My cruise adventures

Well I am back from my vacation (for several days now). I left on Saturday and spend Saturday and Sunday with my friend Jennifer in Long Beach, CA. We just hung out at home on saturday nigght and on Sunday we met and had lunch with Diana (Rosequeen from wetcanvas) and then went shopping at art stores. First we went to Artist Supply Warehouse (http://www.artsupplywarehouse.com/) and then we went to Pearl Paint (http://www.pearlpaint.com/) i was good and didnt buy anything.. well i bought a couple brushes on clearance for .99 cent each and an earaser. And then Monday after a breakfast at Denny's with Jen I headed over to the Los Angeles Port and to the ship, Monarch of the Seas.

There I met up with Sue and her husband Hank who was dropping her off and we jumped through thier security hoops and ladders and finally got on the ship. I wasnt on the ship 30 seconds before I had a drink in my hand, a bahama Mama. They had a cart with drinks all ready to go and you could keep the glass. Im on vacation so what the heck. I only had 2 drinks the whole cruise :) While partaking in lunch onboard while still in port in LA I realized i left my umbrella in my car while chatting with my dad on the phone. I almost went out to get it but then i would have had to go through security again, so i figured i'd take my chances.

We shoved off about 6 pm and theen got read for dinner at 8pm. If was fun dressing up for a change. The food was awesome, i never ever ate so well. Spent the evening exploring the ship and went to bed about 11.

The next day we pulled into San Diego and it was raining and cold. We did the old town trolley tour and a perfect rainy day activity, the San Diego Museum of Art. Nice little Museum but the Phoenix Art Museum is better. Ended at the seashore village a few blocks from the ship where i visited a wyland gallery (the marine artist). I took alot of seagul pictures and we walked back to the ship looking like a couple of drowned rats. We grabbed lunch on board and then found out it was formal night for dinner that night. Once we left port the duty free shops opened and we went shopping. Dinner that night was as fabulous as every night was.

The next day we pulled into Catalina Island and it was raining.. again. Just drizzling this time and chilly. We took the skyline tour, which I had once swore to never do again but I thought Sue might enjoy it and it was very informative to the history of the island. The tour was as scarey as i remembered it, scarier cos the bus was bigger. But I love Avalon, it is such a charming little town with great galleries and awesome scenery. We walked all over town and the sun finally came out just before we headed back to the ship. Got back a bit late for lunch but they always have some food and they had a pizza place onboard so we grabbed some pizza (all this food is included in the cruise price). We sat on deck for awhile drawing seaguls in pastel and then the ship shoved off and it got dark soon after. Went to a show and then dinner and a bit of casino play :) . Then from 11:30pm to 12:30 am they had a chocolate buffet. Yummmmmmm. I tried to be good and only had a little bit of several different chocolate treats.

The next morning we pulled into Ensenada, Mexico, and hour late because someone fell the night before and broke a leg so they had to go back to San Diego to transport that person to a local hospital. Mexico was pretty much what I expected mexico to be. At least the touristy part. It was a nice day, despite the overcast drizzly sky, again. The Mexican folk dancing was interesting. Street vendors every 10 ft all trying to sell the same ol things. I did trade a print I brought for a painted shell. Got back on board in time for lunch and then did some photographing at the only decent sunset we saw the whole cruise.

I went down and got ready for dinner and went to a show before dinner leaving Sue to work on a watercolor painting she started. At dinner Sue didnt show up so i called the room and she was seasick. Violently so... It was quite choppy and the boat was moving around alot. So poor sue's last night aboard was spent throwing up and sleeping. Unfortunately she didnt get to packing till the morning so she was a bit frantic and snippy come morning when we had to be packed and be out of the stateroom by 8am. Then we had to wait around till like 10 am to get off the boat and go through customs.

The drive home was long and i was tired, i was worried about staying awake but i did and we were home by 8pm.

Overall the cruise was awesome even with all the rainy and overcast weather. I would do it again in a heartbeat.