Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico: Hello from Mazatlan! The Bliss was docked when I woke, with the Majestic Princess docking in front of us. Later the Carnival Panorama docked as well.
This is also a working cargo port, so very busy with forklifts and cranes moving shipping containers about. Not a very relaxing spot and I bet cruise passengers are a pain in their busy butts. They put us all on trams and shuttled us off to a safer spot to enter the city.
We basically followed the same course today as we did on our last trip to Mazatlan - walked one mile to old town and toured through the market, then walked to the malacon which follows eight miles of coastline, then caught a pulmonia to the Golden Zone to have lunch at Chili Peppers, pulmonia back to the ship. Rinse and repeat.
Views along the Blue Brick Road - a blue tile line that leads from the cruise terminal to old town Mazatlan:
church in the town square.
And a few scenes from inside the open-air market in old town. The stall-keepers are very friendly and don't mind you taking photos even though they know you will not be buying their fish:
But you might be buying their shoes! Both Dave and Steve bought a pair of leather shoes from the Lovely Lupita.
There is a beautiful stretch of General Angel Flores Avenue between the market and the beach lined with colorful houses:
with quotes in several languages.
We walked along the malacon, enjoying all the statues (that we have seen and blogged about previously) and watched the cliff divers. The cliff divers in Mazatlan do not jump from high cliffs as in Acapulco, but these divers have to somehow jump out-and-over a wide sidewalk on the way to the sea. Here is a 4-second terrifying video:
From here, we hopped in an open air pulmonia and drove about 5 miles to Chili Pepper restaurant for their garlic fish. We drank Pacifico beer (brewed just steps away) and really had a fun time watching all the beach activity and enjoying great meals.
Our pulmonia driver on the return trip was Jose, but it said BOSSMAN on the windscreen of his very fancy vehicle. He must have also worked for the Chamber of Commerce, as he pointed out any interesting feature as we drove along the shore and listed many menu items of his favorite restaurants along our route. He was very funny and even hopped out to retrieve Dave's cap when it flew off in the wind! Big tip for the BOSSMAN today.
Back at the terminal, Dave and I walked through the shop-gauntlet to reach the tram shuttles (still can't find a dang thing our grandchildren would want or need), so boarded the Bliss without a purchase. So many stalls with fake designer handbags! Why don't the police crack-down on all the counterfeiting? FYI: if you are caught bringing a knock-off bag, watch, etc., into the US, it will be confiscated and you could be fined. It is stealing. (DT and I once witnessed three American women being handcuffed in Rome as they were buying faux Chanel bags - from an array spread out on a bed sheet in front of the Pantheon!)
The Majestic Princess left Mazatlan first. The Captain blew the customary “theme to the Love Boat” TV show on the ship horn and they sailed past us, with passengers in both ships hooting and hollering, waving and cheering.
Later the Carnival ship left port but I think they were all at the buffet or in bed because they were not as much fun.
We had dinner in the Manhattan dining room with a Jamaican server who was a huge track and field fan. Could have talked for hours, but he had work to do.
After dinner we went to the adult-only comedy show, which was not racy at all… but it did start at ten, and though it wasn’t the best comedy, we laughed quite a bit.
Tomorrow: Puerto Vallarta, and Thanksgiving!
Until my next update, I remain, your Mazatlan correspondent.
Sounds like you are having a great time!