Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving (for all my American friends), otherwise, just a lovely week! Last Thursday my family and I left on Thanksgiving morning to fly to Los Angeles for a 3 day cruise. I decided to break the review of the trip into 3 parts, this part about the cruise, the next part about Ensenada, and the final part about Catalina Island. This is to prevent this post from becoming unbelievably long, and to streamline each post to have a single theme so people can read what most interests them. I will attach pictures to each post so that these posts are a little easier to visualize. Now that we have some foundations, lets do this thing! On Thursday, 11/22, my family (my parents and two younger brothers) and I drove down to Denver International Airport (DIA), our flight was at about 8am, so we left the house at 4:30am. Since we live a little over an hour north of DIA, this got us to the airport around 6am, giving us the suggested 2 hours prior to flight to get through security, find our gate, eat breakfast, fill our empty water bottles, and get ready for boarding. Fun tip that I found this trip, DIA has a link with all of their security wait lines. This can really come in handy if you're in a hurry, or like me, hate TSA and want to spend as little time waiting in those obnoxious lines as possible. Here is the link, https://www.flydenver.com/security Another sidenote, I really love that DIA has bottle filling stations next to all their bathrooms with their water fountains, since I try to be low impact wherever possible, it makes it easier to fill my reusable bottle than a traditional water fountain. I found one at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) as well, however, I have not spent as much time there, so I don't know how prevalent they are there. We flew frontier, which was fine, their hub is at DIA, so they often have affordable domestic flights. Nothing overly spectacular to report, other than, since it was only a 2 hour and 19 minute flight from DIA to LAX, there were no TV's onboard, so you'll need to bring your own entertainment. I get motion sick, so reading isn't an option for me. I typically listen to music and sleep, or listen to podcasts. Also, another tip that was passed onto me from a pilot friend, invest in a travel pillow. I bought one last November and have used it on 3 trips so far, all I can say is I am extremely happy I bought it. It really makes sleeping on a plane, or any public transit, much easier and feels less gross as you are sleeping on your own pillow, not a dirty wall or something else. Once we made it to LAX, we took a SuperShuttle from LAX to the Long Beach Cruise Terminal, it was very affordable, and the driver was very friendly and accommodating, working Thanksgiving and everything. Once at the terminal, we didn't have to wait but an hour before they began to let us board the ship. We were sailing with Carnival aboard the Imagination, this was our second cruise with this company, and we actually enjoyed it more than the first time. The food was actually varied every day, with different meals and themes to choose from, they also had a buffet style and a sit-down dining option that felt like an expensive restaurant. Somehow the crew is able to remember names, our waitress and our room stewardess remembered our names and faces after meeting us all once. Our room stewardess, she remembered 2 of my family members without even seeing them, just us telling her their names. We are still wondering how she does it, as she has many, maybe even hundreds of rooms to service, each filled with 1-5 guests. She was extremely friendly, welcoming, and skilled at her job. If you are a smoker, there are a few smoking areas, however, your balcony is not one of them. There was a smoking area up on the Lido deck (where the pool was), so you didn't have to miss out on the music or events happening there, plus it had a great view of the ocean. I myself am not a smoker, but my Dad is, so we could hang near there if we wanted to visit with him. We didn't attend very many shows, only 3 comedy acts and 1 show. They did have a movie playing a few times a day, but I never made it to that either. The comedy shows were entertaining, their seating was nice. However, once you've seen one act by one of their onboard comedians (of which I think they had 2 or 3) you have seen their entire act. While they may perform several times a night, one being a family show and 1 or 2 being an adults only show, they are essentially the same show. So make sure you change it up by seeing different comedians and shows. The best way to keep track of events happening on the ship was using their CarnivalHUB app. While there is no wifi on the ship (unless you pay for one of their internet packages, which we did not, part of a vacation is to leave certain things behind and simply enjoy the trip and those you are traveling with) there is free wifi available that only works on the CarnivalHUB app. It lists the weather for the day, whether you will be out to see or in port, which port you are at, when you can leave the boat and when you need to return by, and all the events happening onboard. All shows, sales, events, parties, etc. are listed on the app, you can favorite which ones you want to attend, and even set reminders so that you don't miss them. It was very helpful. They do also give each room a daily paper that has the same information if you prefer. But I didn't need one more item to carry around, I was carrying my phone already since I was taking pictures, so using it for the app as well was very convenient. Cruising tip, make sure you turn your phone onto airplane mode once you leave port. This can save you hundreds of dollars in roaming fees as well as out of country fees. If you are spending a long period of time in one area, you may want to talk to your carrier about sim cards or packages for using your phone out of the country. Otherwise, just unplug from the digital world for a few days and enjoy your trip while saving some time and money! Overall, the ship was very pretty and had a lot of nice amenities. They had putt-putt golf on the 12th deck, tons of decks that overlooked the ocean, I found several where I could just stand at the railing and look out at the ocean, and did so for a few hours just to give myself some time to think and soak in the beautiful views, the fresh sea air, and and just take in a sight that I normally don't get in landlocked Colorado. They have the Serenity Lounge at the aft (back) of the ship that was 21+ only area. I spent a bit of time there as there was always a lounge chair available, 2 hot tubs, and a great, quiet, view of the ocean! So, if you're looking for a quick trip out of the country, this Carnival ship (Imagination) and vacation surprised us by how fun it was, how many amenities it offered, and the great selection of food for all meals! Add on the views and activities and we had a really fun time! Thanks for reading, and hope you have some time to take an adventure sometime soon! Much Love, Jess
0 Comments
|
AuthorJessica Marie Cunningham - Intentional lifestyle blogger, aspiring author, and podcast host. All things Slow Living, Books, Writing, Art, creativity, Christianity, and personal stories. Archives
March 2022
Categories
All
|