Mexican Riviera Cruise

February 9-19, 2023

We went on a Mexican Riviera cruise with a big majority of the Jensen family and it was so much fun! Jeff, Molly, Jack, Sidney & I all drove down Thursday afternoon when I got off of work.  We went as far as Las Vegas and stayed with Marty and Crystal.  We spent the night there and enjoy the next morning with them before driving down to Long Beach on Friday. 

Jens and Alexandra also flew down to Long Beach on Friday.   We stayed at a Marriott for the night and ported out on Saturday.  We went with Grandma Gloria, Glen, Kathy, Alec, Madi, and their baby Jori. Darren and Carolee, Brent, Suzette, Jorgen, Katie, Braden and his girlfriend Maddie and Kierni.  Then Brian and Diana came with Marissa, Breanna, Julia, and Ethan. (Brendan couldn't miss his college classes so he stayed home.) Then our entire family was there, minus Cade because of his mission.

We had a lot of fun together!  It was really nice to go and be with my family.  That hasn't happened in a very long time.  Like close to 15 years. 

We were able to watch the Super Bowl on the deck of the ship with everyone and that was fun to be in a giant crowd for it.  We also celebrated Valentine's Day on the ship.  We got all dressed up that night for dinner and had steak and lobster.

We spent the first two days at sea before stopping at our first port in Puerto Vallarta.  Our family along with grandma Gloria took a van/taxi clear far away from the port over to this awesome beach!  We spent the day there basking in the sun and eating the most delicious chips and guacamole!  A couple of guys in a makeshift mariachi band came and serenaded us on the beach and they were really good!  They played Guantanameda (Juan Tana Meda) Then we headed back toward the ship.  On our way back our driver stopped in the village and let us meander through the streets.  They were so pretty and I loved them!  There were flowering trees all around and tons of the streets had flags and banners strung back and forth across the street.

The next day we went to Mazatlan.  My family all got off and took a hop on hop off bus tour around the city.  We saw cliff divers, and even ran into grandma with Darren, Carolee, Glen, and Kathy! Jens, Alexandra and I decided to get off the bus and wander around for a while.  Jeff and Molly went straight back to the ship.  They had seen all they wanted to see.  We toured through a beautiful cathedral, the meat markets (which made Alexandra very nauseous!) and did a little souvenir shopping.

The next day we spent at sea before stopping at our last port, in Cabo San Lucas.  We spent that day with grandma, Brian, Diana and their kids.  We walked to a little place where we could take a water taxi over to another beach.  Brian and the kids got henna tattoos.  Jeff got a little back massage while Jens and Alexandra enjoyed fresh cut mangoes on the beach.  

We had one final day at sea before making our way back to Long Beach.  Each night we would all meet up at dinner and talk about our day.  We would often meet up during the days at sea as well out on the ship deck by the pool or at night in the comedy clubs.  One of the nights we played sardines.  (me, Brian, Marissa, Julia, Ethan, Jorgen, Katie, Braden and Maddie) That was SO fun!  We limited the hiding area to the 5th floor only and the cabin hallways were off limits.  Super fun night!

Carnival has really stepped up their game with food!  Guy Fieri has a new delicious burger place on Carnival.  The pizza place and the breakfast burrito places were WAY good too!  We ate our body weights in ice cream and melting cake, gained way too much weight and loved all of our little towel animals that would be on our beds each night.  We had fun on the ropes course and sky bikes.  I also loved walking the track in the early mornings.

So glad we could create these memories.