Mexican Riviera:
December 10
Thursday, 2015
Figure 1Grand Princess under
Golden Gate Bridge
|
After embarking the
ship and locating our room number 263 at deck Plaza and we get the mid-ship I say "we are in a good spot". Our room being near the main hall where the fun
activities go on we do not have to go far at the end either side. Once we get the luggage in our room we go for our lunch at the buffet at the 14th deck. As we approach toward the buffet we are directed to sanitize
our hands and then take the napkin with cutlery in the fold of the napkin. As we glance
through the display of numerous and varieties of food, no doubt our eyes are bigger
than the stomach specially when we are hungry. Starting with bread in different
shapes and sizes then mashed potato, chips and eggs boiled, scrambled and
poached uploaded in the plate the next table with pastas prepared with cheese, chicken roasted,
steamed, rice plain and fried, pork and beef roasted, by now our plates are already full. lastly I see soup, two types one with chicken broth and the other tomato.
Next table has all fruits cut and uncut. As we hold carefully our plate full to the
brim we look for a table but only sharing with other people available we settle at the available table. Well this is our first
day why not enjoy. We enjoy our lunch and then only after we have our tea, we are ready to take the elevator down to
the 7th floor to watch the departure of the ship from the port of San Francisco. Grand Princess is
still at the dock and not going to move till late in the eveningM to avoid encountering an approaching bad weather. We jon a group of people waiting for the ship leave tthe port and cross under the Golden Gate Bridge. Around 6pm the ship starts sailing, the stream of lights from the slopes of the city and
also lights of the Bay Bridge slowly fading away. The ship slowly
passes under the bridge in the darkness of the approaching night and my camera
clicks to capture as much as I could. My mission accomplished we are ready to go inside try to locate our assigned
restaurant for dinner. It is at Botticelli dining located at he far end of the ship. We are already late
by one hour as it is 6.30 pm by the time I find the dining place. we are directed to our table number 273. Emi apologized vigorously for our late arrival and I fee it is not necessary as it is our first day. Already two couples are lready sitting and we introduce ourselves. One couple is from City of San Francisco, Donna Parkare and Paul Fappiano, and another from Southern California, Mari Ryan and Joel
Simoff.
As the
ship moves we feel the roughness of the sea, Emi starts feeling of dizziness
and taking advice from the couple in the
dining room she gets herself a wrist band for the sea sickness, but she still
feels it as the hand band has not yet shown its effectiveness. We are lucky that one generous lady offers a
plastic bag for Emi to use and hence there is no mess around.
December 11,
Friday 2015
Today Emi sleeps while I go around for
breakfast and look for other activities like jumba and line dancing classes. By
dinner time she feels better and ready to join to dinner alright. Later we go
to the comedy and music show by Steve
Moris of North Carolina. As I feel tired and can’t stay awake I return to our room
while Emi continues to watch the show till the end. I miss the invitation of
Cruise captain Ronald Wilson to join the meeting of the inner circle as I skip picking
up the card from the slot.
December 12,
Saturday, 2015
Still at sea
and anxiously waiting for docking at Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Today again I join the Zumba and line dancing
classes at Vista Lounge deck 7 aft 9.45 am. Breakfast at DaVinci where we meet
two ladies from San Francisco and another lady from Fairfield who owns a ranch who
are both singles. Today we try Hi tea at
DaVinci, meet an elderly lady with Oxygen tank who has come alone from Seattle
and also it is her 36 cruises
during last 6 years. Very interesting to meet so many adventurous people. I
continue walking at deck 7th twice today and I am overwhelmed to watch the wake of the
sea as the ship passes. We enjoy the evening show at Princess theater “the
British Invasion” a song and dance presented
by the cruise artists.
December 13,
Sunday, 2015
Figure 3Wake at sea of
Grand Princess
|
Still at Sea and
anxiously waiting for to dock at our destination Port. The first thing I see is
on the daily brochure a romantic quote of the day “Love is a fruit
in season at all times and in reach of every hand.” Mother Teresa
Today, time
change 1 hr forward and we lose sleep by one our as our daily tea is at 6.30
am. Finding out many of the passengers are
going to take shuttle or taxi but still we decide to go through Cruise ship
the shore excursion of Puerto Vallarta costing for the shuttle $ 29.90 ticket
each. Joining line dancing in the morning is very vigorous one
and had slight pain at the lower back and hence rested in bed for some time and
rubbed the icyhot. I felt better after some time and hence did all the walking
and eating and watching all the program like piano, songs and band in various
locations.
.Puerto Vallarto.December 14,2015, Monday
We are
finally at Puerto Vallarta. Passengers are advised to carry the ship card
before leaving along with government issued I D card. As we have purchased ticket already for the
shore excursion we join the group in
Princess Theater. We all are advised to follow the guide for the group. The
guide Ms Santa introduces herself and also the bus driver Rahul. She gives a guided tour of the new and old
town of Puerto Vallarta. We are told tha
Puerto Vallerta was originally a silver mining town and still the mining goes
on in some areas. There are many activities one can do here like snorkel, swimming with Dolphins, and taste
tequila at the factory at Hascianda Dna Engracia. Our guide takes us at the
Diamond International as the cruise advises to do so. Another main attraction is
the Cathedral and behind it is the house of Liz Taylor gifted by Richard Burton. After we come back
we decide to attend high tea at DaVinci and dinner and late night dinner at the
same restaurant.
Manzanillo:
December 15, Tuesday,2015
Here we decide to
take a shuttle paying $20 each for sightseeing. The driver doesn’t know English well and hence he takes the help of
someone to explain whenever we stop at a place of interest. He drives us to the flea market where
products of local artists are sold. At the end of the
Figure 4 A a Iguana farm in Manznillo
|
tour he takes us Iguana farm(species of lizard) farm
Manzanillo is the biggest commercial port on Mexico’s
Pacific coast. Places of interest are Cuyutian Turtle Sanctuary for these
endangered turtles, snorkel for colorful fish and popular hiking places. Gateway
to ancient cities of Colima and Comala. Time change again as the ship’s clock
forward. We have to get back by 3.30 PM as the ship starts sailing just after.
 |
| At Mazatlam street E,mi and Jamuna |
 |
| Colorful fish swimming glass floor of boat. |
 |
| Grand Princess crossing Golden Gate Bridge |
 |
| man ready to dive down |
 |
| Jamuna near the swimming pool |
 |
| On way to Manzanillo town |
 |
| Jamuna in whale watching boat Puerto Vallarta |
Mazatlan, Wednesday, December 16, 2015
As soon as
the ship is docked at 8.15am we all are
allowed to go out of the ship and take tour of the town. We take a shuttle
paying $25.00 each. The driver Carlos is eager to show us all around the old
and new development of the town. The 19th century Cathedral Basilica
of Immaculate Conception is one of the main attractions with its interior
design and the stained glass windows. The most
interesting is the
man standing for diving into the sea and people all around waiting to see him
jump. We also wait for sometime but have to leave as he is still debating.
For the first time today we try at Michaelangelo restaurant and have only one
menu of the day: fish and chips. Those two couples from Walnut Creek and
another from Reno Nevada are very entertaining people. Food is excellent and we
want to go again. But never have a chance to go again as it is no more open for
lunch.
Cabo San Lucas: Dec 17, Thursday,
2015
Figure 5 Whale watching in Cabo S
L
|
Figure 6 Emi and me posing at
street of Cabo S L
|
At Cabo San
Lucas we have to go to the shore taking tender as the ship is docked quite far
away from the shore. Tender ride takes about 20
minutes to reach the
shore. Once on the shore we decide to take whale watching in a small boat. We
have to wear life jacket during the ride to middle of the sea where the whales
can be seen. On the way the boat man explained about the different rocks and
the beaches along the sail. Lovers beach and the rock partitioning the Pacific
ocean and the gulf of California are places of interest.
Figure 7 Lover's beach Cabo S L
Cruise
Summary: December 10 to Dec 20, 2015
Ports
San
Francisco USA to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Distance (Nautical Miles) 1430
Puerto
Vallarta to Manzanillo
155
Manzanillo
to Mazatlan
289
Mazatlan to Cabo San Lucas
190
Cabo San
Lucas Mexico to San Francisco USA
1138
 |
| Lover's Beach at Cabo San Lucas |
