Day 1 It’s Thursday, December 30, and we’re starting our trip! Jodi drove us to the airport in Binghamton. We left home about 8 AM, picked up Jeanne and Skip Jackson, and went to the airport. It was zero degrees at our house, so we were happy to be heading to warmer weather. We got to Los Angeles about 5:30 PM and checked into the Hilton at the airport.
Day 2 December 31 - We are still on East Coast time, so we were up and ready early! After breakfast at the hotel, Bob and Skip went to pick up our rental car and then we headed to Pasadena to see some of the floats being prepped for the Rose Bowl parade. There are many volunteer groups who help put the flowers and other decorations on the floats, starting about 5 days before the 1st. Since this is the day before the parade, there were many people there putting last minute touches on the colorful floats. I liked the mustang float best because the horses looked so real! It is interesting to see what they put on them - rice, other grains, seeds, and many kinds of flowers.
Bob then drove us around the Burbank studios where he worked a few years ago, Hollywood, and Beverly Hills. We stopped for lunch at Venice Beach and walked out on the pier enjoying the sunshine even though it wasn’t very warm. Several people were fishing and some hardy surfers in wetsuits were enjoying the waves. After that we drove down US 1 to the Long Beach Hilton. The Queen Mary was nearby, so we went and toured it and had a drink and dinner there before returning to our hotel. We had hoped to be able to stay on the Queen Mary (which is now a hotel), but it was completely booked because it was New Year’s Eve. We returned to our hotel and watched the ball drop in NYC at 9PM, then looked out our window and saw a fireworks show that took place over the harbor. We soon went to sleep as it was midnight our time. However I was awakened at midnight LA time by more fireworks over the Queen Mary in the harbor which I also watched out our window.
Day 3 –It’s Saturday, January 1 Departure day! We slept in, and then had a nice buffet breakfast. While talking with some hotel employees, we learned that Virgin Atlantic flight crews of 17 each are required to spend 3 days at the hotel upon arrival from Australia or South Africa. Their flights are so long they carry a medical team with them at all times. They lease the hotel van from 9 am to 5 pm. I’d like to think that when Jodi and Beth fly to Korea this summer that their flight will also have well-rested crews aboard.
We took a cab to the ship arriving about 11:30. Then it took almost 2 hours of standing in lines before we were finally on board. We ate lunch in a sunny spot on deck 12 by the pool. It's cool in LA - about 50 degrees. This ship is much nicer than any cruise ship we've been on before. The cabin is much bigger, with lots of storage. We’re so glad to be in sunshine that we didn’t want to go inside so we sat on deck and read for awhile even though it’s chilly. There was not much breeze so it wasn't bad in the sun. The ship departed LA about 4PM.
Day 4 - January 2 - This was a sea day. We spent the entire day cruising down the edge of the Baja Peninsula. We were surprised it was so mountainous. It was very cool in the morning, but we tried to stay outside and read in the sun. We ended up going in a comfortable lounge where the sun was streaming through the windows. Then we went in the hot tub for an hour before lunch. We found a great hot tub on the front of the 14th deck. It’s well away from the main areas of the ship in an area labeled “Quiet Zone” so there’s not a lot of foot traffic or noise there. We enjoyed the hot tub so much, we went back in before dinner. It’s becoming our favorite place to hang out, and we are meeting lots of people from all over the world. The same people seem to head to the hot tub at the same time of day, so we’ve got our own little “club” in what we now refer to as “The Front Office.”
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