to the Centrum so I could have a latte and warm up! We read for awhile, then I took a tour of the shops, trying to decide if anything was worth buying. Maybe in a couple of days after I`ve seen what Mexico has to offer.

After lunch at the Windjammer we read again and then headed out to the dining room where there were holding the wine tasting which was free for us as previous cruisers. We got to try 2 whites, a Zinfandel, 2 reds and a champagne. I wasn`t loopy after all that but it gave me a good start to the evening. We sat with a couple of honeymooners from Vernon, Aaron & Kelly. Very nice young couple and didn`t mind at all when Gary spilled his glass of red wine splashing Kelly a little. Can dress him up but can`t take him anywhere!

We headed back to the cabin after to change and then go to the Captain`s Reception where we got more free champagne. Then dinner where it was very festive. Special menus and had noisemakers and hats at our table for us. Tonite I had a Chicken Wonton Soup, Artichoke & Grapefruit Salad, Salmon on a bed of wilted spinach and Chocolate Indulgence for dessert. It was all very tasty.

We saw the evening`s show at 8:45, it was an illusionist who was pretty darn good. I can never figure out how they appear to chop their lovely assistants in half, this one was his very pretty wife. After the show was over we parked ourselves in the Centrum on Deck 4 for the rest of the evening. I drank Mojitos and Gary Appletinis. We listened to big band music and people watched. They decorated the Centrum with black and silver balloons. At midnight there was a drop of 2008 ballons which was very cool, especially when everyone started popping them! The noise was thunderous. It was a fun way to spend New Year`s Eve though, even if we were on our own. We headed to bed fairly quickly after that even though we read until at least 1:30.

Cabo tomorrow!

December 30, 2007: Day 2 – Embarkation, woohoo!

Good times....

We were up fairly early today and headed down to the lobby for some SB coffee and a muffin, followed by a 20 minute walk around the lagoon in front of the hotel. Went back to the room to kill some more time, Gary read and I watched the Disney channel!

We caught a cab around 11ish, dropped the luggage, registered and were on the ship within 20 minutes! Very quick operation. Of course this was our first time with Priority Checkin as we’re now Platinum members but it didn’t matter as they were letting people on the ship by the time we got there.

Once on the ship we headed up to the Windjammer for some real food and it was pretty darn good. Sat overlooking the port and enjoyed ourselves and people watched of course. After we did a quickie tour of the decks below us and ended up on Deck 4 (ours) by the time the cabins were opened at 1 pm. Our cabin, 4004, is very very far forward but this is a smaller-sized ship and it doesn’t take long to get from one end to the other. It’s a nice-sized cabin, even has a small sofa. As we headed back out to roam around again we discovered our luggage down the hallway (boy was that quick) so hauled it back to the room and unpacked. After we spent some time on the pool deck but it was a little chilly so we went in for awhile and waited for the muster drill. Once that was done, we grabbed some warmer clothing and headed back up top for sailaway. Unfortunately it was getting dark so we didn’t get to see a lot as we left. We got dressed for dinner (and I swear were practically the only ones!) and found our dining table. We’re at a table of 8, there’s a couple in their 60s, a couple in their later 40s, a couple in their 70s and then us. The other youngish couple also have a 20 year old daughter and he, Roland,is very into computers, how weird! She, Cindy, is very talkative so at least there’s not a dearth of conversation. The oldest couple, didn’t get their names, are quiet, they arrived a little late so we missed introductions. The couple in their 60s, Phil and Linda, are very nice, they have a comedian daughter who writes for HBO. Interesting people you meet.

Our waiter is Rose, from the Phillipines. The asst waiter (will get his name tonite) is from Jamaica. Wow, were they efficient. We were in and out in 1.5 hours. I had the Vidalia Onion Tart, Spinach Salad and Prime Rib, followed by the sugar-free Chantilly Swan. Very good meal. We quickly left there for the Welcome Aboard show which included a comedian who was very funny. The cruise director, John Blair, is the same one when were aboard this ship in May 2006, his wife is the activities director.

After the show we went to the Schooner Bar for a drink and spent some time talking to our waitress who is very nice, we may head back there again. Believe it or not we were back in the cabin by 10:00 and asleep by 11:00. We were somewhat tired and not up to too much. Besides, we have to save our strength to stay up late for New Year’s Eve tomorrow!

December 29, 2007: Day 1 – Winging our way to Long Beach (no, not on Vancouver Island!)

Was a long, long day. That damn alarm went off at 3 am! We dragged our weary bodies out into the frosty air and drove down to Victoria. Thank goodness the roads were decent and we made good time. Our flight left on time, 6 am, and holy crap, was it ever a quick trip to Seattle. No sooner were we levelling off after taking off then we were preparing to land. After many shuttle trains about the airport, we found our gate, kissed Brynna goodbye as she went on her way, and had very little time which to sit down before our flight was called.

Due to extremely good tailwinds, our 2.5 hour trip became a 2 hour trip. I dozed during a lot of it but was able to see most of northern California out my window, very pretty. Long Beach Airport is definitely a blast from the past, it’s teeny tiny and you get off the plane on stairs and walk to the terminal and then outside to claim your baggage! Once we collected everything we caught a cab to the Hyatt. We got a harbourview room on the 5th floor, can’t see a lot of the harbour cause we’re lowish but we can see the Queen Mary, lots of palm trees, boat masts and the hotel pool.

We decided to walk about a bit, checked out the blocks closest to the hotel and then went to the Pike which we visited last time we were here. It’s an entertainment/shopping/restaurant area with a ferris wheel (like the killer one at the PNE) and a carousel. It’s very clean, pretty, touristy. We had a nice quick Mexican lunch, decided against a movie and instead spent time at Borders, the book store. Gary got movies, I picked up a couple of books and then had a latte at SBC. Back to the room for a nap, too tired to stay up much longer. Couldn’t sleep much, I’m so not a napper but at least I let my legs and feet rest.

We headed out for dinner around 6:30 pm, Bubba Gumps. We ate there last time, good food, ambiance. I had a blueberry lemonade made with blueberry vodka, yum! Followed by a Fishwich and a side of broccoli, it was so good.

After we got back to the hotel we just put on some tv and I crashed around 11, finally. Gary was playing with Sim Societies for a while then he too gave it up for the night.

It’s Sunday morning around 8 am as I write this and we’re going to get a muffin downstairs (can’t spoil our appetite for cruise food!) and then wait around until we can catch a cab to the pier, somewhere’s around 10:45. Aloha.