Mexican Riviera - Day 1 - Departure

We take a limo to the pier and check-in is pretty painless. We came prepared with everything we needed, and nobody forgot anything. Tony's luggage is still missing. Now they don't know where it is. They think it's still in Kansas City. The key piece of information, Tony's claim tag, was taken by the Rep, who did not write it down on the claim form (he wrote down the claim tag his bag SHOULD have had, but didn't), and now nobody knows where that claim tag is, and according to two people Tony talked to, now there's no way to find out where his bags are. Upsetting, but Tony is taking it pretty well.

We set sail at 4pm. On the pool deck, XCite, a carribbean band, plays music for a set-sail pool party. As we pull away, there is an amazing view of a sunset with mist and a singular lighthouse that we pass close by. I got several shots.

The evening show is a review of all the lounge acts playing on the ship. One of the better ones is a lounge act who sings several Sarah McLachlan tunes pretty well. Afterwards we go to Gatsby's bar for a "champagne and chocolate covered strawberries" event only to find that you have to buy the champagne for $11 + 15% gratuity to get a strawberry free. So we got nothing. This is a foretaste of much of the cruise--there are literally thousands of ways that the cruise ship tries to get you give them more money -- liquor, coffee, soda, jewelry, art auctions, even playing bingo costs $20 minimum. While some of the entertainment choices are free, the majority are not. We wander around the ship, exploring, and then go to bed.

Oh...late in the evening, Tony finally manages to reach an intelligent person at the lost luggage department who determines immediately that his luggage is indeed in Seattle, and that person arranges to have it on a flight to Acapulco, our first port in 2 days, and the cruise ship will send someone to go pick it up when we get to port. Crossing our fingers.