Mexican Riviera Cruise on the Royal Princess Cruise Ship

To get out of the cold weather, we took another cruise! This time it was to the Mexican Riviera for our 2nd time on the beautiful Royal Princess Ship. For some reason, we liked the ship better this time ... possibly because we were upgraded to a mini-suite and also had a better dining experience.

We left the day before embarkation. (We've learned this is better in the Winter due to unexpected weather.) Of course, our furry children were both expressing their opinion about those 2 blue boxes on the couch. We think they have figured out what it means and will try to stop us from going.

We flew on a newer Delta plane (one designed to cram as many seats in as possible) and were shocked to see how narrow and little room there was in the bulkhead seats. Usually, there is plenty of leg and floor room but on this particular plane. DeeAnn had to get creative in getting to her seat since shimmying sideways is not her thing. However the flight was quick and nice and as always, Delta treated us well.

We stayed one night at the Holiday Inn Express near the airport in Winchester. It was a nice room, within walking distance to some shops and restaurants, had a free breakfast and a shuttle back to the airport. That night, after a little exploration, we ate at Paco's Taco Cantina. It was pretty good!

One of the nicest breakfast buffets we've seen

The next morning we were at the airport at 9:30 am and found the Princess people quickly. (They are all over on embarkation day.) We had arranged for an accessible lift bus and although they had them, they had us take an ADA taxi. LAX has crammed all the taxis, Ubers and Lyft rides together, making it quite chaotic. But it was a little better than last month, having made improvements to traffic flow.

We had received our Medallions (used for access to our rooms and for purchases around the ship) by mail so registration was a breeze. We headed to the Platinum lounge but as always were redirected to the "special needs" area. Not sure how we feel about that but didn't wait all that long and we were on ship. Since we couldn't get to our rooms right away, lunch was the next thing on the agenda. We've learned from other cruises not to even attempt the buffet as it is way too crowded that first day. So, we found Alfredo's Pizza and had a great lunch!

Kent got the pepperoni

DeeAnn got the Hawaiian

A couple of games of Nertz while we waited for our room

Next was getting to our stateroom, easier said than done on that first day. We waited a LONG time to get an elevator which is pretty typical the first day. But it was worth the wait. The ADA mini-suite (C432) was big and beautiful! Our steward's name was Joseph and he did a good job taking care of us. He kept the ice bucket full and even flipped our mattresses which were way too soft.

Plenty of balcony space

After the muster drill, it was time to set sail. Always fun to watch as we head out of port.

Got a glimpse of the new ship, Carnival Panorama

First critter sighting ... seals on a buoy

Pretty moon shot at sea

The next day was a sea day. We ate, watched some fun TV shows (Princess always has a great variety of shows from which to chose), slept, ate, and repeated. Also did a little touring around the ship.

The newer ships have added more wheelchair seating to the theater! 

Nice accessibility all around the ship

Kent in front of the library

Ship's library ... lots of games, not a lot of books

Ocean scene from the back of the ship

Glass bottom lookout to the ocean ... a little jittery to look down

Morning Tai Chi

Afternoon Zumba lessons

The next day was in Cabo San Lucas. This is our 4th time here so
we decided to just get off the ship and explore on our own. The ship can't get close enough to dock so we are "tendered" in on smaller boats. We walked around, bought some cold medicine (DeeAnn must have caught one while subbing earlier this week), and enjoyed seeing more of the city.

Beautiful sunrise

The famous Cabo Arch

Greeted by a flotilla of boats to take us into Cabo

We found a fun place to have lunch while in Cabo. It was just this little, almost missed corner restaurant, named Cabo Cantina. The staff was as friendly and fun as you can get.  We ordered a guacamole appetizer that was huge (and delicious). Our entrees were also very good. We hope to visit here again if we have a chance to be in Cabo in the future.

View of our ship from the shore of Cabo

Pelican and friend

Cabo has the most beautiful sunsets! 

Another beautiful Cabo sunset scene off our balcony

The next day found us in Mazatlan, Mexico. We docked here, but the dock is by an industrial area so we got on a tram (accessible!) to go to the main port and all the touristy shops. The weather was nice and warm ... a nice change from wintery Utah. We took most of our city pictures from our balcony.

Buses lining up to take people on their excursions

New cars driving on to train cars

Tram to take us to the main port and city

Ramp to get on the tram

Freight containers all around

We bought a few souvenirs and then headed back to the ship to relax for the day.

Our 3rd and last port was in Puerta Vallarta. The dock area has really changed since the last time we were here. A new building is going up and soon it will be filled with a lot of shops geared to the cruise tourist. Again we just walked around the city. Went to Walmart (interesting to see how similar it was to home ... just all in Spanish) and the mall that was nearby.

We noticed that the Carnival Panorama had the same itinerary

Ate at a little Mexican restaurant in the Mall

The next 2 days were relaxing sea days, and then all-to-soon our 16th cruise was over. (And yes, the 17th is already in the plan.) It didn't take long to get back in a cab and head to the airport. The flight was nice and we took Frontrunner back to Orem. Marc was there to pick us up.
 The cats were happy we were home and even happier when the 2 blue boxes were put away!