ceilidh1

Sorry for the absence! This was the easiest, fastest, smoothest check in and boarding we ever had on Bliss! At 10:40 they boarded In transit, followed by Haven, priority access, ambassador, etc. by 10:50am they were on to group 1 and we were onboard and at our muster station by 11am. Unfortunately the wifi wasn’t working and I have only now managed to connect! We grabbed a quick bite at the Local - the fish sandwich and pub hot dog were both great. My cheesecake never came so we just gave up and left! So far I’ve had an Irish coffee and a Dark n Stormy made with Zacapa. DS has had two virgin mudslides. We checked out kids club but it was mobbed so we didn’t register yet. I doubt DS will go anyway as the virtual queue system was useless last time. We then went to the arcade and played a couple rounds of Foosball Rooms are not ready yet so we are chilling in the atrium. It’s pretty packed there! So far all is well with the world!

10:45am and it looks like Haven started boarding. So far this has been the fastest/easiest check in for this ship!. Announcement for priority access to board and of course everyone swarms the doors. People are animals!

Oooh the premium thermal suite pass allows me to enjoy unlimited relaxation for 7 days. So if I buy the pass I get 2 extra cruise days thrown in???? Lol

Check in opened right at 9:30am. Ten minutes later and we are through security, checked in, and part of boarding group 1!

The walk from the hotel to the port took 11 minutes (with a picture stop). Check in isn’t open yet so they have us lined up in the tent to wait. After this we will go inside through security, check in, and wait some more!

Ok! Seems the consensus is “ditch the drink”…. Thanks all!

Cruise day and I’ve been up pretty much the whole night. No joy in getting my teen rebooked on a flight today. She is officially stuck in Amsterdam until tomorrow afternoon. They gave her a hotel voucher but she can’t check in as she’s under 18, and I’m not really up for having her navigate Amsterdam alone. So, she is stuck at the airport. At least she had wifi! I’m freaking out a little in case they end up cancelling tomorrow as well…I’ll be on a ship and of little use to her if they do! Anyways, I’m up, packed, and enjoying my keurig coffee. Happy to report that there were no shower olympics today - water was perfect temperature and stayed that way. Thinking of heading out around 9:00ish and walking to the port. Not raining right now! I have an unopened bottle of soda - I can’t remember if NCL allows us to take that on or if I should ditch it beforehand?

It’s cruise day! I was woken at 2am by texts from my teen who flies home from Europe today. Ten minutes before boarding her first flight she gets notified that her connecting flight has been cancelled. But no worries, she has been rebooked on another leaving tomorrow!!! Meaning that an unaccompanied 16 year old has to stay overnight in Amsterdam. Uh no. I don’t think so! Needless to say she was freaking out.Hopefully she can get something resolved

We love the Crowne Plaza for one night pre cruise. It ticks all the boxes. I would not stay more than one night - just not enough in the area to warrant it! I also would never pay the “rack rate” currently- last I checked it was $350 a night. Nope. I always use trivago and wait for a deal - this trip we paid $220 for one night. I would not go higher than $250 for this hotel - at that price I would rather stay in long beach or double tree!

Here’s an aside… when we came in to Hollywood, across the street from our hotel was a really cool looking building called The Magic Castle. I assumed it was a hotel and decided to research it. Turns out that it’s a nightclub for magicians! DS informed me that this place was in the Ricky, Nicky, Dicky and Dawn show,

Yes! We have done Happy Diner on previous visits! This time it was San Pedro Brewing and no time for anything else!

Hotel bar has a happy hour from 4pm to 6pm. Don’t mind if I do…

These past 5 days have reminded me why I choose to cruise rather than do land vacations. The entire time has been “what should we eat for lunch?” “where should we go for dinner?” “Oh. It’s 3pm and forgot to have lunch. But it’s too early for dinner.” I really like not having to think about this kind of thing on a ship! Today was a prime example. We got to the hotel around 11:30am and just chilled. DS wasn’t hungry at lunchtime but then around 2pm decided he was ready to eat. Uhhh. No. I wanted to go to San Pedro brewing and knew that if he ate at 2pm there was no way he would want to eat dinner (or at least not a dinner I’m paying for). Instead we compromised and went for linner at 3pm. San Pedro Brewing is as great as ever. Each time I get something different - and this is tough because each time I enjoy what I got and want to get it again! They had a fish taco special today and I love fish tacos but I also wanted to to try the tri tip sandwich… so I opted for the sandwich. DS went for the southwestern Mac n cheese. For beers I tried the blonde and the Hefeweizen. Nothing disappointing to report!

Lyft from Hollywood to San Pedro was $60 and took about 40 minutes door to door. The highway was slow moving and the rain made for a hair raising trip, but we made it in one piece. The front desk clerk recognized DS from previous trips and made a fuss of him. It’s the little things that keep us coming back. They had a room available so we were able to check in immediately and currently chilling and enjoying the coffee maker! Shuttle to the port is $5.50 per person and runs every half hour beginning at 9am. We are still planning on walking so hopefully it’s not torrential rain! Some room pics

Bye Bye Hollywood, Hello San Pedro… Parting Thoughts: I’m glad we chose to stay in Hollywood as a base as it was the closest place to all of the attractions we wanted to visit. That being said, I think our biggest expense while here has been Lyft rides to and from each place. Hotel: I don’t foresee us ever having to stay in the Hollywood area again but if we did I would definitely consider staying here. It’s literally around the corner from Loews Hotel so very central and safe (for this area). The hotel was clean and quiet and the staff were wonderful. The breakfast is very basic but this was one of the few places that even offered breakfast. My only complaint would be the lack of coffee throughout the day. Once breakfast is over the coffee is taken away. Even though we had a room with a kitchen, there was no coffee maker or kettle so no ability to make your own. Still a solid 8/10 for the hotel though! Area: As you can imagine, the place is packed with tourists and everyone wants those tourist dollars. I’m savvy enough to know not to accept those offers of “free” photos, or take those cards being thrust in your face as you navigate the walk of fame. This was all too much for my nervous 12 year old and he was in full sensory overload the whole time. I loved the energy but he was not comfortable in this environment at all. Food: Lots of options to get food but it was definitely higher priced than I’m used to in the U.S. it was more akin to Vancouver pricing! Even Target and CVS were way over priced…and why is laundry detergent and deodorant locked away??? Things that made me smile: On our hike in the hills, the guide pointed out a big 3 bedroom, beautiful house with stunning views that just sold for $2 million. Everyone was horrified. Living in Vancouver and knowing you wouldn’t even buy a 2 bedroom crummy apartment for that price…I smiled. Maybe it’s time to move!

We are moving over to San Pedro this morning and have no plans to do anything other than eat dinner at San Pedro brewing. I’m more familiar with Long Beach and San Pedro than with Hollywood but we are just going to chill and decompress today. Tomorrow is cruise day!!!!

I thought of you while at La Brea yesterday and while hiking to the Hollywood sign today. I didn’t think of you when I dragged my reluctant kid to visit Madame Tussaud’s. In a word..creepy! Miss you!

Back at the hotel I did some laundry and need to get packed up as tomorrow we head to San Pedro for our pre cruise tradition of staying the night before at Crown Plaza.

After the movie, DS spotted the Ghirardelli store and decided an ice cream was needed. This is what a $22 sundae looks like..,yes, that’s $22

When we were researching this trip, we decided that we would each choose 2 activities we wanted to do. My two were Warner Brothers Studio and the Hollywood sign. DS chose Universal and going to see a movie at the Chinese Theatre. I’m sure the latter was a form of revenge for my making him hike today. I’m not a movie theatre person at all and I was not thrilled at the thought of going. I was even less thrilled at his choice of movie - King Kong vs Godzilla. What now????? How is this even a thing? I despise made up monster movies such as this. But this was his choice, so off we went. Firstly, the theatre is beautiful and the seats were so comfortable. It’s a much nicer theatre than any I’ve been to previously. On to the movie…I can safely say it was probably the worst movie I have ever seen in my life!!

After lunch we went to Madame Tussaud’s. This is a place I have wanted to visit for as long as I can remember, but it has never quite worked out. DD is literally terrified at the thought of being among people who look real but aren’t, so we have always just not done it. Today, I got to fulfil my wish as DS was more than happy to visit. Let’s just say that I’m glad I went and got it out of my system, but I will never need to return. In a word, it was “creepy”. I expected those figures to just come to life any minute - like when someone is pretending to be a statue and then jumps out at you. I think I set a record for how quickly you can get through that museum. On the plus side, the 4D Marvel movie they showed was very well done and one of the best 4Ds I’ve seen.

After the hike, we got a Lyft back to the hotel and dropped our stuff before going in search of food. Today was DS’s turn to choose where to eat. Much to my dismay, he had his heart set on Johnny Rocketts. We used to have one in Vancouver and it was his favourite place. He was so sad when it closed down, so as soon as he spotted one here he made up his mind to eat there. So, off to Johnny Rockets we went!