Our Mexican Riviera
Sapphire Princess Cruise December 2009
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Today we are in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Right across from the port is a Wal-Mart and Sam's Club in case you are in need of anything. We did need a pharmacy so we will keep our eyes peeled for a Pharmacia otherwise we will be headed to Wal-Mart across the way. The cruise director on his show this morning said getting to Wal-Mart is just like the Frogger game we used to play on Atari back in the day. They have it for the new systems now as one of those nostalgic games.
While we watched us get tied off at port from our balcony, Jay, our cabin steward was next door.
We have a ship tour scheduled: Tequila, Town & Countryside Drive which consists of at trip downtown, which overlooks the water. We wandered around for a little while and found our Pharmacia before joining the group for the walk to a very nice Mexican cathedral. After which we made our way back to the motorcoach and drove to the locals shopping mall. They don't shop downtown where we were at. We decided to look for a chain for one of my diamond pendants that came on a very small chain. We found one and a nice Mexican Fire Opal ring, my anniversary present from Jerry. The saleslady tried really, really hard to sell Jerry some matching earrings even after I walked away and went to find the t-shirt shops. Jerry did get to enjoy some Pacifico beer while we were shopping for the jewelry which was complimentary.
Here's some pictures of the sites we saw around town.
We left the mall and went out of town to Hacienda Dona Engracia which is a working cattle ranch also renowned for its tequila where we learned all about the manufacturing of the blue agave into tequila. We tasted five different kinds of tequila, white or clear which is used to mix in drinks, one that was aged in a white oak barrel for 18 months, one that was aged in a white oak barrel for 3 years, one that was infused with peach and the last one was infused with almond. The almond trees are all around here. They were all very good and you could of course purchase some here. They do not sell these in the states. We did not purchase any.
We did learn that the best tequila is going to be labeled as 100% pure agave. The other tequila is distilled with corn syrup and alcohol which is what gives you a bad hangover!
Before heading back to the bus we enjoyed some chicken tacos and Jerry had a Pacifico beer while I had a lime margarita. I did run over to the little shops to find our memento before finishing my margarita which I found out when I was almost done the glass came with the drink so I was able to bring it home. It comes in a terra cotta glass. Mine was plain but we noticed other passengers had received ones with designs on theirs.
Here are some pictures of our Tequila tour.
We left the ship at 9:15am and returned at 2:30pm. We had a really nice day. Now, we sit and relax on our balcony. It is 79.9 degrees right now in the shade. There is a little bit of clouds today and the Sierra Madre mountains have some haze but they are beautiful with the green vegetation on them.
We are due to leave port at 4:30pm. We are ready. At 4pm we are to have our canapes delivered...another perk for being in the suite...oh, the life!!!!
Our canapes were late being delivered. It seems room service on this ship needs a little help. After the time we had with room service on the first day it hasn't gotten any better. I think they need some leadership.
We enjoyed dinner with Kenley and Lisa. Kenley brought us a creamy ice cream that is packaged much like the Otter Pops that my kids used to freeze and eat. We have it stashed in our ice bucket to get nice and cold before we enjoy it.
We didn't go to any shows tonight as Jerry is pretty tired. Jay hadn't been to our room to do the turn down service before we got back. I found him and told him not to worry as Jerry just wanted to lie down.