A 10-day cruise to the Mexican Riviera

Two contrasty trips. Adios, bong voyage.

Have a great time on that cruise, CI. Look forward to your photos.

And then Bhutan, - maybe I'll read up a bit while you're travelling. All I know about it is that is where Bhutan Red Rice comes from.

now in los mochis for a few hours. took free bus into town. sorry for no caps, but this keyboard is greek, so you{ll have to forgive me. the group i usually spend with all went on the copper canyon tour today, but they had to get up at 3am for their bus to the train station some miles away from the port. they{re spending 18 hours on this tour, and that sounded more like torture than pleasure, so i skipped it. otherwise the trp has been wonderful with good food and sites. will try to write when i get home, but i{ll be leaving again in three days after i arrive home, i{m not sure i{ll have time to post any pictures. till later.

Okay, here’s the Mexican Riviera cruise travelogue with some pictures. The first three days were cruising days from San Diego to Puerto Vallarta. The temperature ranged from 72 degrees F to 92 degrees F, although some times it felt more like it was over 100 with very high humidity - at 100%.

My wife and I did a Mexican Riviera cruise about 25 years ago, and visited some of the same ports, but our cruise started in Acapulco to San Francisco.

I flew from San Jose to San Diego on Wednesday, October 22nd, and returned home on November 1st.


The San Diego skyline from the ms Rymdam.

Oh, good, photos..

This is the itinerary for our cruise.


This is the first sunset on the ship.


Our stateroom was on the Main Deck.


A sign in Puerto Vallarta.


I took this picture as we passed by.


This is one of many beaches in Puerto Vallarta, but one happens to be one of the better ones.


This is where we enjoyed some margaritas.


This is where some scenees from The Night of the Iguanas were shot.


We visited a taquila factory.


We enjoyed a great lunch at this restaurant recommended by our driver-guide of Puerto Vallarta. We had a seafood plate of lobster, shrimp, and crawfish - and some margaritas.


Our driver-guide took us into old town where we crossed this suspension bridge to visit some shops. Morris and I stopped at one of those quaint bars for a cerveza.


I'll continue with some pictures of Mazatlan tomorrow.

We arrived early in Mazatlan on the morning of October 26, Sunday. Six of us hired a van to take us around on a private tour of Mazatlan.

This is our ship in port.


This is a famous landmark, because it has the highest natural lighthouse in the world.


This lady from Houston holding a iguana.


Our driver-guide drove us through old town.


The "main" cathedral in town.


They were holding service.


The flower market of Mazatlan.


A famous landmark in Mazatlan; the fisherman's memorial.


Mazatlan is known for their beer production, and so this "memorial."


Our driver-guide took us to this restaurant for lunch. Not only were the scenery good, but the food and singer were exceptional. One lady in our group said that she was in love. We knew it was a good restaurant, because the owner of the travel company with her family were also there.


The scenery.


I must go prepare for my trip to Bhutan-India on Tuesday, so I'll have to leave this for awhile.

Oh somehow I missed seeing this thread. Very nice pictures, cicerone.
We have everday these huge cruise ships down at the harbor and they look
so beautiful. I am glad you had such a nice time.

You live where you see cruise ships and you don't get on them, Jane? I couldn't resist. Love those boats. . . .and cruises. They are really economical ways to travel and see things.

Yes Foxfyre, I live in San Diego, but I am only good for a couple of hours
on a ship, I don't like to be out on the water for long. I might have drowned in my previous life, but being surrounded by water gives me nightmares. I do like living close to the ocean though.

Well I guess they aren't for everybody or everybody would be cruising. I do understand though. There are things that other folks really enjoy doing that just leave me cold or give me the willies. I think I must have been a sailor or a train engineer on a steam engine in a previous life, though, because both absolutely fascinate me and I feel perfectly at home in those kinds of environments.

Ah then you must have done the train ride in Durango eh?
We have a train enthusiast in the family in Europe, and the Durango train ride
was one of the highlights in his life.

No, that one is still on my to do list. I have taken the trip out of Chama a couple of times. One of my favorite places in the world is on the narrow guage railroad at Cass Mountain, West Virginia. Really interesting state park - 11 miles long and 50 yards wide. Sometime want to take the train to Alaska too, but I suppose they don't use steam engines anymore. I don't like the diesels.

Fox, There's a real good train museum in old town Sacramento. We took the McTags there when they visited last month, and they really enjoyed it.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat photos ci..... I love that beach you had the margaritas at.... looks so quiet and calm...



looking forward to seeing more when you get the chance. Safe travels.

We have a great one in San Diego too. There they reenacted all major and famous train routes with beautiful scenery surrounding the rail stations.
http://www.sdmrm.org/
and here has someone taken lots of pictures of it - quite interesting
http://picasaweb.google.com/jhvicino/SanDiegoModelRailroadMuseum#

I was wondering if that was Mismaloya...
it's been decades since I've been to Vallarta. When I was there, it was a small town with one traffic signal and not very many hotels.. we could name them all. (I was there five or six times in the sixties and early seventies). Anyway, then Mismaloya only had a shack, no hotels. My boyfriend and I met a couple from Mexico df, both attorneys, as I remember just about the only other people at the beach - and they treated us to fresh raw oysters.. the first and last raw oysters of my life. I proceeded to get devastatingly ill for the trip remainder. Probably the thinnest I've ever been except for when I was a child. Still, I remember the beauty, and while I got sick one other time, most of my trips there were uneventful re illness.

Hi Izzie, Yes, it really was quiet and calm. That's what it's all about on these cruise-tours. Relaxation is can't be beat.

This is the Lido Deck on the ms Ryndam.


Our stop this time was at Topolobampo, but the Los Hochis businesses provided us with free shuttles into town. This is the "main" church in Los Hochis.


I didn't spend too much time in town, but did go to the Best Western (new) hotel across the street from the church to have a lunch of fish with shrimps and a cervaza. Walked in a shopping mall to visit some of their stores, but that's about it besides walking a few blocks in the very hot weather.

I guess Loreto would be one of my favorites stops on this cruise. It's a small town with its own ambiance that can be walked around in just a few hours. It has its bars and restaurants, and ofcoarse their shops with t-shirts and other native crafts. Most of the residence are Americans, Canadians, and Europeans. At least, that's what we were told.

Our stateroom steward made these towel animals, but this was the only one I was able to identify as to what it was. LOL


We had to be tendered into Loreto.


Dockside.


A gazebo.


Loreto history museum.


A walk down the avenue.


The first mission built in Baja California in 1752. In 1796, Father Junipero Serra made his trek into Alta California where he built 21 missions. The first was built in San Diego, and the last (I believe) was built in Sonora.


I'm taking a lunch break.