Hello everyone---get ready because this will be long.
We arrived in PV. We went on a Disey trip to Las Caletas. If you aren't booked on this go immediately to your computer to do so. It was the greatest time you could ask for. They picked us up right at the dock. I will tell you that there were people on the catamaran when we got on who booked direct. No difference in what is provided but I am sure we paid alot more. The crew was fun dancing and singing and immediately came around with juice, coffee, and muffins and hot cookies. YUM! It was an hour cruise out to the estate. For those of you unaware--this was John Huston's place. There are 4 beaches all seperated only by a few rocks. They progress from rocky to sandy. My kids had an awesome time. Snorkeling was pretty good and NO JELLIES!!!!!!!!YEAH! Crystal clear water. They also have a resident seal that you can swim with for an additional fee however I personally am not big on animals in captivity. I would much rather see them in their natural setting and let them choose to interact with me if they so choose so we did not do that part. There are nature trails to walk up in the natural setting. Nothing else around theis area and the estate is only accessible by boat. They made a fresh lunch of paella, BBQ chicken, ribs, fresh chips and salsa, salads, hot tortillas, many desserts. People were so friendly here. Great day. Oops forgot to mention open bar with freshly squeezed limeade. It was awesome.
We returned to the ship and wanted to go town. We talked to the "white" taxis recommended by Disney and they wanted $20 to go to town for 2 adults 2 kids. We ran into Memory Maker another DIS member and they tolod us to walk out of the port entrance and the "yellow" taxis were cheaper. Well we went to town for $5. They dropped us at a flea market where they hounded you and followed you. Noone spoke English here. We decided to go back over to the ocean street and it was altogether different. First of all they have preserved the ocean view here in downtown. They have this nice sidewalk park with atleast 10 metal sculptures maybe more all the way through downtown. People over here were friendly and respectful. They wanted to chat even when we were not going to be buying anything. Vendors would ask if we wanted to go on excursions the next day and when we would tell them we would be gone they wanted to know all about the boat and what it was like, where we were from... It was fun. We ate at Carlos O'Briens. I think that was the name .
That night was pirate night which feels so rushed. We did make it back in time for the deck party and show but as this is the only late port everyone was in town til 7or 8. Pirate deck party was fun. Lots more fireworks than I remembered. One bummer thing was all the kids wanted to dress for pirate night but this was the night they chose for the PJ parties in the clubs so it was quite a choice.
Mazatlan was yesterday and I think everyone on board I have talked to agrees their least favorite. We did not book a Disney excursion so thanks to my wonderful DIS boards someone had recommended the El CId Hotel. First of all the really weird thing is the dock is the shrimp dock so they transport you from the ship to the port terminal in a tram (very Disneylike huh?) Once there you traverse through many people attacking you to buy something from them or go somewhere to come to the exit. Once again we had read what a taxi should be and this time there was 6 of us and they said it would be $20 to the Golden Zone/El Cid. After our previous experience we went outside the inner port and found a taxi for $10. It was about a 20 minute ride. They welcomed us with open arms. They asked us if we would consider coming back for a stay. That was all they wanted. I took tons of pictures I will post as soon as I am home. They have one older side which I thought was pretty nice and BTW there were many
DCL people there. One really nice person came over and told us the other side was incredible. This pool flows throughall the buildings and on to the other pools (miles of pools). The newer side had 2 waterslides, a ledge designed for kids to jump off of. My kids had a ball. I do not recommend the beach. There are hundreds of vendors that swarm you. The water was muddy and a little rough. I did hear it was similar on the Mazatlan Beach Break. We walked down to the golden zone shops but thought PV much better. People here were rude as I look like I would not know a word of Spanish being pale and Blonde but I grew up on the border and heard and understood many comments made about us not buying their things. We ate at Panchos on the water. It was good. Taxied back to ship for $10. I mentioned earlier that our only late port was PV. Well for some unknown reason they changed our departure time to 5:00. We were suppposed to be there untillike 8:30 or so. Fine with me. At all aboard 2 guests were missing and they were delayed in waiting for them. In fact we were pulling away and one came and we opened back up and let him in. It was funny because everyone was ono deck 9 and 10 for sail away and had been waiting awhile so everyone booed the person when he came. I did actually wonder if he did nnot realize they had changed port departure time.
Regular rotational menu at AP. I love the butternut squash soup and the tableside caesar. Twice charmed was after that. First showing had technical difficulties so they were delayed in letting our showing in so the area around the theatre was packed. Can't even imagine what it was like for the "first ever slumber party".
Onto today----Cabo is a tendered port so we rode into the tender dock and knew immediately we loved it. However people still hound you we hooked up with another DCL family and got a water taxi right there. I felt so bad because we each negotiated our price on our own they had 5 and paid $100. We had 6 and paid $45. Pretty good negotiating huh? The water taxis must have a given route because they all appeared to be doing the same thing but they took us in a glassbottam boat over the reef, along the coast to see all the rock formations including pelican rock, Los Arcos, and Seal rock. They then dropped us at Lovers beach for 1 1/2 hours. Pacific side was like the north shore of Oahu but sideways. Hard to explain but the rocks make the waves go in strange directions so they warn you multiple times to stay very far away. It was pretty to look at and there were many locals surfing and skim boarding. The Sea of Cortez side was still wild but nice. I forgot to mention what an experience getting on and off the boat was. The waves were pounding and you basically jump off the end of the boat into the water. It was a little harder getting back in. Good time Highly recommend doing the water taxi thing. We had them drop us at the beach called "the office" on the way back to the dock. This was great for kids, very calm crystal clear. Water is COLD in Cabo but it was very hot so it felt great. There are vendors here to but they were not as pushy by a long shot. We ate at a place on the beach called Mango something. We were craving some good munchies so ordered nachos which ended up to feed 5 of us, guacomole which was heaped up on a huge plate and huge bowls of salsa and freshly made chips. Now the funny part----my DH and I ordered a margarita and they bought out these huge fishbowl size glasses and we both thought WOW then they set down 2. It was 2 for one happy hour. I wondered if we were going to make it back to the ship but we did. Whole bill was $20. I have to say we SO VERY much enjoyed Cabo and will return very soon.
Ok now for the last tidbit of information I have is the reason we were boarded so late is that they had to scrub the ship because they had stomache flu on board------does not appear it did any good however because everyone I have talked to has had someone in their family sick. I would say hundreds on board. Bring your chlorax wipes and Lysol. My mom had it, my daughter, my son, a friends kids.....Not me however. Wait I am not off yet maybe Iam saving up for the plane flight backhome. Hope not.
Tomorrow is a sea day and Farewell show. Believe it or not when we left Cabo and got back out on the pacific it suddenly got COLD. Kids were up on sports deck tonight and they were not letting you drop them off without a jacket. Bring warm clothes for first 2 days and last day.
Judy
Although I've lost track of our Stateroom Tag - does anyone know if the game is still going and if it is out there? Also, we have had one small light up smiley magnet stolen from a couple of stateroom doors - sad but true. 
I was maybe one of those posting about the El Cid. I have contacted the hotel and received a letter back saying that as long as we purchased food and drink we were OK. Glad to hear that it is a wonderful place. 
We will have DDs 4 and 10 with us and wanted some place to swim and be able to leave when we want to. Looking foward to your pictures when you return. Sorry to hear about the stomach virus, hope they get it clean up soon. Enjoy the rest of your trip. 
