Embarcation Day at last

At sea  32-36.82N  117-44.97 N roling gently southwards at 19.8 Knots  after our first ever day on a cruise ship and a pretty good day it was.
We boarded at about 11am and were pleased to find that right off the bat we had a choice of half a dozen places to eat lunch. We had assumed that our meals would kick off with dinner in the evening.

The sip departed Los Angeles at 4pm after perfroming a very tight turn under it own steam -- no tugs. It is amazing how with bow and stern thrusters a ship over 1000 feet long can turn it own length.

We were pleased with our cabin as it was far roomier than we had expected and very well arranged. We were eaily seduced into taking a post-lunch snooze befroe rooming around part of the ship trying to get aour bearings. With 14 passenger decks,somwher between 15 and 20 bars and and almost as many places to eat just locating those can take quite some time.

The public deck spaces and facilities are unbeleibaly extensive.

Our first dinner was in one of the 2 large dining rooms there is open seating and dining times so we were not obliged to eat with anyone else. Some peole seem to enjoy that we prefer to chose our dinner companioins if any..

Tomoorow will be a full day at sea, we plan just to roam arround have a couple of Mojitos and unwind.

Just when I thought ……

 

Just when I thought everything was double checked and confirmed a surprise comes up in the form of a Hurricane!

Just on the off chance I check the tropic weather forecasts this morning. Both our house and or cruise are in hurricane zones and this is a common month fro their growth.

 

Well what would you know. Straddling the first two days of the cruise from Los Angeles to Cabo San Lucas is a good sized storm. Un less some significant evasive action id taken by the ship it will intersect with the storm on the second night

                                

As of this time there is no mention of this on the cruise line’s website we shall wait and see……….

Packing Time

Although we are both experienced travelers we have never packed for a cruise. Some how we feel that this is different. For one thing it will be the first time for a very long time that we will only pack/un-pack once in more than two weeks!

We have learned over the years that it is almost impossible not to pack far too much! I have often heard the advice to pack early and just before you leave open up your bags and throw out have the stuff. Even after you have done this you will probably find you still have too much!

Airline baggage limits and exorbitant fees  make the minimalist approach to pack even more important. We try to limit ourselves to one checkable bag, two “wheelie” carry on bags and a couple of messenger type bags for personal items, documents ,medications etc..

                          

As I am the prime baggage porter, my carry on is a backpack with wheels.to keep at least one hand free for tickets,passports and stability. The other hand will drag MJ’s carry on.

We have a special complication too. I am dedicated photographer and as such I travel with rather more equipment than the casual vacation “snapper”. In fact my carry-on backpack is  filled with camera gear, chargers, cables,and a netbook.

                        

 

We have reached the age where some items become critical. Medications are one of them. Make yourself a detailed checklist to ensure that you have everything you need ready to pack. ONLY PACK THIS IN YOU CARRY ON BAGS.

Valuables? NEVER travel with your “good” jewelry and buy a couple of $10 watches; leave the Tag Heuer or Rolex at home!

I once had a checked bag of mine leave Los Angeles and travel via Paris, Djibuti,and Singapore to Sydney Australia when I was traveling to Sydney via Tahiti and New Caledonia. Same airline but opposite direction around the world. It took a week to catch up with me. The  French airline  UTA (now defunct) provided me with a tooth brush and tooth paste, a disposable razor and, for some reason a Japanese style bathrobe!

Critical stuff should always be with YOU.

Fouteen days to go!

We have now pulled all the support organization together for our trip. Because of  our location just getting to the departure point of the cruise take a “boat load” od steps.. There is zero public transportation from our home area and taxi’s seem to think we live in a dense jungle. despite having a very helpful neighbor I could not bring myself to ask them to drive us 35 mile to the closest real airport at 4 AM. The solution is to beg a ride to the local car rental place – even that is 16 miles (=/- 25 km ) distant -- the day before of flight and pick up a rental car. This way We will not rely on an unknown taxi company to pick us up at that un-godly hour and, in fact,it is cheaper too.

We also need a shuttle from Los Angeles Airport (LAX) to a hotel across the road from the cruise terminal. We shall spend the night their to recharge after the circus of the day.the hotel has a free shuttle to the ship.

The after cruise transportation is almost as Byzantine. despite that fact that Miami is just across the narrow state from home it is almost impossible to get from there to here. It too will involve a shuttle,rental car and helpful neighbor.

Apart from begging the neighbor for help all is in place.

The cruise line has sent us specimen menus for the specialty restaurants available on board soliciting reservations. We are leaning towards the Agentinian , the Tepanyaka and French Bistro. They all levy a “cover charge” and suggest reservations.

That will be the task for the next couple of days.

Do not believe that a cruise is “all inclusive”. I think that the extras and gratuities can cost you about as much as the base price!