On the spur of the moment, we decided to take a cruise. We booked the cruise on Tuesday and the ship sailed out
of San Francisco on Friday, Oct 24. It was an eleven day cruise to the Mexican Riveria on the Norwegian Sun. Julie
took us into San Francisco and dropped us off at the dock. This was our first cruise and a real adventure for us.
Someone else to do the cooking and cleaning! Since we booked so late, we were able to get a good deal on the stateroom
and were able to get a stateroom with a porthole. Which we soon realized was something we really liked having.
Paige had taken a cruise in July so she gave me all kinds of travel hints. She also gave me her seasick wrist bands
and medicine. I also made a stop by the Kaiser pharmacy and got some medication there. The meds I got at Kaiser
were great and I never got seasick. Skip of course never needed any meds.
We went on shore at all ports...Matzatlan, Ixtapa, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. Can't say I was
thrilled with the ports because it was so extremely HOT!!! 85 at 9 am and 96 percent humidity! We
were the first to go on shore and I think the first to return. Did some tour things and right back to the ship!
Those of you who really know me know I can't function in the heat! I wasn't alone...one lady went to see the cliff divers
during the day and had a mental melt down from the heat.
The poverty, crazy drivers, begging, police presence and high costs was really something. The only thing we bought
on shore was a hat for Skip.
We ate way too much and enjoyed every bite. My most memorable dinner was escargot, mozzarella tomato basil
salad with garlic toast, flank steak with yorkshire pudding and lastly a cocunut souffle for dessert. Norwegian Cruise
Lines is freestyle so we were never scheduled to a certain time slot for eating meals. We always tried to share a table
with others and this way we met a lot of different people.
We enjoyed all of the entertainment and many of the different activites. One of our favorites was the daily trivia
contests. We met this lovely lady from England. She was 82 and sharp as a tack. We had a group of 5 who
played the game everyday...became our little family! The other couple, Dolores and Bob, were from Lodi. Every
evening, we went to the lounge and participated in the games. We were always on the go. We had an awesome
time.
There were a lot of older people on the ship. Once coming back from lunch, we were behind a lady using her walker.
We came to a turn where 2 other hallways came together. This is where 2 other ladies in walker couldn't get by each
other and now here was a third!!
I was surprised when I got home how few pictures I had taken. I guess we were just so busy with all the dining,
visiting and other activities that I didn't have time to haul around a camera. I will put some of the pictures on here.
Maybe a couple today and a few more in a day or two.
