#makeithappen – Port Side Travel By Jill

Thursday we had our required Covid test, both of us were negative. Saturday morning we had our early flight. We were a little late leaving due to slight icing on the wings/plane, but Captain made up time and we landed within minutes of our scheduled time (way to go Captain!). We picked up our luggage and went to find the Princess reps. They checked us in, told us where to wait and that they would be calling for a bus and the approximate time it would arrive. They took our luggage (checked bags, always continue to keep your carry on essentials with you!). About an hour later the bus arrived and we were on our way to the port!

We arrived at the cruise port and got checked in within just a couple of minutes. However, the ship wasn’t ready for us yet so we went to the appropriate lounge (first ones in!) and waited …. for about two hours. And then the magic happened – we were allowed to board! By the time we were allowed to board, some friends had caught up with us in the lounge, so we all boarded together (also first onboard!). Since the shut down, every time I board it is almost magical. Just the knowledge that we’ll soon be back out to sea enjoying everything that comes with cruising is wonderful!

Embarkation day was busy. We got onboard, went to our cabin, which wasn’t quite ready yet, and dropped off my carry on bag. Located our cabin steward, introduced ourselves, and let him know we had popped in and left some items so he didn’t wonder!. Then we headed to a group member’s cabin and put a sign on her door for her. Then it was off to lunch, this day at Alfredo’s Pizzeria – yummy! Lunch was the 6 of us, plus two others who caught up with us a few minutes later. After an enjoyable lunch, it was back to the cabin to unpack.

My bag arrived first so I started the unpacking process. We turned on the safety video (formerly muster drill) so then we just needed to get to our check-in point. Just as we were getting ready to head out to check in, husband’s laundry appeared. So we stayed a little longer so he could unpack. Then we did our muster check-in and headed up to the aft bar for a get together. We booked a mini-suite this trip, which was a first for us. There is a video on my travel FB page – click the FB icon here:

The get together was a good time. So many people stopped by from the online group so we got to put real people behind the pictures and words on the screen. There were give aways, drinks, lots of laughs, and some photos. Before it broke up, we were able to get one of the waiters to take a big group picture. That was fun!

When some of our notes/papers were dropped off, along with our excursions tickets, was a letter letting us know that our excursion in Cabo San Lucas had been cancelled. It’s ok, we weren’t overly thrilled with any of the excursions we had picked out. We’ve been on this itinerary a couple of times. We did take a look at other excursions but nothing was striking us at that moment, so when Monday rolled around and we docked in Cabo, we did not have a tour. We ended up staying onboard. It’s ok – Cabo is a tender port, so it’s not like you can just walk off and wander around. Instead, we enjoyed even more silence onboard the ship – watched a movie or two, ate and had a couple of drinks, watched the jet skiers and parasailers from the balcony. Nice relaxing day that ended with a beautiful sunset.