Since I've been slacking on blogging this year, I thought I would do a series of end of the year blogs. I am going to start with our trip to Los Angeles and our cruise to the Mexican Riviera on the Carnival Splendor. We decided to drive instead of fly in which we drove for 6 hours to reach L.A. I didn't realize until about a week before the cruise that we were going down just in time for Carmegeddon 2.....
It's a good thing I figured this out so we could try to avoid going by the 405 as much as possible. It worked out though because we ended up taking 10 or 710 or something like that to the hotel. Our hotel was in Long Beach which was near the cruise terminal and had a good rate to leave our car there for a week. The beds at the hotel were full size and didn't seem like they were big enough for us. And...our hotel wasn't in the greatest area of town....if you know what I mean....So the next day, Dave, Mike, Jadzia and I went to explore and tried to find the Hollywood sign. We did see it but didn't stop to get a picture :( Then we went to a mall in Glendale to hang out for a while. We had tickets to see Train that night at the Nokia Theatre so we had some time to kill before then. Mike went to JC Penney to get his hair cut and all of them but me got a 10 minute neck massage. I don't know why I didn't get one, I don't think I was in the mood or something. So we have dinner at Red Robin then head out to the Nokia Theatre. We still had some time to kill when we came upon a place called the Yardhouse. We went in expecting to have a few drinks when we saw they came in sizes like this.
Jadzia and Mike both ordered what they called a half yard and I had two margaritas. Dave got a brew sampler.
So we ended up going to see Train pretty buzzed maybe some more buzzed than others (ahem Jadzia lol). The Train show was awesome!! It was our second time seeing them and they put on a fantastic show. Pat was losing his voice but he pushed through it and I could hardly tell until he said something.
He brought up some young ladies to dance and sing along to Mermaid with him and they all got shirts! They also gave away a signed guitar to a young man out in the audience.
When the show was over we went back to the hotel and played Cards Against Humanity then went to bed. The next morning it was time to leave for the cruise terminal!!
We get to the cruise terminal and check in and all that fun stuff and go to find our rooms. Dave and I had a room across the ship from Mike and Jadzia but on the same floor. We get to my room and see this, did I mention the cruise set sail on my birthday? :)
The picture is a little blurry but my parents bought me drink coupons and another surprise that was coming at dinner that was yummy. We explored the ship for a bit and then it was time for the muster drill. I don't think anyone ever likes going to the muster drill but we have to anyways. The muster drill is basically a safety drill that you have to do before you set sail and they explain the procedures on how to put on your life jacket etc.
Then it was time to set sail!
Then it was time to get ready for dinner! The food on Carnival is alright but not as good as Princess or Royal Carribean. For those that don't know, I've been a quite a few cruises thanks to my parents. And they got me hooked lol. I tried to try different things on the menu like alligator fritters, frog legs and I tried scallops for the first time. They were pretty good, taste just like fish but a really good fish! The first night of course they sang Happy Birthday to me and delivered the cake my parents ordered! Thanks again :) it was yummy!
That picture was taken while they were singing Happy Birthday to me so that's why I look so funny! lol!
The first sea day all we did was relax and explore the ship more. The next two days we spent in Cabo San Lucas. The first day we got off and did a little shopping at the port. We got hassled everywhere we turned of course with people trying to sell their stuff. It was a little much so we got back on the ship. The second day we had booked a snorkeling tour on a sailboat. It was my first time snorkeling so I was a little scared but after about 10 minutes I got really into it. It was so cool seeing all the fishies! After that we got back on the boat and they started serving drinks. I had about 4 or 5 tequila sunrises and was sloshed by lunchtime lol! We got a great view of one of the arches in rock that I see in pictures and got our pictures taken with it in the background. It was a wonderful day!
The next day was Puerto Vallarta! We had a tequila tour booked to go tour the distilleries. It was really fun and got to see some of the Mexican countryside. And the tequila samples weren't too bad either! :)
After Puerto Vallarta we had two sea days to get back to Long Beach. It felt like a really long week and a much needed vacation. Now my opinion of Carnival cruise lines might not be the greatest. It didn't seem like they had enough entertainment for us compared to our past cruises. It was Mike and Jadzia's first cruise so they had nothing to compare it to. I just felt like I was constantly comparing things and it made me like Princess cruises even more. My big complaint was that the buffet's on Carnival weren't open 24/7 like Princess was. We also got soda packages and it seemed like the bartenders were annoyed to get us sodas instead of alcoholic drinks. They didn't have fountain sodas and had to use cans, while Princess had the soda fountains. I can compare and complain all I want but when it comes to being a cruise snob....I guess I choose Princess over anything else! I know that was a lot to read and take in but I had to try to do a decent review of our trip and if you've gotten this far, congrats! You've made it! The End.
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