Catalina Island, California

Hello Avalon, I know you’re out there somewhere! 

As I ate my breakfast outside under cover and out of the rain there was a very, very, brief break in the clouds. But it didn’t last long. 

Pork adobo day

By the time I headed up to Skywalkers the weather had deteriorated fast. 

We’re right there!

Tender operations were suspended for a while and the Captain had to reposition the ship because of the high winds. Lots of shimmying and shaking and ship listing to the side during the process. Getting everyone off the ship who wanted to go took forever. By the time tickets were no longer required there were only a couple hours before the last tender would be headed back to the ship. 

So I stayed put. There would be no exploring Avalon and Catalina Island and no pool time for me today. 

We visited Catalina on a sunny day in 2016

Instead of braving the rain and wind and uncertainty of tendering I listened to the Top 40 with my ear buds in up in Skywalkers. Had phone calls from my daughter (4 in total - the girl likes to talk!) and one from my husband. I booked more cruises. And watched the clouds and rain. 

It eventually turned quite lovely but by then it was getting close to the time water shuttles were returning for the day. 

I watched the tenders coming and going from my balcony. 

Dinner came not long after and I used my casino comp to eat at the Crown Grill. 

I had the shrimp cocktail, skipped the soup/salad course, chose the filet mignon and lobster tail (forgot to take a pic before it was removed from the shell) and had the apple rhubarb dessert. 

And their bread? Yowza. 

Typically Ed and I avoid the Crown Grill because we very much dislike the atmosphere. Loud, rushed, and noisy. And the food isn’t always the greatest. But tonight the food was outstanding, the restaurant was quiet, and the server attentive. I had two things going for me - I knew the server from when I was on this ship before, and the restaurant was surprisingly empty. 

I cannot eat one bite more.

I was able to take my leftover steak and bread back to my cabin. It’s going to make for a tasty breakfast. Side note: The music played in the restaurant was Christmas music. What??? 

I returned “home” just in time to catch a sliver of the sunset.

Tomorrow we’re in San Diego, where the weather is supposed to be much better than today. If I feel adventurous enough I have some big plans for the day, so stay tuned. See you then!

Sea Day

I had the best of intentions today. I started my morning by sleeping in, something I love to do. No need to get up for any responsibilities makes for a lovely morning. I went to the buffet for breakfast and had myself some fried rice.

Yummy

I stopped to take a picture of the cake the ship made for Canadian Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving, neighbors to the north!

And then I made my way to the adult pool, only to find it closed. With my swimming plans dashed I decided to try and get my money back at the casino. And that’s where my day of vices started. And ended. 

If you’re a frequent gambler on Princess Cruises you know how great the comps can be. Free cruises, free play, meals, shopping vouchers. In fact, this particular cruise I’m on is a freebie from the casino. A balcony room, free play and the Princess Plus package (includes drinks, gratuities, and WiFi) and all I had to do was pay the port fees and taxes. There are a lot of folks who receive these offers. And a lot of folks who gamble way, way, way more than I do. 

I don’t know what got into me – it could have been the three alcoholic beverages – but I spent the entire day in the casino. The. Entire. Day. Sometimes it was good to me and sometimes it wasn’t.

A good one. Don’t be thinking I’ll be posting
any of my cashing-out-at-zero machines!

I spent way more than I planned. I drank more than I planned (it was only three drinks, but still) and wasted my day away. I guess technically I didn’t waste it because I have a free dinner tomorrow night at the Crown Grill and I earned enough points in the machine to qualify for another free cruise in a balcony cabin with $1500 of free play. It probably would’ve been cheaper just to pay for the cabin outright instead of trying to gamble to get it, though. Live and learn.

Tomorrow we’re in Catalina. Possibly. There’s a gale force warning and being it’s a tender port (meaning we have to use the water shuttles to get from the ship to the shore) I would not be surprised if it’s canceled. If it’s a go, I’ll be on shore and if it’s not a go and the adult pool is still closed I’ll figure something else out. But it definitely won’t involve a casino.

See you then.

Embarking the Ruby Princess

Happy cruise day! I took the Princess shuttle from the airport to the ship today and it took forever. I got back to the airport at 10:15 and didn’t get onto the ship until after 1:00. With it being Fleet Week, a Saturday, and great weather, the waterfront area in San Francisco was packed and the traffic was nuts.

Once onboard I headed straight to my muster station and found out rooms were ready. My luggage arrived within the hour.

My room on Aloha Deck

After unpacking and changing into clothes more appropriate for the warmer weather I headed to the pool deck to sit in the sun and wait for the sail away party. As I waited I got to watch the air show. It was supposed to be the Blue Angels but they’re shutdown because of the shutdown. Canada Snowbirds to the rescue! They did all kinds of tricks and even flew over the ship. 

I took a video of the air show but the WiFi is too slow for it to upload so I’ll try again later.

Sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge is always special.

I had dinner at the buffet tonight. They have a different theme each night.

BBQ ribs. Oh, yeah.

A little detour to the casino to use my free play was my after-dinner entertainment. Spoiler alert: I lost it all. 

Hello casino play guy. Why couldn’t you be my friend? 

It was almost dark when I made my way back to the cabin. It was there the Captain announced we have 50-60 knot winds causing the ship to list. No wonder it feels like I’m running down a hill trying to get to the bathroom and climbing a hill to get back to the bed. And you should hear my door whistling! He tells us we’ll have at least another hour and a half of this situation. 

This week’s itinerary

Up tomorrow, a hopefully calmer and quieter sea day. See you then!

Off to San Francisco

I contemplated whether I was going to write about this trip or not. After spending the winter with my husband on a ship in Mexico I didn’t blog about, a month in the spring on a solo trip I did blog about, and a summer on a ship with my husband in Alaska I didn’t blog about it seems I probably shouldn’t break the pattern. It’s a solo trip so away we go. 

I’ll be seeing you again tomorrow, Golden Gate Bridge.

I know vacation has started when I have a cranberry and vodka on the plane.

Some school’s athletic facilities – this one’s for you, Ed

After an uneventful flight, I made my way to the same airport hotel I stayed in for last spring’s precruise sleep. 

Another one of those accessible not really accessible rooms

Last time my free upgrade got me a bigger room and this time my free upgrade got me a view.

Plane spotting inside instead of outside this time

While I got to the hotel before dark, I was so pooped there was no way I was going anywhere for dinner.

Sorta healthy?

It was a pretty uneventful day but being a travel day, I’ll take it. See you tomorrow onboard the Ruby Princess!

Hola to Aloha - Cruising 34 Days on the Ruby Princess

Yep, I’m at it again with another solo trip! Again out of San Francisco, I'll start with a 7 day cruise down the California coast and Ensenada, Mexico (hence the hola in the blog post title) before the ship makes its way back to San Francisco.

Not quite the exact itinerary, but close

Then the ship heads back south again for an 11 day cruise to Mexico. (More hola for the title.)

After returning to San Francisco the ship will take 16 days to make a round trip to Hawaii. (And the aloha begins!)

If you want to follow along I’ll be adding my daily blog post links right here. See you soon!

Off to San Francisco

Embarking the Ruby Princess

Sea Day

Catalina Island, California