Our second port of call was Mazatlan —a place I hadn’t been before. I’ve done the Mexican Riviera cruise twice
before, but the ship never called in Mazatlan . The first time, Mazatlan was on the itinerary
when I booked, but about a month prior, the itinerary was changed removing
Mazatlan and instead, staying overnight in Cabo San Lucas. All the cruise ships stopped going to Mazatlan due to the safety reasons: increased organized crime and violent crimes
caused Mazatlan
to be removed as a port of call and the US State Department issue a travel
warning. The city’s economy took a huge
hit without the ships and other tourists, and so the government made a
concerted effort to clean up the city.
After a few years, the cruise lines started coming back to Mazatlan , and the US State Department removed the warning
against travelling to Mazatlan .
Since this was the first time I had been here, I had booked
a ship’s excursion—the City Highlights and Folkloric Show. The tour was scheduled to meet in the Wheelhouse
Bar at 8:30, and I had set the alarm for 7:00, just in case. But I was awake early as usual, so had plenty
of time to follow my usual routine.
I checked in for the excursion at the Wheelhouse and was
given a sticker showing I was in the “silver 7” group, and directed to the
Princess Theater. (Another difference on the Crown Princess is the Wheelhouse
Bar is just outside the Princess Theater on Deck 7 forward, while the Crown
Grill is midship—the opposite of some of the other ships I’ve been on). After a few minutes, out group was directed
to Deck 4 to the gangway, off the ship, and to our tour bus. The ship was berthed at the industrial dock,
and our bus wound it’s way around the stacked containers and out of the dock
area.
Our guide introduced himself and the driver, and pointed out
the different sights and buildings as we drove around the city. There were armed police officers everywhere,
and the sight of them was reassuring. We
stopped at a viewing point along the coast where the guide pointed out the
second highest lighthouse in the world (the highest is in Gibraltar ). We continued along the coast and made a
second stop to watch the cliff divers, diving into water that is only 8 feet
deep. The divers time their dive with
the waves so they gain another couple of feet.
They made it look easy, but I wouldn’t want to do it. At both stops, there were the usual vendors
set up trying to sell hats, jewelry, blankets, and other souvenirs.
Our next stop was in the old town where we had some free
time to visit the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and the
Mercado Pino Suarez, a large market place.
I visited the marketplace first, which is an indoor market
with booth after booth of Mexican style sundresses, blankets, shell jewelry and
trinkets, and souvenirs. There were also
booths with seafood and meats, along with fruit and vegetable stands. The marketplace was a colorful collection of
goods for sale, and if I had wanted to buy a souvenir, this would have been the
place to do so.
Leaving the marketplace, I wandered down the street to the
cathedral. The cathedral was built with
both Moorish and Gothic style architecture, with arched columns
throughout. Leaving the cathedral, I crossed
the street to walk through the small park with a gazebo at the center. This was the Plaza Revolucion, a plaza to
commemorate the Mexican Revolution.
Back on the bus, our guide again pointed out the different
sights as we followed the coast passed beaches and made our way to the Golden
Zone, which is where all the resort hotels and more upscale stores and
restaurants were located, in other words, the upscale tourist area. Our bus made the obligatory stop at a jewelry
store (I don’t think I’ve ever taken a ships’ tour that didn’t include a stop
at a jewelry store).
Our last stop was Playa Mazatlan, a hotel resort, where we
would have a buffet lunch and watch a Folkloric show. Our guide explained that we would be leaving
the bus at this resort, and that following lunch and the show, we would have
about 2 hours free time to enjoy the private beach (the hotel has changing
rooms and would provide towels), the pool, or the other amenities at the
resort. The return to the ship would be
by taxi which is prepaid by the tour guide at the hotel, and we could return at
any time (before all aboard time of course).
We were given a ticket for the buffet lunch and show, and
two drink tickets which can be used for anything including alcoholic drinks,
presumably one for lunch and one for later in the afternoon. The lunch was very good and included salad,
refried beans, Mexican rice, BBQ chicken, beef taquitos, chicken enchiladas, sour
cream, guacamole, chips and salsa, and flan and rice pudding for dessert. The food was very good, although I suspect it
was more “Americanized” instead of traditional Mexican. The show was also very good and included
various dances in traditional costume, and one man singing various different
folk songs (he had a very good voice).
At one point, they had three men from the audience come up on stage and
had them “acting out” being a macho man riding into town on his horse, kicking
open the door of a bar, and ordering a tequila—it was absolutely hilarious.
After the show, a few folks headed out to the beach, but I
decided to head back to the ship, sharing a taxi with another couple who also
decided to go back. The taxi ride was
about 15 minutes and dropped us off at the entrance to the port area.
Inside the entrance to the port but before the secure dock
area, there was a very large building which was set up like a market with
booths of all the same souvenirs and handcrafts offered elsewhere. There was also a very nice courtyard area
lined with shops, with places to sit and enjoy a drink. It was very well done, and there were a lot
of passengers here shopping, or just enjoying a drink (or two or three). For those who didn’t want to go far, go into
town, or go sightseeing, this was a good alternative.
In order to get to the ship, we had to take a complementary
(and obligatory) trolley. Since the ship
was berthed in a container dock, passengers were not allowed to walk through
the secure area to the ship.
Once on board, stopped by the cabin to put my wallet back in
the safe. Linda was in the cabin getting
ready to go to the pool. She had been
off the ship and had taken a “pulmonia” (not sure how that’s spelled) which is
an open air taxi (it’s really more of a golf cart), around Mazatlan with a couple of other folks, seeing
some of the same places that I had seen on my excursion (but without the lunch
and show).
I read for a while in Explorers Lounge while waiting for
trivia. I met the same people I had
teamed with previously, and we talked for a while before trivia started,
sharing our day’s activities. Our team
didn’t win this time, but we had fun.
Then I headed out to the Promenade Deck for sailaway. Since the ship was in a secure area, there
wouldn’t be any “runners” (those passengers who are late and make a run for the
ship before it left). As I stood
outside, the ship’s loudspeakers made an announcement, “Would passenger,
(whatever the name is) from cabin Emerald XXX, please contact Passenger
Services at extension 6000.” Two names
were announced, which meant that there were two passengers who were not
accounted for. The ship waited a few
minutes, and finally I saw one of the officers lift his walkie talkie and talk
into it. Then off in the distance, I
could see one of the trolley headed for the ship, and sure enough, two
passengers got off—these were the latecomers, and they were very lucky not to
have been left behind. Ships have left
passengers behind before, so I always make it a point to be back on board well
before “all aboard time.”
I had eaten such a large lunch, that I wasn’t hungry for
dinner. Instead, I arranged to meet
Linda on the Lido deck at 7:00 to watch the
movie, “The Intern” on MUTS (Movies Under the Stars). The crew passed out plaid blankets and
popcorn, and it really is a good way to enjoy a movie (as long as it isn’t too
cold or windy). Unfortunately, all the
nice pool loungers were already filled, so we sat on a hard wooden bench
instead. But the movie was enjoyable,
and I did end up eating pizza while watching it.
After the movie, I spent a few minutes in the casino (where
I again lost…darn!). I was back in the
cabin by 10:00. Hmmm, I see a trend
here—on my first few cruises, I stayed out late every night at one of the bars,
but the last few cruises, I haven’t been going to the bars, and I’ve back in
the cabin well before midnight (must be getting old…yikes!).
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