Mexican Riviera Cruise

Royal Caribbean - Vision of the Seas
April 24 - May 1, 2005

Jim and I planned a Mexican Riviera cruise
with my sister Joan and her husband Tony...
we had a great time!

The Ship



Sunday...
Our ship was scheduled to sail at 5:00 pm but was delayed.
There was an engine fire on the previous cruise and our cruise was almost canceled.
We finally set sail around 8:00 pm with 3 of the 4 engines working.

Boarding the ship...

Our cabin (#3562)
(it was adjoined to Joan and Tony's)


Me!

Cathy & Joan

Life Boat Drill... (fun fun fun)

Dinner Sunday night...


Monday... Sea Day

Hanging out at the pool sipping the drink of the day...
Jim, Cathy & Joan

Cathy, Joan & Tony

The pool...

Monday night dinner...(1st formal night)








At the end of the night our room steward always had a towel animal waiting for us on our bed...lol

Tuesday... Cabo San Lucas

We arrived in Cabo at 1:00pm (almost 3 hours late) due to the engine problems the ship was having. The Port was almost canceled all together, but our ship docked in closer than any ship ever has and the guests were tendered off the ship within 1 hour (which is a record). It was like a cattle call getting off the ship, but well worth it in the long run.

view of Cabo from the ship...

Waiting to get off the ship in Cabo...


FINALLY in Cabo...


We didn't book an excursion in Cabo for obvious reasons... so when we got off the ship we found a guy that organized the ship excursions for the horse back riding on the beach. He hooked us up with 4 horses and a guide through an exclusive beach resort. So, the 4 of us went horseback riding on the beach. Joan and I were a little leary of the horses, but ended up having a great time.

There are the horses!

My first time on a horse (other than the picture I took on one when I was 5!)

Ready to ride
Jim, Joan, Cathy & Tony

Half way done... on our way back now
Jim, Cathy, Joan & Tony

Beautiful view of our ship from the beach where we were riding.



The Navy ship that was protecting our ship while in port...
since 911 there is a US Navy ship in every port to ensure safety while docked.



Jim



Cathy...



& Joan... in the new hats we just bought from a beach vendor! lol



Jim & Tony in a little Cabo restaurant recommended by the locals.



Joan & Cathy



FUN in CABO!!! LOL



Tony
(Warning... picture may be offensive to some-sorry-lol)



What does that sign say? LOL



Tony & Jim



Dinner Tuesday night...






Joan...
Our husbands went to bed early and Joan and I tore up the dance floor for the "Country Night" dance party...
We had a blast! ...and YES, I did say COUNTRY DANCE PARTY! Yeeee HA! =)



After the dancing we hit the casino for some fun there!





... and I won $1,000 when I got a Royal Flush playing Draw Poker!



Our towel animal for the night...



Wednesday... Mazatlan

Our plan for Mazatlan was to go shopping and hang out on the beach.

Taxi ride from the ship to the shopping/beach area...


Jim on the beach...

...and Cathy

"should we para-sail????
Nah - it was a little too windy and cool...

Jim

Jim & Cathy

Joe's Oyster Bar...
...going to have a drink and some munchies!

JIm & Cathy

Joan & Tony

Yummy Pina Coladas!

Sir Frogs!


Back to the ship and our to the pool!
Jim...


















Before dinner we took some fun pictures...


Wednesday night dinner...
Here we are with Miya, our waitress, with her assistant Virginia




Thursday... Puerto Vallarta

Joan and I had a great time on our "Beach Break" excursion while Jim and Tony spent the day acting like tarzan in "Canopy Adventure" excursion.... unfortunately, I was the only one with a camera that day-lol...


Sisters!...


"Paradise Village Resort"... Joan and I stayed at the resort all day and hung out at the private beach, relaxed by the pool, had a great lunch, a few cocktails and shopped as the venders on the beach brought things to us that we wanted to buy! What a great day!

the beach...

Joan shopping for anklets...
we bought a lot of those!

Hanging on the beach!

It was beautiful!

The pool had a waterslide I KNOW the kids would have loved!

Joan in the pool...

Back to the ship... Jim decides to climb the ROCK WALL!
(After his day of adventure in the jungle, he was already tired!)





And he rings the bell!

Thursday night dinner... Us

Joan & Tony

Our table mates from Pennsylvania, Krissy & Donna

Our table mates from Utah, Sterling & Elizabeth

After dinner was a big "Sail Away" party on the pool deck
with lots of music and a big buffet...
oh, and plenty of drinks including jell-o shooters!
Here we are posing with our captain...

Jim & Cathy at the party...

Joan & Cathy


Jim & Joan

...and the towel animal once again...lol

Friday... Sea Day

We had planned to spend Friday and Saturday laying on deck enjoying the sun... but it was 60 degrees, clowdy, cold and VERY windy... so we just hung out on the ship...

Ice carving demonstration...


It's a woman...lol

Friday night dinner... 2nd formal night
Jim & Cathy

Tony & Joan

Cathy & Joan


Our Group

At midnight they had the Gala Buffet...
The food preparation was awesome to see... Here is an overview of the buffet.

Tired and VERY full... lol

Our favorite towel animal of all! LOL

Saturday... Sea Day

Once again, a very cold windy day...
We spent the day taking pictures of the ship,
playing cards and hanging out at the Solarium INDOOR pool...

Jim... on a very lazy morning!

Hanging out in the Solarium...

BINGO TIme! The grand prize was $7,500!
We didn't win =(

Around the ship - taking pictures!
Here is the Grand Atrium... it was gorgeous!

Jim at the entrance to the Casino...
although Joan and I spent more time in there than Jim & Tony did! LOL

Internet Cafe...
we sent daily emails back and forth to Jill & the kids...

Masquerade Thearter...

The Solarium with an indoor pool...


The Scooner Bar...
We sat and listened to the piano player
and had drinks before dinner in this bar.

Sports Deck... Jim ran on the track almost nightly...

The stairs... where we got a LOT of excercise daily!!! LOL... 6 flights up to the pool!

The very last sunset...

Jim and our awesome cabin steward.

Jim checking his baseball stats in the internet cafe before dinner...

Saturday day night...
Drinks in the Scooner Bar before dinner.



Taking pictures around the ship...


It's the Deckers!

Dinner...

Tony & Joan

The sisters!

Krissy & Donna

Elizabeth & Sterling

Miya (our waitress) and her husband (our cocktail waiter)

Mark, our favorite poolside cocktail waiter!

Packed up and ready to go by 11pm Saturday night...

Friday... Time to go home...


Jim...

Waiting to get off the ship...

still waiting!

Finally going through imigration.

All of our luggage! LOL