Our early morning excursion was a combination of a short but pleasant boat ride to see Cabo's rock formations and wildlife up close, followed by a drive to a restaurant offering impressive views and photo ops.  The tour was enjoyable but nothing too spectacular; this was our fault as we had been so keen on not doing anything but rest that we had neglected to reserve any tours and by the time we got to it the most interesting ones were already fully booked.

Afternoon tea has become somewhat of a ritual for us; a very civilized affair with traditional offerings such as cucumber sandwiches and scones with strawberries and clotted cream, and not-so-traditional ones which today included the sinfully delicious Mozart hot chocolate;  a concoction of belgian chocolate, rum, whipped cream and chocolate shavings.  Today we had to curb our enthusiasm as we had a date with the Vintage Room. 

After tea we went on a tour of the galley.  Some amazing statistics on food procurement and consumption were followed by an interesting Q&A session with the Executive Chef and ended with an enlightening walk through the main dining room kitchen.  Sr. sous chef Daniel from Chile brought to life the behind-the-scenes acrobatics that result in the various thousands of delicious offerings appearing on our tables and staterooms each day and made it sound almost easy!  not so; it is a carefully choreographed dance that produces the famed Crystal dining experience day in and day out.

The Vintage Room

This evening deserves a writeup of its own as a few words cannot properly describe how unique and fun it was.  It began at 7 pm and ended four hours later; the Vintage Room:  seven courses, seven impeccable wine pairings and twelve people from diverse places and of diverse ages and backgrounds meeting for the first time; anything is possible.  A man who's not from Scotland wearing a kilt, another one proclaiming to be a chef who does not make any money, an opinionated octogenarian, a wine lobbyist, an asian woman who fell asleep at the table, to name a few.  The stage is set.

The fun started as the Brut was being poured.  "The bubbles of the best champagne rise elegantly in a single column from the bottom of the glass; these bubbles rise in disarray, someone says ".  As the main course - a lovely duo of grilled Wagyu beef filet and short rib - is placed in front of us, the self-proclaimed broke chef suddenly quips "filet mignon is a disgusting cut of meat". Huh?? Leonard, our head sommelier is in for a good one.  Don't get me wrong, we had a blast.  The food and wines were outstanding, the service was flawless, the experience was wildly entertaining.  I have always believed that the wisest thing to do when meeting people for the first time is to never discuss politics.  Imagine how polarized and at times confrontational the conversation around the table turned that we purposely brought up politics as a safer alternative!  Afterwards, a few laps around the Promenade deck under a star studded sky helped walk it off before collapsing in bed, still laughing about it all.

A dedicated team of Crystal professionals pulled it off brilliantly and we're already looking forward to our next Vintage Room dinner.