For Christmas our big present was a 4 day cruise along Baja California, making stops at Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico. We could not wait to get started on this awesome adventure. On January 14 we traveled down to Long Beach, California after spending the weekend in St. George. It was definitely nice to get out of the cold and into warmer temps. In Long Beach, we stayed in a hotel not far from the pier our cruise ship was at port. That night we walked to the Denny's near our hotel and had a good dinner. The strawberry stuffed french toast was so good!
The next morning, it was cruise time! We drove from our hotel through a maze of highway bridges that led over the different piers and waterways until we found our way to the Carnival terminal port. When we got inside the terminal everyone was ready to get on the ship but unfortunately we had to wait a little longer for the people to call our embarking number. While we waited though we took some fun pictures in front of the Carnival signs. A bunch of people also commented on our cool shirts that said "I Like Big Boats and I Cannot Lie!"
Finally it was our turn to get on board and start the cruise. As we walked across the gangplank, you could feel the excitement in the kids. They were ready for fun and ice cream!
And ice cream they got! The first thing the kids wanted to do when they got on the ship was find out where the ice cream machines were. That was their only mission. I said how about we get some lunch first while we wait to get in our rooms. But no, it was ice cream first then chill on the lounge chairs. We could worry about eating later!
To tell the truth, we were all too excited to eat so we chilled on the lounge chairs with our ice cream for a while before taking off to explore the ship. We couldn't check into our rooms for a while so we spent that time wandering around, checking out all of the restaurants, and looking around the upper deck seeing all of the activities up there. This ship had big water-slides, a mini golf area, a giant chess board, and a ropes course. Russell and the kids decided to try out the ropes course while we waited.
The ropes course was pretty fun. Luckily you were strapped in the whole time so you didn't really have to worry about falling. It was still a little nerve racking knowing you were that high up above the ocean. On this walk out point on the course you were literally just standing over the water. At least it looked that way when you were standing there. Really though, the lower deck was under you.
Charlotte said this was the scariest thing she had every done. She was pretty nervous the whole time but she was so brave and made it through the course all on her own. The kids tried this course out a few times while we were on the ship.
While the others did the ropes course, Colby played some basketball with the other kids and had a lot of fun. He did say it was weird bouncing the ball on a rocking ship. Brooklyn also ran around in the basketball court for a minute.
When we were finally able to get into our rooms, the first thing the kids did was get into their swimming suits. They were ready to jump in the pool! Well they sure got a shock when they jumped in and found out the water was not heated and was pretty cold! Emily and I were the smart ones and just hung out on the lounge chairs listening to their chattering teeth. The cold water did not deter them though, and they said that you got used to it after a while. I decided to take their word for it because I was not getting in.
While we were swimming, we met a very friendly old guy. Okay he was a little too friendly. He kept talking to Russell about all the cruises he had been on and the parties he had gone to and the Marijuana he smoked for medicinal purposes. He then proceeded to ask me why I was not in the water. I told him it was because it was way too cold for me. Then he went into how ice baths are so good for your body and he does an ice bath everyday for the euphoria. Let me tell you it was pretty strange and we soon said "Oh look at the time... Gotta go..." Gotta love the weirdos you meet on a cruise.
By this time it was time for the ship to embark on the cruise. We went to the top deck to watch the ship pull out but everyone was freezing from the swim so we ran down to the room to quickly change and grab our jackets. We got back up to the top deck just in time to see the sunset and the send off party on the main outer deck.
It was fun watching the dancers and waving to the people on shore as the tug boats hauled us out to sea.
As we were waving goodbye, a funny thing happened. We were standing near the edge of the boat on the upper deck just watching the ship set sail when all of a sudden Charlotte stretches her arms up and snags my glasses. As she brought her arms back down, my glasses flew off my face and right over the edge of the ship. It was all in slow motion as I watched my glasses sail over the edge and down the side of the boat never to be seen again... The kids just looked at me in shock and Charlotte felt so bad. All I could do was laugh and wave good bye to my glasses and California at the same time. When Russell looked over he asked me what happened to my glasses and I said they were in the ocean and some fish was probably wearing them and able to see. Charlotte felt so bad and was crying but I told her it was fine and I could still see well enough. I really only need my glasses to see far away and I still had my prescription sunglasses so I knew I would be fine. I didn't need to drive for a week anyway. So for the next few days I couldn't see far away or I borrowed Logan's glasses if I needed to. This is something we will always remember. On the plus side, I didn't have to bother with glasses while on the cruise.
Once the ship was out on the open water, it was time for dinner. On this cruise we did not have a scheduled dining time so we just had to make a reservation each night. This was fine because there were some nights we wanted to eat earlier or later depending on what we were doing.
Each night we ate at the same dining area though and each night there was some sort of entertainment put on by the servers. This night they were dancing around the dining area. It was fun to watch them. Each night was an amazing dinner too! We tried a lot of different things and some were good and some we would probably pass on later. But it was all very exciting.
After dinner we went to one of the night shows and they were giving out prizes for doing certain things in the audience. Charlotte won a Carnival medallion for being the best audience dancer during one of the songs. She was so excited to win something!
Finally we crashed in our room for the night. We were all tired and ready for bed. Our rooms were Ocean View rooms so we had a window to look out of. This was so nice because we could see where we were going. During the night though when you looked out the windows it was pitch dark except for the glowing white seagulls flying around the ship. The white birds reflected the lights from the ship making them look like they were glowing against the dark water. So when we looked out our windows at night it looked like white ghosts floating around the window. We called them the ghost birds.
All night I kept having nightmares that Brooklyn fell over the side of the boat just like my glasses did. It was so bad that I had to keep getting up to check on her. Needless to say I kept a close eye on her the rest of the trip and would not let her get near the edge of the ship even though there were tall guardrails. It was so scary!
Well that is the first day on the ship. Our next stop is Catalina Island!