Los Angeles, California

Hello from San Pedro! While we’re technically in Los Angeles, San Pedro is a working port for container ships and quite a ways from what you would consider the touristy part of Los Angeles.

View from my balcony

Immigration actually went better than expected, with no elevator backup. Thankfully I had been assigned a later time so most folks were already off the ship so my day's plan could go forward.  

A couple weeks back I had been toying with this idea of attaching my camera to the scooter and filming the places I go. When traveling on a scooter I'm always having to be aware of sidewalk surfaces and widths and curb cutouts and inclines. Of the roundabout ways people on wheels have to take to avoid stairs and the distance between places to sit down. Even my husband with his wide base four pronged cane has these stressors. I believe there is value in knowing those things ahead of time (we all need one less thing to worry about when traveling, right?) and I was wanting to be part of the solution.

So today I attached the camera to my scooter and zoomed down to the Green Onion in San Pedro for some Mexican food. Yes, I filmed it, but no, I'm not posting it. As I suspected (and I should have tested this out at home) uneven surfaces make the camera jiggle much too much. And the background noise was a bit too much as well. While I can edit some of it out, it's not enough. 

Taking a break while I try and figure things out

It turns out my experience making YouTube tutorials about sewing doesn't translate well into videos made on a scooter. If I want to get serious about this scooter filming I'll work at it harder - and maybe upgrade my equipment. But not today. Green Onion was waiting for me.

I had the largest strawberry margarita I've ever had in my life. Yikes. And I drank that strawberry margarita faster than I ever have before. Double yikes.

I learned my lesson from this spring when I ordered a combination platter so this time all I needed was just a cheese enchilada with the tastiest sauce out there. So yummy but still too much food.

But as you would expect by downing so much liquid so fast a trip to the restroom would be in order. Their sink bowls are beautiful.

Even with all the alcohol, the filming situation was still bugging me. But I put the camera away, grabbed my phone, and took photos on the way back instead. There was plenty to see.

There's a park between the restaurant and port I never paid much attention to. There were disembarking passengers from the Royal Caribbean ship there with a big pile of luggage, obviously waiting for their ride, while their kids played away. I also found a permanent ping pong table and place to play chess.

I stopped by the USS Iowa for a photo, too.

Between too much alcohol, too much food, too much sun, and too much frustration I headed back to the ship where I saw a new sign had been installed. A very important sign. 

My cabin was cool and perfect for a little long lie down. I don't think there will be any dinner tonight for me. 

Tomorrow is our last sea day, the Most Traveled Guest Luncheon, another dinner at Crown Grill, and packing day for the move to my next cabin. I'll be back to wrap all that up, including some things I've found around the ship. See you then!

Ensenada, Mexico

Hello from Ensenada!

Today I contemplated heading back to Tacos Lucero for some tasty fish tacos like I did in April. 

They are sooo good. 

Ship excursion anyone? Nah, I’m good. 

We had to be out of our cabins by 9 for high fog maintenance, 

High fog maintenance on the balcony? Hmm. 

so in between the out-of-cabin time and crew drill announcements and the fact it was 36 degrees at home and going to be 75 and sunny here, I quickly made up my mind about how to spend my day. 

1. Water

2. Diet Coke

3. Captain’s Bounty

4. Sunscreen

5. Empty terrace pool 

All ready to go by 9:45 AM

I spent a full five hours out there, again sunning and swimming and swimming and sunning. It was wonderful and just the medicine Dr. Deb ordered.

My late lunch/early dinner was the specialty pizza of the day on Lido deck. It was a Mexican pizza with chipotle sauce, chorizo, peppers, lots of cheese, (and honestly I don’t remember what else) but it was delicious. It put my slice of vegetarian to shame. If they have it next week when we come back to Mexico, I will definitely partake again. And I’ll be sure to take a picture of the menu to find out the actual toppings.

Afterwards I hung around the cabin on my shady balcony watching the last of the passengers getting back onboard. Once we pushed off, the ship swung around and my balcony was back in the sun again. It felt so good. You can tell it’s fall because when you’re in the shade or once the sun goes down, it gets a little chilly.

It wouldn’t be Ensenada without the sea lions.

Tomorrow we’re off to LA, more specifically San Pedro. Since it’s our first US port, we have to go through immigration. Ed and I have been through immigration there a couple dozen times over the past two years. Being we’re docking at Pier 93, the one with a tiny elevator, I can guarantee it will not be an easy day. But it’ll be okay (for me, at least) because my plans for tomorrow aren’t time sensitive.

See you then!

San Diego, California

Adventure is overrated. 

Those were my thoughts at 2:41 AM as I struggled to get out of bed and go to the bathroom. I usually love the soft Princess beds but this one is beat down and is killing my back. But if not for tossing and turning and trying to get comfortable I wouldn’t have figured out something at about 3:30 AM this morning. Since Princess king size beds are really two twins put together, could the other twin side be any better? Oh, yeah it can. I slept so well (on what is typically Ed’s side of the bed) I didn’t wake up until 7:14, just one minute before my alarm was set to go off. I slept so well that despite it being a beautiful day

Yep, gonna be a good one

and despite the screen capture I took of the Princess excursion last night to prove I can beat the ship price of the zoo by doing it independently, I decided to skip my adventuring and sleep some more. The extra sleep was heavenly. 

I can do so much better with a $2.50 bus ride each way and an online ticket price of $72 for today. Ship excursions have gotten so overpriced.

Once I did wake up (darn incoming texts!) I enjoyed my cold leftover filet minon on the balcony as I watched the yacht crew work. 

It’s a seized Russia yacht. Just went to auction last month. 

I stuck around on my sunny balcony to watch a sailing crew back their yacht out. 

While I could have stayed on the sunny balcony all day, I really wanted to go swimming. The adult spa pool is still closed so I made my way to the back terrace pool. I’ve been avoiding it because of all the steps to get to the pool deck. It’s not a ton but it has seemed too overwhelming to even try. Until today.

Yeah, I’m a wimp. But I did it!

And there at that pool is where I spent my day. Swimming and sunning and sunning and swimming. 

It was close to 4:00 when I finally left, and luckily when returning home I still had sun. 

At sundown I headed back to the back of the ship for a sunset photo. 

San Diego is gorgeous at night.

The seized yacht looked even more glorious.

It quickly turned chilly so I’ll have to skip Top Gun Maverick at Movies Under the Stars. It’s always fun to go by North Island while watching the movie about North Island. 

Up tomorrow, Ensenada, Mexico. See you there!

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.