Sunday, 6/24: We flew from Arcata to Orange County We took a taxi to Best Western in Long Beach and J.T. asked if he could sit in the front seat. We thought he would talk the driver's ear off, but he fell asleep. We got checked in, and it didn't take us long to realize we weren't in the greatest neighborhood We found a good place to grab dinner, King Taco, but it felt a little weird seeing a security guard inside a restaurant. We went to very scary liquor store to grab a beer and some snacks. The cashier was in a glassed-in box with bars. We had to hold the beer bottle up so the cashier could scan the bar code, then put money in a little drawer (where they closed it on our side and opened it on theirs). Yeah, not the greatest neighborhood.
Monday,
6/25: We had a quick breakfast at the hotel and took a shuttle to the Long Beach cruise terminal.
We checked in and boarded Carnival Inspiration about 12:30 pm. We went to the
buffet for lunch and the kids were soooo overwhelmed that they didn't
know what to eat. We checked out our rooms, which were side by side ocean view
rooms. At one point, Andy and I were in our room, and the kids were in theirs. We kept hearing this loud thumping noise. Come to find out, the kids were jumping on their beds, then jumping off them and doing high-fives in the air. Yep, so proud. Um, not! We had to go to a safety briefing. We also went to check out the kids' activities at Camp Carnival. We all
went to dinner and it was pretty good. The highlight was the chocolate melting cake for dessert! Then it was early to bed- we were all tired! Tuesday, 6/26: First thing in the morning, the ship anchored and we took a tender boat to Catalina Island about 9:30. We walked around the shops and just looked around. At 11:30, we took a bus tour around the island, which was really neat. It ended at the casino museum, where we looked around a little. The weather was a nice, sunny day, but only 75 degrees maybe.
We took a tender boat back to ship for lunch about 1:00. I took J.T. to the waterslide on the top deck, while Andy took Abigail back to Catalina because she forgot to buy postcards. There was a little reading, napping and sunbathing, which made for a nice afternoon. We took the kids to the buffet for dinner and then to the Camp Carnival rock-n-roll party. Andy and I went to the dining room for "elegant" night and had lobster and prime rib (both were mediocre at best). For some reason, that night the wait staff service was absolutely awful but the desserts were awesome! I had Grand Marnier souffle and Andy had chocolate melting cake.
Wednesday, 6/27: The ship docked in Ensenada Mexico, and we had bus tour at 9 am. We went to Riviera Centro Social, Civico y Cultural (Riviera Social, Civic and Cultural Center) and drove through the city of Ensenada.
We had a tour guide that pointed out different things along the way. At one point, J.T. said "This tour guide talks more than I do!" We headed towards La Bufadora (the blow hole) and flea market.
I personally was so uncomfortable at flea market because the vendors will do anything to get you to come into their shop. For lunch, we had the yummiest carne asada and shrimp tacos at little taco stand, and churros to take on the bus. The bus dropped us off and we walked around the downtown area of Ensenada. Andy and J.T. loved the leather/saddle shops, and Abigail and I loved the silver jewelry. We walked back to cruise ship port, and spent the afternoon at the pool and waterslide. We all went to dinner in the dining room, had a good dinner and more chocolate melting cake (x3) and one of the pieces of tiramisu that I've ever had!
Thursday, 6/28: This was our day at sea. The weather was overcast and cooler. We just relaxed, read, sat by the pool, kids sat in the hot tub, and had ice cream cones. J.T. also made a "Funship Freddie" (like Build-a-Bear).
J.T. finally got to play ping pong with his new friend Brandon. We had dinner and the last chance for chocolate melting cake.
Friday, 6/29: The ship arrived back at the Long Beach port about 6 am. We woke up to dreary day. We had a quick buffet breakfast, packed everything, got off the boat and into a taxi by 8 am. We were dropped off at Long Beach airport to get our rental car... to be continued...
Our favorite parts of cruise:
JT- Mexico, waterslide, chocolate melting cake
Abigail- Catalina Island, waterslide, chocolate melting cake, multiple soft serve ice cream cones
Sarah- bus "circle island" tours, desserts, early morning quiet walk for coffee
Andy- family time, tours, reading/relaxing
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