October 11 - Los Angeles, CA to Calgary

Weather – well, wouldn’t you know it…no fog to be found on our way home. It was lovely as we loaded our bags (ALL of our bags!!) into the Uber. Clear and 24º

Steps – 5,766

It’s been a great trip! When are trips not great? I’ve learned a lot about LA, especially that the traffic is something else! I knew traffic here was bonkers, but WOWZA. I guess people living here just get over it, what else can you do?

What was the best part? No best part, all of it was great. Actually, one part wasn’t
great…the lack of wildlife sightings. Try as I might, I saw no whales or dolphins…I did see a bunch of seals in San Francisco and actually heard one when we were sitting on the balcony of our ship room but couldn’t see it.

It feels like in just a minute I’ll be writing this blog again…CHRISTMAS IN THE AMAZON!!!

Thanks everyone for reading and coming along with me!!

October 10 - Santa Monica / Los Angeles, CA

more canals

Venice canals

Weather – another gloomy start with a temp of
about 17, eventually sunny and warm - 25º

Steps – 18,843

Tomorrow we are home. One more day in LA - we need to see Venice Beach.

Venice Beach is a 30 min walk from Santa Monica. We forego the hotel breakfast and get 2 coffees to go and set off to the south. It’s still morning when we are wandering, so maybe that’s why it’s quiet. Like yesterday, there are some people running, some walking, some skateboarding but mostly it’s quiet.

By the time we make it to Venice, the sun’s out!! Venice is different from Santa Monica. It’s grittier, but minimally so. Once we arrive at the commercial bit of Venice Beach that is where the difference is more obvious.

Venice street art

checking us in

We wandered down the beach and then along
some residential places…dreaming what a week or so in one of these rental places would be like. Finally, we turned up into the town of Venice to find a few bars/restaurants…it’s been about an hour since we’ve had a beverage, so we were looking for a place to stop.

Venice pomegranates

Divali Indian bistro had 2for1 Margaritas…not sure how Margaritas and Indian
food mesh, but I’ll take 2for1! Their 2for1 wasn’t the usual American 2for1…each

feet in the sand

of you get 2 at the same time…this was just 2for1! These margaritas were so good, we actually wanted a second…we chatted with the waiter who assured us

hotel bar

that we were getting 2 for 1, and not 4 for 2.

Then we were on to the Venice canals. These are very charming, quiet, and lined with homes. Now I can’t decide where I’d like to spend a week – maybe I’ll split my time.

Although it’s pretty much nap time, we still haven’t had a drink with our feet in the sand. We head to the beach, find a perfect spot under an umbrella and check this task off our list.

not a record, but far

Dinner tonight was at a Spanish bistro type-place. Wine, shishito peppers, empanadas, and deviled eggs is dinner. I’m not a giant fan of eggs, but these were tasty.

PS...I think my foot may be getting better! It's not good, but  definitely better. 

October 9 - Santa Monica / Los Angeles, CA

cool sculpture, supposed to look like sand?

Santa Monica Pier

Weather – foggy/misty until about 2PM, even a bit cool, probably about 18º

Steps – 16,445

It’s official…last night was the longest sleep of this trip! By the time Chris got back from the football game yesterday, and relaxed a bit in the room, neither of us had it in ourselves to go back out. We weren’t really hungry, had some complementary hotel fruit in the room, plus chips and some chocolate and that was good enough. He was asleep by 9, I was out by 10! Then not awake until 7:30…glorious!!

pedestrian street art

It is baseball playoff time, and the LA Dodgers have a home game today we had planned to attend. We didn’t have tickets but had looked into them and were had fully intended to go. Well…having been in 3 looooong Uber rides yesterday, Chris was less than enthused…that was fine with me. I was up for going, but the distances here don’t exactly add to the charm of the activity – or the cost of them. We considered public transit, but that looked to be 2 hours each way!!! Nope…no thanks.

What we did do, was retrace some of my steps from yesterday. First, we fueled up with another expensive hotel breakfast – when we get the least expensive things

bluffs - bordering Palisades Park

 on the menu, no coffee and we have to pay more ON TOP OF THAT it’s expensive!! Anyway…by about 11:30 we headed to the ocean and the Santa Monica Pier.

solo jaunt

Monday morning, saw significantly less people out and about. Maybe the gloom and coolness also kept people away. Different from yesterday, after the pier, we stayed right, along the beach. Right along the beach doesn’t mean at all near the ocean…as I said yesterday…this beach is DEEP.

There were a few bars/restaurants we wanted to check out - but the cool weather didn’t motivate us to commit to anywhere. We found one cool place with low slung beach chairs right in the sand…we contemplated, but decided it was a bit too cool for beach drinks.

Getting from the beach up to Palisades Park was a bit of a hike. Palisades Park and the rest of Santa Monica is on a sort of cliff or bluff which we had to get to the top of.

Then it was through a bit of a residential area where everyone drives a Tesla (not really, but we’ve seen plenty) and into Santa Monica’s pedestrian only commercial street. Although not going to the Dodger game, Chris bought a shirt…a T-shirt for…$70 Canadian…sheesh!

Pier by night

We were again looking for a charming spot on this pedestrian street for a

refreshment, but nope…there were a few spots, but it still wasn’t warm enough. We weren’t hungry, so we hit a gas station for hotel snacks… peanuts and a Dr Pepper…Chris and Dr. Pepper…just so weird.

night cap

We always leave a tip for housekeeping and have recently started leaving a ‘Thank you’ note. I didn’t
always used to leave a note but left the money on the pillow. I figured this way they are sure it’s for them. However, once we left it on the pillow and they STILL didn’t take it…now we leave a note next to the tip. Today we got a note of thanks in return…how nice!

In the evening we ventured out for dinner and one last drink at our hotel.

October 8 - Santa Monica / Los Angeles, CA

all by myself!

Weather – surprise, surprise…it is
foggy again this morning. The fog continued until the afternoon when I was in Santa Monica, Chris says it disappeared a few minutes drive from the hotel. Temps were warm, I’d say 25º and a bit humid.

Steps – 13,422

It is lovely not to have to stress about getting from the ship to the airport in time for a flight. You never know how long it’ll take getting off the ship, through immigration (if that’s necessary), finding a ride and actually getting to the airport. Today we are headed to Santa Monica for 3 more days before heading home on the 11^th.

deep beach

Speaking of immigration…we went through facial recognition immigration…look at the camera…done. Very similar to going through American immigration in the Calgary airport, but here we don’t even have to talk to an actual human.

We figured finding a hotel in another area of LA would be a good idea, this way we can experience a new area. On first glance, Santa Monica seems touristy and upscale. I have recently learned that Santa Monica is technically a separate
city, it is typically considered part of LA.

success!

Heading to a hotel straight from a cruise does have its downside. The latest we are typically permitted to stay onboard the last day of the cruise is 9/930…definitely no later than 10 – today we were in an Uber before 9, to the hotel by 9:30. That means that chances are, we aren’t able to get into our hotel room. No big deal really, the hotel will always store out luggage and we can sit by the pool, get a coffee, wander the neighborhood or whatever. We decided to spring for the extra

home for a bit

charge to get into the room early, we got in just after 11. Chris is going to the football game this afternoon and wants to get on with it.

Apparently, breakfast is part of our room booking so we were able to kill time getting breakfast. Similar to our last LA hotel, this is another expensive egg situation. We are allocated $54USD for breakfast – today we went over that…sheesh!

so many cars

I spent a bulk of today on my own. Chris has friends in town for the LA Rams football game, so he joined them this afternoon. This is just fine with me. In fact, I encouraged him to go, I’m always happy with alone time. I did very little. I whiled away the day blogging, reading, napping, relaxing, and checking out the Santa Monica beach/pier and searching for ice cream.

The Santa Monica Pier is the quintessential touristy part of Santa Monica that everyone knows from the movies – that means…it is touristy and packed with…you guessed it…tourists. There are rides, buskers, carnival food and people trying to convince you to accept Jesus into your heart.

the pier

Along either side of the pier is beach. I’m not sure

Afters Ice Cream

about tides here, but when I was there the beach was DEEP. The beach was packed too, people were in the water, laying on the sand, skateboarding, and flexing. Lots of families…because it’s Sunday afternoon, or is it always like this? I’ll see tomorrow. Could also have been because of the glorious fall weather.

traffic jam

I walked and I walked. I wanted to “soak in the scene”, but also had my heart set on ice cream. The stands at the pier were packed plus all I could see was soft serve. I’ll never say no to a soft serve cone dipped in chocolate, but I’m more a lover of good ol’ scooped ice cream. I continued my quest. Just when I was about to keel over from starvation (after all last it had been about 5 hours since I had eaten!) I stumbled into a yogurt place. At this point I

bordering lot of hotels

figured I’d have to settle for froyo…nope…it was actual YOGURT. Now I eat my fair share of yogurt, but not in place of ice cream. Yogurt is for nutritional purposes, a vehicle for flax…this was not that. I was actually a bit intrigued but soldiered on for the real deal. I may return tomorrow…breakfast? Probably won’t be more than the hotel breakfast! Or maybe it will…it’s not cheap around here!

I finally found Afters Ice Cream food truck. People were friendly, ice cream was tasty - I had cookie butter. I sat, I ate, I soaked in the late afternoon California sun and people watched.

I took a different route back to the Viceroy Hotel (our home for the next 3 days) and through a park. I walked right through the middle of a little kid’s piñata party…didn’t get asked to join.

not by himself

By the time I got back to the hotel, my foot was ready for some TLC…why, oh why can’t all hotels have ice machines? I am very capable (even when infirm) of filling a bucket from the end of the hall machine. Nope…here I have to call a guy, who then has to call another guy…annoying! The Sofitel, out first LA hotel had an ice machine…plus…it had a water bottle filler AND the way to contact the front desk was via text! AMEN!!!!! I do not consider this calling more personalized service…maybe some people do, but anytime I can communicate without actually TALKING to someone is a win to me!

Woah…this is a long post when nothing really happened.

 

October 7 - Ensenada MX

soupy morning, can you see the ship?

welcome to Mexico

Weather – more soup this morning, but then clear
and warm 21º (about a million degrees on the bus back from the tour!)

Steps – 9,930

farmer's cheeses

Today is the first day is a loooong time that we’ve had someplace to be. This morning that place is a tour: “La Cana de Marcelo” to visit cows and taste their ice cream, cheese, and butter. The day starts with my first room service breakfast of this trip. I only order room service breakfast when we have someplace to be in the morning – I get my

cheese and beer pairing

usual…yogurt (didn’t even bother to ask about flax), pineapple, and bacon (not typical, but sometimes.)

The tour was a small bus filled with 22 people plus a guide. 22 is a great number when on a regular sized coach, this was fine, but no usual room to spread out. Margarita our guide was great, the guide will make or break a tour. The people on the tour were duds, but Margarita made it a fun day despite the sauna-like

cheeses aging

conditions of the bus on the hour-long trip back to Ensenada. One thing she did that seem obvious for guides to do, but don’t necessarily is outline the itinerary. We always have half an idea, but details including ‘comfort’ stops is welcome, but not always given.

The tour was exactly as advertised…an hour drive to the farm, visited the cows, visited where the cheese is made, tasting of ice cream, cheese, butter and accompanying wine and beer. This was fun! Lunch was also included which was not the best, but fine. Eventually we were a bit, dare I say…cheesed out! There were 2 farm workers who were also great. Super informative and engaging.

checking out the cheese

I was glad Chris was sitting close to the window…the road wasn’t great and the drive was a bit treacherous – lots of drop offs and hairpin turns. I choose to just not look out the window.

cheese and beer

The rest of the afternoon was spent chilling,
packing, and blogging.

I am reminded how much I have appreciated travelling this trip with only carryon luggage. Typically, I dread packing and unpacking, but this small number of things to actually pack, makes the task less painful. It also means that we will just walk off with our stuff tomorrow and won’t have it picked up tonight and carried off the boat for us tomorrow. Putting your luggage out the night before i

farm pomegranate trees  

s always a pain. This way, in the morning we will just grab and go.

Lori – yup, this foot issue isn’t pleasant…ice 2x daily is helping – def worse first thing in the morning and after a lot of walking. Luckily, we haven’t been walking a lot…that’ll likely change for the next few days on our own in LA – as long as the hotel has an ice maker…I’ll be good!

October 6 - San Diego, CA

breakfast muffin, green juice, blogging and ice

Weather – glorious, sunny, warm, hot even - 29º

Steps – 10,109 (all taken on the boat – half thanks to silent disco)

San Diego is a port we’ve been to. We were here January 2020 on Chris’s retirement/Covid cruise. That time we did the touristy things, so we didn’t feel a real compulsion to see anything today.

Last however, night we found a food/walking tour that started at 11AM. That time seemed perfect for pre-tour gym, laundry, and rearranging a ship’s

morning mimosas

tour for tomorrow. When reconsidering in the light of day we decided against leaving the boat and abandoned the idea of a tour; we spent the entire day in San Diego as our own ‘day at sea.’ Having been here before, when we did the touristy things in addition to having had little in the way of reading/blogging at the pool this trip we decided to stay on board. The benefit of being on board when in port is most people are off the boat and things are quiet.

I think we made the right choice. We often feel compelled to get off the ship and do as much as we can, often forgetting it’s vacation…we try to remember that

grapefruit mimosas

we can take a day off for not doing much.

Our itinerary was as follows…gym, laundry (stuff a bag, plop in hall), coffee, excursion org for tomorrow, pool, mimosa, reading/blogging, lunch, balcony, drinks by the pool for “Cool by the Pool”.

Speaking of Cool by the Pool, Regent wins on this one, if only because it is earlier in the day. Regent’s starts at noon, while Celebrity’s isn’t until mid afternoon. I guess by mid afternoon, most of the Regent folks are napping – including me usually.

San Diego harbor

Celebrity has an app that is pretty darn good. Here’s another place Celebrity beats Regent…handily. Regent passengers are often heard proclaiming that they want nothing to do with tech or their phones. I am not in that camp…unless I’m in the shower, I happily have my phone nearby. I guess I get where those people are coming from, but at least to have the option of an app would be great. Celebrity’s app does basically everything you could imagine to do with onboard life.

One thing that is a draw between Regent and Celebrity is the staff. I really have

balcony friend

nothing but praise for the people who bring me drinks, clean my room, and make sure I don’t waste away from starvation. Eka the bartender has remembered our names from day 1, even our room number which is required to get drinks.

Another thing about people who can’t do enough for me…I’ve been dealing with a bout of plantar fasciitis. Someone I told about this recently said he’d rather deal with a broken foot! I’m not sure about that, but this is not pleasant. Mozes our room attendant has been terrific making sure I have ice twice daily.

silent disco

One more thing about getting drinks…I thought it was going to be much more annoying to have to produce our room card every time we wanted a drink, alcoholic or not. It’s been fine. This time, compared to the 2 times we’ve been on cruises where beverages weren’t included, we didn’t have to sign, we could also get drinks for each other with and without the cards.

One thing we did check out today was San Diego’s Navy’s comings and goings. These ships

silent disco

are something else, it would be interesting if our ship sidled up next to one for size comparison. They seem gigantic and then really gigantic when a sailboat that is sizeable is next to the naval ship. All day there were ships in and out of the harbor, plus the occasional helicopter.

The evening’s highlight was the Silent Disco…everyone wears headphones and chooses 1 of 3 different songs to dance to. This is the second time we’ve done this and it’s lots of fun. Fun to see what the majority decide to listen to and fun when the whole crowd sings to the same song.

October 5 - Santa Catalina Island, Avalon, CA

glass bottom

good morning Catalina!

Weather – no more soupy good morning,
it was
clear and glorious as we sailed into Catalina’s Bay – Avalon Bay, the town is Avalon, on the island of Catalina. It was perfect for balcony blogging (despite hearing the ENTIRETY of the neighbor’s Facetime call and the horrific wifi – wifi has been good pretty much, but this morning was BAD) before we headed in. All day it is sunny and war, even hot…31º. Today was a hot one, so our main activity was hunting shade.

Catalina casino...a theatre not a casino

Steps – 10,462

Today was another tender port, but this time it was easy-peasy. In addition to the ship’s tenders, we were also using bigger, local tenders. This made getting people on and off a breeze…or as much of a breeze as tendering can be.

cool, but NOT what we were on

Instead of breakfast this morning, we hit the bustling metropolis of Avalon around 10:30, walked around a bit, grabbed an early lunch and were at the meeting place for our glass bottom boat tour at 1:00.

cormorants

Celebrity cruise fares don’t include excursions, but the cabin we choose has a fair amount of on-board credit. We have used some of it for 2 excursions – today is the first. There have been excursions offered in all the ports, but many were full by the time we booked. No big deal. We aren’t on this cruise for the ports necessarily and being that they are US ports as easy for us to do on our own.

Chris, a palm, and the boat

Our 45-minute glass bottom boat cruise was good, not great…but good. I had hoped for more varied marine life…we saw tons of fish, huge kelp, and cormorants. It was fun for about 45 min, but that was plenty.

Avalon is a quaint, very touristy town where most people get around by golf cart. We didn’t rent one, but walked as we usually do. After our glass bottom cruise, we went back to a brew pub we saw earlier for a flight of their beer. We chatted

beer flight

with Rich, the cruise director last night who told us he was recently in Avalon for a couple of days with his family and that was a day too long…I can see that.

One last ice cream had to be had, before heading back for some late afternoon down time and to spiff up for a cocktail party with some of the ship’s staff.

Dinner was at the ship’s Japanese restaurant. Sushi on 5, is the ship’s one ala carte restaurant. The other ‘specialty’ dining venues charge a cover charge, and you order anything on the menu, here they charge by the item. We still have a bunch of onboard credit to use, so we burned a bit here.