Day 5 is Sea day. Now if this was a 7 day cruise we'd be getting the notification in our stateroom about disembarkation. But lucky us we are doing a 15 day cruise so no worries.
Doing our usual Sea day stuff and they have sushi in the Horizon Court. Woo hoo!
And Johnny hangs out with childhood friend at the bar and catch up.
Sushi poolside and Production show is Tyler Bryce/One Man Many Voices. He was super entertaining young guy who not only impersonates but is very funny. What I liked about him is, instead of doing a whole song, he would do snippets of every one so it was very paced paced.
Day 6 is Huatulco Mexico. I meet 2 new friends on Cruise Critic to join us for our excursion. We have 8 people for a private excursion which is a private boat all day long. We go to 2 places to snorkel and lunch on a remote island with a bunch of restaurants along the beach. During the day we cruised along with the whales, saw giant sea turtles, dolphins, flying stingrays and plenty of fish. A great day!! Best Huatulco tours
I love Puerto Vallarta. It's one of my favorite places to go and I feel totally safe there. In fact, I probably feel safer there than I do in the U.S.
Walking from the ship to the street you can look up and see these umbrellas.
Today I signed up for the "CountrySide & Tequila Tasting" tour. The reason I signed up for it is because my friend has an Almond flavored tequila and said this was the only place you could get it. No stores, no on line orders, nowhere, nada. Actually I had a few friends tell me this was the best tour. This Almond tequila was so smooth and didn't burn your throat when it went down. So off we go, 6 of us, to go to Hacienda Doña Engracia.
But first we go down to the ocean for some great views and history.
Then we go downtown to City Hall and the famous Cathedral that we have seen before, but it's part of the tour. Stop by a jewelry store where I ogle high priced jewelry but don't buy any. The only jewelry I buy is off the street vendors because I just need something light, colorful and cheap. Plus I'm supporting the locals. The tile store is Tile Heaven. They have great stuff and even better prices. We buy a cool tile picture frame and on our way.
Next stop ..... Tequila! It's about a 30 minute drive to the Hacienda. We walk through and listen to them talk about how they distill and make the tequila, and then on to a room where we take a seat and taste test the tequila. I'm not a big tequila drinker so tell them...muy paquito. One of our traveling partners doesn't drink so those shot go to husby. I'm waiting for the Almond. But wait.... there's more. There are 2 more flavors....Coffee and Peach. I'm thinking, how many can I take home. The flavored ones are $45 each. The regular tequilas like reposado and others are a little more. My sister surprises me by buying the Almond and regular tequila, so I decide to buy the Coffee and my husby gets one for him. 4 tequilas later and bubble wrapped, we are hoping not to weigh the suitcases down!
My Stash
Then we go over to an eating area for some quick bites. I think the street tacos were 3 for $5. We ask for the vegetarian ones and order a Peach Margarita as it's a pretty hot day. We get to keep the cute little hand made mugs that are dated.
Me and my Sis.
Our Cute little cups you keep.
Since we went to the Tequila factory, theres no need to hit the Walmart for more Tequila. We are pretty packed. So we browse through the mart close by and I buy some really cool yellow and silver earrings for a cool $20. Into my ears they go because I don't pack earrings. I buy them on my trips and wear them through the cruise.
Awesome day in Puerto Vallarta as usual! Until next time PV.
Wake up and go to Breakfast. Might be the restaurant, International Cafe and/or World Market Cafe which is the Buffet. I like to get the Avocado/Slice hard boiled egg w/creme cheese and bread from the IC and take to the buffet. I've learned to not over indulge in breakfast just because there is a lot of food. I stop and think....would I eat this much at home? So I take the Avocado bread and pair with fruit/muffin/ hard boiled egg and OJ w/my favorite.....coffee.
Zumba. Another reason not to eat a big breakfast. I go to Zumba after and meet my sister for fun. Lucy is the best teacher ever. I wish I could take her home!
Then I go back to the room to get husby and we head up to the gym. We do treadmill or elliptical for 30 minutes and 15 minutes of machines.
Now I don't feel so bad for chilling the rest of the day.
3 days I have 1/2 day Sanctuary where we literally relax the whole afternoon. Sanctuary is from 1:00pm to 5:00pm and you have to reserve the lounger on the first day. $20 for the half day. You get a special healthy menu and Afternoon Tea around 3:30 pm. They bring finger sandwiches/ sweets and scones w/ jam. YUM!
If I'm not doing Sanctuary then we hang out with friends by the bar or pool deck. We drink, talk, play games, and whatever else comes to mind.
Evening is usually Dinner in the restaurant and Production show at 9:30pm.
And this is why we Zumba and work out . 😃
Day 2 is "Magic to do Show" always good
Day 3 is Magician RJ Cantu. Another great show
Something we did for the first time after 10 cruises is go to the Art Auction.
That's because we walked past the Art Gallery every time we went to our room. Plus they had free champagne. We didn't buy anything because the prices were well over $1500. And plus I'm thinking, where we will put this? Sure it's cool, but it doesn't really go with our style of house and I didn't come on here to buy art. So we stayed as long as we could (people were leaving because it went on for way too long). I had to follow suit when it was an hour and a half in and I was getting antsy. Plus there was something else I wanted to do and I wasn't sure how long this was going to be. It was definitely too long and I doubt I would do that again.
Me and Lori decided to explore the ship and discovered "Skywalkers Lounge". A really cool bar at the aft of the ship. Quiet, peaceful, and this is where the Platinum/Elite people meet every evening from 5:00 - 7:00 pm . Personally I think it should be a little earlier because this is when people are going to dinner and they serve appetizers and discounted drinks. I think it should be like a 3:00 - 4:00 kind of thing.
The day has arrived. The pier is about 1 and 1/2 hours away so no air flights needed. I try to make it easy for everyone so I ask my daughter to drive us to the flyaway, and she offers to take us all the way to the airport. About 45 minutes drive to the airport, (thank you dear daughter) and we go to the first terminal for "Arrivals" baggage claim area and see the familiar Princess reps with their blue vests on and clipboards in hand. After we check in we wait about 30 minutes or so for the first motor coach to arrive. Our driver is a one man comedy show all the way down and working hard for his tips. Once we get off we give our bags to the porter to check in and another tip. Let me tell you, it is well worth it. No one else was doing it, and you have to check your big bags in. You can only take your carry on with you.
Seamless check in and off we go to the TSA check (only it's not TSA but similar to it) and meet up with my sister and friends. Lucky us we are Platinum so we get priority embarkation, but only after all the elites go on first. 5 more cruises and we get to be the smug ones!
Our room isn't ready yet so we hoof it up to the Sanctuary, because lesson learned if you read my previous review on Mexico, we didn't get there fast enough and lounge chairs were sold out. When you get there you get a ticket like at BaskinRobbins and wait for your number to be called. While we were waiting, my husband says...."Hey I went to school with that guy over there". And also if you have read my previous posts, you know my husband has this weird facial recognition thing. So he walks over there and yep.....40 years later he says "Mark? I went to high school and grade school with you". Well knock him over with a feather because he remembers him (of course with out the grey hair) and can't believe that he recognizes him. He was on there with his wife and we meet up with them throughout the cruise, and have the best time with them. This was definitely the cruise of friends and family.
THE SANCTUARY
After reserving the lounge chairs for 3 different afternoons for 6 people, we decide to find our room. This one is definitely one my favorite, secret places. We have an oceanview on the Promenade Deck #5. Let me tell you why it is my fave. It's really quiet. You go past the Piazza through the Art Gallery and through a side door opening to get to your cabin. There is a wall between the hallway and everything else. The international cafe is literally 20 cabins away, great for waking up and walking over to the IC for coffee and possibly breakfast. The Good Spirits Bar is right next to that, and a few more steps to the dining room for dinner. Everything is close by. When you need to get off on port day you just go down one flight of stairs, and that really makes a difference when you are getting back on board and everyone is taking the elevator. We just go up 1 flight of stairs and we are home. Also the Theatre is up one flight of stairs. So after the late show when you are tired, you just go down one flight and bam, you are home. Big secret, don't tell anyone.
We check out the room, head out to lunch, meet all our friends and wait for the sailaway party. We have a great group on this cruise. My sister and her good friend, my other sister and her husband, my brother in laws friend (couple whose wife happens to be a mutual friend from many years ago), another traveling friend of ours and 2 new friends from the Sanctuary. Cruises are a lot more fun with friends and family.
Me and My Sis
We all meet up in the dining room. Sometimes we make reservations, sometimes we don't. It's never a problem getting a table.
We go to the late show in the theatre for the Showtime with Comedian. Just let me say ...... I usually am super happy with all the shows and appreciate all the great performers. This one....not so much. He wasn't so much of a comedian that we usually see, but more his experiences where he went performing shows. People were falling asleep, leaving, not laughing. It was bad. I didn't want to leave all though I really wanted to. One friend sneakily left, then my sister started scooting out one chair at a time, and then snuck out, and when she did the people that she had to pass thanked her because it was their out too. We were pretty tired after that so went straight to bed.
Tomorrow is sea day and I'm ready for a relaxing day.
Pretty much every Sea Day is kind of the same for me. And we have 2 days before my fave Puerto Vallarta. I get up, eat breakfast, go to Zumba ( which by the way Lucy is the best ever Zumba teacher), me and hubby then go to the gym for about 45 minutes, go back take shower, then the rest of the day is relaxing where ever we want to. Sometimes by the pool, sometimes it's our Sanctuary days, and sometimes we just meet up with friends by the pool and have a drink and/or play games. Tonight is the Production show "Magic to Do".
Me and my sister go exploring the ship because every ship is a little different. This ship has Skywalker Lounge at the very aft of the ship. There's music and dancing at night, and Platinum and Elite members get it every night from 5-7 pm for discounted drinks and special appetizers. Hubby likes the pretzels.
Pool Side Drinks
After dinner dessert
Lounging in the Private Sanctuary at the front of the ship
And Johnny hangs out with childhood friend at the bar and catch up. 
