Tricia’s Travelogue

We always enjoy sea days, which allow leisurely mornings and lounging around in between excellent meals.  We have dutifully gone to the gym each morning, and the crowds have dwindled quite a bit as the week wore on. We’ve tried to leave our stateroom by 9:30, to give our attendant time to clean it up.  We usually go to the Solarium, but today it’s VERY windy and much cooler, so we went into the Diamond lounge for a while, and Charlie went to the casino. He won enough points to get a good discount on a future trip. Yesterday we enjoyed our lunch at Izumi. I probably mentioned earlier that it’s located on the top deck, with wonderful views.  Our server, Alvin, told us to look for his friend Cedric in the Izumi on Mariner of the Seas, so I’ve made a note.  Shrimp & vegetable tempura Pork Gyoza dumplings  Crispy Philly roll (top) and champagne lobster roll The Crispy Philly roll included salmon, avocado, and cream cheese, rolled in panko crumbs and flash-fried. ...

Changing time zones PLUS Daylight Savings Time has us totally discombobulated.  We have no idea what time it is back home. We first gained a couple of hours flying to California, then on this second cruise we’ve had to “spring forward” twice, although Mexico doesn’t observe DST. Tonight we gain an hour. Keeping our phones and tablets and digital clock set correctly has kept us busy. All day today we thought it was an hour later than it apparently is. Oh, well, it’s always Happy Hour on the ship, right? Last night we enjoyed another excellent meal at Jamie’s Italian, which is becoming our favorite restaurant.  They have a really good side salad with avocado and radish slices that I’ve gotten every time. Last night I had tagliatelle bolognese that was really good, and Charlie had the prawn linguine. We arrived in Puerta Vallarta early this morning, and Charlie captured some photos of the area around the ship.  Sunrise  The crew members were excited about shopping at Wa...

Yesterday afternoon we enjoyed sitting on our balcony, watching all kinds of boats and jet skis zipping around. Dinner that night was at Hooked.  Charlie had the baked oysters—the best ones are topped with champagne Brie! His catch of the day was overcooked, so I shared some of my fried seafood platter.  Charlie watched a boat tow away the platform used to load tender passengers and captured this pic. This morning after the gym and showers, we returned to the Solarium to relax and give the attendant time to do our room. We had a quick salad in the Windjammer for lunch, the first time we’d been there on this ship.  We continue to enjoy watching the ship containers being loaded and unloaded.  Today they were emptying stacks of lumber and loading them on truck after truck. Yes, we’re easily amused. After lunch we boarded a trolley for our tour.  We first stopped at the cathedral in the market area. Here are some photos. I was taken with this enormous bougainvillea ...

Last night we returned to Chops Grille for dinner, and it was so busy that we were given a round table for five, the last one available. It was “dress your best” night, so maybe that’s why so many families were there, all dressed up. This time I had the branzino, served over garlic spinach — delicious! Charlie loved the lamb chops so much that he had them again.  This morning we went to the gym, then after showering, went up to the Solarium to watch the ship’s approach to Cabo.  We lucked into one of the double daybeds, so parked there until after lunch. Charlie took a few photos, and while we were hoping to see whales, we didn’t. Here are some smaller boats chasing whales. And I love this one, of the Arch of Cabo San Lucas.  Here’s a view of some of the resorts and other developments.  As I mentioned yesterday, we decided not to tender over for such a brief visit. From our balcony we’ve seen lots of party boats including one apparently filled with Aggies on Spring B...

Last night we enjoyed another good dinner at Jamie’s Italian restaurant.  Our server from our previous visit seemed thrilled that we’d asked for him by name, and he was very attentive. We shared the garlic buns, and Charlie had fried squid to start, then I had (again) the very delicious sticky short ribs. Charlie had a very simple but rich pasta dish. Fried squid  Sticky short ribs  Penne carbonara  This morning we went to the gym, which was packed, but we managed to get ellipticals next to each other. At 11:00 they had the “Loyal to Royal “ event, with free champagne and mimosas, and we enjoyed hearing from the very personable Captain James.  In addition to recognizing the three most frequent cruisers — one woman had over 4200 points (one point per night or two if in a suite) — and another woman earned her Pinnacle pin. Immediately afterwards we walked to the opposite end of the ship for lunch at Izumi. I mostly ordered the same things. The pork dumplings are r...

This morning we awoke as the ship was returning to the port at Los Angeles. We finished the last-minute packing and had to leave our stateroom by 8:30.  The 129 “continuous cruisers,” as Royal called us, gathered in the Star Lounge. (They told us that we were an unusually large group!). While we waited to be given our new keycards, our sweet room attendant Riel was moving our luggage and hanging clothes to our new cabin. (The only other time we’ve done back-to-backs, we didn’t change staterooms.).  After telling us FOUR times in great detail what the procedures would be, we were led out onto the deck to leave the ship for Immigration. We waited and waited in 45-degree weather before they finally told us the delay was due to a woman refusing to leave the ship. I’m not sure if it was a mental health issue or just someone with a later flight home, but she held all of us up for about 15 minutes. Anyway, THAT was a new experience. Who’d have the chutzpah to refuse to leave?! Immigr...

First, just a few photos from yesterday on the ship: Onion ring tower at Playmaker’s  Captain’s Platter at Hooked Coconut shrimp at Hooked This morning we were up and off the ship for a 9:20 walking tour of local food and tequila. It was a nice, small group of 10, with a few people from Iowa, Northern California, and one guy from Las Vegas. Our guide, Angel, was great!  We walked a total of three miles, and it rained on us on the way back, but I’m glad we went. We first went to an outdoor place for fish tacos, which were excellent. Here are all the hot sauces: From there, we walked to a candy store with an incredible variety of homemade sweets. We got to try as many as we wanted. Our guide took this pic of us with interesting expressions.  Next up was the tequila tasting at the Tequila Room Ensenada. Angel was telling us about the owner, “a rich redheaded Mexican called Archie,” and Archie himself walked in. We learned about the four types of tequila and sampled at least ...

Sorry for no post yesterday — it was a Sea Day, and we mostly lazed around. Here are some pics from our first evening on the ship.  As we were leaving Los Angeles Monday evening, we passed a LONG jetty, at the end of which was this lighthouse.   And the sunset that night was just as we entered Chops Grille for dinner.  I failed to take pics of our meal, but you’ve all seen salads, filets, and baked potatoes.  Here’s the 2025 door decor Charlie created: Yesterday morning we dutifully went to the gym in lieu of trying to walk outside in 40-degree, windy weather. Gotta burn SOME calories to offset our meals.  We also spent a little time in the Diamond Lounge, but it’s small and was quite full of talkative people.  We had better luck on the lounge on the top deck.  Charlie also had some fun in the casino.  I finished a book and started another, and my socks are coming along nicely. We had lunch at Izumi, with a nice two-top by the window. Alas, we wer...

I’m writing this shortly after 1:00 p.m., just after we got access to our stateroom.  This is a “free” cruise for us, due to Charlie’s hard work in the casino on past cruises. We upgraded to a balcony room, which is cozy, but certainly more than adequate for the two of us. We had “The Key” for the first time, which allows earlier access to the ship and a few other amenities. After our driver dropped us at the terminal, we found the Key line and didn’t have to wait long before they ushered us into the Security area. After our carryons were scanned, we were quickly checked in, seated for a few minutes, then allowed to board the ship about 10:30.  We zipped to our muster station to check in, then headed to the pool bar for a glass of Prosecco to celebrate. We took those up to the Crown Lounge on the top deck and relaxed in peace and quiet.  Mostly. At one point, a couple with four, count ‘em, four kids under eight came in lugging gigantic suitcases AND a collapsible wagon lo...