Come sail with me on a virtual cruise to Hawaii on Ruby Princess

[ellie1145]

15 minutes ago, #55worktoplay said:

Just came across this so late to the party. 
 

I am so enjoying your story telling. You have a wonderful way of words. Thank you!

 

i will have to now go back and read your other reviews. 

 

Hello there, 55worktoplay! So pleased that you have joined us. 

 

I appreciate your kind words, thank you.

 

There’s just the one review, virtual Majestic Princess to Fiji, but it’s rather long! 😉  Hope you enjoy that one too. 

[chipz]

Hello Ellie,

I'm looking forward to this Hawaii Cruise. We've been on the Ruby twice to Hawaii. Loved it. Glad I didn't miss the boat to tag along with you...

[barbpretz]

I was  very late to the party for your Fiji cruise, Elllie, so I'm excited to be able to follow this cruise "live" and have the option to chime in!

 

I grew up in the Los Angles area, so it's fun to see your reactions.  And, believe me, the locals hate LAX as much as visitors!

[ellie1145]

20 hours ago, chipz said:

Hello Ellie,

I'm looking forward to this Hawaii Cruise. We've been on the Ruby twice to Hawaii. Loved it. Glad I didn't miss the boat to tag along with you...

 

Glad you are sailing along with us. There’s lots more to come.

[ellie1145]

17 hours ago, barbpretz said:

I was  very late to the party for your Fiji cruise, Elllie, so I'm excited to be able to follow this cruise "live" and have the option to chime in!

 

I grew up in the Los Angles area, so it's fun to see your reactions.  And, believe me, the locals hate LAX as much as visitors!

 

Lovely to have you along, barbpretz! 

 

I have to admit that LAX was an experience we would not want to repeat too often! 🤣

[RLK33853]

Funny how everyone has different experiences.  We have probably flown into LAX from Canada and the U.S. more than 10 times and never had much of a problem.  In fact the last time, we cleared U.S. Customs in Canada prior to getting on the flight and walked right off upon landing.  I timed the amount of time it took from landing, getting our bags, getting the shuttle, and travelling to the hotel in San Pedro as just over 70 minutes.  It was amazing.

 

The problem for us in LAX has always been during departures.  Planes are consistently late or delayed, check-in is a nightmare, and security has been slow even when having T.S.A. Pre-Clearance.

[ellie1145]

 

 

 

 

 

It is chilling down so we make our way back to the car and drive home to our hotel, avoiding the Interstate, which makes for a much more relaxed journey. 

On the way we decide that the easiest thing is to eat at Denny’s again, as we are too tired to drive further.

 

 

DH orders fish, mashed potato and broccoli, and I order chicken strips, broccoli and fries.

 

 

 

It’s hot and fresh and fills a hole, but we are beginning to flag as jet lag takes over. So we drive back to the hotel and make our way upstairs before having a shower and falling exhaustedly into bed.

 

It’s been an interesting day. We decide that we will explore the coast a little more tomorrow, maybe find a shopping mall, but we will not try to drive into the centre of LA.

 

Edited November 6, 2020 by ellie1145

[ellie1145]

1 hour ago, RLK33853 said:

Funny how everyone has different experiences.  We have probably flown into LAX from Canada and the U.S. more than 10 times and never had much of a problem.  In fact the last time, we cleared U.S. Customs in Canada prior to getting on the flight and walked right off upon landing.  I timed the amount of time it took from landing, getting our bags, getting the shuttle, and travelling to the hotel in San Pedro as just over 70 minutes.  It was amazing.

 

The problem for us in LAX has always been during departures.  Planes are consistently late or delayed, check-in is a nightmare, and security has been slow even when having T.S.A. Pre-Clearance.

 

I’m sure that there are plenty of horror stories about London Heathrow, but I have to say LAX really was the worst. It certainly beat Miami! 🤣

 

I wonder which terminal you flew into from Canada? That certainly was a fantastic journey to San Pedro. 

Edited November 6, 2020 by ellie1145

[TeaBag]

In 2017, LAX did a massive shift and moved AC from Terminal 2 to 6 which is a huge improvement.   When flying from Vancouver, we clear customs in Vancouver and this makes a huge difference as we are then arriving as a domestic flight.  When we had our interminable wait there, we were coming in from London.

Loved your Chicken Strips!  That fish market looked really good too.

I think you made the right decision to skip downtown LA.  Any time we are in the vicinity, we just have to go to South Coast Plaza (poor DH) south of the city.  It is a HUGE shopping mall and I'm a shopper!  I was born with a credit card in my hand.  Oh no........that was years before they had credit cards!  Maybe it was an Irish Punt??

[trbarton]

On 10/30/2020 at 3:01 AM, ellie1145 said:

Camera Information

 

 

As you all know, I am a complete novice, who suffers from photographic diarrhoea. I see something I like and I take a photo, or lots of photos. At my age it’s a wonderful way of remembering exactly what I did.

 

Occasionally they are good, sometimes they are bad, with a lot in between. But, hey, I enjoy it, so please forgive my photos if they don't reach the dizzy heights of some of the wonderful photographers on CC, whose photos I can only drool over, and which I’ve so enjoyed looking at over the years.

 

My main ‘proper’ camera is a Nikon, with a separate and heavy lens, but this normally stays at home as it’s too weighty to transport on a ‘plane nowadays.

 

I also have a Sony Cybershot which is easy to use and which has an amazing built in zoom lens, but I find that on the automatic setting it varies enormously, and I’m often disappointed. I only wish I was young enough to learn how to use the proper settings.

 

I still take my Canon IXUS point and shoot which is very lightweight, and which takes surprisingly good photos, especially close ups of flowers or food - very necessary on a cruise! However, I use it less and less because I now use my phone camera a lot.

 

The main advantage of using my trusty I-phone 6S is that I always have it with me, and it takes a very acceptable photo - even close ups of flowers. It is so easy to use, and very quick, but it often runs out of power or space at a critical moment, so I now take a power bank with me wherever I go. Good tip!

 

Since the start of this pandemic I have treated myself to a newer I-phone, and I simply can’t wait to use it once we restart cruising, but that is probably a long time in the future. It also has a much bigger storage capacity which will be great.

I was a professional photographer for 20 years & have a DSLR, (Digital Single Lens Reflex) that I haven’t used in a while. I now use a IPhone camera, I’m upgrading to a IPhone 12 Pro Max which has excellent resolutions. I’m enclosing a photo so that you can see the results. Thanks for your writing. Great to read & all of the history. 
 

Tom😀

 

 

[LawDog61]

I have to agree about LAX.  Worst airport I have ever been to.   On the other hand , the World Cruise Center in San Pedro is great.   Easy to get into, usually fast check in.

[trbarton]

On 11/4/2020 at 7:19 AM, ellie1145 said:

Crowne Plaza LAX

 

Outside the Terminal we find a taxi stand and are quickly in a vehicle. The taxi driver is a bit embarrassed at how close the hotel is,  as there is a minimum charge, whatever the distance,  but we tell him we don’t mind the cost as we are so exhausted we just want to get there. He delivers us swiftly to the entrance and unloads our cases. We’ve made it, hooray!

 

The hotel is located on West Century Boulevard, and there are several hotels nearby such as the Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt. It’s very convenient for the airport but it’s a very busy area, and down the road they are doing some major roadworks so it’s a bit manic.

 

We have no idea what the hotel is going to be like, although we did look at reviews of it, but thankfully, the hotel looks surprisingly good.  After quite a long wait to check in we are given a very nice big room on the 11th floor, which overlooks the runway.

 

 

 

 

We drop off our suitcases, get a quick wash and make our way downstairs where we get a snack in the lobby, which we take back to our room.

 

We have booked a car for the day after tomorrow but realise that we will need a car sooner than that, so I get on the internet and book another car for tomorrow, which we will pick up in the morning.

 

After a quick bath we fall into bed. By this time it 10.30 pm, 6.30 am UK time, and we’ve been awake for over 26 hours!  We sleep soundly until 2.00 pm, (UK 10.00 am)  which isn’t bad, then after an hour manage to fall asleep again until 5.00 am. We are going to have a pretty restful day, maybe driving to a Target, and the coast. It was an extremely exhausting day yesterday and we need to pace ourselves.

 

We have never been to LA before so everything is new and strange, but we are really looking forward to seeing pastures new. We know Miami, Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando like the back of our hands but this is a totally new kettle of fish. 

 

 

We are looking forward to exploring the hotel and the area, but for now, it’s time for some shut eye.

 

 

 

 

I’m curious as to whether you change the time on your watch to the country/city you are going to?  That’s the first thing I do when I board the plane & somehow forget the time I left & it helps me adjust. I took one flight that left San Francisco at 9:30 pm to Sydney Australia I lost track of the time I was up that day & arriving in Sydney at 6 am  & our hotel room not available until 3 pm in the afternoon. Luckily I have a Uber account which got us back to our hotel after getting turned around  in a new city. 
 

Every long flight can be challenging as every plane & airlines is different. I can recommend using Seatgru which is very valuable in knowing where your seat is & which seats to avoid. 
 

Tom😀

[trbarton]

On 11/4/2020 at 6:56 AM, ellie1145 said:

The Eagle has Landed....at Last!

 

The big bird glides smoothly down and lands just after 4.00 pm, as predicted. Now we just have Immigration and Customs, and we will be on our exhausted way to the hotel.

 

Well, it doesn’t go quite to plan, I’m afraid.

 

We are pretty quickly off the ‘plane and into the Immigration area, and that’s when it goes swiftly downhill.  The enormous Immigration Hall is jam packed when we get there, so we quickly join a queue to get to the automatic kiosks. The queue goes up and down the length of the huge hall, one row after another, and it takes an hour and a half to get to the kiosks. If you think the queues at Disney are long you ain’t seen nothing yet!

 

At long last we reach the kiosks which work very well, and we complete the process and think this looks promising, especially as there is a sign saying EXIT.

 

So we exit and ........ join another queue!

 

This one snakes round and round and round before turning into line after line which goes up and down the hall again, en route to the Immigration Officers, of which there are ridiculously few. Those that are there seem happy to chat to each other, or walk around doing nothing. OMG, we just can’t believe it!

 

After yet another hour and a half we eventually reach the area with a  yellow line, behind which we must wait to see an immigration officer. We feel so sorry for the poor families with young children who are either crying or have fallen asleep in their parent’s arms. We are utterly exhausted after standing for over 3 hours.

 

Hooray! We think, we’re nearly there! We can actually see the officer. But there are already people there and it takes him more than 20 mins to process them. He seems to be having trouble with his computer but he doesn’t flag it up or get help, just sits there pressing buttons and looking baffled. But at last he finishes and calls us forward.

 

After nearly three and a half hours wait, the actual process is pretty much of an anticlimax. We hand over our passports, and within a few minutes we are all done and dusted, fingerprints, photo, a rubber stamp and off we go. No ‘have a nice day’ or ‘welcome to California!’

 

As you can imagine, we are getting pretty worried about our luggage but when we eventually get to the vast baggage hall it has been taken off the carousels and is all lined up. Thankfully, there are people directing you to the  pile which is associated with your flight, as of course, dozens more flights have landed and followed our suitcases onto the carousel. 

 

So that is that. After 3 and a half solid hours in the queue at immigration we finally exit the terminal and get a taxi straight to the hotel, which is actually very close by. By this time it is after 8.00 pm here in LA, 4.00 am UK time. Wow, we used to think Miami immigration was a pain but this really takes the biscuit! After standing in the Immigration queue we are absolutely shattered, and just want to get to the hotel.

 

But we are delighted to be here in California for the first time, at the start of a new adventure.

 

Is there a app that you can use at the Airport called “Mobile Passport’?  I have used it & was able to pass the long lines at custom’s?

 

Tom😀

[trbarton]

On 11/5/2020 at 7:44 AM, ROWSE said:

Our son and daughter-in-law lived by Hermosa Beach for a year, and before they moved, in February 2019, we were able to visit them and did a walk around Redondo Pier as well, thank you for bringing back memories.  They lived across the street from that huge power plant that you wrote about. 

 

This is a picture of the Hermosa Beach area.  It was a chilly that day as well, but we had beautiful sunshine! 

You both look VERY young in your photo. 
 

Tom😀

[trbarton]

I’ve traveled on the Ruby before & have a cruise booked in December 2021 from San Francisco to Hawaii &  look forward to your experiences on the ship & in Hawaii. I’m aware that we may be forced to take excursions through the ship so I’ll make the best of it & will probably have to miss my usual trip to Hilo Hattie to buy some sale shirts. 
 

Thanks again for taking the time to post this. Cruise Critic is always looking to post things like this & they might be interested. 
 

Tom😀

Edited November 7, 2020 by trbarton

[Texter2]

Ellie,

 

Did anyone get the Under the Sea song from The Little Mermaid? Love that song! I am also enjoying taking this trip with you. Your virtual trips keep us going. Thanks for taking us on another journey. 

[ellie1145]

🎵  There’s a bright golden haze on the  meadow

        There's a bright  golden haze on  the meadow

        The corn is as high as an elephant's eye

        And it looks like it's climbing clear up to the sky. 🎵

 

Saturday, April, 7th 2019

 

 

We sleep well and wake at 3.00 am, a little later than yesterday. We sit up and watch the TV for a while, but drop back to sleep until 7.00. 

 

 

 

When I draw back the curtains I see that it is another beautiful sunny day with blue skies. The airport is already busy and I stand and watch the 'planes out of the window for a few minutes. It feels really good to be here, and exciting to be able to explore further today. 

 

We get ready and walk down the road for our usual breakfast at Denny’s which today is heaving. They serve some very tasty hash browns, very similar to those at the Waffle House - one of our favourite breakfast venues. We are feeling very naughty this morning (well we ARE on vacation! 😉) and order a chocolate lava cake to share. It's delicious. Now we will have to walk it off this morning!

 

 

 

When we see how much traffic there is on the roads today we make the decision that although we really wanted to drive into LA to see the famous ‘Hollywood’ sign, we don’t feel we can cope with driving there. 

 

We must take our hire car back today and pick up one which we will keep for the rest of the time,  so that is our first stop. We are assigned a very comfortable white RAV4, with 17,000 miles on the clock. 

 

Edited November 7, 2020 by ellie1145

[ellie1145]

🎶  Let’s go Surfin’ now

      Everybody’s learning how

      Come on and safari with me

       Come on and safari with me!

 

 

We really enjoyed our trip down the coast yesterday so we decide to make our way back to the coastal road. It’s a beautiful sunny day but it’s still chilly, so I am glad that I bought an extra cardigan yesterday. We can see why it’s a popular area for surfers as the sea is quite rough, with plenty of waves.

 

 

We drive past a large RV park, which is right on the beach. What a great place to stay - imagine waking up in your Winnebago, with the sea just a step away!

 

Now here’s a little trivia for you - did you know that nearly 85% of US recreational vehicles sold are manufactured in Indiana, with 2/3 of that production being located in Elkhart County, which calls itself “the RV Capital of the World?”

 

 

 

Our first stop is Manhattan Beach, and we find a car park and leave the car so that we can wander down to the beach and walk along the pier. There are surfers in the sea and we watch them as they ride the waves. It’s definitely getting warmer, thank goodness, and there are quite a few people on the beach enjoying the sunshine.

 

 

The wide beach stretches for just over 2 miles, and Manhattan Beach benefits from an average high temperature of 69 degrees F (20.6 degrees C), and a average low of 56.4 degrees F (20.6 degrees C). It is not surprising that it attracts people to its shores as it has a High School which is ranked in the top 1% of high schools nationally.

 

 

Not only that, but it has been ranked as the 32nd most expensive zip code in the USA. Naturally, there are plenty of restaurants, and a casual beach culture. In 2020 it was ranked the ‘Best City’ to live in the US.

 

It’s hardly surprising that Manhattan Beach has been the backdrop for many movies, and it’s pier and beach feature in many films.

 

Mira Costa High School was used as a filming location for the Fox Network TV series ‘The O.C.’ and ‘CSI:Miami. The school was also used in the Disney TV show ‘Hannah Montana’ and the pier was often seen in that series. In ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl’ Governor Swan’s mansion was constructed here. In the 2004 movie ‘Starsky,’ Ben Stiller can be seen stretched out under the pier. In ‘Tequila Sunrise,’ Mel Gibson’s character lives on the beach, near the pier.

 

The Manhattan Beach Open volleyball tournament is also held here each August, and it is known as the Wimbledon of beach volleyball. It is aired on National TV.

 

 

 

The Beach Boys came from the nearby city of Hawthorne, and many beaches in this area get a mention in ‘Surfin’ USA,’ their iconic song.

 

Edited November 7, 2020 by ellie1145

[ellie1145]

11 hours ago, trbarton said:

I was a professional photographer for 20 years & have a DSLR, (Digital Single Lens Reflex) that I haven’t used in a while. I now use a IPhone camera, I’m upgrading to a IPhone 12 Pro Max which has excellent resolutions. I’m enclosing a photo so that you can see the results. Thanks for your writing. Great to read & all of the history. 
 

Tom😀

 

 

 

Hi Tom. I am very impressed that you were a professional photographer. What a wonderful career to have, and one which will have brought so much pleasure to so many people. 

 

I wish that I was better at photography. I really enjoy it, even in my very amateur way. Photographs are so essential for charting our history, and it is sad that now we so often leave them on computers or SDHC cards, or on the ‘cloud’ and nobody gets to see them. But on the other hand, it has opened up photography to the masses, so that has to be good. I for one love to see professional photos, and have seen many memorable examples during my lifetime.  

 

I recently treated myself to an I-phone 11 pro-max, as I was too impatient to wait for the iphone 12. I think your photo of the flowers is stunning. What clarity. It is hard to believe that in such a short time phone cameras have developed to be able to produce such amazing resolutions. I just hope that my new phone performs well. It should certainly be better than my old iPhone 6S. 

 

I hope you will forgive my amateur photos. If I was younger I would love to take courses to improve my technique, but point and shoot is probably the best I can hope for. 😉

[ellie1145]

10 hours ago, trbarton said:

I’m curious as to whether you change the time on your watch to the country/city you are going to?  That’s the first thing I do when I board the plane & somehow forget the time I left & it helps me adjust. I took one flight that left San Francisco at 9:30 pm to Sydney Australia I lost track of the time I was up that day & arriving in Sydney at 6 am  & our hotel room not available until 3 pm in the afternoon. Luckily I have a Uber account which got us back to our hotel after getting turned around  in a new city. 
 

Every long flight can be challenging as every plane & airlines is different. I can recommend using Seatgru which is very valuable in knowing where your seat is & which seats to avoid. 
 

Tom😀

 

Yes, Tom, the first thing I do when I get on a ‘plane is change my watch and iPhone settings. I have to be quite firm with my DH to do the same! It certainly does help to adjust to the new time zone. 

 

I do use Seatguru, although flying Economy and often booking fairly late there often is little choice. I do normally try to get a window seat with a view, but we had a lot of trouble with our flights this time as we were originally told that they were with United and then it turned out it was Lufthansa, which was not our first choice. There wasn’t a lot left by the time we sorted things out. 

[ellie1145]

10 hours ago, trbarton said:

Is there a app that you can use at the Airport called “Mobile Passport’?  I have used it & was able to pass the long lines at custom’s?

 

Tom😀

 

Unfortunately, this is unavailable to us Brits at the moment, though it sounds like a really great idea. Hopefully it will come in time. For now we can only use the British e-passport, which has an electronic chip holding all our personal details, and which has no advantage outside the EU. 

[ellie1145]

10 hours ago, trbarton said:

I’ve traveled on the Ruby before & have a cruise booked in December 2021 from San Francisco to Hawaii &  look forward to your experiences on the ship & in Hawaii. I’m aware that we may be forced to take excursions through the ship so I’ll make the best of it & will probably have to miss my usual trip to Hilo Hattie to buy some sale shirts. 
 

Thanks again for taking the time to post this. Cruise Critic is always looking to post things like this & they might be interested. 
 

Tom😀

 

Thank you, Tom, I hope you will enjoy our cruise on Ruby and the islands. I will keep my fingers crossed that your cruise will take place in 2021. 

I am certainly enjoying revisiting our trip, especially as we are in ‘lockdown’ again at the moment. 

 

I’m not sure what you mean by CC being interested. 🤔

[ellie1145]

9 hours ago, Texter2 said:

Ellie,

 

Did anyone get the Under the Sea song from The Little Mermaid? Love that song! I am also enjoying taking this trip with you. Your virtual trips keep us going. Thanks for taking us on another journey. 

 

Texter 2 you are the first and of course, will be the winner of my brand new, completely updated, full size, super powered, Vortex vacuum cleaners, just imported from China, is waiting to wing its way to you via Amazon, the river of course!  

 

So glad to hear you are coming with us on the journey to Hawaii. 👍😎

[ellie1145]

17 hours ago, TeaBag said:

In 2017, LAX did a massive shift and moved AC from Terminal 2 to 6 which is a huge improvement.   When flying from Vancouver, we clear customs in Vancouver and this makes a huge difference as we are then arriving as a domestic flight.  When we had our interminable wait there, we were coming in from London.

Loved your Chicken Strips!  That fish market looked really good too.

I think you made the right decision to skip downtown LA.  Any time we are in the vicinity, we just have to go to South Coast Plaza (poor DH) south of the city.  It is a HUGE shopping mall and I'm a shopper!  I was born with a credit card in my hand.  Oh no........that was years before they had credit cards!  Maybe it was an Irish Punt??

 

That probably explains why it is quicker flying in from Vancouver, TeaBag. 

 

The chicken strips were delicious. They defeated me I’m afraid, way too much! But DH enjoyed his fish.

 

I have put South Coast Plaza on my ‘bucket list.’ Sounds like my kind of place - hand me the credit card...🤣

[ellie1145]

14 hours ago, LawDog61 said:

I have to agree about LAX.  Worst airport I have ever been to.   On the other hand , the World Cruise Center in San Pedro is great.   Easy to get into, usually fast check in.

 

We thought San Pedro was really good, too. Very quick.