On August 24th the first cruise ship carrying passengers stopped at Puerto Vallarta, and since then we have received two more ships and will receive many more for the rest of the year.
Yesterday Carnival Panorama docked in Puerto Magico again, carrying over 2,500 passengers and over 1,400 crew members. And, someone asked on Facebook if it was worth getting off the ship if they didn't have a tour, so I ran down there a couple of hours before the ship arrived, just to show how Puerto Magico was preparing for their arrival.
Lots of people were running around, and there was movement everywhere. Many shops were already open, yet some were still setting up and making sure everything looked nice, huichol dancers were getting dressed in their costumes and painting their faces, and there was a mariachi band that was practicing. I quickly went through the whole port whilst recording, showing all of the shops, even though all were not yet opened, and how pretty the place looked. And then I stopped into Cacao Magico for a quick interview, and recorded a warm welcome as well as some information about their store and the interactive day classes that you can take there to learn to make chocolate treats. There will actually be classes going on every hour on days a cruise ship comes. Last year me and my mom did a class, and she wrote about it, so you can read more about them here.
Also, I want to say that all of this isn’t only for the people coming or going on boats and cruises, but is open for all the general public to enjoy. Anyone who wants to shop, get a yummy snack, taste world-class European style chocolate, or just look around and check it out can come in. There is no admission or even a parking fee. Also, the whole upstairs floor is going to be turned into two or three restaurants, so once it is ready people can come in for a bite to eat as well! Though, of course, they do have to follow the Covid-19 protocols such as wearing a mask at all times unless you’re eating or drinking, using hand sanitizer, and staying a safe distance apart from people.
When I finished my video my dad and I walked over to where the ship was docking, and the ship is so unbelievably huge when you are right next to it, though it doesn’t seem that big from far away or in a picture! I was really surprised!! We wanted to wait for passengers to disembark, so I could take pictures or record, but we had to go since we had made plans to meet up with some friends from the cruise, Jerilyn, her boyfriend Rick, Lisa, and her sister Lesley, back at Cacao Magico. When they arrived we talked for a bit, and then decided on two places that I wanted to show them to go eat. We couldn’t go in one car though, because of Covid-19, so they had hired a driver, Sergio Trujillo, for the day.
The first restaurant we went to was La Ramada Pirrus, all the way up at Boca De Tomates. I wanted to show them a homey beachfront Mexican mariscos place where the family works and everyone is very friendly. We got a one kilo Serendiado fish, an aquachile order, and a ceviche order, which was all for sharing, but still a ton of food! The plan was to east fast and then go to the next place, but my dad convinced everyone to stay and wait for the fish, which takes around 40 minutes. I was full after eating there, and thought that we’d go to the other restaurant in a couple hours, but we drove right to it! The place was La Tapatia, and we were all already pretty full so we didn’t eat much there, but they wanted to go for the Cantaritos, and they still got a large Carne En Su Jugo to share. I just got a simple quesadilla, and afterwards a chocoflan for dessert, which I could barely finish! At the end of the day we said goodbye, my dad and I went home, and they returned to their ship. It was a really fun time, and I can’t wait to see them again when they come back in November!
