Mexican Riviera - 2002

Sunday – September 29th, 2002

Gayle and Hanan showed up at around 11:00am and off we went.

We arrived to San Diego at 12:30. I could see the Legend Of The Sea from the freeway and for some strange reason I felt as if I am coming home… after a quick check-in process we boarded ship.

One of the ship’s staff passed by me, as we were waiting for our turn in the queue and asked: “Are you from Israel?” and as it turned out he remembered us from our previous cruise we took in January. I asked him about some of the people we had met and he informed us that Chrystelle (The Head Waitress) was on board but that Sandeep (The waiter we had last cruise) took a vacation and is not on the ship. I really missed Sandeep and was sorry to hear that we will not have a chance seeing him.

We found our cabin (6042) and headed to the ninth deck to have lunch at the Windjammer Café’ where we met with Gayle and Hanan and later on with Walt and Gene, who had just checked in.

At around 4:30 we headed to the 4th deck for the “Life Boat” exercise.

We returned to the cabin and after a short nap, we headed to the ninth deck for the Bon Voyage party. We joined Gayle, Hanan, Sherry, and Richard for tropical drinks and waved goodbyes to San Diego. We all agreed that this is a beautiful city.

At night we joined the rest of the gang for a dinner at the Romeo & Juliet dining room. Our table number is 154, our waiter is Sandjeeve from India and his assistant is Ali from Indonesia. We met with Chrystelle and once again I was so pleased to hear her talk with her French accent. The food was excellent.

I made a suggestion to the group to “buy” a horse in the auction and participate in the “Legend Horse Racing” on the cruise. We all agreed this would be fun.

Monday – September 30th, 2002

We woke up rather late and after a quick breakfast we joined Gayle and Hanan at the pool for some serious reading. I put sun blocker all over my body but as it turned out, it did not help as I had some sun burns after a couple of hours.

Gayle and I joined a Bingo “session” and then visited the casino where I met an Israeli guy by the name of Alex and his wife Marina.

At 2:00 pm we all went to the ninth deck for the Horse Auction. We ended up buying two horses for a whopping $350. However, if one of these horses would win the race (which will take place on Friday) we would win $1,000.

We took a long afternoon nap.

In the evening we dressed up “formal” for the Captain Welcome Aboard Reception, which was boring. We then joined the gang for an Italian Night Dinner and discussed how to name our horses and decided that one would be called ERA-NOC and the other 2-SEX-SEA.

During dinner we had a surprise when we saw One-One, our assistant waiter from the previous cruise. I asked him about Sandeep and once again I was told that he was on vacation.

The show, after dinner included a famous comedian by the name of Gary Muledeer. He was quite funny.

Tim, the cruise Director, announced that the cruise if fully booked with about 1,900 guests from 45 different countries. 1,550 were Americans, 950 of them from California!

Tuesday – October 1st, 2002

Cabo San Lucas

We woke up at 7:30 and met our friends at around 8:00 for breakfast. We already decided that we should spend the day snorkeling and then hit the town for some sightseeing.

We left the ship at around 9:00 am with a “tender”, which took us to the dock. As we landed, we were “attacked” by boat owners, who offered their services. After some negotiations we agreed on a price with one of them and boarded a little boat heading to Lovers Beach, which is about a 15 minutes boat ride from the dock. We passed El Arco, which is a natural rock formation. We put the snorkeling gear on and attempted to explore the beauty of the ocean.

We were told that next to the Pelican Rock we would be able to see some wonders. Well… we did see some coral reefs and some beautiful fish but overall it was kind of disappointing. I blame it on our previous experience in Australia where we visited the Great Barrier Reef.

An hour and a half later, the boat returned and picked us up heading to a nice restaurant named “The Office” and situated on the beach. We had a great lunch and drank beer like there is no tomorrow. Between us (8 people) we were able to consume about 30 bottles. The food consisted of Fish Tacos, Guacamole (Great!) and of course the traditional chips and salsa. After lunch we headed to the city.

Some facts about Cabo: For centuries, the Baja Peninsula was an isolated area inhabited by Cochimi Indians. In the 16th century, lured by rumors of Aztec gold, the Spanish explorer Herman Cortez sent ships to explore the area. The first ships landed at what is now La Paz, where the natives slaughtered many crewmembers. Though the survivors found no gold, they did discover a bounty in pearls. Today Cabo is headed for resort stardom. In the last fifteen years, it has evolved from a sleepy hideaway for foreign fishermen and yacht owners into one of Mexico's most popular resort destinations. This is due largely to improved roads and air access, plus heavy investment by FONATUR (the government's agency in charge of new resort development) and the private sector.

We stopped at the Giggling Merlin. They have a great "hoist" to hang you upside down next to a giant Marlin. Hence, the name. They hang you upside down and as you are hanging there in this position they pour Tequila into your mouth. We then headed to the main street for some shopping and used the services of a bike service (a bicycle and a cart), which took us back to the dock where the tender was waiting to take us back to the ship. The ride was quite an experience as our bike driver was racing down the streets of Cabo.

We took a (very) long nap, woke up at around 7:00 pm, and headed to the “That’s Entertainment” theatre for a great show called “Rhythm Nation” where the Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers performed songs from around the globe.

After a delicious dinner we headed to the Viking Lounge, on the 10th deck for a show by the “Almost Village People”, which was very entertaining and funny.

At around 12:30 am we checked the Midnight Buffet for some deserts, where we met Gayle, and went to sleep at around 1:30am.

Wednesday - October 2nd, 2002

Mazatlan

Once again we woke up rather early. We headed to the Windjammer Café’ for breakfast and to meet Gayle and Hanan who would be our partners for today’s excursions.

To my pleasant surprise Tova spotted Sandeep in the dining room. I was so happy to meet him and told him how his friends had told us that he was on vacation and not around for this trip and that’s why did not make any efforts to find him. He told us that he did take a vacation and went to his homeland of India and that he was back in time for this cruise.

Right after breakfast we departed the ship and found a driver, Sergio, who spoke great English (He lived in San Francisco for six years) and we negotiated about a price for the four of us. We boarded his Chevy Suburban (!) and headed out of Mazatlan on our way to the Sierra Madre’ Mountains.

Sergio told us about the city’s history:

The area has a rich history. For thousands of years prior to the first Spanish arrival in 1531, Native Americans migrated through the region following game herds. (Its name translates to "land of deer" in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs.) By the 1700's gold and silver shipments from the nearby mines at Rosario and Copala poured through Mazatlan's harbor making it one of Mexico's most important ports. Frequent pirate attacks stifled early development.

By the 1840's hoards of American settlers were flowing through Mazatlan on their way to the gold fields of California. The port began to slowly grow. It was besieged by the U.S. Navy in 1847 and attacked again by the French in 1864; the small pueblo of Mazatlan was able to thwart the attack. Following the American civil war, a group of southerners tried unsuccessfully to convert the area into a slave state. Mazatlan served as the capital of Sinaloa (Culiacan is today's capital) from 1859 to 1873. Late in the 19th century, railroads reached Mazatlan, increasing the shipping importance of the town. This led to a steady growth until the Mexican Revolution.

The 1900's saw Mazatlan as a working port and agricultural shipment point by both ship and train. The fishing industry began to boom and only the war years of 1910-1920 saw the industry take a drop off. Finally, Mazatlan was "discovered" by foreigners in the 1940's as a great place for fishing & it's climate, and became one of Mexico's first large resorts in the 1950's.

Now in the 21st century, Mazatlan continues to grow and attract foreign interest. Thanks to NAFTA this city has grown rapidly with highways to the U.S.A for export purposes. Much of the charm of Mazatlan is due to the fact that it does not owe its existence solely to tourism, as its other industry (Shrimp export) continues to prosper. With tracts of prime real estate still empty, Mazatlan keeps an attractively imperfect air, and despite the giant tourist complex taking shape at its north end, Mazatlan still strikes a good balance between old and new.

On the way to the Sierra Madre’ area we stopped to see the brick factory (hand made) where Nicholas, the Bricks Maker demonstrated how it is done. We then stopped and Sergio’s place of birth where he still has a family there and we visited the floor tiles “factory”, all made by hand and the bakery, which still uses the old techniques to bake pastries and bread. We purchased some of the pastry (which were so delicious!). Our next stop was Sergio’s aunt tortilla bakery were we were told how they make this popular food, and then we headed out of the village to the highway where we saw some fine carved furniture, pottery and ceramics places. We stopped at one of the roadside shops and heard about their art of making furniture.

As we left Sergio’s birthplace village (I forgot its’ name) we started climbing the Sierra Madre! The very name conjures up images of movie sets, majestic, rugged mountains, and mine shafts perhaps with cowboys riding through. Nowhere in Mexico is it quite so easy to experience and savor the reality behind these derived images as on the drive from Mazatlan along Highway 40.

Just 24 kilometers south of Mazatlan, Highway 40 begins its eventually tortuous route innocently enough as it climbs gently through Concordia. We visited the old church (1764) and, 30 kilometers later; we entered the village of Copala driving on cobblestones streets.

Copala is quiet charm, with romantically meandering streets of white walled houses with their characteristic red-tiled roofs. An ancient mining settlement with one of the oldest churches in the area: one of the few examples of Baroque architecture anywhere in Mexico.

The Village’s plaza has an untidy appeal about it with a small bandstand in the center and timber-supported portals on several sides. The village's unlikely mix of elegant and simple dwellings reflects a growing “invasion” of non-Mexicans seeking the quiet life without telephones and, until relatively recently, without electricity either.

The mines had been worked out, or so they said, and the people mostly drifted away, in search of jobs, to Mazatlan or California. But now the village has been rejuvenated, and the mine reopened. In the main street of the village we saw some donkeys, which are used mainly for tourists, who insist touring the village on a back of a jackass. The church was in a midst of rejuvenation. Sergio told us that they took down the entire wall, laid it down on the ground and made the necessary work on the floor of the church. When the work was done, they put it back on the wall. We walked around the village taking pictures and breathing the fresh air.

We headed back to Mazatlan on Highway 40. About an hour and a half later we arrived at the city and Sergio took us to this unique shrimp restaurant called “La Costa Marinera”, situated on the beach. We had a fantastic lunch all based on shrimps with a side order of their delicious guacamole. I happened to have a coupon for free Margarita’s (I collected it as we left the ship) and we enjoyed one free round of this fabulous drink. Let me tell you that it was such a delicious experience and with the live mariachi music it was just perfect.

We passed the “Golden Zone” full with shops and restaurants and headed toward El Mirador: this hilltop spot offers a breathtaking view of the entire city. We saw the three little islands not far from the waterfront. On the way up we stopped at the Caverna del Diablo, a cavern known by locals as "Devil's Cave," used to hide soldiers guarding ammunition in the days of war and is surrounded by mystic stories.

We passed by a very exclusive neighborhood where the average home is appraised for over a million dollar. When we arrived at the bottom of the hill we arrived at Punta de Clavadistas. Locals call this four-story platform above the ocean as "Divers' Point."

Sergio drove us back to the dock where we boarded the ship and after a shower we hit the bed for a long siesta.

We missed the evening entertainment and joined the rest of the group for dinner and afterward I used the Internet on the ship to find out that the Angels won tonight’s game against the Yankees to tie the series 1-1.

I met Tova, Sherry, and Richard on the top deck where we had some drinks and talked politics.

This was by far the best day, thus far, on the trip!


Thursday – October 3rd, 2002

Puerto Vallarta

We woke up at around 8:30 and met the whole group for breakfast. We decided that we should tour the city together.

Puerto Vallarta is located in the central west region along the beautiful beaches of the Pacific coastline of Mexico known as "The Mexican Rivera". Built where the tropical lush jungles of the Sierra Madre Mountains meet the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean. The Bay of Banderas has acted as a natural harbor from hurricanes and tropical storms for the people and boats that, at one point or another, have inhabited and sailed in this part of the world.

Puerto Vallarta is located on the tip of the State of Jalisco (one of the 32 States of Mexico). In the past five years Puerto Vallarta has achieved the status of being one of the most popular tourist destinations in Mexico. It is also probably the most visited city in Latin America amongst North Americans and Europeans. Its Marina is considered as one of the best in the whole continent.

Today Puerto Vallarta has over 250,000 Mexican Residents, including close to 6,000 permanent Canadian, American and Australian residents. Puerto Vallarta has a unique architectural style, enhanced by cobblestone streets, white stucco houses topped with red terracotta tiles and highlighted with wrought iron balconies commonly adorned with colorful local flowers.

Unlike other cities in Mexico, Puerto Vallarta documented history only goes back to 1850, when Guadalupe Sanchez and his family settled along the mouth of the "Cuale River" to do some farming.

Don Pedro de Alvarado discovered the region that now comprises Puerto Vallarta in 1541.

Not long after Alvarado first touched ground in this area, that bay was forgotten for almost 300 years.

Puerto Vallarta was know as "Puerto Las Peñas" from 1851 until 1918 when it was designated as a municipally and received the official name of "Puerto Vallarta”, in honor of Don Ignacio L. Vallarta, a reputable representative of the State of Jalisco at the time. For 30 years this small village remained a fishing village.

International attention was first drawn to Puerto Vallarta after American director John Houston discovered the natural beauties of the town by reading written descriptions from travelers. This prompted Mr. Houston to visit Puerto Vallarta; the result was the filming of "Night of the Iguana" in nearby Mismaloya. The film featured Richard Burton and Ava Gardner.

We started our day visiting the Sheraton Hotel and the near by Time-Sharing facilities. Sherry owns a unit there, which she had never seen yet and it was a good opportunity to do so. From there we took two taxis (to hold the eight of us) and headed to El Maleco’n, which holds approximately 16 blocks packed with restaurants and shops. We stopped at a place were there was a beautiful arch situated above the ocean. We visited the old church while a mass was taking place and then stopped at a jewelry shop where we decided (Tova and me) that we should try to tour the city by ourselves. We stopped at Puerto Vallarta trademark, a bronze seahorse and other statues on the beach and headed to the Flea Market.

The area offers hundred of shops which sell clothes, jewelry, and souvenirs. We bought a nice lemonade pitcher and decided to go uptown (“where the people live”). As we entered uptown the view has changed completely and we were able to watch the real city and its’ lifestyle. We found a local restaurant and had a light lunch and then started to head back to the ship. The temperature reached about 90 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity was at about 90%.

We decided to attempt to head back to the ship by foot (about 5 miles). Usually we would have made this distance in about an hour and a half but as we started to walk we noticed how our strength is getting weaker and weaker “thanks” to the heat and humidity. We stopped on our way and bought two Popsicles. About two hours later we were still about a mile away from the port when I felt how my whole body is getting swelled up. I had to take off my watch since it seems as if it is going to “chalk” my wrist. I was dehydrated and there was neither kiosks nor stores near by. We decided to hitchhike for the last mile and a bus had stopped and picked us up.

We arrived at the ship “half-dead” but a cold shower and a gallon of cold water made us feel better. We hit the bed for a long sleep and woke up three hours later!

Tova woke up with”Montezuma revenge”. She probably got it from the Popsicle. (They warned us not to drink the water and not to use their ice!)

We got dressed and headed to the theater to watch a brilliant performer: Kenny James. He is a 13 times Star Search winner and Grand Champion. For the next 45 minutes, Kenny James entertained us with soul, Motown, and pop music. He was fantastic. One note: this guy sweats so much that it is ridiculous.

After dinner I went to the casino and at about 1:00 am went to bed.

Friday – October 4th, 2002

I woke up at around 9:30. Tova was still feeling the “Montezuma Revenge” and I headed to the dining room for a late breakfast.

After breakfast I decided to walk around the ship and did so for about an hour. When I returned to the cabin Tova was awake and felt much better.

We dressed up the horse for the race. Since its’ name is: “2-SEX-SEA” we decided to dress it up in sexy cloths. When we were done, the horse looked..well…very sexy!

We watched a movie in our room (“The Great Big Fat Greek wedding”) and then joined our friends on the ninth deck for the Horse Racing.

Our horse number was two with Gayle as its Jockey and ERA-NOC number was number five with Gene as its Jockey.

The race was great and very entertaining. The way it works out is like that: There are 10 lines a horse must pass in order to win. Tim (the cruise director) would role 3 dice and will call the numbers (1 through 6) from the role. The horse number called by Tim will then advance one line. If, for example, the dice show the number 1 twice then horse number 1 will advance 2 lines and so on. At the end of the race the winner was… Horse number 5: ERA-NOC – with odds of 1:6.50. The whole group posed for pictures as we received the reward: $1,000.

We returned to our cabin and yes.. time for siesta…

At around 7:00 pm we got up and dressed for a formal evening. We joined some Jewish families for Shabbat Services, which was conducted by an Israeli named Ze’ev who was one of the passengers. We also met another Israeli named Gabby who was Alex’s friend from San Diego.

Right after the services we joined the “Platinum Cards” party for those passengers who cruised with Royal Caribbean more than five times. We had some drinks and headed for dinner. The theme was “French Night” at the dining room and the food was exquisite.

The show, following the dinner, featured the Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers in a show called: “Jump, Jivin’ Swing”. It was very entertaining.

At midnight we headed to the Anchor’s Aweigh Lounge where a comedian named Greg Otto gave a brilliant and funny performance.

Right after the show we headed to the dining room for the Gala Buffet, which featured the best of the best in food platters all designed and crafted by the ship’s chefs. We tasted some of the fine food and went to our cabin. We watched Headline News to find out that the Angels won tonight to lead the series 2-1.

Saturday – October 5th, 2020

Today is the last day on the ship.

We had a lazy morning and packed our bags.

We went to lunch and One-One, who saw me there approached and asked: “Do you want some Cranberry Juice”? The funny thing is that he noted from the last cruise the drink I like and amazingly remembered it. When I asked him if he remembered my name, he answered: “Name is a problem… I remember what you drink!”

In the afternoon I joined Gene and Gayle for the final Bingo game, which offered over $5,000 in rewards. Hanan joined us later. We won zilch but had a great time.

After the game I went to the casino for about an hour and then went back to the cabin for a nap.

In the evening we enjoyed the comedy juggling of Don Bennet, who was great and very funny. The crew of the ship performed to us their “good-bye” show and it was very entertaining. Tim, who is a big “Twins” fan, informed us that the Angels dropped the Yankees out of the race by beating them again. (YES!!!!)

After dinner we sat around the lounge for a while and went to bed at around midnight.

Sunday – October 6th, 2002

Time to go home!

After breakfast and a short wait for our turn to leave the ship, we found our luggage, met with Gayle and Hanan and off we went back to Orange County – HOME!!

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