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Looking over the
rail from the ship, we can see what looks nothing like a little
sleepy Mexican village. There are a quarter million people living
here. Don Segur mentioned that those boats in the harbor are not
little fishing boats. There are some nice boats down there. This is
looking north from our ship.
(Photo by Pfister)
Turning to the
right, we are looking more eastward, and you can see a group of
small tents in the lower right. They are a temporary shopping
center. They offer just about everything that you would want... or
need... or not need. The ring you see is a bullring. Out of the
picture, to the right, is a WalMart!
(Photo by Pfister)
Another look at the ships in the harbor.
(Photo by Segur)
Looking out the other side of the
ship... toward the south, we see more of the city proper, and a
U.S.Coast Guard ship... way down here. I asked Don Segur, our
resident Navy man, what it was possibly doing down here. He said
most likely it was working with the drug situation. Oh. OK. :-(
(Photo by Smith)
In front of the USCG ship was this gorgeous PRIVATE yacht... now
THAT'S a YACHT! With a helipad, no less.
(Photo by Segur)
Looking a little to the right, we see the point reaching out to form
the bay in which we are berthed. We usually berth over where the
Coast Guard ship is located, but it and a huge, million dollar private yacht are
berthed there.
(Photo by Smith)
And turning a little more to the right
we can see the other arm of land reaching out into the Pacific in
front of our ship. These three images were taken from our balcony on
the Port Side of the ship. (Port is Left... Starboard is Right...
Port and Left have four letters each). That tall condo looks like a
swift ocean breeze would lay it back. The view from the upper levels
must be 100% water. Note that the balconies are all on the ocean
side. (Photo by Smith)
In the image before this one, a closer
look shows a ship getting ready for sea... no, that is not the Grand
Princess. That is a wooden facsimile of early ships that takes
groups out for an "authentic Olde World Tour" in an "ancient sailing
ship". Don't pay attention to the diesel engines, OK?.
(Photo by Segur)
This is only a small part of this "sleepy little Mexican town".
(Photo by
Segur)
(Photo by
Gately)
"We
took a four-hour tour of Puerto Vallarta, maybe two hours walking
and the rest driving around the city, which was very interesting.
Margaret Hughes is listening to the tour guide's info on the sachets
of the sea spirits! The water was rough but very beautiful."
(Photo by
Gately)
"Walking
to open cave and jewelry shop, then on to city hall. Look at the
beautiful pebble walkway and all in such beautiful patterns and
designs." (Photo by
Gately)
"You
can tell the city is very old and many structures in decline. Lots
of remodeling everywhere, very quaint and lots of Mexican Folk art
designs depicting their colorful culture."
(Photo by
Gately)
Mexico has some strange laws, and one law allows a home or business
owner to remodel or build, and the government will not charge the
full taxes until the building is finished. So... the residents build
and somehow just never get around to finishing the project. You will
often see some re-bars sticking up somewhere on a corner that are
obvious to the official driving by. That is one reason we see so
many "remodel" projects going on down here.
"Puerto
Vallarta open café, no stopping as we are with the group and had to
keep up. I loved all the potted plants and the way trees and shrubs
were groomed and cut to provide shade for walk ways"
(Photo by
Gately)
(Photo by Gately)
"More
colorful shops and pebble stone roads and walkways. Many people
selling their handmade objects
...and they were expensive"
(Photo by
Gately)
(Photo by Gately)
"John
looking at the water and how beautiful the beaches were"
(Photo by
Gately)
"In
tour bus returning to ship, picture of the back of our ship"
(Photo by
Gately)
For the curious:
In Barbara's photo
above, notice the prominent deck just above the two lowest rows of
smaller "portholes"... that is the Promenade Deck (deck 7). It is
where most of the "public rooms" like theater, Vista lounge, etc.
are located. It is also the deck where you muster for emergencies.
The large public rooms serve in that purpose. It is also the deck
from where you enter the life boats, which are suspended just above
that deck. You walk under the life boats when they are 'put away'.
Deck 7 is open for you to walk completely around the ship while
under way. It is marked as to the distance of one lap so you can get
in your number of miles you want to walk while on vacation.
Going down from
deck 7 is deck six (Fiesta deck) which has dining rooms, shops,
casino and the lower seating of the Princess Theatre. Bellow that is
deck 5 (Plaza deck) which has more dining rooms, more shops,
Passenger services, art gallery, and some staterooms in the forward
half. Deck 4 (Gala deck) has the medical center, which is the only
part of that deck that is accessed by passengers. Everything below
that is mechanical, engineering, and employee staterooms.
Above Deck 7 is deck
8, or course (Emerald deck) which is mostly passenger staterooms,
but with the life boats outside your cabin, these are listed as
"obscured vision" and may or may not have too much of a view. They
go for a lower price. Decks 9 (Dolphin), 10 (Caribe), 11 (Baja), and
12 (Aloha) are all passenger staterooms. Those are the decks that
all have balconies with glass railings (blue color in picture).
Some are mini-suites, some are balcony staterooms, and some are
interior staterooms (no window or balcony) are in the center of the
ship on these decks. The top blue line that goes full length is deck
14 (Lido deck) which has the Horizon Court Buffet, swimming pools,
spas, Movies Under The Stars, and some staterooms in the forward
third.
There is no deck 13 on
any of these ships. Superstition mostly. Too many people suffer from
triskaidekaphobia, or the fear of the number 13, and
to avoid the concerns of passengers and guests, most cruise ships do
not have a deck or floor 13 or even a stateroom or hotel room
with 13 on the door.
Restaurants, cafes, bars, clubs, lounges, photo galleries,
gymnasiims, spas, beauty salons, etc. are interspersed among the
more 'public' decks. Up on the top are some putting greens, a
basketball court, and at one time there was a night club that
stretched across the back end, up on top. It was deck 17. It was
removed some years ago for various reasons... mostly because it kept
the adults only swimming pool just below it in constant shade.
The
Starboard side of our ship, for comparison.
(Photo by
Viscuso)
Joe
and Dinise Viscuso, with Florence and Howard Hamman
(Photo by
Viscuso)
Statuary along the
waterfront. Our ship is off to the right, in the distance.
(Photo by
Viscuso)
Welcome To .....
(Photo by
Viscuso)
Downtown, with
Florence, Howard, Dinise, and Joe
(Photo by
Viscuso)
(Photo by
Viscuso)
Breakwater
(Photo by
Viscuso)
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