Saturday November 21, 2015 At Sea Between Los Angeles, CA and Cabo San Lucas, CS, BMX

We slept in this morning and with the time change it was really late when we got up and around.  We had our coffee and juice in the cabin and later went for the British Pub lunch in the Crown Grill.  We both had the fish and chips.  They were most unsatisfactory, the breading was soggy and the food was barley warm.  One waitress said the breading was always soggy another said it was because we came near the end of the serving time.

We sat in the piazza for a while listening to a Mexican string trio and had coffee.  I was still tired so I went to the cabin for a quick nap.  At 4 we went to deck 16 to see a game called Closest to the Pin.  We never found the game.  We sat on deck 14 at the rear of the ship until time to clean up for dinner.  Tonight was formal night.  We got dressed before going to hors d’oeuvres,

At about 5:45 we went to the Skywalker for hors d’oeuvres, today’s feature was Steak Tartar, we passed on that.  We did sit with Bob and Gloria who we had met before.  We had planned to go to the Vista Lounge to see a magician at 7.  We talked to Bob and Gloria until about 7:20 and then went and saw the end of the show.

Dinner was at our regular time.  All our table mates were present.  We didn’t go to the main show tonight.  We did stop by Crooners but the piano player was on a break.  We went to our cabin and retired about 11.

Friday November 20, 2015 At Sea Between Los Angeles, CA and Cabo San Lucas, MX

Thursday November 19, 2015 At Sea Between Ensenada, MX and Los Angeles, CA

Carnival Inspiration also in port

We were in port at Ensenada when we woke up.  There was a haze over much of the southern part of the city.  We ordered our coffee and breakfast from room service.  We lingered over our coffee.

Welcome to Ensenada

Gerri decided to stay on board and hang out around the pool area.  I went ashore to hunt a cache.  The closest cache was .3 mile away an earthcache, like I said before any port in a storm.  In this case any cache will do.  After I got the information required for the earthcache, I decided to walk the .2 miles to the next closest traditional cache.  I got near the cache and found it was very crowded.  There was a display and bleachers set up for an off road race.  There were people and vehicles everywhere.  GZ was in the crowd, so I didn’t even try for the cache.

Looking aft

I met Gerri in the pool area.  She had already eaten a pizza slice.  She got me two slices, one plain cheese and one Mexican style.  The jalapenos on the Mexican pizza were so hot I was glad to have the cheese pizza to go with them.  Gerri went up to the sun deck, 15, and I walked around the ship hoping to get some pictures. I didn’t have much luck.  The haze, probably dust from the races, had dissipated but the sun direction was wrong for good pictures of the city.

City view, kinda south

City view with marina

We returned to our cabin and got cleaned up before going to the Skywalker Lounge for the daily hors d’oeuvres.  The feature today was one of my favorites, herb marinated goat cheese with rosemary flatbread.  They also had tomato bruschetta.

We went the Vista Lounge and saw a floor show, Words and music.  When we have gone to these shows in the Vista Lounge we have sat at some table near the entrance.  That puts us pretty far back from the performers but has the added attraction of watching other people sitting in the area shooing away late comers who block the view of the stage.

We had dinner at our regular time.  Our table was full again.  Gerri and I had the mussels as an entrée.  They weren’t served in a broth like we are used to.  It wasn’t a large portion but since we had pizza earlier and then hors d’oeuvres we were satisfied.  Of course we had dessert, me New York Cheese cake and Gerri Apple Pie with vanilla ice cream.

After dinner we went to the Princess Theater and watched a juggling act by David Aiken.  When we got to our cabin we had mail that informed us that when we arrive in LA we have to go through customs and re board the ship.  There went our plans of sleeping in.

While we were in the Skywalker for hors d’oeuvres the ship sailed out of the harbor.  Goodbye Ensenada, next stop LA and our next cruise.  The 4 day cruise didn’t allow time for some of the activities we are used to.  Like the captain’s meeting with the Captain’s Circle members and our shout out for other geocachers.  We will soon see what a 5 day cruise entails.

Wednesday November 18, 2015 At Sea Between Avalon, CA and Ensenada, MX

We slept in this morning and didn’t order our breakfast or coffee from room service.  Instead we opted to go to the International Café for soup and sandwiches.  Gerri had a tuna sandwich and I had a Cuban Press with a bowl of Albondigas soup.  The soup was good, but somehow they missed the meatballs when they scooped it.

After eating we went to the art auction.  Gerri stayed for the entire auction while I went back to our cabin.  Later, Gerri took the camera and went to deck 15 in hope of getting some good sunset pictures.  We are on the port side of the ship so the sunset can’t be seen from our balcony. She got a good sequence of the sun setting into the ocean.

After resting for awhile we went to the Skywalker for the hors d’oeuvres.  The feature today was smoked salmon and toast tips.  We stayed at the Skywalker until about 6:30.  Gerri went to the art gallery to pick out a frame for what she had bought at the auction.  I went to the Vista Lounge to get us seats for another performance by the comedian Miguel Washington.

Dinner was at our regular time.  Only one other couple came tonight.  After eating we went to the explorers lounge and watched a game show called Liars Club.  The players were members of the cruise director’s staff.  They were given a word and each defined it, usually a funny story.  After the definitions the audience voted on who was telling the truth.

After the Liars Club we went to Crooners Lounge and listened to the piano player until he took his break.  The atrium area was set up for a balloon drop with a crowd dancing below in the piazza below.  The balloon drop has been a feature of the Princess Cruise Lines 50^th Anniversary celebration.  We didn’t stay for the midnight drop.

Back at our cabin we were in bed by before 11:30.

Tuesday November 17, 2015 At Sea Between Santa Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico

We got up around 8:30 and ordered our coffee and breakfast from room service.  While we had our coffee I caught upon computer stuff.  We were anchored off Catalina Island so our MiFi worked. Tomorrow we will have to use the ship’s internet.

Gerri decided to stay onboard and lounge in the pool area. 

I opted to take the tender to Avalon and see if I could find some geocaches. 

The weather was cool but comfortable.  I had downloaded 10 caches near the harbor at Avalon.  

After reading the information I narrowed my choices down to one earthcache.  I had to walk from the landing area over to and out onto the pier.  Most of the information to claim the find was in the lengthy description of the cache.  I don’t care for earthcaches, I prefer the no longer allowed virtual caches.  They required an answer to a question and or a picture.  The typical earthcache asks 4-5 questions and often requires some speculation.

The attached pictures are scenes from around the waterfront in Avalon.

I went back on aboard at about 3 PM and met Gerri by the pool where there was no breeze and the temperatures were warmer.  We watched half of a movie, The Sound of Music.  We split a slice of pizza.  Later we went to the Skywalker for the daily hors d’oeuvres.  Today they featured steak tartar.  Of course there were the usual variety of cheeses and vegetables.  We sat with a couple that we sat with during the Muster drill.

The ship started moving about 6.  They seemed to be having trouble getting the anchor loose.  Of course with over 200’ of chain out that took a while.

At 7 we went to the Vista Lounge and watched a Motown show before going to dinner.  We went to our regular dinner seat.  All three couples were present.  After dinner we went to the Princes Theater and saw a comedian, Miguel Washington.

This was a good day.  It was smooth sailing, some sun, a geocache, great scenery at Catalina, good food and entertainment.  We were in bed by 11 to be ready for our only day at sea on this cruise.

Monday November 16,2015 At Sea Between Los Angeles and Avalon, CA

We started our day at the Doubletree making coffee in our room.  We caught upon computer chores and then started getting ready for the shuttle to the ship.  The shuttle runs on the hour.  We chose the 11 o'clock, since boarding time was noon.  We met a couple from Prescott, AZ in the waiting area, Jan and Kathleen.  Starting with our next cruise we will board from the Elite area with the first groups of passengers.

As it was we were in the 4th group called and were in our room before 12:30PM.  This is our first booking on the Lido Deck,14.  We beat our luggage to the room so we decided to have lunch in the Horizon Court.  Already being on the Lido deck we only had to walk aft.  At lunch we sat with a couple from Los Angeles, Bobbie and Ivan.  When we got to the buffet there was no line, by the time we finished eating the line was out the doors.  Back at our cabin our luggage had arrived and we got everything put away and in a semblance of order.  The first picture is looking forward from our balcony, the other is the movie area by the ship's main pool.

At 3:30 we went to our muster station in the Crown Grill. This was our first inkling of the disadvantage of being on deck 14.  The Crown Grill was on deck 7.  After the muster drill it was very difficult to get an elevator back to the Lido deck.

Today's hors d'oeuvres featured guacamole and chips.  Their guacamole has never been our favorite, but we went anyway. We sat with two ladies from the Palm Springs area, and had an interesting chat.  We always enjoy these chance meetings and sometimes they become lasting friendships.  The Hor d'oeuvres were served in the Skywalker Lounge and is limited to loyalty levels Platinum and Elite and those passengers in Suites.  The Skywalker is on deck 18 at the rear of the ship.  Another strike against a forward cabin.

After hors d'oeuvres we visited the Piazza.  Gerri went to the room to freshen up for dinner.  I made my way to the Amalfi Dining room, on deck six all the way aft.  We chose the second seating, 7:45. We were seated at a table for six, but only one other couple was seated with us.   Supper was very good,  I had prime rib and Gerri had a fish plate.  After dinner we went to listen to the piano player at Crooners.  He played a few songs and then it was his time to take a break, so we went back to our cabin.

Back at the cabin we read for a while before calling it a night.  Catalina (Avalon) is our next stop.

Sunday November 15, 2015 San Pedro, CA

I had the alarm set for 6 AM.  Our plan was to leave at 9 and drive to the Port of Los Angeles at San Pedro.  We started our coffee while getting our last minute items packed and then loaded into the car.  We were on the road by 9, but had to stop at Sam's for gasoline.

We stopped for lunch and fuel at the Costco store in Victorville.  Traffic was backed up when we started down from Cajon Pass and we ran into rain after passing the Glen Helen area.  Traffic backed up again on I-10 because of an accident and was slow again when we reached the 605 because of another accident.

We were checked into the Doubletree Hotel by 3:00.  A little after 4pm I went out to try to find a cache that was at the end of the hotel parking lot.  The cache hadn't been found since October 13 and had a did not find logged on November 12.  I looked anyway, but had no luck.  There are a couple of caches near the cruise ship terminal but that is a couple of miles away.  I may try them when we are back in port next week between our cruises.  When we passed the terminal there were two ships docked there, one Princess and some other brand, NCL.  This picture was taken from our room, looking out over the marina.  There must be thousands of boats in the marina.  It makes me wonder how many of them ever leave the marina.

After I returned to the room we went to the hotel dining room and had Fish and Chips.  While at dinner we saw a cruise ship leaving the harbor.  It wasn't the princess liner we had seen earlier.

We returned to our room and were in for the night.