Cruise #21 – Catalina Ensenada (Again)

As you might recall, Cruise #19 took us to the same ports but that was on the Carnival Imagination. This was on Royal Princess.

I’m not knocking Carnival, by any means, but #19 was with our brother, sister and two teen boys, so they would have been bored on Princess with no water slide. Us, we like the relaxation of cruising.

So why so soon? Easy answer? We are cruise addicts. That’s what we do. We conjure up reasons to cruise. Now the rationalization behind booking this cruise is…

As of this moment in time, we have three 7 day Princess cruises booked for 2020. That’s 21 sea days. We need 18 sea days to reach Elite. If you do the math, it means that we will reach Elite during our third cruise for the year. As you know, loyalty upgrades don’t happen until you have completed the cruise. So… by taking this 4 day jaunt, we will reach Elite when we get off our second 7 day cruise and will board the third cruise as Elite.

Honestly, Suzi and I aren’t into the whole status thing. No… Want free laundry and a bar setup. We aren’t interested in getting any preferential treatment or think we’re “owed” anything… Just want my damn free laundry. HA HA! I know, I know… It would cost a lot less to pay for laundry than paying for this cruise but… Gotta have an excuse for the addiction.

So while we were enjoying Cruise #20 on the Royal and realized we could become Elite 1 cruise sooner, we booked this 4 day. Generally, we feel that 10 Days is the minimum cruise length, so were glad to get away but thought the time would just fly by. It really didn’t. We had visions of walking into our cabin and seeing disembarkation instructions… We did not.

This was our first ever Forward facing cabin, Lido 103 Starboard. It’s an extended balcony stateroom with obstructed view. It was a very large balcony, but the glass under the railing was nice thick steel. Superman would have had difficulty looking through this. But, all in all, excellent cabin and we’d do it again.

Embarkation using Ocean Medallion was a breeze. We boarded at 11 and our Cabin was ready. Since we had just gotten off the ship in Oct, we knew the layout. Since we booked so close to sailing we got Anytime Dining and were #54 on the wait list for Late Traditional Dining. Since we prefer building a relationship with our waitstaff, we just opted to eat all meals at Horizon Court, which was fine cause I didn’t have to bring long pants and dress shoes…

We recognized quite a few of the staff and several of them recognized us. Matt O was our CD the first cruise. This time it was Marcus. Two totally different personalities but both were present and on top of things. We had seen all production shows but did go to see our favorite comedian, AJ Jamal. Just as funny the second time.

One of the guest lecturers, Leo Rossi, went on tour with several bands including Fleetwood Mac. He had lots of great stories to tell. Really glad we went to those talks in the Princess LIVE! theater.

Woke up the morning of Day 2, walked out on the Veranda and saw…

We booked an excursion to the Wrigley Gardens through Princess for later in the day, so we had a leisurely breakfast before heading to the tender. By now, it was starting to get a bit cloudy and cold. As we started to group together, we found out there were mechanical issues with the tour bus, so it was cancelled. Oh well… We ended up walking all the way from the tender dock to the Casino and back. While we were in line for the tender, it started to sprinkle. By the time we got back to our cabin, it was raining.

The next day was a day at sea. There was something magical about this day. Since Catalina and Ensenada are in close proximity, the ship was doing 2 or 3 knots. Add to that, being over the front of the ship, it was eerily quiet. No wake, no wind.

The last day was Ensenada. Was quite cool stormy-looking but we walked all the way into town and back. I know this is really nothing more than a Jones Act requirement, but I kinda like Ensenada. It’s laid back but it’s comfortable.

And… During the cruise, we got an email from the Upgrade Gods. We found out that for our second cruise of 2020, we are getting upgraded from a standard balcony to a Mini Suite. SWEET! This is Leg Two of a Back To Back, so I called Princess and we were able to upgrade Leg One to a Mini Suite, just not the same one… I’ll check back after any deposits got returned and see if we can book the same room for both legs.

And… We’re home. Come on April!

Cruise #19 – Catalina and Ensenada

So this was our totally spur of the moment “gotta couple of days off while out of town family is here”… Let’s do the 4 day cruise on Carnival Imagination out of our home port in Long Beach. This is the cruise I mentioned in https://theverandalife.com/2019/06/ . We tried to get the entire family, but failed.

That’s also the post where I mentioned I was really looking forward to Guy’s Burger Joint. It did not disappoint. Considering Guy’s Burgers are part of the fare, and not extra, excellent! Have I had better? Yes. Did I pay a premium for that better burger? Yes. So… Was it the best burger I’ve ever had? No. Was it the best burger I’ve had on a cruise ship? Yes. Am I going to ask, then answer another of my own questions? Absolutely!

The 6 of us drove two cars to the port and parked at the terminal. $17.00 per day, so not bad for the convenience. We got there about 10:30 but were right at the front of the line. After a half hour and the Faster To The Fun passengers were checking in, our turn.

Totally different check in process than Princess. Firstly, the Long Beach terminal dome is where Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose used to be before transforming it into the Carnival check in area. Beautiful.

We are used to a terminal where one whole side of the room is filled with what seems like 300 check in agents. At Carnival, you are directed to one of the many separate round tables. It’s just you and the rep. Another difference is, they don’t give you your Sail and Sign card. Those are waiting for you at your stateroom.

We were both on the Main Deck, Deck 5 Port side. There were three of us in each room. We had the older nephew with us.

Being an older ship, there weren’t many balcony staterooms so we did an outside cabin. Although we did like the larger shower than we are used to on Princess, we prefer the Princess Stateroom layout. (And not counting the extra bed that made it necessary for this old guy to climb over his wife…)

It really did not take too long to learn where everything was on the ship, especially where food was involved. Oh, and we found where all the bars were, too…

We only went to the Dining Room once, on the first night. We were hoping for a table for 6, but it was for 12. It was fine, we just went to the buffet the other nights. The rest of the family either joined us or did their own thing.

Beautiful day for Catalina. We relaxed and didn’t head out to the Tenders until 10:30 or so. Walked down the main drag and stopped in a bunch of shops. After a couple hours, we headed back to the ship.

Next day was Ensenada. Suzi and I walked into town while the other 4 opted for the shuttle. We all met up by the shuttles drop off point and did some walking and shopping. Sis and both nephews decided to head back to the ship while Suzi and the brother continued on. We ended up going to Papa’s & Beer for a Pina Colada and some guacamole made table side. NICE.

On the way back, we stopped by a liquor store. If you’ve read my past blogs, you know my passion for Damiana. A bottle here in the States at a big box beverage store is about $32. Last time we were in Ensenada, I picked up a couple bottles at the Port for $20 each. In town? $15.

We all three walked back to the ship. They built a really nice footbridge that takes you from the port right to the Malecon. Great addition!

The next day was a “Fun Day at Sea”. Ship was just circling around, doing about 8 knots. We saw the Hairy Chest Contest and the Marriage Game. All fun.

So if you are on a Carnival Ship and like to dabble in a little alcohol, you gotta go to the Alchemy Bar. The staff there are all “mixologists”. Really good at what they do. They have specialized drinks only available there. They will also create something new once they get to know your tastes. I got hooked on “The Remedy”. Can’t tell you what all was in it, but similar in taste as Pina Colada but on the rocks. All Top Shelf here.

All in all, a fun little getaway. Would we trade Princess for Carnival? No way but it’s always good to check out other cruise lines even if they are under the same parent company.

55 Days to 10 Day Sea Of Cortez. Our first on Royal Princess. Can’t wait!

Timing Is Everything

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.