DAY 25 - EN ROUTE TO PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO

Enjoyed A Wonderfully Prepared Entree At Prego Last Evening  ✔  Loved Last Nights Show Featuring Cruise Director Gary Hunter and Violinist, Nicola Loud ✔  Had Another Great Day At Sea  ✔


Thanks to Barb for posting a recipe for us for the Rainbow Cookies.  The good news is that Ricki and David brought us a large "supply" of Rainbow Cookies but it's nice to have this recipe just in case we would like more.  Anne Marie has made these cookies before and it's also nice to have this recipe so she can try that out.

These are some additional photos from yesterdays visit to Huatulco, Mexico.

The people who live at and near this port of call are very dependent on the tourist industry.  We learned that this was a very poor area and the government stepped in and essentially funded much of the area to attempt to attract tourism.  The challenge is that there are only a few direct flights here from outside Mexico with one weekly flight from Houston, Texas.  There are more flights from Canada.  They are attracting some companies to have business meetings here.

Overall income is very low at roughly $5.00 per day.  Like some of the other Mexico ports if you sit on the beach you will have many locals coming up to you trying to sell you something as they also did when we walked around town but given their dependence on tourism this is very understandable.

It is also a nice port for the crew since they have limited time on land during their breaks and this port allows them quick access to/from the ship with nice beaches within a couple minute walk from the ship.


We dined at the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant last evening.

Rather than posting the menu form the Crystal Dining Room we thought instead we would post the Prego dinner menu.  In addition to the items on this menu there were two additional dinner entrees.

Our Waiter for the evening was Costa who was our waiter in Prego for much of the 2010 World Cruise. We each began with a salad.  The highlight of the meal was the additional fish entree beyond what is offered on the menu.  This was a Pan Seared Yellow Fin Tuna which was accompanied with a Herbed Gnocchi.  On a scale with five being the highest and one being the lowest grade we would give it a five++++.  It was absolutely delicious.  We also had a side order of vegetables. We had a terrific time at Prego.

After dinner we went to the Variety show.

This show featured Cruise Director Gary Hunter who is also a Ventriloquist who performed with Mr. and Mrs. Tweed.  We have seen Gary perform with Mr. and Mrs. Tweed on many voyages and we still laugh so much as if it is the first time we have seen this performance.  To us, it brings out the "kid" in all of us since Ventriloquists used to be a very popular form of entertainment in person and on television.  We also want to wish Gary a very Happy Birthday as he turned 58 yesterday.

Violinist, Nicola Loud also performed.  She played a wide range of songs and was accompanied by the Crystal Cruises Galaxy Orchestra.

We slept very well last evening.  The seas were relatively calm and there was no howling wind this time around.

Keith woke up early and enjoyed another nice workout at the Fitness Center.  He learned of the tragedy at Sea while working out from the reporting available from the BBC and Sky News television channels that we get on the ship.  This tragedy is a reminder of the importance of safety at sea.

Keith chatted with fellow passenger, Brian, after he arrived at the Center and they both talked about safety.

Anne Marie also worked out in the morning and as we do each day, we enjoyed breakfast in our room after we both worked out.

Keith was also able to do some laundry.  We have many interesting stories from those laundry rooms.  We are glad that these rooms are located on each guest floor and are open 24 hours a day.  Keith spoke with a fellow guest this morning who said that on another cruise line there was one laundry room for all passengers and that it was closed from 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM.  He said people would get in line starting at 6:30 AM to use the machines.

When Keith was walking over to the room for a final time this morning he could hear two very loud voices coming from the room.  When he opened the door a wife was yelling at her husband about how stupid he was to have mixed dark and white clothes together and how he ruined several of her blouses.  Keith tried to act as if he was not there and cleared out the clothes he had in the dryer as soon as he could.

Today was a lovely day at sea as we are sailing to our next port of call in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  There was lots to do on the ship.  Three lectures were given.  This included a talk by Steve Saint titled "Flying a Car?  I do!".  Destination Lecturer Dr. Anthony Aveni talked about our two next ports of call in Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  In the afternoon, Robert Adams spoke about the novel titled Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by author, Helen Simonson.

Keith played Paddle Tennis in the morning with friends Ashley and Kelly for close to two hours.  While he lost more of the singles games than he won, he didn't do too bad as the "old" one on the court.  He had a fabulous time playing with Ashley and Kelly.

Lunch in the Crystal Dining Room featured the Grand Gala Buffet which offers a wonderful array of cuisine including appetizers, rolls, entrees, desserts, cheeses all displayed beautifully.  As we have noted in the past, it is clearly a work of art.  Hopefully, these photos, most of which, are mainly of cakes will give you an idea of the care that goes into preparing each one.  They change from voyage which is even more amazing.

Because we are on for the long haul we had lunch at the Lido Cafe which was a bit quieter.  We will have lunch at the Grand Gala Buffet on one of the voyages.

In the afternoon, Keith played more Paddle Tennis.  He is trying to take advantage of playing while the weather is so nice knowing that the last 30 days or so of the cruise will be quite cold and windy which will offer much more limited playing time.

Anne Marie walked for another hour in the afternoon and then sat our for awhile and continued to work on her needlepoint.  She completed on project the other day and is now working on her second one.

Keith sat with friend Bob later in the afternoon and enjoyed a nice conversation.

This evening before dinner we will attended a cocktail reception at the Captain Okland's Quarters with some of our fellow guests and then afterwards we will dine at the Crystal Dining Room.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.......

“You can work miracles by having faith in others.  By choosing to think and believe the best about people, you are able to bring out the best in them.”  - Bob Moawad

Keith and Anne Marie