Here are a bunch of pictures we took on our recent (Jan 6, 2003) vacation... a 4 day cruise from Los Angeles to Catalina Island to Ensenada, Mexico.
We had a few hours before we could board the ship so we took a little detour to see the Queen Mary. Here's a picture of the Queen Mary (now a hotel and restaurant). Alongside it is the Soviet submarine Scorpion.
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We had a standard sized cabin. The Carnival Cruiseline literature claimed that the standard cabins were 50% larger than the standard ones found on other ships. We were skeptical at first, but there was surprisingly enough room to move around. We pushed the two twin beds together for us, and the kids each had a drop-down pullman bed which they thought was very cool...and NO, that isn't a window. :)
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Here's a view of the left half of the cabin. Yes, we had cable TV in the cabin!
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Backing up a bit, here's a shot of the shower. The bathroom was surprising large. The water pressure was strong and water temperatures covered the range from very hot to very cold.
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Here's the other half of the bathroom. Flushing the toilet was an adventure... it used some sort of pressure vacuum. Hit the button and water slowly fills up and then suddenly...WOOOOSH! Everything gets sucked down. Tom made the mistake of being seated when he pushed the button... everyone thought it was funny to hear a loud "POP" as he finally managed to get up.
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Aside from the formal dining rooms, the ship had a buffet-style dining area called the "Panorama Bar & Grille". It was located on the next-to-uppermost deck at the aft of the ship. It had windows all around. The food in the formal dining room was CIA-quality, but the food up here was pretty good too, and real quick. There was also a 24-hour pizzeria in the Panorama Grill.
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Here's a shot of Eva and the kids finishing up breakfast on the first full day. The kids are smiling because they found out that soft-serve ice cream was always available and it was all-you-can-eat.... until they quickly discovered that it was actually "all-their-parents-allowed-them-to-eat" ... which for breakfast meant "NONE"! LOL
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After breakfast we walked out onto the deck. The seagulls were apparently veterans because they knew where the food was. Tom was literally a foot away when he took this shot. (Even though he was thankful that the seagull stood still for the picture, he still thinks that they're rats-with-wings.)
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This is the town of Avalon on Catalina Island. Nestled on the coast at the base of the mountains it was quite a beautiful sight.
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Here's a close-up of some circular building. We don't know what it was, but Tom just wanted an opportunity to show off the 10x optical zoom lens on his digital camera.
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Above the Panorama Bar & Grille was one of three swimming pools. Here is a shot of the two hot-tubs and a partial view of the pool (on the right). The tail-wing-thingie was HUGE! We have no idea what purpose it served but it looked really cool.
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Elizabeth hamming it up for the camera. This was on the way to dropping them off at the onboard Camp Carnival for Kids. There weres Playstation 2 games to play, computers, boardgames, crafts, and tons of other things to do that kept them busy...they had a lot of fun at the camp and couldn't wait to get back to it.
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Here's Jeremy on the spiral staircase in the lobby. The lobby is a 4-story atrium with a skylight. You can see the decks...shops and lounges. This lobby would be impressive in any land building, but the fact that this is on a cruise ship is just completely amazing.
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Here's a shot of the skylight in the lobby.
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And if a 4-story atrium wasn't impressive enough, there were two scenic elevators that travel between the floors in the lobby.
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Another picture of Elizabeth and Jeremy.
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...and a pic of the hallway outside our cabin.
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This is portside.
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Here's a shot of the Ecstasy from the shores of Avalon, Catalina.
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(In Catalina) A view looking back at the pier.
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Looking down the other end of street. On the left down that side-street were some of the numerous shops. Eva's feet were hurting and she desparately needed a more comfortable pair of shoes or sneakers. Leave it to Eva (aka Queen-of-the-Bargain-Hunters) , she managed to find the only thrift shop on the island... and lo and behold, snagged a pair of Liz Claiborne canvas sneakers, in her size, for $4! (Her title is safe!) LOL
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Golf-carts were the primary motor vehicle.
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Another shot of the ship.
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Some more shots around town.
Another view of the hillside (towards the dock)
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Here's a close-up of that lighthouse.
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One final shot of Catalina...promise!
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Here's a picture of a semi-sub that we were going to go on. Unfortunately the water was very choppy, stirred everything up making it impossible to view any sealife...so the tour was cancelled. :(
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A view of a tender (small boat that ferries passengers from the cruise ship to the shore).
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A view down "Lopez Matteos" in Ensenada, Mexico.
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Another view...including our tour bus. A few blocks down on the left was a little shop (one of many) that sold guitars. That's where Tom picked up his guitar for $50 and $20 for (what we would later learn is) a "gig bag". It was neat to actually buy a Classical guitar in Mexico... and quite a few of our fellow passengers thought so too.
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Another of Ensenada...
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There were quite a few pharmacies in town. Selling US prescription drugs like Amoxicillin and Viagra.
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While we were waiting to board the bus for the ride back to the ship, we spotted this car driving down the street...
IT'S A HYUNDAI !!!
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Another view of the Atos... Tom wants one! He doesn't know why...but he does. (the absolute opposite of the XG-350) LOL
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Here's the gangway in Ensenada.
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Our trip almost came to an untimely end when the Loch Ness Monster made an appearance...far, far, from home.
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