Our 25th Anniversary Adventure - Baja Mexico & Hawaii on the Inspiration & Splendor

[blarko]

Enjoy reading all of your reviews. Looking forward to this one.  Thanks so much for all of your hard work and dedication to this.

[watermelonqueen99]

On 5/15/2019 at 6:33 PM, Jamman54 said:

Always glad to have you along for the ride! When is your next one? 😎

 

On 5/15/2019 at 6:33 PM, Jamman54 said:

 

 

 

 

 October, too far away! 😞 Happy anniversary to you and Patti by the way!

[BigNance]

Happy Anniversary!  

I was on another thread and someone recommended your report!  So happy to see all the details!  looking forward to the rest!!

 

[cloverose]

12 hours ago, MzShae said:

Happy belated anniversary! I'm enjoying your review so far & am looking forward to more.

Happy Anniversary! Thanks for letting us go with you vicariously! Looking forward to more!

[CruisinginWonderland]

Looking forward to reading your review! We have a the Hawaii journeys cruise booked for October on the Miracle! 

[crucero]

Happy anniversary! I’m looking forward to reading about your fabulous trip. 

 

Did you enjoy the Hilton? We are cruising from Long Beach in December, so I need to choose a hotel. The pictures look lovely!

[Jamman54]

On 5/15/2019 at 8:31 PM, aztekpm said:

Happy Anniversary!

 

Looking forward to your review, always love them!

 

Thanks for reading and your kind words. Welcome aboard! 😎

 

On 5/15/2019 at 8:38 PM, pirate4me2 said:

Husband daycare, hahaha! I love it!

 

Oh Yea! 😀

 

On 5/15/2019 at 8:42 PM, mcgore83 said:

Happy anniversary and thank you for sharing.  Looking  forward to a week of entertainment.

 

Thanks so much!  Probably more like several weeks of entertainment. 😀

 

On 5/15/2019 at 8:48 PM, Momto3girlsintheCarolinas said:

Happy Anniversary!!

 

 

Thanks!!! 😀

[Jamman54]

On 5/15/2019 at 9:11 PM, Hooked! said:

I’ve been waiting for this one! Thanks for taking us along on another adventure. Can’t wait to see more. 

 

Megan 

 

Thanks for following along once again! 😎

 

On 5/15/2019 at 9:41 PM, HeyJut said:

Add me to the list of happy campers that you have started your review. Really enjoy following along.

Happy Anniversary to you and Patti (who looks as lovely as ever).

Did you see the Grand Canyon from the plane-that’s certainly another breathtaking view.

 

Thanks for reading and your kind words! We did fly over the Grand Canyon going out, but the other side of the plane had the view. 😎

 

On 5/15/2019 at 11:06 PM, fyree39 said:

I love seeing reviews of my "home port" of Long Beach. Sadly, we won't have reason to head that way until February of next year. Looking forward to your next installment. 🙂

 

We enjoyed our visit to Long Beach and look forward to coming back one day, 😎

 

On 5/16/2019 at 12:36 AM, horsegal said:

Happy belated anniversary!! So excited to see your review, I really enjoyed one of your reviews I came across a few years ago before our last cruise. We will be going on the legend Vancouver- Hawaii- LA at the end of September (hopefully you will get through Hawaii by then!) for our belated 10 year anniversary. I wanted to wait until the youngest was at least 18 months before leaving them with grandparents.

 

Thanks so much! I'm sure we'll be done with this review by September. 😀  Enjoy your cruise to Hawaii.

 

On 5/16/2019 at 9:30 AM, JaniceB said:

The hotel looks very nice, even the fountain at the entrance very California!

 

We enjoyed our stay at the Hilton and wouldn't hesitate to stay there again. 😎

 

On 5/16/2019 at 11:22 AM, MzShae said:

Happy belated anniversary! I'm enjoying your review so far & am looking forward to more.

 

Thanks so much. Glad to have you along for the ride! 😎

[Jamman54]

21 hours ago, fuzzmane said:

My husband and I did the same cruise in 2013 on,the Splendor and stayed at the Hotel Maya.  Loved the trip.  Hope you and Patti enjoyed it as much as we did.  

 

Thanks for reading! We enjoyed the Splendor cruise very much. One of our top 3 for sure! 😀

 

20 hours ago, mikayla73 said:

Happy Anniversary! Looking forward to reading all about it.

 

Thanks! Glad to have you aboard. 😎

 

18 hours ago, Rockypoint said:

So happy to see one of your reviews again, love them.  Thank you for all you share.

 

Glad to have you along with us! 😎

 

16 hours ago, blarko said:

Enjoy reading all of your reviews. Looking forward to this one.  Thanks so much for all of your hard work and dedication to this.

 

You are quite welcome. Thanks for following along again. 😎

[Jamman54]

15 hours ago, watermelonqueen99 said:

 

 October, too far away! 😞 Happy anniversary to you and Patti by the way!

 

Thanks! You need to book another one sooner. I need another of your great reviews! 😀

 

14 hours ago, BigNance said:

Happy Anniversary!  

I was on another thread and someone recommended your report!  So happy to see all the details!  looking forward to the rest!!

 

 

Glad to have you over here. Welcome aboard! 😎

 

12 hours ago, cloverose said:

Happy Anniversary! Thanks for letting us go with you vicariously! Looking forward to more!

 

Thanks! The more the merrier I always say! 😀

 

3 hours ago, CruisinginWonderland said:

Looking forward to reading your review! We have a the Hawaii journeys cruise booked for October on the Miracle! 

 

Thanks for reading! Enjoy your Hawaii cruise. You even get an extra island and an extra day! 😀

 

3 hours ago, crucero said:

Happy anniversary! I’m looking forward to reading about your fabulous trip. 

 

Did you enjoy the Hilton? We are cruising from Long Beach in December, so I need to choose a hotel. The pictures look lovely!

 

We enjoyed the Hilton very much. I will be sharing more info about it in the next few installments. 😎

[Jamman54]

Day # 2 (April 19^th)  -  Exploring Long Beach Part 1.

 

We awoke to a beautiful sunny day. The temperature was in the low 60’s but it would get to the low 70’s later in the day. We both slept long and well so we are ready for the day. We decided to eat breakfast at The Loft down on the 2^nd floor.

 

 

It was pricey for it being a breakfast buffet. You could have a continental breakfast for $16, or a full breakfast for $21. The selections were plentiful, and what was offered was pretty good…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first plates…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

What we really liked about the Long Beach Hilton is that the hotel shuttle would take you anywhere you wanted to go and pick you up, as long as it was within one and a half miles from the hotel. We decided that we wanted to check out the Shoreline Village, so the driver happily took us there and gave us a card with the phone number to use when we wanted to get picked up and taken back. I immediately programmed the number into my phone.

 

The first thing that caught our eyes was the jetty that protected the marina. It had a walkway on it so you could walk out and get great views of the harbor…..

 

 

That’s the Queen Mary across the harbor. We will be spending a day and night on her between our cruises…..

 

 

Behind the Queen Mary you can see the dome. Around thirty years ago I visited the Queen Mary and the dome, which back then housed the Spruce Goose, Howard Hughes giant wooden airplane which flew only one time. The dome is now Carnival’s cruise terminal here in Long Beach…..

 

 

 

The Carnival Inspiration is in port today, embarking passengers on a three day cruise to Ensenada. When she returns on Monday we will be getting on her…..

 

 

Here are Patti and I on a pier off the jetty…..

 

 

Here are a few more views of the Carnival Inspiration. It is a long walk from the terminal onto the ship…..

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued……

Edited May 17, 2019 by Jamman54

[Jamman54]

We spent a good bit of time on the jetty. Patti caught quite a few good views of the harbor and marina…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Patti is now eager to check out the shops and explore the Shoreline Village. Even with a brand new hip I can’t keep up with her anymore, especially now that she is in such great shape. So she puts me in Husband Day Care. For all of you ladies out there that want to be unencumbered while you shop, this is the right thing to do! It doesn’t have to be a husband. It can be your boyfriend, lover, significant other, etc. Husband Day Care accepts all. Our recommendation for Shoreline Village is Shenanigan’s ……

 

 

 

I am comfortably in place…..

 

 

 

Patti is now free to shop and explore the Shoreline Village shops…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Patti continues to explore the Shoreline Village…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…….

[RenoNanaOz]

Love your reviews! Congrats on 25 years. We took our kids to the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose about 20+ plus years ago.

[Jamman54]

After Patti finished shopping, she collected me from Shenanigan’s. She next wanted to check out Historic Pine Avenue which conveniently had a Rite Aid. It was about a mile away, and since it was such a beautiful, comfortable day, we decided to walk. Along the way I pointed out to Patti a few potential Husband Daycare facilities for future reference…..

 

 

 

After walking about ¾ of a mile this mecca appeared on the horizon…..

 

 

Patti got me situated and placed me in charge of her backpack, then continued on to Historic Pine Avenue……

 

 

 

 

 

After Patti concluded her trip to Pine Avenue and Rite Aid, she joined me at the Rock Bottom Brewery for a drink……

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, we walked the last five blocks back to the Hilton. Around 6pm we went down to The Enclave for happy hour and dinner which was very good. After dinner it was back to the room for the night. We’re still feeling the effects of jet lag!

 

Coming up next: We explore the aquarium area, Pine Street Pier, & Pike’s Outlets.

[scottsgal]

Looking forward to your review - especially the Hawaii portion.  We watched the Splendor dock in Honolulu from our ship balcony.  We were on the Ovation of the Seas transpacific from Honolulu to Vancouver.  It was nice seeing the familiar smokestack.

[pblack]

I always love your reviews! Long Beach is my home port and I love seeing it through your eyes, especially since we've never really wandered around LB before our cruises! 

 

A very happy 25th to you both!

[jimbri]

Looking forward to your review and photos!

[Caraec]

I always love your reviews! They're fun to read and also very informative. Thanks to your great writing and Patti's great photos, I just booked a Half Moon Cay Cabana for our mother-daughter cruise in December. 🙂 I'm also considering the Warwick for Nassau. I appreciate the time and effort you put into these for us.

Edited May 17, 2019 by Caraec

[kpark895]

Forgot to mention in my last post:  

 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

(Better late than never!)

[Jamman54]

5 hours ago, scottsgal said:

Looking forward to your review - especially the Hawaii portion.  We watched the Splendor dock in Honolulu from our ship balcony.  We were on the Ovation of the Seas transpacific from Honolulu to Vancouver.  It was nice seeing the familiar smokestack.

 

Thanks for reading! The Ovation looked awesome docked in Honolulu. Patti took a lot of pictures of her as we glided past. Maybe she caught you on your balcony! 😀

 

5 hours ago, pblack said:

I always love your reviews! Long Beach is my home port and I love seeing it through your eyes, especially since we've never really wandered around LB before our cruises! 

 

A very happy 25th to you both!

 

Thanks for following along. Lots to do and see in Long Beach. You should check it out. 😎

 

4 hours ago, jimbri said:

Looking forward to your review and photos!

 

Always good to have you along for the ride! 😎

 

4 hours ago, Caraec said:

I always love your reviews! They're fun to read and also very informative. Thanks to your great writing and Patti's great photos, I just booked a Half Moon Cay Cabana for our mother-daughter cruise in December. 🙂 I'm also considering the Warwick for Nassau. I appreciate the time and effort you put into these for us.

 

Thanks for reading and your kind words. Enjoy your cabana and hope you try the Warwick in Nassau. We loved it there.😎

 

1 minute ago, kpark895 said:

Forgot to mention in my last post:  

 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

(Better late than never!)

 

Aw, thanks so much. We appreciate it. 😎

[Jamman54]

Day # 3  (April 20^th)  -  Exploring Long Beach Part 2.

 

We awoke to another beautiful day. The temperatures for today were going to be a repeat of yesterday. Today we are going to have our breakfast at the Café in the hotel lobby…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had the breakfast burrito while Patti had fruit and cereal…..

 

 

 

Today we are going to check out the aquarium area and the Pike Outlets. The hotel shuttle is busy today. There are a lot of people staying here that are cruising on the Carnival Splendor today, as she is doing her last Mexican Riviera cruise before next Saturday’s Hawaii cruise. They find room for us in a shuttle full of happy cruisers, and drop us off at the Pine Avenue Pier before heading over to the cruise terminal…..

 

 

To be continued…….

[Jamman54]

There are a multitude of places to eat here…..

 

 

 

 

 

We are looking across the inlet at the Shoreline Village where we were yesterday…..

 

 

A harbor cruise passes us on the way out…..

 

 

 

Looking across the harbor at the Queen Mary and Carnival Splendor…..

 

 

A water taxi passes by…..

 

 

This is a view looking over at Lighthouse Point. Patti will be taking a walk over there later…..

 

 

To be continued……