Puerto Vallarta

December 26th

We set sail on Dec. 23rd.  We got on board on time, but as is usual, the ship didn't leave on time.  It seems there was more luggage to load than they expected.  Glad to say, our luggage all came aboard and only one piece, a new one, was damaged.  Hopefully they will fix it.  Nothing seemed to have been lost.  (yeah)

We have spent 2 days at sea, getting re-used to sailing.  This ship, the Amsterdam, on the Holland America line, is exactly the same as the only other Holland American ship we sailed on before, the Veendam.  We are not having much trouble getting around.  I am sort of disappointed that this is not an entirely new ship.  I will get over it, OK...I have already gotten over it. :)
We have taken some computer classes and celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas on the ship.  We have never sung so many Christmas carols. 

Most of the passengers on board now are only on for 14 days.  They are sailing from LA to Fort Lauderdale.  Only about 30 of us are going all the way around the world.  The rest of the Grand Tour passengers will board in Fort Lauderdale.  I imagine, the children on board now will not be on for the long-haul.  (there are quite a few kids)

We arrived in Puerto Vallarta this morning.  As you can see, PV has become quite a city.  We have been here 3 times before.  So, all we did was go to Wal-Mart....it is right across the road from the port.  It may be the most expensive Wal-Mart in the world.  And, we did not find what we were looking for. 
We have just left port, on our way south.  We will update then.  Wait......we have an update now....As we are leaving Bandaras Bay, Arleen noticed a splash in the water.  Our dolphin, spinner dolphins, escort had arrived.  We had at least 10 dolphins playing in the wake of the ship.  We could see 5 or six at a time just below the surface.  It is great to see them jumping and playing in the waves.  I was afraid the ship would list to one side with all of us looking over the same side ;)  We just love the critters.

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