8 out of my 10 Mexican Riviera cruises have been Cabo first. It has never been an issue getting back on time and in fact we used to pull into Long Beach early in the am around 6. Protected waters has nothing to do with this change either. We aren't going around Cape Horn or even really doing anything other than hugging the coastline for the most part. Each to their own, I guess Carnival should stop going to Hawaii if protected waters are so important! There is actually an 8 day that does Cabo first in April 2025 so I may book that. I would like to check out La Paz since I have only done the 7 day cruises as of yet.