2007 ANNIVERSARY CRUISE

this was our belated 25th wedding anniversary gift to ourselves...

May 1, 2007

Dan and I arrived at the Port of Los Angeles around noon after being dropped off by Justin & Gina. After checking in and getting our room keys, we sat in the lobby waiting for our group to be called to embark. Interesting the different kinds of people who would be going on the cruise with us. Of course, we hardly saw the same people twice cuz the Norwegian Star is HUGE!!

Our rooms weren’t ready until 3pm, so we went to the 12^th deck to get some food. Amazing the variety available to us! And to think, everything is already paid for, except for sodas…! We could have bought unlimited sodas for $63/per person, but why spend all that money when you could get water for free?!!!

The only snag to our cruise was, when I checked our tickets, I saw that we were actually ending up in VANCOUVER, British Columbia, NOT Victoria as I had been thinking all this time! Bummer!! We had the hotel & the flight to LA leaving out of Victoria…! When I called to cancel our flight from Victoria in order to book them from Vancouver, I realized that Travelocity is NOT all it’s cracked up to be!! Sure, they have low prices, but if you have to change your reservation for any reason, they charge you a HEFTY FEE!! They were going to charge us almost $700 to change our reservation…!! Needless to say, I will never use Travelocity again (sorry, Amazing Race!!)!!! We decided to sleep on our alternatives, but this mistake caused a damper on what was an otherwise fun day…!

After dropping off our stuff in our cabin – Deck 10, Room 50 near the front of the ship – we decided to explore. We ended up on the Promenade Deck (#13) and decided to hang around for the “Farewell to LA” party – a wonderful BBQ!!! I would have to restart my Medifast diet when I returned to LA…!

The cabin was cozy. The bed was a bit lumpy, but we had a nice balcony!!

at LA Harbor, waiting to set sail

just hangin' out on the 12th deck

May 2, 2007

This would be a FULL day on the ocean. That morning, I woke up early – my usual 5:30am internal alarm clock going off without missing a beat. So, while Dan slept, I went up on the Promenade deck and took a walk. The air was brisk and the waves were high and it was wonderful to be on the water again. In 1965, our family came to the States on either the USS President Cleveland or the USS President Wilson – I can’t remember which one we took going and which one we took when we returned to Manila in 1969. That was a 21-day voyage because we were on a cargo ship, but I fell in love with the ocean on that trip! 42 years later, I still felt the same! Too bad we waited so long to take our first cruise, but Dan has motion sickness and he always vetoed the idea. I think he ended up enjoying the trip, even though it was a bumpy ride due to a storm that followed us from Santa Barbara to Astoria, Oregon.

I DID wish that the kids were with us! I always wanted them to have new experiences, like the time in 1994 when we drove from LA to Ludington, MI and back in 13 whirlwind days, and this cruise would definitely count as a TOTALLY new experience for all of us!! Someday…

May 3, 2007

We docked in Astoria, Oregon. Quaint town, but really nothing to do. Dan and I went ashore and explored on our own, bought souvenirs, and a few hours later, went back on board the ship. One thing about the water, it really makes you sleepy, so we couldn’t stay up late to enjoy some of the activities. On our next cruise, we will have to make sure we check out the entertainment and make every effort to stay awake longer…!!

this was one HUGE ship!!

For dinner that night, we decided to eat somewhere other than the Marketplace where we had been eating every meal since coming on board. We had a lovely sit-down dinner, complete with a white tablecloth and servers who were Filipinos. We found out that there were 1800 filipinos working onboard the Norwegian Star. Their contracts varied from 6 to 10 months. Many of them left family behind and were only able to visit them for a couple months before going another round on a cruise ship. They remind me of the Filipino overseas workers who make the ultimate sacrifice and leave their families behind so that they can work in the middle east, japan, or hongkong in order to send their hard-earned money back home to provide for those same family members.

The Manila Trio

May 4, 2007

Early Friday morning, we entered Vancouver Harbor. Canada is really beautiful. I first visited Canada in 1968 when our family traveled to Toronto to spend a week with my mom’s penpal from high school. I’m glad I was able to visit the other side of Canada. We had decided that we would go ahead and keep our flight reservations from Victoria, so that meant we had to get to Victoria somehow!! I found a small airline that flew every 35 minutes from Vancouver to Victoria, so we decided to do that. We were able to get a room at the Queen Victoria Hotel which is near the Inner Harbor in Victoria, so while we waited to board our float plane, we ate lunch and just enjoyed the nice weather and Vancouver Harbor.

Approaching Vancouver, B.C.

just hangin' out while waiting for our flight to Victoria

beautiful downtown Vancouver

The float plane was a totally new experience!! I think Dan really had problems with the fact that it was very small and very loud! Good thing the flight was only 35 minutes long!!

We absolutely adored Victoria!! The weather was perfect and we had fun roaming around taking pictures of the famous Empress Hotel (didn’t go in, tho), the Legislative Building, the totem poles!! Had a wonderful steak dinner before calling it a day!!

Parliament

 Empress Hotel

the crests of the Canadian provinces

loved the TOTEM POLES

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth

The next morning, we decided to check out the Titanic exhibit at the Royal British Columbia Museum which was just across the street from the hotel! SOOOO sad!! All those people did NOT need to die if the captain had just heeded the reports of icebergs!! Getting to see the Titanic exhibit was an unexpected but pleasant bonus to our trip.

Despite some problems in Seattle (I’ve decided to HATE that airport!!) that caused us to miss our original flight to LA, everything turned out OK and we arrived back in CA safe and sound. I can see why some of my friends are always taking cruises!! It is TRULY the best vacation around!! You are forced to relax and unwind!!