Cruise to Mexico . . . Cabo

Our last stop was Cabo.

The city was beautiful. As I said before, we unfortunately weren't able to see much of it, as our excursion took up pretty much the entire day. I would definately like to go back sometime though!

The boat wasn't able to dock onto actual land, so we were "tendered" from the boat to the port on these:

We got onto the dock and were immediately put onto a bus. We had signed up for horseback riding for the day.

On a side note: Alongside with loving whales, I have a strange obsession with horseback riding. I've only been one other time in my life, but am always wanting to go. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone that owns a horse, so my only option is to pay to go. I will admit that it kind of scares me (yes, I manage to worry about everything), but love it at the same time!

So . . . we were on the bus for about an hour, honestly not sure where they were taking us. . .

. . . but finally came upon this place:

It was literally a little ranch in the middle of nowhere. It was surrounded by desert and cactus, and was a short distance from a beach at the same time.

We were put onto our horses, 'Tequila' and 'Fly' . . .

Then began in the desert.

We then randomly came up on this beautiful beach. The benefit of being in the middle of nowhere was that there was nobody there. . .

Once again, another great day!

Cruise to Mexico . . . Mazatlan

The next day we awoke to this:

We had reached Mazatlan.

We didn't have anything necessarily planned for the day, so we decided to get off the boat and explore a bit. We did some shopping near the port . . .

Then took a taxi into town. We went to an area called "The Golden Zone," which was essentially a bunch of shops, beaches, and resorts.

I do have to admit that the taxi ride there was a little . . . shall we say . . . interesting . . . but we managed to make it in one piece. Perhaps it was because our "taxi" had hardly any doors to hold us in?

Once we reached the "Golden Zone," our first stop was the beach. We figured that we couldn't possibly go to Mexico without going to a beach.

I honestly have no idea what beach it was, but the thing was covered with resorts, activities, and "vendors" trying to sell you everything you could possibly think of. It definately looked like a fun place, and was beautiful at the same time!



We then made our way towards the shops for some more shopping . . .

I came back wanting to barter with everyone I talked to for days.

My favorite was probably this pink pharmacy . . . there were pharmacy's everywhere with all sorts of drugs . . .

In the end, we got some great souviners, and I even managed to find myself some yummy vanilla that I'm excited to try sometime.

Then, before we knew it, we were back to the boat and moving on to the next adventure.

Cruise to Mexico . . . Puerto Vallarta

Our first stop in Mexico was to Puerto Vallarta.

A couple of days before we stopped, we explored our possibilities on the boat of shore excursions that we could do while we were there. We decided on a 6 hour day trip on a smaller boat through a bay, including whale watching and snorkeling.

We had a blast! I am so glad we chose to do it.

The ship pulled into port early in the morning, and we awoke to this:

The city was beautiful. Although we had an awesome time, the only downfall to doing the excursions were that we didn't have any time to explore the city. (We had the same issue in Cabo). I was glad that we had the opportunity to see and do what we did, but would love to go back sometime and explore the city some more.

But, like I say, we had a wonderful day!

We were brought to a smaller port very near to where our boat docked, and boarded this boat:

The crew was made up a group of guys probably around our age, and were great . . . they really made the tour that much more fun.

We began by heading out of the port. . .

. . . and began our day by seeing some whales right away.

On a side note, those of you that know me well know that I love whales. Weird, I know, but I think that they are so cool. I could sit and watch them for hours. I've even gone to the point to say that if I had to come back to this Earth as an animal, I would come as a whale. They are fascinating. Because of this, I think I was more excited to learn that were watching humpback whales, and was even more excited when we could actually hear them calling to eachother.

On another side note, I have to say that I am no photographer, and have a very hard time capturing a good picture while whale watching. They don't come out of the water too much, and only for a second or two when the do. I had this issue the last time we went as well. Pictures give it no justice . . . I would definately recommend going if you ever get the chance!

We were then headed to our destination, an island covered with birds. On the way, we were able to see some other sea animals, including sea turtles . . .

We finally reached the island with the birds (I honestly don't remember what it was called), and let me tell you that I call it the island with the birds for a reason . . .

At this point we were able to get off the boat for some snorkeling.

Although I have to admit that I was not a fan at first (it took me quite a while to even be willing to put my face in the water . . . I wasn't too big on the fact that those fish could actually touch me), it turned out to be pretty cool. I managed to get used to it, and we were able to see some pretty fish.

On the way back, we were treated to lunch, more whale watching, an open bar, some beautiful scenery, and even a little "show" (which was entertaining, to say the least).

Once we were back to land, we shopped for a bit around the port, then re-boarded the cruise ship.

All in all, a great way to spend our first time in Puerto Vallarta!

Cruise to Mexico . . . At Sea . . .

Our first, second, and last days were spent "at sea," as our schedule stated.

Every night, we were given a schedule for the next day's events. And boy was there a ton to do!

Let me also mention that this schedule was always left on our bed for us, as the housekeeping crew came into our room multiple times a day and cleaned up after us . . . they were amazing!

Most days we slept in, and pretty much did activities at our leisure.

One event we did attend every "at sea" day; however, were the mixology classes.

They were so much fun!

We all began by sitting around the bar, with these glasses in front of us:

The same two bartenders were there every day. We were given menus of which three drinks we would be "making" for the day. The first bartender would demonstrate by using the "correct" method . . . jigger and all.

You could then "win" his drink by answering the trivia question correctly. (One of which Joel managed to do . . .)

The second bartender would then come in and make the drinks by using, what he called, the "happy method."

They were poured into a shaker, and handed out to be shaken. . .

And finally distributed to everyone who was participating.

A little corny, honestly, but was a fun way to spend an hour every day.

Other "at sea" activities included:

Bingo . . .

Exploring the Ship . . .

Midnight Snacks . . .

Enjoying the view . . .

Nightly shows . . .

And beautiful sunsets.

Wait a Second . . .

What I meant to say was . . .

Happy, happy birthday to my dad today!

Cruise To Mexico

So we obviously took a cruise to Mexico for our honeymoon.

And let me tell you that we had SO much fun!

I've decided that cruising is definately the way to vacation. I've heard good things about them from multiple people, and definately now agree with all of them after doing it for myself.

Just for fun, here are some random facts about our week. Tomorrow I will begin by explaining exactly what we did while we were there.

This was our boat, Holland America's MS Oosterdam.

** It can fit just about 2,000 passengers, and holds 817 crew members.

** Majority of the staff were from either Indonesia or the Philippines.

** We literally felt like we were eating all the time, and I won't even mention how many extra pounds I came back with.

** I have never watched more CNN news than I did during that week. There were hardly any channels on the tv, and unless we wanted to watch shows about how to buy diamonds in Mexico, it was our only option. I feel like I know everything possible there is to know about the shooting in Arizona.

** You are now probably wondering why we were in our room so much to watch TV? The ultimate goal (for me at least) was to have a relaxing vacation. This involved a lot of sleeping in and being lazy, so to speak.

** I discovered that I get slightly sea sick, but it is tolerable.

** I also discovered that I am a big fan of sushi.

** I would say that about 75% or more of the passengers were made up of people my grandma's age and older. Joel actually started a list of "why we were on an older people's cruise," some of which included multiple people pulling oxygen tanks along side them, and others using magnifying glasses to read the dinner menu.

** We came back every night to an animal made of towels, our favorite being a monkey.

** We had upgraded our room to a "superior verandah suite," and I'm not sure I would do it any other way. Having a balcony from our room was one of the nicest things about the whole adventure.

** We learned that we have terrible luck when it comes to bingo.

** We "offically" became "bonafide alcohologists." (probably not a good thing to admit?) More on that one later.

** And finally, I discovered that I am not in love with snorkeling, but would do it again if I had the opportunity.

P.S. Happy, happy to my dad today!