North , South and Central America on the Nieuw Amsterdam photo travelogue. Easter 2022 .

[scubacruiserx2]

There was a small Distillery of Tequila here that had had 5 generations of family as owners . Gina told us that in the local culture women were not allowed to drink Tequila . But they did put it in their milk without telling some of the others . 😍

 

 

Blue Agave

 

 

When the sharp leaves are trimmed they look look the Pineapples growing in our yard , hmm I wonder ?

 

 

The young man who gave us the tour reminded us of our oldest grandson

 

 

His Great , Great Grandmother was the Mama Lucia who flavored the Tequila with milk originally and later with Coffee . Later came Licorice and Almond and his mom pioneered Tequila mixed with Hibiscus and Pomegranate . We did try them all and bought the Almond , Pomegranate and some Anejo . They are not allowed to ship to the US but we allowed to bring some .

 

 

His mom gave us a bottle of Vanilla and the last one of the red stripped bags

 

 

We were really glad that we stopped and looking forward to lunch

 

[echoshipmate]

48 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

There was a small Distillery of Tequila here that had had 5 generations of family as owners . Gina told us that in the local culture women were not allowed to drink Tequila . But they did put it in their milk without telling some of the others . 😍

 

 

Blue Agave

 

 

When the sharp leaves are trimmed they look look the Pineapples growing in our yard , hmm I wonder ?

 

 

The young man who gave us the tour reminded us of our oldest grandson

 

 

His Great , Great Grandmother was the Mama Lucia who flavored the Tequila with milk originally and later with Coffee . Later came Licorice and Almond and his mom pioneered Tequila mixed with Hibiscus and Pomegranate . We did try them all and bought the Almond , Pomegranate and some Anejo . They are not allowed to ship to the US but we allowed to bring some .

 

 

His mom gave us a bottle of Vanilla and the last one of the red stripped bags

 

 

We were really glad that we stopped and looking forward to lunch

 

You do know you are killing me with all the pictures! I'm ready to go now!

Doug

[scubacruiserx2]

14 hours ago, echoshipmate said:

You do know you are killing me with all the pictures! I'm ready to go now!

Doug

 

Sorry about that . We do like to reflect on our trip when we can and maybe plan for another trip .

Edited May 30, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Lunch was back near the city at Canto del Mar

 

 

We were on the beach with plenty of things to do but we had our heart set on lunch

 

 

Sales people would come to our table sometimes

 

 

 

A Horchata and a Margarita 

 

 

Shrimp tacos and shrimp fajitas

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Just across the street was a park where many mosaics and a few animals reside

 

 

 

 

 

Back at the port with Pat ,Gina and the boy on the seahorse behind

 

 

The cruise port from above

 

 

As we pulled away we could see a mall , a Walmart and a Sam's Club all next to each other

 

 

 

The sail away from Puerto Vallarta

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Thank you to the brave men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

 

[scubacruiserx2]

A day at sea

 

 

 

 

Blueberry pancakes and Corned Beef Hash

 

 

And a breakfast from India

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Spiny Caribbean Lobster for lunch at the Retreat

 

 

 

 

 

Our favorite lunch onboard

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Setting up for dinner on the veranda

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[oakridger]

Hello.  What menu/restaurant did the Caribbean lobster lunch come from?  It looks good!

 

Thanks,

~Nancy

[scubacruiserx2]

We requested it through Rod and the guys at the Retreat. They spoke with the Pinnacle and it was approved. It was the same as the Half Moon Cay Lobster Lunch $20 p.p.

 

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[oakridger]

Thanks!  Maybe I'll have to search out "Rod and the Guys" when I'm onboard!  Ha ha!  That said, I really doubt that the ingredients (spiny lobster) will be onboard the NA in October since it will be coming from Vancouver and won't stop at Half Moon Cay until the last night of the cruise.  Hopefully I'll meet you two on that cruise!

 

~Nancy

[scubacruiserx2]

20 hours ago, oakridger said:

Thanks!  Maybe I'll have to search out "Rod and the Guys" when I'm onboard!  Ha ha!  That said, I really doubt that the ingredients (spiny lobster) will be onboard the NA in October since it will be coming from Vancouver and won't stop at Half Moon Cay until the last night of the cruise.  Hopefully I'll meet you two on that cruise!

 

~Nancy

 

We would love to have some King Crab ( until we get to Eleuthera ) . And it will be lobster season when we get back to the Caribbean . We're looking forward to it and some fresh seafood and we should have plenty of room on the cruise we hope !

Edited May 31, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

We had thought about going on the Whale Shark adventure in La Paz but had heard mixed reviews about it on line . We heard heard of spotty sightings and so we  had a plan B of DIY and there was a free bus that takes about half an hour to get there from the port .

Our last viewing of whale sharks was in the Summer near Cancun with our grandson and we had a bonus sighting of Manta Rays with the Whale Sharks .

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We were in bright , early and cool in Pichilingue

 

 

We were on the edge of the desert about 12 miles from La Paz near a cement plant that seemed to work 24/7 .

 

 

 

 

The Free bus to the beach or the city came about every half an hour and were loaded with handicap people first and filled in empty seats that were left .

 

 

The bus was going to be full 

 

 

And this was the 2nd line for the bus . We asked if any of the people wanted the cab or wanted to share and there were no takers . The driver offered to be our guide for 3 hours and we told him that we just wanted a ride . He didn't want to change and I asked Pat to stand in the bus line while I tried to convince him to just drive us .

 

 

After the other bus left he changed his mind and we agreed on a price and we off . We passed the bus after about 5 minutes and enjoyed the 20 minute ride .

Edited June 1, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

We requested to be dropped at the Cathedral of La Paz to try to beat the crowds

 

 

 

On the ocean

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

The paved side

 

 

and the ocean side

 

 

 

Breaching Humpback

 

 

Whale shark

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

There was a John Steinbeck short story about a pearl diver in La Paz who finds a giant pearl before greed turns it into a human tragedy

 

 

The water was so shallow here that people just waded to some small boats

 

 

 

Jesus and the Seashell

 

 

Mermaid and a dolphin

 

 

 

 

We saw this in a parking lot near the tourist information and grab a cab near here for less than half price to return

 

 

Return to the ship

 

 

 

Edited June 1, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

A stop for a beer and a band out front

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

The view from the retreat

 

 

 

 

 

A dog , a brat and some fries

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We had only tried the MDR on the first day for lunch . On this day they had a Prime Rib that my wife had wanted to try . They also had a Caribbean Lobster on the MDR menu for an upcharge and so we went to the Club Orange mat when we were hungry . We had wanted to see the dance company for the first time after dinner so that was the plan .

 

French Onion Soup and Escargot to start .

 

 

 

 

Things were fine until the Prime Rib which was tough and chewy .

 

 

And the Caribbean Lobster was half  a cold water lobster that was mushy and soft . It was prepared with Plantains and some rice and a few beans Caribbean style that was also mushy . 

 

 

We did enjoy the desert but hot the main courses at this service .

 

 

 

Edited June 2, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

Watering the parking lot

 

 

 

 

The beach at sail away

 

 

 

After dinner dance

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

We were up early ( After moving the clocks back an hour ) for room service .

 

 

 

 

This would be our only tender service this trip and it was a long ride to shore . We had requested a phone call from the concierge to let us know when we were clear to go ashore and so down we went . We were the only people waiting for about 15 minutes and they sent us ahead alone on a local tender .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were the first ones from our ship on the dock

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

The people here were the most aggressive that we met in Mexico and were all around us try to sell and rub cologne , sunscreen and heaven else knows what both legal and illegal on and to us . We tried asking several people to phone our guide but most seem to ignore what we were saying and asking and just kept try to sell us . We waited almost half and hour before the first tender from HAL to arrive and they seemed to be in no hurry to come ashore . 

 

 

 

This guy phoned our guide several times and the message box was full . We phoned the Tours by Local number and spoke to someone in Scotland to try to reach our guide or a replacement guide without success . We finally committed after about an hours wait and he walked us to the marina to board a glass bottom boat . The narrow pier was blocked by a group of ladies dressed alike trying to figure out what to they wanted do . When they finally moved we saw this covered boat and grabbed a couple of seats with a couple of more people and prepared to shove off in the small blue boat .

 

 

 

 

 

As soon as we started to leave the ladies decided to go and we had to board them and the 10 of us squeezed into the boat for a bumpy ride to the beach near El Arco .

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We have been on many small dive boats with many people of differing swimming levels and boatmanship levels but these ladies we up , down and all around and not obeying the Captain . We had hopped to keep everyone safe but we had our hands full in the moving sea .

 

 

 

 

A clear boat

 

 

We were relived when they got to go ashore safely

 

 

 

 

After letting them off we had to pick up another couple at a different beach . The lady moved very rapidly toward the boat that was riding a wave to the shore and fell under the bow . Her waist and chest stopped the boat as the next wave pushed it over her . Fortunately she was okay and the husband only cut his foot . We were really glad to land safely and move on to the land portion of the tour with no one hurt .

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by scubacruiserx2