It's a WONDER we have any money left after the Cruise! - All done!

[ACDSNY]

Originally Posted by franandaj

That's a major bummer. We could have even had another DISmeet.

Originally Posted by dolphingirl47

What a shame. I was hoping that I would get the chance to meet you.

Corinna

I'm way bummed since I'll be giving up a secret verandah room too. On top of this it's rainy today and I'm so missing Hawaii already.

[franandaj]

This morning we were scheduled to dock in Puerto Vallarta at around 7AM and could start leaving the boat at 7:30AM. This was my first sighting of land off in the distance.



Now it’s a little more evident



Here we are approaching





Hmmmm, maybe we can get some ideas for our construction project….



I was able to catch one of the many birds flying around mid flight



Your trusty Walmart



Right smack in the middle of this photo, you can see our main destination for the day.



But before anything, we needed sustenance. Today’s order of the day was for Beach Blanket Buffet. The buffet started off with some fruit options.



Lox, capers and cream cheese…..



Breakfast meats galore!



Eggs and potatoes and pancakes



Breakfast breads and pastries



After I filled my plate, I found this section with Mickey Waffles, made to order omelets as well as premade omelets. I was bummed that I found eggs made to order after I already had a full plate, and said that if we got back here the first thing I was going to do was get an egg over easy.









They had all these toppings for oatmeal or whatever.



And cold cereals with milk



Here is my breakfast



Here’s Fran’s plate

[PrincessInOz]

Yum!


I like the idea of having a green roof.

[Pinkocto]

Yum yum yum! Hopefully this isn't a strange question. At the buffets do you have to stand in line? On the Dream there are 'pods' where you can just jump in and out and just get what you want. I think I'm remembering on the Wonder you have to wait in line.

Can't wait to see what new purchases are made today.

[dolphingirl47]

Originally Posted by Pinkocto

Yum yum yum! Hopefully this isn't a strange question. At the buffets do you have to stand in line? On the Dream there are 'pods' where you can just jump in and out and just get what you want. I think I'm remembering on the Wonder you have to wait in line.

Can't wait to see what new purchases are made today.

Yes, on the Wonder and the Magic there is a buffet line rather than Pods. At Beach Blanket Buffet/ Top Siders they then have a different area where they make things like omelettes to order and have things like Tacos or pasta with different sauces, etc. for lunch.

Corinna

[rentayenta]

All caught up.

I can't make out what your auction is of?

Great updates. The food looks amazing and I really like how you keep the same server. I am good tipper but a demanding patron, not in a rude way, but i always want something less done or sauce on the side...sort of like Sally in When Harry Met Sally.

Can't wait to read about your day in PV.

[Pinkocto]

Originally Posted by dolphingirl47

Yes, on the Wonder and the Magic there is a buffet line rather than Pods. At Beach Blanket Buffet/ Top Siders they then have a different area where they make things like omelettes to order and have things like Tacos or pasta with different sauces, etc. for lunch.

Corinna

Thanks so much. I just realized how little investigating I've done about the Wonder and with the trip coming up soon I need to get a move on.

[franandaj]

Originally Posted by PrincessInOz

Yum!


I like the idea of having a green roof.

That's funny! I didn't even see the green roof until you pointed it out. I know from experience that flat roofs are bad news. My parents had a home with a roof shaped like this: --^-- The ^ was the dining room and entry way and the the -- were the wings with the bedrooms and the living areas. The flat roofs were a source of problems and roof repairs over many many years, now they have a traditional roof and they have to sell the house

Originally Posted by Pinkocto

Yum yum yum! Hopefully this isn't a strange question. At the buffets do you have to stand in line? On the Dream there are 'pods' where you can just jump in and out and just get what you want. I think I'm remembering on the Wonder you have to wait in line.

Can't wait to see what new purchases are made today.

That will be coming up in the next update!

Originally Posted by rentayenta

All caught up.

I can't make out what your auction is of?

Great updates. The food looks amazing and I really like how you keep the same server. I am good tipper but a demanding patron, not in a rude way, but i always want something less done or sauce on the side...sort of like Sally in When Harry Met Sally.

Can't wait to read about your day in PV.

At Castaway Cay they have a Mickey in the snorkeling area, I believe that it is supposed to be a picture of that Mickey. It's called Underwater Mickey. The painting has arrived, I just didn't take it out of the box (like so much of our other artwork). I was counting and we have at least 50 pictures to go on the walls in our new house. It's a good thing we have an idea of how to display them!

[franandaj]

After we finished our breakfast and we were nice and full we decided to head out shopping. Our only real plan was to go to the Tanzanite shop for jewelry and Walmart for sodas and water. The Tanzanite shop was within walking distance of the ship and I took a few pictures of the area right outside the dock.









And to prove I was really there



The gentleman who helped us was quite the joker. I started asking him prices of some of the pieces, and he would say, “A million dollars! Too much? OK, how about half a million dollars?” It would continue like this until he actually got to the real price.



This isn’t the necklace that I got, but they had this on display in the showroom. They said that it would cost about $55,000 in US dollars. I just thought it was pretty.



This is the necklace and ring that I got.





And this is the ring that Fran got



I figured that we would just see about getting to Walmart and buy some soda and water and head back to the ship, but Fran was feeling adventurous. When a taxi scout guy approached her about a ride, she decided to take them up on a fare to the Downtown District where the waterfront was located and more shops. We disassembled her scooter and put it in the truck of the cab. Here we are ready to get on our way.



We started down the main highway to downtown and I was amazed by all the US businesses there.





This one cracked me up that KFC offered delivery service on bicycles



I got really excited when I saw the local gay bar!



[Up Next, Our Journey takes a different turn]

[PrincessInOz]

Love the jewellery. It looks gorgeous.


WOW! You and Fran are in a taxi and heading to the downtown area? Can't wait to see what you saw and what you got up to!

[franandaj]

Originally Posted by PrincessInOz

Love the jewellery. It looks gorgeous.


WOW! You and Fran are in a taxi and heading to the downtown area? Can't wait to see what you saw and what you got up to!

That's coming up next!

[franandaj]

Somewhere around this time the driver tried to convince us to take a two hour taxi tour of the city and he said that he would show us everything Puerto Vallarta had to offer. We weren’t interested in that, but Fran asked how much for one hour and he said $30. I didn’t really relish the idea of walking along the Malecon (the strip of “boardwalk” like pavement near the ocean), especially since we had no idea how the terrain would be and it would work with Fran’s scooter, so we said, “Sure.”

As we got closer to downtown, I noticed that all the side streets were paved with cobblestones.





Even the main street had turned to cobblestones



We turned off onto some smaller streets. Our driver was a very good tour guide, he told us stories about the various neighborhoods, where he grew up, showed us the church he was married in, and all kinds of background information. I took many pictures of the city. In my travels (and I have been to quite a few places, but not a huge world traveler), however, other than small villages in Europe where the roads are hundreds of years old, I have never seen streets like these.



This is looking out towards the ocean and the Malecon



A few more turns and we were driving on the street next to the Malecon. They have human statues playing chess.



And other “live art”



Our driver explained to us that the sea horse is one of the symbols of Puerto Vallarta



These are the Malecon Arches, another one of the symbols of Puerto Vallarta



Many of the buildings had beautiful wrought iron work on them. However, one of the other things about wrought iron is that most people put it on their doors and windows as a security feature. It made us feel better that we were in a taxi going back to our cruise ship instead of staying in one of the local hotels. This was one of the rare corners with curb cuts.



My cleaning lady and I play “the punch buggie game” for those of you who are familiar with it. I took this shot for her as I saw plenty of “punch buggies” on our drive!



There was a holiday parade coming on the weekend and some decorations were already up.



Obviously they offer parasailing on the beach.



Evidently our driver sensed my excitement when we passed by the Gay Bar because the section that we had been driving around was the “family section” of town. We were right in the heart of that part of the city, as evidenced by this bar. We also saw bookstores, hotels, salons, and all kinds of other businesses displaying the rainbow flag. Our driver was very open minded, he told us that the gays were very good for the city, they spend a lot of money, but that they wake up late and party very late!



Turns out, as we were trying to drive down this street, we ran into road construction and had to back up through the street shown in the picture two above where you saw the parasailing balloon. Our driver was pretty adept at navigating the tiny streets of the city.

As we continued on our journey we came across this unusual landmark in the road.



And then finally we were back on paved roads



Some more shots down the streets of the city



We crossed over this river on the edge of the city



Shots of the suburbs



[Continued in Next Post]

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

The lack of any paving here really surprised me



There were some very scenic views from our vantage point and surprisingly enough our driver told us there were no Earthquakes in Puerto Vallarta. It took us a little while to figure out the word as he was not familiar with the English for “Terra Motte” which we finally learned through pantomime as I tried to exhibit plate tectonics with my hands!





Several times on the small roads we ran into the situation where we would come upon a car traveling in the opposing direction. I could never figure out how they decided who was going to back up and move, seems that mostly the taxis got to go, probably because the drivers were more crazy!



Here we are at the scenic balcony built by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton to bridge the gap between their two houses during their “love/hate” relationship.



We continued our tour and headed back down for another pass by the Malecon. This time our driver had a different landmark to show us.



This park is on the opposite side of the street from the “boardwalk” and if you look high off in the distance you will see the top of a very important church in the city.



We drove past the church, but from the back seat of the taxi I really couldn’t see too much, but I caught this photo out the back window.



Then we headed back to the cruise terminal, I thought that if I ever came here as a tourist, I would probably be staying in one of these very Americanized hotels.



After a stop at Walmart where we were bombarded by impoverished children trying to open doors or carry bags for change, we were back on our way to the ship.



When we were docking this morning I had heard these strange noises, as we approached the boat, I discovered what they were.





Just before we boarded the ship and these would be the only pictures I would get of her exterior





TTFN!

[Pinkocto]

I love it! The Wonder is absolutely gorgeous!!!

Very cool little tour of the city. I liked the tree in the middle of the road. Beautiful new purchases

[ACDSNY]

Nice pics of PV. We've taken the Las Caletas tour each time so it's nice to see what the city looks like.