The older the young ones get, the harder it is the schedule a family cruise.

Case in point. Suzi has two brothers. One moved from California to Florida, married with two boys between 12 and 16. The other brother is out here in California, married with two boys about the same ages.

The Florida gang (or simply “Florida” as we call them) is coming out for three weeks in July. Every time they are here, they talk about going to Catalina Island. Catalina is one of the Channel Islands off the coast of Southern California with daily boat trips, on the Catalina Express, from several ports in the area. It’s a beautiful island with really just one city, Avalon. Avalon is a quaint, sleepy, little town and boasts an iconic Art Deco Casino at the end of the harbor.

Florida thinks about making the trip, but when they do the math, it can be an expensive day, so they usually opt for something else. Now, going to Catalina has just been a running joke. “Hey, what should we do when we visit California? I know, let’s go to Catalina!!! Ha Ha Ha Ha”

Well… The Catalina Express isn’t the only ship that goes there, so does Carnival…
(Here is Suzi looking at the Carnival Imagination from Avalon Harbor on our last jaunt over for the day.)

So… When we were talking to Florida, they joked, “Let’s go to Catalina!” That’s when we mentioned the 4 Night Carnival cruise from Log Beach. After Avalon, it also goes to Ensenada, Mexico followed by a day at sea.

If you’ve followed the blog (you have been, haven’t you?), you know Suzi and I both work. All of my time off for the year has been accounted for. We did our Hawaiian Cruise in April and Sea Of Cortez coming up in October. Well, as luck would have it, I got three Comp days for working at a customers site.

Based on coworkers vacations, I was assigned specific days off. It landed after a weekend (Sunday / Monday), so I was able to string the 5 days together. It was also the last week that Florida would be here, so we found a Sunday through Thursday itinerary and jumped on it. It was the most spontaneous booking we’ve ever made!

Truth be told, although I am really looking forward to the cruise to spend time with family, the real reason I’m looking forward? Three words… Guy’s Burger Joint. I know, I know, it seems a bit selfish but… it’s Guy freaking Fieri and his burgers. Ever since I heard of his partnership with Carnival, I’ve been trying to find an excuse to take a Carnival cruise. I even tried last year. Suggested the 3 or 4 day itinerary for Suzi’s birthday. Sure we’d celebrate her birthday, I’d just celebrate it over a Straight Up or Chilius Maximus… (Note to Mr. Fieri… My expectations are sky high… This better be good!)

Now time to tell the California brother and family. It would be awesome to have us all together, so I sent the invite.

Oh S#!t. The oldest CA nephew is taking an accelerated Chemistry class over the summer. Accelerated meaning “you-cannot-under-any-circumstance-miss-a-class”. Period! The younger nephew will be volunteering at a marine aquarium, so they both have conflicting commitments.

It’ll be very bittersweet. When the six of us are available, the other four aren’t. When the four of them are available, we aren’t. Guess we’ll need to book another one.