Patty, Julie, Craig off Cabo San Lucas
The Island Princess
Patty and Craig on 1st formal night.
Linda D. and Patty get
into the Christmas spirit.
The Island Princess is the largest cruise ship able to pass through the Panama Canal.
She is sleek and seems more elegant than other, larger ships. The floor plan shown below has many things centrally located and it does not take long to get anywhere on the ship. Most shopping and ship's business is conducted around the panoramic elevators in the atrium.
One of the first places we headed to was the Spa
The entrance is pleasant, but...
...the heated recliner stone beds demanded daily use. Craig was the most frequent user.
The recliner beds look out on 2 showers (1 shown on left) and 4 saunas with different aromas (2 shown on right).
There was no way to spend less than an hour here - another reason for late dining.
Cabo San Lucas
Arriving in Cabo San Lucas after rounding the southern most point of Baja California, we anchored in the harbor and ferried people ashore using the lifeboats.
Julie flew down to Cabo and met us there (she had to teach school for the first 1½ days of the cruise).
She wasn't there when we first arrived so we wandered around the waterfront, putting up with all the vendors hawking the same tourist trinkets. Of course we stopped for a huge, overpriced margarita.
On the way we came across this sign - and did a double take.
Finally Julie arrived and we headed back to the ship.
As the sun set we weighed anchor,
leaving Cabo San Lucas behind.
Mazatlan
Since we were in Mazatlan for the entire day, the first order of business was personal service - in Julie's case this was getting her nails done.
Self photograph of Craig and Julie at the top deck of the ship.
Others spent the time in the spa, as shown above.
The pictures below were taken from the ship.
Looking north over the peninsula toward the golden zone shopping area.
Looking south from the ship, the city quickly turned into farmland with the entrance to the harbor on the right.
Upon our return from town, we prowled around the ship - visiting the Bayou Cafe Steakhouse and other comfortable places.
That evening we enjoyed the Universe Lounge, one of two major theaters, in the stern of the ship.
The Princess Theater in the bow. Both are accessed from deck 7 (Promenade Deck).
This is really an elegant, two story show lounge and the stage could be set up in three different parts.
Puerto Vallarta
Upon arrival we looked out our window and saw this 'commercial' pirate ship.
When we taxied into Puerto Vallarta we could see our ship from the beach.
The beach also sported tourist statues that we dutifully took pictures of.
Julie and Patty had to get their email fix.
As we travelled south, toward the equator, the foliage got more and more exotic. Here Julie and Patty stand under a Banyan Tree getting most of its nourishment from above ground roots.
No trip to Mexico would be complete without the obligatory purchase of alcohol. For us it turned out to be Controy, an orange liquor used to make Gold Margaritas. This is just as good as the best triple sec, is half the price, and is not available in the U.S.
Christmas 2006
The day in Puerto Vallarta was 24 December 2006. Patty and Craig decided to start Christmas Eve off with another visit to the spa, having reserved time in the Rasul room -- a private sauna area for couples.
The idea is to apply ointments and a mud bath to each other and use the two person sauna or the shower room to complete the treatment.
The spa Christmas Tree was prominent as we left.
Next it was time for dinner and we had made reservations for the four of us at Sabatini's.
Sabatini's is the multi-course Italian restaurant that everyone should visit once in their cruise life. The courses are varied and impeccably served. Vegetarians, be prepared to make exceptions this evening.
Since this was Christmas Eve, the girls had to wear their Santa hats.
Christmas Eve ended with us in the indoor/outdoor jacuzzi at midnight, watching for Santa's sleigh.
Ok, so these pictures weren't taken at midnight, but you get the idea.
Christmas morning opened with a tree in our room and presents under the tree -- almost under the tree.
Craig played Santa while Julie and Patty argued over who would open their present first.
After opening the presents Patty went shopping in the 4-story atrium -- yes the shops were open.
This area was really beautiful and featured panoramic elevators and lighted stairs.
Besides the Christmas lights, there were extensive decorations. We had our Christmas Card picture taken in front of this one.
Finally, we concluded the holiday with a formal dinner and photo.
Patty, Julie, and Craig
Returning Home
During the final part of our voyage we again passed Cabo San Lucas.
Our final dinner was a festive affair.
Early morning 27 December we arrived in L.A. harbor.
We hope you have enjoyed our vacation pictures and story. We loved every minute of it. When we docked, Julie had a new boyfriend, Matt, waiting for her. What we didn't know then was that he would become our son-in-law in seven short months. That is another story, however, and you can see Julie's wedding pictures on our events page.
This was our last real get-together with Linda D. as she passed away a couple of years after she joined us on this cruise. We are glad we were able to spend this time with her.