Grand Princess Sea Day

Hello from the calm waters somewhere off the coast of Baja California. Seriously, these waters are the smoothest of our long cruising year. Take a look at that water.

We love this ship. Actually, we love the crew on this ship. Some of them have been on this ship for several contracts and we get to see them year after year here. They are what make us come back to the Grand again and again. I’ll never get tired of the love we get from these guys and am so excited to have 18 more days of it. Unfortunately, the ship is desperately in need of some deep cleaning. I had considered taking some photos of just how badly stained I’m finding things – carpets, furnishings, bathrooms, and shower - but decided to pass. It’s not ruining our cruise, but it is definitely very noticeable. As long as our favorite crew comes back this ship we’ll keep coming back. As soon as they move on from the Grand, so will we.

Working around certain crew member schedules has us falling into a routine:

• Hubby grabs some coffee at a special bar with a special bartender while I sleep in a few extra minutes.
• When I’m ready, I choose my encouraging word money pocket for the day and drop it in the Wake Show box then meet hubby at the bar where I get my morning beverage, ice water. (I don’t drink coffee and I don’t drink hot tea.) 
• When we’re ready we head to breakfast at the buffet. 
• After breakfast hubby heads out to do who-knows-what while I head to the crafting session. I’m very happy to report this ship has two crafting sessions a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Yesterday was the crepe paper flowers; today was button crafts. Can’t wait to see what tomorrow is.
• Hubby and I then meet up again at noon and head to the Promenade deck. (Today it is almost warm enough to sit out there. Almost, but not quite.) 
• Back to the cabin to work on typing up the blog in a Word document while we wait for another special crew member to get off his duty so we can visit one-on-one and share the love. 
• Back to the special bar and bartender. 
• Off to dinner in the buffet. (Except tonight I had to take a little rest between the bar and the buffet. Our bartender pal took very good care of me this afternoon. Enough to warrant a little lie down.)
• Back to the cabin to, if we’re lucky, catch at least part of a movie before we fall asleep. (Last night I fell asleep to It’s a Wonderful Life. I really like that they have the holiday movie channel!)

Other than finding a few minutes somewhere on the ship with a solid internet signal to get the blog posted, that is pretty much our day. I am going to again complain about the internet. It takes almost 10 minutes just for my email to load. In two days I’ve already blown through half of my 250 minute allotment. And I’m not even reading anything else – just uploading a minimal number of blog pictures, posting the blog (which is just a matter of copying and pasting because I wrote it offline), and checking email. That’s it. No responding to email, no surfing the web. Nothing else. And I can’t even do any of that in the cabin because I have no internet access in there. It. Just. Plain. Sucks.

While our daily routine doesn’t sound exhausting it must be because we have been asleep before 9 every night so far. Tonight is formal night and we’ll leave the Champagne Waterfall for those who can manage to stay up later than we can.

Tomorrow is yet another sea day and the Most Traveled Passenger Luncheon. We might just have to alter our busy boring schedule to fit it in.

(For those looking for the Patter, I’ve tried several times to get it to upload into Google docs. The internet is just taking too long. Sorry. I do have it scanned, though.)

Grand Princess Sea Day

Hello from the cool waters off the coast of California.

After having spent the last two weeks in nothing but shorts and t-shirts, this weather is a shock to the system. Long pants and sweatshirts, even when inside, are the clothing choices today. It’ll be warmer in a couple days, but right now it’s just brrr.

Today is a sea day so the ship is buzzing. Lots of activities to found everywhere you turn. I even made it to the arts and crafts session, crepe paper flowers. Take that, Royal Princess! We made roses, and mine isn’t nearly as pretty as the other competitive trying-to-impress people at my crafting table. But maybe good enough to fit in our bouquet. Can you tell which one is made from paper?

Why can’t people on cruise ships just come as they are, be who they are, and not feel the need to show off and one up each other?

We have no need to fall into that trap. We’re back to an inside cabin this week, not planning any excursions, have no specialty dining reservations, and no spa appointments. Oh yeah, and we eat at the buffet. We did have something new at the buffet today. A supervisor was walking around, handing out surveys. Here’s a copy:

It really is too early in the cruise to give out impressions, but I filled it out anyway. I do hope they give it out the first day on next week’s cruise so I can fill it out based on 10 days of service and food, not just one day. We did have quick drink service today, though!

Some other things of note about the ship:
*Yes, it’s decorated for the holidays. Just today they added little decorations to our cabin mailboxes.

*Quad cabins have the bunks on the wall, not in the ceiling. As we booked a guarantee cabin we didn’t even realize we had a quad cabin until we came in the room. Hubby tried his best to get in and out of our bed with the bunk protrusion sticking out, but after one night he’s realized he just can’t do it. So we had to ask the cabin steward to move them into twins. Much better for hubby, for sure.
*I forgot the Grand has the smaller closets. The tradeoff is that the bathrooms and showers are larger. We never used all the space in the larger closets anyway so it is fine for us.

*The TVs are not on-demand and they are still the smaller screens. We’ve had big screens on Princess ships all year but not on this ship.
*Today Christmas and holiday movies are running all day on channel 27. Hope they have it every day!
*The internet sucks in the cabin. I loved the super speedy, super reliable, unlimited MedallionNet on the Caribbean Princess. I flew through my minutes and hubby’s minutes using slow internet as we did the transatlantic on the Crown Princess. I trudged through the frequent dropped connections on the Royal Princess. But here on the Grand, I keep getting the taking too long to respond crap when I'm trying to work in the cabin. I say crap to that.
*Yesterday we had the fastest mini bar swap in history. I called before muster drill when hubby was taking a shower. They arrived with the swap before he even got dried off and dressed. Now that’s fast.
*The new bar menu is starting next cruise. New wines, new drinks, new ingredients in drinks. Bartenders are saying it’s a huge switch. I’ll be on next week so I’ll try and get new menus posted then.

I wasn’t planning on posting all the Patters, but there are folks coming on next week who might find them useful so I’ll go ahead and do them for this cruise. You can find them here.

I am doing something different with the encouraging word money pockets for this cruise. I am putting them in the Wake Show box each morning. Even they need the warm fuzzies! (The Wake Show is the TV program filmed everyday where the cruise director goes over the happenings of the day, announces birthdays and such, and has trivia questions.) So shh…don’t tell.

Off to another sea day tomorrow.

Grand Princess Mexican Riviera Cruise

Hello from the Grand Princess! Yep, we're headed out again. Two back to back cruises and our cruising year will be over. It's a great way to end it. We specifically booked this ship to see both our favorite bartender and a jr waiter who calls us his parents. Which means I'll finally get some decent drinks in my system and lots of love!

Based on how today went, clearly the Universe thinks this is a great idea.

We grabbed the hotel shuttle at 9:30 am and were back at the airport by 9:50.
Checked in with the Princess reps and were on a bus by 10:30.
Arrived at the port long before 11:30 and were able to check in right away and board the ship with very few lines anywhere.
At 11:35 I was sitting having my special drink made by my special bartender.

He went on break at 12:30 so we went to the dining room for lunch, something we rarely ever do.

Here’s the embarkation day lunch menu:

Orange soufflé for dessert, please.

When we sat down at our table for two, guess who was pulling out our chairs for us? Our jr waiter we came to see. He usually works Club Class but it wasn’t too busy so he and his waiter were assigned to the regular side of the dining room. In our section. I tell ya, that kid did not stop smiling during the whole meal. Our waiter even commented that he had been talking for days about his parents coming onboard. (Even though we really aren’t his parents, we love that kid. No matter where he is around the world, we send him care packages of snacks and candies.)

When we got back to our cabin, we had a special surprise waiting for us. A beautiful bouquet of flowers from that same “son” of ours.


Our cabin steward arrived, and (surprise!) introduced himself. Finally a cabin steward who might get it right this time.

And another surprise - we also broke the 72 hr laundry notification = no most traveled guest party streak. We received the 72 hour notice AND also the invitation to the luncheon. First time we’ve made it into the top 40 with the so many elites notice.

For those who are just looking for the entertainment, movies, and clocks forward/clocks back here ya go:

The only thing today that happened today that wasn’t fortuitous is our crew member pal leaving today got sick. The doctor has quarantined him in his cabin and he can’t leave until right before the ship leaves. So we didn’t get to see him.

After muster we’re heading back to our special bartender and I might just have another special drink. We have three sea days coming up in a row. We’ll see what kind of trouble I can get in/stay out of.

Our Itinerary (Twice)

5 Things to do on a Mexican Riviera Cruise

Today we're talking about what to do when visiting the cruise ports on a Mexican Riviera cruise. We'll cover Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas, Manzanillo, and Ensenada.

The port cities on Mexico's west coast are referred to as the Mexican Riviera. There are a couple dozen cities comprising the Mexican Riviera, but I'll be focusing on the ones most visited by mainstream cruise lines.

1. In Puerto Vallarta, go ziplining through the jungles.

2. In Mazatlan, follow the blue line to Old Mazatlan. Yes, it's a blue line painted right on the road. It helps passengers keep in the safe areas. You'll even find volunteers in blue shirts helping direct tourists. You'll also find food and drink and nice views.

Or make your way to the cliff divers. But a heads up - they will expect to be tipped if you watch.

3. In Cabo San Lucas, go snorkeling. You'll see fish here that aren't present in the Caribbean.

On your way to the snorkel spot your tour guide will most likely make a swing by the Arch so you can snap some photos.

More info on what to do in Cabo San Lucas can be found HERE.

4. Manzanillo is the sailfish capital of the world. 

Check out the giant statue in town.

Then wander the town. Probably the closest place to real Mexico we've been.

5. In Ensenada, head to the fish market. You'll see all kinds of fish. And if you're lucky you'll find a fisherman bringing in his catch - shark! - with a wheelbarrow.

 And then grab some delicious fish tacos at one of the restaurants next to the fish market or at one of the street side stands. So yummy! We won't eat fish tacos anywhere else in the world but in Ensenada.

More info on what to do in Ensenada can be found HERE.

5 Things to do in Ensenada, Mexico

Today we're talking about what to do in Ensenada, Mexico. Learn five different activities you can do when you're visiting Ensenada on a cruise ship.

The first time we ever took a cruise to Mexico we stopped in Ensenada. Just a couple hours south of San Diego but a world away. Actually, we didn't know if it that was true because we didn't get off the ship. And the next trip we stayed on the ship, and then the next. Yep, we were fearful American tourists who never stepped foot on shore. But then one of our crew member friends was celebrating his birthday in Ensenada and invited us to go along. Only then did we venture out.

Fast forward to now. How many times do we stay on the ship when it docks in Ensenada? Like, never. We've found lots to do - and found our fears about safety were unfounded.

If you want to venture out a bit either by car, bus, or taxi you can visit:

• A winery? In Ensenada? The nearby valleys of San Vicente, Santo Tomas, and Guadalupe produce 90% of Mexico 's wines.
• La Bufadora, The Blowhole.  The spout of ocean water is created when waves and air are pulled into an underwater cave and spit back out.

If you want activities within walking distance of port you can visit:

• Hussong's Cantina is Baja's oldest bar still in use. It's also where the margarita was invented in 1941.
• The Malecon is a nice waterfront walkway. The Malecon starts just past the ship's secure areas. We frequently see families out and about walking and sitting and playing with their kids along The Malecon. (We enjoy watching locals with their families.)   You'll also see Mexico's second largest flag there. (Although you can easily see the flag from the ship - it is huge.)

Walking The Malecon will take you to #5, the fish market.

• Mercado de Mariscos - Fish Market. Northern Baja California 's largest seafood market, you can find all kinds of small and large fish here. Don't be surprised if you see a fisherman bringing a shark to market - using a wheelbarrow.

Also near the fish market are lots of restaurants. Restaurants that just go next door to the fish market and purchase the fish for your meal.

Ensenada is home of the original fish tacos. With fish straight from the market you can't get much fresher. Cheap, tasty, can't-be-beat fish tacos. Yum.

Fish tacos in Ensenada is our top pick for what to do in Ensenada.

5 Things to do in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Today we're talking about what you can do when visiting the cruise port of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on your Mexican Riviera cruise.

Cabo San Lucas is frequently one of the ports cruise ships stop on the Mexican Riviera cruises. It's also a port where boats are plentiful (and busy). There is a lot to see.

1. Take a boat out to see The Arch (El Arco). This southernmost tip of Baja, California is where the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean meet.

On your way you'll be able to see colonies of seals and sea lions sunning themselves. (Fun fact - did you know sea lions have ears you can see but seals don't?)

2. Take a water taxi to Medano Beach (Playa El Médano). You'll find plenty of beach vendors and places to eat. Or keep it low key and just hang on the beach. Be aware of water conditions, though. Swimming can be dangerous so keep an eye on flags posted on the beach (red is danger) to determine if it is safe to go in.

3. Stop by one of the numerous restaurants and bars for some food and drink. Cabo is a tourist town so English is spoken, water is purified, and U.S. dollars are accepted. (But change is often returned in pesos.)

Red snapper anyone?

4. Go snorkeling. You'll find fish here that aren't present in the Caribbean.

5. And if you're coming by cruise ship...Since Cabo San Lucas is a tender port, you'll have to take a boat from the ship to shore for your Cabo adventures. The Cabo port stops are frequently a half day so sometimes it might make sense to just stay on the ship. You'll have nice views of the town - and of the other ships anchored along with yours.

A couple other things to  know:

*Public restrooms aren't always free. You may be expected to give the attendant a dollar or some pesos. 

*No food or drink is allowed off the ship. No sandwich, no apple, no cup of coffee. Dogs check every single bag, backpack, and purse when you arrive from your tender. It will be confiscated.

Anxiety or Adrenaline?

When I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t return to sleep it is usually because thoughts race through my head. Typically they are either anxiety-producing irrational thoughts or adrenaline-producing suck-the-marrow thoughts.

Tonight my brain is torn between the two.

The other day I read about someone trying to do 50 things before their 50th birthday. Being I will be turning 50 this year the article led me to start my own list. Things I want to accomplish before turning 50. The great thing about the list is I've already knocked some things off the list over the last few months. The bad thing (actually, a good thing) is that I have a long way to go. In no particular order:

1. Swim in the ocean
2. Walk the Golden Gate Bridge
3. Ride in a helicopter
4. Go dog sledding
5. Visit Iceland
6. Ride a Segway
7. Learn to snorkel
8. Ride a zip line
9. Overcome fear of lizards
10. Go salmon fishing
11. See the Cabo arch
12. Learn to stand up paddle board
13. Swim with the dolphins
14. Walk a half marathon
15. Fly in a seaplane
16. Ride in an outrigger canoe in Hawaii
17. Visit Norway
18. Ride in a race car
19. Walk on a glacier
20. Take a hot air balloon ride
21. Go para sailing
22. Take a long distance train trip
23. Ride a mule
24. Take an air boat ride
25. See the Hollywood sign
26. Shoot a gun
27. Cross the Arctic circle
28. Visit Machu Picchu
29. See penguins in their natural habitat
30. Ride in a zodiac raft
31. Take a Hobie Cat ride
32. Visit Greenland
33. Publish another book
34. Lose 25 pounds
35. Go inside a wind turbine
36. Tackle another suspension bridge
37. Ride a Ferris wheel
38. Take a water aerobics class
39. Learn yoga
40. See the Northern Lights
41. Lie in a hammock on the beach
42. Ride an ATV
43. Tent camp in the woods
44. Live on a cruise ship for a month
45.   Learn to dance

As much as I tried I couldn't get to 50, at least not yet. (Does that mean I’m 45 at heart?) Either way it’s an adrenaline-producing suck-the-marrow somewhat-rational list.

Now for the anxiety-producing thoughts.

Sucking the marrow over these last few months has been expensive and I’m running out of money. Our Marsing house hasn't sold. Hubby isn't working and hasn't yet had a determination about disability. I've quit my job only have a few months left of income.

The two hour commute to work is killing me. The energy left for self-care is limited. My eating habits suffer. I drink too much caffeine, have been eating some carbs and sugar, and am not keeping true to my plan. My exercise habits suffer. I am too pooped to do anything once I get home. I start a great plan of daily walking at work and on weekends, but one day of overdoing it and my joints scream out to stop.

My pillowcase sewing project has netted 45 pillowcases for a local children’s home. Another dozen for a foster home organization. Another 20 to be hand-delivered next month to an orphanage in Honduras. I’m passionate about the project. But my family cut me off. Stopped me from doing more. Arthritis in the neck and looking down to sew isn't working out so well. While I was on the infusions and chemotherapy I could sew longer without an issue. But off the treatments? Not working so well.

Then the suck the marrow adventures make the arthritis flare up big time. A great day of adventure equals a few days of being down and having to take it easy. Life shouldn't be this hard.

My family wants me to cut back. They tell me on a regular basis:
Work from home. 
Cut back on sewing. 
Don’t be so adventurous. 
Take it easy. 
Stop walking. The doctor told you so.
Calm down.
Go back on your arthritis treatments. You need to be able to play with grand kids.

I am so torn. I know in my heart everything will work out. I don’t know how it’ll all work out, but it will. The money will come when it needs to. I may need to go back on my medications (I SO don’t want to) if I want to continue sewing and adventuring.

One single day spent snorkeling in Cabo last week may have made me rethink my life. Maybe it's time to swallow my pride and listen to them. But I can’t give this up. Could you?