San Francisco

Hello from a dreary looking San Francisco!

Just a small portion of the Golden Gate Bridge can be seen out there. Barely.

This morning’s immigration was so quick and easy. A facial recognition station was set up at the dining room and we were processed long before all the disembarking passengers were off the ship. We’ve never seen that before!

We finished so early I was able to grab broccoli and cheese eggs bites afterwards and still be finished with breakfast long before 9:30.

With the weather not being warm and sunny I stayed onboard instead of being a tourist in San Francisco. I’m a fan of sitting up in Adagio on deck 16 on turnaround days so it’s where I spent my morning. Usually it’s so quiet but today the ship decided blasting Christmas music would be appropriate. 

From Jingle Bells to Little Town of Bethlehem

Christmas music on deck 16 and carved pumpkins in the Piazza on deck 5 and at the buffet on deck 15? Seems like the decks need to get coordinated!

The weather warmed up by lunch so I ate where I usually eat, back behind the buffet by the Terrace pool.

It was cold in the late afternoon as we sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge. Brrr! But the experience never gets old.

We’ve got several sea days - and some time changes - ahead of us. I’ll probably combine the upcoming sea days into one blog post in a few days.

See you then!

Sea Days

Hello from our last sea day as we make our way back to San Francisco.

The weather has been beautiful but cooler than Mexico. These last three days have been pretty much uneventful, which is probably a good thing when you’re on a ship in the ocean with thousands of other people.

I’ve spent a lot of time on my balcony. 

Now that we’re heading north and I’m on the starboard side of the ship I’m catching sunrises, too.

I’ve spent some time on the promenade deck. They have automatic doors to get outside so it makes for easy access with a scooter.

I’ve been watching the World Series outside on the big screen at Movies Under the Stars.

I tried out more of the pizza on deck special of the day. The four cheese was light and tasty.

I had a Bridge tour one day. I don’t know how I got on the list, but I’ll take it.

I reported - on multiple consecutive days - that an elevator wouldn’t go to deck 15. Every morning they said they were on it. By the next day, it wasn’t working again. I stopped taking a fresh picture and just kept showing them the same one again and again.

One thing I haven’t done these last three days is swim. The spa pool has been closed and a couple days I even found the terrace pool closed.

I guess one unusual thing did happen. On October 27 the ship decided to celebrate Halloween.

I watched a dad and his little kid push hard
on this cake until it broke. It’s fake, but still.

Tomorrow we’ll be back in San Francisco for another turnaround day. Immigration for in transits is being held on the ship and I haven’t yet decided if I’m going out and about for the day. 

See you tomorrow!

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Hello from Cabo!

After yesterday’s alcohol-fueled day I woke up this morning refreshed and feeling like a new person. Not excited enough to take a tender to go on shore, though. Really, who wants to go get a tender ticket, wait for the ticket to be called, try and get an elevator down to Deck 4 on the scooter, be crammed onto a tender in the hot sticky weather with 100+ other hot and sticky people, to go a port where I’ve been there enough and don’t have anything else new to do? Not this gal.

Instead I was at the spa pool before 8:30 AM and camped out there for the day. I should start calling it the Cocoon pool. If you’ve watched the movie, you know a lot of old folks swim in that pool. Same here. Not that I’m complaining because it definitely makes for a quieter environment.

After I did as much swimming and sunning as I possibly could do, I stopped by Movies Under the Stars to see how the football games were going. I’ve been on a lot of Princess cruises on football Sundays and I’ve never seen it so empty. It was just too darn hot to be watching a football game out on deck. 

I spent the late afternoon on my balcony, watching the jet skis running around in the water. Usually I’ve spotted lots of whales from the ship but it’s just a little bit too early in the season right now.

I had my last comped dinner at Crown Grill tonight. Had to go back for the sea bass! Here’s my before and after. It’s so delicious but just too much for me. 

While dinner made me miss the sunset I was in time to see some colors left in the sky. Late nights in port when the weather is warm ranks up there with the best days on a cruise ship. 

In the evening temperatures felt more comfortable and lots of folks were outside on deck. It also made for more comfortable football viewing as well. 

Packers v. Steelers

We’ve got three sea days coming up as we make our way back to San Francisco. I’ll probably be back in a couple days to wrap up this cruise before our next voyage - to Hawaii! 

See you in a few days.

Mazatlan, Mexico

 Hello from Mazatlan!

Looking at today’s 9 AM feels like temperature it looked like it was going to be another hot one.

But there’s no heat that would keep me away from today’s plans. We’ve been coming here for years and Mazatlan day ranks up there with the best days ever. I wrote about some of the things to do back in 2018, but since the pandemic when Mazatlan was our last cruise port before the shutdown we’ve been spending our time in just one place. The Green Bar.

The Mazatlan cruise port is a working port so you have to take the free trolley to get to the terminal. 

The noisy, loud, and rambunctious Green Bar is inside the port compound.

Screen capture from my video that won’t upload

$5 Tequila shots? Get a crown, lei, or light up ring. $1 Jell-O shots? Get a balloon hat. Let’s just say I walked away with multiple accessories adorning my body, thanks to Marco. 

Halloween themed rings today

Drinks are cheap and good. Gabriel knows I like rum and Diet Coke with a lot of rum and a little Diet Coke. A Miami Vice was refreshing on today’s hot day, but I knocked it over when I got excited talking to a crew member. Oh well. 

I love that we all know each other by name from all our frequent visits here. They even had our winter table saved for me for when I showed up.

Food is cheap, too. Only when I had all my drinking done did I partake. Just nachos for me today, though.

I also got my hair cut. Beatrice cut it back in February when I was here and she cut it again today. I told her I’ll be back in December for my next haircut!

I also saw Alma, my outdoor massage lady from last winter. I tell ya it was like we never left. Everyone asked about my husband not being with me and I assured them he’ll be back together with me in December.

Somehow despite tequila shots, Jell-O shots, rum and Diet Cokes, and a Miami Vice I made it back to my cabin. I fell asleep for a few hours and of course woke up with a headache. Now I know why I don’t drink very much!

Tomorrow, we’re in Cabo and I may or may not leave the ship. Heck, with the way I’m feeling I may not even leave my cabin! See you then.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Hello from Puerto Vallarta where shockingly I was awake before sunrise.

6:51 AM

I would love to say I got up, got dressed, and got on with my day. Instead I have to say I got up, took the picture, went back to bed, and went back to sleep. I woke up again at about 9:00 and checked the temperature for the day. Pretty much a repeat of yesterday’s Manzanillo feels like morning temperature.

These temperatures aren’t something
we see here in the winter months. 

Since Ed and I will again be here this winter I wasn’t in too much of a hurry to get out and about. Or really do anything too exciting. My only real task was a trip to Walmart with the scooter to double check the curb cutouts. (We’ve been to the Puerto Vallarta Walmart many times in the past, jaywalking and dodging the sketchy traffic as we crossed the street. Can’t do that with a scooter.) Thankfully, I remembered there’s a supermarket near the ship not requiring the crazy crossing of the road. I know I can get to Chedraui if I have to so there’s no need to check for curb cut outs today!

Chedraui is right there

So what to do on a hot and humid day like this? Back to the Terrace Pool, complete with a view of Puerto Vallarta, all day long.

After another dinner at Crown Grill I made it just in time to watch what Ed was watching at home, Game 1 of the World Series. My outside viewing at Movies Under the Stars was better than his in the living room, I think. 

Up tomorrow is Mazatlan where I have definitive plans that will not change. And don’t include a pool. 

See you there!