Having spent two days in LA prior to our cruise, we arrived in San Pedro at approximately noon on departure day. San Pedro appears to be a heavily industrialized area and I was pleased we decided to stay in LA and not closer to the port. The taxi to San Pedro from the LAX area was approximately $30. We were on board the ship at 12:45. making this the quickest processing of all the cruises we have taken.

As promised our staterooms were ready at exactly 1:00. We had a cabin with a balcony and the room was spotlessly clean and well appointed. I particularly like the good lighting in the bathroom and the shower doors that close as opposed to shower curtains on other cruise ships that seen to have a mind of their own! We were introduced to our state room attendant, Preston, who did an excellent job attending to our room and whatever else we needed.

As for ports, we sea kayaked in Cabo San Lucas, which was very good. The sea kayaking takes place right in Cabo Harbor, which can be quite busy with other marine traffic, but we saw a colony of sea lions and nesting rocks for pelicans, as well as two whales. While most of the group snorkeled, we explored the beautiful beach. In Mazatlan, we somehow found ourselves tangled up in a "Vacation Club" presentation - beware if you are invited to view a new hotel by some staff at the information center. It takes an hour and is not what it is promised to be. That being said, we did see some of the area and shopped at the markets on the way back to the ship. In Puerto Vallarta, we choose the Mexican Fiesta tour, which included a bus tour of PV, a tour of the tequila factory with great samples, and a mexican lunch with fabulous mexican entertainment. We all enjoyed this very much. Both tours were very reasonably priced and good value for the experience. Read more