Live from the June 22 Magical Mexican Riviera Cruise!

[tksbaskets]

Hi,
Enjoying a day at sea after a HOT day to embark. Brent is our Cruise Director with Christian taking over next week as Brent will go on vacation. Captain Thord.

Enjoyed the Welcome Aboard show last night. Dinner was at Parrot Cay. Tonight is the Golden Mickeys. We plan on going to the family show of a comedian Randy Cabral (funny juggler) and the adult show for a hypnotist Ricky Kalmon.

Today was the Castaway Party. No clock for us. We have seen many whales off the port side of the ship today. Temps in the 70's today. The boys are enjoying the Stack and Quartermasters.

Cute Mexican Riviera merchandise (cha-ching)!

Any questions? We'll check in.

 

[princessdaisy]

Sounds wonderful! can't wait to hear more. Have a wonderful cruise

 

[jd99]

So excited to see a live thread! Can't wait to hear all about your trip. What excursions do you have planned?

 

[ayumac]

Enjoy your cruise! Hope the weather is nice.
Cannot wait to hear more stories.

BTW, have you tried to make any Palo reservation on board? Was it smooth or competitive?

Thanks!

 

[hawaiian mickey]

aloha,
Thanks for the update. Hope to hear more from you in the next few days. We'll be next in line after you guys.

aloha,
hawaiian mickey

 

[WDWLVR]

No questions just a wish that you all have a MAGICal time!

 

[AttilaTheHun]

Hi, Did you notice any Disney Magic Cruise Ship models? What are their prices?? My sone is looking forward to buying one. Did they have any openings for the Cabo Dolphin swim? I could not get one before so I hope they have some on the ship when we go July 20th. Have a BLAST!!!!
Nora

 

[Joan1]

If you have time and could get some photos of the merchandise in the shops that would be great.
Have a great time

 

[tksbaskets]

Absolutely stunning day in Cabo San Lucas. Sun shine, blue skies, mid-80's.

Palo question - we made our brunch ressies on-line so I can't help you there.

Merchandise....don't know how to upload pics from the internet cafe which is slower than molassas. Cute navy hoody, some t-shirts (bought a mustard colored one that had Mexican Riviera on the front right chest and the mexican riveara logo and ports on the back. I have a nice new hat which is embroidered. My favorite so far is the sterling silver charm that has the logo for the Mexican Riveara on the front and DCL summer 2008 on the back. Of course the MR scrapbooking kit is coming home with me too and a couple of collectable pins.

Hi Mary!

Last night we had a BLAST at the Rockin' Bar D. It was Golden Mickey night. Went to the family show for the juggler Randy Cabral. Besides some little children who had WAY too many trips to the ice cream station it was fun. The band is good. We enjoy listening to them before and after the adult shows. We had a treat watching the hypnotist Ricky Kalmon's adult show. I thought we'd all split a gut laughing so hard!! Good times.

Today we did the Beach Buggy and Swim which met at Diversions at 0900. I'll post more details in a ship report later but we liked the tour. The mom in me was concerned that not all the seatbelts worked but after I got over that we had an enjoyable (Bumpy and dusty as advertised) ride through the desert to a gorgeous beach where we swam for 1 1/2 hours before returning to the ship. My 17 1/2 yo's and DH give it two big thumbs up! I thought our guide Rafael was very good and professional. When we got to the beach each group was given their own umbrella and we were provided bottled water (Costco brand ), a cereal bar, and bananas. Back to the ship about 1:15 pm.

Enjoyed the Asian buffet at Topsiders. The boys are all relaxing in the room. Tonight is another night in Lumieres for us (Parrot Cay first night, Lumieres last night and tonight) The hypnotist is the show in the Walt Disney Theater followed by an adult show by the juggler dude. Busy social calendar for our family!

More later....we are going to the 3 pm showing of College Road Trip. Wish you all were here.

 

[tksbaskets]

If you have time and could get some photos of the merchandise in the shops that would be great.
Have a great time

I'll post them when I return...

 

[ayumac]

Palo question - we made our brunch ressies on-line so I can't help you there.

Dear tksbaskets,
Thanks so much for answering my question. I already have a dinner reservation for the first night just in case we could not get any other day, so no big deal.

Also, thanks for the note about the Asian buffet. I will tell my DH not to pack so many instant rice package or noodles.

Looking forward to your next journal and enjoy your trip!!

 

[PURTYPAT1]

Wow sounds like your having a great time. Thanks for sharing

 

[Deb T.]

Glad you're having a great time! We'll be onboard in a few weeks! Woohoo!

I know you've only had one sea day so far, but previous reports had said they were c-c-c-cold! How was Sea Day #1? And, if you think about it later this week, could you please let us know how the temps were on the way back to LA.

TIA!

 

[Sophia37]

Thank you for your report I will be on the ship on Sunday I too would like to do a trip report for my friends and family. How exactly does it work? Like how long are you on the computer each time you post? how much money should I expect to pay if I post 1 time a day. Are you in your room, or at the cove? How and where do you pay? Sorry for all the questions

 

[tksbaskets]

Hi, Did you notice any Disney Magic Cruise Ship models? What are their prices?? My sone is looking forward to buying one. Did they have any openings for the Cabo Dolphin swim? I could not get one before so I hope they have some on the ship when we go July 20th. Have a BLAST!!!!
Nora

Yes they have nice ship models....I'll check the prices later. Yes they had spots for the Dolphin swim/encounters when we got on board. You will have a blast too!

 

[tksbaskets]

Thank you for your report I will be on the ship on Sunday I too would like to do a trip report for my friends and family. How exactly does it work? Like how long are you on the computer each time you post? how much money should I expect to pay if I post 1 time a day. Are you in your room, or at the cove? How and where do you pay? Sorry for all the questions

I'm in the internet cafe in the Promanade Lounge. Very slow to log on. I've used > 30 min of my 100 minutes already (having fun with them though) Rates are .75 a minute, 100 minutes for $55, 500 minutes for $150. I guess I'll be in between. That's why I'm hitting the highlights here and will do a real report when I return Oh, charged right to your room. That part was smooth!

 

[tksbaskets]

Way too much fun to post until tonight....

Woke up in Mazatlan. Had breakfast at Topsiders before our excursion. I like that they will make omlettes or eggs to order. Much tastier than the scrambled eggs. the servers then bring them to the table...

Did the City Highlights & Mexican Mardi Gras Festival leaving at 8:45 am. Enjoyed the a/c on the bus and our tour guide. Saw the cathedral, cliff divers, learned much about the town and the MANY monuments - they had one to commemorate the open air taxies! LOL. The dancing part was OK. stinkin' hot but we got bottled water and enjoyed the flying people who's name escaped me. The excursion was 3 1/2 hours long and that was plenty. BOILING hot at the little outdoor theater. We all looked like we just got off a water ride at the end.

One thing that we noticed was at EVERY stop we were baraged with people trying to sell us there wares. Really quite pushy and we all found ourselves saying "no thank you" every time we tried to take a step. My son did cough up $10 for some "Okley" sunglasses.

Back on the ship we went to Lumiere's for a yummy lunch. Three burgers for the boys, yummy sish ka bob for me! Topsiders had a south of the border buffet.

Twice Charmed had a 3 pm show as well as the evening performances. At the Goofy pool this afternoon was Minnie's Fiesta Grande! WHAT fun The characters were all dressed in their Mexican costumes and danced. Darling photo op on Deck 4 above the atrium with Donald and Mickey with a nice backdrop of the ship.

Once again the show did NOT disappoint! Went to the adult cabaret show with Mark Eddie (rock and roll comedy) Very fun! To bed early (midnight) after stolling by the Promenade Lounge for snacks - we discovered three nights ago the snack buffet (one table with cheese, crackers, dessert, and fruit) One is set up as above and one in Beat Street. YUMM!

Next our wild day in Puerto Vallarta!

 

[tksbaskets]

Woke up to thunder and lightning at 0700 Was worried about the heat since the day before was WAY hot. Ate at Topsiders again as we needed to meet in Diversions at 0845 for our Sierra Madre Off-Road Expedition.

Excursion:
We started by boarding an inflatable boat to go the office where we boarded our Mercedes off-road vehicle. Very professional office/guides. The truck had working seatbelts! After climbing up we sat six on each side facing each other with our guide, Gustovo, sitting at the end. WONDERFUL excursion. We went throught the countryside, stopped at a small town to watch tortillas being made and sampled a warm one!

Of too the next stop which was at a working farm. Had a mango right off the tree, discussed life in the area, and had tacos made over an open fire using a disc from a John Deere tractor - OK, I'll need to post pics for that!

Next, further into the lovely landscape where we stopped for our 40 minute nature walk before getting back on the truck to go to a very private beach for some serious lunch (around 2:30 by now) The boys proclaimed the lunch excellent, I enjoyed many bottled waters.

Our guide was very well informed and made the trip really interresting. We had as much bottled water/sodas as we could drink. Snacks in the truck. I must admit one of the best parts was our 1 hr 15 min ride back to the ship where we chatted, partied out of our cooler, and really bonded with our fellow excursion mates. Our boys will never forget it. We were sad to get off. We pulled right up to the ship enterance, Whooping like we were at a concert good times!

We really felt like we got to know about the real Peurto Vallarta stopping at the farm and the small villages. Not once did anyone approach us to sell something. Rather they waved and greeted us. I recommend this excursion to anyone - hoping of course you get Gustovo as your guide as I'm sure he was a large part of why we had such a blast~

Back to the ship at 6:05 with half of the beach in our swim suits (for the report) The boys took a shower and then ran to Parrot Cay to get our Pirate bandanas and tell our great server team of Ali and Paul we wouldn't be making it because we were already late. Ali called me in the room and assured me they wanted us to come down in our shorts for dinner and being tardy was no problem. Sheepishly we came down and enjoyed the Pirate fun.

Besides the Pirate party tonight we are going to have the PremiERE at sea of Wall-E tonight at midnight. All three of my men are napping to get ready and I'm burning the minutes up here.

Oh, beautiful weather today. Probably high 80's.

Any questions???

 

[justmestace]

The Internet Cafe prices are less than the WiFi...that's interesting.

So glad you're having the good weather that we didn't have (June 8-15) and enjoying some really great excursions!!!

 

[tksbaskets]

Glad you're having a great time! We'll be onboard in a few weeks! Woohoo!

I know you've only had one sea day so far, but previous reports had said they were c-c-c-cold! How was Sea Day #1? And, if you think about it later this week, could you please let us know how the temps were on the way back to LA.

TIA!

Hi, Sea day #2 today. Our first sea day the temps were in the high 70s. Today Brent said we are having the nicest sea day on this itin. Temps in the low 80s today and bright sunny day.

Woke up at the crack of 0925 today after attending the Wall-E PremiEAR at sea. (started at Midnight - yawn) GREAT movie with a really cute short film at the beginning.

DH and I went to Topsiders for breakfast as Lumiere's closed at 0930 for breakfast. The boys were still fast asleep. Our stateroom host Laurel split the boys bed so they both have a twin. Works great for the most part except my DS#1 turns the light on with his elbow intermittently through the night. OF course this bothers NO ONE BUT ME so I get up a couple of times a night to move him over and turn off the light.

We are going to the Behind the Scenes with our on-board Pixar animator Victor Navone. That is at 1100 at teh Beuna Vista Theatre. No huge plans for the rest of the day. Perhaps a little pool time before the Disney Dreams show. Ah, we love our days at sea!