From High to Low Risk, Cruising while on Quarantine

During summer, we usually go on a long cruising trip on the road to escape the Phoenix heat, visit our children, and celebrate our anniversary. But, since there is a ban on non-essential travel between the US and Canada and my middle daughter lives in Calgary, we won’t be able to go there. Even Ada County in Idaho—including Boise where Bill’s son lives—is imposing a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine for people from states with high community spread of Covid-19 like Arizona. So we will not be able to go there either.

Instead, we are doing two shorter road trips to visit family and celebrate in areas where there are, in fact, lower risks for Covid-19 than staying at home. We will soon be in Granby, Colorado to visit Bill’s eldest daughter. Then in August, we visit my eldest daughter in Livermore, California. Before Colorado, Bill and I have chosen to spend a week in The Cliff Lodge Summer and Ski Resort in Snowbird, Utah. Before Livermore, we are spending another week in Snow Lake Lodge in Big Bear Lake, California. Both are part of celebrating our 12^th year wedding anniversary. This post is about the Utah celebration. 

Shoshone Falls

Bill drove all of 11 hours from Viewpoint to The Cliff Lodge, plus two 30-minute rest stops. After a much-needed rest for the night, Bill again drove the following day to Twin Falls, Idaho—four hours each way. It was our only chance to have a picnic with his eldest son and his family since that part of Idaho is not restricted. They chose a spectacular location for a picnic: the Shoshone Falls, "The Niagara of the West." Standing 212 feet tall and 900 feet wide, it is one of the largest natural waterfalls in the US, higher than, but not as wide as, Niagara. I really don’t know why its application as a national park was rejected. It should be one.

Located on the Snake River, it carves its way through a deep basalt canyon to meet the Columbia River below. Its flow is dependent on many variables. The best time to see it is in spring when the snow begins to melt in the mountains. In the summer months, a part of the river is diverted for use in irrigating 500,000 acres of farmland so the flow is somewhat reduced. But I thought it was still pretty spectacular, even in July. The worst time to visit is during fall when the water is used to recharge the reservoir system upstream. 

The Cliff Lodge at Snowbird

After another night of rest, we woke up to the beauty of our 1,500 square feet one-bedroom suite of the Cliff Club, an up-scale timeshare property located within the Ski & Summer Resort in Sandy, Utah nestled in the lovely little Cottonwood Canyon. The bedroom had an oh-so-comfy king bed, a lounge area with a sofa bed, an office desk, and a bar set-up, a bathroom suite with a walk-in closet/washing machine area, and a balcony. The living area had a sofa bed and armchair, a bar with stools, a complete kitchen, another office desk area, a bathroom suite, and another balcony equipped with a jacuzzi kept at 104 degrees Fahrenheit 24x7. We certainly  founda lot of use for it.  

The two balconies both looked out to the green wonderland of the Wasatch Mountains. It offers great ski slopes during the winter but in spring and summer, there are wonderful displays of wildflowers amid lots of firs, pines, and aspens. We could even see parts of the little Snowbird Village like the aerial tram, the chairlifts, the mountain coaster, and the stream that made the constant hum of nature calling. The Snowbird Center on the Village features other lodging facilities, shopping outlets, and more activity areas like the huge trampoline, the alpine slide, summer tubing, the vertical drop, a tree climb, and gemstone mining. In the whole resort, there are a total of nine shopping outlets, five fine dining and eleven casual dining restaurants, a high-end Spa at the top of The Cliff Lodge, another swimming pool and hot tubs at ground level and get this: 11 lower mountain, ten mid/upper mountain, and six Mineral Basin Trails for hiking and biking. 

We bought the Bird Bundle pass that is good for three hours and did everything that we could finish during that time. We tried both the Peruvian Lift and the Aerial Tram to get photos of all the spectacular views from up there at 11,000 feet above sea level. We took the Chickadee chairlift up to ride down the winding Alpine Slide twice and rode the rollicking mountain coaster twice. And my vocal cords exploded to Bill's utter embarrassment. They were our favorites so we did not get to experience the others.

The Resort, which opened only on July 1, required masks at all indoor and outdoor gathering areas. There were hand sanitizer dispensers everywhere. Everything we touched was sanitized after use. Contact tracing logs had to be filled up wherever we went  Reservations, menus, and forms were all digital.  Employees were health-checked every day. The resort was only operating at 40% capacity. Each facility was restricted by capacity, too. Most restaurants had patio seating sections. There was hardly a soul inside the Lodge. There was no need for air-conditioning so there were no common airflows. We just opened the sliding doors during the day.  The only bad experience was the initial adjustment to the altitude and the dry air. Two humidifiers were available for our suite. 

The Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island

We must have passed Salt Lake City several times but I had never visited The Great Salt Lake. So we went down to visit the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere. Its size fluctuates a lot because the lake is shallow. It has recorded the lowest at 950 and the largest at 3,300 square miles. Three major tributaries deposit approximately 1.1 million tons of minerals in it each year. Because there is no outlet for the water besides evaporation, the lake water is far saltier than seawater. In fact, it is the eighth saltiest body of water in the world, just behind the Dead Sea, at 30% salinity. Thus, you naturally float.  

Antelope Island, with an area of 42 square miles, is the largest of ten islands in the Great Salt Lake. When the lake is at its low levels, it actually becomes a peninsula. We drove across the causeway, a narrow two-lane road connecting the mainland to the island. It was a great place to see the beauty of the Great Salt Lake and witness the variety of scenes from white salt beaches, to white salt lakes, to everything in between. It is also home to the wildlife which grows well since there are no predators on the island: pronghorn, bighorn sheep, American bison, porcupine, badger, coyote, bobcat, mule deer, and millions of waterfowl.

After covering the areas around the Visitor Center, the Park Headquarters, and the two campgrounds, and having some burgers and onion rings at the Island Grille on the northwestern section of the island, I was lamenting not being able to spot any wildlife. But, as we were driving to the southeast side, we chanced upon a herd of maybe fifty bison down by the lakeside on Bill’s side of the car. When Bill stopped to let me out and take photos, lo and behold, there were ten of them on the hillside beside me.  I had heyday taking their photos especially when they rushed down the hill, crossed the road, and joined the herd.

We did not forget to visit the Fielding Garr Ranch located on the southernmost part of the road. The house is known for being the oldest continually inhabited Anglo home in the state of Utah (1848 to 1981) and the oldest Anglo built house in Utah still on its original foundation. It was quite interesting to see the old barn, stand-alone cottages, stockyard, dining room, bedroom, kitchen, grain silo, and farm implements. The stables had a few horses, too.

The Great Salt Lake State Park

The Great Salt Lake State Park is nearer the city but is quite small. It consists of the only easily accessible and swimmable part of the lake, the Great Salt Lake Yacht Club and Marina, and a Visitor Center. There are great views of the lake, Antelope Island, the Black Rock, and Saltair Resort. The latter is a modern-day remnant and symbol of the original Saltair built on pilings over the shore area of Great Salt Lake. The new resort offers concerts and a concession service for souvenirs. This was opened as a state park in 1928. And in 1980, the marina was enlarged with new boat docks.

The Utah State Capitol

The Club is just 25 miles from Historic Temple Square in Salt Lake City. The beautiful mountain resort thus gives its guests a lovely mountain escape with great access to city life and an international airport. We have passed through the city many times as we visited Bill’s children, to and from Idaho and Colorado. We had been to Temple Square before so we went to see the State Capitol  has been instead. It isois of the state’s most prominent landmarks since 1916 and underwent one of the largest historical preservation projects in the US in 2004-8. It renovated the building against the risk of an earthquake and restored the original beauty and artwork. However, it was closed to visitors. Outside is the wonderful monument to Salt Lake City's founder and Utah's first governor, Brigham Young.

We have been to many timeshare properties but this is one we would definitely go back to and maybe experience it during other seasons.  And Salt Lake City offers a lot for visitors. I wouldn’t mind photographing Antelope Island during sunset and maybe spend more time at the Temple Square.

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Are All-Inclusive Resorts Worth Your Money? Part 2

MITIGATING THE DISADVANTAGES 

It seems like the ideal life. No more housekeeping, laundry, dishwashing, cooking, and other mundane activities. Everything is available at the flick of the finger, so to speak: food, facilities, fun, and fascinating sunsets. You have no worries, cares, and hassles. All your time for things that make you happy. But there are three definite major disadvantages.

Weight Gain

You have all the food you want...and at the best locations. It is all-inclusive so you want to get the best values for your money and eat as much of the best ones as fast as possible, especially if you are staying for a short limited time. This is exactly what we did. On the first month, it was no wonder I gained  many extra pounds and developed a “baby bump.” But, on this our eighth week, I have returned to my original weight. Although traces of the bump still remain, I am well on the way to returning home as I left…without it. The following are the best practices we developed to deal with this major disadvantage.

go-to eating place

First, we put breakfast back to simple: in the room. Just like at home, we have breakfast as soon as we wake up. So we stocked up on simple things like cinnamon rolls and butter, bagels and cream cheese, or granola with nuts and raisins, together with lots of fruits and juices. We still go down to breakfast twice a week: once on Wednesday to have oatmeal or yogurt and hot chocolate; on Sundays for brunch of pasta and paella.

my favorite salad

Second, we put lunch also to a simple event. Our go-to place is La Alhambra, the open-air buffet by the sea which features a grilled item every day-grilled fish, roasted pork tacos, grilled fajitas, etc. I stick to this one dish. The restaurant also has the most complete salad bar in the entire complex. My go-to salad is a small plate of jicama and lettuce with a sprinkling of fake crab meat; usually, without dressing.

Third, we still make dinner our Event of the Day but we don’t go to the buffets anymore. We stick to a la carte dining. In buffets, there are a lot of filler items and you can get drawn to fill your plate with many of these. Even with small samples of each, they can add up to a bunch. A la carte ordering gives you the best dishes from the chef, the freshest versions of the dish, and limits what you can order. In the beginning, we ordered an appetizer, a soup or salad, an entrée, and a dessert. Now, we stick to sometimes just an appetizer or two or an entrée and split the salad and dessert.

Fourth, we are also eating healthy because there is just so many fruits, vegetables, seafood, fish, chicken, and pork available alongside with red meat. In fact, the latter is almost a no-no for us now. In the beginning, we were drawn to the New York, ribeye, filet mignon, churrasco, or arrachera steaks but now we are opting more for fish, shrimp, lobster, and chicken, sometimes pork. And we always start with salads or vegetable antipasti and make sure we have some fruits for the day. I am sure we get our required daily allowances of many vitamins and minerals.

Mexican cazuelitas

Fifth, our exercise regimen has been consistent. We spend thirty minutes at the fitness center every day. Bill hits balls at the golf course and tennis courts. We sometimes even join dancing classes. Our Fitbit shows that we walk at least 10,000 steps every day because we walk from one facility to another among four buildings in the resort complex and not use the free shuttle provided. At home, the kitchen and dining room are just a few steps from the bedroom and the living room. This is even complemented by afternoon walks on the beach or to the shops of the Zona Dorada, the shopping zone beside the complex.

  

Social and Cultural Isolation

There is another major disadvantage of all-inclusive resort stays. Let me call it the risk of social and cultural isolation. It comes from being confined to the resort facilities, again to get the best values from the money you paid, especially if you are staying for a short limited time. 

First, to counter social isolation, El Cid offers many activities. Bill and I have joined Spanish, dancing, cooking, and cocktail-mixing classes. Bill has sometimes joined tequila tasting and me, Texas Hold’em. Every evening, there are shows in the El Cid Theater: Mexican, Impersonators, Broadway, Tropical, Children's, and Audience Participation. Lobby bars have karaoke nights, casino nights, live music, etc.  Each restaurant offers different kinds of live music with different cuisines. And there are always activities on the beach. These are all opportunities for meeting new friends.

my Texas Hold'em group

Second, even if family and long-time friends are more special, we cannot transport all of them to Mazatlan. The staff of El Cid including the wait staff, the maids, and the drivers, and the guards, and the Mexican people, in general, are so hospitable, they can be our "family" while we are in El Cid. In fact, there is an Elite Lounge dedicated to hosting all-inclusive guests and catering to our every need. The Lounge is also where we have met many new friends from fellow guests. We look forward to meeting all of them again in the next season when we return to Mazatlan.

Bill's tequila tasting group

But how about cultural isolation? This is why we choose Mazatlan instead of Cancun. Mazatlan has an excellent broader community one can get involved with. With a population of 650,000, the city has a full plate of entertainment options, from concerts to movies to theater to opera. We have also done three-day trips and have four others scheduled before we go home. An Art Walk every first Friday of the month is such a fun activity. Trips to the Library have been enlightening and enjoyable.



We don't tire of inspecting each branch of the Michaels Gallery chain with their quality Mexican home decor. There are three main shopping districts: the new Mazatlan Galleria Mall area with Liverpool and Sears department stores and Walmart/Sams Club nearby, the Zona Dorada, and the Old Town Mercado and Centro Hispanico. And there is a major Flea Market in Juarez every Sunday morning. We should not forget the large supermarket chains like Soriana, Mega, and Ley. As a result of great shopping values, we are bringing home an art piece for the house, favorite new hats, quality inexpensive clothes, and some new jewelry!

Since we are staying for three months each year, we actually are able to make and keep friends and not be isolated within the confines of the resort. But then you will ask what about cost, especially because we are staying for such a long time. This is the last major disadvantage of all-inclusive resorts.  I will discuss in Part 3, four weeks from now after we have seen how everything goes and counted all the expenses at the end of our thirteen-week stay. Then we will have the final answer to the question "Are All-Inclusive Stays Worth Your Money?" 

Are All-inclusive Resorts Worth Your Money? (Part 1)

We just completed the first four weeks of a thirteen-week all-inclusive stay at El Cid Resorts’ El Moro Beach Hotel. Bill has long wanted to retire in Mexico and, since I did not want to primarily for health care reasons, we have compromised on this program. I have gained x pounds even with a focused effort to stay slim by exercising daily. It is not really the pounds but it’s where they land. There is a noticeable “baby bump” that I do not like. It makes me not want to don a swimsuit in this beach paradise!

the four El Cid Resorts in Mazatlan

This is what all-inclusive means in El Cid Resorts. It means all-you-can-eat and drink at any of the following food and beverage outlets whenever we stay in any of these vicinities: four Mazatlan hotels (El Moro, La Marina, La Castilla, and La Granada), two Cancun hotels (Ventus and La Marina), La Ceiba in Cozumel, and those that will open in the new Cabo San Lucas facility. This year, we are in El Moro in Mazatlan. 

some of the restaurants in El Cid Resorts

These are all that are available for our use:

1.    9 Restaurants

La Concha-international food

El Patio-Argentinian food

La Marina-international food

El Alcazar-Italian food

Ban Horu-Japanese food

La Pergola-international food

La Cascada-Mexican food

La Alhambra-international food

La Terraza-international food

2.    5 Snack and Drink Bars

La Gruya

El Patio

La Conchinita

Snack Bars at La Marina

3.    2 Lobby Bars

El Moro

La Castilla

4.    4 Exclusive Elite Lounge, one at each hotel

some of the facilities at the El Cid Golf And Country Club

It also means free use of the facilities of the Casa Club (the Mazatlan Golf and Country Club owned by El Cid) such as the swimming pool, tennis courts, the fitness center, and sauna and steam bath. Discounts are available at the golf course and the Spa Garden. There are also huge discounts for boating and fishing at the Mazatlan Marina Yacht Club which is at the La Marina premises. El Cid also owns Pronatours and tours come at sizable discounts there, too.

the beach fronting El Moro

There is a beachfront and two pool complexes with swim-up bars and large hot tubs for resort guests to use at La Granada, La Castilla, and El Moro. In addition, there are three private pool complexes and a private beachfront for the exclusive use of Elite members like us at El Moro and La Marina. Finally, at every hotel, activities are organized targeting various interests of guests. We have taken courses in Spanish, salsa and other Latin dances, cooking, and mixing drinks, for example. There are more.

some of the activities we joined

In addition, Mazatlan is a great Mexican town to visit. With a population of 500,000, it is considered the Shrimp Capital of the World, has the longest Malecon in Mexico, and has, for an icon, the highest lighthouse in the world on a hill by the bay. There is a vibrant downtown center and many short day trips can take you to colonial villages, a few islands, and even the city of Durango up in the mountains.

It really means great vacations with abundant food, adequate facilities, and many adventures at one great location. But there are major drawbacks to this lifestyle, not the least of which are unwanted weight gain and unwarranted expense. Others may set in for those who stay too long (like us). Boredom with the food, activities, and facilities and the increased feeling of isolation even amid plenty of people (due to lack of solid social circles unless you are adept at meeting strangers) may all set in.

But these are negatives that arise only because of the way we use the benefits. If we exercise moderation and balance, then there will be fewer. of them And with better planning, there may be none. I am developing a few Best Practices for All-Inclusive Resort Stays and will post about them after the eighth week as Part 2 of this series. It is a lifestyle that deserves honing because it is the best that one can have. We are giving ourselves the chance to enjoy it before we leave his world permanently. We do believe it is worth the money and an analysis of costs will be in Part 3 after our twelfth week.

pinnable image

pinnable image

pinnable image

I hope you will stay tuned.

It's Time We Travel More Slowly, Conveniently, Comfortably: Cruising Past 70

2018 was when we celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary. It was also when I said goodbye to my sexy sixties and hello to my sizzling seventies. The last year we had such monumental milestones was 2008 when I turned sixty and Bill and I were married. Time does fly and places recede to the distance.

Now, it's time to say goodbye whether it is to a time gone by or to places we’ve been. But it is also exciting to anticipate the next, whether it's a fresh new period or a brand new place. We always feel this at fever pitch when the end of the year magically transforms into a new one on the evening of December 31.  

We had prepared for this shifting of gears earlier in the year (see here). We completed getting settled in our new home at Viewpoint in July. After that, we resumed our bristling pace and traveled for 13 weeks to 19 destinations. Thankfully, 2019 will only be travel for 18 weeks and only to ten places.

During 13 of those weeks, from Dec. 29, 2018 to April 1, 2019, Mazatlan, Mexico will be our vacation home. We are using the El Cid Vacations Club timeshare we upgraded to at the beginning of 2018. Our four-week stay was upped to all-inclusive twelve-week stay per year in any of their seven hotels in Mazatlan, Cancun, or Cozumel.

three of  El Cid's four resorts in Mazatlan, Mexico

This year, we chose Mazatlan’s El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel. It will be no cooking nor housekeeping at our 26th-floor unit. The hotel has a beachfront. Ten restaurants available for meals. It is steps away from the Zona Dorada (shopping zone) and the El Cid Country Club with tennis, golf, pickleball, spa, and fitness center facilities. It is also just a short drive to downtown Mazatlan with its Catedral, Mercado, Teatro, etc.

When people ask me why we are doing this, I say, “It’s too cold in Phoenix during winter.” We hear it was even in the Fahrenheit 30s in the last few days! But the truth is Bill truly loves to retire in Mexico. This is our compromise. And an all-inclusive three-month timeshare is so much more practical than maintaining a second house. Besides, the room is comfortable and spacious enough, about 900 sq. ft in all with two baths.

our spacious and comfortable room, including the view

Then, to escape the summer heat in Phoenix, we will do a five-week road trip. First stop will be another family reunion, hopefully, in Park City, Utah. This time, however, instead of my family, we hope to gather around Bill’s. After the reunion, we go to Calgary to visit my daughter in Calgary. Then we cross Alberta to British Columbia and stop a few days at Kelowna, BC to say hello to Viewpoint friends.

To keep our tradition of celebrating somewhere special for our anniversary, we have booked a timeshare in Vancouver from where we will tour Victoria, too. Then we go to Seattle to see old friends and check out our rental properties. The last week will be spent in San Francisco with my eldest daughter and her family. Another easy journey.

The shift has also been reflected in my blog which I have rebranded as Carolina: Cruising Past 70. I have been writing travel essays about our decade of travels. The best-loved will be compiled as a sequel to my first book, Carolina: Cruising to an American dream. It will be entitled “Carolina: Cruising Past 70. Lessons Learned, Insights Gained.” I think it will be a vast improvement from my first, not only in my writing but also in my photography.

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pinnable image

We say goodbye to the memories of a time gone by and the places we’ve been in 2018. But we also welcome our new cruising lifestyle, our vacation home in Mexico, the revisits of well-loved people and places, and a new book to make 2019 another banner year! It is indeed time to travel more slowly, more conveniently, and more comfortably, in keeping with our age. It’s time for cruising past 70.

3 European Countries, a Family Reunion, and 3 Months in Mexico Using Timeshares

Sedona Summit by Diamond Resorts

Timeshares don’t really get a positive nod from a lot of travelers. It is a major investment, there are high maintenance fees, and you are limited to their inventory and availability. But we own sixteen weeks of timeshares. Are we fools? What made us “invest heavily” in this traveling lifestyle?

First, there are four kinds of ownership:

1.    Single Property-limited to only one property

2.    Single Country-limited to all the properties of the specific timeshare in a country.

3.    Single Region-limited to all the properties of the specific timeshare in a region

4.    Global-limited to all the properties of the specific timeshare in the world

Royal Sea Cliff by Wyndham, our home resort

We own twelve weeks in El Cid Vacations Club, all-inclusive. Mexico is my husband’s favorite destination so this is #2 for us. We also own four weeks (split between Club Wyndham and Diamond Resorts International) as #4. Together with these two's respective affiliations with Interval International and RCI, respectively, theoretically we can go to any destination in the world. For example, here are four links to some of the resorts we have used using our timeshare ownerships:  1) Balkan Jewel Resort, Razlog, Bulgaria, 2) Palazzo Catalani, Soriano Nel Cimino, Italy, 3) Le Club Mougins, Mougins, France, and 4) Royal Club of Benal Beach, Malaga, Spain, 5)  Cabo Azul, San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, 6) Ventus by El Cid, Cancun, Mexico, and 7) El Cid Marina, Mazatlan, Mexico. 

We bought El Cid as a way of being able to stay in Mexico longer. You see, Bill would love to retire there. I would rather be in the US so we compromised on a primary home in Phoenix at a resort lifestyle community. Our second home can now be at any of El Cid’s seven properties in Mexico (4 in Mazatlan, 2 in Cancun and 1 Cozumel).

sunset at La Ceiba Cozumel by El /Cid

This membership came with an all-inclusive feature, a bonus for reaching platinum level (at least 12 weeks). The total cost of ownership redounds to a rate of $75 daily or $2250 monthly for the three months we are there. This includes lodging, food, beverage, and utilities. Yes, it is better than paying for twelve months of insurance, taxes, maintenance, and utilities, paying for country club memberships, cooking every meal and maintaining a bar. It may not be an asset but then again, we are no longer at the investing age. We just want to have fun and we have other properties and funds to pass on to our kids.

We stumbled upon El Cid through Wyndham which, together with Diamond, were the first ones we bought. These two assure us of four weeks of travel elsewhere from our two homes.

swim-up bar at Cabo Azul, San Jose del Cabo, by Diamond Resorts

This year, we are basically using Diamond to travel in Europe for a month, beginning Oct. 1. The first week, we will be at the Holiday Club Schloesslhof in Tirol, Austria. From there we will explore Innsbruck, about 45 minutes away and Salzburg, two hours away. On the second week, we will stay at Mondi-Holiday Hotel Oberstaufen in Oberstaufen, Germany. Munich, Zurich, and Lichtenstein are each only two hours away. It is a great base. On the third week, we chose Royal Regency in Vincennes, France. Paris is only 25 minutes away, Versailles, 50 minutes, and Normandy. Before Austria, we will visit friends who own B&Bs in Ljubljana and Bled, Slovenia. After Paris, we go to Brussels Belgium to complete our month.

And then when we come back, after three weeks of rest, we are joining my daughters and grandchildren in our annual family reunion of thirteen in Palm Springs using our Club Wyndham points. After another three weeks of rest, we fly to Mazatlan, using our El Cid points, catch their New Year’s Eve Party and enjoy an all-inclusive vacation until March 31.

Ventus infinity pool and hot tub at Riviera Maya by El Cid

The Wyndham and Diamond ownerships are more expensive. They are not a 20-year lease like El Cid is, but a perpetual ownership which we can pass on to our children and our children’s children even when have passed on. But there are intangibles that timeshare ownerships give the weary traveler. The resorts always have kitchens so we usually prepare our own breakfasts and most dinners and have lunch out every day we are touring to taste local food. Also, they are resorts which have amenities from the basics like fitness centers, pools, and hot tubs to those with golf courses, tennis courts, beachfront, chapels, restaurants, etc.

That is the value we are getting from our timeshare ownerships these next six months. And then the cycle repeats for 2019-20. We are comfortable with these arrangements. 
They are the most convenient ways to have vacations since we are now cruising past 70. 

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PINNABLE

You Can Easily Sail Your Week Away with Food, Frolic, and Facilities in Carnival's Imagination

Let your imagination soar.  The ginormous fin lords it over about 2,500 of us on board a fantasy cruise of the Carnival Line. Imagination will give you four nights and four days of cruising on the Pacific Ocean off the California coast. It was our gift to us on our 10th anniversary. The last cruise we had was in 2014, before that 2012. We have missed this kind of easy-going, no unpacking kind of trip. Everything is fine except for the unwanted pounds you realize you got at the end!

Long Beach Cruise Terminal

Checking in was a breeze. We parked at Carnival’s six-floor parking garage and paid $20 a night in the end. A huge domed facility, the Long Beach Cruise Terminal, housed all the departure and arrival activities. There were separate lines for early, on-time, and late arrivals so long queues were practically nonexistent. And there were great backdrops for souvenir photos right from the get-go. It’s so seamless it felt as if they had been doing this for years. And they have. The ship was born in 1995.

Long Beach from Carnival Imagination

Food

It was fine dining every night at the Spirit Dining Room. We were grouped with four other couples, three from around California and one from Hawaii. So the company was wholesome and the food was awesome. I had shrimp cocktail, flat iron steak, and tiramisu on the first night; crab cakes, oven-baked sea bass, and Carnival’s signature molten chocolate cake on the second (also cruise elegant night), steak, spring rolls, and chocolate tres leches on the third, and penne de mariscos, escargot bourguignon and baked Alaska on the last. Our Filipina hostess Ethel was unbelievably both charming and caring!

four nights of dinner with new friends

Open seating breakfast was at the other dining room, Pride. We loved their eggs benedict, Belgian waffles, Spanish omelet, and Breakfast on Board. On our day at sea (fourth day), we feasted on the buffet at Lido Restaurant with the special chocolate buffet, including truffle, fudge, and all kinds of things to dip into the rich brown stuff. I decided to worry later about the pounds I was packing in. It would have been cruel to disrupt the ambiance!

Frolic

nocturnal activities

day at sea

There was so much to do. My claim to fame was singing the Beatles’ “Act Naturally” at the High Seas Karaoke on the very first night. People recognized me the next day and congratulated me for my comedic styling. You see, I started my performance with, “Welcome to my show…” The next night, we watched a glitzy, high energy show called “Divas.” On the third night, we could not stop laughing at the hilarious Punchliner Comedy Act. Then it was “Epic Rock” on the last night.

On our day at sea, we lounged at the hot tub, couldn’t resist the discount shopping, and played some trivia games. A casino buzzed every night. Games for the kids were scheduled every early morning and late afternoon. You could dance, simply listen to the music, or chat with the bartender at the many lounges and bars. One of them even had Nadal in a tennis match that was ongoing at the US Open. So, of course, I was thrilled and stayed to watch for a while with other tennis fanatics!

fun facilities

Fun Facilities

All these were made possible by the ship’s top facilities. I found out later that a huge renovation was completed in 2016. On the top deck are a Water Park at one end, a Fitness Center/Spa, and a mini-golf/jogging course at the other. One deck below is the promenade with a pool, four hot tubs, a stage, lots of lounge chairs and the buffet and fast food stations.  The two decks below feature all the various lounges, Casino, Art Gallery, Fun Shops, and the Guest Services and Excursions Desk. A six-floor Atrium Plaza is carved out of the stern. Then there are five other decks below for staterooms and cabins.

Our room was spacious enough. Unlike on our second cruise where we had a tiny cabin and bunk beds, one on top of the other, we had a comfy bed. The staff cleaned the room, changed our towels, and vacuumed the floor every morning. Upon our request, the steward brought us a blow-dryer and extra pillows. And a play towel was left every morning with the next day’s schedule. The only thing missing are the chocolates and the turn-down for bed.   

our room

  

Ports of Call

The week is divided between two cruises: a two-night, three-day one that only goes to Ensenada, Mexico on Baja (Below) California. The one which we took goes to Catalina Island, 26 miles off the coast of LA, in addition. My next posts are about the two ports-of-call. Both cruises are very popular because you can simply sail away on either Imagination Getaway for food, frolic, and facilities. The only regret I have is that I gained 4.5 pounds! So the gym sees a lot of me now.