I woke very early and caught a brief glimpse of the sunrise. Then I went back to bed for a bit.
Every cruiser stops in St. Thomas several times if they cruise the Caribbean. I’m not sure how many times I’ve been here but we decided to venture out anyway.
We were going to walk to the town and taxi drivers kept offering us rides. Finally, we had enough. It was hot, we were sweaty and it wasn’t very scenic. So we finally took a cab. He dropped us off at a Catholic Church.
We were kind of in the backstreets of Charlotte Amalie. The neighborhood was a little sketchy but we didn’t feel unsafe.
We found our way to the bakery that the taxi driver told us to go to. It was very strange. It looked more like a warehouse. I bought a coconut ball and Bruce bought a guava turnover.
Then we headed back to the ship. We also took a taxi. I think we are getting too old to walk miles in the heat.
Back on the Beyond, we went for a swim and lounged by the pool.
We love the Celebrity Beyond. Its capacity is 3300 passengers but it doesn’t feel like that.
This time we have a regular balcony, not an infinity balcony.
Right now Imelda is off the coast of Florida and we may have to change course to avoid the worst of her. Luckily Bruce and I don’t get seasick.
We went for a spa tour and Bruce is getting acupuncture hopefully to help his shoulder.
We watched as the ship left the Port of Miami. It was raining.
We had a lovely dinner in Tuscany. There are four main dining rooms: Tuscan, Normandy, Cyprus, and Cosmopolitan. We can eat in any one of these. I had escargot, a pumpkin salad, and prime rib. With a cannoli for dessert.
Now we are getting ready for comedy in the Beyond Theater.
Unfortunately, the comedian wasn’t very funny so we left early. We are heading to bed early because we are doing Tai chi in the morning.
What a day traveling yesterday. We had to fly from LA to Phoenix and then Phoenix to Reno.
We disembarked from the Navigator at 9am. Our flight was at 1pm so we had plenty of time. Unfortunately, there weren’t any lounges in LAX, at least not through Priority Pass or Amex. So we just hung out at the gate for several hours.
Phoenix has several lounges which was good since our flight was delayed four hours. We spent the four hours in an Escape Lounge through Amex. The food was good but the bathrooms were not.
We finally arrived in Reno at 9:30. We had a room at the Silver Legacy. And the casino was good to us. We played for about an hour and then went to bed.
Our second port was Ensenada. It looked like a typical third-world country. The mix of wealth and poverty.
I booked a tour that took us to La Bufadora. It was approximately an hour ride to the site.
The scenery was dry with burnt grasses from the sun and heat. In the ocean were these huge circles. It’s their tuna farms. They sell to an Asian market.
We ran a gauntlet of vendors selling their wares, many of which were probably made in China. A polite No gracias worked to stop them from hassling us.
Finally, we reached the infamous blowhole. It’s one of the largest geysers in the world and the spray was impressive.
The coastline was beautiful here.
We stopped for tacos on the way back to the bus.
We slept on our way back to port. It wasn’t a great tour but at least we saw a little of Ensenada.
We spent the rest of the day packing, wandering the ship, and checking out the mini golf course.
Dinner at 5 with Carrie and Chris and then another production show.
Now I’m sitting in LAX waiting for our flight to Reno with a stop in Phoenix.
I’ve never been to the port in LA. It was a bit confusing. I thought we could walk to it from our hotel but it turned out it was miles away. And not very pretty.
The ship is huge. I guess I wasn’t expecting something quite this large. I think it has 4k capacity.
We watched from our balcony as we sailed from Los Angeles.
We walked around the ship getting our bearings.
We met up with our friends, Chris and Carrie from South Carolina. We made dinner reservations for four of us.
Our first port is Catalina Island. We rented a golf cart for six people since we met up with another couple on the tender.
This cute little deer walked up to us. Very friendly.
We found a church and the Chapel was open.
Then we stopped at a place for a pastry. I had an almond croissant and Bruce had a blueberry.
Now we are back on the ship getting ready for dinner. Maybe they will have escargot!
All good things come to an end. But memories last forever. We had an excellent time aboard the Ruby Princess.
Leaving San Francisco and going under the Golden Gate Bridge was fabulous.
The train ride in Skagway showed us the beauty of the area.
Our hike to Nugget Falls was exhilarating.
Seeing the glacier in Endicott Arm and the breathtaking mountains and waterfalls was spectacular.
We stayed on the ship in Ketchikan, but in Prince Rupert, we walked around town. I don’t think I’ve ever seen hydrangeas this color.
The Ruby Princess had some fun entertainment and on our last evening, the Captain played the electric guitar.
We docked in San Francisco early on Saturday morning. I woke enough to photograph the Bay Bridge.
Our stay for one night at the Hampton Inn in Burlingame. Many of the street signs are in Chinese.
We ordered Thai food to be delivered. Unfortunately, I have a cold. It seems I can’t cruise without getting sick. So I ordered a chicken noodle soup. It definitely made me feel better.
We woke early to catch a 6:45 a.m. flight to LA. We did get to spend half an hour in The Club, a lounge I use through Priority Pass. This is one of the benefits of the Amex Platinum card. Although it has a high yearly fee, $695, I gain about $1000 worth of benefits from the card.
This lounge was particularly nice and had several extra features including the Luminescence lounge.
We are staying at a Residence Inn. Bruce’s Marriott Bonvoy credit card gives him a free night each year. This seemed as good a place as any to use his freebie.
Our room was ready at 10am. We took a nice long nap and then went out for food and fun. The hotel is on the waterfront so it was a nice stroll.
We ate at the Maya Hotel. I had French toast and Bruce had tomato soup. They did not disappoint.
We decided to go to the Queen Mary. She was a beautiful ship that had her maiden voyage in 1936.
We decided to take the ghost tour because it is one of the top 10 haunted places in the US.
Our guide took us to the rope room which he said was a very haunted place on the ship. I took this picture of the back wall area. What do you see? Maybe a ghost! There was nobody in front of me!
After hearing several ghost stories, in the library, a particular cabin, and Winston Churchill’s cigar smoke, the tour was over and we were able to roam around by ourselves.
We decided to have a snack in the cafe!
The ship was lovely with its Art Deco decor.
The ghost room can be rented for $1000 per night and the other cabins are also available.
We took a walk on the bridge and there was an anti aircraft gun. These were installed during WWII when the Queen Mary went into service moving troops in and out of Europe.
The cost to board the Queen Mary is $45 with 10% off for seniors. It was well worth the trip.
We walked over 5 miles today – it will be a short night and than on to our next adventure.
Who? What? Prince Rupert is a small seaside town in British Columbia. It was the last stop on our cruise before heading to San Francisco.
We didn’t have an excursion but planned to go to a place to hike. We were told we would need to take a taxi there and make arrangements to have someone pick us up. It was far more complicated than I thought so we just decided to walk around the town.
Our first stop was the Sunken Garden. The flowers were in full bloom and stunning.
Our next stop was the Saltwater Bakery. Yummy delicious.
Interesting old homes were in the historic district.
Everywhere we walked there were beautiful flowers.
And old-timey telephone booths.
Eventually, we found our way back to the ship. It was all aboard by 3:30.
And finally headed back out to sea. It’s been an amazing cruise and we’ve met a lot of great people. Alaska is a place everyone should visit.
This morning I woke to a pink sky. The old saying Red sky at night a sailor’s deligh; Red sky in the morning sailors take warning did not hold true. The day turned out to be quite sunny but brisk.
Ketchikan was a tender port for us since two other Princess ships, the Discovery and the Grand, both were docked. Carnival and Holland America also were docked. I guess we drew the short straw.
I decided to do laundry in the morning and get a tender after I was finished. One of the advantages of Princess cruises is that their ships have a small laundry facility on each deck.
Usually, around mid-morning, you can hop on a tender without a ticket. That was not the case. We finally got our ticket, but our number wasn’t called until 1 p.m., and we had to be back by 5:30. I just didn’t want to deal with the lines to get back on a return tender, so we stayed on the ship.
We walked around the ship, had lunch, and read our books on the balcony.
We met with friends for coffee and then ate dinner with some new acquaintances. Afterward, we watched an Illusionist Elliott Hunter who was very good.
Tonight the skies are clear. Maybe a chance for Northern Lights. I will keep my fingers crossed.
Tomorrow we are in Prince Rupert in Canada for a short stay!
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