At Sea: After our late night yesterday, I was still asleep when we docked about 7:30a in Puerto Vallarta - next to the Majestic Princess. Within moments of docking, passengers were leaving the ship for their full-day tours and pirates from the pirate ship sail were on the dock picking up their mateys. The weather was just Majestic (pun intended).
Kris and Steve were spending the day with friends from Colorado who have relocated to Mexico. We didn't see them again until Turkey Time.
DT and I didn't leave the ship until after 10a, and hailed a taxi to the old town of Puerto Vallarta. We walked along the malecon (again lots of interesting art along the sea wall) and watched humpback off shore and saw ibis, boobies, and other shore birds along the little river that empties to the sea near the tourist area.
We walked and walked and walked, looking into a few shops, but it is just the same "stuff" for sale in Cabo and Mazatlan... but says Puerto Vallarta on the item. There are a lot of restaurants along the sea, mostly selling fish, and we settled on one. (Not sure of the restaurant name as the sign said one thing and the menu said another and the receipt said another. Mexico.) The Donald is still not popular in Mexico, according to all the F**k Trump tee shirts for sale.
We sat under a red umbrella, so had a ruby-tinged meal!
Everyone was so friendly and there was no pressure to buy, but thank goodness I can't wear silver jewelry or we would be bankrupt. Tons of knockoff handbags and sunglasses. There are also several pretty girls with huge parrots on their shoulders - you can pose for a photo for a fee.
When I had my 10000 steps, we headed back to the ship via taxi, entered the cruise terminal, went through security, and walked from the terminal to our ship (more steps) instead of taking the provided trolley. The cruise staff were greeting passengers in a dancing conga line, singing and providing infused water and cold face cloths. Where do they find all the energy?
(This photo was taken from our balcony.)
This evening was a bit hectic due to every passenger on the ship wanting to eat in one of the three main dining rooms for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. (The Japanese, Italian, Seafood, etc. restaurants were not serving turkey.) We started at six o’clock in the Observation Lounge for cocktails and took our time, as other passengers gathering at the bar told us it was a one hour wait for turkey. When we finally went downstairs, the wait was to be 30 minutes, but we were seated in less than 15.
The meal was quite nice, considering the chefs prepared 3000 or more plates. Kris missed mashed potatoes. I missed cranberry sauce. Dave and I have a brined turkey breast in our freezer, so I see another Thanksgiving meal in our future.
We had reservations to Jersey Boys, showing the next few nights in the theater. Dave and I saw this show on the Bliss during our Panama Canal cruise two years ago, but enjoyed it again. I would have enjoyed it more if it had started at 8:30 instead of 9:30! Great music and the lead playing Frankie Valli was fantastic. Definitely more fun that watching the usual Thanksgiving football.
You won't be bothered by me again for a few days. The next two days will be sea-days and we disembark Sunday morning in Los Angeles. Until my next update, I remain, your thankful correspondent.