Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Today is Cabo San Lucas. No dock here so we have to tender in.

As the ship came in we saw the big natural arch, El Arco. Whoopie! Been there, done that many times. Not long after anchoring captain Dag came on the ship speakers. Unless it is an emergency, announcements are only in public areas and on channel 2 on TV. This announcement came on all speakers. It seams captain DO do, I mean Dag, no I don’t, forgot to let anyone know the time had changed. All the restaurant and room staff was real happy about that. Now they would have to put in an extra hour. Wait until everyone finds out that we are also in the wrong port.

We had been here twice in March and by golly it hadn’t changed much. It was a little warmer and there were far fewer tourists. The Kapels had never been here so we hired a big van and driver and went touring.

There is a very large area of tourist junk stores. Well over a mile. We went to the next town, San Jose. Do you know the way to San Jose? Well, it’s a big highway with all kinds of signs to direct you. It is 20 miles to San Jose and the entire way is lined with fabulous hotels and resorts. It is very hilly and mountainous with one great view after another. All the biggest world wide hotel names are represented.

San Jose is an even bigger tourist junk town except much older with very narrow streets. Then from San Jose we went back to Cabo. Guess what we saw on the way back? Yep. The same thing only from the other side of the highway and in reverse order.

For dinner we met with two other couples in the main dinning room. Both have homes in Coconut Grove in South Miami. One couple also has a home in downtown Chicago. They live in the same building as Opra. They say she walks around looking as she did in Color Purple. Both couples are getting off in LA.

We did have some excitement at dinner. There is a couple aboard with a 2 year old child. Several times that we know of, they just sat there and let him scream in the restaurants. They did it again tonight. Some one said something about it at which time the father got hostile and a push or two resulted. Somehow a woman got knocked down and a code blue was called for her. That’s when the doctor and his staff have to come running. Several officers and the Captain came also. Oh what fun.

The entertainment tonight was a comedian. He sucked big time. I knew all his old jokes and his delivery was awful.

Sherman Out

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

1/6 at sea

If this is 1/6 we must be nowhere. Wait a minute, I’ll check. Yep, we are nowhere. Just a lot of water moving by out there. That’s what happens mostly on sea days. There is no wind at all but some swells are coming in from somewhere. Just enough to let you know you are at sea.

We have a lot of lectures and games and instructions and stuff available and if you want you can go to 14 or 15 different meals and places to eat. Anything from Danish to BBQ, full meals, sandwiches, salads, chocolates, or most anything you can think of. But of course, being on Bobbi’s Whisper Diet, I have no death wish, so eating is out of the question. She didn’t say anything about drinking though. All of the booze is included too.

I could go get really smashed and then pass out somewhere. That would be different. I haven’t done that in years. And a good barfing might be a good way to loose weight. Naaaaaaa. Kneeling in front of the porcelain god and spitting my guts out would hurt my knees and probably mess up another shirt. How about a nap? I’m really good at napping. I can snore really loud too. That’s it. I’ll go find some lecture or maybe the bridge class and sit down, snore loud, and annoy a bunch of people. That sounds like a fun day.

I did try it. It was no fun at all. These people have no class. No one said a thing or even dared to wake me. When I finally woke up everyone had left the computer class I was napping in. Something about XL. It put me right to sleep. The only one left was the instructor sitting in the outer computer room. He is French. I asked him why the other day. He said it wasn’t his fault. He couldn’t help it, so I try not to hold it against but I still find myself screwing up machines just to make him work at trying to fix them. He is really a nice guy and very helpful but he gave me one of those doody eating Frog grins as I left. So I’ll wipe out a few more hard drives next time I go in there.

The floor show tonight was great. It was ‘60s thru ‘80s songs. This is the best bunch of singers and dancers we have had on this line.

Tomorrow is Cabo San Lucas, or something like that. Haven’t been there since March. Talk to you from there tomorrow.

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Acapulco

Had to get up before breakfast today. We are going on a tour of Acapulco provided, free of any charge, by Virtuoso Travel. At this time we have to take a commercial break because, if I fail to mention that this wonderful, day long tour is provided by my lovely and terrific in all ways, travel agent and travel agency, she will get her feathers all in a ruffle and throw out my mail, trash my house, and poison my dog or some other nice thing that a lovely and terrific in all ways travel agent and best buddy would do. So if you want to travel anywhere, even if it is just to the grocery, call Vicki at Palm Travel. She provides all kinds of extra services for clients. She will collect your mail, watch your house, do your laundry, wash your car, keep your dog, etc. etc. At least I think that is what she said.

Had to really rush to get washed, dressed, and shot up before room service came. The tour was to start at the ungodly hour of 9:30. You read right. 9:30 and the one that comes early in the morning when folks should still be asleep.

Everything went as scheduled and we got to our van right on time. I maneuvered our way so that we ended up in a 12 passenger van for just Bobbi and me, the Kapels, and another couple we met and had dinner with.

First it was off to the cliff divers where they gave us Margaritas at about 10:00 in the morning. It was a special showing for just our group but they only did a couple of dives and then came up to stick their hands out for tips. The last time they did bunches of dives so I wouldn’t let Bobbi give them any tip.

In the same hotel is a nice Mexican junk and jewelry shop. Naturally some time was spent there while Art Kapel and I snoozed on chairs.

We toured the old part of town and went to a hotel in the old part of town, the Flamingo, owned by John Wayne in the 40s. It had beautiful views and lots of pictures of the Duke and many other stars while there.

We then traveled on around the rest of the city ending up about two and one half hours later at Las Brisas on the far other end of the bay. The main road is six lanes. Traffic moves right along at about two miles an hour. They drive on the bluff system. Who ever bluffs the best gets to go first. Large trucks and busses are the fastest transportation as most don’t like to bluff with them. The fun part is to watch someone cut off a truck or buss while on a motorcycle. It makes for lots of flat Mexicans.

We were taken to a beautiful private villa for a very nice lunch with drinks and wine. It was all served out under a covered patio and under umbrellas around a beautiful pool overlooking a breath taking view of the bay. There were plenty of fans to keep us cool enough. Food and service was excellent. It was a 5 bedroom 7 bath beautiful home with all marble floors and very expensive decorating. They do rent it out very cheaply for what it is. For up to 10 people it is $1,000 in the summer and $1,500 in the winter. All is included with plasma TVs and DSL, 5 person staff, all hotel facilities, and all expenses except food. The help will buy the food you want to have cooked and give you the receipts. They go over menus with you daily. Sounds too good to be true. I wonder what the catch is.

Then we drove back to the ship which is docked back near the center of the bay. I stopped to get an extra memory stick to store stuff on for the computer at an Office Max. They have the computers on the ship fixed so you cannot write to CDs and down load pictures. They want you to have to take you camera to the photo department to have them down load them for a charge.

Our driver was as nice as could be and spoke perfect English.

Last but not least. We have come up with this absolutely has to work diet. I have tried many others over the years. All worked at least a little for at least a day or two. Some even longer, but none as well as this one.

It is called the Bobbi Whisper Diet. Here is how it works. If I start to eat something I should not, Bobbi whispers sweet nothings in my ear.

For example: Last night there was, among other things, Bananas Foster for dessert. I have no idea how this could have happened, but somehow I was given those Bananas Foster instead of the sugar free desert I was suppose to have ordered. As I lifted a huge soup spoon full, to shove in my face, Bobbi whispers from across the table, loud enough for the rest of the ship to hear, “PUT THAT IN YOUR MOUTH AND I WILL KILL YOU.”

Very effective diet. Unpleasant, but effective.

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Huatulco - Wa Tool Co - He Dal Go

If it’s Wednesday this must be Huatulco, I think. In case you did not know, it is pronounced Wa Tool Co. The entertainer tonight did not. He was calling it He Dal Go.

We have been here several times before but the Kapels, who we are traveling with, have not, so we wanted to go on a tour. There are hundreds of cabs but they are all far to small to fit four passengers and the driver. We saw no vans either so we decided to take a tour from the ship. The first half was to be by bus and the second half was to be by catamaran.

The bus half was a real bummer. First off the guide claimed to be speaking English while the passengers argued he was not. What ever he was speaking, no one from the ship understood much. I later found out that the problem is almost no one in the area speaks Spanish let alone English. There are 22 different tribes of Indians that only speak their own languages.

Huatulco is a new planned vacation spot. It is the only one I have ever seen in Mexico that is being done right. Huge amounts of money have been spent on the infrastructure. Beautifully landscaped four land roads, water and sewer systems. There is a land plan that allows a maximum of six story buildings. There are two very nice marinas. There is an international airport 25 minutes from town central.

The place is spread over 7 or 8 miles of very hilly country. Some of the views are really something to see. There are 5 different bays with gorgeous natural beaches, all in different directions. Like Acapulco, which is just up the coast, it is one of the few places in the world with guaranteed weather in the winter. I don’t think it has ever rained and it is always hot.

The bus part of the tour was to take us to a nearby town and show us the usual church and allow 30 minutes to go into the stores spread over a 4 block area. So the guide decides to tell everyone to be back in an hour. This did not make anyone happy as the description did not call this a shopping tour. I do not do shopping tours. After waiting over an hour we continued on to see about half what I saw in the past, in a fourth the time and money. The rep from the ship that was with us was not happy either. I will have to see if they make any adjustments in the charges tomorrow.

Next we went back to the commercial marina and boarded a large catamaran. This was just a big barge with plastic chairs on the deck. It had a tent covering the deck as was well needed. This was the coldest time of the year and it was about 92 in the shade if you could find any. This boat was spotless as were the bathrooms. They had a very good sound system and the guide spoke good English.

Just after our two busses loaded onto this catamaran, the guy sitting next to me decides there isn’t enough room for his legs and pushes away the chair in front of him. A woman walking by says, “Look over here. There is a big platform where you can lay down and really stretch out.” Naturally I can never keep my big mouth shut. I quickly replied, “What did you have in mind honey?” I guess that did it. Maybe you had to be there, but I broke everyone up. The poor lady turned bright red but then sat down with her friend and they were laughing as hard as anyone. Boy am I funny. I really appreciate me.

All the help on the boat was very nice and the ride to the 5 bays was very interesting and really worth seeing. It is very rocky with mountains going straight down to the sea and suddenly there is an opening in the rocky mountains that goes into the different bays with beautiful sand beaches. Some are well built up with very nice resorts and others are untouched. All have water, sewer and good roads leading to them.

That is about it for today. Tomorrow we have to get up early for an all day tour in Acapulco that is provided for some of us by a travel group our travel agencies and agents belong to. Acapulco is not very far up the coast and we should get there by very early tomorrow morning.

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Ship Dancing

Yesterday we tried the Mediterranean restaurant. They really are trying to feed us to death. They have a help yourself antipasti that is unreal. Everything is so good you have to at least taste each one. Even if you just put a drop of each, that looks good, on your plate, you have the entire plate filled and in two layers. Then you have no room for the served part of the dinner. But that shouldn’t stop you. You eat it all anyhow. After which you must go to the help yourself dessert bar. I of course just had one grape, NOT. All was wonderful but the Tiramisu was the best.

The floor show singers and dancers were the best we have seen on a Radisson ship. They had to start and end the show early because for the first time, ever, the Radisson’s Voyager and the Mariner were going to cross paths at sea.

This was really a big deal for the crew. I have no idea why, as I have been on them when they have both been in ports at the same time. It was a lot of fun though.

Everyone went up on outside decks on the starboard side of the ship. Off in the distance you could see a light which we were told was the Mariner. As both ships were traveling toward each other at about 20 knots, the distance closed quickly. That light soon became the many lights of a cruise ship.

As we approached one another both ships slowed, stopped, and reversed engines to be directly side to side. The Mariner was playing very loud music that was really good sounding as it reverberated across the water. Both ships had search lights playing all over one another. We let down a small boat with a gift for the other ship. It was a huge bottle of Dom P. Champaign. The water looked pretty calm between the two ships but the little boat bobbed up and down like a cork. It made it over to the other ship and after several tries they caught a rope and pulled it in. The captain of the Mariner is French so of course had no intention of returning a gift. It took forever but finally their food and beverage manager got together a large box of caviar and sent the boat back.

Once hoisted aboard, the fun began. The two ships started doing tricks. The Mariner did a 360 degree turn, in place while we did a circle around it. All the time the huge ship horns were bellowing at each other like great whales or sea creatures of some kind. It was almost as if they were doing a dance with one another. People were yelling, and lights were shinning from everywhere.

After the Mariner stopped playing their great rock music we retaliated with some wimpy, really bad but very loud classical music. I guess the choice was good or loud and our guy chose loud. Then we took off in opposite directions as we walked back to our suites asking each other: What the hell was that all about? But Bobbi says it was great, so I guess, IT WAS GREAT. And don’t you forget it. Okay, it was cool.

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Puntarinas, Costa Rica

I think we survived New Years but I’m still not sure. It started with dinner again. I had made reservations in the fancy French restaurant, Signatures. The food was far too good for Humans. I’ll just mention perfect Goose Liver that comes from a goose that has been force fed booze. Obviously I don’t know how to spell fau grau. That was with fried grapes and super nummy sauce. Then the best Vicheyswa [sp] ever. Then there was the main course. I had the Rack of Lamb encrusted in dates and nuts. I won’t bother with the rest. It just causes indigestion.

After dinner we went to the main theater and saw a very good singer. Finally we went up on deck for the New Years Party. They had people walking around with all kinds of junk to try to feed us again. Almost none was touched even though it looked so good. Any kind of booze and Champaign was flowing like water. There were half a dozen singers form the shows at the main theater plus the weekly entertainers and a full band. Believe it or not, we boogied until well after midnight. Well it was a little after midnight, maybe 12:30. Then we passed out until today. Okay, not quite, because I remember the Oysters Rockefeller for dinner last night and another cocktail party before dinner.

Small world. The people running the party for Virtuoso travel turn out to be my neighbor, right across the street, aunt and uncle.

As for those writing back about this sounding like a eating cruise, I think you may just be right. It has taken me about a week, but I finally did it. The only thing that still fits me is my hat. So Bobbi had me locked in my suite with no food until I lost enough weight for something to fit. But I fooled her and ordered room service. Boy that stuff is good. Now I can’t fit out the suite door. I have to go out on my balcony where they put up a ladder and I can climb down to the deck below where there are double doors to enter the upper loby.

Today we are in Puntarinas, on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. We have been here before. It is a beach and vacation place for the locals as well as a medium size city. It s not a weekend or holiday so they did not have much to sell in the stands along the shore. It was just a pleasant walk. We leave about 4:30

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)