Here we go, the blog that so many have begged for a long time. So here I am to inform everyone about my cruise! On October 16th my friend Autumn Starnes celebrated her 21st birthday. It was that morning that i received an email from Princess about a special last minute booking price for a Mexican Riviera cruise:) Being so last minute, I jokingly mentioned it to Autumn. One thing led to another and "Happy Birthday to Autumn" we booked the cruise and eagerly looked forward to the embarkation 2 weeks later! So here we go, from day numero uno!
here is the mess i made packing. I found out the morning of our departure that I didn't have a suitcase. So i had to pack HALF as much as i took on my last cruise. I wasn't too concerned about taking less clothes though, just because I knew that I didn't even come close to wearing all my clothes last time. Basically all i needed was a few nice shirts, beach attire, sunblock and at least 3 swimsuits haha.
Autumn and I flew into LA on Friday morning/afternoon to ensure we would make our cruise in time. We stayed with a friend we graduated with us who lives in Hollywood:) We had so much fun catching up with her! Autumn and her helped me experience a few new things, one being sushi:) I LOVED IT! They told me what I should order, knowing what was fishy and what wasn't. So much fun to be able to see and visit with old friends. Saturday morning Mandie took us to the ship. Unfortunately we missed our exit and drove all the way across this bridge into Long Beach California. Set us about 30-45 minutes behind in checking in. We were one of the last ones to check in for the departure:) Being one of the last ones one the boat wasn't a horrible thing - it meant no lines, and quicker luggage delivery!
After seeing our room, and dropping off our purses, we headed to the decks to watch the boat leave LA:)
We made sure to see the sunset before unpacking our suit cases on night numero uno.
Our cruise left LA October 31st, so along with the entire crew dressed up in costumes, they also decorated all the common areas:)
This Celebrity boat followed us most of the way to Puerto Vallerta.
Autumn and I in front of the sunset our first night on board.
The first night of dinner we ate in one of the anytime dining rooms! We sat next to the nicest couple, the Kreugers! They were from Alabama, and were in their late 40's. They were traveling alone for their anniversary and had no kids. We had so much fun learning all about them, and their cruising experiences!
After dinner we went to look at the tours offered at the tour desk, only to be tracked down by an employee. We took a picture with him for good measure.
After changing into some more comfortable clothes, we decided to check out the skywalkers night club. Mostly everyone was wasted early on in the afternoon in celebration of Halloween, so autumn and i sat and drank water and watched all these crazy people think they were hot stuff. We ran into a guy dressed as a cop. We called him "the cop" the whole trip. He was traveling with his son, and brothers family. I asked him if i could have his handcuffs. Unfortunately they were plastic, and to get us to dance he cuffed autumn and i together and kept the key. We ended up going onto the dance floor and lasted 1 minute before the plastic chain broke. Oops:)
Two friends we met from Houston, TX. They work for vacations to go, and were cruising on their travel agent benefits. The one dressed as dresser is in fact a "one nigh stand" Kind of funny, and the other is Bruce lee.
After dancing the night away, we headed down a deck to play shuffle board. I took a moment to take a picture with the life size checker board pieces.
The 1st day was an "At Sea" day, en route to our first port Puerto Vallerta. They decorated Autumns room for her birthday!
The 2nd night was formal night. Autumn thought it was cute that i cleared off the desk, and sat in front of the mirror to do my makeup while rocking out to my iPod.
We quickly got ready for the first formal evening!
Autumn and I in front of the captains champagne waterfall
So Pretty:)
Formal Night (#1) Dinner!
The second day was an "At Sea" day again. They had all sorts of pool games and seminars going on, Autumn and I woke up early and laid in the sun before competing in a bar war? I had no idea what it was, but i got signed up to do it without my knowledge.
So the game was Battle of the Sexes. Two different "bars" and 5 people on each team. We were assigned a bar tender who would help us make the drink. There was a speed test, and an employee judged taste test. This is me (clueless as to what i was doing) mixing some type of drink. But i won a free tee shirt! I lost in speed, but won in taste!
The camera loved Autumn and I, this is him asking how the drinks tasted. Of course I gave mine to autumn, but I got to keep the Princess cup:)
Autumn and I with the drinks we made, our bartender, and the free T-shirt as our prize.
Autumn and I standing by the pool:)
Autumn and I at one of the shows
We went shopping in puerto vallerta, then decided to go para sailing. No big deal. So much fun:) We started and landed on the beach, and got to take our cameras up! So pretty, best 10 minutes of my life so far!
Puerto Vallerta, Mexico
My parachutes shadow
I loved it, needless to say!
Autumn landing!
Laying out on the beach!
Puerto Vallerta, Mexico sunset! Looks like it's on fire, so pretty!
Autumn received a birthday cake and song in spanish for the second night we celebrated her birthday. We were so tired after our long day in Puerto Vallerta that we decided to hit the buffet instead of getting all dressed up for the dining room. The guy in the white was really into Autumn and tried setting up a "champagne" date with her later in the night. Kind of funny, considering he's like 40.
We love our shirts:) Oh, and asians.
Bad weather was moving in on mazatlan. Here is the sunset when leaving Mazatlan
Our personal goal was to have our picture used as a Princess Example on their boards. Lucky for us our friend helped make it happen ... with some tape!
Because the performers are brand new on the ship, they held a staff talent show. the balloon party was to help get the crowd loose and excited for the show. It was fun to see the talent that the crew had:) I would have never known. There are 40 different nationalities on the Sapphire Princess:)
This is our bartender Sidney, from the phillipines. He helped us win in the Battle of the Sexes Bar wars:) But more importantly became our REALLY good friend throughout the week, and continued to make us free drinks. Mine always virgin of course, but more fun than water:)
The cocktail waiter in the bar Sidney works at. His name is Irving and he's from Mexico. He was the sweetest guy ever, and always ensured a smile on our faces.
The last port was Cabo. It was pretty, but very touristy and packed with 3 ships worth of people. Here are the giant birds in the marina. I hate birds.
Autumn and I riding the Tender boat to shore:)
I'm in front a sign at a resteraunt called the Giggling Marlin in Cabo:)
My free Shirley Temple:)
(2nd) Formal Night, with the Vacations to Go reps:) Fun boys!
Dancing with one of the Cruise Directors in the Skywalkers nightclub.
Our best friend on the cruise, Clinton. He is a photographer, from boise, served his mission in Portugel, and adorable. We would get married - if we were in the positions to do so! Love him.
He was so much fun!
A quick picture with cruise director Miko from Seattle on the last night of the cruise!
I took this for dad - on our cruise in April they only served ice cream on certain days, only at certain times in the buffet. My the Sapphire Princess they have a complementary Ice Cream stand next to the outdoor pool:)
Me, J & Cindy Krueger from Alabama, and Autumn. Sweetest people I've ever met. They even paid for our cab fair in Mazatlan. So much fun:)
Autumn and I at the end of our cruise, before walking off the ship at 8 am. We bought "swine flu survivor" shirts in Cabo. haha, we wore them on our trip home, We got so many questions throughout the day!We started flying out of LAX at 10 am, and didn't get into spokane until 9 pm. I arrived home around 3am after waiting for autumns flight and adam to get off work. Over all this was the vacation of a life time. Full of much needed rest, and laughter. We met so many great people and friends that we will keep in contact with! I can't wait to go on another trip, Autumn was so fun to travel with, and we are really happy that it was just the two of us traveling together as we're both really easy-going individuals. Now it's back to reality, and work! Hopefully to save up for another vacation REAL soon:):)
