D207 was roomy, quiet, and the right distance from the stairs. D207 is also pretty far in the front (aft?) of the ship, so the one night the waves were rockin’, so was D207.

Let me tell you about this turtle tour. First of all, your guide Misael will pick you up outside the cruise ship terminal and take you on a kind of long drive out of the city, onto a dirt road, and through some gates. Do not panic, because you are not being kidnapped, you are being taken to a wildlife sanctuary dedicated to the preservation of the many types of sea turtles that beach themselves in Mazatlan to lay eggs every year. You’ll get to release some of these babies into the ocean and shake your fist at the circling frigate birds, warning them to lay off of your turtle babies. You’ll get to ride on a boat through a mangrove swamp, and see tiny crocodiles sunning themselves on rocks and giant blue cranes swoosh away on huge wings. You’ll get to ride an ATV along the beach which is less terrifying and more fun than I imagined. You’ll get a nice brunch - really good salsa, fresh tortillas and chips, some sort of marlin hash and beans. Please go check this place out and support these folks who are doing good work.

We booked a pretty amazing walking tour with Sylvie from Tours du Jour in Puerto Vallarta. With two cruise ships docked at port containing probably 5,000+ combined passengers, I was surprised we were the only group who had found her. It was an athletic (for me) walking tour with stops for green juice, tacos, art galleries, dog petting, cat petting, fancy house ogling, and more. The highlight is a long slog up cobblestone streets with San Francisco steep grades, ducking through alleyways and construction sites, to get to the top of the highest point in Puerto Vallarta with amazing 360-degree views. Since most of the time it seemed like we were traipsing through people’s backyards, it is definitely not something we would have attempted without a guide. I highly recommend this tour, and I highly recommend wearing shoes with better tread than I did.

I do not have much to report about Cabo since the ship docked there only six hours, starting early at 7am. We walked around a bit and said, “No, gracias” to glass-bottom boat rides and cigars and two-for-one margaritas and sport fishing and ATVs and silver jewelry and Señor Frogs. It was a bit phony and Vegas-y, but I’m sure there are some more interesting parts that we just didn’t have time to see.

Cabo San Lucas

That was the investigation this December as we 1) had a little bit of bonus money from working hard in 2017, 2) were taking one last nice vacation before I start paying tuition to Fancy School for Smart Girls, and 3) were judging this Princess Cruise against the one pretty nice cruise we had taken previously on the Di$ney Wonder.When actually on the ship, in very small print in the Princess Patter the night before we arrived in Puerto Vallarta, there was a notice explaining the one hour time difference between ship time and Puerto Vallarta time.

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Probably More Than Half as Good

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Mini-Suite with Balcony

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Cabo San Lucas

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