A grand california coastal totally self-indulgent long day by day review

[notentirelynormal]

What a pleasure to read a review where one doesn't complain about everything but sees everything as a fun, enjoyable adventure.

[greenie082756]

I find your review most refreshing and entertaining. Please continue with the photographs as well. Thank you for the effort this takes.:D

[bluenoser2]

Thanks, Tom - most of the pics were my husband's with his new little Canon toy. Some were from my iphone on the days when he forgot to charge his camera!

 

I don't know who the current cd is - but I'm sure someone reading does! Someone ALWAYS knows.

[bluenoser2]

Awake at 2:30, I enjoyed the silence and gentle motion of the ship, but must have dozed off again, only to be awakened at 5:15 by DH who got up for his early morning constitutional – he goes for walks at 6:00 a.m. at home, so why not go for a walk, in the dark, on the Promenade at that ungodly hour? I did not envy him, as many parts of it were blocked off for maintenance then – after all, who in their right mind goes for a stroll at that time of day/night?

 

 

We had breakfast in the dining room at the stroke of 7:00 a.m. with stomachs growling and ready for lunch! Oh the irony....DH had the MAINE blueberry pancakes – do we not have a freezer full of our own Nova Scotia wild blueberries? We live less than 10 miles from the blueberry capital of the world, but he crosses the continent to have Maine blueberry pancakes! I had a mushroom omelet and a whole lot of tea. There was an extremely rude guest that I mercifully had my back towards, making quite a ruckus in the dining room, and when we left, the head waiter apologized to us profusely – as if it was his fault? It was the most excitement I had seen (well, heard to be correct) on a Princess ship by a cruiser!

 

 

I chose daylight to do my mile on the Promenade deck (that’s 3 times around for anyone who doesn't know – it took me 2 ½ laps to find the signage that told me that....but that’s just me “discovering” things over and over again.... and it was lovely and warm, and not even terribly breezy as I would have expected. Must have been those black pants again, guaranteeing warm weather.

 

 

 

 

 

DH was doing some work in the room (I can hear your shocked gasps...let it go...) so I scored some points by ironing his shirts for him, and then took my leisure reading down to the Piazza to give him some space and peace, and enjoyed some people-watching while I sat. To stave off the temptation of bothering DH more, I went and collected all the stamps for his and my treasure hunt cards, and entered the raffle. I also discovered a new favourite at the International Cafe – the granola yogurt parfait. Mmmmmmm. Yummmmmm.

 

 

 

Where was I before the ADD kicked in? Oh yes.....after awhile we planned to meet, but I couldn’t find him – turned out he had been in another corner of the piazza deck and had seen me the whole time until I disappeared (looking for him). Once again, his impeccable spouse radar located me and we went to check out the $10 sale. I don’t even know why we bother with this, except to watch how many people love to spend money! We left the room no richer or poorer. I must say though, if I needed a formal clutch that would be the place to find one! In any colour or shape. We spent our money on the traditional and compulsory ship magnet and a sweater for me, who, no matter how many times I try to remind myself, never bring one from home, thinking – oh, the ship isn’t THAT cold inside....it is. I needed one. Souvenir for me - check.

 

 

We passed on the pub lunch in the Crown Grille, and the dining room fare and trotted up to the Trident Grill for some sustenance. And then, to cap off the lunch perfectly, I had.....drum-roll please....rice pudding. Sigh. I never get to make it at home - no one else likes it. This was yummy. For any of you who are actually still reading this, I’m sure you’re thinking, “wow, that lady is one wild and crazy Canuck”. Yup. That’s me. Party on.

 

 

So we went for the raffle draw, and as they drew for a men’s shave (I looked at DH’s full beard....), and other gift certificates, DH murmured “I’m holding out for the big one” to which I guffawed. And then, there it was, the $500 piece of art – and he was the winner, almost looking embarrassed as he went to collect it. (It was a Billy Dee Williams lithograph- it’ll look good in the music room. Souvenir for DH – check.)

 

We spent some time by the pool in the warm sun, with the cool breeze. Sun? Lovely. Sunburn? Not so much. Ouch. We did another mile on the promenade – much breezier this time, but still able to do the whole circuit, and then getting ready for formal night, and going to the theatre for the gold and ruby member’s presentation to get our free drink voucher (which we later forgot to use).

 

 

LOVED these guys!

 

 

Well, wanting to get that elusive table for 2, DH made sure we were in the line with the other starving souls by 5:00, many who were complaining that the dining room should be open already (I’m sure it said 5:30 in the Patter every day for opening, but people had decided it was 5:00 – and actually, they did open it shortly after 5. We got our table, having earlier realized that at least on this cruise, tables for 2 cannot be reserved – I still don’t quite get that whole reserving thing, but we were told that tables for 2 were on a first come first serve basis. So we first came.

 

 

A lovely meal, complete with my barramundi – with ASPARAGUS!!! Yay. In my third unsuccessful attempt to get the right kind of tea for dessert, I requested orange pekoe, and was given orange spice herbal tea with my chocolate peanut butter pie. It was actually a lovely pairing that I never would have chosen myself. The next day I learned the secret word “LIPTON” for my tea. Live and learn.

 

 

We watched the champagne waterfall and headed off to the theatre for “Stardust” where the orchestra was considerably better than they had been for the Gold –Ruby presentation earlier. Then we hoofed it to the other end of the ship for the Vista Lounge and our gently lulling magician, who we were able to enjoy more this evening as the time difference began to have less effect on us. After all that work out of chuckling and sauntering from one end of the ship to the other, it was obviously time for pizza, pop, and bed. (Sorry, that should have read soda for most of you.)

 

 

 

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

what a pleasure to read a review where one doesn't complain about everything but sees everything as a fun, enjoyable adventure.

 

like!

 

This review is so much fun...thank you!!

Edited October 12, 2013 by sunsetbeachgal

[sjcivilady]

What a pleasure to read a review where one doesn't complain about everything but sees everything as a fun, enjoyable adventure.

Where's the "like" button.

[lovevacadays]

I am really enjoying reading your review and looking forward to more.

[bluenoser2]

Up before the sun, as usual, DH walked, while I cocooned and wrote. We watched the approach into Santa Barbara from our balcony, and enjoyed listening to the buoy bell and the sea lions (or seals?) barking from their perch on it. I honestly think that if there is anyone in a bad mood on board, (and why anyone would be in a bad mood whilst on vacation on a cruise is unfathomable to me!) just listening to those animals has got to crack a smile on even the grumpiest soul’s face. Wouldn’t it?

 

 

 

Dining room for breakfast where I indulged in my second Chocolate Danish of the cruise. Do the servers just automatically start reaching for the chocolate when their target is a woman? Mine did, while he started pointing to a fruit Danish for DH.

 

 

 

By 8:00 we were ready to go, so after checking in with the crew in the dining room as we were instructed to, they directed us to just join the tour group that was heading for the tender at that point. So we tried to blend in with the bunch, though our absence of the bright oval sticker made us fairly conspicuous I’m sure. By 8:40 we were safely on land, after enjoying the luxurious seating aboard the tender. (Some of the passengers needed to listen to some sea lions I think.)

 

 

 

 

We quickly separated from the masses, and strolled along the beach area. It was a beautiful day and already warm, albeit a bit foggy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We checked out Stearns Wharf and asked about the HOHO trolley tour. According to our source, it really wasn't a HOHO on a busy day with the cruise ship in and all. We were advised to stay on it, or we might not get BACK on it. We stood in line for 20 minutes, and as the trolley pulled up, were reasonably sure we wouldn't get on, and if we did, we wouldn't be very comfortable, and we certainly didn't want to wait another hour for the next trolley, so we gave up our enviable spot in line to others, and trekked out on our own. We weren't disappointed, but we did miss the mission stop. We walked instead, up through Old Town, and really enjoyed our time in the Court House, overlooking the city from the tower look-out (up 144 steps according to the information man – we didn't bother to check his facts since we got distracted and lost count after the twelfth step).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost missing the McDonalds because of the unusually classy looking exterior (well, classy looking in comparison to what we’re used to) we were happy to go use some free WiFi there and have our bottomless large Coke there. We can make a buck go pretty far (and get really excited about it as you can see). 3 hat stores, a Macy’s and two jewellry stores later, we hiked back to the ship to enjoy a late lunch and some pool time for DH. My face was still screaming “indoors!” from the sun of yesterday, so I retreated to my favourite little table in the Piazza.

 

 

It’s all about the free entertainment – this afternoon it was when the servers came out and announced “It’s Cookies and Milk Time” – and crowds of adults surrounded them quickly, emptying their trays of the fresh chocolate chip cookies. Some things we just never grow too old for, do we? (I chose to continue reading and later when they approached, I oh-so-reluctantly allowed them to bestow a cookie upon me.)

 

 

 

Tonight’s dinner in the dining room might as well have been titled My Favourite Princess Dinner, since we both had the fettucine as an app, and I had the Ceasar Salad, and after Surf and Turf, DH chose the cheesecake, and I the Princess Loveboat Dream. No complaints here.

 

 

 

And tonight’s featured evening entertainment.....the Photo Gallery. We had a good laugh over our pathetic presence in some of the photos in the collection and felt quite liberated to know we would not be losing any money to this area of the ship. (As must have been the case for a few others we saw....they were more tempting to purchase than our own!) However, I must say we had no problem staying awake and had plenty of laughs when we went to see Kevin Hughes, the comedian later in the evening.

 

 

 

Eating as we do in the dining room each evening, we decided to go and see what the dessert area looked like up in Horizon Court. We had been missing out! The cakes look so pretty displayed there in their whole state, that we just HAD to sample a couple of them. (No pizza for us tonight.)

 

 

In bed by 10:00, asleep by 10:01.

[Liz54]

Reading your review from Chester Basin where we spend half our year! Just LOVING it!!

[bluenoser2]

Well howdy neighbour Liz54! We used to live in Shad Bay close to Peggy's Cove! Glad you're enjoying the review. I'll have the next instalment up after I get back to my computer and the turkey is roasting tomorrow morning!

[koolforkatz]

Great review - love your attitude! I lived in Truro when I was a kid and well remember Nova Scotia wild blueberries. Yum, yum.....

[Host Jazzbeau]

Well howdy neighbour Liz54! We used to live in Shad Bay close to Peggy's Cove! Glad you're enjoying the review. I'll have the next instalment up after I get back to my computer and the turkey is roasting tomorrow morning!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

[JSWalk]

Marla,

 

I am so enjoying your review. Enjoy your Thanksgiving and keep the review coming.

[bluenoser2]

Zoo day! (I’m not referring to any passengers, so don’t get your dander all in a knot.) I took a break from chocolate Danish this morning, and tried to be a little more virtuous about my dietary selection. Not. DH, the one who prefers his meat charred beyond recognition, and fully well done, should have known better than to order something entitled “minute steak”.

 

 

 

The day started foggy, but quickly cleared and was a good 80 degrees and then some. We got a taxi and went to the zoo for the day. If you do this, I would advise you to get to the zoo just before it opens – one of my favourite parts of the day was being there as they finished their little welcome to the San Diego Zoo speech, and then directed us to look to our right, where a gaggle? flock?......bunch of birds did an impressive flyby. Nice touch. We did the tour by bus after checking out the orangutans. Even though we didn’t get the first bus, the next was right behind and we were on that after an entertaining wait in line thanks to Zooman, the staffer who must either REALLY love his job, or is an amazing actor! The 40 minute tour took us all around the zoo, and then we were able to decide where we wanted to trek to. Despite our best intentions of doing the Australian and African areas when it was cooler in the morning, we got a bit turned around and ended up doing the rain forest/jungle areas in the cool of the morning. Our bad. Despite the recalcitrant guerillas and the somewhat comatose lions, we had a wonderful day. We took the overhead tram both ways – no lineup to get on going DOWN! We spent money at the shop – all for a good cause of course. By 2:00 we were happily exhausted and ready to go back to the ship. Which we did.

 

 

Line up, Line up - the dining room should have been open by now....come on people, line up - there is NO way we're going to get our table if they don't open soon.....what do you mean they're having a waiter's MEETING....make them open those doors!

 

 

 

Should have splurged for Crown Grille. The greens in the buffet just aren't up to much.

 

 

Oh my. What was I thinking? When they said I could have as many appetizers AND desserts as I wanted, I thought I'd have some control. Where's my bed? Never mind. This is good enough.

 

A facial at the spa? What are you getting at Myrtle? Are you saying I LOOK like I need a facial?

 

 

I could do this all day! Could someone unplug me from my slot machine so I can go get more food?

 

 

 

We stopped at the International Cafe for my favourite dish – the chicken cashew waldorf, and a quiche for the DH and took it up to have on our balcony before heading to the pool. There were very few people around, so we enjoyed a couple of good swims and some lounge chair time. Actually, on the whole cruise, it was always easy to get a lounge chair, which was quite a score for us, after our last two Carnival cruises.

 

By now, we were able to get the same table each night and really enjoyed our waiters Dom and Serge. Jeffrey, who had been our waiter in the mornings, and who had the section next to where we were, always came over to check on us as well. I managed to enjoy my supper very much, even though there was no asparagus.

 

In the evening we enjoyed the “Do You Wanna Dance” production – well, I enjoyed it while DH had a little rest in his seat. There were some passengers who complained loudly citing the “seat saving not allowed” policy – one person had just gone to use the restroom and the person who wanted that seat was quite incensed that the seat was being saved. So, apparently one needs a bladder of steel to keep one’s seat? I was a little nervous, considering all the tea I had imbibed. (Perhaps if the sound of seals had been piped in, those coming in at 7:45 for the 7:45 show and not finding a seat, would have been able to deal with it better.)

 

It was Cruise Director Martyn’s birthday, so we all sang Happy Birthday, and he gave a 30 minute stand up routine. Bonus!

[GreySkies]

Love the pictures with the captions on this last post! I can only hope that my next cruise review will be as entertaining for all.

[SterHgts]

Happy Thanksgiving! Great review. Read your other two reviews and enjoyed them too. Looking forward to more.

 

Re soda/pop - most Lower Peninsula Michiganders I know also drink pop, not soda. Can't speak for the UP folks.

[bluenoser2]

OK, remember the DH who likes to get up for his 5:30 a.m. walk in the dark? This morning he tells me that when he got up at 5:30.....wait, I interrupt him at that point, saying that there is no way he got up at 5:30 because I was wide awake playing solitaire on my phone (I know, another wild and crazy move by yours truly) and wondering why he was still asleep. Patiently, he attempts to return to his narrative, saying that he went out on deck and was surprised to meet a few people in the hallways, and then, as he made his way through the ship, wondered why his eyes hurt, he saw it. The clock. The clock said 1:30 a.m. There were still people at the bar. He got up at 1:30 for his morning walk. He completed his route and came back to bed. I was blissfully unaware the whole time. (Turns out that instead of his watch, he looked at his phone which was turned off since we left Canada and the clock was still on Atlantic time.) What did he do to get himself back to sleep? Count ships. Princess ships. Named all 18 and then went to sleep.

 

 

 

Having successfully avoided doing ship’s excursions thus far, we caved today and participated in a bus tour of Los Angeles. This was never Plan A. That was going to Disneyland or Universal Studios, but thinking we wouldn’t have enough time to do either justice, we, as mentioned above, caved. Finding out that the port time had been increased by 5 hours after our arrival on the Grand, we might have reneged on the tour, but we didn’t have a whole lot of brain power at that time to put into replanning Plan A, so Plan B it was. This apparently was the incognito tour – no bright little oval stickers for us. Which was good. When we didn’t want to feel part of a tour. Which was bad. When 2 of the tour participants were late for the rendezvous and no one could remember what they looked like.

 

 

 

 

Our guide Suzanne began by filling us all in on her life story, and I began slipping into my TBS (Tour Bus Syndrome). Which is to say, I dozed through most of her tale, and roused when we started hitting major traffic. (No, not literally hitting the traffic....)

 

 

 

 

 

Some of our most entertaining parts of this day were listening to the other passengers on the bus complain or argue with each other. I believe that finances and in-laws are touted as being the major causes of relationship problems. Air conditioning and camera use must run a close third and fourth. I am still surprised at how irritable people ON VACATION can be! ON VACATION! See, in our situation, DH holds and is responsible for the camera. That means he gets the window seat. His only other responsibility while on the bus is to drag me back out of the aisle should I fall into it when I nod off, to prevent me being a hazard to others. Well, that, and making sure I don’t drool on anyone while sleeping. Or snort too loudly.

 

 

 

 

 

So we stopped at places like Alameda Street, where our Amazing Race quest was to find a restroom, use it and be back at the bus (if it found a place to park) in 20 minutes. Score. We ditched the main group at Hollywood Blvd and did our own gawking, meeting back with the group at precisely the right place and time, and then waiting for 15 minutes for the two missing in action, who did find us eventually. My favorite spot on Hollywood Boulevard was the keyboard staircase which we found quite accidentally and which I happily played on for some time. We drove down Rodeo Drive, Sunset Strip, Route 66 etc. and ended up at the Farmer’s Market for 45 minutes where I ate a monster sized doughnut for my (nutritious) lunch. A slow drive back to the ship returned us just after 3:00.

 

 

 

 

 

oops! How did that get in there? That was for....er....Florence! Yes that's it, big fan, big fan.

 

 

 

Ironman....o.k. I confess, I have pictures of Robert Downey's footprints.....can I claim Florence again?

 

 

 

Hey, just like in our driveway at home....who would have thought? Well, the black part anyway.....

 

 

Now that the ship wasn't leaving until 10:30 p.m. we had lots of time, but not a lot of ambition, so we decided to enjoy some strolling around and in and on the Queen Mary, right next to our ship. After showing our cruise card at the entrance we could just wander around on our own. Various tours were available but since it was getting late in the day by the time we got there, we didn't try any of those. Definitely a fun thing to do – I enjoyed all the celebrity pictures on the walls, and the fashion shop with the old dressing rooms in it.

 

 

 

The donuts were wearing off, so we enjoyed dinner in the dining room as usual – one of my favourites – the twice baked goat cheese soufflé appetizer – ok, put the word soufflé in the title, and I’m obviously going to like it. Some Boston Bibb lettuce to pick out of my teeth all evening, raspberry sorbet and the mains. Scallops for DH, and some Trilogy of meats for me. It was ok. I could have just had more sorbet. By the time we finished our chocolate lover’s delight dessert we had no room for the petit fours being passed around, so we left while we could still move, er, waddle.

 

 

 

(Oh, come on, you know you weren't getting out of here without SOME food pics)

 

 

 

 

Knowing we wouldn’t be able to stay awake for Sailaway at 10:30 we chose the early show in the theatre – a vocal impressionist – followed by a stroll on the Promenade, before retiring to our room for a movie before snooze time.

[bluenoser2]

We spoke too soon about our quiet room at the end of the hall. (Depending on whether you’re a glass half full, or half empty kind of person we’re the very first or the very last room in the hall.) Our neighbors decided to have a little get together at 2:30 a.m. Someone must have complained before we even had a chance to think of it (is it our Canadian-ness that makes us not even THINK of calling to complain?) because they seemed to shut down very abruptly.

 

(the looking up view from our balcony)

 

 

 

 

No matter, it was Eggs Benedict in the dining room this morning and they served it with asparagus. Heaven. As we neared port, the seals or sea lions (I do know the difference if I can see them, but I couldn't see these close enough to tell) were having a fine time and of course, making me smile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to check out the main street of Ensenada in the morning. Of course, we were there so early, the shopkeepers were still opening up. I don’t know what it’s like later on in the day with more shoppers and keepers, but it was pretty funny to us at this point in the day:

“Turn RIGHT –HERE!”

“Come in! You never know......”

“It’s my turn! Come in here now!”

“Everything! Almost free!”

“This is my life work. I made these.” (and all the others in all the other stores that are the same?)

“Who knows?......”

And our favourite: “Come buy things you don’t need! Make my day! Then I can go home early today!”

 

 

(what men take pictures of....)

 

 

 

 

We managed to walk both sides of the street a couple of times, and still made it back to the ship without buying more than a magnet. Earlier I had tried to use the coin Laundromat on our deck, but a sign posted said “unavailable until further notice”. This is not a sign one wants to see when one packs just enough to get to that certain point in the trip where one can do more laundry and start over the clothes cycle. Happily, the sign was gone upon our return, and we were able to get that task done while others were buying in Ensenada.

 

 

 

Burgers at the Trident for lunch before going on our (ship) tour in the afternoon. Our tour guide Irma (or EEEEErmah as she pronounced it) was very good. In spite of the fact that the bus ride clocked less mileage than we had on foot in the morning, I still managed to nap immediately upon movement and the sound of the guide. Maybe I’m just a selective narcoleptic. Our only stop was the Convention Centre. I had heard less than stellar reviews of this tour before we went, so my expectations were pretty low. However, given that I don’t get out much, I really enjoyed the time spent there. We don’t have a lot of mariachi bands in our Nova Scotia town, so it was a lot of fun to listen to them and the program with the dancers was really well done – about an hour’s worth of various dances and singing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were “home” by 4:40 and did a very quick change for formal night – it was after all, lobster night. DH was as happy as a clam (ironically), with all the seafood he could have tonight. I had decided today that I have actually had enough seafood and eggs to do me for awhile, and chose my favourite Beef Wellington instead. (With asparagus, in case anyone’s counting) A quick glance at the dessert menu was all I needed to secure chocolate hazelnut soufflé for dessert. Dom brought more little treats to choose from after that, which we didn’t say no to.

 

 

(Anyone know what this one is called?)

 

 

 

 

On this cruise, after the first production night when people were struggling to get seats, they put on 3 shows in the theatre each night for the production presentations. So we went to the early show of “British Invasion” and I enjoyed it, and DH actually stayed awake for it – which is to say he enjoyed it as well. We strolled, and hit the Vista Lounge for the Impressionist who did a decent Louis Armstrong and BeeGees tonight. Party-ers that we are, we ended the evening with pizza AND dessert from the Lido and took it to our room, to try and nab a few winks before any partying began in the room beside us later on.

 

[bluenoser2]

 

 

So it was that after being awakened at 3:15 a.m. by our oh-so-fun neighbours, we began our last day on the cruise. (Cue chorus of muffled sobs and sighs.) Our neighbours’ fun sounds seemed to turn into something a little less fun sounding as the rocking and rolling of the sea became more evident! That quieted them down fairly quickly and we returned to our sleep.

 

 

 

In the morning we opted for the buffet for breakfast since we hadn’t tried this before, and enjoyed the fare there. Lots of choice, and lots of room – we actually never had a problem finding a place to sit in Horizon Court. Perhaps we don’t choose rush hour times, but it was all very civilized and yes, we ALWAYS used the hand sanitizer. We tried to read down in the Piazza to enable Roger to do his work in our room, but it got pretty loud after awhile, so we decided to check out the sale in Michelangelo, which is really no sale – just the same stuff from the $10 and some of the same things from outside the shops at the same prices. We were not fooled into buying. We are savvy. Trying to find a quieter spot, we headed for the library so I could finish my ship’s library book, and have my last granola parfait. DH was so wonderful to run up to Horizon for a cup of tea for me (since I learned you can’t get that at International Cafe, and after finally getting the kind of tea I wanted, I was willing to stick with it and not buy anything fancy). The crowd from the cooking demo filed through at one point, just as the ship lurched a bit and they scored bonus points for all exclaiming “ooooooooooh!!!” in unison. I was impressed. They must have rehearsed.

 

 

 

No cruise, even a Princess cruise would be complete without the obligatory towel animal constructing demonstration. Florence was impressed.

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, it was a rough day – I don’t have enough cruising under my belt to be able to compare, I can only say that it was “up there” with the best of them (or the worst, depending on your outlook). The sick-bags came out a little later in the day, so it must have been worthy of mention. DH went out on the promenade for pictures before it was totally blocked off to passengers, while I chose to stay indoors. We really enjoyed standing up on deck 15 and watching the surf in the pools, which of course were not available for swimming. I wonder what it would be like to be in the pool when it’s like that. Some of the spray reached the 15th deck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We attended most of the Kevin Hughes “50 minutes to a better brain” lecture after lunch – it was actually very good – he’s still funny, but actually very knowledgeable and a great motivational speaker.

 

Later in the afternoon, we had to admit that it was time to start packing our worldly goods back into the suitcases. This sounds like it would be easy, but with the swells, we started to understand the difference in being on deck 10 as far forward as one could be, and being on deck 5 in the middle! Pack a little, lie down a little, pack a little, and lie down a little more. Not our most efficient packing time, no prizes for speed here. DH started to feel lousy – amazingly, I did not!

 

 

 

 

We got our suitcases out in the hall and headed down to the 5th deck to try to get him to feel a little better before supper. We ate a little lighter (ha!) that night, and he ordered meatloaf – but it came pretty pink, so he left it all, and ate all his mashed potatoes instead. We stayed low for awhile after dinner to listen to the quartet in the piazza, and to avoid our room a little longer. However, we did go back, deciding to forego any entertainment this evening, and he used up the last of our internet minutes, while I watched The Proposal (my traditional Princess movie). Fortunately, our bags hadn’t been taken yet, and I was able to dig out my Gravol for him. I got him some cookies from Horizon later to have with his pop/soda and we called it a day.

[MauiLvrs]

Day 7 ... we leave in 2... :D

Awesome timing!

Thanks for the great review.

[beckntom]

Really enjoyed your review, Marla! Glad we were at the aft on Emerald for all that rockin' and rollin' on the last day! We suffered somewhat but nothing like friends in their cabin on Baja. I was amazed at how many were out and about all over the ship, even sunbathing on Lido deck. I guess it's all about the cruise experience, smooth sailing or not. :D

Edited October 17, 2013 by beckntom

[bluenoser2]

Yes! We were some of those out and about - it was just that lousy packing and having to get ready to end the cruise that made one of us woozy I think! Other than that one afternoon we loved where our room was though. Sorry we didn't get a chance to meet! Perhaps next time.

[lovevacadays]

I loved reading your thread. So fun!:) I live in Southern California so have been to Santa Barbara many times but not in many years. Your pictures made me want to take a weekend trip up there and explore again.:)

[bluenoser2]

Time to wrap this baby up....here goes!

 

 

As our capable Captain had predicted, we were sailing under the Golden Gate again on our return at 5:30 a.m. We were on our balcony for that and then to deck 15 to see the skyline, which if it’s alright with you, I find much prettier in the daytime.

 

 

 

Then to the buffet our last meal......(sniffle, choking back sobs....).....by this time, I actually think I’ve tried all I want to try and after having my last chocolate Danish, and DH having his last yummy fresh pineapple slice, we’re kind of sort of well maybe not really mentally ready for the departure from the ship.

 

 

It was wonderful to not hear the creaking and bumping and rocking and rolling of the ship anymore as we did all the night previous. And I’m not complaining, I’m just sayin’......it was a really bumpy night, and I was happy to be snug as a bug in a rug in my bed during the worst of it.

 

 

 

 

 

We endured the last of the line-ups, this one for immigration before leaving, which was fine – lots of visiting others while we waited, and we got out of our room like good little passengers, before 8:00. We were in an 8:40 group for leaving; deciding against the walk-off option carrying all our luggage, as we had NOT used the elevators all week, and we were not about to start on the last morning – and we really didn’t feel like dragging all our luggage down all those stairs....so , um, deal with it – that’s how we roll! Literally. At this point, we’re kind of waddling, but rolling our luggage. We disembarked, and by the way, I think it’s right nice of them to keep that little bingy sound thingy on their hand-held scanners that we always liked to hear when we used to insert our card into the big machine ourselves. They don’t call these guys the Consummate host for nothin’!

 

 

 

We walked, yeah walked, to the Hertz rental car place which was only about 5 blocks – and not uphill – and after a very long wait in line, got our rental by 10. Our plan had been to go to Muir Woods for the day since our flight wouldn’t be leaving until 10 pm, but what with the government shut down and all, the park wasn’t open. Undeterred, we drove to the Golden Gate Park and enjoyed strolling around through it, before getting to drive over the Golden Gate that we had passed under and taken pictures of from every possible vantage point – though we found a few more ways to photograph it before the day was done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then, and then, we decided to try driving up the #1 – the Panoramic Highway I think it’s called? So after a lovely lunch in Sausalito at El Patio, we were on the road again. Today was my day to feel motion sickness – as beautiful as the drive was (or so I’m told) I did not feel well with all of that, and it did not make me feel much better to know that DH was making himself sick with his own driving! Beautiful trees, yes, but we thought it would never end. When we got to a crossroads of sort, I was asked “what would you like to do?” “GO BACK!!!!” “On THAT road again? No way!”

 

 

 

So we got to the main highway and got ourselves back to San Francisco – one last time over that bridge, and spent an enjoyable couple of hours back downtown at the mall and a few places around it, gathering the necessary clothing souvenirs that our daughters would expect (and for which we scored major points on our return!).

 

 

 

And with that, our vacation was officially over. To the airport, and after a long red-eye flight, we arrived back in our cozy little home shortly after noon the next day. Florence, for those of you still hanging on to the bitter end, was none too happy with us, as we unwittingly and thoughtlessly kept forgetting to take her with us when we left the ship. However, she is waiting and working on choosing her wardrobe for our next adventure. Florence bids you all adieu, and will return next summer with her review of the Scandanavia/Russia cruise we are ALL (yes, all 5 of us – sorry, 6 including her) doing on the Royal. Now, what color bow to choose........or maybe a hat would be more appropriate......

 

 

 

Cheers! From Florence, with love.

 

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[trbarton]

Thanks for your review and photos. I been on the Grand 3 times, on a May cruise to Alaska plus 2 BVE's. I live in SF so enjoy your photos and review.

 

Tom:)