Manzanillo, Mexico

Hello from Manzanillo!

Ed and I have been here several times before (you can read about my 2023 visit here) so I decided to stay onboard, especially when I saw the 9:00AM temperature and the feels like temperature. 

And it’s only 9 o’clock in the morning!

So I was more than happy to take a couple photos before heading to the pool. 

The Canadian Royal Navy was docked alongside.
They’re on their way to Halifax.

I even took a picture of all the people waiting to have their bags searched. Just like in so many other Mexican ports they are not sniffing for drugs, but for fresh fruits and vegetables.

The dog is under the white tent.

We’ve seen it plenty of times on other cruises, too.

Bags of confiscated food in Cozumel, Mexico in 2018.

So instead of going off the ship I spent my entire day in the spa pool. Yesterday’s damn cold pool felt more like a darn cold pool today. And with the hot and humid weather it felt amazing. (Don’t worry Ed, I kept hydrated.)

By mid afternoon I felt like I’d had enough and went to find something for a late lunch/early dinner. Luckily the pizza place on Lido deck had the Mexican pizza again. It is so good and probably the best one I’ve had on a Princess cruise in years. Sure glad you can order it without the sour cream. 

I went down to International Cafe to grab dessert. Any guesses which overripe item I did NOT choose?

Someone needs to start making banana bread.

I hung out on the Promenade Deck for sail away.

Here comes the pilot boat.

Looks like the pelicans want to race us.

Hard to see, but the sunset is out there.

Tomorrow we’re in Puerto Vallarta and my tentative plans can go one of two ways. 

Until then…

Sea Days

Hello from the third consecutive day at sea. I debated whether to do a blog post for each sea day but my need to relax won over my need to do any work. 

So let’s see, what did I do?

*I slept. A lot. If you had your balcony looking like this every day for three days in a row would you want to do anything else but sit in the sun and listen to the waves and doze off?

*I ate. I had another Most Traveled Guest Luncheon where I had the tastiest sea bass I’ve probably ever had. And another good table of conversation.

I also had another trip to the Crown Grill where (surprise!) I had another piece of sea bass. 

*I watched sunsets from my balcony. 

*I went to Movies Under the Stars. With temperatures in the 70s and 80s there was no need for blankets at the late showing. 

*I swam. The adult spa pool is back open and is very refreshing damn cold. 

It may not be an exciting cruise ship life but it’s my life and the cruise ship life I choose to live. 

Up tomorrow, Manzanillo, Mexico. 

San Francisco, California

Hello from San Francisco! 

Boy, it was a foggy start to the day. The foghorn on the front of the ship sounded all night and then about 5 AM the one above my cabin sounded, too. And this loudest-of-the-loud foghorn went off about every 10 seconds. Made for a very early alarm.

The sun was shining by the time we docked but the fog moved back in quickly. When the sun started peeking through here and there the evidence of the fog was apparent by how it “fogged” up the glass around the ship to make it look frosted.

I left the ship after about the fourth of the last calls for everyone to disembark the ship. Even then there were quite a few people who still hadn’t left.

I wandered my way down to Pier 39, taking pictures along the way. I don’t think I’ve ever been here in the fall before, but it was nice to see they really do a good job of cleaning out the flowerbeds. And good to see some things are still in bloom.

Of course when you’re at Pier 39 sea lions need to be the focus. 

Alas, their docks were empty. 

I did find some a little farther down, but not in the numbers we’ve seen before. 

I also wandered my way down to Fisherman’s Wharf and the Boudin Bakery where I bought a small loaf of sourdough bread to bring back.

I went as far as the San Francisco National Maritime Historical Park. Good thing Ed and I have been there before since today it was closed because of the government shutdown. 

On the way back to the ship I kept taking pictures. I’ve been to San Francisco many times and seem to always discover new things. 

My first ferry ride was on the Red and White Fleet
from Vallejo to San Francisco 35 years ago.

One of the coolest discoveries came today in this building. 

I stumbled upon this free museum. All old coin-operated arcade games and machines. They still were in working order and so fun to take a look at. 

Thankfully I had quarters with me so I tried some of the more interesting things out. Most everything only cost $.25 or $.50. It was definitely one of the coolest places I’ve ever been to. Seriously, just look at these things!

Old time card dispenser. Ed, I got you one.

I had my palm read which turned out pretty well. 

The Kiss-o-Meter machine measures the thrill of your kisses by your hand grip. It said I was blah. Well, okay then. 

It was a fun (and cheap) way to spend some time off the ship. With still plenty of time - and money - to burn, I decided to take the SkyStar Ferris wheel. It probably wasn’t worth the $19 I spent on it, especially with the fog hiding the Golden Gate Bridge

but I could see the ship.

People looked so small.

After my ride I went back down Pier 39 and ate some cinnamon sugar mini donuts while sitting back behind the merry-go-round. It’s our favorite spot to sit at the pier.

The cold finally got to me as fog had moved back in so I headed back to the ship by 1:00. And guess what? Blue sky started appearing again once I was onboard. But at that point, I was too tired to care. I tucked myself into the new cabin, opened the balcony door, unpacked my things, kicked off the shoes, and took a little rest until the action happened. 

While Alcatraz was off my balcony

It’s what we passed under where the fun happens. 

I tried to post a video but the dang ship Wi-Fi wouldn’t let it happen.

We’re up with three sea days in a row before we get to Manzanillo, Mexico. See you tomorrow!