Day 14 Sunday 22nd October Pacific Ocean
We woke to a cloudy sky. The ship was still passing up the coast of Mexico going North.
Our breakfast was in the Bordeaux on a table with six Americans. We learnt that the ship had been passing turtles the day before. The position of the date lines had caused our clocks to have to go forward before we landed at Porto Vallarta. I was surprised to learn that some US states did not alter their time at the end of Summer and even in others at the county level clocks were not set to the ‘official’ time. This must be very confusing for anyone arriving or passing through.
After a three lap walk we went into yet another sale in the Provence restaurant. This was again stock from previous cruises at greatly reduced prices. I skipped the port talk and instead went back out on Deck 7 to look for turtles.
Another three laps later and the restaurant serving British Pub lunches was open We could see diners already in there eating. The restaurant looked full and a queue outside stretched way down the corridor. Our lunchtime plans changed and we went to Sabatinis (Albertos) for yet another pizza and some beer.
We were early enough to get in before others gave up on the pub lunch. Next to our table were two Canadians who we had dined with before (they knew our village back home having worked there). We learnt that we had definitely been missing out by not going to the quizzes in the afternoon!
I ordered my usual pepperoni and extra mushroom – being here before the server said my order for me! Our experience with the Californian ladies it seems had been repeated in front of the Canadians. It is so sad that some passengers feel the need to treat staff on-board so badly.
The table behind us in Sabatinis (sorry Albertos) was taken up by a group who had just eaten their pub lunches and were still hungry.
Back in our cabin we watched for turtles or dolphins from the balcony before going back around the Atrium. Out on the balcony it had been hot and humid and we simply need to cool down.
After a wander around inside the ship we tried again on the balcony. We solved the mystery of where the smell of cigarettes outside was coming from. Almost every sea day we had smelt cigarettes even when there had been a strong breeze on the balcony. I looked up and and the lady one deck up and one cabin forward was sitting on her balcony having a smoke.
There is supposed to be a $250 charge if caught so I’m guessing she must have been desperate rather than bothering to go to one of the designated smoking areas.
After a few more hours out in the heat and humidity we still had not seen any sea life, except for one container ship, but the glass of wine did help to temper our disappointment.
Dinner was in the Bordeaux and we joined our Canadian lunch companions and two couples from Australia. This was a reunion as we had shared a table with the Australians before. For dinner I had air dried Swedish style beef, a pineapple based dish with meat and Szechauan shrimp and finished off with Rocky Road ice cream.
The conversation inevitably turned to Brexit and after a good (long?) debate we all resumed talking about places visited, past cruises and cruises to come. Then we walked back to our cabin. The Atrium had by mow ‘lost’ its Mardi Gras decorations.
The much anticipated Porto Vallarta port guide was waiting for us in our cabin. On our phone was a voice message from the cruise consultant that the form I’d filled in for Future Cruise deposits was wrong. As UK residents it seems we had to pay in sterling not dollars even though the ship was a ‘dollar ship’. Another visit to her office would be needed later.