Norwegian Joy
Mexican Riviera
April 2025

Cruise
Published

April 25, 2025

Map of our cruise itinerary.

Embarkation - Sunday

Today was embarkation day on the Norwegian Joy. This cruise was a seven day cruise to the Mexican Riviera, round trip from Los Angeles, with stops in Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta.

Our parking spot at the San Pedro Cruise terminal. I always try to remember to take a photo of our luggage and parking spot.

Once on board, we had a nice lunch in the Haven dining room.

Sea Day - Monday

In the morning I would play the Sudoku challenge. We had about 20 minutes to complete the puzzle. I never made it into the top three.

Cabo San Lucas - Tuesday

Today’s port was Cabo San Lucas and around 9am the ship anchored in the bay. Cabo is a tender port. Prior to the cruise we had booked a shore excursion called, Baja Highlights.

NCL Joy anchored in the Bay of Cabo San Lucas. From the tender.

Passengers on tours waiting in line to board tour buses.

One of our tour stops was at a glass factory. Here the artisans are making a glass turtle.

The final product, a turtle wearing a sombrero and drinking from a bottle.

The Mission church of San Jose del Cabo. The current church was built in 1940 in Mijares Square.

Tile mosaic above the entrance doorway shows the killing of Father Tamaral in 1734. In 1734, just four years after the Mission’s founding, an indigenous rebellion erupted in response to the imposition of religious practices that conflicted with local customs. The Jesuits told the native people that God would protect his priests from harm. When Father Lorenzo Carranco was killed in Santiago, the native people realized that the Jesuits had lied and they were not immune to harm. Father Tamaral was attacked and killed on October 3rd.

Some of the shops near the Plaza Mijares.

Becky and I celebrated our anniversary and NCL provided a nice cake for the occasion.

Mazatlan - Wednesday

Today’s port was Mazatlan and we enjoyed a relaxing day aboard the ship.

A view of the city of Mazatlan from the Haven sun deck.

Sunset over the Pacific Ocean.

Puerto Vallarta - Thursday

We took the anniversary cake back to our room and over several days we enjoyed cake with coffee in our room.

At Sea - Friday

The Latitudes wine tasting event. This is a free gathering for Latitude Platinum level members and above. It takes about 15 cruises to get to this level.

This particular Pinot Noir is my favorite. This bottle is from Louis Jadot Bourgogne from Burgundy, France, and sells back home for about $22.

Over the course of the cruise we collected a few cruise ducks.

A smoky Old Fashion served in the Haven Bar.

At Sea - Saturday

Today was another day at sea and our last full day of the cruise.

Disembark - Sunday

After breakfast we disembarked the ship, loaded our car and hit the road. We were home by 11am.