Thursday, May 11, 2023

Island Princess - Embarkation Day

It’s embarkation day! Today is the day I check into my new home for the next 106 days. 

Island Princess entering coming into San Pedro port at seen from Crowne Plaza
6 AM view from my hotel room

Embarkation day is always exciting, and today was no different. The Island Princess was completing her World Cruise today and while many passengers already disembarked in Fort Lauderdale, many of them disembarked here. The ship also had to undergo a mandatory Coast Guard inspection today as well. Thankfully the hotel extended their shuttle times until 2:00 so we all weren’t standing around at the port waiting. Some just couldn’t wait and had to get there early (the old hurry up and wait game) but since I have plenty of time (and many days!) to enjoy the ship I held out and went on a late shuttle. 

I have a nice handicapped cabin on Deck 7 with a great sized balcony. All to myself! The balcony isn’t handicapped accessible because of a high threshold on the inside of the door but that’s what my walking sticks are for.

handicap accessible balcony cruise ship cabin on Island Princess handicap accessible balcony on Island Princess

A couple other things to note…the water in my minibar came from Abu Dhabi. Hey, I’ve been there!

I’m happy to know the Royal Princess communicated with this ship and made sure I was taken care of with the bath mats for the shower. No repeat of the fall I had there a few months ago.

The sail away party was high energy and well attended like in the before-you-know-what days. And honestly, I got chills when the Captain blew the horn and everyone on deck cheered. It took so much to get me here and I am so very grateful. 

So where are we going on this specific cruise? We’re heading to Florida by way of the Panama Canal. Why fly to Florida when you can take a ship, right?


Up tomorrow, a sea day. Bon voyage!

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

An R & R Day

After not being able to sleep much last night I was still up early. I decided today needed to be a rest and relaxation day and I made the most of it. 

I went to the Happy Diner for breakfast where I had one of the best breakfast burritos ever. Chock full of eggs, bacon, sausage, two cheeses, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, and cilantro with some mighty tasty salsa. Yum yum. It was so big I only could eat half of it, so guess what I had for lunch?

breakfast burrito at Happy Diner at San Pedro, California
I spent a chunk of the day at the hotel watching trash TV. Catfish, Maury, Hoarders, 90 Day Fiancé. Took a nap. Talked to kiddo. Headed to the pool to get some sun. Today was much too chilly to be swimming, but I camped out on a lounge chair in the sun for a while. 

Spied my room from the pool deck.
junior suite with harbor view at Crowne Plaza in San Pedro California
Like I said, it’s a huge room. The whole bank of windows are mine as well as another couple banks around the corner of the building. As for inside the room, there’s a little hallway when you first enter.
entrance to junior suite at Crowne Plaza in San Pedro, California
The hallway leads to a living room. I haven’t even sat down in there yet!
living room in the junior suite at the Crowne Plaza in San Pedro, California
The living room leads to a desk area and the bathroom (door on the left).
Past those areas you find the bedroom.
bedroom in junior suite at Crowne Plaza in San Pedro, California
I’d definitely book this Junior suite here at the Crowne Plaza again. If the price is right, that is. Since this is the off season for cruise ships (I think?) I didn’t pay as much as I would at another time of year.
 
I also spent time watching marine traffic heading in and out of the harbor right from my room. I even caught the world’s first solar-powered car carrier, Emerald Ace, leaving on its way to Yokohama, Japan. If I’m lucky I’ll get to see my ship come in early tomorrow morning.

Island Princess, I’m waiting for you!

The First Glitch

Thanks to the first hiccup in my adventurous adventure it was almost 2 am before I got to the hotel in San Pedro last night. 

When I arrived at the Alaska Airlines counter to check in for my flight in Boise yesterday, I was immediately told the FAA had declared an embargo on mobility scooters on regional jets. Huh? There would be no way I would be allowed to fly with my little travel scooter. The scooter who would be with me for four straight months delivering me to places like Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, and Lithuania could not go with me.

It’s a recent ban, and unfortunately fliers like me were never notified. And also unfortunately for me, there were no other flights to LAX not using the regional jets today. We looked at larger planes on other airlines connecting through Seattle, Denver, and San Francisco. Nothing. They even looked into renting a scooter and sending it to the hotel for me while they held my scooter in Boise until I returned from my trip. Umm…I won’t be back home until September 9.

Southwest to the rescue. 

While I lost my business class seat on a non-stop flight to Los Angeles (boo!), Southwest Airlines was able to get me on a Boise to Los Angeles flight through Las Vegas. So Alaska refunded my precious great-priced ticket and I had to purchase a new last-last-minute ticket on Southwest. While I typically try and avoid Southwest for reasons I don’t care to mention right now, the agents worked hard at not only getting me on the flights, but getting me an extra seat so I had an empty one next to me. 

Boise, Idaho from the sky
Goodbye, Boise! See you in September!

Thankfully things got better from there. I had a fascinating chat with the person sitting on the aisle seat who was on his way to Vegas to do security at The Chicks (Dixie Chicks) concert. And his main gig is security in Las Vegas for Adele. Adele! So cool.

landing in Las Vegas, Nevada
Hello, Vegas!

I had enough time on my stopover to visit Wonder Woman. That gal was good to me. I hit three separate bonuses and walked away up $150. Imagine if I was playing the maximum.

Not even my biggest win!

A short hop from Las Vegas put me into Los Angeles much later than I had planned.
SoFi Stadium in LA, California
Ed, this one’s for you.

While it was a rougher-than-planned day, I made it safely to my huge hotel room, and after a wee bit of sleep it looks to be a glorious day. 

Good morning, San Pedro!

If yesterday was the biggest glitch of my trip, I’ll take it!

I’m going to keep track of time changes for this trip. Number of time zone changes so far: 1

Monday, May 8, 2023

Deb's Super Sensational Solo Summer Adventure

It's time for a new adventure and it's going to be a big one! Let's look at the numbers:

*One non-stop flight from Boise to LAX.

*Two nights in a San Pedro, California hotel.

*106 nights (yowza!) on the Island Princess.

*One non-stop flight from Heathrow to Vancouver, Canada.

*One night in a Vancouver hotel.

*14 nights on the Grand Princess.

*One flight from Vancouver to San Francisco and another from San Francisco back to Boise.

With just one suitcase.
One middle aged woman.
On a mobility scooter.
Traveling the world solo for 123 days and nights.
While her husband holds down the fort at home.


Click the links and follow along as I document my Super Sensational Solo Summer Adventure:



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