The 'Wonder'ful Mexican Riviera with a nut (allergy) Full report w/pics!

[kjwemett]

Absolutely loving your report. Can't wait for the next.

 

[Kailua's Belle]

Oooh, can't wait for your next installment! We have the Exotic Rasul booked too

Loved your report on the tequila tasting. One of our favorites is Asombroso. We'll have to check out the Don Julio!

 

[wallyboag]

Great TR! Thank you so much.

Your pics are great too. I really feel like I'm on the boat. Still have three weeks to go though!

 

[talie]

You're getting me really excited for our cruise. 9 days away!

 

[ironmickey]

Oh Yes Exotic Rasul! We have this booked for our first full sea day can't wait to hear the juicy details and any handy tips! LOVE all your tip notes!

Again thanks a detailed report like this is both helpful and so fun to read I'm am getting so much more excited for my departure 2/20

 

[DisFanInCO]

Great TR so far! We're sailing in April and reading your report is getting me very excited. Can't wait to try some delicious tequilas at the tequila tasting

 

[Mich123]

Stinkerbe11, YOU ROCK! I am so glad to see a positive review by a tequila lover. It just doesn't get much better than that. I am looking forward to the tequila tasting and love the tip to sidle up to the bar for information gathering purposes. But, of course!

Thanks so much!

 

[caraimee]

Great report! Keep it coming...

 

[ForTheLoveOfDCL]

Stinkerbel....I looked at some navigators and on some days it doesn't say "the edge" but it says "out and about" Do they let others in there besides the 11-13. My DD is looking forward to only tweens not youngers in there so I hope they don't let youngers in. Kinda would be like letting tweens in the teen club!! Thanks for any info. Loving your report!

 

[Stinkerbe11]

Stinkerbel....I looked at some navigators and on some days it doesn't say "the edge" but it says "out and about" Do they let others in there besides the 11-13. My DD is looking forward to only tweens not youngers in there so I hope they don't let youngers in. Kinda would be like letting tweens in the teen club!! Thanks for any info. Loving your report!

I am pretty sure they don't let younger kids in the Edge, that would defeat the purpose of creating a club just for that specific age group. I did see groups of tweens doing activities around the ship (at the pool, playing organized games at the sports deck, doing scavenger hunts etc...) so, maybe that's what "out and about" means. The only club hopping that I'm aware of is between the Oceaneers club and Oceaneers lab. The counselors take the kids through a hallway that connects the two clubs, the kids can't just freely roam between the clubs.

After posting, I did see this in one of the Navigators: Recommended for ages 9-13, Edge open house at 9:30- Come and enjoy all the edge has to offer before it becomes a tween-zone-only for the day. So, it looks like on that day they did allow 9 year olds to go in for a bit in the morning.

 

[ForTheLoveOfDCL]

thanks. My DD(11) is excited that she has her own place. After 3 Magic cruises she kinda wants the Edge, she's gotten to big for the Club and Lab --so she says....LOL

 

[Bambola]

Muchas gracias.....buenisimo el reporte!

 

[LKFan]

Thanks for the great, very detailed reports. The picture of your daughter with Cinderella is priceless.

 

[Lady_Kluck]

No pressure Stinkerbe11...but when is part 4 coming out

Your eager readers attentively await!!!

 

[Stinkerbe11]

It's coming, I promise I am 3/4 done with day 4 but I am sooo sick and I feel the need for the Brooklyn Deli's chicken matzo ball soup...so, after lunch I shall write on!

 

[Lady_Kluck]

It's coming, I promise I am 3/4 done with day 4 but I am sooo sick and I feel the need for the Brooklyn Deli's chicken matzo ball soup...so, after lunch I shall write on!

sorry to hear you are sick, how about some "virtual" penicillin/lunch

 

[Stinkerbe11]

Thank you, I feel much better now!

So here's Day 4 dedicated to you

 

[Stinkerbe11]

Day 4 started out with a surprise...Every morning the kids loved to open the curtains and look out at the beautiful blue sea, but this morning we were in for a shock. I sat up in bed as BASS threw open the curtains and it looked like we were in a parking lot...no water anywhere, instead I was looking at a Walmart of all places. Being in the forward area of the boat we had no idea we had docked and I had really expected to see nothing but water.

This is what we would normally wake up to:

This is what awaited us this day:

Getting food into Divot and GG is always a top priority, so off to Triton’s we go.
I tried the treasures omelet(good), Divot had the Triton’s shell again(I guess he liked it), BASS had Mickey waffles with bacon and GG had fruit and yogurt.

I threatened to venture out into the Mexican wilderness alone, but Divot decided to join me-not because he cared about the quest for the golden nectar, but we had taken over 16GBs of pictures and needed a new SD card and camera batteries(hello Walmart).

Debarkation in PV was a breeze, you are docked at the pier, so you can walk on and off at leisure. We walked across the street to Walmart and poked around in there for a little while. They had some tequila(good prices) alas, they were sold out of the precious, the golden nectar of happiness and as I was determined to be victorious in this quest...the search must go on.

We started walking south toward the hotel zone and found the Soriana supermarket. The prices were less in here than in Walmart and they had a myriad of tequilas to choose from but not the golden nectar, it was suspiciously sold out here too. I was beginning to suspect a conspiracy...maybe the drug cartels have this precious liquid removed from store shelves to lure unsuspecting Disneyphiles out of the tourist areas...makes it easier for kidnapping. I was playing right into their hands, because now I was more determined than ever to find this ever-so-popular with the locals bottle of liquid sunshine.

We venture a little further south, becoming a little concerned because we had left the kids in the club(something I thought I would never do) but the draw of the quest was too much, I couldn’t turn back now. We continued on for awhile and were only distracted once, the lure of Starbucks was too much and we stopped in for a latte(me) and espresso(Divot). We were fueled up and ready to get this thing done! I used the waning memories of 9th grade spanish to ask a local where I might find another local market and he directed me to the larger Soriana inside the Plaza Caracol. This had to be it- the location where I could find my precious treasure. We walked around the market aimlessly and finally spotted the liquor section. I scoured the tequila aisle...and then I spotted it- YES, it was the precious, the treasure, the one and only bottle of glorious Don Julio remaining in Mexico and it was mine! I cradled that thing like it was a newborn as I carried it to the register, I was finally victorious and as I wiped a tear from my eye, the heavens opened and a mariachi band proudly played on my behalf.

Back to reality: We realized that tequila quest 2011 had taken up way too much time and we needed to the back to the ship pronto! I suggested we take a taxi but Divot envisioned getting in and having black bags thrown over our heads while being whisked off into the jungle-like interior of Jalisco(especially now, since I possessed the only bottle of DJ left in the country). I convinced him that we would be safe, besides, I had an epi-pen in my purse(a terrific weapon in a pinch). Obviously we arrived safely back to the port and it only cost 4.00- what a bargain!

I was dreading handing over the precious liquid that we had risked our lives to obtain, but those are the rules, right? Oh no, not with DCL, they just x-rayed everything, smiled and waved me on through. I was now free to take Don back to my room and examine him in all his 100% agave glory.

We received a page just as we entered the club that the kids were ready to go swimming (see, they didn’t even miss us) so we changed into swimsuits and grabbed a combo lunch at Pluto’s and BBB. We tried chicken strips, fries and the veggie burger from Pluto’s and short ribs, chicken and shrimp from BBB (everything was good).

This was the best day for swimming and the kids once again wore themselves out playing and sliding in a mostly empty Micky pool.

After some fun in the sun, it was time to hit the spa for our couple's alone time...

Here’s where the the steamy part comes in: Prepare to experience the Exotic Rasul ritual...

(pictures borrowed from platinumcastawayclubdotcom)

I will convey the experience from my point of view and follow it by Divot’s pov, because this thing-like most things, is interpreted differently depending on your gender.

The introduction: We were greeted by a spa maven and escorted to our respective changing rooms where we received spa robes and slippers. Maven then led the way to the Rasul room and began to explain the “ritual”, pointing out the various products and how/when they were to be applied. I was genuinely interested in the spiel because I like Elemis products and yes, I wanted to romp around with Divot, but I wanted my skin to have something to show for it too.

Divot’s take on this was that the maven knew all along what he had in mind. He insisted that she had that all-knowing smirk on her face like she was a desk clerk at a rent by the hour motel and his name was John...Okay a little exaggeration, but how many people really just slap mud on each other, sit on the bench and steam like a lobster??? My guess is not many... I mean if you’re paying 89.00 to sit around in a bathing suit in a private room with just you & your DH present, you need more than a Rasul treatment honey (not judging- just saying...)
Divot says that he heard absolutely nothing that the maven said, he didn’t care what kind of “stuff” was on the table and this presentation was taking up precious time. Finally maven left, stating that she would knock on the door when our time was up.

I was actually interested in doing the treatment in the order that the maven instructed, so we started with the sea salt scrub. This is rubbed everywhere from the neck down and it acts as an exfoliant- I do this at home and love the way my skin feels afterward. Divot’s take on this is that it was weird, like rubbing sand on your skin and that it was actually painful. Next, we showered the “sand” off and moved on to the muscle soak. This is a eucalyptus gel that is supposed to soothe tense, sore muscles and you rub on each other’s shoulders, wait a few minutes and shower it off as well. Again, Divot didn’t care for this at all, but once again, he humored me. Next was the fun part...we covered each other in blue-green body mud. Divot said it was surreal to see T.Q covered from head to toe in slippery slime, he said I looked like a creature straight out of Avatar and I think he liked it.

Actually based on the remainder of the rasul- I know he did, but this is a family site, so no details offered there, sorry.

The next step in the ritual is to move into the steam room portion of the rasul chamber. In this room there are three alcoves with benches which contain upper and lower shower heads and there are several sinks in the middle of the room with faucets that operate on a sensor. Divot will tell you that this room is way too hot and that nothing maintains a constant temperature. TIP: run your hand by the sensor and let the water run for a few seconds before putting your hands under the faucet, Divot got first degree burns by trusting that the water would not be scalding hot. The sinks and the shower would randomly go from really hot to really cold- I actually found this entertaining(not the getting burned part) but it made for a few funny moments. TIP: If you are planning on romance, stay away from the showers and cold water in general until you are finished.

After 20 minutes or so, Divot couldn’t take the heat anymore, so we moved onto the next step which is the milk bath and lavender shower gel. I slathered these on and showered them off in order, Divot didn’t participate- he had gotten what he wanted out of the Rasul, so he was content to let me play with the remainder of the spa products until Maven came to collect us.

We were given glasses of champagne and shown to the rainforest room, which we amazingly we had to ourselves! This room has heated tile loungers, two steam rooms(one has aromatherapy) and two rainforest/fog showers- it’s a wonderful way to relax at the end of a spa treatment.

The Verdict: We really enjoyed every bit of the Rasul and we will most definitely reserve it again next April.

Now it was time to run back to the room and change into our pirate costumes, because it was pirate night(aarrggh!)

We joined the masses in the lobby to get pictures taken with Captain Jack, Pirate Mickey, Minnie, Peter Pan and Captain Hook

.. then it was off to Parrot Cay for dinner.

Pirate night dinner: Appetizers-crab cake(fishy tasting, not good), pot stickers(good), conch chowder(just meh), melon soup(ok), short rib(good), shrimp and scallop pasta(seafood was ok-sauce tasted like chef boyardee though). Desserts were coconut ice cream(good) and rum-soaked chocolate cake(ok).

After dinner we took the kids to their first movie in a theater...Tangled in 3D.

TIP: Bring the big boxes of movie candy from home, sure you don’t need the extra food, but the kids love it and it’s so much fun.

As soon as the movie was over, we hurried to the upper decks to prepare for the Pirate Party! We tried deck 10 but it was like hurricane force winds up there. I was trying to hold my skirt down with one hand and my hat with the other and that left no way to take pictures. There was still room to the right of the stage, so we stayed there as long as we could tolerate it but GG was exhausted and I despise pushy crowds.

Regarding the pyrotechnics- I was really impressed and DCL exceeded my expectations by putting on a great display, even though Mickey didn’t get to zipline from the stack(too windy, I’m sure) it was a great show. I just wish it didn't start so late- the kids were asking to leave halfway through.

Back in the room we found a cute little monkey hanging around, chocolates on the bed and the next day’s Navigator...


Coming up tomorrow: A relaxing day at sea, Brrrrr are we in Mexico or Alaska?, Tea with Disney Friends and Dinner at Triton’s.

 

[Mindyjoy]

You are making me really excited about this tequila, but the most exciting part of this entry was STARBUCKS WOOHOO, so good to know that I can get my toffee nut latte fix while on vacation.

Also glad you enjoyed the Exotic Rasul. I booked it as a surprise for DF and it sounds like he'll enjoy it.

Ready for day 5!!!

 

[believe79]

Great TR Im getting so excited because we leave i three weeks...if you don't mind me asking the price of the tequila...I am a tequila lover and tequila is my number one souvenir to buy in Mexico