We arrived at the Port in San Diego at about 12 noon and were able to board the ship almost instantaneously. After a quick bite and a peak at our room, we disembarked to explore the area surrounding the pier (as we had a few hours before the boat left). The walk was really nice; there are a lot of great sculptures (including a larger than life sized statute of the famous soldier-nurse kiss that took place at the end of WWII, as well as a tribute to Bob Hope) along the way as well as a quaint shopping area. We took a bicycle taxi back to the boat, which was fun, in and of itself. The boat left on schedule and as expected, it was a bit chilly on the way down (plus it was overcast the first day). The boat is, in my opinion, one of the nicest we have been on (this is about our 10th cruise). Its dEcor is tasteful and elegant, not as loud and extravagant as other ships. The staff is excellent, they all really seemed to enjoy their jobs and the ship is kept in tip top condition. There were lots of planned activities on the sea days as well as a mini golf course, self balancing pool tables, ping pong tables, backgammon and chess tables (with the pieces), a full line of board games, a rock climbing wall and a basketball court. We did My Time Dining, which worked out really well, as long as we made our reservations the evening before (although we did change our reservations a few times, with no problem). The food was much better than I expected in the Main Dining Room, many of the dishes (especially the appetizers) were excellent and the portions were larger than I expected based on past cruises. I did not like the food at the buffet though, there was not much variety from day to day and the choices were somewhat limited. The Seaview Cafe was also very good unless you're on a diet. We never tried the specialty restaurants because we enjoyed the food in the Main Dining Room and didn't see the need. One note, the people on this ship did seem to dress up a lot more than I have found on other ships. It was also an older crowd (many retirees). As for the shows, the ones with guest stars were excellent; however, the Radiance Singers and Dancers left a lot to be desired. Our first port was Cabo San Lucas. Try to watch the initial sail-in to this port as it is one of the most beautiful ports to enter. We pre-arranged a whale watch with Ocean Riders on their zodiac. While the zodiac had comfortable seating and was a lot of fun as we raced across the ocean, we didn't see as many whales as we anticipated. We did get pretty close to the few we did see though, much closer than we have gotten on any other ship. Bottom line, if you want a fast, wet and bumpy ocean ride, and possibly see some whales along the way, this tour is for you. The town of Cabo (we just saw the main part of town - didn't have time to venture anywhere else) was pretty much what we expected - full of shops, restaurants and natives trying to get you to buy their wares. It was probably the most Americanized of all the ports we visited. Next we went to Mazatlan and did Randi's Happy Horses (also booked in advance). Although I am usually very fearful while on a horse, for some reason, I wasn't scared this time. The ride lasted about an hour plus and went along the ocean (we did not go into the water with the horses though). It was mostly walking with a little trotting here and there. The staff was wonderful. Randi is quite a character. The ride ended at Victors where we got the requisite garlic and coconut shrimp (which was very good, but not the best I have ever had). All in all, a nice day and if you like riding, I'd recommend it. Puerto Vallarta. We had pre-booked a Hovercraft tour. When we got into port, we took a cab to the place we were to meet for the tour. The cab ride was probably about ½ hour and after 10 or 15 minutes, the cabbie turned onto this desolate dirt road, with pothole after pothole and drove for another 15 minutes. We were beginning to wonder what we had gotten ourselves into, as it looked if if we were going deeper and deeper into nowhere land. We finally arrived at our destination, only to find a few really old shacks (one was the restaurant we were told the hovercraft place was next to) and no hovercraft. We didn't speak Spanish, our driver didn't speak English and we were at a loss, because we didn't know what to do. Finally, after trying to call the guy who arranged the tour (I didn't succeed, probably because I don't know how to make a telephone call in Mexico), we told the cabbie to take us back to the ship. As we were pulling out of the parking lot, an SUV pulled in - the driver stopped us to ask if we were the people who had booked the hovercraft tour and then began to apologize profusely - apparently, there were bad storms a day or two prior to our arrival, which damaged trees along the river and made the journey down the river by hovercraft dangerous. He said he e-mailed us (which we later found out he did, but we didn't check our e-mail on the ship) to cancel, but when he didn't hear back from us, figured he'd meet us to let us know the tour was cancelled. The he proceeded to tell us he would gladly give us a private tour, free of charge, on his own boat and take us wherever we wanted to go because he didn't want to ruin the one day we had in Puerto Vallarta. We took him up on it, paid the cabbie and got into his SUV. The day turned out wonderful. As promised, he took us on a private tour on his boat; where we had a "nature lesson" (he is very passionate about what he does), complete with props he brought along (a termite's nest for one). We saw crocodiles immediately, as well as many birds and iguanas. Then he dropped us off for lunch in town at a restaurant he recommended - Cafe Olla (very good) - I look forward to going back to Puerto Vallarta and doing a Hovercraft Tour with him someday. The next day was a sea day - nice peaceful day.... Acapulco with Rosie was our next stop. Acapulco is, pretty much, what we expected. A beautiful, rather large city. The scenery is magnificent. The city is just too busy. Rosie herself gave a great tour. She is a very personable woman who seems to be pretty well respected by her staff. The only negative about the tour was the restaurant she chose for us (which seems to be the restaurants all the tour guides choose) - El Zorrito - the restaurant was just okay - I'm sure there are many restaurants in Acapulco much better than that. The cliff divers were amazing to watch (more amazing than the diving was the way they climb the cliffs), but it got real hot while we were watching them. All in all, glad we saw Acapulco, we had a nice day, but have no need to return, as this was our least favorite port. Zihuatanejo - We took a taxi to La Ropa beach and spent the day sitting in front of Patys - Marymar. The beach was really nice, not busy at all and the natives were not too pushy selling their wares (probably the least pushy of all the ports). We played in the water a bit, explored the beach (our friends snorkeled which they said was pretty good) and ate one of the best meals I ever had at Patys. Her food was so fresh and tasty - I highly, highly recommend dining there (I had shrimp tacos (delicious), my husband had mahi mahi with garlic (wow!), my girlfriend had a whole red snapper (she loved it - the presentation was beautiful) and her husband had an avocado stuffed with shrimp salad (yum). Definitely, eat there while in Zihuatenejo! This was probably our favorite day.