A long review of a short cruise - Carnival Spirit Vancouver to LA Sept 20-23/11

[Luckysll]

A long review for a short cruise – Carnival Spirit Sept 20 – 23, 2011.

Having read so many reviews here on Cruisecritic, I finally decided it was my turn to do a review. This cruise turned out to be a lot of good intentions that never saw the light of day, but I did have a great time. First good intention gone astray was that I had intended to take lots of pictures (including food porn), but ended up taking very few pictures. I also spent 3 days in Disneyland following the cruise and will (briefly) talk about that.

A bit of background:

I’m a 62 year old female and I usually cruise solo. This was my fifth cruise on the Carnival Spirit and my 10th cruise with Carnival (yea, platinum!), so there were some things I got to experience for the first time and that’s one of the reasons for this review. I apologize in advance if I go a little overboard (pun intended) about being platinum, but it was something I’d been looking forward to.

A friend that I’d met through Cruisecritic on a previous cruise to Alaska on the Carnival Spirit happened to mention that she was booked on this 3-day cruise and I couldn’t resist booking (thanks, Pia). Now, I’m an admitted balcony snob, but since this was only going to be a 3 day cruise, I decided to “rough it” :D and go with an oceanview cabin. I booked it Early Saver in November 2010 through Carnival’s website, paid in full when I booked, which included pre-paying the gratuities. At that time, including the gratuities, I paid just over $500, which felt like I was practically getting the cruise for free as I usually pay a lot more for my cruises as a solo and with a balcony.

Maybe because this cruise was such a short cruise and the Spirit usually does her repositioning cruise after the Alaska season as a Vancouver to Hawaii, 12 day cruise, people weren’t as aware of this cruise, but for whatever reason, there were lots of cabins available and the price did come down considerably. In the end, I managed to upgrade to an extended balcony on deck 7 and still ended up with an OBC of just over $100! First time I’ve ever had a cruise drop in price, so I was very happy with my decision to book Early Saver.

[Luckysll]

Embarkation Day (Sept 20)

My brother and sister-in-law happened to be going on a one week trip to Hawaii the same day as the cruise started and their flight, out of Bellingham WA, didn’t leave until 5:30 p.m., so my sil said that they would take me over to Vancouver, drop me off at the terminal at Canada Place and then carry on down to Bellingham. This turned out to be a great way to start my trip. My sister-in-law and I have done two cruises together (just us girls) and she and my brother have done a couple of cruises and love cruising as much as I do, so it’s fun talking cruising with them. While I know they enjoy Hawaii (they were married there), I’m pretty sure that if they hadn’t already had the trip to Hawaii booked, they would have been on this cruise with me.

But, I digress, so let’s get back to the trip to the ship.......

We caught the 9:00 a.m. ferry from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen (from Vancouver Island to the Mainland of BC for those of you who aren’t familiar with this part of the world). Having lived on Vancouver Island all my life, I’ve ridden the BC Ferries many times, but still love the scenery of the trip. Of course, the ferry is nothing like a cruise ship, but it IS on water. Since my brother and sil weren’t sure when they were going to eat next, they wanted to have a good breakfast and were going to eat in the buffet on the ferry. I probably should have just gone to the cafeteria and had some toast and coffee and waited for lunch on the ship, but I joined them in the buffet and had a full breakfast.

The ferry crossing takes an hour and a half and with the approximately one hour drive from the ferry terminal to the cruise pier at Canada Place in downtown Vancouver, they dropped me off around 11:45 a.m. After the cruise, I was going to stay in Anaheim for three nights and go to Disneyland, but I was determined to travel light, especially since I didn’t want to pay for the checked bag fees on my flight home, so I only had my carry-on bag for the whole week. I normally wear a sparkly jacket and evening slacks for the elegant evenings, but this time I went with a less formal, but still dressy blouse and slacks, so that cut down on all the extra things needed for that one evening.

So, with no need to stop to leave a bag with the porter, I headed into the terminal.

Embarkation process:

In Vancouver, everyone goes into one line to go through security first. Once through security, you head off in different directions depending on which ship you are boarding. There were a lot of kids in the line, but since there was also a Disney ship in port, it was pretty obvious where most of them were heading. Customs and immigration was very quick – pretty much just show the passport and off you go. Now it’s off to check-in and my first VIP boarding!

After customs/immigration, I was directed to the check-in lines and this is where my new VIP status first came in to play. Unfortunately, the computers in Vancouver were down, so check-in was done manually, which did slow things down a bit, but it was still very quick. I stopped for my embarkation photo (which I didn’t buy) and then as I stepped onto the ship, they took the photo for my sail and sign card. Very easy all around and I was onboard by 12:30 p.m. From drop off to onboard was about 45 minutes. Longest wait was to get through the security line.

I was in cabin 7194, an extended balcony on the port side. I did not see my cabin steward at all that day. In fact, I only saw him for the first time in the hall the evening of the second day just as I was heading for dinner. I never did learn his name, although I did see him in the hall a couple of times during the cruise and say “hello”. The room was, as usual, always spotless and I had no problems with anything in the cabin.

It was too early to go to my cabin, so I headed to the Lido deck for lunch. Since I had eaten a full meal on the ferry (my mistake), I wasn’t that hungry for lunch, so I just had a small plate of food. I do enjoy people watching, so it wasn’t wasted time. At 2:00, I headed to my cabin, unpacked and sat outside on the balcony enjoying the beautiful view of the North Shore of Vancouver until it was time to head up for the meet and greet.

Meet and greet:

We had a very active and large Cruisecritic roll call (for such a short cruise) and there were quite a few people who met at the aft pool area on the Lido deck at 3 p.m. I have a supply of small Canadian flag lapel pins that I like to hand out on my cruises. I tell people that if they aren’t Canadians to start with, they are now honorary Canadians for the duration of the cruise.

I’m not much of a drinker and had returned from my last cruise with a couple of drink coupons left over, so I used one to purchase a drink during the meet and greet. I had intended to try something foo-foo, but as usually happens with me on a cruise (see my earlier comment about pictures and similar comments below), I never quite do what I intend and I ordered my standard Canadian Club and ginger ale.

[Luckysll]

Muster Drill:

The muster drill was at 4:30 p.m. and most people arrived on time. There were a couple of announcements to the people on Lido deck that the muster drill could not begin until they showed up. Don’t know whether they thought they didn’t have to participate or perhaps they are already imbibing too much to want to leave the Lido deck. Either way, IMHO, it shows an incredible disrespect to keep everyone waiting. The other thing I noticed this time was that a lot of people were talking during the muster drill. No doubt these people would be the first to panic during an emergency because they didn’t have a clue what to do.

The best part of the muster drill was that while we were waiting, the Disney ship left and I got to hear the “When You Wish Upon A Star” horns. Since I was going to Disneyland after the cruise, it was fun to hear.

I prefer early seating for dinner when I cruise and another perk from my (new) platinum status was that I knew that’s what I would get. I am an early-to-bed/early-riser and just can’t handle eating as late as the second seating. Early seating was 6 p.m., which is perfect for me.

I had table 217, which was located on the lower level in the center of the dining room, near to the entrance. I would have preferred something a little closer to a window, but since I do have some problems with my knee (I’m awaiting knee replacement surgery), not having to walk a long way to get to my table is just fine. The waiter was Roberto, from Jamaica. He did an excellent job.

There were three other women at the table when I arrived. Two friends travelling together and one other woman travelling solo. The two friends had been on the previous week’s Alaska cruise, while the other solo lady only booked the cruise a couple of weeks prior to the cruise after getting an email from Carnival. She pretty much paid only for the taxes and fees and got a balcony cabin for it. Guess Carnival really was looking to fill up the ship. I’m not sure if the three women had already exchanged names and where they were from, but they didn’t ask my name or anything about me (and, in truth, I didn’t volunteer it).

The two friends had been seated somewhere else in the dining room the previous week and hadn’t been happy with the service so had asked to be moved to a new table. They kept repeating how unhappy they were with things like the bread not being warm and the butter being too cold, all of which I personally thought was too minor to complain about, but they obviously weren’t happy. Now, when you travel solo, unless you link up your booking with someone from the roll call (which I have done on other cruises, but didn’t do on this cruise), it means you sit with strangers. I have no problem talking with new people, but this time, I just didn’t connect with the people at all that first night. I really wasn’t too concerned about it though, as I figured there were only 3 nights that I’d be sitting with them and things might improve the next two nights. Turns out, that wasn’t the case at all.

One thing that’s been mentioned lately on Cruisecritic is the new menus, but the menus on the Spirit had not been changed and the shrimp cocktail was available each night. That first night, I ordered the shrimp cocktail, cream of tomato soup and fried chicken. All very good. I didn’t bother with dessert either, as I was still full from lunch.

The Maitre d’ did mention the dress code and that they would be enforcing it, especially tomorrow night, which was the elegant night. It wasn’t the dress code that I saw as a problem the second night as I’ll explain in a bit.

I’m not a drinker, but I am a gambler, so I was hoping the casino would be open soon after dinner, but it wasn’t to be. They had announced the casino would open around 9 p.m., but until the ship was in “international” waters and they got the okay, they couldn’t open. I waited until around 9:30 p.m., but decided I wasn’t going to wait any longer and headed for bed. I heard later that it didn’t open until 11 or 11:30 p.m., and I’m not sure how many people waited that late.

There was the usual “welcome aboard” show, but it was scheduled for 10 p.m., which is a little too late for me and I didn’t attend.

[Luckysll]

First day (Sept. 21):

The first sea day was fairly cloudy and cool outside. The wind was fairly strong and there were a couple of announcements to be careful when out on the open decks. I didn’t get outside, so I’m not sure how windy it was. I did go out on my balcony once or twice, but didn’t stay out long.

During his noon announcement, the Captain said we were encountering swells of at least 10 feet, which were causing some good side to side rocking of the ship. It did not bother me at all (even in my cabin on deck 7), but I did notice some strategically placed bags around the ship and heard more than a few comments on how much motion there was.

The previous night, I had left out the order for room service (cereal, apple juice and coffee) to be delivered between 6:15 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. and it arrived right at 6:15 a.m. The apple juice was so sweet, that I only had one sip and could not drink any more. I usually order apple juice and don’t remember it being that sweet, so I’m not sure if it was a different brand or it was a concentrate that they didn’t dilute enough, but it was way too sweet for my taste.

The casino on this cruise opened at 7 a.m., which I’d never seen before. On previous cruises, the casino would open around 9 a.m. on sea days, and I’d go to breakfast in the dining room around 8 a.m., then head to the casino after breakfast. But I’m a gambler, so I’m not going to question things and I headed for the casino around 7:15 a.m. Since I know that cruise ship casinos are notoriously “tight”, I play much more conservatively on board than I do at my local casino. Interestingly, there are no more nickel machines on the Spirit, only penny (1 cent and 2 cent), quarter and dollar ($1, $2, $5 and $10) denominations.

The penny machines did seem to be paying off a little and it kept me going for awhile. However, by lunch I’d gone through ½ my daily gambling budget, and I decided to take a break.

The Lido’s “Taste of the Nations” selection today was “Caribbean”, which didn’t interest me, and I didn’t feel like pizza or the deli, so I went back to my cabin and ordered room service. It did take a while to arrive and it was only later that I realized it was probably because a lot of people were staying in their cabins due to the ship’s movement and as a result there were more room service orders. I ordered the roast beef and cheese sandwich, potato salad, cheesecake and coffee. One thing I did notice was that the sandwich used to be “roast beef and brie” and now it’s “roast beef and cheddar”. I definitely prefer the roast beef and brie, but it was still good.

After lunch, I went back to the casino and started playing Keno - 6 numbers for 25 cents a game. A man was playing Keno two machines over from me and his machine started ringing. He had hit 7 out of 7 numbers and won $1750!! No sooner had I congratulated him, than I hit all 6 of my numbers and won 1600 quarters - $400! My gambling budget for the whole cruise was $400, so that meant that I’d go home with what I started with, which is pretty good. I immediately cashed out and put the money into the safe in my cabin.

Another platinum perk is the free entry into the slot tournament and as there was a slot tournament that day, I was sure the $400 win was just the start of my luck. Alas, my slot tournament luck ran true to form and I didn’t even get enough points to get on the leader board.

[Luckysll]

Tonight was elegant night and I went back to the cabin around 3 p.m. to relax for awhile. Unfortunately, “relaxing” turned into “napping” and I woke up just before 5 p.m. and just didn’t have enough energy to go to the Captain’s reception. The Captain on this cruise was Captain Volpi and some friends of mine are good friends with him. They had told him I’d be onboard and I had said that I would introduce myself to him, but I didn’t. This is one time that I felt badly that I didn’t do something I’d intended to do.

When I’d returned to the cabin at 3 p.m., the remnants of my lunch were still there because the cabin steward wouldn’t be collecting them until he came by in the evening to turn down the bed. Not a big deal and I didn’t pay any attention, until after my nap when I went to get ready for dinner and noticed another covered plate sitting on the dresser! There were the petit fours that Carnival sends as a platinum perk. I presume they were there when I came in, but I truly did not even notice them! I did try a couple, but didn’t want to spoil my dinner, so I left most of them. They were very good, though.

As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t bring my usual elegant night outfit and it really was apparent that most people didn’t feel like dressing up either on this short cruise. I wore some nice slacks and a dressy blouse, and that seemed to be the norm for most women. I don’t recall seeing any tuxedos, although there were quite a few men with jackets and ties.

When I arrived at my dinner table, the other 3 women weren’t there. Roberto asked me if they were going to show up, but I told him I had no idea as I wasn’t with them. He was very good about it and took my order after waiting 10 minutes, rather than wait any longer. I ordered the stuffed mushrooms (my favourite), shrimp cocktail and the prime rib. The prime rib was excellent. For dessert, I had a dish of chocolate ice cream.

My tablemates never did show up and I spent the entire dinner sitting by myself. This is only the second cruise where this has happened. In fact, on one Alaska cruise (oddly enough, also on the Carnival Spirit), the only night anyone ever showed up at my table was the elegant night and for the other 6 nights, it was just me. I don’t, however, mind sitting by myself. It does give me more of a chance to watch everyone else, though and that brings up another criticism.

The early seating was 6 p.m. and at 6:30 p.m., there were still people arriving in the dining room and I even noticed people arriving later than that. I really feel Carnival should make a point of letting people know that they will only allow people to be seated within 15 minutes (or at most 20 minutes) of the posted time as it is far too disruptive and rude to the rest of the diners and the waiters. I had finished my dessert and was sitting with my cup of coffee while other people were just getting their dinners. The waiters were supposed to do their singing that night, but they couldn’t start while they were so busy. While I really enjoy the singing, I left before it started. I just did not feel like sitting at the table drinking more coffee waiting for the latecomers to finish their meals.

Now, while I don’t mind sitting by myself, I decided that since I hadn’t really made a connection with the women at my table last night and I had no idea if they would show up for the last night, I would eat elsewhere tomorrow, so I let Roberto know I wouldn’t be there. I did give him a gratuity for him and his assistants as their service for the two evenings was excellent.

The show for that evening was “The Big Easy”, but the casino is on the way to the show lounge and, you guessed it, I never made it to the show. But it was a good thing I didn’t! I put $10 into the machine I had won the $400 on earlier and started playing Keno again. And, lo and behold, I hit all 6 numbers again!! Another $400! Definitely my best casino results on any cruise.

When I returned to my cabin, there was a collapsible cooler and Carnival Spirit pin waiting for me. A nice way to end a very good day.

[Luckysll]

Second day (Sept. 22):

I woke up the second day to more grey skies, but somewhat calmer seas. I love breakfast in the dining room, but since it didn’t open until 8 a.m., I sampled a couple of the petit fours I had left over. What the heck, this is my vacation....who says I can’t eat petit fours at 6 a.m.?

I had my usual dining room breakfast of pineapple juice, scrambled eggs, corned beef hash, bacon, toast and coffee. A nice mix of people at the table and some good conversation.

I spent some more time in the casino, but couldn’t convince my winning machine to part with any more money. And I think he’d told his friends that I’d won enough and none of the other machines wanted to pay off either. I did see a woman win $2000 on a penny machine. I was not about to give back all the money I’d won, so I didn’t spend as much time in the casino today as yesterday. A friend at work had loaned me her copy of the book “The Help”, and I did manage to get some good reading time in.

Today’s “Taste of the Nations” buffet was “American” and included the chocolate dessert buffet. I had some fried chicken, mashed potatoes and a stuffed corn muffin, then enjoyed a piece of chocolate cheesecake and an ice cream swan. Earlier this year, I was on a B2B on the Carnival Miracle and the first week, when the chocolate buffet was offered, I ate the chocolate desserts first, then went for the fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Like I said, who says you can’t do it this way when you’re on vacation?

I did notice that there wasn’t a past guest party or a fun farewell party listed in the Fun Times. There were lots of other activities, including bingo, trivia games, bean bag tossing, etc. Since the weather was cloudy and cool and still somewhat windy, there didn’t appear to be much happening on the open decks.

Since I had (over) indulged at lunch, it was a good thing I decided to skip the dining room for dinner. I did go to the Lido buffet around 7 p.m. and have a salad and coffee.

I checked out the pay movies available on the TV, but there wasn’t anything that interested me. They did show Casablanca one day on the free movie channel and it’s one of my favourite movies.

Packing did not take any time at all. I had already booked online with Super Shuttle for a pick-up at the San Pedro pier for between 9:00 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. for my transfer to Anaheim, and I wasn’t sure whether to take advantage of VIP disembarking the next morning or not. Since I didn’t have to wait for my luggage, I figured I’d just wait and get off around 8:30 a.m. or so, regardless of what deck or number was being called. Little did I know.........

[cruizinator]

Sandy,

I had the pleasure of meeting you on our 9/09 Spirit cruise. Wish I could've joined you on the repo...but going on the Spirit 10/21/11. Congrats for being Platinum. Hope you're doing well..take care.

 

Ralph

[Luckysll]

Disembarking (Sept 23):

I woke up around 5:30 a.m. (my usual) and relaxed in bed for an hour watching the TV. I noticed the ship’s position didn’t look like we were close to land, but not having docked in San Pedro before, I didn’t think anything about it.

The dining room opened at 6:30 a.m., as the arrival time was supposed to be 8 a.m. into San Pedro. At 7 a.m., I went to the dining room and was seated at a table right at the back at the windows where I could watch the ship’s wake. It was evident the ship was still travelling at full speed, but I didn’t think anything of it, because I thought we were still an hour away from docking.

As breakfast progressed (also with nice people and some interesting conversation), and it got closer to 8 a.m., it became obvious that we were still not close to land and still going full speed. Then, the Cruise Director made an announcement that due to the first day’s heavy seas and strong current, the ship was running late and wouldn’t be docking until around 9:00 a.m. or 9:15 a.m. My first thought was “okay, I hope the shuttle waits for me and it’s a good think I’ve got VIP status because I’m going to use it for sure.”

I went back to my cabin and around 8:30 a.m., grabbed my carry-on bag and went to the Piano Bar on deck 3 to wait with the other VIP’s. The CD made several announcements asking people not to wait on deck 3 near where the gangway would be. At that time, he was still saying we’d dock around 9 or 9:15. As the ship started to slow down in preparation for docking, I noticed a lot more people wandering around deck 3. I wasn’t wearing my watch, so I can’t confirm the actual time, but it was probably close to 9:45 a.m. when we docked.

So now, of course, I’m starting to hear people muttering about how they are going to miss their return flights if they don’t get off the ship pretty quick. Plus, there are people lining up near the exit doors out onto the deck. The announcements still keep mentioning not to crowd the gangway on deck 3, but I didn’t see any Carnival employees keeping people away.

After waiting for about an hour, with really no idea what is taking so long to get clearance, people suddenly started to exit and while it certainly wasn’t a “stampede” for the doors, it was definitely everyone for themselves and no one is waiting for their deck or number to be called. I heard later that there were problems with the gangway as this was the first time the Spirit had docked in San Pedro. I also heard some people say that Homeland Security (or Customs and Immigration, take your pick) were the hold-up.

Regardless, and while I realize that it wasn’t Carnival’s fault how late we docked, I think there should have been more Carnival employees out and about either keeping people away from the gangway or at least advising what was happening. Also, a couple of the announcements couldn’t be heard where I was sitting.

[Luckysll]

So, I didn’t get the VIP disembarking, but it wasn’t a big deal because I wasn’t in a panic to make a flight. And the Super Shuttle was there, so that wasn’t a problem either. What I did see was a lot of people trying to be the first on the shuttles to the airport in order not to miss a flight. One woman kept following a shuttle driver around saying “I’m going to miss my flight. I need to get on that shuttle.” The driver finally told her “Lady, I heard you the first time and you’re not the only one in this position, so you’ll just have to wait your turn.” Good for him, but I don’t think she appreciated it.

There were 7 of us who ended up on one shuttle for either John Wayne airport, Orange County or Anaheim and by the time I was dropped off at my hotel (Desert Inn and Suites), it was around 12:30 p.m.

I had lunch and then went to California Adventure for the rest of the afternoon. I did a lot more walking than I probably should have given my bad knee, but I was in Disneyland and so a little discomfort gets pushed aside to have fun.

On Saturday, though, I did rent a motorized scooter. I was meeting up with a friend who lives not far from Disneyland and spending the day with her, so I didn’t want to hold her back. Turns out, the scooter was a great way to see Disneyland (plus you get special access to the rides and don’t end up waiting in line very long).

I spent Sunday at Disneyland by myself and splurged on renting another scooter for the day. I figured I’d put the casino winnings to good use.

I flew home from Anaheim to Victoria on Monday, Sept. 26.

All in all, a great (albeit too short) cruise and a fun visit to Disneyland.

[Luckysll]

Sandy,

I had the pleasure of meeting you on our 9/09 Spirit cruise. Wish I could've joined you on the repo...but going on the Spirit 10/21/11. Congrats for being Platinum. Hope you're doing well..take care.

 

Ralph

 

Hi Ralph. That 9/09 cruise was fun. I remember the day in Glacier Bay as being probably the best weather of any Alaska cruise I've done.

 

Hope you enjoy your upcoming cruise.

[jimbo5544]

Wow, a very nice detailed review. For a first time one (even for a seasoned cruiser/reviewer) it is very nice. Especially like the font and print you chose. Good work!

[Luckysll]

Wow, a very nice detailed review. For a first time one (even for a seasoned cruiser/reviewer) it is very nice. Especially like the font and print you chose. Good work!

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

Now that I have the hang of it, I'll do another one after my next cruise.

[Luckysll]

Wow, a very nice detailed review. For a first time one (even for a seasoned cruiser/reviewer) it is very nice. Especially like the font and print you chose. Good work!

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

Now that I have the hang of it, I'll do another one after my next cruise.

[Luckysll]

Wow, a very nice detailed review. For a first time one (even for a seasoned cruiser/reviewer) it is very nice. Especially like the font and print you chose. Good work!

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

Now that I have the hang of it, I'll have to do another one after my next cruise.

[Luckysll]

Wow, a very nice detailed review. For a first time one (even for a seasoned cruiser/reviewer) it is very nice. Especially like the font and print you chose. Good work!

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

Now that I have the hang of it, I'll have to do another one after my next cruise.

[Luckysll]

Wow, a very nice detailed review. For a first time one (even for a seasoned cruiser/reviewer) it is very nice. Especially like the font and print you chose. Good work!

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

Now that I have the hang of it, I'll have to do another one after my next cruise.

[zanydoc]

Thanks for your review! Is there a movie theater on the Spirit?

[Luckysll]

Thanks for your review! Is there a movie theater on the Spirit?

 

There isn't an outdoor movie screen. On previous cruises, they've shown movies in the lounge (on deck 1), but I didn't notice any being shown this time.

[Luckysll]

And sorry for the quadruple posts. :D Must have been the gremlins that were affecting the boards.

[gelo7]

Very nice review.

[jbhcw]

Nice review Sandy! We loved the cruise, although frank did not feel well the first day:eek:

 

It was crazy at disembarkation but we did get on a shuttle and got our rental car at LAX and were on the road to Santa Barbara by 12:30 or 1:00.

 

And...thanks so much for my Canada pin, love that I got one on my first trip to canada:)

[Pee-ah]

Great Review Sandy!

 

So glad that you joined the Roll Call

 

Hope to cruise with you again!

[luv2cruz44]

Well done, Sandy!

[cruizinator]

Hi Ralph. That 9/09 cruise was fun. I remember the day in Glacier Bay as being probably the best weather of any Alaska cruise I've done.

 

Hope you enjoy your upcoming cruise.

 

Sandy,

 

It was a spectacular day in Glacier Bay!! I was talking to one of the Park Rangers that day.....and she had only seen 4-5 days like that in her SEVEN years at the park!!! We were truly blessed with amazing weather!!!

 

Ralph

[Luckysll]

Nice review Sandy! We loved the cruise, although frank did not feel well the first day:eek:

 

It was crazy at disembarkation but we did get on a shuttle and got our rental car at LAX and were on the road to Santa Barbara by 12:30 or 1:00.

 

And...thanks so much for my Canada pin, love that I got one on my first trip to canada:)

 

You're more than welcome, Jane. Hope to cruise with you in the future.