They had spent four and half days sailing in the ocean before arriving in Ensenada. Four and half days of onboard activities, swimming, reading, staying up late at the night club. By the time they reached Ensenada they were ready for something new, something different. The boat docked promptly at 4 PM. They only had four hours in this port so there wasn't much time for exploring.
The cruise line offered three excursions so after careful review Jane, Maura and Cailin decided that all six of them would take the Case Dona Lupe Wine Tasting excursion. It would take all of the time that they had in Ensenada but it sounded like a nice excursion and they figured that after being on the boat for over four days they might want to get off the boat. They were right.
When the boat docked and announced that passengers could disembark, they got off the boat and went to meet their tour guide for their excursion. The tour bus held over 50 people so it was crowded. They were lucky and were able to get seats towards the front. The girls had walked a little faster to make sure they secured seats towards the front. When their mothers boarded the bus, they already had seats waiting for them which they appreciated.
They enjoyed the scenery as their tour guide provided information about the history of Ensenada and the surrounding Baja California area. The drive to the winery was a little over 30 minutes. The winery provided a tour of their production facility and explained every step in the process. The tour ended with a wine tasting and an assortment of cheeses. There was a small shop where of course they sold their wines. The mothers each bought wine and Maura had some wine shipped back to Boston. The winery had a live band and dancing in their small restaurant area. Maura convinced Jane to dance with her and soon the other four ladies joined in. They only had about 45 minutes to enjoy the band and dancing before they had to reboard the bus to head back to the boat.
They all had a good time and enjoy the continued history of the area that the tour guide provided on the trip back to the boat. They were back on the boat at 7:45 in time to get ready for dinner. This was their second to last stop, the last stop was in San Francisco and that marked the end of the cruise. They all had enjoyed the cruise, even Constance enjoyed herself. She was not to thrilled with the idea at the start of the cruise.
Their last day at sea was spent catching as many onboard activities as they could. They attended their last Bingo session. Angela won a small prize. Constance was happy for Angela but a little disappointed that she did not win. She had won something almost every time she played. They attended a crew talent show and a musical show before dinner. At lunch they had let the meal staff know that they would not be at dinner that night as they had a special dinner event planned.
Jane and Constance had planned a special event for the last night of the cruise. They had set aside a special room to have dinner with the Captain. After the Captain left, they had a family game night. They played Clue. With Homicide detectives in the family, I mean what other game would they play. Well Monopoly was the other family game but it was a longer game. Clue normally only took one hour to play and it would accommodate six players. Maura had a high probability of
winning the game. After all she won 9 out of 10 times she played. They played and Angela attempted to guess who did it with what weapon and in what room at about the 45-minute mark but she was wrong. So, she was out of the running. Jane was making an effort to play but not a serious effort. She didn't care if she won. She was more interested in watching how the other players played the game and what type of strategies they used. Constance and Hope were lost they had never played the game before so the only real competition for Maura was Cailin. Cailin was a good player. Sure enough, Maura won the game. She opened the special envelope and she saw: Character: Maura; Weapon: Ring; Room: Chapel. When Maura wasn't looking earlier Jane had swapped out the special envelope for a different special envelope. It looked the same so Maura had no idea Jane had switched the envelopes.
She had a puzzled look on her face until she turned and saw Jane down on one knee with a ring box in her hand. Tears were going down Maura's face. Jane asked her, "Maur, will you do me the honor of marrying me?" Maura nodded her head. She was unable to speak. Constance knew that Jane was asking Maura to marry her tonight so she made sure she filmed it. The other four women were surprised, they had no idea Jane was going to propose tonight. Jane had kept it a secret except for Constance. Constance also had tears going down her face. The only one without tears was Jane. Jane was too nervous to cry. Cailin almost beat Maura at Clue and that would have thrown her plan off. She had not thought about what to do if someone else won the game. She was so relieved
when Maura won.
Jane planned on Maura winning the game. She figured she did not have to rig the game for Maura to win. She just let the game play out. She was so happy that Maura won the game. It would have been awkward if someone else had won the game.
Constance walked over the Cailin and handed her her phone and said, "Can you please keep filming. I have a feeling this is not over yet." Cailin said, "Sure, I have a feeling you know something." They smiled at each other and Constance walked back over to where she had been.
Jane looked at Maura and said, "Maur, you haven't answered my question yet. You have to
actually say the word." Maura looked at Jane and then at Constance. Constance nodded and reached into her purse. She discretely handed something to Maura. Maura turned to Jane who was still kneeling down in front of her and said, "Yes, I will if you will marry me?" Maura presented a small velvet box with a diamond ring inside. Jane shook her head 'yes' as tears ran down her cheek. Maura said lovingly, "Jane you have to answer the question, love, you can't just shake your head." Jane said, "Yes, a thousand times yes." They kissed and Jane picked Maura up slightly and swung her around. "I can't believe we're getting married." Jane said as she placed Maura back down. Constance spoke, "Now this is a happy occasion. You both had no idea the other was going to ask each other to marry you. I knew both of you were going to ask each other but now I have a question for both of you." She paused as she looked both of them in the eyes and said, "You can get married right now, right here, the Captain said he could come back in and perform the ceremony, or you
can get married in San Francisco at the Court House and have pictures taken on the gorgeous spiral staircase or you can wait and plan your own wedding for a date to be determined in the future. What are your thoughts?"
Jane and Maura looked at each other. Jane spoke first and said, "Can we do all three options?" Maura just smiled. She knew Jane wanted to marry her right then and she was not opposed to the idea. Planning a wedding is a lot of work and can be very stressful. The only person missing for her was her father. Constance added, "Yes, Jane you can do all three. Maura your father is in San Francisco already with a very nice wedding dress as well as a nice tailored tux for Jane. I knew Jane would not want to wear a dress. So, the options are truly yours." Maura responded, "Call the Captain, we have a wedding to attend." Constance picked up the phone in the room and call for the Captain to come and perform the ceremony.
Twenty minutes later Jane and Maura were standing at a makeshift altar and the Captain was marrying them. They were still in International Waters. After the ceremony which was videotaped by a member of the crew's photography staff Constance called her husband to let him know that the San Francisco option was 'a go' and to make the final arrangements.
Jane and Maura were now married according to the laws of Bermuda where the ship was registered. In the next 3 days they would be married in California and then down the road they would be married someplace else. They would talk about that wedding much later. Jane just wanted to be alone with her wife.
Constance sensed that Jane and Maura wanted to leave so they quickly cut the cake that Constance had arranged and after feeding it to each other and a few pictures, they had their first dance with each other and a few more dances with others and then they retreated to their room. It was a nice ceremony and both Jane and Maura were happy. They would thank Constance later. When the Captain left after he had a piece of cake and danced with the brides, he had his staff fax the paperwork so that the wedding would be recorded so it would be legal.
Tomorrow morning the ship was docking in San Francisco and the cruise would be over. They had packed before going to dinner so they had very little left in the room. This had been a memorable vacation for them and it wasn't over yet. They still had the San Francisco portion of their trip and another wedding to participate in. Later when they fell asleep, they both had huge smiles on their faces. They were married.