DAD'S 85TH BIRTHDAY DINNER

Sunday was the night for Dad's birthday dinner. We went to Cagney's Steakhouse. Most of us had steak and lobster. Patty had spoken to the head of food services the night before and he treated Dad and us royally. There was a birthday cake and champagne and everything. It was perfect. Thanks Norwegian.
p.s. I realize the only photo I have with Dad and his children is out of focus, but I included it anyway. We can pretend it a softening lense, done on purpose.

THE CRUISE IN CONCLUSION

Well, as you can probably gather by now, a wonderful time was had by all. What an amazing act of generosity it was for Dad to take us on this remarkable vacation! Being together like that was just heavenly.

So in conclusion here are some of my favorite snapshots of the people and the food.

CABO SAN LUCAS

We arrived in Cabo San Lucas in the wee small hours of the morning. In fact it was barely getting light. The moon was still shining on the water. Land's End was right out our window for our entire stay there. How beautiful! We took the tender into town just after a lovely family breakfast. I was blessed in being able to attend a children's Mass at a sweet little church close to the harbor. I just loved it!

Immediately afterwards I joined Ron, Dad, Patty, Steve and Scott for marqaritas in a nice little harbor front restaurant. Seems like I get to enjoy everything---body, mind, and soul. Lucky me! I try not to miss a trick.

From there Dad and I headed back to the ship. We stopped a place where people could swim with the dolphins. We missed watching the swim, but we sat by the huge fountains and some cute little family gave us cold water right from their own supply. Back on the ship Dad and I had lunch together in the Star's main restaurant. This time we got a window side table because there was just the two of us. I had the best chicken salad ever there. And it was my only one on one time with Dad on the entire trip. I tried to give everyone else a chance to spend time with him on this trip. I am the luckiest because I get so much time with him normally. So I am not complaining.

MAZATLAN

Our previous day's guide, Chilo, hooked us up with a driver in Mazatalan. His name was Gabriel. He drove us along the 14 mile stretch of beaches. Many of the shops seemed quite quaint. We had a little side trip.

We even checked out a "time share" type place for future family vacations. It was a little north of something called the Golden Zone. Nothing came of that adventure. For lunch we all shared a shrimp plate and a seafood platter. Mazatalan is one of the best shrimp eating areas in the world. Yum, yum!

A favorite for me here were the sculptures. So very beautiful! And of course the Cathedral was on the top of my list. Please excuse the error when I named the church in Puerto Villarta. It was St. Michael's. This one in Mazatalan is the Immaculate Conception. Oops! That's what happens to me when I try to blog late at night. I'll get back to this tomorrow.

How about San Juan Diego with the bird on his head?

PUERTA VILLARTA VISIT

Our second stop was Puerta Villarta. Steve had already set up our tour guide. Chilo was excellent. He showed us the city. We drove along the coast and saw amazing hotels.

Dad wore an iguana around his neck. We had lunch watching young men dive into the river off pretty high rocks in a jungle-like atmosphere. Dad had two huge margaritas. From there we visited a tequila factory. The owner, Jose, was hilarious and an excellent entertainer.

Of course a favorite of mine was Immaculate Conception Church.

OUR FIRST STOP--MANZANILLO

In Manzanillo we ended up with a young girl for our tour guide. She drove us through little rural countryside towns. We saw some pyramids. We had lunch at a small place where the food was free once you purchased a drink. Very interesting. We did stop high on a hilltop and take in the views. We were a bit disappointed because we didn't actually get to see the city itself. Unfortunately we ran out of time.

FIRST FEW DAYS AT SEA

Our first couple of days we relaxed, ate, sat in the sun, visited the casino and went to the great shows. We even played some bingo.

Mornings began with incredible sunrises and coffee on the balcony. We did some wine tasting. Ron worked crosswords on the deck. Steve won the basketball freethrow contest. In the evenings we went to the shows and had some drinks. One night it was even chocolate covered strawberries and champagne. Too too much.

FAMILY CRUISE DAY-DAYS AT SEA

First important note: Liquor plus food coloring placed in a mouthwash bottle tastes like mouthwash. Yuck! Only Ron and Dad could drink it, no matter what is was mixed with.

OK. So we had a long wait on the dock while Norwegian prepared for our embarkation. They had arrived four hours late from the previous cruise where an engine had broken down. We boarded the ship around 3:00 and were informed that our itinerary had changed. They were replacing the stops in Accapulco and Ixtapa with Manzillo and Manzanita. Not too many people were pleased with that in spite of the $50 credit applied to each persons account. (How long does it take to drink that $50 away?). No problem for us first time cruisers every destination was new for us.

Anyway we had beautiful rooms all connected to each other with the balconies.We had lunch at the Market Cafe before the ship departed. We watched the sunset as we left San Pedro. We had dinner at the Blue Lagoon. It was a lovely day.