The 26,000 Steps of Puerto Vallarta

1/18/26

If you’ve visited PV (Puerto Vallarta), you’re probably wondering where this giant staircase is.  Rest assured, it’s reasonably flat along the coast.  But as I mentioned in an earlier post, our goal is 10,000 steps a day and in PV, we achieved 26,000 because we walked to and from the Malecon from the ship.  It’s about 3.5 miles each way, not to mention the time spent on the actual Malecon, which is a beautiful, pedestrian-friendly promenade with shops and statues and people from everywhere.   PV is definitely a wonderful destination.  In many ports, the cruise ships represent about 90% of the tourists in town, but in PV, we might be 5%.

This was our 3^rd time here, the last 2 times were on cruises.  The first time was around 2001 for a full week during my years at Intercontinental Hotels Group.   We stayed at El Presidente Intercon, which was much nicer than our typical hotel selection; but it was an employee perk at $35usd per night.  It was at the height of the Timeshare craze where high-pressure salesmen would offer hundreds of $$ in free meals and entertainment in exchange for attending a 1hr sales presentation, that turned into 2hrs or more.  We of course were lured in but limited our beating to about 90 min and walked away without having signed on the dotted line.  Thank G-d.  That industry has fallen out of grace and now you can’t even give your week(s) away.  Or so I thought.  In PV, the timeshare industry is still alive and well, albeit not nearly as aggressive and slimy   I was surprised by that.  I know people who have weeks at various resorts around the world and love them.  To each his own.  We’d rather cruise.

The weather on this cruise has been outstanding and today was no different.  We were off the boat by 8:30 and stopped at Walmart for some supplies.  Just about everyone on the cruise does it as it’s right across the street from the port.  Someday, I'll park my yacht next to Walmart to run in for shampoo and peanuts.

Then we began our stroll to the Malecon, stopping in various shops along the way and meeting locals.  Because we speak Spanish pretty well, we enjoy the interaction.  At each port, there’s usually something that’s a bargain, and in PV, that’s Mexican blankets.  We purchased 2 for $5 each.  They make great gifts.

We were back on the ship by 1:30 where we met up with Greg and Ginny, who we met on WC23.   We always have a pleasant conversation filled with humor.  The afternoon consisted of reading, swimming and practicing guitar until it was time to get ready for dinner.  As we’ve done the last few nights, we attended the happy hour at 4:30 for Platinum and Elite guests.  It’s a nice way to ease into dinner and have some fun with other folks, many of whom are doing the full 131-day cruise.  Dinner was salmon over fettuccini….boring perhaps but I love it.

The show was a production show and it was crowded.  Much like the Bayou performance a few nights ago, it was filled with special lighting, cool set design, costumes, dancing, singing and shockingly, puppetry arts.  It was very well done if you could follow the story line which was somewhat mythical.  A childless couple use their last $$ to free a bird who returns as a lost child to them.  Though profoundly poor, they raise her as their own.  But she has a unique gift of creating golden silk, which she does in seclusion.  The silk makes the family wealthy but at the expense of their daughter’s health.  It was a story about sacrifice and redemption, but it was a bit difficult to follow.  I thought it was terrific.

Unlike most nights, I wasn’t tired and decided to spend the following hour at Crooners bar having drinks with Jack and Debbie, also from GA and our neighbors to the left on this cruise.  Plus, we gain another hour the next 2 nights so staying up as late as possible should help me acclimate.   And there you have it, another successful cruise day.