Huatulco, Mexico

Today we docked in Huatulco, Mexico. This is our last stop in Mexico. When our alarm went off, we both did not want to get up. It was cloudy outside so our room was still dark. We have been sleeping with the curtains open so usually the sunlight wakes me up. Finally I got up and made Brian get up too.

Once we went out to our balcony, we realized it was raining. No wonder it was so dark in our room. We took our time getting ready and then decided to go out to the see the city around 9am. It was still raining pretty hard. The rain did not bother Brian however I was not too thrilled to be soaking wet. I used my umbrella when it was raining hard. Brian just got wet but he said it was warm and he didn’t care.

We decided to do some shopping since it was raining. There were several shops at the dock. We walked around the shops seeing if there was anything we wanted to buy. I saw a cute kid’s shirt that I really liked. I got it for baby. I got it big so baby will have it for a while even though he/she will not be able to wear it until he/she is about year or two old.

The rain stopped around 10 and we went to the beach which is right next to the cruise ship dock. We walked the beach for a while. Then we got in for a swim. The water was clear which I love. There were some shells in the sand so I had to wear sandals in the water. I don’t like hard things touching my feet. We had fun.

Huatulco was a small port. There was not much to do except a little shopping and the beach. Everything is right within walking distance from where you dock. I liked this port. It was much better than a sea day. Western Mexico is definitely nicer than Eastern Mexico. All of our stops here have been wonderful.

Once we got back on board, we went up to the pool deck for a sail way barbeque. We had some steaks with dirty rice. It was yummy. Now we are back in our stateroom. Our TV selection is terrible. We do not even get CNN. If some major news event occurs, we would not even know about it. We have always gotten CNN on all of our other cruises. Also NCL does not tell us what time movies start on our TV. That makes watching a movie difficult too. The only thing we have watched on our TV is Keeping up with the Kardashians on E. It is pretty bad.

We are going to relax the rest of the day. Tomorrow we are in Guatemala all day. I am looking forward to it.

Acapulco, Mexico

Today we arrived to Acapulco at 8am. We got up early (6:30am) so we could be ready to get off the ship right at 8am. The ship was not docked and cleared by local authorities until about 8:20am. Once we could get off, we did.

I had already booked a private tour before we left home. The tour was through www.tourbyvan.com. I had been communicating with Rudy (I think he is the owner of the company). He was great to work with. He always responded to my emails and no payment was due until after our tour today. He had a full day tour all planned out for us. Rudy, Jose (our tour guide), and Romero (our driver) all met us at the port right after security. They had a large sign with our names on it. It was nice to meet Rudy.

The weather was perfect. It was warm and cloudy. The last thing we needed was more of a sunburn. We got a little burned kayaking a couple of days ago (mainly the back of my one leg and Brian’s feet). I was a little nervous it was going to rain so I packed an umbrella with us. However it did not rain all day. Because it was cloudy, it was not as hot.

Our first stop in our tour was a local market. We got out of the van and walked around with Jose for a little bit. It reminded me of the markets in Asia. Because it was a local market, people were not hounding the tourists and trying to sell us stuff. There were just local people buying and selling things. While driving around the city we saw all social classes of people and houses. It is amazing because a poor person’s house is sometimes right next to rich persons home. Our guide told us that 60% of the population is middle class, 30% is rich, and 10% is poor.



Next we drove across the bay to Chapel of Peace church and Cross of Trouyet. This church was on top a hill so it had a great view of the bay. The church was built by a rich family of Acapulco. Two of the sons were tragically killed in a plane crash. The cross was built in their honor. Then two years later the mother passed away and the chapel was built by the father. Two years after that the father passed away too. The only people left in the family now are the two daughters. It was sad to hear the story behind the church.

We drove back down the hill into downtown Acapulco. There are two sections of Acapulco. One is the original part that has been there since the beginning. This old part of town is called Acapulco Traditional. Then there is Acapulco Golden which is the newer section where all the large hotels are located. There is a large Mexican flag on the beach that separates the two different sections.

Our next stop was to the famous cliff diving show. It was unbelievable to see these guys first climb up the cliff. They start in the water and climb all the way to the top. They did not have any shoes on and you could tell it was hard to do. Once to the top, they said a prayer (a necessary step you would agree if you saw how narrow and rocky the canal was they were diving into). I originally thought that they would be diving into the Pacific Ocean, but that was not the case. They dive into a rocky canal where the waves are channeled and crash up against the rocks on the shore. Each of the divers took their time and you could tell they were a little nervous about it too. I was scared for them! Brian said they took so long because they were timing their jump with the waves so there would be more water in the canal. The show lasted about 20 minutes. It was really something to see.



It was then time for lunch. We went to La Cabana for an authentic Mexican lunch. Brian had tacos. They were not the tacos you would think of in America. They were small fried hard shells with chicken in the middle. Lettuce and tomatoes were on top of them. I had chicken enchiladas. It was really good and spicy. I could not eat too much of them because I cannot handle spicy food like I could before I was pregnant. So we ended up switching our meals. The food was good. We both had a Coke in glass bottles which gave lunch a bit of a retro feel.

After lunch, we went to Los Flamingos hotel. This hotel was once owned by John Wayne. While we were there we saw many pictures from the Tarzan movie which was filmed in Acapulco. We also enjoyed great views of the coastline. Acapulco is really beautiful.

Around 3:30 we wrapped up our tour and they took us back to the cruise ship. I had a busy day touring and it is now really sunny out so I was ready to get back on board. We had another hour here at port before we had to be on board. I wanted to write this blog post because the plan tonight is early dinner, early show, and early to bed. We have another day at port tomorrow and the next and baby and I need our rest.

I really enjoyed our day in Acapulco (baby did too). We had a private all day tour for the same price as the cruise ship’s tour. Our tour was almost twice as long and obviously much more personal since we controlled the agenda. The cruise ship tours have 20 or more people per group. It’s better to be on our own and do what we wanted. We could go as fast or slow as we wanted. I highly recommend Tour By Van in Acapulco. We enjoyed it. Next up tomorrow we have a day at the beach planned in Huatulco, Mexico.

Resting on Our Sea Day

Today we were at sea all day. I was glad because it allowed me to rest up from yesterday. We did not do too much today. We just relaxed like normal people on vacation. I know that is a crazy thought for us.

At lunch today, after we ate salads we wanted ice cream. At the ice cream bar, they did not have any bowls. I went and found bowls but they were hot. You cannot put ice cream in a hot bowl! Brian of course came up with an idea to fix that. He got a glass of ice and placed the ice in the bowls and kept it there for a few minutes. Then he took the ice out and the bowl was nice and cold for our ice cream. Problem solved.

The weather is definitely getting hotter as we travel south. I am glad I brought several summer maternity outfits because I am going to need them soon. The next three days in a row we are in port so it is going to be busy for us.

Cabo San Lucas

Today the ship arrived in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico at 10:00am. We had to get tender tickets at 9:30am. Tendering is always a pain but it worked out this morning. We got to shore around 10:45am. Once we got to the pier, we had to locate our tour guide. We were a little early since we were not supposed to meet until 11:00am. We did not see him until 11:00am. I was getting nervous that they were not going to show up or we were at the wrong stop. I was very happy when we finally met up with him.

I had booked with Cabo-Outfitters for a kayaking and snorkeling trip before we left home. They were aware that I was pregnant. It was okay with them if it was okay with us. I spoke with my doctor before our trip and he said it was okay so we wanted to do this.

We rode in a van a short distance to the beach. They loaded the kayaks into the water and we were off for an adventure. The waters were relatively calm, although we still got to fight some big waves along the way out near the cliffs on the Pacific Ocean side. Brian and I got into a good rhythm early on with rowing together. He said I did not have to do much but I felt fine so I rowed most of the time.

We went out to the famous arch in Cabo. It was really cool to see close up. This is why we love kayaking. You can go much closer than any other boats. Our guide took some photos of us he plans to send us. We should have some good ones of us close to the arch. We got to paddle into the inlet where the arch was located and watch the waves crashing all around us. Once past the arch we went out to the Pacific Ocean for a little bit. That is where the really big waves were coming from. Brian knew that we really did not want to tip over. It was going to be extremely hard for me to get back into the kayak if that happened because you get back in on your stomach. So Brian was always cautious making sure we did not tip over. Usually we don’t care as much.



We stopped at Lover’s Beach and walked around there. Seeing some of the waves crash into the beach on the Pacific Ocean side was amazing. There is no swimming on that side because it is too dangerous and it was clear to see why. Overall it was a beautiful day. The scenery was gorgeous.

We back to kayaking again then stopped at another beach to snorkel. We had to swim out to a large rock called Pelican rock. We had to swim against the current to get to the rock. That was more tiring then kayaking. Once I finally got to the rock, I had to rest to catch my breath. Baby is taking up some of my lung space and I get short of breathe easier these days.

After my short rest, we snorkeled around the rock. We saw some cool fish including a bubble fish. I enjoyed just floating in the water most and was not as interested in snorkeling. Brian snorkeled and took some pictures for us.

Throughout the day we saw many different animals including sea lions, pelicans, and a sting ray. Wild life is always so neat to see in its natural environment. There is also a rock formation that is named Scooby Doo because it looks like the profile of his head. It was so cute! It was really a lot of fun.

We are really glad we did this excursion on our own independent of the ship. The cruise offered kayaking but, as usual, the groups are too large. They weren’t allowed to go anywhere near the arch like we were. There were only 4 people in our group plus our two guides. This was the second best place we kayaked second only to the Napali Coast in Hawaii. Getting up close to the rock formations was great. We got to see the cabo arch from both sides. I have felt fine so far. I never had any pain during our adventure. I did get a little tired but that is to be expected. Brian took good care of me and baby. I think baby enjoyed it too. In a few years, we will have baby in a kayak with us!

Once back on board the ship, we had lunch and I took a nap. I have a sea day tomorrow so I can get some rest before our next adventure.

Boarding Ship

Yesterday morning, we went to Subway for breakfast. We have never had Subway for breakfast before. It was yummy. We hung out in our hotel room until noon which is when we had to check out. Brian did some work stuff. I did some laundry since Brian had already been gone from home for a week. There was a washer and dryer in our hotel.

Our hotel had a shuttle service to the port. It was about 5 minute drive. After we dropped off our luggage, we went to check in. I was nervous on how check in would go since we had such an issue with NCL finding out if I was allowed to sail. Before the cruise we spent at least 10 hours on the phone across more than 4 weeks to find out if they were going to allow me on the ship. I could not be 24 weeks at the end of cruise. It turns out that on the last day I will be 23 weeks and 6 days. That does not leave much room. People count differently on the number of weeks so we had to make sure it was okay (i.e. 23 weeks 1 day is still the 24th week of pregnancy, so what does 24 weeks really mean?). It was not an easy task. So we did not know what to expect. Well they did not mention a thing about being pregnant. I could not believe it! They didn’t even ask for the doctor’s note I was told to bring. Why did I go through all this effort again?

Once we got on board, we went to our stateroom. We have a balcony. It is nice to have a balcony. We have not had one for a while. Next we went to the buffet because once again I was hungry. Brian is trying to figure out how he is going to handle all my trips to the buffet. I don’t get too much when I go up there but I go more than usual. Then at times I will get things I don’t like (my taste buds are different these days), so I eat even less. Brian will like everything he gets so he is the one that ends up eating more.

I had fun unpacking. I always like to unpack and organize my new home. I don’t allow Brian to help because I want to decide on where things go. He gets a tour of the stateroom after I am finish. We don’t have much drawer space on the ship. Luckily I don’t have too many clothes since I cannot fit into much these days.

I was tired so I took a nap. Brian was tired too so he joined me. The next thing we knew it was 9pm. We missed the show because we slept though it. We also decided not to go to restaurant for dinner since it was so late. We had soup at the buffet. After that, we went back to bed. I am loving this trip.

Today we have been at sea all day. When we woke up, it was extremely foggy. The fog has not lifted much throughout the day. It is also cool with temperatures in the 60’s. I thought this was going to be a warm vacation. Tomorrow it is supposed to be around 90 so hopefully that will happen. We watched a movie in our stateroom. Brian set up the laptop and the TV so we could watch a DVD that we bought with us. We watched Mr. Books.

Tonight is formal night. I don’t have a real formal dress since I cannot fit to any of mine. I did not want to buy a new one so I did have a black dress that has spandex in it so that will be my formal dress for this trip. It’s time to get ready for dinner.

Boston to Los Angeles for Panama Canal Cruise

We are on our way to starting our last big vacation before baby. It is a 14 day cruise through the Panama Canal. We set sail today out into the Pacific ocean from Los Angeles and will finish in Miami sailing in the Atlantic ocean.

Yesterday after Brian’s conference in Boston, we went on a Duck Tour of Boston. It drove us around the streets then went into the water as a boat. It was pretty cool. I learned a lot about the history of Boston and the U.S. for that matter. I realized once baby gets older and learns about US history in school I really want to take him/her to Boston. I think that will help our child learn and it will be fun.



Boston is a really cool city. I never realized it. It was great staying in a downtown hotel. We could easily walk places or take the subway. Boston has the oldest subway in the US. We did not have enough time there to enjoy everything but we plan to go back some day.

Last evening we flew from Boston to LAX (Los Angeles International Airport). It was a direct flight on American Airlines. When we got on the plane I realized the plane was older than I was. I don’t think that is a good thing. It still had places for ashtrays and no smoking signs always on. Everyone knows that you cannot smoke on an airplane these days. The TV monitor was about 15 inches and it was hard to see. We did not have individual TV /entertainment monitors. I was bummed about that, especially since it was a 6 hour flight.

The plane ride was bumpy through most of the flight. I was annoyed because the captain never turned off the seatbelt sign. I know the whole safety thing related to the seatbelt sign however the flight was over 6 hours. You cannot expect people to stay in their seats that long (especially if you are pregnant)! So it makes it hard to know when was the best time to get up because again the seatbelt sign was always on. I usually follow rules but I just could not do it. I had to get up twice.

Once we arrived to LAX, I had already arranged a shuttle service to our hotel through Prime Time Shuttle. They were okay. We waited about 15-20 minutes for the shuttle to arrive then we drove around the airport for another 15 minutes. We had 3 other people to drop off so it took a while to finally get to our hotel about an hour later. We checked in after 10pm which is 1am back home.

I was starving. They did not provide any food on the plane unless you purchased it. However the sandwiches to purchase were caesar and lunch meat. Neither which I can eat so I just had our snacks that we had with us. There were not any restaurants near our hotel that were open and we are not too sure we are in the safe place to walk (especially at 10pm). We asked at the desk and they were hesitant to tell us to venture out, so we did not. Our hotel is less than a half mile from the port though. So Brian ordered me a cheese pizza and had it delivered. I was grateful because I had to eat something. We had pizza earlier for lunch in Boston too, so we ended up having pizza on both coasts today.

We finally went to bed after 11pm. It was funny because Brian was concerned we could sleep too long. I explained not to worry and that I would be up. Again I don’t sleep for long periods of time anymore no matter how tired I am. I woke up at 4am starving again. I found our snacks in our backpack and had a Nutrigrain bar at 4am. Impressively Brian did not even hear me. I went back to bed until 6am. Brian woke up at 6:30am and we were then up for the day. The cool thing was baby was active this morning and Brian got to feel baby for the first time.

I have already done a load of laundry this morning while Brian checked work email. We should now have enough clothes to get us through this trip now. We are going to breakfast soon because shockingly enough I am hungry again!

We will be getting on the Norwegian Pearl this afternoon!

Off to Boston

Yesterday I got up at 430am to get ready to leave. I had to be at my parents house at 600. It was a little harder with Brian not there. We have a system of who is responsible for what but with Brian already in Boston, it was all on me. I finally got everything together and made it to my parents on time. So far I have not noticed anything I forgot, so that's good.

At the airport, I checked and and dropped my suitcase off. After security I waited about half hour befoe my plane boarded. I was on a small plane to Philly. At Philly, I got a pumpkin muffin and talked with Melissa on my phone. I love pumpkin right now. Before I knew it it was time to board my plane to Boston. Both flights were only about an hour.

Once in Boston I picked up my luggage and got a taxi to Brians hotel. I felt the taxi driver ripped me off but who knows. It was 50 from airport to downtown Boston. That's crazy (it turns out it was only $30 for the return trip, so he did screw me). I even got my own 50 lb suitcase out of the trunk myself!
After Brians conference was over we went for a walk downtown. We walked to Boston Commons park. It was a beautiful day... actually it was a little hot (mid 80's)! We just enjoyed the scenery and each other. We both know our vacations are going to change a lot after baby is born.

After walking around for a while, we took the subway back to our hotel. With being 21 weeks pregnant I cannot walk and keep up like before but I'm still pretty active.

We went to dinner at a nice resturant in downtown. We got to eat outside. It was a great night. After dinner, we went on a ghost tour. We walked around for 90 minutes hearing stories and some history of Boston. It was fun. Then we took the subway back near our hotel. We are comfortable with subways because how much we have used them abroad. We stopped at the grocery store before going back to our hotel. The grocery store here is really cool. The have baskets on wheels and mini carts. There's many young students and business people buying something for lunch or dinner. It's neat to see.

After we got back to the hotel, we were exhausted so we went to bed. However at 3am we were awaken by a really loud alarm. It took Brian a little bit to figure out what was going on. He thought it was the alarm clock which had gone off unprogrammed during his first night. I was quicker to realize that it was the fire alarm. We got up and dressed quickly grapping our phones, identification, and computer. A meassaged came on saying there is an emergency in the building. If you hear an alarm alarm immediately after the message, then you should evaculate immediately. A buzzard went off after the message and then it repeated. We weren't sure if the buzzer sound was the alarm or if we were supposed to wait for something else. We did not know what to do. We were on the 18th floor. I went into the hallway where other people were hanging out their doors too. We came to the conclusion that everything was fine and back to bed we went. The fire alarm lights in the hallway were not flashing. However it takes us forever to get back to sleep. Oh what an adventure. Don't they realize baby and I really need some sleep!

Today Brian went to the conference and I packed up the room. After the conference we are going on a duck tour then off the the airport for a long 6 hour flight to LA. I'm not looking forward to that but then our travels should get easier.

In Boston, but I forgot something...

Hi - This is Brian. I arrived in Boston Sunday night. It is now Tuesday morning. I've had this feeling like I was forgetting something for this trip. Until today though I haven't figured out what it was. I almost thought I had remembered everything and then it hit me today... I forgot Amy! Hopefully she'll find her way here by tomorrow...