We Are So Blessed!!!

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Day 5: Pirate Adventure

Port of Call: Puerto Vallarta!
This is the excursion we were planning since the day we booked the trip!
When John and I were in Puerto Vallarta last time there were 2 excursions that we were torn between, the "Rhythms of the Night" and the "Pirate Adventure." We wished we could do both, but they overlapped, so we ended up choosing the Rhythms of the Night which was super fun, exciting, and romantic and it's one of our favorite memories! We were so glad we chose it then and we would love to do it again one day... turns out it was the best choice when we were just a married couple (being romantic)...  but with kids the perfect choice was the Pirate Adventure- we wanted to do it before, and we had heard it was amazing and perfect for families- so we KNEW this one had our name all over it!
We even brought pirate costumes from home to wear especially for the occasion- and boy was that a hit with EVERYONE too! We heard, "It's the Pirate Family" all cruise long after that, hehe!



The Marigalante
As we headed to our excursion, and left the gangway, we were greeted again by our friends the cruise photographers- and they even had a real parrot that we got to hold perched on our arms- Maletch thought that was SUPER cool! 








This 6 hour adventure included a 2 hour boat ride on a pirate ship to a gorgeous secluded private beach Majahuitas Beach (which is only accessible by boat). We were treated to a very entertaining "Pirate Show" complete with special effects and more! We also danced to fun music and were served unlimited drinks (full open bar- woot) for the entire day. We were assigned our own personal pirate named "Barracuda" who was our friend and personal waiter the entire day! He brought us so many Pina Coladas and Rum & Cokes- that we never even asked for! We were never thirsty, we always had a collection of drinks around us, hehe! He was super fun and attentive! He gave the kids face pirate tattoos, and had a sword fight with Maletch- just FUN!!


Sariah and the Speedboat Story:
Since the pirate ship could not pull all the way in, we had to tender in on pangas (speedboats). Once we got to the beach, (well almost)... you see, rather than pulling up to the dock, (there was no dock) so the speedboat can not go ashore. It stops in the crashing surf, and that's as far as it will take you- "Okay get out in the water- watch out for the waves!"- haha! Right as I see Sariah's face get nervous, she said, "Mommy this is not right, this is not right!" You know she is an expert at tenders now, she's been on and off of them in Cabo- she knows the deal- "where's the dock?"
Just as I was about to reassure her that everything was going to be okay, this large lady next to us- jumps out (at the wrong time) and gets clobbered by a HUGE and POWERFUL wave- flipping her upside down- her feet flying all crazy... and all I could think was great- why did you have to do that right in front of Sariah right now?? LOL! Sariah went into a full blown panic and I can't hardly blame her after watching that! She started pleading/repeating "no, no, no" but I knew if she saw anyone ELSE get clobbered I could count on her firmly gluing herself to the speedboat- so I acted swiftly.
I picked her up, calmly looked in her eyes, (while she was yelling "no") I said, "Mommy has you, I promise we are going to be fine" and I relied on my years of body surfing- I watched the waves and I jumped overboard practically holding her over my head- I knew I had to stick my landing which was much harder in the super rough surf, while holding a heavy child in the air- but I could not let her fall or even let water touch her. I ran her to the sand, and she was instantly relieved and happy! She quickly became comfortable playing in the water and she had ZERO worries when it came to boarding the speedboat in the water at the end of the day.
I will always remember the way Sariah said, "this is not right" because I could tell she wanted me to "straighten out" the boat driver, like, "hey take us to the dock- hello - we are in the middle of the water here- we are not jumping in the middle of the ocean!" haha- and the look on her face when that lady fell- her expression- priceless!!


Majahuitas Beach (so secluded- more like an island)


Once we got to the beach, we were provided unlimited use of all of the beach toys you could possibly think of: boogie boards, kayaks, banana boats, snorkel equipment and more!
Funny, while we were all playing in the water, Barracuda showed up handing John and I cocktails in the water! I love that pirate! When you are standing in the beautiful crystal clear water playing with your kids, watching them laugh their heads off while you are sipping a cocktail- you do start to think- "Could this day get any better?" We knew to be careful drinking in the sun though, so we just sipped slowly, HA! The day did keep getting better too!

The pirates led the kids on a treasure hunt where they found a treasure chest full of chocolate gold doubloons.
The ride back we were served lunch by Barracuda (lunch was cooked in the restaurant below decks). After lunch, more fun dancing and games! Another fun and memorable day!

Below is a VIDEO from our Pirate Excursion...





Still to add:
**hermit crabs and jellyfish**

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