Ruby Princess Review Mexican Riviera March 21, 2015

[Alexv500]

Wonderful review Alex! Your grandmother is truly blessed to have you as a grandson.

 

I love all the wonderful photos. It looks as though the two of you are having a great time. And good for your Grandmother to get over her fear of cruising.

 

Can't wait for more.

 

Mel

 

Awww thank you so much and thanks for reading my review, more to come soon! :)

[Alexv500]

Alex,

Your review is so refreshing! I can hear the excitement in your story as I read it. Spending this time with your Grandmother is so special.

Thank you for doing this review! It is wonderful!! :D

 

Thank you for reading! And she is, she's the best grandma ever and best travel buddy as well! Glad you are enjoying my review!! :)

[Alexv500]

What a wonderful review. I am going on the Crown in December. It will be my 21st cruise and most to Mexico. I still get very excited. My daughter was 3 1/2 the first time she cruised. I am glad you got to spend that great time with your grandmother. I hope to take my granddaughter eventually. Hope you have many more sailings in your future.

 

Candi

 

Super jealous, you're going to have a blast! Cruising to Mexico with Princess is amazing, I don't think I would ever be able to sail to the Mexican Riviera with another cruise line, but Princess! Thank you so much for reading the review and hope you enjoy the rest, more of it is on the way! :D

[Alexv500]

Fantastic review! Thank you for sharing your journey with us.

 

Melissa

 

You're welcome! Thank you for reading, more will be on the way soon! :)

[Alexv500]

Day 5: Ruby's Maiden Call to Mazatlan!

 

 

 

We woke up pretty early today and checked out the webcam and we were already docked in Mazatlan! It was very exciting because this was the first time the Ruby Princess ever visited Mazatlan! My grandma wanted to get off early today because she was very excited for Mazatlan, since this stop was very special for her because she is from Mazatlan, born and raised and she hadn't been here in many many years! She was really excited and I was very excited to visit where she was from, this was my first time here. I did a lot of research on what to do in PV and Cabo, but not much for Mazatlan since I figured I would have my free tour guide (grandma LOL). We headed up to Horizon court for a quick breakfast and looked outside and you could see the whole city, my grandma had the biggest smile on her face when she saw everything for the first time in years!!

 

Grandma was super excited to be back in her hometown! (It was very sunny and warm!)

 

We headed down to the cabin and grabbed everything we would need for the day and headed down to the gangway as soon as it was announced that we could get off the ship already. My grandma already had our day planned out and all the places she wanted to visit! The plan was to head to the downtown area, visit the Cathedral, "El Mercado", and head to the very popular "Zona Dorada" (Golden Zone) and hangout at the beach and eat lunch there later!

 

We disembarked our ship and a free shuttle/trolley takes you to the main terminal area, since the ship docks at an industrial part of the port and you could see containers everywhere, you could easily tell there is a lot of business going on here!

 

 

 

 

After arriving at the terminal, we proceeded out and decided on getting a taxi into town. I HIGHLY recommend you get a taxi to go into town because it is quite a long walk from the cruise terminal area to downtown and the beaches. If not, there is this blue line to follow that will guide you into town, which was added as part of the revitalization of the port to bring the tourists back! There are taxis everywhere waiting for you and they do accept American dollars! It was $5 for me and my grandma to get a ride into town, not bad at all and the taxi driver was very nice! After getting dropped off in town, my grandma decided to show me "El Mercado" which is basically a big grocery store that's inside this big building. In most Mexican cities and towns, they have these big grocery stores where they pretty much sell everything such as fresh meats, fruits, produce, etc. Pretty cool to see how different the Mexican culture is compared to how it is here in the United States. After checking out "El Mercado" we headed to the Cathedral and walked around downtown. I love these small towns, all the buildings are close together and I just really enjoy the small streets and all the buildings! It's really cool seeing the different lifestyle here in Mexico!

 

City Streets in Mazatlan

 

 

 

We then headed towards this central city square area and I found FREE WIFI and I was like YESS WIFI, so I logged onto some hotel's wifi and checked all my social media and messaged my mom and arranged for her to pick us up the day we got back in San Pedro and told her what time and all that info. Luckily I arranged all this here in Mazatlan because this was the last place I ever had internet access for the rest of the trip, never found any wifi while in Cabo, at least any that actually worked!! After using this hotel's wifi we decided it was time to head to the Golden Zone! We hopped onto a taxi for a $10 ride to the Golden Zone.

 

http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y348/Al300/Ruby%20Princess%20Cruise%20Pics/Puerto%20Vallarta/Mazatlan/SAM_0450_zpsc9nkh0um.jpg' alt='SAM_0450_zpsc9nkh0um.jpg'>Heading to the Golden Zone

 

 

 

Next up: Our amazing time in the Golden Zone of Mazatlan!

Edited June 5, 2015 by Alexv500

[DebbieMacG]

Please come back and finish the review Alex :)

[Working 2 Cruise]

Thank you for your review! We've done this cruise several times and love it! This time though, we're headed for Alaska! Yes, it will definitely be different!

[SoCal Cruiser78]

I'm looking forward to the rest of the review also. I believe many LA schools had their last day of school for the year on Friday, so he may be out enjoying his summer :).

Edited June 8, 2015 by SoCal Cruiser78

[Alexv500]

Hi everyone-I'm back! Sorry I have been so lazy with the review lately, I had a busy weekend with planning things for the summer and planning a last minute trip to Minnesota for next month! Will be working on the review right now so stay tuned! :D

[Alexv500]

Our time in the Golden Zone of Mazatlan:

 

After a quick 10 minute taxi ride from downtown, we finally arrived in the beautiful Golden Zone of Mazatlan. This is where everyone was at, and it was the perfect place to be on a wonderful day like today. My grandma was super excited to show me around, today she was like me on embarkation day, like a little kid at the toy store, LOL! It was so nice to see how happy and excited my grandma was to be back in her hometown, she was having a great time! We headed straight for the beach, and it was just such a beautiful day here in Mazatlan!

I love this picture!

 

We relaxed at the beach for a while and I hit the water, which was actually REALLLY cold compared to the water in Puerto Vallarta, but it was very warm out so it was very refreshing! What kind of sucked was that there were vendors EVERYWHEREEE here like you really couldn't sit around and relax in peace without a vendor coming around trying to sell you stuff, and I felt they would even target those who had their little Princess tote bag that they give you on the ship because they would see you're a tourist coming from one of the cruise ships, and this was pretty much the case in every port, in PV the vendors weren't that bad. I feel bad for them because I know these folks are trying to make a living and they want to take advantage, but if you keep bothering people more and more, I don't think they will honestly want to buy something from you! My poor grandma would get sucked into this and would buy a bunch of stuff, I was like "GRANDMA you shopaholic!" Just beware with all these vendors trying to sell all these things to you because sometimes they are overpriced, key word on these Mexican Riviera cruises is "No Gracias, muchas gracias" You will be saying that quite a lot, at least I did!

 

After our time at the beach we headed down to explore the Golden Zone and made a quick stop to buy some souvenirs to take back home to the family. We bought some stuff for my aunt (grandma's sister) since she's also from Mazatlan and wanted to get her a little something something from her hometown. After a while of walking around and shopping, we decided it was time for lunch and we headed to this restaurant close to the beach called "Lucky B's". The owner was American and spoke perfect English and Spanish, and he was a really nice guy!! And the best part of all, THIS PLACE HAD WIFI, SWEET! I checked social media once again and posted some pictures of my day in Mazatlan on Facebook, and "Checked In" to show off where I was, LOL. What I really loved about this restaurant, besides the free wifi, was the food choices! There was a mix of American food and Mexican food, which was perfect. For lunch I ordered a burger w/ fries , (A burger in Mexico, LOL I know but I love my burgers, I don't care where I am, I will get a burger) My grandma was more traditional and ordered from the Mexican food menu and ordered Carne asada, rice, fries, tortillas, and to drink we ordered Coca cola (You can never go wrong in with Coke in Mexico, Mexican coke is SOOO GOOD) The food was DELICIOUS and if I ever return to Mazatlan again, I will be sure to eat here again! I highly recommend this restaurant when visiting Mazatlan!

Grandma's order

 

After our delicious lunch, we headed for a walk around the Golden Zone and decided to catch a bus back to downtown. The bus is a lot cheaper than a taxi so to save some money, we took the bus. The bus felt really nice because it was air conditioned and after a hot day of walking around in the sun, it felt great! Once back into town we walked around, explored and just hung around and got some ice cream!

Our home awaits us!

 

We had a wonderful day in port and the rest of the day will be spent relaxing aboard our beautiful ship, the Ruby Princess

 

Up next: A relaxing evening and afternoon aboard the Ruby after a long day in Mazatlan!

[DavyJoneses]

Enjoying the photos so far...thanks.

[Alexv500]

Back Onboard the Ruby after a wonderful day in Mazatlan

 

 

 

After a quick shuttle ride from the cruise terminal building, we safely made it back to our ship and were handed nice and cool face towels to cool off and sanitizer to clean our hands, I love how Princess does this, very nice touch after a long day in port. Once back onboard, we headed up to our cabin, and I changed to go swimming. We headed up to the Lido deck and Grandma got some ice cream and she sat and relaxed while reading a magazine. While my grandma relaxed, I went for a swim in the pool and the water felt AMAZING! Many were swimming and relaxing up on Lido deck. I went into the hot tub for a bit and met 2 very nice ladies, one was from Minnesota, and the other was from Oregon. I met so many people from all over the country and it was really cool that they flew all the way to LA to catch this cruise!

 

You can see all the way to the Golden Zone!

 

Great Views and Great pic of our ship while still in port!

 

View as we left Mazatlan! Adios!

 

 

 

Next up: Dinner,The rest of our evening while enroute to Cabo San Lucas!

Edited June 8, 2015 by Alexv500

[candigirl41]

Love all the pictures. Can't wait to go, again. Love that you came back to finish up great review.

 

Candi

[ar1950]

Alex, thanks for doing more of this review. We are enjoying it very much. I would guess that your Grandmother probably saw a lot of changes if she hadn't been there for several years. I was there in 1975 and then again on a Princess cruise in 2008. Wow, talk about a totally different place. Glad that you and your Grandmother had such a good time. :cool:

[Jasperdo]

Excellent review. Terrific photos. Thanks for sharing.

[Colo Cruiser]

Great photos! :)

[EagleRockers]

Alex, I agree! Coca-Cola does taste better in Mexico. My husband worked for Coke for 30 before retiring 5 years ago. Our house was never without Coke for those 30 years. I remember traveling to Mexico back in the early '80s and tasting a Mexican Coke for the first time...by gosh, it did taste better. My hubby said it must be the way the Coke syrup was mixed with the Mexican water. To this day, when I'm in Mexico, I always order Coke.

Looking forward to you next installment!

[sajlm045]

It's the sugar. Mexican Coke uses cane sugar. American Coke fructose. There is a difference.

[greenie082756]

Yes, Coke made in Mexico is sweeter and smoother. Almost like a Pepsi :rolleyes:

[EagleRockers]

Yes, Coke made in Mexico is sweeter and smoother. Almost like a Pepsi :rolleyes:

 

With all due respect to Joan Crawford, around my house we refer to Pepsi as the "P" word.

[shredie]

Alex, you are a gem. I know how much your grandma prizes you! Thanks for the pictures. They bring back memories. I will be doing the same cruise in November again.

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes, Coke made in Mexico is sweeter and smoother. Almost like a Pepsi :rolleyes:

 

 

Costco carries Mexican Coke by the case. :)

[peenieang]

Alex, I miss reading your post. Please finish your wonderful review! Thanks you, Alex

[Alexv500]

Thank you everyone for your kind comments! :) I am back to work more on the review, just have to upload some of my Cabo pics and sort through them all because I have so many great photos to share with you all from Cabo! And I am so glad to know I am not the only one who enjoys Mexican Coke so much, sooo delicious craving some right about now, LOL! The rest of the review will be on it's way shortly, thank you all for being so patient with me! :D

[Alexv500]

Our Evening After Mazatlan

 

After departing Mazatlan, we headed down to the Botticelli once again for another delicious dinner. As we ate, we got to watch Mazatlan slowly disappear in the distance. I loved having early dinner because everyday after leaving port, we would get to watch as we slowly pulled away and drifted off to sea, wonderful sigh to see and I am so happy that we were blessed with an aft window view from our dinning table, absolutely a dream come true!!

 

For Dinner tonight I had some more of the famous Princess Fetticine Alfredo, this time as an appetizer because I loved it so much, and I also tried some Goat Cheese Souffle, which was actually REALLY good and my Grandma also highly enjoyed it too! We were given a berry sorbet for our "intermezo" and it was sooo good! For my main I had pork tenderloin, which was SO GOOD, and I don't really eat pork so I really enjoyed this dish! My grandma was feeling a bit southern tonight and had some yummy fried chicken which looked delicious! For desert I had cheesecake once again because I enjoyed it so much the night before, I wanted to have it again, LOL.

Here are some more food pics:

Some Fettuccine Alfredo, Princess Style!

Pork Tenderloin

 

After Dinner, we decided to go catch a show in the Princess theater, I believe it was another dancing show, I forgot the name but it was a great show! All the shows we watched in the theater were awesome and all the dancers and performers did a wonderful job, they work very hard and they were absolutely amazing!! We enjoyed the show very much and then went for our evening stroll around the Promenade deck to catch the warm weather outside, it was very warm out at night and it was a very pleasant evening! We hung out in the Piazza for a while afterwards and tried some goodies at the International Cafe and got some hot cocoa from the coffee bar and watched the evenings events and did some shopping at the shops onboard. Today was the day I bought a model of the Ruby Princess and got an outstanding deal! Normally priced $40 and I got it for $25! I was sooo happy to have gotten an outstanding deal on it! After our evening of shopping and watching shows, we were pretty tired from all that walking in Mazatlan and tomorrow was going to be a big day, Cabo would be awaiting us! I was super excited for Cabo and we were going to have to be up early for Cabo since we are in port for such a short time and we have an excursion at 9AM! So we went to sleep and excited for a great day in beautiful Cabo San Lucas!

 

Next up: Our AWESOME Day in Cabo San Lucas!!