Our highlights of Puerto Vallarta tour hadn’t been a very long one but it had been awkward from a timing perspective as it started late enough that we hadn’t been able to disembark the ship beforehand for a look around the port area, nor did we really have enough time at its conclusion to do similar. Instead, we arrived back at Star Princess with the sun getting low in the sky and after a quick look in the cruise terminal to see if there was any food or drink to be had there – there was if we wanted to queue or stand and we didn’t fancy the idea of either – we decided to simply get back onboard and freshen up.
Freshening up for us involves hitting a bar nine times out of ten and this wasn’t one of those one-in-ten outliers so it felt the right time of day for a glass of wine in Vines. Zander was there as usual to tempt us with some tapas and, because we’d not had anything to eat ashore, we gave in.
Back in our room and what other people might refer to as freshening up – showering and changing clothes – then occurred with us taking turns to gaze out at Puerto Vallarta during sunset from our balcony. Royal Princess, which had been there during our cruise into Puerto Vallarta in the morning, had obviously left at some point during our city tour but Carnival Splendor was still docked and we noticed a pirate ship across from us too.
I recall that there had been a tour offered by Princess that included time aboard a pirate ship and I can only assume it was this very same one; as much as I like pirates – my niece thinks I am one (I might have had something to do with that perception) – we hadn’t been interested in this trip because the pirate ship visit had also included words such as “party” and “music” which typically trigger a reflexive action in us akin to Dracula spotting a crucifix. It was a pretty still evening with the heat of the day becoming that warmth of the evening that’s such a wonderful thing to experience on cruises nearer the equator, and the views of the port area as the sun’s setting lit the horizon on fire was the perfect counterpoint to the thump-thump-badump-thump of bass notes travelling across the water accompanied by peals of laughter and shrieking.
“Fuck me, they’re annoying!” announced my wife, emerging onto the balcony, clean and ready for the evening.
“Indeed they are,” I agreed, as I stepped back into the room for my turn to wash and change.
By the time I was ready there was barely a hint of sunlight in the western sky – it takes a while to get me looking this average – and the pirate ship had vanished. Sailed away to party where it could only irritate whales or deservedly sunk by a broadside from the cruise ship’s cannons while I’d been scrubbing my nethers? Who can say? The darkness in the sky not only brought some tranquility to Puerto Vallarta but also served to hide that funnel on the Carnival Splendor, making it very nearly almost look appealing all lit up at dockside.
Star Princess had started to move as I’d made my way onto the balcony so we stayed long enough to clear the port entrance before commencing with the evening’s activities.
The evening’s activities started with dinner which included one of those sorbet refreshers between the appetiser and main course and a Chocolate Journey for dessert. It’s almost a nautical law on Princess ships that we take both of them.
Now, you’ll quite likely have picked up on the fact that we’re not what you might call party people already unless you’ve scrolled down the page without reading until the food stopped you dead or your comprehension skills are about on a par with a Brexit supporter’s. Just to reiterate: we’re not party people. But we still headed up to the top deck for a while even though there was a party taking place under the Movies Under The Stars screen because:
- unlike the pirate ship party, this one was free to attend
- unlike the pirate ship party, this one was safe from cruise ship cannon attacks
- the odds of catching an old couple dance headfirst into the pool were reasonable
Sadly, nobody fell into the pool while we were there but it still seemed like everyone had a reasonably enjoyable time regardless. Like the previous time we’d been at a deck party on Star Princess there did seem to be far too much organised dancing straying into zumba-exercising territory taking place so we eventually headed off to grab some drinks in some inner venues on the ship before calling it a night.
Still to come in this cruise diary travel portfolio of our South and Central American cruise aboard Star Princess are two final sea days which include cruising past Cabo San Lucas and a second meal at Sabatini’s because the first one was just so good, before disembarkation at Los Angeles and a tour of Santa Monica and Venice Canals prior to catching our flight home.