3/6/05

By hazelson

• February 8, 2007

We drove from Langley, British Columbia down to Long Beach - just for the heck of it lol. Stayed one night pre-cruise on the Queen Mary. What a grand old ship. The cabin had to be thirty feet long. I'm guessing they needed lots more trunk space back in the good old days. No ghost sightings - unfortunatley - but lots of history. Well worth the price of the room.

Boarding was easy - about an hour start to finish. We did the early check-in in the morning on the Queen Mary, checked out of our room around 11, parked the car, dropped off the luggage and wandered around the shops.

We got an upgrade - one we did not want. From the main deck we had chosen - we had been moved to the panorama deck - right under the lido buffet. We said thanks but no thanks. They tried to tell us we had to take it - because they sold our cabin to someone else. We said to move them to deck 8 - we figured they had been upgraded to our cabin, then up four more floors - figured they would be pretty happy lol. Our luggage went to them , theirs came to ours but it all got sorted out very quickly - and we were on our way.

Service all over the ship was great - all the staff seemed happy - smiles all around. We had a great dining room team as well - but once again we were at a table all alone - for the whole week. Gotta check my deodorant :o)! There were actually several empty tables in the dining room - even though the ship was full to capacity.

We did the Jungle Tour in Puerta Vallarta - saw some pretty secenery and had lunch in the mountains. Then we had a chance to shop in town - but we waited to buy anything until we got back to the dock - the prices were much better. At dinner that evening we were entertained by local musicians strolling through the diningroom - serenading us. It was lovely.

In Mazatlan we rode with Randy's Happy Horses - another one of the things we have always wanted to do - it was great riding on the beach and Randy is very professional We had a great lunch at Victors right on the beach at Stone Island. And the jewelry - we bought right at our table as the vendors came by -beautiful silver pieces. Randy keeps them at bay until we want to see them.

In Cabo we did the whale watching tour - we actually saw only one but the tour was nice anyway - it is a very pretty spot. Drinks were included - as much as you wanted - with or without alcohol and the fellow that did the talking for the tour was really quite funny. I had not been to Cabo since the 1980's and it had really changed - I think for the better. There are some incredible hotels on the beach now. They have some great shops as well - right off the tender dock. The bargaining is fun - it's just hard to get away sometimes!

We really enjoyed the sea days - especially the tea in the afternoon - complete with little sandwiches and pastries - yum. We ate in the ding room every evening but visited the buffet during the day - the food was surprisingly good -especially breakfast - omeletes made to order and tons of bacon. Don't think I will get my cholesterol levels checked for a while.

The entertainment was also very enjoyable - especially the comedians. The production shows were very well done as well - but then I think we are pretty easy to please, Vegas style suits us just fine. We bought lots of photos - we never seem to get any of us together - we are always taking the pictures - so they are nice momentos.

The ship itself is very well laid out - easy to navigate around and I loved the art work. It was impressively clean everywhere we went. The cabing itself was very roomy - especially with the balcony. I was outside every morning we pulled into port - my favourtie time of the day.

Even the casino was good to us - I came away with at least four hundred dollars of their money - just an added bonus.

All around a great trip - second cruise - both on Canival and the third will be as well. Hey - if it ain't broke - don't fix it. It is laid back enough to suit us and glitzly enough to warrent going on a cruise.

The only thing I would change is that they be more persistent with their dress code in the dining room - I'm not a formal person, but like to get dressed up in something fancy every now and then - but jeans in the dining room on formal night - crappy faded jeans at that - they have to have some sort of enforcement.

I would give it a nine out of ten - there really is no such thing as perfection - just ask my dh lol. TTFN Jennifer