Friday, January 3, 2020; At Sea, Puerto Vallarta to Los Angeles Day 2

Friday, January 3, 2020; At Sea, Puerto Vallarta to Los Angeles Day 2

We got most of our packing done last night, but left a few things out for today’s activities including workout clothes and swim suits.  We had a sit down breakfast and then hit the International Cafe to work on depleting our coffee card punches with Cafe Lattes and Chai Teas.  

We hit the Early Risers Trivia at 9am, and this time there were 7 teams.  We came in 3 points behind the winners this morning, who were the team we have been trading off with all during this cruise.

The rest of the morning was unstructured.  Ben spent time in the hot tub because his lower back was acting up again.  It had gotten tweaked during the camel ride, but had gotten better for a spell.  The kids did other activities including watching the Voice of the Ocean and exercising.  We did rendezvous for a sit down lunch- the first of this cruise.  It seems all too easy to overeat at the buffet.  In the sit down dining room, you generally have a more limited choice, but it is better presented and it is nice to be served at the table, and it is generally quieter so you can have more conversation.  

The afternoon was also unstructured other than an appointment to do the afternoon trivia at 4:15PM.  Ben spent much of that time trying to book future cruises on board after learning that his brothers had planned on booking another cruise with their Mother on the exact same cruise that we were just completing, but in 3 weeks time.  There is a great promotion that just came out offering free premium drink packages including tips, free gratuities and free unlimited wifi, but Ben found out that the promo is only good for cruises starting in April 2020 and must be booked by the end of February.  The fare that his brothers were eyeing was a bare bones last minute booking discounted fare so there are no applicable promotions.  Ben did find a set of ideal itineraries where he and Janet would spend a month cruising from French Polynesia through the Panama Canal and then end up in Fort Lauderdale just before Christmas, and an 8 day Christmas cruise out of Fort Lauderdale that they could take the kids on.  But when the future cruise consultant tried to book them, she discovered that Princess had just canceled the French Polynesia to Fort Lauderdale cruise, opting instead to keep that ship in the Australia/New Zealand market.  So it was back to the drawing board on that project.  

We missed winning the afternoon trivia by 2 points.  Do you know what the “C” in JC Penny stands for?  We didn’t, and we didn’t know who had written Murder at Rue Morgue.  Ben did surprisingly know the song that plays during the final scenes of Dr. Strangelove when the nuclear bombs go off.  Funny the random things that you remember over the years.  

We had our final sit down dinner, which featured a Baked Alaska dessert, complete with the parade.  The staff and guests were noticeably less sentimental about the end of  this short cruise compared with the way everyone was reacting towards the end of our longer cruises like our recent Rome to Singapore cruise.  You really get to know the staff during the longer cruises and develop a nice rapport, and friendships.  

The last Princess Theater show was a return of Zach Winningham, the singer and guitarist who had earlier done a great show with pop music from the 60’s and 70’s.  This time he concentrated on more country music, doing songs by Johnny Cash, John Denver, and the Creedence Clear Water Revival.  He also introduced his wife who did a few songs with him.  It was interesting to learn that Zach is a full time police officer in Las Vegas, but does these cruise ship shows during his time off the police force to relax and have a little fun.  It was another great show, and he earned a standing ovation again.  

We have to set our clocks back an hour tonight, and we got our large suitcases out before dinner.  The time sure goes quickly when you’re having fun.  Tomorrow promises to be another long and fatiguing day of travel to get everyone back home again.