Yesterday was a sea day so a group of us arranged a "cabin crawl" combined with a “poker run”. It gives you a chance to see seven (7) different cabins onboard, from the interior with no window cabin all the way up to the top-of-the-line Neptune Suite which comes with a butler and a special lounge that you can use to get away from the little people. This by the way, is NOT our cabin.

We all contributed $5.00 to the pot for the “Poker Run” – ½ going to a native school in Nicarauga and the other half going to 1st, 2nd and worst hands. When you visit each stateroom, you pick a total of seven cards and make your best poker hand. I was sure that I'd won it with my full-house – nines over Aces but it was the four Jacks that took the big prize – I had to settle for second place – but it’s still a bit of bucks that I can use on the roulette table later tonight.

We arrived on schedule here in Puerto Vallarta, MX to sunny, warm weather. The whole trip has surely unclogged our sweat glands, as it’s been dreadfully hot everywhere. As of this minute in time, we have traveled some 3,582 nautical miles on the Westerdam since we left Fort Lauderdale some 14 days ago. It really is amazing to think that we’ve traveled so far because it doesn’t really feel it. You get up all day, you see some of the sights, you have a nice dinner and presto – you’re somewhere else the next day.

Today was intended to be a slow day. We didn’t venture far from the ship as the girls wanted to stick to the portside shops just up from where the ship docked today. Collectively they did some pretty good damage to the Peso, U.S. Dollar and Credit Cards, snapping up quite a few pieces of silver between the two of them to add to their collections.

As for me, I sat in a nearby café, purchased my obligatory Corona so that I could get some wi-fi and worked at catching up on my email and to make a few calls back home. Skype calls are often tough to take given the speed of the wi-fi, particularly when your trying to have a conversation with your 96-year old mother, but it’s nice to know that everyone is still OK despite our thirty-seven days away to-date. Having been to P.V. several times over my lifetime, I know it pretty good so we opted out of any tours and just hung around the port. The new condos in the harbour area that have been built since my last visit look pretty snazzy and could present further opportunities a little later down the road for an extended stay in P.V.

Back on the ship well in advance of our departure we had nice lunch on Lido poolside and I was able to catch enough rays not to get burnt but to work on my tan. Last night we went to The Pinnacle Dining Room with our new friends from Sydney, Australia – Ian and Wendy and again we were treated to another exceptional dinner.

Tomorrow we pull into Cabo San Lucas – one of my favorite spots here in Mexico. The plan is that we’ll grab a cab and head over to ME CABO for some lunch and reasonably fast wi-fi. Hopefully the weather will co-operate, as it’s calling for mostly sunny and 27 degrees C. I’m finally going to get myself over to Lovers and Divorce Beach for some photos, as we’ve never taken the time to make the little side trip. We’re in port for about seven hours tomorrow so that should be enough time to get everything accomplished.

I just recently checked my readership numbers and again, I’d like to say THANKS to all of you who take the time from busy schedules to read by drivel. Hopefully you get a chuckle or two out of my “observations”. Thanks again guys.