We were off the Diamond Princess in record time today. From the first call of our group until the final clearance through customs and immigration it took only 20 minutes. That speedy departure is one of the advantages of taking your own luggage off the ship, as well as carrying only one bag. Most of the people at our dinner table were shocked to hear we were traveling with only one bag (plus a briefcase). It’s totally possible to travel with just one carry on size bag, and more people should do it.

Currently it’s 9:30am and we are sitting in the miniscule north concourse of the tiny Long Beach Airport. It’s a pleasant place, though somewhat drab looking. But it’s much better than San Jose’s airport – believe me! And, they have free wireless Internet connections here.

As usual, I had a difficult time checking in. They had to make a call to get clearance for us both. Yawn…..how very tiring travel can be in the USA. We expect to be home at about 2:30pm today.

Though our vacation is ending and I’m sad to say goodbye, I’m also happy to move on toward our next cruise, 1 night in May for my birthday, and two summer trips – one to Philadelphia and then a cruise to Alaska. There are lots of great things coming up so I have nothing about which I should complain. I’ve had many wonderful cruises and land trips in the last couple years, and there are more to come.

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It's now 3:30pm and we are home. All has gone well. It's the first trip we've been on in almost a year that wasn't ruined by weather and airline SNAFUs. As always, it's good to be home with my husband and my schnauzer.

Sadly, we are on the last day of our cruise. It has been busy though. I started the morning with 30 minutes on the treadmill in the Lotus Spa. Then, after both Gene and I had showered we partook of breakfast in the International Dining Room – our first time for the sit down breakfast service on this ship. The omelet I had was definitely better than those available in the buffet.

Once we returned to our cabin, we dove into the usual end of cruise paperwork. Princess has an extensive survey which we always complete. We also had to decide whether or not to give additional tips to certain staff members that were especially outstanding in their job performance. By 10am we were in the Princess Theater for the usual culinary demonstration followed by a galley tour. Nothing new to report about the cooking show. Each one is a little different on each ship because the head chef and the maitre d’hotel bring their own personality to their presentation. But we have yet to see a serious one for they all emphasize the humorous along with the delicious.

Gene and I ate lunch together by the Lido Pool. We each got a hamburger at the Trident Grill, and they are surprisingly good. The buns are even lightly toasted and warm. Our lunch was backed up by the yells and screams of kids in the pool. The passage north to Los Angeles is always rough, causing large surge waves in the pools. The kids love the excitement of being tossed about. I can’t blame them. It looks fun to me too.

After lunch I spent some time collecting a variety of new shots on my video camera. Then we went to the Princess Theatre again for the matinee performance of Piano Man. Yes! This is the fourth time we have seen that show, and it remains my favorite. The costumes are beautiful, the score is full of old favorites from Elton John, Billy Joel, Barry Manilow, Liberace, and Neil Sedaka.

After the show I spent some time reading in the cabin. Then I met Gene in the casino. It’s been a while since we played the slots on a ship. Gene donated his twenty dollars in about ten minutes. It took me about fifty minutes to drag out my donation. Interestingly, we were both playing nickel slots. I guess I had more luck than Gene and that allowed me to play longer. Surprise! I was playing my favorite slot game (Jackpot Party) when on my last nickel I won a bonus round. It paid off seven dollars which I immediately cashed in. So I guess though I was just about to finish my $20 donation, I reduced my loss to $13 – keeping $7 in my pocket. I suppose I would have played longer but it was time to go play trivia again.

Once we got to the Wheelhouse Bar we again teamed up with the other four players whom we met during the first two days of the cruise. It was at that moment when I was recognized! One of the players realized he had seen my name on Cruisecritic.com, and he had watched one of the cruise videos I posted on YouTube. Could that mean my fame as an amateur video maker is growing? Those concerns of my celebrity aside – our team won the trivia game again, after a three way tie and two tie-breaker questions. Yes! We won three trivia games – every one that we played as a team. We are HOT! The prize today was a beautiful luggage tag. Oooooh! A $6 value. If you add up all three of our prizes, we won about $20 each! That’s fantastic!

Now it is 5:30 and time to pack our bags. By 6pm I expect we’ll take a break and sit on the balcony for cocktail time and our last view of the ocean while onboard the Diamond Princess. Then at 8:15 we’ll go to dinner in the dining room with its usual attendant festivities – balloons, flags, and traditional American fare. Dinner is usually over at 10pm, so bedtime will follow as soon as the last of our things are packed. We will wake up tomorrow at 6am for debarkation at about 7:30am. Goodbye Diamond Princess!

I woke up at 6:15 this morning. After I got out of the shower, Gene was up too. He was kind enough to accompany me to the buffet for a light breakfast. At 7:30 we discovered we had access to a free Wi-Fi Internet connection from our balcony. So I posted some of my blog. Then I headed off to the Princess Theatre to meet up with my dive tour.

We took one of the ship’s tenders into Cabo San Lucas harbor. I brought along my new underwater video camera housing. We met out dive guide, Ivan, and he brought us to the dive boat just a short walk away. It wasn’t the newest or nicest boat I’ve been on, but the crew was friendly and helpful.

The dive site was at the base of Land’s End where the famous pinnacles and arches are located. Our first dive was to 60 feet along a wall and around one of the rock fingers that stands out in the bay. We all had been supplied with 5mm wetsuits. I brought my own mask and regulator. The water temperature was 71F at the surface but sank to about 63F when we reached 60 feet depth.

When we decended the dive captain led us along a wall that had many sand falls. One of my fellow divers found an eel resting in a crevasse. I managed to get him on video tape along with many different kinds of fish.

We surfaced after 38 minutes. A 40 minutes interval passed and the skipper drove us past the arches then about a quarter mile further toward the harbor for our second dive.

The water at the next site was a little cooler. At the surface it was 68 and down at 40ft it dropped to 61. Lucky for me, I’m less sensitive to temperature than others are. I guess my extra layer of whale blubber has its advantages.

The big problem for me was that I forget to put defogger on my mask, so visibility was difficult during the entire dive. I kept flooding and clearing my mask, but withing five minutes it would fog up again. That visibility problem made video taping things very difficult. Basically I ended up just pointing, shooting, and praying that something decent would come out in the end.

Now I’m back on the ship. Gene and I just finished lunch which included green mussels and fried shrimp. Yum! Currently it’s 1:30pm MDT. The ship is due to depart in 30 minutes. The last days of this cruise are upon us.

Tonight is the second night of formal dress. Again, we may go see a show or a comic, but we’ll play that by ear. Tomorrow is our final day and it will be spent at sea.

Another day filled to overflowing with relaxation and nothing more. I stayed on the boat to lie by the pool. Mazatlan is not the most interesting port for us, and this cruise is dedicated to relaxation since our previous cruise in the western Caribbean was so busy and tiring due to our activities in every port.

My day consisted of reading, lying by the pool, and napping. Does that sound familiar?

We ate in dinner in the dining room at our usual 8:15pm seating. I had frog’s legs for my appetizer, plus a lentil soup and salad. Then Gene and I both had the leg of lamb. I finished the meal with a slice of cheese cake and Gene had the Black Forest cake. All of that delicious food was accompanied by a bottle of Clos du Bois Cabernet Sauvignon – a perfect choice.

We thought about going to see a comic perform in the Explorer’s Lounge after dinner, but since I had to be up early for my dive, we decided to stay in the cabin and read. Bedtime was at 11pm.

The ship has docked in beautiful Puerto Vallarta. We have no plans for the day. I was going to post on my blog today, but there is no longer a free Wi-Fi signal here at the pier and satellite service isn’t available through the ship. My posting will have to wait until I get home.

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The day has come to a close, and what a wonderful day it has been – a day pregnant with nothing but relaxation. It started at 6am when I got out of bed. Wearing my Princess waffle robe, I went out on our deck to view our passage into the cruise berth in Puerto Vallarta. The ship entered the small harbor then stopped. Like the rotation of a compass needle, the Diamond Princess rotated with her thrusters 180 degrees with precision. Then, using the same thrusters she angled alongside the main pier.

I took a shower at about 7am and put on a fresh pair of shorts and one of my scuba diving T-shirts. Once back on the balcony, our neighbors leaned around the balcony divider to ask me if I had been to Puerto Vallarta before. They asked a few questions and I answered as best as I could.

Gene woke up at 8am, because that’s when I taunted him out of bed. How can that man sleep so much! He called me a bully and then went into our little bathroom to shower. Harumph!

We grabbed a quick but fattening breakfast in the Horizon Court buffet and ate our meal on the aft section of deck 14 overlooking the Terrace Pool.

When we finished it was about 10am. By then Gene and I had discussed our day. Gene wanted to do was wander the area immediately surrounding the port, but I was only interested in leaving the ship if we went all the way into El Centro and the Zona Romantica. Since he wasn’t interested in going into town, I chose to simply hang out onboard for the day. By 10am, most passengers had left the ship. It was the perfect time to lie in the sun by the main pool which is usually overrun with little ones. I got my towel, mp3 player, and put on my bathing suit. For an hour I stayed outside, but by then I was getting a little too warm. Not wanting to burn while only halfway through the cruise, I moved into the atrium pool, where I soon fell asleep. I woke up about 20 minutes later and retreated to the cabin for a nap at 11:30am. Two hours later it was Gene’s turn to wake me up by suddenly opening all the curtains and turning on the lights. I guess he got a little revenge. He swears he made all sorts of noise folding laundry with the lights on before I finally woke up. I guess I needed the rest.

We ordered sandwiches from room service. Then we played the little nine hole putting course up on deck 15. There was an obnoxious little boy who showed up about five minutes after we started the game. He started whacking his ball across all the holes without paying attention to our play. I barked at him in my best recess voice and he backed off, for the most part avoiding the mean teacher and his embarrassed partner on the Astroturf links. Thankfully, I had a great game. The little putting course is poorly designed and very cramped. But I managed to play a par game. Gene wasn’t so lucky. 

By 2:30pm we were back by the pool, but this time we went to the Lotus pool – which is for adults only. There is no loud music playing by that pool, and though passengers were starting to return to the ship and the decks were slowly filling back up, it was still a quiet and relaxing time.

By 4 o’clock I returned to the cabin for quiet relaxation and a snack. I had a banana. Gene organized some photos on his laptop. At 6pm we went up to the Lido deck and watched as we left the harbor and headed into Bahia de Banderas. We had some time for a nice chat with two of our tablemates. He is a superintendent of schools in Turloc, California.

After watching the scenery pass by upon our departure, we climbed the stairs up to the buffet for dinner. Today was a casual day, and we wanted to keep dinner the same way to a buffet was the answer. Today was the Italian menu. I enjoyed spicy shrimp, veal with a mushroom sauce, mini pizza, gnocci in cream sauce (fabulous!), chicken parmesean, and more. I know many people don’t like buffet food, but I think they are crazy. 90% of the food on a Princess buffet is good in my opinion. Those who don’t like the buffet are too picky.

After dinner we rested and watched some TV, then we headed to the Princess Theatre for a magic and comedy show.

Mom and Dad, if you read this – and I assume you will, I guarantee we will have a wonderful time on the Alaska cruise this coming July. It will be wonderful – like nothing you have experienced before.

I was drinking a cocktail today on our balcony as we watched the sunset and the variety of boats putter by in the harbor. It was tremendously relaxing and enjoyable, and I know the Alaska cruise will be the same way – even if we have to wear a sweater or sweatshirt to sit on the balcony. Get ready for a Mah-velous adventure!

The satellite Internet access is incredibly slow here. Tomorrow I’ll try using the free wireless signal in Puerto Vallarta, at the cruise terminal.

This morning we slept in until 9am. Then it was time for breakfast in the buffet. Fortunately it wasn’t nearly as crowded as yesterday morning. We had Eggs Benedict today, and though not as good as those served at the Marriott in Long Beach, it was still tasty.

Soon after breakfast, we met up with the same guys from yesterday’s trivia game – and again our team won! In fact, we slaughtered the opposition. We got 18 out of 21 questions correct, and the closest team behind us got only 13 correct. Oh lucky day! I’m the proud owner of a new Princess water bottle. WOW!

Soon, I’m heading to watch another movie. Unfortunately, the cool cloudy weather is still with us though the forecast calls for clearing skies and 86F late this afternoon. It’s 11:30 right now. We’ll see if the forecast comes true. Right now I have my doubts. And, even if the clouds do part and the sun displays itself, I probably won’t be able to get a lounger because all the passengers are so sun starved they will all be fighting over sun loungers.

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After a nap in the mid-afternoon, I awoke to find lots of sunshine. By 4:30 I headed to the Terrace pool and I managed to enjoy more than an hour charging my solar batteries. At 6pm with met for another gay passenger cocktail party and this time it was better attended. There were ten of us. Dinner came at 8:15. Gene had beef tournedos and I had pasta with a lobster, tomato, and vodka sauce – yummy! The entertainment tonight didn’t hold much interest for us, so we are in bed early, if you consider 10:30 early.

We woke up at 8:30am today. All this sleep is good for me! But we had no time for a leisurely morning. We showered and dressed and immediately headed to Easter Eucharist/Mass. It was a Roman Catholic service but I just pretended it was Episcopalian. Easter is too important a day for me to worry about my promise to myself to avoid RC services except for weddings and funerals. They needed volunteers, of course, so I was one of two lectors.

As is usually the case, the priest was as old as the sea. He is a nice fellow and he doddered around the stage fumbling with the missal. The service was well attended with about 300 folks present in the 600 seat Princess Theatre.

We went to breakfast at the Horizon Court right after the Eucharist. The place was packed. In fact, the entire ship is jammed to the gills with families. I have never seen so many children on one boat. Eric told us there are more than 800 onboard. The ship is at full capacity with just over 3100 people total. About 2800 are Americans. The rest are mostly Canadians with a few Mexicans, Australians, and Brits thrown into the mix.

The weather today (and the previous two days) has been disappointing. In fact, the weather is better in Seattle than here. LA and here along the Baja coast, the marine layer is thick. Occasionally the sun will break through, but it is soon swallowed up again. The temperature outside is only 63F. With a nice breeze off the bow, it feels much cooler. Thus, everyone is inside the ship – which means all the indoor venues are very crowded. The atrium especially is jam packed with families. The Easter Bunny is passing out candy and taking pictures with kids. There is a huge display of giant chocolate eggs and flowers as well as pastel balloons, bunting, and streamers.

Right now it’s 1:30pm and Gene is out on the balcony having a snack. I’m still full from the late breakfast we had of eggs Florentine with sausage and potatoes. In about 15 minutes we’re going to head to the theatre and watch a movie. Our goal for this cruise is to take things slowly and to not over schedule ourselves with activities and tours. So far we seem to be succeeding.

Tonight’s Easter dinner is a formal affair, and it will be the first time we meet our table mates in the main dining room.

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Easter has come to a close. Gene and I joined up with three other folks to play trivia this afternoon. We won! We also enjoyed watching a movie: The Queen. I highly recommend it. For dinner, we had a very nice time meeting and eating with our new tablemates. The menu for dinner was new and very nice. We both had Veal Oscar. Then, after dinner we saw, for the second time, Undercover – a Vegas style musical review of spy movies and spoofs. The last time we saw that show was 16 months ago on the Sapphire Princess.