Departure Day

So today we leave, sniff!  I really have been blessed to spend a fun filled 6 days and 5 nights with my sister in Orlando.  We have had lots of laughs!

Our Magical Express bus pick was not scheduled until 2 pm so that provided ample time to do a little exploring. We had a late check out scheduled for 1 pm. Disney staff had suggested we should ask for the late checkout on our departure day as soon as we arrived. Those extra few hours were really appreciated. 

We packed up our bags so we would be ready to move out but we wanted to explore a bit first. I was dressed in Florida warm weather clothes for the morning and wanted to come back to the room, then shower and change into travelling for clothes suitable to return to 10 C weather that awaited us at home. 

We caught a bus to the Blizzard Beach water park. Right adjacent to that park is the Winter Summerland mini golf. Normally it would cost $14 to play a round, but we had free tickets courtesy of LC!  You can choose to play a round of golf on the summer or winter course.  Since we experience winter about 6 months a year, we chose the summer course.  Both have a Christmas theme going on with carols playing in the background!  There was a time when mini golf would have been the highlight of the vacation; set amidst the Disney machinery, mini golf is not something many would choose to do as it doesn't have the excitement of the parks.  

We were surprised to get caught in a rain shower!  We waited out the worst of it under cover before catching a bus back to the hotel. Once back at the French Quartet we caught a bus to Downtown Disney that proved to be slower than the boat we caught to Downtown Disney.  I picked up one last souvenir then returned to the hotel by boat. (15 pleasurable minutes floating along the river enjoying the. Warmth of the day versus 22 minutes in an overly air conditioned bus).

The view as we approach our hotel by boat. 

The view of a departing boat above.

That same spot I turned around and took a picture of the perspective of our hotel block 6.

This was the view of our hotel from out our hotel room door.

Final packing ensued before we ate a meal for the first time in the "quick service" (I use the term loosely) restaurant at the hotel. My salad was good; LC's chicken was not!

And then we caught the Magical Express back to the Orlando airport. Efficient service to get us back and mercifully, quiet, no Disney promos asking us to come back. I think they realize guests are tired out by the time they leave the parks and appreciate a quiet opportunity to doze on the bus back to the airport!

Great to have a direct flight home - even if it is on a plane full of families with kids and no functioning entertainment system on the plane!

No Disney Tickets Today

Perhaps I haven't mentioned just how hot it has been every day so far. Average daily highs are around 33 C or 91 F. Generally when we head out the door a t-shirt and shorts are the order of the day, complemented by orthotics in a sturdy pair of running shoes. Though sandals would be cooler they don't offer enough support for the 14 or 16 km we walk every day. LC and I both wear fitbits so we can see exactly how far we walk each day - and we both got a grand slam badge where we walked more than 20,000 steps in a day.

And though we were not at Disney or Universal today, we managed to get in 4.5 km walk in just one store - the "Ross Dress for Less" store. Love that store!  You can buy a number of stylish, comfortable dresses for $20 apiece!  No equivalent store can be found in Canada in my humble opinion!  After sharing laughs in trying on clothes, we left 2 hours later laden with parcels. I think LC was particularly disappointed when she fell in love with a green maxi dress and I suggested she looked like Fiona from the movie Shrek!

After a super lunch at Panera Bread (which cost $5 for a fresh chicken citrus salad) we first returned to the hotel, then to the car rental agency. Alamo offered great service in picking us up to first rent then car, then shuttled us anywhere we wanted in Walt Disney World upon returning the car. Great service, and perhaps more importantly, no damage to the car inflicted by me driving in Florida!  Having my own GPS was essential to navigating around comfortably. 

So we decided to be highly ineffective in our time management, but effective in learning about different forms of transport! We used all three methods offered for free at Disney- boat, bus and monorail to get to the Contemporary resort!  It was neat to see more properties at Disney - especially the Grand Floridian - a deluxe property that looks absolutely huge!

The draw to visit the Contemporary Resort was our 7:40 pm reservation at California Grill. The California Grill is located on the 15th floor of the hotel so it offers a spectacular view. 

The white buildings in the distance are the Grand Floridian. 

It put things in perspective as we looked over the Magic Kingdom and across the water to the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian resorts and saw the transportation boats scooting back and forth across the water.  The real reason for the relatively late reservation was because of the access to one of four outdoor terraces to view the Wishes Fireworks above the Magic Kingdom at 10 pm. 

The blue hue is the castle on the left and the big green hued cone on the right is part of Tomorrowland (Space Mountain maybe?)

So a little review of the Contemporary Resort - cold marble flooring and vaulted ceilings in the reception might make some think it is an opulent space but I thought it was stark and unwelcoming. I ordered a flatbread to share with my sister for an appetizer and the scallops for an entree. Both dishes we're very tasty. Add in a pot of camomile tea at the end and the bill was a whopping $75 for my share without tip!  Seriously? Shockingly expensive for a meal without alcohol or dessert. Add to the astronomical price for dinner, the fact that I had to put napkins on my shoulders to keep warm in the freezing temperature and I didn't feel like it was good value for a special night out. The view was stunning and we did have music piped in to watch the fireworks, but the fireworks themselves didn't compare with those seen every summer in my home city. All that said, I felt very guilty paying what I did for that meal for the entertainment value of the fireworks. 

We did walk 6 or 7 minutes to the Magic Kingdom after the fireworks to catch a bus back to the Port Orleans French Quarter hotel. All in all, still a fun day in paradise!

Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure

Today we broke free of the Disney machine today and rode in our rental car to Universal Studios!  We used our new found freedom to buy breakfast at McDonald's. LC was very excited after spending $1.69 per banana at breakfast to buy her entire breakfast for $1.79, that is until "junior" said " I hope I don't cause you reason to be offended, but I gave you the seniors discount on your coffee!"

The breakfast pit stop set us back a bit on our arrival time so we arrived at Universal 10 minutes after it opened rather than 30 minutes before!!

Minion Mayhem and Transformers were our only two rides in the first park before we made our way to Islands of Adventure. Spider-Man beckoned then the gentle water ride Jurassic Park River. LC took advantage of my disposable rain poncho to stay dry!!

After standing in line longer to buy soup and salad for lunch than we had for any ride, we decided Universal should post wait times for restaurants the way they do for attraction lines!!

Then on to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!  The Forbidden Journey proved  to be a little harsh for both our stomachs but I wasn't deterred. Butterbeer beckoned!!  It was actually really lovely to sit on the terrace of the Three Broomsticks and enjoy a cold drink!

The tame train ride from Hogsmeade to King Cross station was totally acceptable to LC!

Here is LC pictured with the Hogwart's Express!

I enjoyed the Escape from Gringott's ride while LC explored Universal outside of the World of Harry Potter. 

And then we were done for the day!  We had headed out of the park and stopped at Citywalk for dinner. We ate at Antojitos Authentic Mexican Food - very tasty and reasonably priced.

Having a car and a GPS opens sup a world of possibilities!  We stopped at a Walgreens drug store and Publix grocery store to stock up on supplies. So nice to grab a bit of produce and some other desirable breakfast and snack foods before returning to our hotel in the land of Disney!

I think getting back to the hotel by 8 pm was the earliest return yet this week!  Lovely to have some relaxation time!  We saw families gathered on the grass outside watching the original 101 Dalmations play on an outdoor screen. The Port Orleans French Quarter really is a lovely property. It isn't nearly as large as most properties on Disneyworld. 

Hollywood Studios

The second part of our day had us catch a transfer bus from Animal Kingdom to Hollywood Studios.

As soon as we entered Hollywood Studios we headed straight for the Tower of Terror as we had  fast passes beginning at 1:30. I recall LC saying L____*^*#! as we dropped 5 or 6 floors in the failed elevator!!!!  I laughed most of the way through the ride. 

The heat was very evident as it was 33 C with high humidity and little shade now that we had left the comfort of Animal Kingdom. Very few seats to be found in Hollywood Studios and certainly very few, available in the shade. LC was starting to feel hotspots on her feet and wanted to take her socks and shoes off for a bit to let them cool down. 

We had fun at Toy Story - I was victorious with 99,500 points versus LC's paltry 77,300!!  We then left the park and caught a nicely air conditioned courtesy van to the Alamo car rental!!  We picked up a Green Chevy that took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to turn up the fans in the car!!  Our intention is to use the rental for the next two days as we go offsite of Disney. For today, we returned to our hotel, dropped the car, changed into sandals, then caught a Disney shuttle back to Hollywood Studios.

We had a dinner reservation for Mama's Ristorante- a set priced meal to include special passes for the water and light show Fantasmic. A very good value meal!

We caught a Little Mermaid showright before Fantasmic! 

 I need to go to bed now. Those 21,000 steps and 10 miles of walking have caught up with me tonight!

Animal Kingdom

So it was early wake up call today - 6:10 am, because we were trying to be at the gates to Animal Kingdom before they opened at 8 am!  We arrived at 7:55 am and the gates were already open and people were streaming through!

LC and I headed straight to Kilmanjaro Safaris where we simulated an African Safari!  We spotted hippos, lions, giraffes, zebras and a number of exotic animals with names that escape me now!!  The Pangani Forest Exploration trail allowed for great close up views of mountain gorillas. 

The Lion King musical is so worth the visit!  Great music - thank you Sir Elton John - with fabulous acrobatics, costumes and stage effects!

The huge tree is in the centre of Animal Kingdom like the castle is in the centre of the Magic Kingdom. 

After lunch we experienced the biggest disappointment of Animal Kingdom!  We had stood in line for 30 minutes to ride Dinosaur (the equivalent ride to Indiana Jones in Disneyland).  Just as we were about to step onto the ride, the attendant told us to wait, then instructed the entire line of people to evacuate the building!  People stood in disbelief and refused to turn around immediately but eventually followed instructions. It seemed paltry compensation to be offered a Fastpass as we were leaving the park to visit Hollywood Studios in the next half hour!

We never heard what happened with the ride but we paid it forward. As we left the park, we gave our fast passes to a pair of  newlyweds (with matching purple hair LC noticed)!

Magic Kingdom

The day started early - a wake up call at 6:45 am!  By 7:55 we were in line at our hotel waiting for a free shuttle to the Magic Kingdom. It was frustrating to have four empty shuttles bound for Hollywood Studios come by before the first Magic Kingdom shuttle arrived 20 minutes later.

The Unofficial Guide to Disney book authors have now created an app called touring plans. Well worth the $10 to buy it and get customized tours to suit your specific needs each day!

We took in Peter Pan, It's a Small world and Splash Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean in the first Hour!  We experienced The Beauty and the Beast restaurant, Be Our Guest. Try the grey stuff it IS delicious!!  I had the shrimp and scallop entree for dinner which was tasty but shouldn't have wasted my money on the lemonade!  The wait staff was very accommodating to my sister who does her best to avoid dairy. It was Vety exciting to get pictured with Beast. 

We wisely took a break for three hours early in the afternoon and had a nap in the hotel room!

The Main street electrical parade was a hit and we used one of our Fastpasses to secure seats curb side  in the circle in front of city hall. It made for a fast exit to catch a shuttle home!

Pretty impressive floats!

Downtown Disney Nighttime

A little snippet of the fun atmosphere at night in downtown Disney!...

Whoops can't post video so a still photo it is!

Orlando Here we Come!

My sister, LC and I have escaped day to day life for a wonderful short trip to Orlando, Florida to enjoy Disneyworld and Universal Studios!!

We flew uneventfully through Houston and arrived in Orlando by 4:30.  The Magical Express bus provided expedient transportation to our hotel in Disney's Port Orleans French Quarter.   The bus ride passed quickly by watching Disney information videos. 

We arrived at Disney's Port Orleans French Quarter hotel and were assigned room 6134, which is on the main floor with a river view. Here is my sister LC in front of our room!

We quickly dropped out carry on luggage (our checked bags were being picked up from the baggage carousels at the airport and delivered to our room later). We took the water River boat to downtown Disney for supper. After being told Fulton's Crabhouse had a 90 minute wait we ate at the Boathouse!  LC had a wonderful crab cake and I had fish tacos. Great service and very tasty!

Loved walking around after dinner and seeing the sites of Downtown Disney!  Took in the excitement of Disney nightlife, including a visit to Ghiradelli for a shared brownie sundae dessert!  Delicious!!

Then took a peaceful boat shuttle back to the hotel room - where - tads- our luggage had been delivered!! Yay!

A quick Vonage app phone call to R and a FaceTime call to J And P to see how their day was!!

LC with Ogo Pogo made of Lego!

I will try posting a video of a stage DJ engaging audience to sing Frozen. Lots of fun!

Leaving San Francisco

Last night before bed P said he had a sore throat; I gave him a sucrets lozenge. Then P woke up in the night with a fever and not feeling well at all. I gave him some Tylenol and put some ice in a ziplock bag inside a wet washcloth. Thank you Gil for keeping ice in our little fridge in our room at all times!  Finally I switched beds with P so he could have a real bed, not a pull out couch to sleep on. He eventually fell asleep and so did I.

Alarms were needed at 6 am to wake is this morning. We couldn't find a dining room open so I had a breakfast sandwich and yogurt parfait at the International Cafe. J & P went up to the Buffet for breakfast. J had scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit & a bowl of muesli. P just had fruit!

Walk off passengers were cleared for disembarking by 7:20 am. We returned to our room to gather our luggage and has walked off the ship by 7:45. No customs to clear as we hadn't left the US since clearing customs in Long Beach.  So we walked off the ship and caught a taxi to the airport. Metered time cost us $48. With P not feeling well, we decided to forgo the BART public transit. 

Once at the airport we checked in our luggage. So here is where I went wrong. I thought I was going to lose a new bottle of 120 ml sunscreen in going through security. No, they were more concerned about my two 16 oz bottles of vanilla I had in my carry on!   Aaarrrrrggggg!😔😔😔. I lost my only souvenir of the vacation- my vanilla from Mexico!

All good things must come to an end. I am very much looking forward to going home to talk to my eldest about the newly acquired summer job!   With University finals a week or two away it wasn't possible for JG to join us on this vacation. 

J and P happy to have access to wifi too!

Last Day at Sea

We had a leisurely walk up

At 7:15 am!  The dining room was in full swing by the time we arrived. 

I raced off to Zumba class after breakfast while P and J went for a workout. I worked up a sweat but forgot to wear my Fitbit so my efforts weren't tracked!

At 10:15 the Maitre D'Hotel Jean Paul Musiu and the Executive Chef, Remo Bolis put on a cooking demonstration in the Princess Theatre. I sat in the front row and took lots of pictures!

After the show we were allowed to tour through the galley - the kitchen where 12,000 meals per day are made!

A watermelon carved into a Viking!

Lunch in the dining room was a busy experience on this last day at sea!  I bought a 15 minute Internet package for $8.99 to print out our boarding passes. I don't want to chance getting bumped off our return flight home tomorrow!

We spent some time on the  back of the ship in the sunshine. P and J played a game of shuffleboard. 

My view of the shuffleboard.

J and I then went to enjoy a complimentary margarita - J's choice!  I enjoyed the view off the back of the ship!

They were very generous with the alcohol in the margarita!

We attended our final round of afternoon trivia where we scored 11 out of 20. No winners here but we had fun!

So today Princess is celebrating P's birthday, as I requested. Our room steward Gil placed balloons outside our stateroom along with a Happy birthday sign.  They gave us a card to present our waiter to provide a special dessert. 

Tonight the wait staff were wearing Stars and Stripes vests so we know it was American food. I had Turkey, P & J both had steak. 

P is pictured with his birthday cake (while wait staff sang Happy Birthday to him)!

We have our bags packed and are ready to walk off the ship at 8 am tomorrow. 

I will catch the crew talent show at 9:30 tonight while the boys go back to bed early. 

Santa Barbara Evening

Tonight was formal night so we dressed in our finest!  J and P wore black suits and I wore a knee length black skirt with a taffeta white blouse.

So much to choose from on the menu but it was an easy choice for me - lobster and giant shrimp. P had the pheasant and said it was delicious. 

The dessert was another 50th anniversary creation with chocolate, pistachio and almond flavours - absolutely perfect!  If I could have had a second one I would have!

After dinner John hoped to see Dolphins swimming by the front of the boat as left Santa Barbara. No such luck!

I went to the Production show Stardust in the Princess Theatre the returned to be victorious in a game of Beat Your Neighbour!

My boys wanted to go to sleep by 10:15 so I turned in for the night too!

Santa Barbara Day

So today we arrived in Santa Barbara in the early hours. We learned somebody had a medical emergency on board the ship and was evacuated off in the early hours of the morning. Hopefully they are getting medical attention they need and are doing well.

After breakfast in the dining room we took a tender (lifeboat) to the shore. Our goal was to go to shop "Wheels for Fun" where we rented 3 mountain bikes. I was impressed with Santa Barbara - they had half a dozen information volunteers at the dock handing out maps and giving directions!  They weren't trying to sell anything, just inform visitors. We were given specific directions to find out rental shop a mere 5 minute walk away. 

We cycled Cabrillo Blvd - a lovely paved pathway all along the ocean front!

The Star Princess can be seen anchored offshore between J and P. 

Can you spot the hummingbird feeding on the flowers?

We cycled for a few hours and went for a walk by the ocean. 

The bikes only cost about $60 to rent all three and were a great way to explore Santa Barbara!

We took a tender back to the ship hoping to get aboard before the dining room closed for lunch (which is at 1:30 pm). We made it back in time but needed it to be a sea day for the dining room to be open.   So up to the buffet we went!

After lunch P and J worked out and I chilled in the room watching a movie then sat in the sun on the verandah, typing my blog.

Today's view from the verandah!  Temperature is about 18 C - perfect in the sun, cool in the shade.

I will lose wifi over supper and likely not have it again until we disembark on Sunday. So I will post this now for your reading pleasure!

San Diego Evening

Once back onboard the ship P went and used the elliptical in the fitness centre while J cycled. I wrote the first part of my

Blog and joined them for the last half hour. 

Dinner had its usual attentive service from Jerik and Rebeca. Jerik noticed P was wearing an England soccer jersey and asked if he was a fut-ball fan!  Playing it yes, watching it no!

So many items on the menu, so few calories to consume!  I did walk 17,000 steps today!  Lots of steps every day on the cruise - of course our motto is never to take the elevator while on a cruise!  I like deck 9 for our stateroom location for that rule - just 3 flights to the dining room on deck 6!

Anyhow for supper I chose mojito's - an appetizer of red snapper, a tortellini soup in broth and a piña Coloda cold soup (without the alcohol).

My Mojito's is pictured above. 

My Piña Coloda soup looks suspiciously like the drink!

P enjoying his choco banana drink which really is a chocolate milkshake with banana in it!  You can buy a non alcoholic drink package for the duration of the cruise that provides mock tails and P takes full advantage of 2 every night. P's aunt and uncle gave the (non-alcoholic) drink package to him in celebrating his 15th birthday. The alcoholic version of the drink package costs $49 per day and you have to buy it for all seven days of the cruise!

P and I had delicious and filling prime rib while J had the basa fish.  Dessert was the flourless chocolate cake and maybe a side of hazelnut mousse for me!

After dinner we went on deck to watch the movie Into The Woods with Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick, Emily Blunt Nd Johnny Depp. I was disappointed to see so many deck chairs being saved with personal items. J & I sat together on loungers with blankets buy P sat on a dining chair - so he left half way through the movie (J did offer him one of the loungers but he declined). Clever interweaving of fairy tales and music in the story. 

Watching Movies Under the Stars (MUTS) is not quite the same in California as it is in the Caribbean!  I wore a tank top, light sweater, heavy sweater, fleece coat and rain coat, then covered my legs with a blanket. Top it off with a ball hat, hood up and warm cup of tea and I was quite comfortable to watch the movie!

Once back in the room we played a card game of burn your neighbour out of doors and I got burnt most severely!  It was fun to play - J won and P was in the middle. 

To bed, to bed, sleepy head!

San Diego

Today we arrived in the port of San Diego!  As usual we were all awake by 6:30 and in the dining room for breakfast by 7 am. Today I had a plate of fruit and eggs florentine!

Shortly after 8 am, we were ready to disembark the Star Princess; right across the way we saw the Crown Princess was in port too. 

The Crown Princess is on the left, and the Star, in the right. 

With maps and hand we walked about 10 minutes to get to the Santa Fe Transit terminal to pick up bus 215. I was very proud to find a direct bus that was able to take us to The San Diego zoo for only $4.50 round trip. The cruise line would have charged us $50 just to commute on their bus and we would have been restricted to their start and finish times!

The San Diego Zoo really is a world class zoo. I can see how our zoo came and studied the design of the enclosures to build our zoo into a first class operation!

We started off by taking a double decker bus tour around the zoo to see the whole layout. Then we walked around the zoo for about 4 hours. So much to see here!

Koalas.

Giant Pandas.  They said could be a 45 minute wait but we were in and out in 15 minutes!

Polar Bears and so much more!

San Diego has the benefit of growing lush vegetation around their enclosures and no harsh winters!

We took bus 215 back downtown then walked until we found a coffee shop with wifi!  P had to secure his troops!

Quite a long line to process back on the ship with two ships in port!  San Diego is beautiful, clean and friendly - I would make a return trip here!

I'll post this before supper so you can see the day's events before we set sail at supper time!

Los Angeles

Today we arrived in the port of Los Angeles around 4 am, but the ship was cleared for disembarkation at 7:30 am. We left the ship and cleared immigration (because we are back in the USA). P and I caught a cab to the enterprise car rental and of course the cab driver wanted to take us all the way to Disneyland!  Um, no thanks that would cost $150 round trip instead of my $50 car rental!

I was very proud that I navigated to Disneyland without incident. The drive took about 40 minutes. Parking in the world's largest parkade and taking the tram to the front gates took just about as long!  (Well not quite - maybe another 20 minutes). P and I didn't get inside the gates of the happiest place on earth until about 10:10 am. 

We headed to Indiana Jones to get fast pass tickets (scheduled to return between 12 and 1). Pirates of the Caribbean was our first stop. After that, we kept on walking to Splash Mountain where a 55 minute wait was posted. We decided to try our hand at the singles lineup and found virtually NO wait!

After that we visited Indiana Jones, the Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear. 

By then it was 2:30 and we wanted to give ourselves ample time to get back to the ship before it set sail!  The all aboard call was for 5:30. 

By the time took a different route back to Long Beach (by virtue of making a split decision exiting the parkade),filled up with $4.02 worth of fuel, returned the rental and got shuttled back to the cruise ship, it was 4:30 pm. A comfortable amount of time to spare!

J spent the day exploring the port area - especially enjoying the Pacific Aquarium walking distance from the ship. 

I was especially happy to re-enter the world of Internet service to read my email!  I learned my eldest JG (who is home studying for University finals) was offered a summer job with Shell!  How great is that!  I am very proud of JG!  We used the Vonage app to call her for free!

Supper was Italian night. I had a seafood appetizer, green salad and scallop and shrimp entree. P had minestrone soup, spaghetti and meatballs; J had pasta fagioli and they both had a chicken entree. 

J and I went directly to the Motor City musical production, then P joined us for the Gary Carson magician show. I believe we saw him on the Emerald Princess cruise 3 years ago. Great shows!

Time for bed and will post this at the port of San Diego!

Ensenada, Mexico

The ship arrived at 6 am and had manoeuvred to the dock by 7 am in Ensanada, Mexico. We are enjoying the sunshine on our deck this morning watching people disembark for tours.

This is a Carnival ship that pulled into port about an hour after we did!

We had pre-booked a kayaking tour with Baja Blue Diver. We left the ship at 9 am and wandered through the gardens of the Baja California while waiting to meet our guides Diego and Jonathon just a few blocks away from the ship. Another family of three from Utah joined us on the tour. 

The van ride to the kayak launch point was about 1 hour, half of which was on a very rocky road!  Beautiful rock formations around the launch point. J paddled in a single boat, P and I paddled in a double. We were all similar abilities in the kayaks, so the group stayed together!  Highlights included seeing seals and paddling through a few small caves. Good thing we had basic kayak skills as the ocean swells were pretty noteworthy and we needed to keep from crashing into the rocks!

After two hours of paddling, we headed back to the launch point and loaded the boats back in the vehicle. After the drive back to Ensenada we stopped at  the Fenex for some great fish tacos. P really liked that the fish was deep fried!

It was a great way to spend the day in Mexico!  Their are vineyards to visit in the area, but that didn't appeal to us. 

J & P went for another workout after we all had a nice long hot tub!  Supper at 5:30, then Movies under the Stars where I watched Mockingjay Part 1.  J was already asleep by 9 pm when I returned to the room!  

Need to finish my blog and get ready for Los Angeles tomorrow. You may notice a number of blogs will get published April 8th because I have had NO success with the ship's wifi. 

Alcatraz continued & Embarkation

The cell house audio tour really is a must - it is so informative. Of course there have been a number of movies made about Alcatraz - most famously "Escape from Alcatraz" starring Clint Eastwood. It details the escape of three inmates who dug their way out of their cells with spoons.

We then walked through the gardens with their lush vegetation.  Of course these weren't in the inmate area but for the wardens and staff, many of whom, lived on the island.  

Upon our return, the rain has stopped so we were happy to stand in the open air at the front of the boat and take pictures of San Francisco and the Star Princess as we approached. 

We walked off the ship and returned to our hotel on foot by way of the waterfront. We stopped at Pier 39 to view the sea lions soaking up the heat!!

Back at the hotel we grabbed our luggage and returned on foot to Pier 27 where our cruise ship was docked. 

Processing through check in was maybe 40 minutes total and we were onboard the ship by 1 pm. We went straight to our stateroom - on the Dolphin deck port side and dropped our bags. We could have left them with the porters but we were quite able to carry them ourselves. 

We were hungry for lunch so then went straight to the portofino dining room to eat.   J & P both had beef tenderloin and I had a delicious salmon!

After lunch we unpacked bags, then J & P went for a workout. Of course we attended the mandatory muster drill. 

I loved having a balcony on the port side - for the view we had as we were docked. 

You can see the sign of the Port of San Francisco in the foreground. Alcatraz is the small island on the right and the Golden Gate Bridge can be seen in the distance on the left.

Sail away was at 4:30 pm.  We had a fabulous view of downtown San Francisco as we left port. The real thrill was passing underneathe the Golden Gate Bridge!

We were assigned a table for three when we went for dinner. Waiter Reneca from Mexico was very good and assisted by Jerico.  J and I both had scallops. P had a trio of meat where he asked for more chicken instead of veal in addition to lamb. P and I both had a trio chocolate dessert that included opera cake, chocolate mousse and dark brownie. J had peanut butter ice cream. All were fabulous!

We tried our first hand a trivia and scored a respectable 50%!  That was P's goal!

I went to the 8:15 Welcome Aboard show which featured magician Garry Carson. Pretty good magic and some humour that fell a bit flat considering the full audience. 

We all went to watch the movie The Imitation Game (not under the stars) but in the Vista Lounge on Deck 7!

Bed beckons!