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.