Life is a Journey

Got back a few days ago from a short cruise and wanted to share some pics with you.     Waiting to board the tender to Catalina. As we were walking back to the dock, we spotted a sign in the window of a Chinese restaurant that said Fresh Beignets. So we had some! Next day, I went to one of the decks at the very front of the ship. The bench was soaked so I went back inside. Of course, I had to have a Guy's Burger! Then it was time for more relaxation. As you can see, I had this area pretty much all to myself! Carnival Miracle was in port along with us. After exploring the ship a bit, I treated myself to a chocolate frappe. It was rich, thick and delicious! Later that day as I was riding the elevator to get back to my room, I noticed something odd. It was a cruise duck! He was so cute, I decided to keep it and post the obligatory selfie as shown below. The next photo is the one I am referring to on my podcast. After being woken up for the fifth time that night, I sat up in bed a...

Yup, I did it again!  On Thursday, March 15th, my friend Barb and I took a three night cruise. It was her first cruise ever. Of course, before getting in the car for the drive to Long Beach, we had to take our picture. If you are not familiar with Southern California traffic patterns, there is no way for you to know how long your drive is going to be. You can take an educated guess but that's the problem - you're guessing. We left Riverside at 10:45 in the morning so we didn't have to worry about any possible delays. Both of us were shocked when we arrived at the port of Long Beach in just under an hour. The cruise line's website urges you not to arrive early and I was a bit concerned because we were not scheduled to check-in until 12:30 so I took my time parking and figured we would just sit in the new terminal. I was actually looking forward to seeing it since it had recently gone through a major rennovation. We breezed through three security checkpoints an...

Oh, MAN!!!! I can't wait for my next cruise!!! Sorry but I just had to get that out. Ok...deep breath.... I should have posted this picture in my last post about the Chef's T able but to be perfectly honest, I forgot to scan it! I figured you wouldn't mind if I posted it here. Each one of us got a n 8x10 photo and that was included in the price of the dinner. Nice touch, right? On our last morning I got up early, as usual. I made my way to the buffet restaurant to get some coffee and decided to sit outside to enjoy the view while I still could. Soon it would be time to go back to the cabin, gather my belongings and leave the ship The ship had docked in Long Beach while we were still sleeping. Some day I'd like to watch the docking process but I already get up too early as it is so I'm not about to get up even earlier, LOL. It was so nice to enjoy my coffee and take in the scenery. Don't ask me why I took this picture - I have no idea! It wasn...

Did I leave you hanging? It should come as no surprise that I hardly slept that first night. I swear it sounded like someone was rolling a bowling ball! I crawled out of bed at six, got dressed and went in search of some coffee. As I walked up the stairs, I knew that even though I REALLY wanted coffee, it would have to wait because I also wanted to take some pictures before the ship was crawling with people. I'm so glad I put the coffee on hold. It sounds corny but the ship looked so magical at this hour of the morning. I used both my camera and my phone to take several shots. Here is one shot in Panorama mode on my phone. The sun was starting to come up and the sky was an amazing color of blue. Now, it was time to enjoy some coffee! To my right, the sunrise... To my left, Catalina. I realized that this would be the perfect time to check out the water park area of the ship! As I approached, I was in awe of the tubular water s...