Cruise is over. Time to get off the boat, into the car, and across the US of A we go!
Night time entertainment sans Bear Bud
My best bear bud could have been a star. But he blew it.
Holland America has some partnership with Dancing with the Stars to do Dancing with the Stars at Sea, where they teach you a routine and you compete to win.
So we went. And Nick and Pokin learned the foxtrot. They didn’t hurt each other, and were even chosen by the judges to compete.
And then they wussed out.
So I lost my one and only chance to say my best bear bud was a minor celebrity on a cruise. Weak.
Instead we ended up just sitting in the front row to watch the finalists instead.
Not good enough, bear bud. Show some courage next time. I would have danced in a flash if they only had partner dancers my size!
Mexico must – Mariachi band
What would a Mexico cruise be without a mariachi band?
Naturally I befriend them too.
A taste of Chile
Look what I found hanging on the cruise ship walls!
Now where’s the mayonessa?
Nicholas makes it up to me
I guess Nick got word of my unhappiness over being left behind so on formal night he took me with him as a date.
See that wasn’t so bad. I’m a very cultured and well behaved bear.
I made him also get me ice cream afterwards for a good measure.
Meet my towel buddies
Agung and Martin made me towel buddies every night. How nice. I guess they thought I needed the company since Nick and Pokin LEFT me in the room ALONE every night when they had dinner. Four course meals. Without me. I ate their bedtime pillow chocolates in revenge. That’s right.
Well at least I have towel buddies.
Next port, Puerto Vallarta
New day, new port. Hola Puerto Vallarta.
I don’t know what I expected of this place aside from beaches and beach resorts.
Resorts: Check.
Beaches: Check.
Well I got all that. And Walmart.
Apparently Walmart is a popular named bus stop route in Puerto Vallarta. It’s a BIG DEAL. So many buses stop there. And it’s the go-to place for people aboard the cruise ship to stock up on Doritos. So many people came out of that Walmart with Doritos. Almost makes me want some.
Aren’t we lucky the Walmart was right across from where our boat was docked?
Inconsiderate laundry people
This one time, I was on a cruise boat, waiting with my best bear bud in the sweltering self-serve laundry room because some awful lady left her clothes in the dryer so we couldn’t put our clothes in.
We waited for over 40 minutes before we finally took her laundry out and put it in the laundry basket.
For extra unpleasantness, one of her underwear ended up in our laundry pile. Ewww.
More Mazatlan
Post cheesecake, we ventured away from the blue line <gasp!>
through the city
and towards the water.
The water looked pretty nice.
We had some moments on the Malecon (boardwalk.)
We even saw a ship named the Titanik.
That name didn’t seem that great for a boat. Why not just call the boat “Please Sink Me Now“? I’m happy our boat’s got some boring name like the Veendam. Wait, what does that name mean anyway in Dutch?
Insider tips to cheesecake
Since Nicholas actually booked us on a retirement cruise, we really stood out quite a bit for being somewhat younger.
That made it somehow easy for us to meet and get to know the entertainers on board.
See, the keyboard player and I are best friends already:
That’s Ashley and Nick and Marino. I liked that both Ashley and Nick were from Canada. But they didn’t recognize me as their Winter Olympics mascot. Minus points for that.
But they let me play in the band. Ok extra points for that. They were pretty good and I liked to sit and hear them sing. So points for that too.
During our port call to Mazatlan, we were told by another awesome performer, Michael Bragg that the must-go place for wifi + cheesecake was Allegro. So we went to find said famed cafe.
Nicholas worked. I ate cheesecake.
Good deal.
Good cheesecake.
