Day 11

Puerto Vallarta, Party Vibes and Pods of Dolphins 🐬🎉

We both had another great sleep, so cruise ship life is definitely agreeing with us. We grabbed coffees this morning although, truthfully, the coffee onboard continues to be fairly terrible and definitely not what we’re used to back home in Australia.

Today we arrived into Puerto Vallarta, where disembarkation was much easier because there was no need for tender boats. Once we were ready, we simply walked off the ship. Actually escaping the port building itself was another story.

We seemed to spend almost a kilometre winding our way through a maze of shops selling everything imaginable—Mexican chocolates, jewellery, tequila, massages, sombreros, and even photos with a donkey. As usual, there were endless offers of taxis and tours as well. Rather than dealing with all of that, we walked a short distance away to a nearby hotel, called up an Uber, and one arrived within minutes.

We headed straight to Zona Romántica, the part of Puerto Vallarta where we stayed during our honeymoon. It was very much how we remembered it, although there seemed to be noticeably more construction happening now than before.

One place I especially wanted to revisit was El Dorado, where we’d had a really memorable meal during our last trip. Since it was still fairly early in the day, we settled for iced coffees and corn muffins instead, which were actually excellent. We weren’t even particularly hungry after breakfast onboard, but the service there was genuinely very good and we didn’t want to just order the bare minimum. The staff even brought us cold towels and a personal electric fan while we sat there, which felt necessary because the humidity had already started kicking in.

Afterwards, we walked along the famous Malecón Puerto Vallarta enjoying the atmosphere and sea breeze. The weather here definitely felt more comfortable than Mazatlán thanks to the ocean air, although it still became very hot later in the day.

The malecón itself is one of the highlights of Puerto Vallarta—a long beachfront promenade lined with sculptures, palm trees, restaurants, street performers and shops. Along the walk we passed several famous bronze sculptures, including “The Boy on the Seahorse,” one of the city’s best-known landmarks. There were also musicians performing, locals fishing near the rocks, and plenty of tourists stopping constantly for photos.

One thing we really like about Puerto Vallarta is that it still feels very open and walkable despite being such a major tourist destination. The cobblestone streets, colourful buildings and surrounding green mountains give the city a lot of character. As we continued further inland though, the heat and humidity became pretty brutal. We were very glad we’d explored earlier in the morning before things became unbearable.

Eventually we called another Uber, although Ted was keen to do some shopping first at a shopping centre near the cruise terminal. Since I’m not exactly someone who enjoys retail therapy, I tagged along slightly begrudgingly—particularly when we wandered through a fairly high-end shopping complex filled with extremely expensive stores.

Ironically, I became much more enthusiastic once we ended up at Walmart. I genuinely never thought I’d say those words in my lifetime, but we managed to buy some ridiculously cheap gym clothes there which I definitely needed.

Returning to the ship afterwards felt amazing. Walking back into air conditioning, having a proper shower and putting on clean clothes after several days of Mexican heat honestly felt heavenly.

After lunch, most of the boys were keen for trivia again and I’m happy to report that our winning streak somehow continued—although only just. Questions included what the Gioconda is better known as and which country lemurs are native to. This time our prizes included caps and bottle openers, and Jonas’s husband Scott kindly handed the leftover prizes to a nearby group of kids.

Later in the afternoon, Ted and I watched from our balcony as the ship departed Puerto Vallarta. It was actually more interesting than expected because a military-looking patrol boat appeared to escort us away from port, while another smaller police vessel seemed busy chasing a jet skier who had ventured far too close to the cruise ship.

After dinner, we took a walk around the upper deck and unexpectedly spotted a pod of dolphins swimming and jumping alongside the ship. In my excitement, I quickly pulled out my iPhone to film the dolphins… only to realise afterwards that I’d forgotten to actually press record. So sadly, you’ll just have to trust me that it happened.

Later in the evening, we relaxed with drinks in The Bamboo Room before most of the gays we’ve met onboard gradually turned up around 9:30pm.

There was also an 80s party happening in the ship’s Royal Promenade, which turned out to be a lot of fun to watch. The Royal Promenade basically acts as the main indoor street running through the centre of the ship, lined with bars, cafés, shops and entertainment spaces. Throughout the cruise they transform it into a giant party area with music, themed events, parades and dance parties, and the atmosphere there at night is actually really good.

We definitely had doubts about this cruise during the first day because the crowds and overall atmosphere initially felt overwhelming. Looking back now though, the ship really does have a great social vibe. Even though there are more kids onboard than any cruise we’ve done previously, they haven’t been a problem at all—and some of them have actually been pretty funny. More importantly, we’ve met some genuinely good people during this trip.

Now that we’ve visited all the ports on this cruise, the next two days will be sea days—and we’re looking forward to them. After so much sightseeing and heat over the past week, it feels like a good chance to reset before arriving back in Los Angeles.Read more