Pre-cruise - Saturday & Sunday, February 27th & 28th: We headed out from home in Ol' Blue bright and early Saturday, February 27th, at 6:00am, and discovered quite a bit of snow in Flagstaff, AZ, on the way.
We encountered heavy rain and heavy Northbound traffic coming into the LA Basin by late afternoon on Saturday, February 27th, but we made it to our hotel by 6:30pm.
We met up with Dave and Barbee from Cruise Critic (they reside in Nevada), on Sunday night, February 28th, at the hotel. They had the room next to ours.
Well, guess it's finally Monday morning, March 1st, and we're leaving the hotel headed for the pier.
Here we enter the Long Beach Cruise Terminal facility next to the Queen Mary Hotel. What a wonderful facility and a beautiful location.
Wow, we made it and found a great parking space in the Long Beach Cruise Terminal parking structure!
We went to the Queen Mary Hotel for early check in for the cruise, which was nice.
Cruise Day 1 - Monday, March 1st: There is our Fun Ship Paradise just waiting for us on Monday morning, March 1st!
There we are, just waiting to board our Paradise. Time schedules and patience, dontcha' know! I guess folks have to get off first...
We were in Group 1 for boarding, the first to board the ship following VIP passengers. The embarkation process and the terminal itself was excellent and well organized, and it took less than 45 minutes from start to finish in clearing security and boarding the ship. We were on board by about 12:00pm.
Ahh, finally on Midship Lido Deck 10, and look, there's Chris and Marlene!
And then we were joined by Julie and Sage!
Afterwards, I accompanied my lovely ladies, Jen and Marlene, to the Paris Restaurant Buffet on Aft Lido Deck 10, where Marlene ordered a Reuben sandwich with double meat and cheese, but, she got single meat and cheese with no sauerkraut, while I ordered the same sandwich based on her recommendation, I got triple meat, cheese and sauerkraut. Uh, Marlene looked for a way to trip me on the way to our table so she could take my sandwich. We met up with Linda and Chuck at their table, and no, Marlene never got her hands on my sandwich (nanner-nanner)!
Well, let's head back to the Starboard Exterior Patio on Aft Lido Deck 10 for our 2:30pm meet & greet. There's Charlie, Julie, Pua, Sage, Chuck, Linda, Jen and Dave P.
Here is Sage, Chuck, Linda, Jen, Dave P., Lisa, Chris, Tom and Wolfie. Wow, such a great gathering of Funville and Cruise Critic friends! We had so much fun visiting, laughing and enjoying life!
For the meet & greet, Pua and Charlie made everyone in the entire Funville and Cruise Critic group Hawaiian Leis, made of assorted candies and a little bottle of soap bubbles to use for our sail away, so we all wore those with the wonderful Mardi Gras bead necklaces that Linda and Chuck brought for everyone. We all looked so colorful and happy with the nice Leis and Mardi Gras beads, and as we all walked around the ship later that evening, many other passengers would comment about them, from 'Wow, those are so cool! Where did you get those?' to 'You folks are with that fun group from Lido deck meet & greet aren't you?' Thank you so much, Pua & Charlie and Linda & Chuck, Jen and I love our Leis and Mardi Gras bead necklaces!!
Here's Marlene toasting to such wonderful friends!
After our 2:30pm meet & greet had concluded, and following the simple and easy muster drill shortly after 4:30pm, several of us cruisers met up on Aft Verandah Deck 11 for the ship's sail away from the pier. As it was cold, dark and windy for the sail away gathering, we took no photos and headed below deck, with our adult beverages in hand, to do our own thing in various locations of the ship, before heading to our stateroom to prepare for dinner with our Funville family.
Aww, Pua and Charlie sent chocolate covered strawberries and fudge nuggets to our stateroom! Thanks you guys!!
Here's our stateroom (E67) right off the Paradise Atrium! Pua and Charlie decorated our door with wonderful hand-made magnets to accompany our Monkeyhead Wasters Club Door Magnet. Again, thanks you guys!!
We all joined together in the Elation Dining Room for our first 'five star' dinner. Unfortunately, I was too busy yacking and stuffing food down my gullet to take pictures. I had the Shrimp Cocktail and Caesar Salad as an appetizer, and the Flat Iron Steak and Loaded Baked Potato as the main entree. Jen had exactly the same meal as I did. We were just too full and engulfed in fine conversation to order dessert, so, better luck next time!
Ya' know, we're tired now, so I think we'll put our towel animal and ourselves to bed and see everyone tomorrow!
Next stop: Catalina Island...
STAY TUNED!!
