Manzanillo

Today, Friday, we are in Manzanillo.  But, before we get there, I'll talk about the big event from last evening.  At the Oceania Club party, we were officially welcomed into the President's Circle.  It is perhaps a little illogical to say that we were honored by this since we are the ones that invested a lot of our kids' inheritance to get there.  Nonetheless, it was quite a thrill.  Here we are with Captain Leo, Future Cruise Consultant Jennifer, and General Manager Victor.

Now, on to Manzanillo.  We took an Oceania excursion - Cuyutlan Turtle Experience.  It was about a 40 minute ride to the village of Cuyutlan and the Tortugario Ecological Center.  

There they care for endangered sea turtles and gather the eggs from the beach to protect them from people who illegally gather them for sale.  When the eggs are hatched the turtles are distributed to the sea.  For some reason,  taking photos of the turtles is not allowed, but it was not well enforced and I took a few.

 

These are the sand beds where the eggs are buried.

They also have crocodiles and iguanas at the center.  Yes, the croc was wearing a yarmulka as he was getting ready for Shabbos.

I was able to take a short walk along the boardwalk in the mangrove forest.

After the visit to the turtle center, we were taken into Cuyutlan for a lunch of cerveza, guacamole, and tacos.

After lunch, we walked down to the beach front.

The final stop was the Salt Museum where we learned about the history of salt processing in the area and watched them filling 55 kilogram sacks of salt.  The salt is certified kosher and lower in sodium than normal salt.

It was an interesting excursion though somewhat exhausting in the heat.

Tomorrow, it's a return to Puerto Vallarta which we visited last October.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry

Mazatlan

Like yesterday, today's post will be rather brief which is probably a relief to some!  Last night was a beautiful evening so we decided to eat outside at the buffet restaurant.  Unfortunately, we missed the best part of the sunset, but captured the end of it.

Today we were docked in Mazatlan.  From the port, we took a taxi into the old town where we were dropped off by the Pino Suarez Market.  We did our usual walk around, checking out the local foods.  Check out the shrimp which Mazatlan is supposed to be known for.

 

After the market, we walked over to the cathedral.

There was a nice park by the cathedral with a little boy who was enjoying feeding the pigeons.

It was then time to find some shrimp for lunch.  We walked a few blocks to a restaurant that I found on Google Maps.  But, despite Google Maps saying that it was open, it was not.  By that point we were hot enough to give up the hunt and grab a taxi back to the ship.

Tomorrow, our port of call is Manzanillo.  Until then,

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry

La Paz

Our 2 largely uneventful days at sea were highlighted by dinner with Captain Leo and his wife, Linda's $81 bingo win and a lovely sunset as we sailed past Cabo San Lucas.

Today, Wednesday, we were in La Paz, Mexico.  Actually, we were docked in the rather unattractive Puerto De Pichilingue.

We had originally booked an Oceania Excursion but cancelled it because we decided that it might be too much walking and standing for Linda.  Life is full of adjustments.  Instead, we took the shuttle bus into La Paz and spent about an hour walking and sitting along the Malecon, the waterfront.

Tomorrow we will be in Mazatlan where we plan on doing another walk around.

Until then, peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry

Mexico Here We Come

Let's start with the important news first.  Per the original schedule, Linda's hip replacement was not supposed to happen until September 11th.  Thankfully, after a visit to the doctor last week, the surgery was pushed up to May 13th!  That's just a little over 3 weeks away.  What a relief.

We boarded a cruise ship in Los Angeles yesterday and today we are docked in San Diego.  Can you guess which of these cruise ships we are on?

Okay, no surprise here.  We are on the Oceania Regatta.  We are definitely not Disney fanatics so we passed on the ship full of kids in favor of the ship full of old folks.  We now fit right in!

Today, in San Diego, I started the day with a jog along the waterfront.  Then, later in the morning, we took a short walk along the waterfront.

We decided to get lunch on shore and selected the Brigantine at Portside Pier.  It's at a nice, new development with several restaurants.  Those of you who are old time San Diego visitors might remember the location as the former Anthony's.

As some of you know, Linda has a big birthday coming up in 2 weeks.  After lunch, I surprised her with the yacht I bought her for the big occasion!  Yes, it was a little out of my price range, but she is worth it.

After today, we have 2 sea days before our first Mexican port of call, La Paz.  This is a milestone Oceania cruise for us - reaching 60 cruise credits, we are now members of the Presidents Circle.  You might ask what that gets us.  The 2 big perks are free unlimited alcohol and free unlimited laundry.  So now, when Linda gets sloppy drunk, I don't have to pay for the clean up!  Watch out for photos of Linda in a sloppy drunk state in upcoming blog entries.  Okay, you'll be waiting a long time.

Till then, peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry