Good morning from our first-ever stop in Mexico—Puerto Vallarta—and honestly, it ended up being one of our favorite cruise port days so far. In this video we show exactly how we explored independently (no shore excursion needed): we grabbed a taxi right from port (it was $25 for all three of us) and headed straight to the Malecón. We walked the boardwalk, soaked up the palm trees/blue-sky views, and stopped at a ton of public art sculptures—Puerto Vallarta has so much character, with that mix of old and new that kept surprising us. We also popped into the Puerto Vallarta Maritime Museum (and got lucky because Wednesday was free). It’s packed with naval history, uniforms, flags, and even a simulator where you can try “parking” a ship—Pepper immediately tried to crash it, of course. We checked out the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, did a little souvenir shopping (magnet + Christmas ornament is non-negotiable), and timed lunch at Señor Frog’s so we could catch the Danza de los Voladores (the “Birdmen”) ceremony right along the Malecón. Then we headed back early and made our port day extra relaxing with a Mandara Spa thermal suite day pass on Norwegian Bliss ($99 per person). Our biggest tip: give yourself more time than you think to get back through the winding port shopping area, and consider doing the spa on a port day—it’s way easier than a sea day.