Day 20 Huatulco, Mexico 3/21/2012

Transcription

1 Day 20 Huatulco, Mexico 3/21/2012 This is the only repeated port on our back-to-back (Collector s Cruise) which presents the opportunity to see another side of this destination. Last time, we traveled to the rural areas to see how people live; this time we re going to see some of the beautiful bays for which the area is known, visit a nearby town and stop for some photo ops. This port and the next 2 are relatively close together, as shown in the inset below. They are all relatively new stops for cruise ships, with Huatulco s port being established in the 1980s. The port we re at today is actually at Santa Cruz de Huatulco, about 12 miles from the city named Huatulco. It is a resort town created especially for the cruise ship business, a small bay with a large dock surrounded by high hills on 3 sides which shelter it and also stifle cooling breezes. Thus it can be quite hot.

2 I had my usual juice, fruit and yogurt (note: in a silver dish!) for breakfast in the main dining room, while Dale had Eggs Benedict, fruit and juice to the accompaniment of the birds (on CD) who were back in the dining room (at least one passenger was actually looking for them!). Our shore excursion wasn t until 1 pm so we got off the ship and wandered around town, looking for souvenirs, which we hadn t got on our first stop here. We found a couple items at the local crafts market but passed on some things that were overpriced (the sellers wouldn t budge from their best price ). We also gave up looking when the street vendors pestered us to the point of, well, giving up. Some people find all this charming. Others, like us, find it annoying. Nuff said. This little burro is hand carved with a bobble-head these carvings, called alebrijas, are supposed to be very popular but we didn t see that many doesn t matter, it s cute So we went back to the ship to wait until 12:45 pm, a few minutes before the time we were to meet on the pier for our tour, as stated on the shore excursion ticket. We got to the tent (open-sided) where 2 shore excursion reps sat. They waved us on toward the dock gate saying there were guys in blue shirts all over the place these were the tour guides, the dock gate was about feet away. And guess what? Are you ahead of me on this? That s ri-i-i-ight no guys in blue shirts, and no other passengers either for a tour we had been told was sold out. Hold on it gets better. It was hot and I had already done pretty close to my max of walking, so Dale had me wait in the shade while he ran around looking for our tour group (the town is small, it didn t take long). He found them waiting for the boat we were supposed to sail on, another few hundred feet away. When we were about 20 feet from the group, the shore-ex reps caught up to us (later they would say they led us there!). Some people were questioning how we were supposed to get a full tour of 3½ hours when it was already past 1 and we had to be back on the ship at 4:30. The shore ex rep actually said it was possible (I am not making this up). But wait, there s more! She offered us a full refund not to go (because of our negative attitudes). But we had paid for it and wanted to see what was on the tour: 3½ hours by boat and bus, 5 bays, 4 land-based photo ops. The bays were, of course, beautiful. I cannot tell you which bay is which (next 2 pages) because the narrative was unclear.

3

4 On the bus, the photo ops were reduced to only one. We drove right on by the others, and I m not sure if we ever got to La Crucesita, the nearby town. Another notas-advertised shore excursion, another bad tour in Huatulco, and another typical conversation with the shore-ex reps, whose jobs are, after all, to sell excursions, no matter what they have to say to do so. I m re-thinking whether I want to do ship-sponsored shore excursions on future cruises. So, Huatulco was a bust for us. Funny thing is, after the first stop, I thought it might be a place I d come back to visit on a land-based excursion. After that day, I never want to see it again! We got back from the tour at 4 (so only 2½ hours, or 70% of what was advertised can I have a 30% refund, please? ) so we had a ½ hour to get back to the ship, which we did, even with my poor, tired, ol dogs. Up to the spa for an hour on the loungers then back to the cabin to get ready for dinner in the Caneletto Restaurant again.

5 In the Caneletto, the meals start with bread and olive oil & balsamic vinegar, then an antipasti plate with meats, veggies, olives, peppers and mozzarella you choose what you want. Dale had Minestrone soup and spaghetti with meatballs while I had salad and chicken marsala. We both had the tiramisu trio (chocolate, lemon, vanilla) for dessert and Dale also tried the gianduia (chocolate and walnut) gelato. Stuffed once again, we went to the showroom to watch ventriloquist/comedian Phil Hughes. In addition to his dummies, he has audience members come up on stage and be puppets when he touches their shoulders, they move their mouths while he provides the words funnier than it sounds. Tonight s towel animal: Entertainment tonight Showroom at Sea: Phil Hughes, ventriloquist/commedian Ocean Bar: The Neptunes (HAL s in-house band), cocktails and dancing Mix: Lee Strubeck, Piano Man Explorer s Lounge: Adagio Strings Crow s Nest: Name That Tune, Motown Music Movie: From Mexico with Love

6