Mexican Riviera Cruise Day 5

Day 5: March 18th, 2009 - Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

We woke up early this morning – 7:00 a.m. and watched the ship pull into port. Jim left early to meet up with Paul and Grandpa. They were doing a mountain bike tour. Jim borrowed Sadie’s camera for the day and shortly after he left the cabin I realized that he hadn’t put the battery back in the camera. Sadie and I ran up to the Mermaid Grill and luckily found him still eating breakfast and gave him the battery. We went back down to our cabin and finished getting ready and then met Jen, Hailey, Drew, and Mimi in the Mermaid Grill for breakfast. We got off the boat and got pictures with a sad looking donkey. While we waited for our tour to begin (we booked the sea life water park with dolphin encounter) we walked through a little walkway with colorful parrots and got pictures of everyone with the parrots. Finally our tour got started and we all piled onto a nice bus and drove for about 20 minutes. We got to the sea life park at about noon and had lunch – hot dogs, pizza, and fries. After that we saw a dolphin show and then got ready to get in the water with the dolphins. We waited in the small pool for about 15 minutes but the dolphin (Belle) didn’t want to go into that pool so we all went into the big pool (she didn’t want to come to us so we went to her). We all got to pet her as she swam by and got to shake “fins” with her and get a kiss. It was so amazing to be up close and personal with a dolphin! We got to play and swim with her as well – we even had a water fight (which she won!). After the encounter we got to play on the water slides for a while and then shop in the gift shop before getting back on the bus. We were worn out! Meanwhile the boys found a shop to rent bikes from and had a wonderful ride. We all met back on the ship and rested in our rooms for a little while. We all went to dinner and celebrated Drew’s third birthday complete with cake, gifts, and Cars tattoos! After dinner we walked around for a little bit and called it an early night. Gallery.

Mexican Riviera Cruise Day 4

Day 4: March 17th, 2009 - At Sea Day

We all got up around 8:00 a.m. and went up to breakfast at the Mermaid Grill with everyone. It was St. Patrick’s Day so we all made sure to dress in green. Sadie went to kid’s camp and played pirates. I went to a talk about shopping in the ports while Jim went to the lido deck and saw lots of dolphins swimming in the ocean. We met up again with everyone at Mermaid Grill and ate pizza, fruit, and ice cream cones. The weather was warmer so we went and hung out by the pool – the kids all got in and played in the pool while I sipped a Pina Coloda. After just hanging out and relaxing we went to the room to clean up. Sadie and I joined Jen, Hailey, and Drew for Tea Time in the Florentine lounge. The kids got juice while Jen and I had tea. They had scones, sandwiches, and all sorts of pastries. We went to dinner and ate too much like usual. Everyone wore their St. Patrick’s Day flare. After dinner we called it an early night and had Sadie in bed by 8:45 p.m. Gallery.

Mexican Riviera Cruise Day 3

Day 3: March 16th, 2009 - At Sea Day

This morning Sadie and I woke up at about 7:30 a.m. but Jim was still sleeping so we went into the bathroom to change and get ready. We went up to the lido deck and checked out the weather – it was about 65* still cool but getting warmer. We found the others already at breakfast and went down to wake up Jim. He was already awake and ready and we all went up to the Mermaid Grill for breakfast. Sadie wasn’t ready to go to the kid’s club yet so she went exploring the ship with Jim and me. We checked out the shops, the gym/spa, the pools, and some of the lounges. At the pool Sadie took her shoes off and waded in the water – it was cold but she didn’t care.
We met everyone at the Mermaid Grill for lunch and then we all went to the kid’s club for a family activity: Build-a-bear! The kids each picked an animal and an outfit and we filled the bears ourselves. Sadie chose a black bear and a cute sailor girl outfit. Her name is Taylor the sailor! We went back to our room for a few minutes and then Sadie went to the kid’s club for a few hours. She got to play the Wii and paint t-shirts. Meanwhile Jim and I got to check out the ship on our own and explore the casino.
We picked up Sadie from camp and went back to the room to get ready for formal night. We met in Mimi and Grandpa’s room before dinner and had a drink and Mimi gave some gift bags with underwater cameras, St. Patrick’s Day beads and braclets for Jen and me. The kids got goggles and St. Patrick’s Day headbands. The dinner that night was amazing (steak & lobster). Once again the kids got to dance with the waiters and we all had fun. We went back to the room and changed Sadie out of her formal for kid’s night. After we dropped her off at camp we went to a show. The Kid’s camp had the kids 6 and older go to the show so we got to wave to Sadie from our seats – she liked seeing the show with her new friends. The show was wonderful – great singing and dancing. After the show Sadie got to go to a kid’s party and Jim and I hung out in the casino. We picked up Sadie at 10:30 p.m. and we were all in bed by 11:30 p.m.
Gallery.

Mexican Riviera Cruise Day 2

Day 2: March 15th, 2009 - Boarding the ship

Today started out with breakfast in the hotel with everyone. I gave everyone in the family gift bags for the cruise filled with things they might need (laundry bag, highlighters, post-it notes, nightlight, air freshener, Spanish for dummies book, Sudoku and crossword puzzle books, and tropical picture frames). The kids got bubbles, a dry erase board, some stickers, and highlighters. The gifts went over well. After breakfast Jen and I ran across the street to a little clothing shop and bought some hoodie jackets (it was still cool out). Then we all got onto a shuttle and went to the port to board our cruise ship.
We got to the cruise ship terminal and checked in on the Queen Mary (the old cruise ship is now stationary and has a museum and a hotel in it). We all wished we had more time to tour the Queen Mary but maybe next time. After checking in we went to our waiting area and waited. It took quite a while because they were also switching staff (which they do every 90 days). But we enjoyed ourselves on a little grassy area – the weather was sunny and warming up. The kids entertained everyone with their bubbles and made friends with other kids.
At about 2:00 p.m. we finally got onto the ship – The Carnival Pride. We went up to the lido deck and ate lunch at the buffet called the Mermaid’s Grill. After lunch we all went to our rooms to rest and unpack. Our room was #1172 on the Riviera deck. It was very nice and roomy and it was wonderful to have a window to look out of. When we were unpacked and rested we split up. Jim went with the boys to get a drink and Jen and I took the kids to the Camp Carnival registration to register the kids for the kid’s camp. We filled out all the forms and got all the information we needed then we went to meet everyone for dinner. Our table was #280 and was in the captain’s club (which is a smaller, quieter room just off the main dining room. Our waiters were wonderful! Every night they danced and sang for us – they always pulled our kids up to dance with them as well! After dinner we walked around and explored the ship a bit and then went back to our cabin and let the boat rock us to sleep. Check out the gallery

Mexican Riviera Cruise Day 1

Day 1: March 14th, 2009 Flying to Long Beach

We started our trip with a plane ride to Long Beach, California. It was a quick and uneventful flight and we were on the ground 1 ½ hour later at 5:30 p.m. The weather was cool and we hoped it would warm up on the cruise. We took the hotel shuttle to the hotel and checked in (Best Western Long Beach). We met up with Mimi and Grandpa who had gotten in earlier and walked to a Mexican restaurant for some tacos and rice - a good start to our Mexican vacation. We went back to the hotel and visited some more with Mimi & Grandpa and waited for Jen, Paul, Hailey, and Drew to come in. When they finally arrived we visited for a few minutes and then went to bed.