Saturday - 19 Jan 2019 - Our last day at sea

Our trip was over except for the last day a sea. It had been a wonderful trip with so many exciting and different things to see.  We both loved almost every place that we had been to and would go back to some of them in a flash as there was still so much more to see. New York, which I did not think I would like at all, I loved. Columbia which I though I would love I would probably not go back too only because it was a little scary if you were not with a tour group. All the Volcanos were a big hit and dolphins and whales were the icing on the cake.

A great trip really.

A nice sleep in, till 630 am with another scrumptious breakfast at O’Sheehan’s.

 We spent a little bit of time filling out and turning in our vacation heroes paperwork to the guest services desk.
Going to the main lobby at 10 for the scavenger hunt draw. We came in second! We won a bunch of things including a water bottle, a t-shirt that said “Call me Champ”,(which at first threw me ... it all depends on the emphasis on the words that you use... LOL) a frisbee, a fan, and a bottle of red wine. 

Lunch time at the buffet…. It seems all we do on this ship is eat.  Oh well, there are worse things. 
We repacked our things and put our purple tags on our luggage which we had to put out by 11pm that night. I had two and Margie had two and we each had a carryon that did not need a tag. 
The weather was definitely getting cooler as we went further north. We had to wear a sweater when we went out on deck.

We had booked our last night at sea at the Moderno, the Brazilian meat restaurant for 6 pm and we brought our wine prize wine with us.  The hostess, the maitre d and all the waiters seemed to really enjoy telling me that the restaurant was a meat restaurant. The meal was very good, the salad bar with the main course of an eggplant parmesan stack which I have to try and copy at home. Margie loved all the meat. I told them it was the best meal I had pleasure of having on the ship. Which I believe it was.

When we got back to our room we chatted with Vignesh who had the pleasure of taking all of our towel animals away in preparation for the next days disembarkation.
We gave him his tip money and he was very appreciative as he hardly ever got the tip money and ours was one of the biggest that he had received.
Margie went and got her liquor and packed it into her suitcase I had ordered a bracelet and had forgotten to pick it up so hoped that I could get it in the morning.
The last day at sea was busy and full and we went to bed tired and happy, even though we had no towel animals to keep us company.

Friday - 18 January 2019 - Cabo San Lucas and San Jose Del Cabo

Woke up at 430 and was at O’Sheehan’s by 5 with a cup of tea, updating my log of our journey.  I worked until 545 and then had a breakfast of scrambled eggs, a hash brown patty, the smallest little container of baked beans in a cup, brown toast, and way too salty sautéed mushrooms. I went back down to the room and Margie was just getting up at around 615 so while she went and got her breakfast, I stood in the line by the pool to get tender tickets for us. 

We were tendering into Cabo as there was no pier there for the big cruise ships. Cabo San Lucas is a very pretty city with lots of hotels along the steep beach and shops all around and along the marina.  Our friendly security guard wished us a good day and helped us off the ship and onto our tender. 

Margie and I left with Tender call #3 at 8 am. A short ride to the docks at the marina filled with lots of pretty boats. We found out that our tour would not be going until 845 so we explored a little bit looking for a bathroom that was open. As we asked different people  they would point us in a direction away from the pier and into a nice shopping area with restaurants and bars, obviously for tourists. 

We ended up in a market that was only just opening up and all the booth owners pointed the way out to us while asking if we were looking for anything. Right next t the washroom was a little coffee/pop/bar and I noticed in the cooler there was a gingerale so I bought one and Margie got a diet coke. It was hard to find gingerale on most of our stops. They carry 7 up and sprite which is not even close to gingerale. Will need to contact gingerale and let them know that they need to work on their distribution in the warmer climate locales. We wandered back to the dock and found a spot to sit and wait for our tour.

There were lots of bright red crabs on the rocks around the pier and different kinds of fish in the water. We chatted with the other folks off of our ship and took some photos of the fish and crabs. We went into the very nice jewelry store right there at the waiting area when it opened , and used the washroom there too, just to make sure we did not need to use the washroom again before our tour. One never knows when the next washroom is going to appear so better safe than sorry. It seems that we do use the washroom a lot so was thinking about taking photos of washrooms everywhere we went but then decided not to even go there.

Our tour bus for San Jose Del Cabo loaded up and we were on our way. Through Cabo San Lucas all along the bay and up to a very nice restaurant , the Mona lisa, on the other side of the bay with a spectacular view of the entire bay, Cabo and the Arco, or the Arches. 

We had a free drink there, and you guess it, used the washrooms again. Getting old is so much fun. Margies grand daughter had been to Cabo the year before with her family and Margie wondered where they had stayed. She was pretty sure they had stayed in town but on the beach so we were looking at which hotel it might have been from our vantage point.

The restaurant is layered with many different levels for seating and all with the spectacular views of the bay and the arches. There were several hotel/ time share places around so I figured that the restaurant got lots of business between them and the town too.

Back onto the bus and off to San Jose Del Cabo, about 20 minutes up the coast , past lots of new and being constructed subdivisions. 

San Jose Del Cabo is a lovely town with lots of great shops and a lovely church, San Jose or Saint Joseph, on a very large square with lots of trees and benches. 

We went into the church which was located at one end of the large square. It was lovely and we lit some candles and said some prayers for family and friends. 

It was quite an old church, simple and  plain compared to some of the cathedrals and churches we has seen around the world but it had a charm all its own. Quite warm and inviting.

The story of the church is that a monk was killed by the natives and he became a saint. Quite the story but obviously the people of the area loved it as there was a mosaic of the event above the door to the church.

After the church Margie and I wandered down to the jewelry store where the salesmen had shouted out to us as we passed… 99 % off…. So we went to see what was 99% off. Not much, but I did get some very nice earrings for less than 20$

Back up to the little restaurant on the corner the square across from the church for guacamole, our favourite Mexican dish. We tried the guacamole  everywhere we went and it was a little bit different at each place. 

Kind of like tortierre in Quebec with every household having their own recipe. 

The resturant had fish of all kinds decorating the walls, some of which I had never seen in my life. We chatted about Margies son Dennis who wanted to go marlin fishing. 

Cabo San Lucas is a big fishing town as we saw by the hundreds of fishing charters going out to sea when we were pulling into port. 

After a lovely guacamole lunch we went back to the silver shop and Margie got some earrings too, also for a good price.

We then met up with our group and walked down the street past lots of art shops, some of which I would have really liked to stay and look through, but alas we did not have time.  

I did take a photo of one tapestry that I would like to try and recreate. it was so pretty. We walked about four blocks to where our bus was waiting for us.

At this point I thought that we were going back to the ship but it seemed a little bit early. We drove back down the highway the way we had come and pulled into the glass factory where we watched a glass blowing demonstration. The blower made a turtle with a sombrero and a glass of tequila.  

The show over we were free to wander and shop the glass item that were for sale. I did not purchase the tequila drinking, sombrero wearing turtle or anything else here although I did enjoy the bathroom which was very pretty and the glass room which was very interesting. We could not have a room like this in Canada with our weather unless of course the room was totally inside.

Back onto the bus and back down the highway, back through Cabo to the shopping district beside the pier. Back onto a tender and back to the ship. What a lovely day. The weather had been perfect and it was sunny with a breeze closer to the water to keep things cooler. the big rocks along the shore had some pelicans and cranes hanging out and someone said they saw a dolphin , but I did not. We left a little tip for the crew of the tender and said hello to our security people who always seemed happy to see us. 

 When we got back to our room, we went out onto our balcony to look at the bay some more. It really was a pretty bay. We started to organize our things and go through the bill for the cruise and Margie found that we had some free things still coming to us that they had not deducted from our bill or arranged for us to have yet so we went to the customer service desk and they arranged the free things by deducting from our bill. 

We then went to the internet gentleman and he added on time which we were supposed to get as part of our returning passenger perks.  He said one had to ask for it as it would not be automatically be added on. Interesting. We wondered how many people actually checked their bill that closely to make sure that they got all that they were promised as bonuses for booking the trip.

We now had extra internet time so we added some more photos to face book and checked emails. We kept an eye out for dolphins and whales and were not disappointed. Of course we did not get photos of the really close up ones but did manage to get a few shots of ones that were far away. The close one was right beside the ship right under our balcony and lovely to see. 

Supper was at the Magenta and we sat with a couple. After dinner I called the Moderno, our restaurant for dinner the next night and arranged for a vegetarian meal at a Brazilian meat restaurant. It was interesting exercise in explaining that, yes, I did know that it was meat restaurant. My sister and I had booked a reservation for 6. She ate meat. And yes I wanted a vegetarian meal, no, not stir fried vegetables. Eggplant Parmesan please. I only had to tell this to 4 people to achieve my goal. We went to the show which was pretty good.

Another great day of new places and experiences. We both really liked Cabo San Lucas and San Jose Del Cabo. We would go back to either, although Cabo did have the beach going for it which is a definite plus in our books.

Thursday - 17 Jan 2019 - Puerto Vallarta

Woke early and went to O’Sheehans for a tea and some computer time. It was only 23 C so it did not seem as hot as the last few days

Sunrise was not until 739 so it was dark and could not see anything but a few lights in the distance which could have been either boats or coastline villages in Banderas bay where Puerta Vallarta tis located. But the map showed that we were going to Marina Vallarta so we were a little confused.

 Margie joined me and we ordered breakfast. Oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon and brown sugar. Brown toast and jam. Tea and coffee.

 There were lots of little boats in the harbour going out fishing. Charters, and smaller ones. There were already two other cruise ships at the port so we figured that town would be crowded. 

The port is new and lovely to look at, not like the last three that were container ports. Puerto Vallarta or Marina Vallarta, wherever we were appeared to be all new high-rises and lots of building going on. We passed a pirate ship in the bay. Was it a restaurant? We did not know but it looked good. 

The passenger terminal was lovely all clean with gardens and music and dancers to greet usunder a large canopy to keep us out of the sun. I heard a gentleman on the loudspeaker say that this weather was very unusual for them at this time of year. So Cool 24 C . We thought it was nice. 

We got onto our yellow bus  with Jesus and sat at the back of the bus which turned out to be a mistake as we could hardly hear him throughout the tour. 

We went along the shore going south but not close enough to see the bay except at roads. There were hotels all along the water and then a pedestrian malacon with statues at every street but we were one block away and moving so I never really got a good photo of the malacon area. 

We were headed to old town Puerta Vallarta and soon the buildings were definitely showing signs of getting old and some were in need of some TLC. Some needed more TLC than others.

We finally stopped and got off the bus and walked down to the malacon for a The sea was rough and the sand beach was pretty much non existent.  Big rocks all along the shore.

 There was a small area where there was sand some people were balancing rocks  and had a donations box out but we had no change yet so I hoped we would come back that way but we did not. the piled rocks looked cool.

There was a sandcastle person who required a bit of repair work but we could tell it had been lovely to look at earlier. The Malacon in Puerto Vallarta   is decorated with pebble designs in the concrete  gives me ideas for my garden back home. Like all good malacons, there were statues of mermen and mermaids. 

A quick photo stop at the colourful Puerta Vallarta sign where Margies’s dress made her blend in quite well. They still had a few Christmas decorations up but Jesus explained that they celebrated for a month not a day. There was a lovely statue of three dolphins leaping.  And a nice prospect of the beach going back along the malacon. 

We came to a square with a statue of Mr Vallarta, the first Governor of the area. The square was nice with the gazebo and the benches and the trees. Right by the big cathedral with a crown on the top and a clock which told us it was 10 o’clock in the morning. the day was still young and it was not hot at all as it was so cloudy.

Jesus told us we had 30 minutes to use the washroom and see the church so Margie and I headed off to see the church first.  It was lovey white with stained glass windows and gold leaf trim. Very light and airy. a pretty church with quite a few tourists taking pictures, us included.

Very light and airy. There were a few tables outside the front door where some nuns and lay men were selling a few religious articles to help support the church . 

We ended up buying a pendant and a hummingbird to get change to be able to light a candle in the church. We said a few prayers and I put some money in the box to help take care of the church some more.  They were fund raising ,as most churches of any age are, maintenance costs being what they are.

We then used the ladies room in the city hall building across the street and met Jesus and  the rest of our tour group outside in the square.  we walked back to the malacon and took a few more photos and then it was time to pile back onto the bus and off to somewhere up the coast. 

We went speeding past lots of hotels with occasional glimpses of views of lovely beaches  and trees, lots of trees. Green blurs really. The road was the only highway along the coast so it was actually pretty busy with traffic going in both directions.

Kevin Costners house was pointed out to us, which he probably wouldn't really appreciate if he knew that the tour buses were telling everyone where he lives. I happen to like Kevin Costner so I took a photo of his house, not that I would ever stalk him although it seems odd that I just keep missing him in lots of places that I have been. In the Queen Charlottes, he was there just a week before I was, in Canmore he was staying in a house right up the street but I never saw him. and now I know where he lives in Mexico. Pretty funny.

 We stopped at a little spot right off of the highway to take some photos of the beach and there was man with the two iguanas, one large, not Lucas, and a bright green smaller one, Pochocillo.  He literally thrust the large iguana into my arms and perched the little one on Margies shoulder. quick take some photos and get the money from us so he could thrust the iguana into someones eases arms. felt bad for the iguana but I really just wanted to wash as I was not sure how clean the iguana was. Back onto the bus and we headed back into town. We still could not really hear Jesus, so we just looked out the window. 
On the way back we were treated to trees practically touching the windows , high walls of stone and earth. I could see where mudslides would cause big delays here. Back into town to go to Oscars for our free drink. 
A lovely little restaurant down some steps by a river and the sea with steps up to the malacon. We shared a guacamole and enjoyed our free margaritas. Then went up to the malacon and it was nice. Not  a great beach like in Mazatlan has but nice. there were lots of statues and the malacon, or sea sidewalk, was wide enough to give one plenty of room to amble by the sea. We shopped for a little while at the few souvenir shops  on our way back to the bus.

Onto the bus with our purchases and we were back to the “chip”, they all pronounce it chip.  We had dinner and went to the 7 o’clock show ‘Swing’ at the stardust. It was a good show with lots of singing and dancing and music. 
It had been an Interesting day. I like Puerto Vallarta but I think I like Mazatlan better. Probably only because I know it better.

Towel Animal  - Snelgrove the snail. We are getting quite the collection now.