PandaBear62

Late to the party, but here are the patters from yesterday.

Monday I finally had a decent nights sleep (no fault of the bed or the cruise….I have terrible insomnia). We were back to the room last night around midnight and after reading for awhile, I was asleep by about 1. I woke up about 9:15. Dh left earlier, he tried acupuncture! His left shoulder has been difficult and he can’t raise his arm more than shoulder height. I was leaving the room when he came in and he was now able to reach his arm all the way up. So he was happy. Of course, he was also sold some supplements. (He has a hard time saying “no” sometimes”). I’m sure they were pricey, but honestly, if they help, that would be great! I should add, I also use the spa. I booked the thermal spa ($300 for the cruise) and a fire and ice manicure and pedicure. They aren’t cheap, but really, the staff are very good. I typically get a manicure or pedicure when I sail and I have never had a bad one. I’m planning to add a facial or massage as well. I went to the International cafe. I eat lots of breakfasts and lunches here. Here’s an example of breakfast: I had a plain croissant and latte. The coffee menu: Here’s lunch from the other day: So I’m sitting being lazy and as soon as I finish this, I’m going to read a bit. More later.

Truth!! Sunday The app seems to be working correctly now with no issues, which is nice. After multiple nights of terrible sleep, I did okay last night so was up at a reasonable time. I misread my time for the pedicure so went to the thermal spa to read. A very nice error! Spa service price list: Dh went to the gym to use the treadmill and then we met up to go to the Sanctuary. I saw it yesterday and it was empty. I guess that’s typical when the ship isn’t so crowded. We decided to try and book for the canal day. It’s $60 for the day (regularly $40 on a sea day). It is warm and humid and dh is a (former) redhead who needs to be careful in the sun, so this seemed a good idea, as it’s covered (he’s already had numerous pre-cancerous skin lesions removed). Unfortunately all the loungers in the covered section were taken so we didn’t do it. We did put ourselves on the waitlist but certainly aren’t optimistic. So we’ll try and get up quite early to get our preferred loungers. Disappointed but not a biggie. I really should have know better. Lunch was at the grill by the pool. For me, the veggie tacos, fries, a heineken and a bottle of water. Dh had some kind of hamburger. I left to go to my friends Cabo and see if we could add her to our excursion in Cabo. The shore excursion desk was, of course, closed. Open 9-12 and 3-6. We sat by the international cafe. My friend had a sandwich and I drank some water. The ended up going shopping and I joined dh in Vines. After finishing my water I had a glass of Prosecco. They have a red wine I like as well but it seemed heavy for an afternoon drink. I asked for the sweeter of the two offered. I’m kind of a funny wine drinker in that I don’t really like white wine and no sweet reds (unless it’s a port) but I like sweeter sparkling wine. Our friends eventually joined us and we played scrabble as one of the crew activities. There was a group playing where one woman was so incredibly rude to the activities crew member one of our group when over and told her to be nice, that the staff was working really hard for everyone. Not surprisingly, she told my friend to go away but I was proud of him. Because truth is the staff is awesome on the ship. My girlfriend and I went to shore excursions to try and add her to our excursion in Cabo. We got the last spot! We then headed back to our rooms to relax a bit and get ready for the formal night. Our group did 5:30 reservations. We skew a little older than me….I will be 61 on the cruise but our group goes up to mid 70’s. So they like the 5:30 dinner to see the 7:30 show. Then some people do more after the show and some go to their rooms. We had dinner and again, it was quite good. I sometimes find the dining room to be not that great, but I’ve actually been relatively happy with the choices I’ve made. We walked over to the the water and my goodness, it was packed! Like almost full. The show was called “Stardust” and it was music of the 50’s. It was a a typical cruise ship show. We then went to our rooms to dress down and met at Adiago to play cards, which we did until midnight. On our Alaskan cruise last summer, this was are absolute favorite bar and the bartenders were the best. Last night not so much. I tried to order a drink at 9:45 and was told the bar was closed. Okay, whatever. But then about 15 minutes later we were brought our drinks. The Princess Patter actually said it was open to 10:30. Maybe the staff was new? Because when I ordered my drink she didn’t seem to know what is was. Whatever it was, we had a fun evening.

so there are 4 steam rooms/saunas. Two are rather large, two are smaller. 5 ceramic heated loungers. The cost for our cruise is $299. We have SO many sea days and so few port days it seemed worth it to me. On a cruise that’s more port intensive, I don’t typically purchase but for this one, definitely yes.

It was so steamy the last picture is blurry!

The thermal spa is rather small. I went in yesterday and this morning so far. A couple people in yesterday and this morning (9:45) I am peacefully by myself. No water feature but the adult pool and spa is right outside the the main spa. pictures for you. I’m doing each steam room in a separate post each so I don’t get mixed up!

We met up with our friends for dinner. Menus for Saturday: I had the caprese salad. The tomatoes weren’t really great, which is typical for April and I wish there was more balsamic, but it’s still a favorite of mine. The strip sirloin and accompaniments were good. Wasn’t that crazy about dessert options so had some ice cream wigh caramel and whipped cream which I enjoyed. I am not really a chocolate eater but I love vanilla and caramel. After dinner all 7 of use went to music trivia. My small group of 3 did pretty well and ended up in second place with a score of 31/40. The winning team had 32. It was fun! We then went to the yes/no game. I’d never seen it before and it was a hoot. The rest of the group headed to their rooms but dh and I headed to the show. I should add, I was doing this for my husband. I wasn’t really interested. I really enjoyed the show, even though I wasn’t expecting to do so. We stopped at the casino bar and got our nightcaps and headed back to the room. The app was finally working by tonight, in some capacity. But you still can’t access your account or dining and the shore excursions tab is funky. I’m hoping it works tomorrow! Good night.

Saturday I had a bad night last night (I have terrible insomnia) so got up later than I’d like and made my way to the spa for my manicure appointment. It was a lovely experience and my nails look great. I am unfortunately a mail picker and she was able to make even my nails look good. I headed to the International Cafe for lunch. This is my favorite place to eat for lunch. I love the sandwiches that are offered. We sailed on the Ruby last summer and on that trip there were also little salads as offerings. I am hoping I’ll see some of those in days to come. My sandwich was a prosciutto sandwich but they had many other lovely options. Really this is a great option! I then went to the thermal spa and read and dozed. After I checked out the Sanctuary. It was empty….no one there but staff. It’s $20 per morning or afternoon and $60 all day through the Panama Canal I think we may book for the canal crossing. I read we should be on the left side of the ship so we can see Panama City as well…I hope that’s accurate! It has been beautiful out….warm and humid. The Sanctuary would be nice for the canal I think because it will give you some protection from the sun and it’s quite close to the adults only pool. The Princess app is not working today. We wanted to change one excursion in Costa Rica and staff at guest services had to note our change and told us they would change it once they had access. I often book our own excursions and don’t go through the cruise line, but I do have an exception. When we have to travel long distances with little wiggle room for time, I use the ships excursions. Many of our port days are short and involve a lot of travel. So all of our excursions are though Princess. This is what we’re doing: I also considered upgrading to Princess Premier but decided against it. It would be $620 for the 2 of us. We have one speciality dinner planned. Even if we have a second dinner and I have upgraded wine at dinner, we’d still be quite behind dollar wise. We made our way to Vines. After a couple of misses, I tried the Petite Syrah by Spellbound and enjoyed it. It has the added benefit of being in the Plus package. Dh had gone to the acupuncture presentation and decided to make an appointment for his shoulder. I am glad he’s trying this. He always encourages me to do different spa treatments or to get something at the shops and doesn’t care about the expense. I’m glad he’s doing something for himself.

Pre-cruise We booked a Panama Canal cruise last year, leaving from San Francisco. There is little I enjoy more than driving across or sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge. However, that cruise was cancelled by Princess and we had to choose another. We might have chosen to do an entirely different cruise, but were sailing with a group, so we decided to choose a cruise that starts in Galveston and ends in San Francisco. We won’t enjoy the sail away under the bridge, but will be almost home when we end the cruise and that is certainly nice. Coming from CA, the other advantage is there are multiple airlines we can fly non stop to Houston. We chose to fly in early (arriving Tuesday for a Friday sailing) because I have cousins in Houston and it gives us a chance to visit. We had an uneventful flight to Houston, collected out luggage and were off. We enjoyed our time in Houston and I especially appreciated that we drove to College Station and visited the George HW Bush Presidential Library. I’m a history buff and my goal is to visit all the Presidential Libraries. Friday We took a private car service car from Galveston Saltwater moms Moms. I accidentally gave her the wrong address…..my cousin's old house. Luckily they were only a couple of miles apart and she quickly arrived. Kat was delightful and pointed out sites of interest along the way. We hit very little traffic except around Katy and had an in energy drive to Galveston. We had a 12pm boarding time but the port was very quiet and no one was checking arrival times. We quickly went through security and boarded the ship with essentially no waiting. I had been told that our cruise would have about 2000 passengers. We went upstairs to the Lido deck and both had a slice of pizza. I like their pizza, it’s very thin with a thicker crust around the edge….it’s exactly what I prefer. We went to the spa and took a price list of services and then I went up to Adiago…..it was empty, which was exactly what I needed. I am retired but have gone back to work part time for a school. I’m a speech pathologist who case manages for a school site. So I did my parent meeting online and then met up with my husband. We went back to the spa and I booked some services and then we headed to the room to unpack. While I am traveling with some former work colleagues, we aren’t doing everything together. Our friends were resting longer, so we went to dinner and asked for a shared table. We had delightful table mates and enjoyed the conversation. I had the seared garlic prawns, green vegetable risotto and vanilla cream brûlée. Dh had the seared mahi mahi and cheesecake (don’t remember his appetizer). He thought the mahi mahi was quite good and the cheesecake was, well cheesecake. Not fantastic, not bad, just cheesecake. I liked the shrimp. The risotto was okay. Not horrible but not that good. I had a glass of old vine Zinfandel that was not in the plus package ($17) so paid the up charge. It was quite good and I will likely have it again. After dinner we went to the One Hits wonder trivia and then then the comedian. He wasfine. Not super funny all the time, but I did enjoy some of his bits and he was also not off color or crude and I was happy for that. Dh thought he was funnier than I did, LOL. There are 1969 guests per the cruise director on the ship. This demographic definitely skews older….dh and I joked we’re youngsters in this cruise. After the show we headed back to the room. I stopped at the pool bar for my nightly amaretto. One thing I like about Princess…I can have a double amaretto. We watched an episode of Love Boat before going to sleep.

Lol, so maybe that’s what I have! I just bought some to try, so maybe I already have them!

I’ll be sure to post how it works out!

Good to know! I did bring along 1 packable hat. I don’t love it but it’s something. Maybe I’ll look for another one at our first port.

This is the longest cruise I’ve ever taken (it’s 16 days). I tried to look at weather and it appears that it should be in the mid 70’s to 80’s, so nice and warm. I started off with fewer clothes and then decided, what the heck, I’ll add more and give myself more options. So the list below is what I actually packed and wore on the plane. 5 pants (3 Athleta Brooklyn type pants in taupe, navy and black. One pair of navy what I call crop pants-hitting about 3” above my ankle-longer than a Capri and one pair of black pants that are by Chicos and are dressier) 10 tops (3 short sleeved and 7 sleeveless. Three nice tee style and the rest like blouses or tunics) 2 lightweight cardigans in navy and black (I get cold in public rooms) 5 dresses (1 simple LBD, 1 nicer flowy patterned that hit mid calf, 2 more casual patterned dresses that are just above mid calf and 1 simple a-line floral that hits just below the knee) 1 bike short and 1 shaper to wear under dresses 1 wine colored pashmina/scarf to dress up a floral kind of flowy dress for dinner and/or the LBD 1 short kimono for the LBD (will also work with some pants and tops combinations) 1 swimsuit 1 sleep shirt 7 underwear 4 bras 4 pairs of knee highs and 6 pairs of no show socks 4 shoes: 2 slip on Skechers, 1 pair of flats, 1 Teva sandals 1 packable hat 1 disposable poncho to take just in case for excursions 1 quart bag for liquids and the small Sea to Summit toiletry bag Quart sized plastic bag for electronic misc Kindle and 2 iPads (one is for work) 1 small soft zippered case with my just in case OTC meds, vitamins, etc A crossbody phone case to use around the ship and for excursions Coach packable tote (just in case). (https://www.mercari.com/us/item/m81764298085/) 1 small jewelry case 1 Chicos crossbody tote (https://www.buyma.us/items/0213d0ca-5a94-4d6d-9b17-d094d3aa23ee/) Hello Mello travel wrap (https://www.soleilsboutique.com/products/hello-mello-weekender-travel-wrap-1) S’well water bottle 5 tide pods for laundry I am typically a very light packer. I took a 5 day cruise a couple of months ago with a personal item (28 liter bag) and a small crossbody tote. For this trip I decided to use my Rick Steves backpack (no wheels). It can be expanded a bit, but I did not do so, nor was it packed full. Despite this, it held way more than my Travelpro 22” roller yet is still a carryon bag. However, I shipped it through. I know there is always a danger of a bag getting lost, but given we had a non stop flight, we were flying first class (so get priority tags), used air tags and had United bag tracking, I wasn’t too worried. We also were flying in Tuesday for a Friday cruise departure. If our bag was delayed, we had plenty of time to get it back and worst case scenario, Houston has stores! Actually, in 30 years of trips, I’ve only ever had one bag go astray (it was dh’s) and it was delivered to us safe and sound the next day. We had to ship dh’s bag through anyway, since we were bringing some of our favorite wine from local wineries as a host gift for my cousin, who we were staying with before the cruise. Taking this many clothes is absolutely atypical for me. I just tend to be a much more minimalistic packer, so I don’t know exactly why I wanted to take more for this trip. All I can say is it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind! I do plan to keep track of what I actually wore and if I used all the variety. I’m a big believer in taking favorites when I travel and that’s really what I did for this trip. The only “new” type items are the wine colored shawl/scarf and the kimono. I plan to use them both for the nicer dinner nights in the ship, because it’s a guarantee I will get cold with the a/c. I struggle with how to wear a shawl. I did buy clips and a buckle (of sorts) to hook the shawl so I don’t have to constantly keep it over me. Most kimonos are way too long and narrow for me (I’m short and fat-about 5’2” and wear size 18/20 or 1X. This one is significantly shorter so I’m giving it a chance. The dresses will also act as a swim coverup. Just by personal preference, I don’t tend to wear jeans, leggings, or casual tees. So my everyday wear can often be easily “dressed up” for the dress up nights on the ship (and the fact that these days, while a few still dress up a lot, many people dress very casual). I wear flats, due to my age and my plantars fasciitis. To dress them up a little bit, for the formal nights I add on shoe clips that go with my outfit, just to glam it up a bit and they take up virtually no space. I originally planned to bring a jeans jacket, just in case, but with the weather predictions I decided against it. Instead, I brought my Hello Mello travel shawl, which can be a shawl, a blanket or scarf. I’m always cold on planes and it’s a great blanket! It will fit in a small tote much easier than a jacket if I get cold. In addition to the Rick Steves bag, which I shipped through, I carried a Kipling Sasha tote for on the plane and I packed an old (from 2013) Coach packable tote which I love. It is one big open space with a zipper. The case it fits in has two snaps and a zipper and attaches as a pocket inside the bag. It’s a great bag and has held up well. I seriously doubt I will need it because both my bags had space and I am not a big shopper on vacations, but you never know. If I find something I love I will have a bag to carry it on the plane. I brought the Chicos crossbody tote for around the ship that can hold my phone, kindle, cardigan when not wearing it, water bottle etc. We landed in Houston and had our luggage quickly and were off to spend a couple of days with my cousins I hadn’t seen in awhile, so it has been a treat. The lightweight pants I brought have been perfect for this high 70’s/low 80’s weather, as I’m not too hot outside and not too cold inside wearing my cardigan with the air conditioning. We board the ship tomorrow so I’ll try and share how my packing has worked out (or possibly hasn’t worked-I’ll hope for the best!)

I have had luck with the socks I’ve bought at TJ Maxx. They both have had the silicone strip. I’ve heard Bombas work well, but I know they are pricey so haven’t tried them yet. I’m going to check out the Wander brand.

Day 2 Catalina I was up bright and early on our Catalina port day, so I grabbed a coffee and croissant and went up to the thermal spa. No hangover at all but that’s probably because I really didn’t drink much. Dh had been a little worried, because I’ve probably been drunk 3 or 4 times in the 33 years we’ve been together and he was shocked at how bad off I had seemed. Dh was hanging out at Red Frog, reading and eventually drinking. We did not go ashore on an excursion. Dh was a Boy Scout leader for about 20 years and there is a camp on Catalina for scouts. The nice thing as an adult on the trip is only 2 leaders need to stay at camp during the day (the staff supervises campers) for emergencies and the others can explore the island, go to Avalon, etc, so he’s spent a lot of time here. Here is the tender information I had 2 short meetings so I planned to get off the ship in the afternoon, to get better internet. We met up for an early lunch and went to the Shaq Shack. I had an omelet from the breakfast menu and it was quite nice. Dh had some kind of chicken sandwich. Once again, I’ll say we like the smaller, kiosk like dining choices. I went to the room to get what I needed for my meetings and headed out. At 12:22 I got to tender line as a tender was just being unloaded. The last people were coming off at 12:39 and the crew started letting us board at 12:40. We took off at 12:49 and were at the island at 12:56 I was on the island at 12:58. I am just describing this for anyone who might have private plans on Catalina. I’d allow an hour from getting in line to being off the tender. And remember, if you have a private excursion, you will likely need to walk down from where the tender drops you off. At 1pm the tender line seemed long to return on to the ship. However, the tender is big so it didn’t seem like the wait times were outrageous. The lines disappeared as each shuttle left and then got bigger again. So while the lines looked long it wasn't that bad. I was done with my meetings by three. I was able to find a little bench to dial in and it was easy. At this point, the tender line was almost non existent. I walked through the line and was quickly on a tender and we were taken back to the ship. Dh and I met up at the Red Frog but with live music starting that was very loud, we moved over the area around the apothecary bar. At 4, we had drinks made (and again, Edwin indulged me for making adaptations to a drink) and sat and enjoyed them. After our drinks we went down to the room to clean up and get ready for the evening, which was the dress to impress night. We checked in for dining as we left the room and our table was ready a minute or two later. We chose to join others at dinner and were seated with a delightful couple celebrating his 40th birthday. I had the spinach salad and the garlic shrimp. Both were, well…..adequate. Not horrible, but not particularly good. For dessert, I had the creme brûlée. It was a generous portion. The top was nice and crusty. The custard was a little softer than I’m used to, but had a nice flavor. Despite the rather mediocre meal, we had a lovely conversation and it made for a nice dinner. We tried out the Heroes bar and I tried a Space Age. It’s made with Tang. I remember Tang from when I was a kid. I loved it! We spent a few minutes at the bar and then headed to the show. It was quite good. The theme was Summer of Love, featuring the music of summer of 1969. Not very crowded but the performers were excellent. Highly recommended. I was a small child during the summer of love, but lived very close to San Francisco so have vague memories from going to the city with my parents and seeing the “hippies”. This is a YouTube video of the show. I actually thought ours was better than this video. https://youtu.be/aeP3jrIuZq8 We planned to head back to the Apothecary bar but I was ready to head down to the room. And thus the day ended.

Day 1 Sail Day (January 23) We were up at 4:30 and out of the house by 5:45. The TSA precheck line was longer than the regular line (the first time that’s happened to me). We still stayed in the precheck line because of the other features and while the line was longer, it wasn’t a bad wait. We got through security and then walked to the gate. Boarding was a little delayed but we arrived at the LAX on time. Only real complaint of the flight….it was really cold! We stopped and got some coffee and headed down to the pick up location for our Carnival transportation to the port. We waited by carousel 1 at baggage for a few minutes. Dh looked over and saw a group and then what looked like a carnival sign. The man there said he was just heading down to that location to find us as we were his last pick up for that time. The staff with the bus company were congenial and we made surprisingly (for LA) great time to the pier. As an aside, the cost each way was $70 for the two of us. An Uber from the airport to the pier was $104. We were at the pier by a little before 10 and had deposited our luggage and had our boarding passes and passports scanned by 10:05. The location is the domed building where the Spruce Goose used to be housed. It’s nicely decorated inside with fake trees around and linoleum that looks like grass. But….it was cold! Like being outside! I had debated whether I needed to bring a jacket or not and I’m so glad I did, between the plane and here. Lots of benches and a bathroom easily accessible. Looking around I was surprised at how many school aged kids I saw. In general, though, the people around us skewed older. They began announcing boarding by categories. We were in boarding group B5. Diamond guest boarding announcement was at 10:55 Then Suite guests announcement at 10:57 Platinum guests announcement was at 10:59 Faster to the Fun announcement was at 11 Zone A1 & A2 at 11:02 Zone A3 & A4 at 11:03 Zone A5-A10 at 11:04 Zone B1 & B2 at 11:06 Zones B3 & B4 at 11:08 Zones B5-B10 at 11:10 I don’t know beyond this because we were in B5. It was quite the hike to the ship and we definitely got caught in a small traffic jam and were getting our photo at 11:20 and at the muster station at 11:25. We were told to sit down and wait so we’re wondering what would happen and how long it would take. Turned out, it was quite quick. We were shown how to put on our life jacket and sent on our way. Very nice. I had lunch at the Blue Iguana and had a bowl made. Dh went inside for a sandwich. My bowl was great, but I will admit that I really like this location so I’m probably biased. Dh said his sandwich was fine, just that the cheese could be more melty. I should share, before I give any more details about meals and the food and beverage on the ship……I’m a picky eater. I am also kind of a quirky picky eater. What I mean by that is people often comment that I like (and dislike) the oddest foods. I don’t like many fruits (I don’t like the texture of most fruits), but I eat a lot of veggies……anyone for jicama, kale or squash? I love beans and varied items like bulgar and quinoa. I don’t really like chocolate, but do like vanilla and caramel. I am not a big red meat eater but do like chicken and pork loin. I am only saying this so you can take this into account while reading my reviews. I eat a somewhat vegetarian diet (about 75% of the time). While eating lunch we saw a seal (maybe a deal lion, I’m not sure) in the water not too far from the ship Dh and I went to the spa and I decided to get a thermal spa pass, despite not having a spa (which I really like). The cost for the 4 days was $118 for me. $202 per couple (I think). They were also selling day passes: $49 for a port day and $69 for a sea day. We then made our way to the room, unpacked and headed up to the Red Frog for a drink. It wasn’t too crowded so we sat at the bar and chatted with Edwin and Kurt who were working. Edwin does the Apothecary bar in the evenings which is a favorite of ours. So we walked around a little more and went to the Apothecary bar when it opened at 4. Edwin made me a modified French Kiss, since I’m not a fan of Chambord and I had a second one made to bring with me to the comedy show. That’s something we like about Carnival, that it offers many comedy shows. The comedian seemed like he’d be funny but it wasn’t really an act, he just called out people in the audience. So not as fun as I had hoped. By this time we were hungry and the dining room was a 30 minute wait so we headed to the buffet. By the time we sat down we were called to our dinner reservation…..maybe 10 minutes tops? Had we realized we would have stayed. The buffet meal was mediocre and uneventful. We decided that was our first and last dinner at the buffet. At this point, I was seriously impacted by the two drinks, which is very unlike me. I attribute it to eating very little, dehydration and having gotten up at 4:30 to make our flight. I told dh that I thought I was drunk (and really, I was so surprised and he was quite shocked) and we went to the room and I was in bed. Probably not the best start to our cruise, but it is what it is. For your reference, here is the dinner menu The wine list in the dining room doesn’t change so I’m going to post it once Drink menus from dining room

Dh and I decided in mid December to plan a quick getaway for January. We’ve sailed on Carnival twice. Once out of Long Beach over Christmas in 2017 on the Inspiration (we took our family, my mom and brother). The second time was 5 days out of New Orleans on the Triumph in February 2019, which was the last cruise before going into dry dock and being refurbished and given a new name. While Carnival may have a mixed reputation among some people, we have enjoyed both cruises we have taken before, so I am excited for this one. I have been on 4 cruises since the covid closures, but not on Carnival (2 Disney, 1 Princess and 1 Celebrity). Our cruise is out of Long Beach, 4 nights, on the Radiance, stopping at Catalina and Ensenada. A little about us……dh is 64, retired from aerospace. I’m 60, just retired in June 2022 and started a part time position just a couple of weeks ago. But the advantage of being retired, and having a profession that is in very short supply is that you can pretty much negotiate what you want, at least in some places. So despite having just started working Jan 3, I’m off for a week 20 days later! Our three kids are finally grown and flown, no more mortgage and the time and money to travel! Yay!!! Pre-Cruise Expenses: Cruise fare for 2 (inside cabin) $258 Taxes and Port fees $240 Prepaid gratuities $116 Transfers to and from LAX $140.36 Southwest tickets from the Bay Area $67 (no it wasn’t that cheap. But we had $200 in fare credit set to expire in late January) We have $250 on board credit for the 4 nights. $200 was with the rate we booked and $50 was from our Carnival stock. Pre-Cruise Planning I booked the Carnival excursion to Valle de Guadalupe. Dh and I have been here a couple of times, and we typically book with a private company and go to smaller, more boutique style wineries, but not this time. This was $120 for both of us, which I paid for from onboard credit. Not planning an excursion for Catalina. We might get off the ship and walk around downtown, or we might just stay on and enjoy the (hopefully) quiet). I also booked Southwest airlines for our flight to LA, because my mom and sister each had $100 credit from Southwest from a delay they had last year (ironically, when I was taking them on a different cruise, out of Galveston). I had paid for their tickets, so when they weren’t going to use them by the expiration (1-28-23), dh and I did. Now, I have flown SWA for years. I even have their credit card. Since this was a budget trip, I decided to book a flight early Monday morning, rather than the evening before, to save the cost of a hotel and Uber. I wasn’t too worried when I booked, since there are lots of flights from the Bay Area to LAX every day. But then, just a week or so later, Southwest imploded over the holidays. This made me super nervous and I looked into other airlines as well as flying in the night before. Ultimately, we decided to take the chance and make a final decision the weekend before our Monday sail date. Worst case, we can decide to drive down and just park the car for a week. If we don’t drive, wait and we can’t get to LAX in any way, well, rats. Financially, we’d lose about $400. Of course, I’d rather not miss the trip, but it’s just dh and I, we can afford the loss and it’s not like it’s our only vacation this year. The Weekend Before (January 20-22) I started checking weather and Southwest flights to LA, to see how things were going. Luckily things looked good. I also packed. I’m a light packer in general. I did a two week New England and Canadian cruise doing carryon, as well as a 10 day Alaskan cruise. So I decided for this cruise to try packing in a personal item. I won’t bore those of you who are not obsessed with packing (like myself) with the details, but if you are interested, here’s a link to my packing report in the Cruise Fashion and Beauty Discussion Topic board (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2909539-packing-for-my-4-night5-day-cruise-in-a-personal-item/?_fromLogin=1#replyForm). I’ll just say here that since we were living a little dangerously with flying in the day of, we didn’t ship through any bags. I used a Kipling Sasha tote for my luggage and dh used a Travelpro 21” roller. Southwest didn’t appear to be having issues and the weather looked fine so we decided to proceed with our travel plans. I solidified the dog sitting and dog walking plans and went to bed hoping I hadn’t forgotten anything.

thanks for your comments. I am currently on the ship and really happy with my choices. jacket We waited in the domed building to board the ships….it was quite cold and all the public areas were quite cold the first two days of the trip. I wore my jacket a lot. swimsuit and coverup i did decided to purchase a thermal spa pass so am using my swimsuit and coverup. nice top and slacks while some people were much more dressed up than dh and I, in general we were as dressed up or more for “dress to impress” night. My slacks, top and flats were fine. Everything I mentioned above for easily in my personal item with some room to spare.

I'm heading out tomorrow for a 4 night/5 day cruise out of Los Angeles, sailing to Ensenada and Catalina. Just a quick getaway. We're flying SWA early the morning of. Not our usual practice of flying in the day before, but it's an hour flight from the Bay Area and we decided to take a chance. Dh has a rolling carryon and I decided to try just a personal item. My bag is a Kipling Sasha (the style used to be called Sherpa) but I don't think they make it anymore. Dimensions are 15 3/4 x 11 1/4 x 8 1/4. Flying Southwest, we could check bags for free and since we did early bird, a carryon isn't an issue. I just tend to prefer to pack light (I did a two week cruise of New England and Canada as well as a 10 day Alaskan cruise by carrying on a 22" roller and a tote). What I packed (this includes what I'm wearing): 3 pants navy blue pants (kind of performance wear, but looks more like leggings/slacks) black pants (T by Talbot-these are very much like Athleta Brooklyn, but fit me like an ankle pant) black/blue and white floral pants (these are a funny pattern-because they're floral, they are okay for summer, but being navy and black, I wear in winter as well) 7 tops 2 sleeveless tunic style (one black and white with tiny flowers, almost more like a pattern than floral and one red, green floral) 1 black performance wear fitted tee and 1 black blouse (for wearing with floral pants on travel days) 1 blue and white stripe tunic with ruffled sleeves (not quite a "swing" top, but not straight either) 1 black with white polka dots short sleeve blouse 1 "dressier" top, black with teal flowers 2 shoes sneakers black croc flats Misc Clothes 1 sleeveless super lightweight dress (probably will use as swimsuit cover up) 1 swimsuit 1 white sweater by Chicos 1 black sweater (a little fancier, with ruffled front and ruched sleeves) 1 sleepshirt 5 socks 5 underwear 3 bras a heavier jacket or coat, but haven't decided which Misc Other Stuff very small bag with a charging cube and cords for electronics 2 iPads (that's not a typo....I have a small work project and suffice to say I need both) quart bag for liquids (not even half full, I decant products. small bag with non liquid toiletries and misc items (safety pins, OTC meds, etc) sanitary pads (I'm of a certain age and a little leakage, sorry if that's TMI but it is what it is) crossbody phone case 8.5x11 wet bag In case you are curious, I am plus sized (size 1x or 18/20). The weather will likely be in the low 60's. I know sleeveless seems odd, but I wear a lot of sleeveless tops with a sweater here at home and it's essentially the same weather (I like the double layer but by arm not feeling constrained). I don't know if I'll use the pool or hot tub but I might. I also may buy a pass to the thermal spa, but want to see it first before deciding for sure, since it doesn't have any kind of spa/hot tub in it. The coverup is actually a dress and I could wear it with a sweater. The crocs I am bringing are fine for the pool but also can be worn with pants and just look like regular flats. They're a nice dual use item, especially when you only have one "dressy" dinner and won't be spending lots of time at the pool. I should also add I will have a small eBags crossbody purse (they don't sell it anymore, but it has the nice security clasps on the zippers). I use it, or a larger purse of the same style, for all travel.

Great Idea! My Dollar Tree has lots of prepackaged food and I buy it all the time for travel. You can get different nuts (like cashews), dried fruit like banana or mango and chocolates like M&M's. Just brin along a ziplock bag and assemble when you're off the ship. It will cost you $5 or $6.

I go there in St. Louis. My two siblings both ended up there and we moved my mom there a year ago into a retirement community. I go back 3-4 times a year now that I'm retired and try to make it there.