BARRY is the packer par elegance. ALL THIS CRAP for 4 people, 4 nights. All the luggage is in a van that we borrowed from a friend. A VAN.To the right, the ship from the embarkation ramp. This is getting EXCITING!
This is going up the ramp. The QM is right there next to the Carnival Terminal, the old Spruce Goose Exhibit. I remember when the Queen Mary came to her final parking spot back in the '60's. My dad worked on getting the electrical systems up to snuff back then, and the Millikan High School Prom in June 1972 was here. That's when I graduated, Millikan High School in Long Beach.
Our room, complete with champagne and cabernet.
Below, the ACTUAL view from our stateroom. The one on the left is with my phone, the one on the right is with my camera on a higher deck.
Ordered 2-3 of each item we wanted. Oh YEAH.
Below, Rhoda in HER room. It was 1-2 decks higher than ours, so I think hers had about maybe 5 square feet more space.
Star and Ted at the first night's dinner.
Mickey and Reinie. (sorry if I spelled it wrong!)
Muster drill. Notice that WE don't have to wear those 'Mae Wests'?
Below, the INFAMOUS Carnival 'tail'.
One of the first things you see is the middle of the atrium. Spectacular. 
Going aboard, everybody passes this way to get to the buffet before they close. Dis is da way, peeps! (below)
More of the atrium ceiling.
Photo below left of the Long Beach skyline with Seaport Village in the foreground. We're getting ready to leave and it's windy cold, so we need to warm up with some alcohol! Below, the FIRST drinks, DEFINITELY not the last.
Going aboard, everybody passes this way to get to the buffet before they close. Dis is da way, peeps! (below)
More of the atrium ceiling.
Photo below left of the Long Beach skyline with Seaport Village in the foreground. We're getting ready to leave and it's windy cold, so we need to warm up with some alcohol! Below, the FIRST drinks, DEFINITELY not the last.
"Um, Lynne? Quit taking damn pictures! Can we go in now? I'm cold!"
It was eerie at night, not just because of the lights and darkness, but WHERE WAS EVERYBODY? Oh, yeah, getting ready for dinner. You can see the lights of Long Beach 'way back there.
It was eerie at night, not just because of the lights and darkness, but WHERE WAS EVERYBODY? Oh, yeah, getting ready for dinner. You can see the lights of Long Beach 'way back there.
Chocolate molten lava cake. OMG. That's all I can say.
Now, this might be too personal, BUT I was suffering...lemme change that, I was having some SERIOUSLY BAD gas attacks, and BUB was suffering. He finally had to resort to this, below left. To the right, morning at Catalina from our stateroom.
Catalina, I thought this was neat, using old 45's.
Now, this might be too personal, BUT I was suffering...lemme change that, I was having some SERIOUSLY BAD gas attacks, and BUB was suffering. He finally had to resort to this, below left. To the right, morning at Catalina from our stateroom.
Catalina, I thought this was neat, using old 45's.
Yup, I took these pictures from the 'tender', the boat that goes from the ship to the shore.
Bub, as usual, waiting for me to get done shopping and looking at the sky, thinking to himself that we'd better get our asses aboard ship before it started raining. We made it with about 1/2 hour to spare. You wouldn't think that it was going to rain that hard, looking at the morning pic and the pic when we left the ship, but it rolled in pretty quickly.
Yup, I took all these shots. I AM getting pretty damn good at this stuff. I wanna take a class. (Yes, I AM the quintessential perennial student!) Below is the deck when we were leaving Catalina. I was walking around the top in my water shoes and umbrella.
The infamous tail with the waterslide. No one was around because it was frickin' raining!
Ok, a few diehards in the jacuzzi in the rain.
Sunset leaving Catalina. I took about 4-5 of these shots and each one was pretty spectacular.
Sunrise over Ensenada.
Went outside so Bub could smoke. It was cold but got
better more towards the day. 
The actual inside of a lifeboat.
No matter where you go, no matter what kind of hellhole you end up in, there's ALWAYS a McDonald's. The good thing was that there was a Starbuck's right across the street.
Below is sunset leaving Ensenada from two different places on board. I really loved going to the highest decks at sunrise and sunset, or being on a deck where I could 'frame' the shot. There were so many people up on the top decks who appreciated what Nature could show us, if we only took the time to look. That's what's nice about a cruise-you have the time to look...to experience...to relax.
Bub, as usual, waiting for me to get done shopping and looking at the sky, thinking to himself that we'd better get our asses aboard ship before it started raining. We made it with about 1/2 hour to spare. You wouldn't think that it was going to rain that hard, looking at the morning pic and the pic when we left the ship, but it rolled in pretty quickly.
Yup, I took all these shots. I AM getting pretty damn good at this stuff. I wanna take a class. (Yes, I AM the quintessential perennial student!) Below is the deck when we were leaving Catalina. I was walking around the top in my water shoes and umbrella.
The infamous tail with the waterslide. No one was around because it was frickin' raining!
Ok, a few diehards in the jacuzzi in the rain.
Sunset leaving Catalina. I took about 4-5 of these shots and each one was pretty spectacular.
Sunrise over Ensenada.
Went outside so Bub could smoke. It was cold but got
better more towards the day. 
The actual inside of a lifeboat.
Stopped at Havana Banana, where a Corona, guacamole, and a blue-haired bartender was all I needed.
No matter where you go, no matter what kind of hellhole you end up in, there's ALWAYS a McDonald's. The good thing was that there was a Starbuck's right across the street.
Below is sunset leaving Ensenada from two different places on board. I really loved going to the highest decks at sunrise and sunset, or being on a deck where I could 'frame' the shot. There were so many people up on the top decks who appreciated what Nature could show us, if we only took the time to look. That's what's nice about a cruise-you have the time to look...to experience...to relax.
I saw James Rawlinson's idea of dressing up the towel animal, so I wanted to go one better. Nyah, nyah, nyah!!!
Above is the formal night picture. This is the ONLY picture I DIDN'T take, but just scanned in.
On the last day of the cruise, there were trivia games galore. We won one-Bub is holding the infamous 'ship on a stick'. Below are pics of the sunset over San Clemente Island on the last day, Thursday.
.jpg)
Barry always ordered lox and bagels and cream cheese, BUT he'd usually order about 3 sets of these.
Okkkaaaayyy, the last night Brian and Ted decided to do an impromtu strip tease. The SCARY thing is that there was absolutely NO alcohol involved with these two.
Above is the formal night picture. This is the ONLY picture I DIDN'T take, but just scanned in.On the last day of the cruise, there were trivia games galore. We won one-Bub is holding the infamous 'ship on a stick'. Below are pics of the sunset over San Clemente Island on the last day, Thursday.
.jpg)
Barry always ordered lox and bagels and cream cheese, BUT he'd usually order about 3 sets of these.
Okkkaaaayyy, the last night Brian and Ted decided to do an impromtu strip tease. The SCARY thing is that there was absolutely NO alcohol involved with these two. The first morning (I actually put the order out the night before, on Monday night) I ordered the 'Continental' breakfast, which had a TON of stuff on it. As usual (as I learned in the hospital and from past cruises), I ordered 2 & 3 of each item. Except for the cereal, I ordered almost every single thing on the menu. Hey, if I'm gonna eat my way down the coast of Cali and Mexico, I might as well start ASAP!
Carnival allows passengers to bring on board one bottle of wine or champagne per person in their carryon. I put them into my 'wheelie' bag. They don't specify the size bottle, so we brought two 1.5 liters of Cabernet, plus I always order a bottle of Champagne to be delivered to the room as soon as we get aboard. Let the blitzing begin! I figure since I don't have to drive, then I'm ok. For a few days. We ended up bringing the wine to the dinner table for everybody to enjoy. Even though we were charged $10 for a 'corkage' fee, it was totally worth it.
I HAD to bring on board a bottle of Amaretto, which goes very well on the rocks OR with orange juice. You can only get orange juice in the mornings at breakfast in the buffet, (during the day they charge you) so I'd fill up my big Royal caribbean mug with OJ and put it into the ice bucket. Stayed great all day.
Here's towel banana boy to the right AFTER we got done with him. Below, he's pretty plain.
Below, a proper British tea in the America Bar, the ONLY place inside the ship where people could smoke.
On the right, the 'almost' top deck on Thursday. Was a great day to be at sea, balmy weather in the mid to upper 60's, sunny.
Below, tiramisu. I would order 2-3 appetizers i.e. salad, a couple of shrimp cocktails, maybe a soup, then 2-3 entrees, and 2-3 desserts and try them all. My big problem is that I DON'T know when to stop eating. The problem is that when you get bored, you eat. I gained 6 pounds from Monday morning until Friday night & it took me about 2-3 weeks to finally come back to normal, whatever normal is. Ok, come back to what I weighed the day we left.
After hitting each buffet, this is where Bub would go-snooze time.
Rip Van Shapiro.
Below right, another pic of sunset over San Clemente Island on the last day.
.jpg)
Yeah, as they have done on every cruise since the Kon-Tiki, PEOPLE PLAY SHUFFLEBOARD.
The Normandie Lounge is HUGE, as you can see below. This is where everything happens at night, entertainment-wise. I will mention that the Captain's Reception on formal night Tuesday did NOT have free drinks, the drinks were on special for $1 off. They DID have a 'passenger appreciation night' on Thursday night and it was, believe it or not, pretty much all you could drink. I had (I think) about 4 whiskey sours. Maybe more. Things started to get kinda fuzzy around then, and I DID have to dress for dinner in my fabulous Catalina Island $19.95 dress, 'way below.
To the left, the Carnival Cruise line's mascot, "Fun Ship Freddie".
Below you can see 5 levels of the Atrium, the middle of the whole ship and where everybody ends up.
On the left, 3 decks at the stearn with people looking out at where we'd been. That bottom area deck with the yellow umbrellas is the Serenity deck, for adults only. They have 2 jacuzzis and I HEARD that it's where adults can go topless. Now that I've seen it, I don't think so because people can look right down onto the deck!
Below, a proper British tea in the America Bar, the ONLY place inside the ship where people could smoke.
On the right, the 'almost' top deck on Thursday. Was a great day to be at sea, balmy weather in the mid to upper 60's, sunny.Below, tiramisu. I would order 2-3 appetizers i.e. salad, a couple of shrimp cocktails, maybe a soup, then 2-3 entrees, and 2-3 desserts and try them all. My big problem is that I DON'T know when to stop eating. The problem is that when you get bored, you eat. I gained 6 pounds from Monday morning until Friday night & it took me about 2-3 weeks to finally come back to normal, whatever normal is. Ok, come back to what I weighed the day we left.
After hitting each buffet, this is where Bub would go-snooze time.Rip Van Shapiro.
Below right, another pic of sunset over San Clemente Island on the last day.
.jpg)
Yeah, as they have done on every cruise since the Kon-Tiki, PEOPLE PLAY SHUFFLEBOARD.
The Normandie Lounge is HUGE, as you can see below. This is where everything happens at night, entertainment-wise. I will mention that the Captain's Reception on formal night Tuesday did NOT have free drinks, the drinks were on special for $1 off. They DID have a 'passenger appreciation night' on Thursday night and it was, believe it or not, pretty much all you could drink. I had (I think) about 4 whiskey sours. Maybe more. Things started to get kinda fuzzy around then, and I DID have to dress for dinner in my fabulous Catalina Island $19.95 dress, 'way below.
To the left, the Carnival Cruise line's mascot, "Fun Ship Freddie".Below you can see 5 levels of the Atrium, the middle of the whole ship and where everybody ends up.
On the left, 3 decks at the stearn with people looking out at where we'd been. That bottom area deck with the yellow umbrellas is the Serenity deck, for adults only. They have 2 jacuzzis and I HEARD that it's where adults can go topless. Now that I've seen it, I don't think so because people can look right down onto the deck!
