Cruising The Mexican Riviera

The Oosterdam is just one ship in the Holland America Fleet. We had an outside stateroom.We were lucky enough to have a wiindow . It was a great joy to see each morning where we had docked the night before.

The food was prepared by professional chefs. The food would rival any five star restaurant. We preferred to eat each night in the formal dining room. It was like getting all dressed up and going out each night.

During the days we either ate in while we were in port or in the buffet dinning room. There was also a cafe, pizza bar, and a grill. You had several choices to choose from.

There were also eight swimming pools on board, a casino, a game room, library, several night clubs and a show each night after dinner. Entertainment was not lacking.

Cabo San Lucas translation in English is Cape Saint Luke. Cabo is known as the jewel of the Baja Peninsula. It has something for everyone. The heart of Cabo is it's hospitality.Cabo was originally a hiding place for English pirates.

We spent most of our time in Cabo on the beach. I earned a promotion we all had a celebration on the beach with a great big party.

Located on Mexico's Gold Coast. The closest Mexican resort to the US. Nicknamed the " peaarl of the Pacific". Mazatlan is a Nahautl word meaning " place of the deer".

Mazatlan has some of the best jewelery stores to find Opals and Saphires.

We decided to go to a real open market, not the ones tourist usually shop at. We had to take a taxi. It was about the size of a golf cart, that had a regular car engine. The four of us had barely gotten in before off we went, like we were in a race. Zipping in and out of traffic. There was a bus in front of us and cars coming in the opposite lane and I thought to myself I know he's not. Before I could get the thought finished he swerved out and around the bus. We were so close to the bus if anyone had had a finger outside the taxi they would have touched the bus. I was praying" Please God get us back to the port in one piece".

When we got back I wanted to get on my knees and kiss the ground.

Peurto Vallarta is located on the western pacific coast. It truly has something for everyone. One of the best places to shop for diamond, gold, and silver jewlery.

We decided to do more than the tourist shops and took a taxi downtown to look at some of the beautiful archeticture. Thank God this taxi ride wasn't like the one in we had in Mazatlan.

They had some of the most beautiful sand art along the beaches.

This was a my first experience on a cruise. We Had the time of our lives. We got to see and do so much in just a few days.

Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Peurto Vallarta are such beautiful port cities. I had so much fun and saw so much . I have a hard time deciding which city was my favorite.

I hope I can do this same cruise again someday.