Thursday, January 30, 2020; Cabo San Lucas
True to their word, we arrived early and anchored off El Arco at Cabo San Lucas as the only cruise ship in port. This made getting into the harbor much quicker than when there were 4 cruise ships.
We were able to have breakfast with George, who went ashore early and booked a glass bottom boat excursion for him an Franklin for only $15 per person. They went out to El Arco at Lands End, and then across the bay to the south end of the tourist district. From there, they walked back to the tender dock.
Ben and Janet booked a UTV excursion with a Polaris side by side UTV at a location called Cabo’s Wild Canyon. The venue was about a 30 minute ride east and south of the harbor. There were dirt trails that were groomed for UTV riding that were a blast. There were areas where you could put the pedal to the floor board, and other areas that required a bit of skill to maintain control at speed as you twisted around tight curves and up and over a few hills. The most unusual feature was a 1000’ foot long suspension bridge over a deep canyon. It was a bit unnerving to see that from the top platform, but the UTV’s handled it just fine.
The venue also has zip lines and a bungee jump tower, so it’s perfect for adrenaline junkies. They also have horse and camel riding, but the UTV tour was the only one that was booked directly through Princess. We came back saturated with fine dust and sand. Fortunately, Janet was able to talk our room steward into accepting our clothes for the laundry, even though the deadline for the cruise was this morning. We were back on the ship shortly after noon, and got that taken care of before meeting up with George for Lunch.
We got together with George, David and Betty for I’ll Take Trivia for 100 at 3pm and won aluminum water bottles. We then stuck around for the 4PM Let’s Quiz Again trivia and came up one point short of the winning score. We were sniped by questions about Africa including what African nation boasts the second largest film industry in the world, second only to India, and what is the name of both a North African stew and a clay cooking vessel with a conical shaped lid.
Ben and Janet had their Captain’s Circle reception at the same time as our usual 5pm dining time, but after getting their complimentary cocktails (Janet’s Moscow Mule and Ben’s Manhattan), they snuck out and joined the rest of the family for a nice Lobster dinner. They even had escargot for an appetizer.
Ben and Janet met another couple from Bellevue, Millie and Jeff, at the Motown music trivia after dinner. Interestingly enough, they had also been on the same cruise around South America 2 years ago, but we had not run into each other. This was also their second time on this particular itinerary out of Los Angeles. They had done it with their daughter the week before Christmas and liked it so much that they booked it again after the holidays were over. Their daughter is attending school in Southern California, so they are happy to have discovered these cruises as an alternative to sailing out of Fort Lauderdale or Galveston. We won the Motown trivia and got more aluminum water bottles to give away.
We watched the Marriage Match Gameshow and were reminded of why we would never want to be volunteered to participate on the stage. The gameshow is definitely a bit R rated. We then got Betty into bed, and Franklin finished off the evening in Karaoke while Janet watched the Encore production show. Ben watched the Jo Jo Rabbit movie on demand that Janet had watched earlier in the cruise.
Tomorrow is our last day at sea and last full day of this cruise as the ship heads back to Los Angeles. We received luggage tags and disembarkation instructions this morning. That means we’ll be spending a good bit of tomorrow packing up. That’s always a sad part of any cruise. But it has been an enjoyable way to spend some time with family. We are happy to see Betty eating pretty well with assistance, and she seems to be in good spirits despite her progressive disabilities. It’s too bad the cruise wasn’t another week longer so that we could have celebrated her 86th birthday on the ship.
