Panama Canal on Island Princess 10/17-11/1 Photo Review

Last year, we elected to purchase a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) while on a cruise and had a big debate on whether to choose Alaska or the Panama Canal. The decision for Alaska was eventually made and it turned into a full 8 day connoisseur land tour before boarding the Grand Princess for a 7 day cruise. Unfortunately, I got too busy post cruise and despite taking a truckload full of pictures, I never got around to sharing a photo review like I'd hoped. We shared our experience on that trip with many passengers on this trip so feel free to ask any specific questions for that itinerary. When it came time to plan this year's cruise, the decision was a little easier to reach as thankfully we were fortunate enough to still do such a long trip as the Panama Canal cruise this year. We originally had an itinerary booked in December but changed our minds when we thought about how crazy it would be to have to fly back and forth right before Christmas. Instead, we went with the October 17-November 1st sailing on the Island Princess. While we considered many different itineraries, including partial transit versus full transit and which direction to start, my desire to see Los Angeles helped us finally settle on a 15 day cruise that went from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale visiting Puerto Vallarta and Huatulco in Mexico, San Juan Del Sur in Nicaragua, Puntarenas in Costa Rica, the Panama Canal, Cartagena Colombia, and finally Aruba. Being from Maryland, it was a nice change of pace to only have 2 short flights to get home versus 2 long flights if it had been a round trip cruise from Los Angeles. While we had booked this cruise ourselves on Princess' website initially, we transferred the booking to a new travel agent when we sought them out for a future cruise plan. While we did the research on what we wanted to see and booked a few private tours in ports, the travel agent took our cues and arranged our flights, hotels, and LA tours/transfers.

For those who haven't read my other reviews, let me introduce my small traveling posse. Cruising together on all but 1 cruise each of our history has been my dad (Al, 70) and me, Danielle (37). We are not Mr. and Mrs. though that's usually the assumption passengers and crew make. Spent most of the voyage seeing this same guy at multiple activities and the last night he still told my Dad, “saw your wife walk into the theater already.” His wife was back at home in MD so that must have been quite the feat. This was the first cruise however where we've had our beds separated when we first boarded, even when I traveled with a high school friend and thus a different name. We are not overly loyal to one cruise line versus another though since we now mostly book suites, we prefer the perks Princess offers plus we like the balance of fun games with some sophistication. Being within 40 minutes of Baltimore's port, we've done our share of Carnival cruises for the ease of a quick getaway. Tried Royal Caribbean out of Baltimore for the first time (see review in my signature) this past June and it took a long time to stop calling their Compass newsletter by the Princess Patters name. To start our journey, we jam packed a 3 day schedule into the weekend before cruise embarkation day so my TV/show business nerd self could be in my element. I will break down my review by day's activities so bear with me cruisers as I share our first few days on land. Also, food porn lovers, this may not be the review for you as I gave myself a break from taking pictures of every meal like my last review.

Since our cruise left on a Monday, we extended our normal plan to fly in at least a day early and flew in on Friday morning so that we could include a studio tour only done on weekdays. Between the time difference and a 5 hour flight, this meant getting up at 4AM to be heading out for the airport by 5:30AM ET. Rather than impose on our neighbors for a before dawn drive to the airport, we rented a car service which arrived promptly and got us to BWI in minutes. Our flight to LA was via United and the first thing the pilot said on take off was that he expected a smooth flight. Isn't there an unspoken rule working in hospitals that you never say “gee, it's nice and quiet”? We hit so much turbulence I literally had to hold my drink glass steady up in the air to keep from wearing it. This flight had screens built into the back of the seats in front of you and the second I tried to pull my phone ear buds out to use while watching a movie, the little pad from one of the ear buds went flying, never to be seen again. Ironically, I watched Finding Dory with one earbud while the other's pad disappeared into the ether of items lost and never found. My only hope is that it's having a grand time flying around the world on this plane and racking up plenty frequent flyer miles to share.

Once we made it to LA, we met the private car transfer at baggage claim that the travel agent had arranged. His name was Yuri and was an absolute professional. He had a luggage cart waiting and even used an app on his phone to determine what carousel our baggage would be coming down. While we've got traveling (with the luxury of suite perk laundry service and the fact that I'm not a girly girl) down to where we only need one suitcase each, my camera bag, and a tote meant for carrying one's laptop in which we keep our valuables, meds, and paperwork, Yuri insisted on taking care of our luggage himself. He led us to a nice professional looking SUV with plenty of room for our luggage and had bottled water waiting. After confirming that we wanted to first drop our luggage off at our first hotel and then be taken to the first tour, he offered every technology under the sun for our in car enjoyment. Yuri told us about the car being equipped with wi-fi, Pandora radio, Netflix in case we wanted to watch a movie, you name it. I made a joke about how his car had all that and it didn't fly too? His answer was to actually cue up a video about how flying cars are currently being tested on his dashboard connected tablet for us to watch. I'd been warned in planning our time in LA about the horrors of traffic and I must say, I'm glad we weren't the ones doing the driving. The multi lane highways were packed even though at 11AM, Yuri described this as “light traffic.” People were just darting in and out of lanes and stopping right up on the other car's bumpers in front of them. If the video game developers wanted to find a version of Frogger that would be impossible to beat, I've got a suggestion for the locale to use as a model. We had planned a theme park visit on this trip but I didn't realize the first thrill ride would be the drive from the airport.

Perhaps they should have amended this crafty sign to say "because my fellow cruise critics live in it:

Yuri first drove us accidentally to the studio lot itself and security had us turn around and go to the main headquarters building across the street to check in for the tour.

Once there we bid Yuri goodbye and went inside only to discover that we weren't allowed to check in for our afternoon tour yet. To kill time, we took the security guard's suggestion of walking around the side of the building and down a couple blocks to a smattering of restaurants, several with outside patios. We picked Cafe Vida and sat outside to eat.

Dad asked our waitress how big the burrito dish was to see if it was something that should be split between two people and she said “I don't know, it's not too much for me but then I like to eat!” So nice to have the first woman we meet in LA declare that she likes to eat. Dad, the uber hater of the slightest of spice in his food, got the sauce on the side which turned out be bland anyway but I made the mistake of saying “Oh I don't mind spicy, I'd love the chicken quesadilla!” Holy mouth on fire batman! They offered a Caesar salad on the side and I came close to considering LA's dental community when I unknowingly chomped down on a sunflower seed mixed in with the lettuce.

After lunch we walked back to the main Sony building and relaxed in the lobby until it was close enough to check in. Our group signed up for this tour was about 10-15 people with the youngest being around 10 traveling with multiple family members. They took each group's picture in front of a green screen in the lobby before we started and had several cardboard cut outs of characters you could pose with for your own pictures.

We met our tour guide Jeanette who first led us up to a screening room where we sat in a small theater and watched a video about the history of Sony Studios. It was funny to hear everyone's reactions when they recognized the different show clips mentioned as being filmed here over time. Then Jeanette led us across the street to the real Sony Studios entrance and with her we breezed past security with badges hanging from our necks that we got to keep.

She cautioned that while we could see celebrities walk by, we shouldn't go crazy and also not to feel bad if these celebrities were so focused that they ignored us when they walked by. There were some places we were warned that we weren't allowed to take pictures and would be forced to delete them if we did. Jeanette then amended that by saying that if there's a time when it wasn't allowed and we asked about some specific thing that wasn't truly part of what was off limits, then she'd allow pictures. Our first stop was right outside the Columbia Pictures building where Jeanette talked about the history of the company before it merged with TriStar and eventually bought by Sony.

We also learned the history of the giant rainbow sculpture on the property being a nod to the Wizard of Oz. We went inside the Columbia Pictures building where they house a display of the Oscars won in chronological order but inside was a place that no pictures were allowed. As we stood outside on the steps, some of the supporting cast from Dr. Ken walked by. I recognized one of the actors but couldn't recall from where and it wasn't until they'd nearly disappeared from our sight that Jeanette realized it and pointed them out. We walked around several side streets of the lot with Jeanette joking all along about how we need to point out if someone drives by so she doesn't get run over while turning to talk to us.

Our tour guide, Jeanette:

The rainbow sculpture reached all the way across to the other side of the street within the studio lot:

We stopped to admire a window display of other Oscar statues that we were allowed to take pictures of.

While we didn't see anything actually being filmed, there was still work going on as we walked by outside:

We then were shown where the gates leading to the now parking lot were used to film scenes.

Next we saw the outside of the Happy Madison offices, Adam Sandler's company, and parked nearby was a trailer labeled for Lew Schneider of The Goldbergs.

We spotted a couple guys measuring the top of a station wagon as we walked by and guessed that a scene featuring hauling home a fresh cut Christmas tree will probably be seen in an upcoming episode.

Several ladies in our tour group freaked out when we walked upon a small set of parking spaces marked for Chelsea Handler and her new show.

This was in part of a no pictures zone but they asked and were approved to take a picture of just the parking spot sign. I, personally was more interested, in taking a picture of the Shark Tank poster.

We got to go into the set for the Goldbergs gymnasium and see where they use backdrops suspended on cables when they need to film the coach's office etc. As we walked away we spotted Sean Giambrone (Adam on The Goldbergs) walking by. Jeanette greeted him and made quick small talk between themselves before he walked off in the other direction.

Next, Jeanette explained that we were running late on time and took a poll as to whether we wanted to see the Wheel of Fortune set or the Jeopardy set. Several of our group outvoted my small cries voting for Jeopardy (not just a TV nerd) but we ended up visiting both sets in the end as far as watching from the studio audience seats. For the Wheel of Fortune set, we could take pictures in the entryway where they had screens showing clips from the show and display models of sets but pictures were off limits once in front of the stage because it was decorated for a themed show that hadn't aired yet.

The Jeopardy set lobby featured a mockup of the three contestant stands and everyone took pictures posing as contestants.

Of course I had to be behind the podium with the winning score!

Once inside, we sat in the audience seats while a video was played of Alex Trebek welcoming us and showing some of the behind the scenes tricks. Several people let out gasps when it was shown that they use varying risers behind the podium to make everyone look relatively the same height.

Though not filming at the moment, these were all working sets so noise could be heard in the back as work crews bustled around getting ready. Once back outside, one of the ladies in our group asked if these studios were haunted because she could hear noises in the back. Jeanette politely explained that those noises were the workers but we got a good chuckle out of it.

As we walked around the corner, some of the group noticed a guy from Saturday Night Live as he entered a building and were giddy that he'd said hi in response to their hi. We stopped to get some more information from our guide and Ken Jeong (from Dr. Ken) speeds by being driven on a golf cart. He however completely ignored us and seemed as annoyed as if we were part of the LA traffic in his way.

On the tail end of the tour, we got to see the cars from Ghostbusters and Talladega Nights parked outside and everyone wanted to pose for pictures.

Now this would be an interesting response to your next Uber call:

Any Ricky Bobby fans?

Perhaps a soapbox derby car on steroids?

As we got closer to the obligatory gift shop end of the tour, my eye caught a display of successful products featured on Shark Tank.

While it would be nice to end up "in pictures" while in Hollywood, catching my reflection in the window wasn't what I meant:

Inside the gift shop you could find anything a fan of these shows might want from Tshirts to figurines. I snagged a couple pics of the merchandise for my Outlander obsessed friends.

Nothing like a little tongue in cheek humor from Los Angeles:

After the tour we were led back to the main building where our previous green screen pictures had been printed out and featured each of us standing in front of the Wheel of Fortune set. We were able to take these home included with the price of the tour. After visiting the gift shop for some cold water bottles, we asked the security guard to call us a cab. We waited outside for about 10 minutes when a cab that was so run down showed up, our seats inside literally rolled back and forth as we moved through traffic. Unfortunately, I had to essentially hop up into this van sized cab and the effort snapped my belt in half. And not in a get some decent duct tape and put it back together kind of break either. LA would probably make their best revenue billing taxis as the new theme park thrill ride. I felt like I'd been on a roller coaster darting in and out of traffic, sliding around on a seat that moved and creaked, all while trying to hold my pants up. Once back at DoubleTree it was the epitome of service once again as we had the door held open, we were helped at the check in desk right away, immediately recognized as Hilton Honors members and given cookies (these cookies are advertised as chocolate chip but also have walnuts. Thankfully it lists that on the pouch they come in so Dad happily made the sacrifice to eat my cookie) and water bottles, and a bellman brought our bags to the room within minutes of us getting there ourselves.

We had booked a “2 bed” room and the front desk even joked that the sofa bed could be made up too when we arrived and just to use it as a couch anyway when we looked at him questioningly. Did he see a third person standing with us that we didn't see? As it turns out, the room was designed like the secondary bed was an afterthought. There was a true bedroom space with a single queen sized bed with a TV, dresser, and nightstands with doors to close off the space.

There was doors from that bedroom and the main living space to enter the bathroom. The main living space had a couch, a 2nd tv, a desk, a wet bar space where we found two more complimentary water bottles, and tucked into a back corner, a 2nd queen sized bed and nightstand.

After relaxing a little in the room, we decided to go walk along Santa Monica's pier in hopes of finding something simple for dinner. Stopped at the front desk to ask about walking directions as reviews of this hotel had boasted a 5-10 minute walk to the pier. They showed us the walk on a map but then suggested we check out the free shuttle that runs from the hotel's parking lot every 15-20 minutes or so. We walked outside and it turns out that the free shuttle is this little maybe 4-6 passenger open air vehicle that rides like a golf cart and it's free to riders (we still tipped the driver each time) because businesses like the hotel paid to advertise on the outside of the vehicle.

During our ride to the pier, our driver gave us a number to text for pickup and the advice to note that we would be specifically at the original hot dog on a stick stand where he ended up dropping us off.

We passed by several courts full of people playing volleyball but then got stuck unable to walk up the first set of steps to the pier because they were hosting a Star Wars drive in movie viewing.

Walked all the way around to the north entrance and walked from one end of the pier to the other as the sun set.

Not sure what it says about the town when you can add "& Crime Scenes" as a side business:

This guy was playing the theme song from Titanic. Found it fitting for our pre-cruise adventure:

Do people really buy these "handicrafts"?

Random shots from the pier:

Dad thought it was funny that the cop's car was numbered "007"

Aww, couples enjoying the romantic sunset:

Trying to take a picture of the ferris wheel's blinking lights:

Zoltar!

Traveling with a seafood hater meant this spot wasn't an option for dinner:

I suggest visiting this spot before you indulge in one of the many junk food offerings:

Not finding much appealing in the mostly fast food assortment on the pier, we texted for the shuttle and asked this driver for a restaurant recommendation for dinner. He took us to a Mediterranean style place called M Street Kitchen that was connected to a pizza place. The pizza place was packed so we went for the Mediterranean and ended up having some nice comfort food. This place we stopped for dinner had a little bucket on the table with seeds and a tiny plant sprout. Dad jokingly pushed the bucket toward me and asked if I wanted an LA appetizer. We texted again when we were done with dinner as it was before their cautioned cut off time of 8:30PM and it was the same driver as had recommended the restaurant.

Back at the hotel, a large family was standing outside the entrance and pounced when they saw the shuttle pull up. I ducked out the door on the side facing the street but Dad nearly got bowled over as he got out on the same side as they were charging in. He had to push past them just to tip the driver. I let Dad take the bedroom space once back in our room as he likes to sleep in total quiet and darkness and I could unwind watching TV in bed. Wasn't until we were ready to leave the next morning that we realized the living room TV pivots out so it can be reached via remote from the bed. I spent the evening sitting on the couch until I got bored enough to sleep. Unfortunately, this 2nd bed placement meant it was against the outside wall as our room was the last in the hallway before the exit door.

Spent most of the night listening to freeway traffic as this was our view out the window over the desk:

Thanks for posting your review. We have done the Partial Transit and plan to go back and do the full transit. The Island Princess is a great ship.

Thanks for posting your review. We have done the Partial Transit and plan to go back and do the full transit. The Island Princess is a great ship.

Appreciate so much these photos, details, background for your "Coast-to-Coast" adventure. We are planning to do a Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco cruise through the Panama Canal in late February-early March 2017 on this Princess ship. This includes stops in Aruba (that we did in early 2015), Cartagena/Colombia, Puntarenas/Costa Rica, San Juan del Sur/Nicaragua and Cabo San Lucas/Mexico. This would be our first time for visiting Columbia, Panama Canal, Central America, etc. It’s eight sea days, which is a little high for us, but it is a little “get-away” from the Midwest winter. Will be watching your posts for smart tips, suggestions, etc.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 160,235 views for this posting.

This would be our first time for visiting Columbia, Panama Canal, Central America, etc.

For an idea of what to see and do in Columbia, you might enjoy viewing my wife's photo journal at the link below

Panama Canal Partial Transit (Cartagena Columbia included)

Have a great cruise!

Thankfully we didn't have two early mornings in a row as our plans for today were a private tour of the city and all the classic tourist sites. After channeling my inner limbo contestant to shower, oh how I miss my handheld shower head while traveling, we meandered downstairs and considered our options for breakfast. Settling on the hotel restaurant's breakfast buffet, which cost us extra, it was meager offerings. They did feature a made to order omelet chef and I used the provided coffee cup to drink some chocolate milk. Yes, even us 37 year olds like some chocolate milk once in a while. I went for the chafing dish labeled french toast (where did the name chafing dish come from anyway? Sounds painful!) but inside I found 99% pancakes and 1 piece of french toast under the pile. They still had the tongs out meant for the french toast so my plate was more pancake crumbles. I took the one piece of french toast and it ended up being hard as a rock. I must digress here though, maybe it's from working with children, but how can you have a buffet that doesn't at least name everything? The whole “bread/pastries” area had no signage so I couldn't tell what was in what item.

After breakfast we headed back to the room to pack, corral our stuff, and use the TV to check out. Our guide for the day, whom unfortunately I didn't remember to include his name in my notes, was booked through Viator by our travel agent. He did show up on time but our ride for the day was his personal beat up cramped SUV. Our two suitcases barely fit in his trunk space and thankfully he had no problem with Dad riding up front so we could stow our carry on bags and jackets on the back seat next to me. He'd brought an old pack your own lunch sack with now warm water bottles and gum that I had to dig out of the pile of random junk in his backseat. We had shared our most preferred locations to visit prior to the trip leaving the order and other time fillers in the discretion of the travel agent and guide in order to make a 5 hour tour.

Our guide started off showing us a little more of Santa Monica after we told him we'd already visited the pier. Time was spent driving through Venice and we wandered by the famous barrage of people working out on the equipment at Muscle Beach.

This restaurant near the beach boasted a history of influencing the cartoonist who started Popeye:

We visited the Annenberg Community Beach House which used to be the pool to hang out in if you were someone in Hollywood back in the day. There was also talk of it possibly being haunted. I don't remember the whole story he shared but I remember making the joke about never knowing who you're really swimming with.

Adjacent to the Beach House was Marion Davies guest house and he pointed out how they kept the original fence despite the property being remodeled.

Afterwards, we were taken to a hotel that boasts a penthouse restaurant and lounge with large windows all around so that we could see the spectacular view. The view was great, yes, but it felt awkward to wander around taking pictures with people sitting in front of those windows in booths trying to enjoy their lunch.

Thanks for the review.

Palm trees anyone?

We next took a leisurely drive through the celebrity homes neighborhoods of Brentwood, Holmby Hills, Beverly Hills, and Bel Air. Several notable names were thrown out as we passed several gates and tall tree lined front yards. Best I can recall is seeing a driveway that belonged to the Playboy mansion, where JFK would have his rendezvous with Marilyn Monroe, and where Lucille Ball would stand in her yard to hand out Halloween candy to trick-or-treaters.

Honestly, I was taking a picture of the cool guitar and man statue as we sat in traffic. The "Hollywood Dispensary" with its cleverly placed ads for food part of the picture was a happy coincidence:

Our guide pointed out many sites as we inched along in traffic before we finally made it to the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

This building was decorated as an homage to deceased celebrities:

We had to travel down several blocks to find a parking spot and as we drove I spotted a man lying on the corner curled up in the fetal position not moving. Before I could question our guide, we had parked and I had to walk double time to stay caught up with him as he led us back to the start of the Walk of Fame. We ended up passing this same man along with the rest of the crowd and no one paid him any mind. I know in my many questions and seeking planning advice prior to the trip, one person told me “Visiting the walk of fame is useless unless you want to take pictures around homeless people.” Seeing something like that though gets to a person.

As we walked along the street admiring the different stars' names, our guide warned us about ignoring the various people dressed up as characters who wouldn't take kindly if they thought I'd snapped a picture of them without paying or the guys who tried to force you to take their CD's as we walked by. We passed one such guy dressed as a superhero who stopped mid spiel to complain that someone's kid was following him around.

"Oh Rob!"

A co-worker is obsessed with Young & the Restless. I once got her an autograph picture of her favorite actor from the show and she walked through the hall holding it up like a prizefighter who'd just won the big belt. Couldn't miss the opportunity to snap a pic of his star on the Walk of Fame while we were there:

We followed the beginning of the Walk of Fame until the Dolby Theater noting the columns dedicated to each year's best picture winners and the stairs decorated to look like you're climbing the red carpet. Wild to see such an iconic Hollywood landmark stuck in the middle of a bustling mall.

The Sound of Music is one of my favorite movies:

Had to find the movie from my birth year:

Our guide (left) and Dad heading up the "red carpet" stairs:

Our guide pointed out an open walkway on a higher floor where you can get a clear shot of the Hollywood sign. Several people were taking the opportunity here to pose for selfies with the sign in the background.

What it looks like with your back to the Hollywood Sign view:

We took the time to admire The Road to Hollywood stones laid in the pavement of the open air portion of this mall that features anonymous stories from celebrities.

One of my favorite stories:

Our next stop was Grauman's Chinese Theater where the masses had congregated enjoying the celebrity foot and handprints. Our guide pointed out how several of the older stars treated the honor as a personal invitation from Sid Grauman and including messages to him with their signatures.

I must be an old soul because as our guide tried pointing out the various “heartthrob” actors who'd contributed, I was more attracted to the greats like Shirley Temple, Dick Van Dyke, Julie Andrews, and a special nod to John Wayne's block because of the I Love Lucy episode where she steals it.

I loved Shirley Temple's movies growing up despite being born over 40 years after she made them:

Mary Poppins is also a favorite movie of mine so no surprise that I had to get pics of these two:

One of the rare side by side stones made to help promote their next movie:

John Wayne's block back safe and sound from Lucy and Ethel:

As we were considering heading back to the car, I asked about not having seen my favorite singer's star, Reba McEntire. Our guide didn't know where it was so I'm thankful my searches for what landmarks to visit led me to the website where you can plug in any celebrity who has a star and it'll give you the address for that star's area. He was impressed that I remembered it was at 7018 Hollywood Boulevard and we made a point of walking back to the car on the opposite side of the street in order to walk past Reba's star.

As our guide described how not many people know that there's a reservoir overlooked by the Hollywood Sign, he drove up this long winding road and parked where it almost dead ends at the top. While access to the sign itself has been restricted this little back road provides a great view from the base of the mountain. A large fence blocks off most of the reservoir drop off from this road on the other side but you can still get close enough for pictures.

The reservoir beneath the sign:

How close we really were to the sign (with my back to the fence):

At this point, we'd satisfied all that my TV nerd self would want to see and honestly my legs and feet were starting to rebel from being cramped into a pretzel in the backseat. Our guide ended the tour with some random commentary as he drove us to our second hotel, Universal Studios Hollywood where we would be spending the rest of our time in Los Angeles. This is also a Hilton property and we booked under the Hilton Honors member rate. Once again, greeted immediately by a personable doorman (though this guy looked more like the last friendly face you see before entering a hotel of doom in some movie) who opened our doors and loaded our suitcases onto a wheeled cart. We bid goodbye to our tour guide and followed our luggage inside only to find that everybody and their brother and their brother's second cousin twice removed's first grade teacher's high school crush was lined up waiting to check in. There was 3 people working the “regular” desk and one woman wandering around looking over each employee's shoulder as they checked people in. Why she didn't jump in on the fourth computer station and start helping clear up this backlogged line, I never understood. Dad spotted another employee working at a counter to the side and had me stand with our bags when he discovered that it was a separate counter for Hilton Honors members to check in. As he stood there behind just one other person aside from the one being helped, this employee took at least 30 minutes to check this first guy in. Dad tried joining the regular line as it was moving faster and waited for at least another 30-40 minutes. As he waited, I had to repeatedly tell bellmen that our two bags were not ready to be taken upstairs and at one point had to stop them from adding the suitcases to someone else's luggage that was going up.

Just as Dad reached the front of the line, a bellman stepped in front to pull a woman who had joined the Hilton Honors line and was still waiting on that employee to finish with the first person, insisting that she get to jump ahead of everyone in the regular line. Dad insisted that he was next and the bellman replied that he pulled over the woman because she was an Honors member. Dad pointed out that he was an Honors member too and walked up to the available agent to check in. Only then did the watching manager hop on to the nearest computer and check the woman in herself. By the time we were finally checked in, every single bellman that I'd had to fight off from taking our luggage had disappeared. The lady checking us in said that we'd have to wait some more if we wanted a bellman's help but we decided that we'd had enough waiting and each carried our own suitcase up via elevator to our room. Just as we took our bags back off the cart, someone that seemed to be managing the bellmen rushed out of his hiding place to offer to get a bellman but by then I was so worn down and frustrated that I told him too little too late. Irritated by our lousy service at check in and desperate to relax, I tried to log onto the Internet via my phone and what should have been our complimentary wi-fi as Honors members. Unlike our lovely check in at Doubletree, this time we didn't receive the little card with a code to get online from our rooms. We called down to the front desk and the person who answered the phone told us that they had no record of us even being Honors members but finally gave us a code to try when Dad read off his membership number from our printed out booking confirmation. The code didn't work so we had to call back to the front desk and finally we were given instructions to log in as if we'd just been given a free code rather than logging in as members that did work. I used the internet connection to voice my displeasure of the service to both Hilton Honors Facebook page and the Facebook page of the hotel itself via Facebook Messenger. By the end of the evening, Hilton Honors had replied to say that they've located our booking, confirmed that we should have been recognized as members, and that they'd been in contact with the hotel's manager about my report.

After not having anything to eat since my pancake crumbles at breakfast, we elected to freshen up and use the hotel's (and it's neighbor the Universal Studios Sheraton) shuttle that runs every 15-20 minutes between the hotels and Universal City Walk. City Walk is basically like an outdoor strip mall in that you walk in the outdoors and have the choice of visiting multiple stores from the average shoe store to actual Universal Studios merchandise shops. There is a second level with more of the fast food style eateries and several sit down but casual dining restaurants on the main street level. Each nicer restaurant we passed as we walked through the main level said they had anywhere from a 40-60 minute wait which was understandable and expected given how crowded it was just to walk through the area. Dad had heard about a “country/cowboy” themed restaurant that ended up being literally at the end of City Walk. However, since it was a couple weeks before Halloween, Universal was hosting their Halloween Horror Nights festivities that you would have had to buy separate tickets for. They organized the collection of the extra tickets by blocking off this large wide stretch between where the first big clump of businesses end and the space surrounding the big Universal Studios globe and fountain sits a short normal walk from the door of this cowboy restaurant.

We had to ask several employees and security guards in turn about being able to get to the restaurant without having to go through the security/ticket lines and makeshift haunted house setup and were directed over and over to keep walking around the far perimeter that lined the parking lot. We finally made it to the Saddle Ranch Chop House and found another line at the entrance to the semi outdoor bar and open to the elements mechanical bull pit. We watched a few people reach the front and head in to a line outside the main restaurant that was now stretching around the bull pit. A handful of people decided to walk away after reaching the front of the line.

The group ahead of us just wanted to drink so they were told to go right to the bar. We finally made it to the front, asked about the dinner wait, and having literally reached the end of the road, decided to join the line snaking out the front door. We were waiting in line long enough to see a couple people ride the mechanical bull. Finally we made it up to the hostess podium inside and they were so busy, the hostess explained that she would break management's rule about leaving the podium to show us to our table since it was this table up on a riser in the front corner in full view of the podium. Took us a while of waiting to place our order but finally we decided to try what's billed on the menu as the Monster Platter appetizer. It was basically a large tray that had essentially three of each style appetizer (chicken wings, bbq ribs, and sliders) plus a small mound of onion rings and sweet potato fries.

When the waitress returned with drink refills, we finally asked her what each sauce was and it turns out we'd been partaking of blue cheese, chipotle mayo, ranch, and the most off the wall of all, marshmallow! I remember thinking how that last one smelled like powdered sugar but it was great with the sweet potato fries, until I actually knew what it was. I know marshmallow and sweet potato casserole usually go together but something about knowing it was marshmallow messed with my head. We were stuffed leaving behind only a small pile of fries and declined dessert though it was fun watching the nearby table get served the “Cotton Candy Tower” dessert with a candle in the top for a child's birthday. It was big enough for the table to all enjoy.

Blurry phone pic - that's a sweet potato fry in the marshmallow sauce:

We made our way back around the marked off barricades, by now what we thought was mist being blown over from the fountain, turned out to be light rain as we moved back into the area with stores closer to the entrance. Boarded the shuttle to head back to the hotel (they have a handy countdown timer on the lamppost showing when the next shuttle is due), and stopped into the gift shop completely inside the hotel just off the front desk for some in room snacks. The sole employee working the shop chatted with us about whether we attended the Horror Nights portion and revealed that he can't go to the event anymore because he's a former boxer and instinctively punched a guy that jumped out as part of the haunted house setup. Dad tried to hand over his room key card to charge the items but the guy said they aren't part of the hotel and we'd have to pay directly for our purchases. Found it odd that a shop completely within the hotel, only accessible by walking inside and past the front desk, would not be affiliated with the hotel.

Once back in our room for the evening, we discovered that the hotel manager Kevin had called our room phone and left a message explaining that he had heard about our horrible check in and welcomed us coming to see/talk to him about it. Even though we'd just missed his call, he added in his message that he'd only be on duty for another 30 minutes but hoped we could chat tomorrow. By then, we were too tired to deal with it tonight and instead chose to wind down relaxing in the room before bed as tomorrow was another early morning.

Fantastic pictures so far.....:):):)

Bob

I'm really enjoying your review. Your descriptions are exceptionally good. I feel like I'm traveling with you. The pictures are great. You had beautiful weather. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Forums mobile app

Excellent photos and commentary. Looking forward to more.

The main reason we switched hotels for the latter half of our Los Angeles experience was so we would be close by the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park. We're not really big theme park people so thankfully we have the means to plan ahead and arrange for ways to avoid lines and crowds. We purchased the VIP experience package for today and it was essentially an all day experience so it was an early morning for us. Once again using the hotel provided shuttle, we discovered that to get to the theme park you actually have to walk through City Walk again. The difference between last night and this morning as far as crowds go was well, like night and day. I joked with Dad about how we could have solved our restaurant crowding lines and long waits by having our dinner now for breakfast.

I know this is in reference to a car but I found it fitting:

It's so crowded this morning!

We followed the City Walk signage until arriving at the ticket lines we'd originally had to walk way around the night before. I think there were separate ticket lines for the VIP program to go through or perhaps it was that we'd already had our printed voucher and didn't have to wait in line to purchase. We did have to send my camera through an Xray machine and walk through a metal detector but it took all of 5 minutes and great practice for the ship's security. Once inside the actual park it was easy to find the podium marked for people to check in to for the VIP experience.

A quick moment to assure the woman working at the podium that we didn't need to park our own car and a verification of our paperwork and she led us inside to the next available counter agent who officially checked us in and handed over our fancy badges on lanyards. We were directed up a small staircase which led to a small continental style breakfast buffet, restrooms, and a moderately large lounge space with couches, a TV, and several small dining tables. I'm thankful that they split up the gathered group into smaller groups with multiple guides, our guide was Heather, as the couches were immediately taken over by a large group of kids who were there today for someone's birthday party. These program tickets were expensive for two people, I can't imagine bringing 6-10 of your child's friends.

The buffet with the exception of “add hot water” style oatmeal cups and some hard boiled eggs was basically pastries with juice or coffee.

They did offer bottled water for both now and to carry inside the park as well as the chance to use Wi-Fi and charge your devices. I tried to use the Wi-Fi while within the park and to log in they wanted you to supply your email for “Universal Studios and Xfinity marketing purposes” so I just waited until we'd returned to the hotel to share my experiences on social media. It might have been that you would have had to use it while inside the VIP room directly.

We did, in fact, need these stinkin' badges:

I found it funny that it was the VIP logo on a sign for "Regular" coffee:

Our view from the VIP lounge - our restaurant from Saturday night can be seen in the distance. This place really is tucked away, never would have known we walked right past it the night before.

As we dined, Heather moved along to each family/friend group to introduce herself, explain about the groups breaking up and how we'd be heading out in about 20 minutes, and took the time to chat about what we're specifically hoping to visit. I wish I'd had the chance to take a picture of the ladies' restroom as it was made up like an old time Hollywood starlet's dressing room that just happened to have a toilet in the corner. Just as I was finishing up using the bathroom though, the gaggle of children all had been sent to “use the facilities before we leave the house” and I soon had loud tiny voices and doorknob jiggling threatening to bust in on me.

We noticed that they seemed to be corralling groups back by the stairs so we ventured back out of the lounge area and ended up meeting some couples that had traveled all the way from Australia and New Zealand to visit the park. Heather soon gathered the rest of her group to join us and explained that as part of the “experience” we'd be doing the behind the scenes studio tour after lunch. For the morning, she would be escorting us through the park's various rides basically like a grade school field trip with the exception of being led in a sort of back entrance to skip the line. We still had to wait for the next available running of the ride but we didn't have to wait our turn like everyone else with general admission tickets. I did notice during the day that some people had bought what's known as “Front of the Line” passes that had the same effect but they didn't get the personal guide and breakfast/lunch in comfort and included. Two of our favorite phrases – in comfort and included in the price. I was a little surprised though at how our program was run in that I expected more of a “here's the badges that let you skip the lines, go have fun.” Instead it was a coordinated schedule of which rides our whole group was taken to at which times right down to each guide getting updates on their phones alerting them to whether an upcoming ride is really busy or if a schedule change needed to be made on the spot. Honestly, I'm not a big rides person so I think I would have preferred my original idea of how the program would work. With this schedule, if you wanted to do a ride again or simply spend more time in an area of the park you had to wait until the main VIP program was over and do it in the time before the park closed for the evening.

Our guide Heather using her little ball on a stick so we could "see her short self at the front of the group."

The sky was a little overcast and did sprinkle rain as we started walking to our first attraction. Our first ride was The Simpsons Ride and Heather described it as “not like a roller coaster because you stay in a car but it rocks you a bit to go with the motions of the video on the screen. Okay Heather, so like one of those IMAX theaters where they sometimes rock your seats and sometimes will blow fans or spritz water, this doesn't sound too bad. We were led into the VIP entrance but still had a bit of a wait before they let us in. One of the people in our group had his leg in a cast and was pushed in a wheelchair by relatives the whole tour but he was still able to ride most of the rides. We were at the end of our group's line so when they split everyone up into about 6 small rooms to view the Simpsons episode themed safety video and backstory, we got paired with a couple guys traveling with their kids. Once they let us inside the room with the car, the staff working the ride wanted at least 4 people to each row so we shared the back row with the kids. There were protrusions in the row for people to use as individual seats with the bar coming over your lap being anchored by poles that fall between your legs. Dad asked me to try and scoot over farther toward the end to give him some space between him and the kids but to do that I had to lean my upper body toward the end and keep my legs where they should have been. This ride is very realistic, including a scene in the video where the Simpsons are being chased while riding a roller coaster, so we were jerked up and down, back and forth, side to side, you name it. And of course each time I was being rocked back against the partition edge since I couldn't sit straight upright. I think there was the opportunity to view yourselves during the ride in pictures but we just went right back to join Heather who was waiting for everyone in her group to finish.