Day 105: At Sea

When we woke up this morning, we truly had no idea what time it was. Did the ship move clocks back an hour last night, or not?  We couldn't agree, so it took pressing the TIME button on the phone to find out for sure. We hadn't. Either way, I got a respectable start this morning, and was in the IC hoping to meet up with a friend by 7:30am. G decided to snooze a bit longer, but I am looking forward to two backward time changes over the next two nights. After springing forward since we left Hawaii, it will be nice to fall back for a change. Despite our comfy beds, our sleep has been rough this cruise. Though I've mostly lost my cough, my lungs are still tight in that way that anyone with asthma understands. I'm constantly reaching for the rescue inhaler that I can usually go for months without using. And, being the generous wife that I am, I shared my cold with G. Luckily, he has had the good sense to keep it in his head and not let it sink further south, but between my wheezing and his sniffling, our inside cabin has seemed twice as small this cruise. Sleep, while extended, has not been the quality type. 

I forgot to mention I got a tattoo yesterday in Puerto Vallarta. No worries, it's henna and will fade away in two weeks. 

The sun was shining brightly and Cabo San Lucas was right off our starboard side as I walked on the Promenade Deck en route to the IC. Everyone was wisely sleeping in today, so I sat alone through several cups of coffee while enjoying a book on my iPad. Eventually G showed up, then Jan and Phil and Suzan and Greg and it was finally the party I had been looking for. Some of us left at 11am to attend the backstage tour in the Princess Theater, but I needed to return to the cabin after the Q&A to get some meds and never did make it backstage. 

G and I went to lunch in the DaVinci Dining Room shortly before 1pm and enjoyed a menu we'd not seen before. I had a smoked salmon mousse as a starter and a duck salad as an entree and both were delish. We took the time afterward to walk around all the public areas on the ship; we hadn't yet done that. Back in the cabin, I finally allowed myself to watch the first episode of Season 5 of Downton Abbey, which I had downloaded while we were at the Crowne Plaza in San Pedro. I was going to hold off watching the first three episodes until our flight home but couldn't resist. 

We had time for a quick hot tub visit before it was time to get ready for formal night and tonight's Captains Circle party, which, for us, was held at 5pm. The top 3 most traveled passengers this cruise all had over 1000 days sailed on Princess, which is what we usually see and what made our first place most traveled awards in French Polynesia all the more meaningful. We will most likely never see that honor again!  Dinner was lobster and champagne...you know, same old same old ;-), but we had another special 50th anniversary Chocolate Journeys dessert. I could get used to these!!

We went to production show British Invasion in the Princess Theater afterward. I don't believe we've ever seen this show before, and we LOVED it. The music, the costumes, the special effects and the choreography all combined to make a fun and innovative show, and the cast received a well deserved standing ovation when it was done.  

With our clocks so far ahead, we caught the end of a beautiful sunset after leaving the British Invasion show

We then went to the Vista Lounge to hear guitarist Chris Rickets play James Taylor and Carole King songs. Chris is one of the seven musicians in the Grand Princess show band, but was recruited last night to provide a show in the Vista Lounge. I really like how Cruise Director Mike Witte has done that every night, even if it's just a musical act that usually performs in the Piazza. It's nice to have choices in entertainment, and it helps to spread out the passenger load on the ship. 

Headwaiter Rui stopped by last night to see if we were staying on for the Grand Princess' next cruise, a 15-night round trip to the Hawaiian islands. We must have that travel-worn look of people who get on a ship and simply don't leave, but, amazingly, this cruise was a one-off for us, and we are so happy we did it. First, of course, was the opportunity to see good friends. I used to qualify friends that we'd met on cruise ships as "cruise friends", because it didn't seem quite accurate to describe people we only saw once every few years as "friends", but I've since abandoned using that distinction.  Friends are friends, and with technology the way it is, we stay in touch as much as if they lived on the next street (though Suzan and I will have to wait seven long months to again text about cruises and football simultaneously). So, seeing friends was certainly the highlight of this cruise.

But other things have made this cruise a standout, too. Swimming with sea lions in the Sea of Cortez with girlfriends while the guys lounged on the boat is not something that I'll ever forget (or let them forget!). Margaritas and fish tacos in Cabo, dive bombing pelicans in Loreto, Dos Equis and parasailing spectatorship in PV; every day has brought at least one memorable experience topped with what another passenger called "our corner group" in the Elite Lounge and Phil's infectious laugh. 

It's been great to re-discover the Grand Princess for the first time in ten years, and we have been reminded of how comfortable the smaller Grand Class ships are, lacking the extra 600 passengers on the larger ones.  I had seen the Grand Princess sail away once in Fort Lauderdale while on another ship (probably the Emerald Princess...duh), and thought the back of the ship where Skywalkers was removed looked like a bad haircut, but I've certainly changed that view.  The re-do's on this ship are gorgeous, especially the Piazza and the One 5 (1 Five?) Lounge, and the open, aft decks are my favorites.  We would cruise this ship again in a heartbeat, and, in fact, will look for opportunities to do so. 

I'm not certain what our day will be like tomorrow. Between packing and the Super Bowl, it's likely to be busy but unusual. There will be no camping out in front of the MUTS screen all day as we did last year; with no dog in this fight, we're simply interested in watching a good football game in any venue on board. Hopefully. It will be a MUCH better game than we suffered through last year. :-( 

Day 104: Puerto Vallarta

When the alarm went off at 7am this morning, and we flipped to the "front of the ship" webcam channel, we saw it wasn't even light yet. Ugh. This being on CST has not been fun!  We tarried a bit but managed to meet Greg and Suzan in the IC as planned at 8:30pm. Our goal was to walk over to Sam's Club and WalMart in search of the Swimways floats we use on cruises. Traffic around the port in Puerto Vallarta was typically heavy, and a recent heavy rain had left large puddles to be avoided. It was overcast but not uncomfortably humid...at least this morning.

With no luck on the floats, we walked back to the Grand Princess and met up with Grant, Carol, Phil and Jan. After a quick breakfast (once again, it was bacon, egg and cheese muffins in the IC. We have never had one of those before this cruise, but have managed to eat them three mornings so far), we walked off the ship and took a taxi to Las Muertas beach. Phil and Jan wanted to parasail today, and that was the recommended beach to do that. 

We watched as Phil geared up and was pulled off the beach for about a 10-minute ride around the harbor. Jan followed, and there was no bloodshed, so that was a relief. In fact, I don't think they even got their feet wet. 

Phil airborne

Phil circling around to return

That mission successfully accomplished, we walked back to a nearby beach bar and grabbed six chairs and two umbrellas on the beach. It probably wasn't even noon yet (but it was 5 o'clock somewhere) when we ordered Dos Equis and chips, salsa and guacamole and enjoyed watching the waves crashing on the beach and the water sports, including jet skis and fly boards and stand up paddle boarding. 

Eventually, we started to walk north along the beach and the Maleçon, as packed with people as it always is. There were a few sand sculptures, though not ones as large as we've seen in the past. 

Sculpture along the Maleçon

Though it was never really sunny today, the humidity clung to us like plastic wrap. It would have been oppressive in the sun, so that was a bit of luck. We took a taxi back to the Grand Princess where G and I did a final bit of shopping in the souvenir stands around the pier. We met up with Suzan and Greg on the Horizon Terrace and had a bite to eat to carry us through until pre-dinner drinks and hors doerves in the Elite Lounge at 5pm. ;-)

Dinner at 5:30pm was light and quick (chicken Caesar salad for me and sorbet for dessert), and we made it to comedian Doug Funk in the Princess Theater at 7pm. Now, comedy is a personal thing, but Doug did improvisational comedy, and I love that. I thought he was harious; the older couple behind us did not. To each his own; I'm glad we went. 

50th anniversary light on the curtains in the Princess Theater

The other show option tonight is a bit weak:  mariachi band Los Briliiantes in the Vista Lounge. The reason is that the Grand Princess' premier 50th anniversary Love Boat Disco Deck party will begin at 9pm, and the weather should be perfect for it. We are back in the cabin for a short rest before heading back out for this new (for us) experience.

Day 103: At Sea

Was there a morning today?  I honestly don't recall. We've discovered a channel on our cabin TV called Prime US, and, as G was channel surfing this morning, we came across Special Agent Gibbs in an episode of CSI. For two people who have been out of the country for over three months, this provided a wonderful feeling of home, and we both enjoyed it very much. G did eventually get dressed and leave the cabin- I heard he ran into Suzan and Greg when he went for coffee in the IC- but I didn't leave until it was time to go the Most Traveled Passengers luncheon, held at noon in Botticelli Dining Room. We were seated with the Customer Services Director Luca and he indulged our questions about the things he has seen and done as part of his responsibilities on board. Multiple glasses of wine later, we were served another amazing dessert (I think the Princess pastry chefs are getting their chance to shine during this 50th anniversary year!), and somehow made it back to our cabin to rest for a few minutes.

MTP luncheon dessert

I managed to get on Internet long enough to order our transfers from the pier to LAX next Monday, booked through Prime Time Shuttle for $16 per person. I have to admit that I'm kind of excited at the prospect of spending a few days at home before we leave again, this time for the Caribbean. Now that we are as close to home as we are, and despite being on board with great friends, I am a smidge homesick. Of course, once we start wading through almost four months of mail and any associated issues, I may quickly move from homesick to sick of home. 

The Grapevine wine tasting to which we'd been invited as part of our Elite benefits was held at 3pm. Better to get all the debauchery over in one afternoon, I guess. I was really thrilled with the differerent (to us) wines served at today's tasting; I don't believe I've ever seen four of the five wines at a previous tasting. They were Gerwurstraminer Michael Leon; Donnafugata Anthilia (another white); Estancia Meritage Reserve (my very favorite); Melias Priorat; and the standard Errazuriz Late Harvest dessert wine. Feeling quite...relaxed, we walked out on the Promenade Deck afterward, my first time outside all day. Though it was mostly cloudy, it was warm and not windy.  This bodes well for our stop in Puerto Vallarta tomorrow. 

We were at the Elite Lounge with friends at 5pm for still more drinking and fun. It was Breeza Marina night, and we celebrated my belated birthday but, most importantly, the birth of Suzan and Greg's first grandchild, Savannah, the day after. It is so wonderful to have friends to share these things with!

Dinner was the Italian night menu (penne arrabiata with chicken breast for me) and we are quickly getting spoiled by wonderful service from Ciria (who makes it all look easy when it really isn't) and Sergii. We arrived early for the 7:45pm performance of Motor City in the Vista Lounge so as to score front row seats. It's not new news that Motor City remains our favorite production show of all, so to see it on both the Pacific Princess (in its adult length) and on the Grand Princess (with its 30-minute length for child-sized attention spans) was a real treat for us this winter. Prior to this, we hadn't seen it since (I think) the Island Princess in 2012. 

There was a lot more going on tonight. Once again, there was a second show to see...comedian Carlos Oscar in the Princess Theater. We're batting 1000 on having two shows each night. Also happening later on is the International Crew Show, something else the Emerald Princess abandoned almost two years ago. (I don't know why that ship seemed to be getting so shortchanged on entertainment compared to the other Princess ships.) And tonight is Country Western night with a party in the Explorers Lounge. Lots to choose from, and we're...going to bed. My cough is still nagging; I need Robitussin and sleep...and, maybe, another episode of CSI. 

Day 102: Loreto

Like La Paz yesterday, today was our first ever visit to Loreto, Mexico. As predicted, we were moving a little more slowly this morning, but with no firm plans for the day, we allowed ourselves a bit of a lie in. It was after 10am by the time we left the cabin to go up one deck to the Horizon Court Buffet for breakfast, and close to noon before we left the ship. The day was brilliantly sunny, but chilly, especially in the wind. While we had been comfortable having breakfast in the sun on the Terrace Deck behind the buffet, overlooking Loreto's gorgeous mountain peaks, the increasing wind made the tender ride to town downright brisk.

We were entertained by dozens of pelicans in the water by the tender pier, dive bombing the water in search of fish. They put on quite a show as we walked out to the end of the pier where there was a sea lion statue (how appropriate after yesterday's excursion). We next walked down the dark brown sand beach, which I suspect would be very nice if the weather- and the water- was about 25 degrees warmer.  I was shocked by the waves coming in with regular frequency; I had always imagined that the Sea of Cortez would be a calm body of water. 

We then headed down the Maleçon in search of free wifi at the Hotel Mision, a beautiful Mexican adobe-style hotel right on the waterfront. While we found wifi, it was not fast enough to prevent acute frustration on the part of one of us, who was already a little frustrated by his cold and a backache. The wind continued to pick up and the temperature seemed to be dropping, and all those grievances in total were enough to get us back on a tender to the ship. 

On the tender we talked with a couple who had been off the ship before light this morning to go snorkeling on a ship's excursion. No wet suits were provided (unimaginable, with these water temps) and the water was so churned up by the winds that they had practically no visibility. Not fun!  We were so lucky yesterday to have 40 feet of visibility for our snorkel with the sea lions, and to be provided adequate gear to cope with the cold water. But be forewarned that these Mexico cruises in January feature cool water at a minimum, and possibly cool air temps, too. 

We stopped into the Horizon Court Buffet for a snack and once again sat on the Terrace Deck, where the day had a completely different feel- sunny and warm- than in town on the waterfront. We were showered and ready for dinner early, and met up with all our friends in the Elite Lounge in the One 5 (or is it the 1 Five?  I can never remember, but we do like that lounge!). G and I had to leave early to get to our 5:30pm dining time. While the dinner menu wasn't new, the dessert menu was, and featured another Chocolate Journeys by chocolatier Norman Love dessert. White chocolate cheesecake...I've died and gone to heaven. 

We made up for our two nights without entertainment by going to two shows tonight. First, production show Stardust in the Princess Theater and then comedian magician Joseph Tran in the Vista Lounge. Stardust was another production show we had just seen on the Pacific Princess (hard to believe that three of the four production shows on the Grand Princess were also on the Pacific Princess; what were the odds of that?), but it looks and feels so totally different with a bigger cast and a 7-piece orchestra backup that it was like an entirely different show. Joseph Tran's show was mildly amusing. We would have no doubt enjoyed it more if we hadn't been sitting in the very last row, but we rushed there after seeing Starsust and were lucky to get seats at all. We have had the amazing choice of two different shows every night so far on the Grand Princess, quite a change for us after some lean entertainment years on the Emerald Princess. It's nice to have options. 

We are surprised by the number of people who came on this cruise prepared with cold weather clothing. Either people knew what kind of weather to expect or are wearing the clothes they left home in. People are wearing winter coats to watch movies on MUTS tonight; if it doesn't warm considerably (and I don't think it will), we are going to freeze during our Super Bowl spectatorship on Sunday. 

We move clocks ahead another hour tonight, before our day at sea tomorrow, in preparation for our stop in Puerto Vallarta on Friday. It always surprises me that Puerto Vallarta is on CST; it doesn't seem like we've cruised far enough east to warrant another time change, and, while it's not easy to lose another hour of sleep, we'll have two 25-hour days to look forward to before next Monday.  The only thing better than a day on a cruise ship is a 25-hour day on a cruise ship. :-)

Day 101: La Paz

When was the last time we did something for the first time?  Several times today! Our excursion today ranks right up there with ATVs in Moorea and jet skies in Bora Bora and climbing Mt. Tapioi on Raiatea as one of our most adventurous of the winter. I wonder if it will leave me as achy as all those did over the next few days, and I suspect it will. Medicated with Vitamin I, we are tucked into bed right after dinner again tonight. 

We set an alarm for 6:30am today, then slept through it until 7am. Finally, it was only the need to get out of bed to grab my iPad to photograph the beautiful sunrise on the bridgecam and shown on our TV that got us going.  Despite our best intentions, it was another day of a bacon, egg and cheese muffin and coffee from the IC, grabbed while we waited with Suzan and Greg for the Grand Princess to be cleared in La Paz, located on a peninsula in the Sea of Cortez. Suzan commented that she had read my blog entry from yesterday and noticed it just kind of trailed off at the end. Yes, five margaritas will have that effect on a blog post. I vowed to remain abstemious today (and very nearly succeeded).

Sunrise as seen on the Grand Princess bridgecam

We met up with Grant, Carol, Phil and Jan on the pier. Carol had arranged a tour for us today through Kayak Baja (www.kayakbaja.com) to swim with sea lions at Isla de Espiritu Santo in the Sea of Cortez. This was the first visit to La Paz for all of us, so we weren't certain exactly what to expect. The Grand Princess docked at a freight area about 20 minutes north of the town of La Paz, and we were met by a shuttle arranged by the excursion company and driven to their office in town. The landscape was very Arizona-like, with rolling brown hills and an abundance of tall cacti. Once at the Kayak Baja office, we were told that the water temperature would be in the mid-60s (ouch!) and were fitted with wetsuits by our guide for the day, Benjamin. Now, I am not a fan of long sleeved wetsuits (talk about claustrophia!), but to swim with sea lions, I endured squeezing into one (actually, being squeezed into one). Once we were geared up and wearing life jackets, we walked a short block down to the waterfront where we boarded our boat. 

The day was bright and sunny but never warm. I had kept my wetsuit on, simply because I could not bear the thought of pulling it on a second time, and was soon glad for its warmth. We met our captain, Armando, and that's when we first heard the news that it would be about a 90 minute boat ride to the sea lions. Oh joy... While we were in the harbor at La Paz, it wasn't too rough, but as soon as we reached more open water, it got seriously bouncy. We bounced across the water, enjoying the rock cliff scenery and willing our travel time to pass quickly.

We swung into a frigate bird sanctuary where Benjamin explained to us that frigate birds got their name from pirate ships, as, like pirates, they are always stealing other birds' food. The rocks were white from guano, and the birds were a little stinky.

We continued on, doing our best to protect our spines and necks and stay warm, until we finally reached the island covered with lounging sea lions. Actually, we smelled them before we saw them. There were dozens of them, males and females with nursing babies that were so cute. I wasted no time, because sitting on a bobbing boat is not my favorite thing to do, and did a backward roll off the side of the boat into the water. Gasp!  It was so cold it momentarily took my breath away, but Benjamin encouraged us to get moving to warm up, and he was right. I peeked my head under the water and was amazed at its clarity. It was about 40 feet deep and crystal clear down to the ocean floor. I was surprised to see lots of colorful fish; somehow I thought it would be too cold for them. But it was breathtaking to see the first sea lion race by within feet of me. Up close, they were huge, and moved much faster than I'd imagined they would. 

I was soon joined by Suzan, Carol and Jan, but didn't realize until I was back in the boat later that not a single guy got in the water, except Benjamin, of course. I eventually asked G to throw me his scuba hood; its warmth helped ease putting my ears in the water, and I did finally acclimate to the temperature. It never felt totally comfortable, but it was bearable. We stayed there until we got uncomfortably chilly, and witnessed some male aggressiveness under the water that showed that the sea lions did have some sharp teeth. 

Male aggressiveness

A nursing baby sea lion

Once we were back in the boat, we spotted several nearby manta rays jumping straight up and out of the water, which generally means they are unnerved by a predator in the water. It was about a 15-minute ride back to a long stretch of beach where Armando pulled the boat in close to shore and we waded the short distance to the sand. There, Armando and Benjamin set up a table and served lunch:  ham and cheese sandwiches, ceviche, avocado and chips and cookies. Suzan, Phil and G had walked over to a nearby store this morning from the Kayak Baja office and purchased some local beers and we washed down our lunch with those, very refreshing and not nearly as potent as yesterday's margaritas. 

After lunch, Phil and Benjamin went kayaking while the rest of us enjoyed the warmth of the sun on the beach. About 2:45pm we reboarded the boat, not looking forward to that rough ride back. Fortunately, we didn't have to go as far south as La Paz; the boat dropped us back at the ship, and that took only about 45 minutes. Still, we were glad to see the smokestacks of the Grand Princess appear behind a hill, indicating that we were getting close. 

We all met up in a hot tub on the back of Deck 16, warming up and soaking weary muscles, and we stayed there until it was time to get ready for dinner. G and I shared a very quiet meal, listened a bit to Los Briliantes, the mariachi band on board (they are really good!) playing in the Piazza, then got fuzzy water and returned to the cabin. G was asleep in five minutes, and I will be, too, as soon as this blog post is published. 

We're in Loreto tomorrow, another first for us, but have no firm plans for the day. Our two days in Mexico have been tough ones, in entirely different ways. It may be time for a beach day, or a walk on the Maleçon, the beachfront boardwalk in most coastal Mexican towns. 

Day 100: Cabo San Lucas

There was a point (was it only three winters ago?) when the mere thought of cruising for 100 days had us all agog. 100 days!  Imagine that!  Now it's just cause for a moment of recognition and reflection en route to more fun and adventure. To be completely accurate, we haven't actually cruised for 100 days so far this winter. Really, this is just our 90th cruise day. But, remember, I counted those days in the Hotel Tiare Tahiti in Papeete and...well, now I'm reconsidering if that was the right thing to do. I mean, we were away from home, but since we weren't actually on a ship maybe I shouldn't have done that, but... Meanwhile, the world continues to spin around me and no one else cares the slightest about this.

Moving on....

I think that our bed on the Grand Princess is the most comfortable we've ever had on any ship. The mattress is just perfect. I am spoiled by sleeping under just a duvet (no top sheet for us to get tangled in). Our inside cabin is dark and quiet and cool and...well, that must be the reason we're sleeping so much. It was 8am today before I opened my right eye and peeked at the clock. Then I immediately started coughing. And coughing. And coughing. I tried to bury my face in a pillow but that wasn't enough to allow G to sleep through the commotion. I struggled in the darkness to find the box of throat lozenges I'd bought in Hilo, but couldn't locate it. So I instead reached for a piece of chocolate from Carol's Quality Sweets in Edmonton. It did the trick perfectly. :-)

I checked for an email from Mom, so easy to do now that we have normal Internet again. It's not fast, of course; we're on a ship at sea. But, compared to what we had on the Pacific Princess, it's a different world of technology. First, I have three bars of wifi signal strength. In our cabin on the Pacific Princess, I never had more than one. Then, the Grand Princess wifi pops up immediately to be selected. You might have noticed I actually posted food and show photos yesterday, on a sea day. Yes, things are definitely back to normal on that count. Thank you for bearing with me while I was on the dark side of the Moon.  

I showered and dressed as quietly as I could, then left the cabin to allow G to continue to sleep. We were not arriving in Cabo until noon today, which, I must say, is a very civilized way to cruise. Arrivals at noon; departures at 8pm. I think anyone could get behind that as a vacation schedule. There was no need to rush today. I went down to the IC just to get a cup of coffee. After last night's wonderful dinner, I wasn't particularly hungry, and knew I could grab something at the Horizon Court Buffet before our excursion. 

We did not bring our 2-way radios on these cruises, due to the weight restrictions we were facing in Air Tahiti Nui, and, while I didn't miss them at all on the small Pacific Princess, I am definitely missing them on the Grand Princess. I returned to the cabin after coffee just to see if G was up and about yet, but might have preferred going to a culinary demonstration or a lecture on whales instead. 

When I finally got back to the cabin, G was just starting to stir. He requested brewed coffee, stat, and so I took his Princess travel mug up to the bar on Deck 14 to get him some. No, they only had specialty coffee drinks, no brewed coffee. So I went down to the IC on Deck 5, where I knew that they had brewed coffee. Unfortunately, they also had a long line of people waiting to get froufrou coffees, and they take time. By then it was 10:30am and neither one of us had had a bite to eat, so I did something I have never done before on a ship:  I picked up two of the bacon, egg and cheese muffins in the IC. McDonalds on a cruise?  Maybe, but desperate times... Carrying them and a pastry (just 'cause this had all been so grueling ;-)), for each of us,  I climbed those curved marble stairs in the Piazza balancing two plates of food and went to Crooners to get brewed coffee. Unfortunately, I arrived just behind three couples ordering six Bloody Marys. This was not going well. Happily, another bartender showed up to get me a simple cup of coffee, and even more ladened, I returned to the cabin. G had wisely left the cabin door partially opened...he knew I'd be returning with full hands. And that's where we ate breakfast, bacon, egg and cheese muffins in the cabin while watching TV. Very untypical for us, but a little variety won't hurt us. 

We were to meet at 12:20pm in the Princess Theater to join our group for our excursion today:  pirate ship sail and snorkel. I knew exactly why friend Carol had selected this tour: we have a group history with St. Thomas. Water Island, an impromptu pirate ship transfer back to Havensight, copious amounts of rum and the mysterious appearance of tattoos. However, our tour today was cancelled before we even left the ship, due to the wind and disminished visibility in the water. Temporarily stymied, we (Grant, Carol, Phil, Jan, G and I) immediately rebooked on a harbor catamaran tour. Let's be honest here...what we really wanted were margaritas on the water and an up close view of El Arco, the rock formation for which Cabo is most famous. 

Well, we certainly got all of that, plus some magnificent whale sightings. I mostly relinquished my photographer responsibilities to professional photographer friend Phil, but have a couple of photos to share. Several (and I mean several) margaritas later, we were back on the dock and made our way to a nearby waterfront restaurant for the fish tacos for which Cabo is famous and yet one more margarita each. I think that's the one that really finished us off. 

At this point it starts to get a bit fuzzy. I remember mariachi singers, and walking back to the tender dock in two groups of three each, arm in arm like the characters in the Wizard of Oz strolling down the yellow brick road.  Once back on the ship, we had a quick pizza at Alfredos, the sit down pizzeria on board, and that was as far as we got. No Elite Lounge, no big dinner, no shows...we have to do this all over again with a full day excursion in La Paz tomorrow. The alarm is set for 6:30am (help me). Is it possible that we've survived 96 days in French Polynesia only to be finished off by Mexico and tequila and our Canadian friends?  Stay tuned...

Day 99: Whales! We've got more whales while we're At Sea!

I fell asleep last night so quickly it was like someone flipped my OFF switch. I remember nothing after being unable to upload my blog post. I wasn't even certain, this morning, where I had thrown my iPad because it wasn't on the vanity being charged. I had had only three hours sleep at the Crowne Plaza, mostly because the sheets on our bed were about 3500 thread count, and so stiff they crackled when either of us moved. It was like sleeping on tin foil. This bothered G not one bit, but, pea-sensing Princess that I am, disturbed me a great deal. I had tried to fall sleep to the sound of G exasperatingly counting the number of commercials in every commercial break on TV- "11. 12. 13. 14."- but everytime he reached 15, he'd yell "15 commercials!! 15!!!  I've forgotten what I was watching!!!" and that little tirade would raise my level of consciousness again and I'd have to start all over again during the next commercial break.

None of that nonsense last night. I didn't stir even a little until 8:58am MST (we had moved our clocks ahead an hour last night). G raced down to get breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room before it closed at 9:30am but I couldn't be rushed. My first shower on a ship always takes a little longer because I have to get things set up in the bathroom. When I was done, I went down to the International Cafe (which will hereafter be called the IC), the coffee shop/light eatery location on Deck 5 in the Piazza to have a coffee. I tried from there to get my iPad on wifi but was again unsuccessful. I suspected the issue was having just gotten off the Pacific Princess. When I had logged on yesterday to purchase my Internet minutes (250, free as Elite or Platinum in Captains Circle), and then logged off, my logout screen said Grand Princess but had my cabin number and 14 remaining minutes from the Pacific Princess. Very odd. I suspected that might come back to haunt me and, sure enough it did. When I spoke with the Internet manager this morning, I told her we had just disembarked the Pacific Princess and she knew immediately what the issue was and fixed it. I was finally able to get that blog post published!

Meanwhile, I had run into Suzan and Greg having coffee in the Piazza, then Grant, Carol, Phil and Jan and G showed up, too. It's a good place to meet up with people, and, in fact, was how we met our Canadian friends in the first place, as we'd always be sitting in the IC on the Emerald Princess in the morning having coffee on our cruise together in 2009. Carol brought us each a box of handmade chocolates from her store, Carol's Quality Sweets in Edmonton. Now, between you and me, I was counting on her generosity, because these are the best chocolates I've ever had. We've shared them already, but just a little, offering one piece each to our cabin steward, Mychelle and her husband, Sherwin, also a cabin steward on board. I am trying to limit myself to one piece a day. Maybe two on a sea day. Three on a sea day where I have to dress formally.  Or four on each formal day (coincidentally, today is one) and none on port days. That works.

Does anyone think these chocolates will last the entire cruise?

G and I went to lunch in the DaVinci Dining Room at noon. I was hungry, having skipped breakfast, and G was too, despite having finished breakfast just 2 hours earlier. The food we've enjoyed on the Grand Princess so far is, of course, mostly the same food we had on the Pacific Princess and the same food we had on the Emerald Princess last year. But I have to give kudos to the way it tastes on this ship.  Today I had the Thai hot and sour soup and then asked for a SMALL portion of Chicken Korma, a lunch entree that cruise friend Steve turned me on to. Here's the thing about Chicken Korma:  they bring out a good sized plate of it, really too large for lunch, and then they add 8-10 condiments on top, and by the time it's all loaded up, it's enough for six people. I asked waiter Joaquin from the Philippines for a small serving and that's exactly what I received. By the time it was dressed up with almonds and onions and cilantro and all the other toppings. It was a perfectly-sized lunch entree. I'll have to remember that for the future. 

G wanted to go out on the Promenade Deck to walk off lunch afterward, and, while the sunny side of the ship wasn't too bad, when we came around the bow of the ship into the shade and got hit by the brisk wind, it suddenly turned less pleasant. I was just starting to say, "And you want to be my latex salesman" (from Seinfeld), which, in our house is a slightly more pleasant way of telling the other person "You are an idiot and this is the stupidest idea you've ever had", but before the word "salesman" was even out of my mouth we saw whales. WHALES!  Maybe as many as six, spouting and breaching and making huge splashes and generally having a grand old time between our ship and the nearby Isla Cedros, off the Baja California coast. This was one of the most impressive whale viewings we've had from a cruise ship, because they were so close and active. We watched as long as we could, freezing, of course, but it was a worthwhile sacrifice. Once we stepped back inside the ship, G turned to me and asked "Now what were you saying about my latex salesmanship skills?"  

Never mind. :^| 

We rested a bit mid afternoon, just because I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed by all the passengers on board, after enjoying our own little yacht experience for three months on the Pacific Princess. But by 4pm, it was time to start getting cleaned up and dressed for tonight's formal night. I think our 5:30pm dinner seems early, but we also wanted to eat in one of the midship dining rooms and didn't want to do Anytime Dining, so...well, there you are. It's early but, with our table for 2, we can skip dinner in the dining room and go to the buffet on occasion and not disrupt anyone else. By 5pm we were dressed to the nines (or at least the sevens...my formal dress is feeling a little tired by now) and at the Elite Lounge in the One 5 (love that lounge!). We had moved on by 5:30pm to dinner expecting a usual formal night dinner menu, but no, no, no!

Dinner tonight featured a special Princess 50th anniversary menu that was totally new to us. We ordered the salad (G wondered aloud what a "panache" was) and beef tenderloins and then I had the chocolate mousse- raspberry-creme brûlée dessert designed by chocolatier Norman Love in honor of the anniversary year and, I must say, Princess got their money's worth with that one. Sooooo yummy!! And at the end of the meal we were presented with a souvenir copy of the menu. Fun!

Dinner was followed by the Captain's Welcome Aboard Party and Champagne Waterfall. Sitting there, drinking our numerous glasses of cheap champage and listening to the mariachi band that has turned out to be enormous fun playing a real variety or music styles (Hava Nagela had everyone getting jiggy) when who do we see walk by but the reknowned Godwin from India, formerly a headwaiter but now Assistant Maitre de. Go Godwin!  He saw us- we saw him and it was fun getting caught up. 

Production show Do You Wanna Dance was shown three times tonight. We went to the 8:30pm performance. It was especially interesting to see this show since we had just seen it shown on the Pacific Princess. Of course, while there were six dancers and two vocalists on the Pacific Princess, there were seven female and four male dancers and four vocalists on the Grand Princess, with its much larger stage. It's a favorite show of ours, and we've enjoyed it on both ships. 

We are in bed watching a replay on TV of a port lecture that had been presented earlier today in the Princess Theater. A real port lecture on the Mexican ports we'll be visiting, not a shopping lecture!  Go Princess!  I am feeling much better tonight, but G is sneezing. Oh no...

Day 98: Grand Princess embarkation

Sorry for the delay in posting. This was ready to go last night but I had Internet issues on my iPad related to having just gotten off another ship. After a consult with the very busy Internet manager on board this morning, I am now good to go. :-)

Whew!  It was a crazy busy day, but such a wonderful day, too, meeting up with friends and seeing the beautiful Grand Princess for the first time since 2005 and embarking on yet another cruise. I've reached two conclusions today:  1.) Regardless of how recently I've disembarked from a cruise (even yesterday!), there is nothing like the excitement of walking up the gangway on the first day of a cruise; and 2.) Regardless of the distance I travel to a cruise- three blocks or three continents- I'll end up really tired by the end of an embarkation day.  

We caught a 10:30am shuttle from the Crowne Plaza to Pier 93, a 5-minute ride. What a wonderful hotel that was, and I highly recommend it for a pre- or post-cruise stay. We were able to have a seat in the cruise terminal, and that's where I first met up with our friends Grant, Carol, Phil and Jan (G had seen them earlier at the hotel). We went through Elite check in (speedy) and had a seat in the Elite waiting area with our friends. There we ran into Carolyn and Ken from the Emerald Princess last year.  And Captains Circle host Catherine Fullarton, most recently from the Pacific Princess and now the Future Cruise Consultant on the Grand Princess spotted us. She was supposed to have gone home to Australia today but has extended her contract. It was wonderful to see her again so soon. 

And all this before we even boarded the ship. :-)

We were in our cabin shortly after 11:30am; it doesn't get any better than that. By noon we were in the DaVinci Dining Room for lunch. Aaaaahhhh...all's well in our world again, after that Subway interruption last night. We needed to meet with Maitre d' Rui Pereira about our dinner table. We had requested a table for 2 at 5:30pm, but had been assigned a table for 8 at 5:30pm. Really, by this point in our winter, there are some nights I barely want to talk to G over dinner. ;-) Rui accommodated us (yay!) and as we walked away from him, Suzan texted me. She and Greg had arrived on the ship after driving over from Arizona this morning. More yay!

We met them in the International Cafe and it was like we picked up just where we left off in December 2013 on the Emerald Princess. We talked and talked...and talked, until it was time for muster drill. Muster drill already?  Where was the day going?  We mustered and practiced putting on our life vest for the third time this winter (just one more time!), and, as soon as the drill was over, I went out on the Promenade Deck to phone Mom and a couple of friends. I simply hadn't had time today to do that yet!

By the time I was done, the crowding to get an elevator was over and I returned to the cabin to see G was out and about somewhere. We eventually met up on the Terrace Deck with Suzan and Greg and watched a beautiful sailaway from Los Angeles, the prettiest (sunniest) I've ever seen there. At 5pm we went to the Elite Lounge in the One 5 Lounge, which replaced Skywalkers when the Grand Princess was renovated a few years ago. It overlooks the aft terrace area and the back of the ship and is a beautiful venue. In fact, the back of the ship - the entire ship, really- looks prettier than I thought it would after being de-nuded of Skywalkers.  I've overheard some comments about it needing to be refurbished again, but, honestly, I'm not seeing it.  We are quite impressed!!

Some scenes from sailaway...

The freight area at San Pedro port

Looking down the entrance channel towards the ocean. 

The fuel barge finally finished fueling the ship about 4:30pm, delaying our departure a little. 

We were treated to a beautiful sailaway sunset. 

It was late by then- nearly our dinner time of 5:30pm- and we hadn't yet unpacked a single item. We opened suitcases to get to just what we needed for dinner (no matching jewelry for me; no belt for G...no time, we were late!) and rushed down to the DaVinci Dining Room.  Our waitstaff is Ciria from Mexico and Sergii from Ukraine; Ciria has been with Princess 12 years and while it's common to see male waiters with that much tenure, it's rarer to see women who have been around that long. 

After dinner we walked around the ship's public areas. As I've said, we were on the Grand Princess exactly ten years ago this month, but it had a major refurbishing in 2010 (I think). While the ship still has that definite Princess look about it, it has a few common venues but in different locations than on the Emerald Princess. The best feature is that it has a covered pool area, perfect for this cruise that can be chilly the sea day following and preceding Los Angeles.  The Princess Theater looks small to us, our cabin's bathroom looks large, storage in our cabin seems tight (especially the closet), but, overall, this is a beautiful ship. Our cabin is in our same favorite location on the very back of the ship up high. It's just a few steps out the door at the end of the hallway one cabin away to the Terrace Deck and the hot tubs and pools on the back of the ship. It's all very comfortable and strangely familiar, but it also seems so large after the Pacific Princess (it isn't really...it's just 2500 passengers, but the Pacific Princess had 680). G said it's a good thing we didn't go right on the Oasis or the Allure OTS (the world's largest cruise ships, operated by Royal Caribbean) directly following the Pacific Princess. We would have suffered emotional whiplash!  

We have a wonderful mariachi band in onboard, seen here playing in the Piazza

I was impressed by how beautiful the pool areas are after being on the Pacific Princess 

The covered pool midship...and there are at least three more pools onboard too!

Finally, it was time to start unpacking. I went first and G is putting his things away now as I type this. It's the same as it often is...we start out thinking we'll never find space for everything and we end up with space to spare (except for in that closet. It's pretty tight.). G may go back out tonight but my evening is done.  My cold is better but definitely not gone, and nothing is as appealing as fuzzy water, popcorn (yay!!!!) and bed. 

Popcorn!  I've missed nightly popcorn!  And football on MUTS. Wucy, we're home!!

Here is our itinerary for this 9-night cruise. I usually do screen captures for our itineraries before I leave home, and I did for French Polynesia (but never had good enough wifi to upload superfluous photos) but don't have one for this itinerary because...well, I didn't think about it until just. this. moment. 

Jan 24:  Los Angeles depart 4pm

Jan 25:  At Sea

Jan 26:  Cabo San Lucas 12:00pm - 7:00pm

Jan 27:  La Paz 8am - 5:30pm

Jan 28:  Loreto 7am - 5:30pm

Jan 29: At Sea

Jan 30:  Pueto Vallarta 8am - 4:30pm

Jan 31:  At Sea

Feb 1:  At Sea

Feb 2:  Los Angeles 7am and HOME!!!!

A sensory retrospective of French Polynesia

Port lecturer Douglas Pearson encouraged us, in every one of his presentations, to do more that just tour the islands. He wanted us to immerse ourselves in French Polynesia. He had a slide- See. Hear. Smell. Taste. Touch. Feel.- and I thought about those words every day.

Now that we are at the end of our French Polynesian winter, I wanted to give my 'Best of' the senses of French Polynesia. It was hard to refrain from listing ten more things for each sense; there were so many that were so good.  But it wasn't hard to choose the very best experiences...those that follow are the clear standouts and are forever etched in my mind. 

See:  the view of the lagoon surrounding Taha'a and Raiatea from the top of Mount Tapioi in Raiatea

Hear:  the ocean thunderously crashing on the reef just 100 or so yards away as we sat safely on the calm waters of the beach at the Bora Bora Hilton Nui

Smell:  wearing a wreath of plumeria flowers while drinking a tropical drink topped with a tiare flower at the Kia Ora Resort on Rangiroa

Taste:  enjoying taro ice cream on Huahine 

Touch:  the velvety softness of stingrays as they brushed against me on Moorea and Bora Bora 

Feel:  the cooling breeze coming across the Sea of the Moon at the Sofitel Moorea after the heat of Papeete

Just remembering those moments makes me smile. 

Life is good. :-)

Day 97: Hello LA! Disembarkation from the Pacific Princess

Whew. What a day this was. Talk about best of times/worst of times. There were several moments today when I was ready to catch the first plane for home, but common sense prevailed and we will be boarding the Grand Princess tomorrow as planned. But let me start at the beginning...

I set an alarm for 6am this morning. I really wasn't certain how much noise the Pacific Princess would make docking in Los Angeles, and didn't want to chance oversleeping. I took a quick shower and packed up the over the door shoe rack and my toiletries, then went to the Club Restaurant for a final breakfast (mostly to say goodbye, but I had a fruit plate while I was there). I returned to the cabin by 7:30am and helped G rearrange the furniture back to its original configuration. Without looking back, we gathered up our hand luggage and closed the door behind us. Weep!

It was a gorgeous day today in Los Angeles, and we went right to the terrace behind the Panorama Buffet to soak up the sun, have breakfast (G) and open our final bottle of Veuve Clicquot. Champagne flutes and orange juice made it into a celebration, and we peacefully spent our remaining time enjoying the views and saying more goodbyes. And texting and phoning. All was fine with family and friends. Yay!

The port at San Pedro

At 9:45am we went down to the gangway on Deck 5. It was most appropriate that the last person we saw was entertainment staffer Xavier; he is the one who had first greeted us on the pier in that pouring rain after 22 hours of travel in Papeete. The terminal in Los Angeles has an outside sidewalk at about the same level as the Pacific Princess' Promenade Deck, and as we walked down it, several more crew members yelled their farewells, with "goodbyes" echoing off the wall of the terminal and the ship. We even saw deck crewmember Antonio from Portugal who had helped us on and off tenders probably 75 times. He was painting the ship from some scaffolding, and turned around at the sound of people yelling to add his own wave. We will miss them all!!

Antonio is the one on the bottom

Once in the terminal, ours was almost the last luggage remaining. We didn't even have to go through immigration, since the last port we had stopped at was in the US (Maui). The whole thing was quick and painless, which was good, because...well, half a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, remember?  The last thing we saw in the cruise terminal was an electronic sign, urging us to come back soon. 

Is tomorrow soon enough? ;-)

We caught the shuttle to the Crowne Plaza hotel, just a couple of minutes away, and were thrilled when they had a room ready for us already. At 10:30am!  What a gift!  We had never stayed at the Crown Plaza here at San Pedro before, but friends (who are the reason we added this cruise this winter, but I'll go into that later) were staying here and had gotten it on Priceline for $100 plus tax. While we were on the Pacific Princess, as part of all our rearrangement of travel plans, I had downloaded the Priceline app and made a bid for a 3 1/2 star hotel in San Pedro. It appeared that the Crowne Plaza was the only one. It wouldn't let me bid $100 for some reason (it was a slider, and it wouldn't stop at $100)...so I bid $98 and got it!  The full price of our room would have been $189, so it was a very good deal. 

Our room seems huge (after our cabin on the Pacific Princess) and very luxurious (after the Hotel Tiare Tahiti in Papeete). We happily dropped our luggage, collapsed on the bed and G mindlessly watched TV while I mindfully surfed the Internet using the hotel's pretty slow (but, relatively speaking for me, lightning fast) wifi. Joy! (This was a Best of Times moment). It didn't last long...

My friend, the twin's mom, texted me. In the time it took us to actually get off the ship and get to the hotel,  McGee seriously injured his arm in PE. Ohhhh buddy!!!!!!  This is not the first time...in fact, it's the fifth time he has broken an arm (at 11 years old!). The last time it happened, we were also on a cruise ship (quelle surprise!) and I received the news in an email late one evening. I remember waking G up and telling him I needed to go home NOW but would wait until we got to port the next day if I had to. Only a video from them showing that McGee was, in fact, happy and going to survive saved the cruise. (The boys love that story).  And I had that same feeling again today. Helplessness at being so far away. Empathy...I'd rather it be me than him. Worry. Lots of worry. This was the worst of times. 

It didn't help that my cold seemed to have worsened in the past day or so. Neither of us was sleeping well due to my cough. I was feeling pretty puny by the time we got to the hotel, and as I was waiting for updates from home I seemed to be getting worse. I actually wondered aloud to G if we should just go home.  I don't want to be sick for the whole nine days of our Grand Princess cruise (and maybe McGee's injury had a little to do with it, too). G agreed that he didn't want me to be sick either, but thought going home to cold and snow was not the answer (again, quelle surprise). 

Finally, we left our room to walk to a drugstore only half a mile away, but first checked in the little store in the hotel lobby. They had Robitussin multi symptom cold medicine, exactly what I would have purchased at a drugstore. (I knew I needed dextramethorphan to quelch this cough.)  That was as far as we went, and within 20 minutes after taking the first dose, I was coughing only a small fraction as often as I had been. 

About 3:30pm we did finally leave the hotel to walk down to the waterfront by the Maritime Museum to watch the Pacific Princess sail away for its World Cruise. Except it didn't sail on time...or an hour late...or even an hour and a half late. It was starting to get dark at that point (5:30pm-ish) and we still needed to get some dinner somewhere. We went into the nearby Acapulco Restaurant, which must be popular because there was quite a wait for a table. Not interested in waiting, we walked back to and past the Crowne Plaza to where a Subway was located. Subway...now we are back on totally familiar ground. We split a foot-long sandwich in our room while we watched from the window as the Pacific Princess finally sailed about 6pm. 

Finally, it's fun to look back at how we've gotten ourselves to this point, to sleeping in a hotel near the pier in Los Angeles to go on a cruise on the Grand Princess to Mexico. At first we thought we'd be getting home from Papeete on December 19 and then going on the Royal Princess out of Fort Lauderdale from January 8 to February 7. Then we decided to extend on the Pacific Princess and cancelled our first 20 nights on the Royal Princess (after final payment...thank God for Princess insurance). 

When I had said on this blog that we were staying on the Pacific Princess until Los Angeles, we still thought we'd fly home and go on the Royal Princess for just one 10-night cruise on January 28. We had already committed to moving to the Caribbean Princess on February 7, the same day that Royal Princess cruise would end. I was not thrilled with the prospect of that Royal Princess cruise. When we had originally booked January 28 for 20-nights, we had a great price, but when we added the Caribbean Princess on February 7 and shortened the Royal Princess to 10-nights, the price was ridiculous.

Then friends from Edmonton we'd cruised with years ago and met for breakfast in Fort Lauderdale last winter- Grant and his wife Carol and Phil and his wife Jan- emailed us that they'd be in Los Angeles today getting on the Grand Princess for a cruise tomorrow and could we meet for dinner?  We looked at the cruise they were taking; for 9-nights it was half the price of the 10-night Royal Princess cruise.  We could do more than dinner...we'd take the cruise with them. Yay!

It's since gotten even better. Friends (and brand new grandparents!) Suzan and Greg booked the cruise while we were in Papeete. And Carolyn and Ken, with whom I did the Dominica Cooking Exoerience tour last February emailed that they'd be on the Grand Princess, too. It's going to be a party, and it's the very best part of cruising.

After two doses of Robitussin, and having been assured of McGee's survival by receiving a photo of him with his splint, I'm feeling much more in a party mood. I haven't coughed in at least 15 minutes...we'll both sleep better tonight. And tomorrow...good friends and another cruise. 

My life is good...but poor McGee. :-(