We had Rhythms of the Night planned for this port so during the day we just planned on catchinga taxi to Malecon shopping area to hit the Hard Rock Cafe, Bubba Gumps, etc. We caught a taxi for the 7 of us $3 pp (we did not exchange our money so that was US dollars). Malecon was about 3 miles from the port so during our ride our perfect English speaking taxi driver pitched us an excursion for $25pp (instead of the $3 pp ride). We all decided it sounded great. Jod (taxi driver) stopped at a convenience store for us to buy snacks while he filled his cooler with beer, coke and ice. The tour included a drive to a thick jungle area of the mountains where ziplining excursions went, a hike along and sometimes thru the river to Nogalita's restaurant where we had a drink and got in on tequila making a tasting presentation, then on to more sightseeing along the coast and finally 2 hours of shopping at Malecon. It was the perfect 86 degree day!! We were SO pleased with our decision to do more than shop that day. Back to the ship by 2:30pm, bite to eat and then got ready for our Rhythms of the Night. This excursion was highly recommended in reviews I read before booking it (with the ship). It was about an cruise with open bar, and full service to Las Caletas. On the way we saw MANY dolphins and also Goose the cruise director dancing with some of his buddies along for their own fun. Candlelight dinner on the beach (at our table for 7) was delicious!! Chicken, beef, shrimp salad, beans, rice...Open bar during dinner and an incredible show with fire dancing and ancient dress costumes. The sail back to the ship is beautiful at night and we were back in time for the 9pm show. Overall, Puerto Vallarta was very nice. Never felt unsafe and would love to visit again! 


Puerto Vallarta

This industrial area port isn't so appealing at first site. We caught the shuttle to the terminal area where all the excursion peddlers are. In March I had booked the Stone Island Beach Break with Johann and Sandra Mazatlan Tours. For only $36pp we got a 1 hour cruise of the bay to see the caves and sea lion colony, 3 hours on Stone Island with lunch and open bar and your choice of 2 activities on the beach. We found our meeting place and boarded the catamaran. Once on Stone Island we grabbed drinks and looked around. There were lots of vendors on the beach selling dresses, blankets, and jewelry. Lunch was good but nothing exceptional...no one got sick at the end of the day so I guess it was ok. My DH, sister in-law, and I chose the horseback riding on the beach which was lots of fun although the cowboy leading us was a jerk who refused to speak English unless he was yelling at you to slow down your only Spanish understanding horse who didn't respond to a "WHOA!" in English!! Next activity for us was boogie boarding and man was it AWESOME!! We did that for 2 hours and wished it had been for longer! Headed back to the ship around 4pm but ended up hanging out at the bar area of the terminal where there were buckets of beer for $14 and $4 margaritas. Great music and fun galore. Shopped a little in the craft market before catching the shuttle back to the port. I definitely recommend this excursion but make sure you book private or it's $75 with the ship for the same thing! 


Mazatlan

Unfortunately, our Chileno Bay Cruise and Snorkel got cancelled. We were notified our 1st day at sea. I had booked with the ship in February so they credited our Sail and Sign card. We didn't switch to anything else and just had a shopping and cantina day in port. Tendering was a breeze, we waited maybe 15 mins in the theater for our # to be called. It was very chilly on the water over and very windy that day maybe 73 degrees all day. It is very pretty there. Lots of great shopping and TONS of excursion peddlers, I'm talking an annoying amount that were very pushy and loud! They were having a power outage so most stores had no lights, some so dark it was impossible to shop at all! Enjoyed drinks, chips and salsa at the No Worry's Bar. We made our way to Hard Rock Cafe, Puerto Paraiso Mall, and Cabo Wabo Cantina. We had very little time in port so we couldn't get into much and many people were hurrying to get in line for the last tender. Enjoyed watching sea lions play around the marina while in line for the tender. Back on Splendor about 2pm eating lunch and relaxing on Lido with a drink of the day :) If it had been warmer it would've been more enjoyable over all but would definitely love to go back again! 


Cabo San Lucas

Cabin 1449 on Splendor was great.  Typical basic OV category 6A.  Never heard a peep at night except for one night when drunk/rude/pot smoking people were going back to their cabin at 2:30am.  This cabin was exactly what we've had on previous 3 cruises so we were right at home and comfortable.

The line moved quickly even when computers went down for a few minutes, and we were on the ship by 1:00pm eating lunch on Lido!PRE-CRUISE: We flew into LAX on 4-17-10 and stayed at LaQuinta Inn and Suites LAX (also due to the awesome online booked deal of $75.

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Stinky but mostly Splendid

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