Majestic Princess Cruises, 11/27 to 12/11/21

We finally cruised again; it had been since December, 2019! We chose the Majestic Princess out of San Pedro to the Mexican Riviera. Primarily it was because we had future cruise credits with Princess (since canceled us in 2020) and this is one of their newer ships. It was beautiful. We had a mini-suite for the whole 2 weeks.

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  Beautiful chandelier

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  Ocean view walk

The first week, there were 6 others from our community and we spent a little time with them, plus a few Cruise Critic, new friends. But primarily we stayed to ourselves, socially distanced with masks on when not eating or drinking. It was a fun 2 weeks. The ship was only 44% full, so plenty of space. We ate at the buffet, outdoor sites, sit down dining and 3 specialty dining rooms. Of the 3, we only liked the Crown Grill Steak House.

Specialty dining with friends.

The ports were the 3 that we have visited many times. We felt more comfortable staying on the ship; but did get off in Puerto Vallarta. This was only briefly to visit with our favorite tour guide, AZ. He has become a friend, since first taking a tour with him, several years ago. Always good to see him and hope to tour with him next time.

We also took advantage of the Chef’s Table. It is a very expensive ($115 each), deluxe experience. We had extra On Board Credit (OBC) to spend, so decided this was the time. It was a great experience, but too much food, very rich food and fancier than our tastes. We also spent OBC on a birthday gift for Jim, some really nice binoculars, on gambling in the casino, and a couple of t-shirts for me.

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Due to my leg problems, I took a walker. It made it a lot easier to get around, and walk the long hallways. Really missed using the stairs, however. The seat did come in handy for transporting my meals at the buffet. In addition for taking our cocktails back to the room at night!!

Our favorite bar on the ship, was the one deck above the Piazza with view of the band stage and dance floor, Good Spirits at Sea. We were able to get a table for 2 by the railing, most of the time. The 2 bartenders, Leonard and Alan and the 2 waiters, Dylan and Vlady got to know us very well and kept our drinks coming!

Finally on the last day of the cruise, the crew started decorating for the Holidays. There were some small trees, many wreathes, plus. The big tree in the Piazza came after we left the ship.

It was very festive, and a nice way to say goodbye for the time being. We will be back on the Majestic in early March!

Royal Princess cruise with friends

Our Royal Princess cruise to the Mexican Riviera started on December 14, for 7 days.  Jim’s cousin Dale and wife Diana came down from Stockton to join us and 7 other friends.  They stayed a couple of days prior and 1 day after.  We went to Huntington Beach on the 13th to see the big waves and 5 of the group came over to join us for a pre-cruise party of pizza and drinks.

We had set up the cruise with 2 friends, Tom and Debbie, who we play pickleball with and Ukulele jam, then extended invitation to others.  Most of the group did not know everyone going, but we all had a great time and got to become friends.

All 11 at same table

Waiting for dinner

Piazza lighting of Christmas Tree

The best port was Puerto Vallarta, since we had set up a tour with our good friend, Azael (AZ).  He has been our tour guide many times and fun to spend time with him.  All especially enjoyed our time at Chico’s Paradise:  the scenery, margaritas, guacamole and diver.  Also, Diana checked something off her bucket list.  She did 5 stations of zip lining and most were visible from the restaurant.  We all cheered her on and said she was our hero.  Unfortunately, our photos and video of her do not upload on this page.

Viewpoint above PV with AZ

Huge margaritas and great food

Dale watching from Diana on Zip line

Rushing river at Chico’s

All of us with smiles on faces

In Matzalan, some of us just went to a bar at the terminal area, others went to Old Town.  In Cabo, only 2 left the ship.  Other fun times were had at a table by the pool and LCR games.  John and Maddy had a suite large enough for all of us to get in an oval to play this dice game.  Lots of laughs.

All of us are in this photo

Matzalan bar

Laughter at LCR

Diana shaking the dice

It was a fun cruise; all got along and liked each other and no one got sick!!  Thanks to everyone, including AZ and our great Princess crew.  Happy Holidays!

Ruby Princess Cruise

We were home one day after the November 28 evacuation, in time to get ready for our 7 day cruise on the Ruby Princess, starting December 1.  Actually, we had packed for both the evacuation and the cruise, in case we couldn’t come back home.  That was a hectic packing day!!  The cruise had been planned for several months, as I said to celebrate Jim’s 75th BD.  There were going to be 12 of us, including Jim’s sister and husband and his cousin, Dale ( who also turned 75 early in the fall) and wife and some friends.  Dale and Diana had to drop out because she was undergoing chemo for breast cancer.  Then sister JoAnn got pneumonia and was in the hospital right before the cruise.  Finally our good travel friends and neighbors, Peggy and Craig, couldn’t go because he was terribly sick.  He ended up in the hospital in ICU a couple of days after the cruise started.  He is still in the hospital, but out of ICU; they can’t diagnose him!  We are really worried about him.  JoAnn is better, but Diana is still undergoing chemo.

So, the cruise was to be a really joyous celebration with family and friends, but it seemed to have a shadow hanging over it.  Then added to that, the bad news from home described in my previous blog post:  Mud/Debris flow.  We had paid for an upgrade to a Premium suite, really nice, so we enjoyed that.  And despite the bad news, we stayed healthy and had some fun times with the 4 friends (Maddy and John and Joyce and Jana) who went with us; plus Cruise Critic contacts.

Very large balcony

We had 2 separate rooms

We could look into the Bridge!

We just enjoyed the ship!

Also large sitting area

In Mazatlan, we got off the ship, but just as far as the bar at the port.  Had some great Margaritas and listened to music and watched dancers.  Heard a new song (not Mexican) that is a hoot.  “Alice” by Smokey.  You can get it on YouTube, I won’t attach because there is a curse word.  Really funny, anyway.

Family of dancers

Jim buying beers at the port bar

Another selfie at the bar

We had set up a tour in Puerto Vallarta with our friend and fun tour guide, Azael (AZ).  He drove one van with 10 of us and 9 others were with his co-worker, Hector.  We did our usual itinerary of spots to visit south of town, especially enjoying drinks and food at Chico’s Paradise.  Everyone really enjoyed the day and said it was the highlight of the cruise.  Good to see AZ again.

All of the 19 in vans in PV with AZ

With AZ at viewpoint

Enjoying Margaritas and food

More of the gang at Chico’s Paradise

Joan and Chris climbed out on rocks

Joan took this photo

Us at Viewpoint

We have done this 7 day Mexican Riviera cruise many times, but we always enjoy the ship and our time in Puerta Vallarta.  If anyone is going to PV, we will be glad to give info on contacting AZ.   He has many other tours available, speaks good English, is fun, and not hard to look at!  Hasta la vista!

 

Thirteen days on the Crown Princess

On September 20, we boarded the Crown with Peggy and Craig in a heavy downpour.  US Customs was done right there in the Vancouver port.  Both couples had mini-suites, next to each other.  The men also paid for all-inclusive drink package for the 3 day cruise to LA.  They had done this also on the Coral Princess.  The ladies helped them a little (a few sips here and there!).  The package also included the fancy coffee drinks that Peggy enjoys.  Jim decided after these 10 days of being able to drink as much as he wanted, that it was not such a good thing.  Hee Hee.  Anyway, it was easier to get what you wanted and when you wanted it.

The three days to LA were nonstop and pretty relaxing.  Both Jim and I had mild colds (4 days and not really sick) on the Coral.  Unfortunately, Peggy got a worse case and had quite a cough on most of this trip.  Now that we are platinum on Princess, we get free wifi; even on this 3 days we had 150 minutes each, so plenty for that short period of time.  On the 10, that followed, we got 250 minutes.

In LA, Peggy and Craig left the ship, along with 4 other friends that we know from our home.  Since we had already done customs, we were able to stay on board.  We did change cabins, however and downsized to a balcony.  The cabin was quite a bit smaller, but the balcony was wider.

The September 23 to October 3 portion of the B2B cruises was the Mexican Riviera with a couple of new ports.  We first stopped in San Diego.  We got off the ship briefly to go to Rite Aid pharmacy.  Jim was not feeling well, so we paid a motorized pedicab $20 for the 1 mile round trip ride!  I thought his cold had come back, but it was more digestive problems.  He actually ate very little and did not drink that night.  The next day, he rested and we both ate very little; we even skipped the formal night.  This day was at sea.

On the 26th we anchored at Cabo San Lucas.  I did not feel well, so stayed on ship (been in Cabo many times).  Jim went ashore for a few beers with some new Cruise Critic friends: John and Suzanne and Jim and Debbie.

Senor Frogs in Cabo with friends

That day was mostly rest and very little food for me.  Jim was already better, so a quick “bug.”  It continued into that night and next day for me with worse symptoms, but no fever or nausea.  Anyway….. I was able to join the group briefly in La Paz on the 27th.  The extreme heat and humidity didn’t help!

La Paz cafe for beer and chips

I rested in the afternoon and felt pretty good in the evening.  So, just something quick.  Unfortunately the other Jim had a little bit of it later, but no one else.

Loreto was our next port and it was an anchor and tender in port.  Again, very hot and humid.  We paid a pedicab $5 to take us to center of town.  We are definitely not getting enough exercise during the last few days!!  Found our friends again for beers and chips!  We had been looking forward to experiencing La Paz and Loreto for the first time, but not such a great experience with illness and the extreme heat.  Maybe get another chance.

While at sea, the next day, we learned that John and Suzanne play Euchre, our favorite card game for 4 people.  We played several games during the next few days.  Also taught Jim and Debbie and found a 4th couple 2 days later.  That night, we joined John and Suzanne for the special dinner at Crab Shack; glad I was recovered enough to pig out on crab!

Crab Shack

As with the last 2 visits to Puerta Vallarta, we had scheduled to do a tour with 8 others with our favorite taxi driver/tour guide, AZ.  At the Cruise Critic Meet ‘n Greet we found 10 others and emailed with AZ to get another van and driver.  We met up with the 2 of them at 10 am on the 30th and had a really fun day.  All 20 of us enjoyed the tour and our drivers (Manuel was AZ’s friends).  We visited a tequila factory, ate and drank at Chico’s paradise and had a tour of the city with viewpoints.

Our guide, AZ

Our van friends at Los Arcos

Tequila Factory, tasting time

Chico’s Paradise

After leaving PV, we had 2 days at sea, before returning to LA.  We played more Euchre and even taught some friends about LCR and got a few rounds going.  The Cruise Critic friends that we got to know and spent time with were really fun and hope to keep in contact.  As my footnote, I am posting another beautiful sunset.  Our best to all.

Sunset near La Paz