Days 12 & 13, 24-25th April. At Sea & Haiti

Day 12-
We slept in this am and it was noice Kath, noice! Got the continental brekky you can get delivered to your room, which we've done before. Helps us not get 'peopled out' when youve been around a lot of people a lot! Then we went for a wander to explore the decks a bit as there is so much to see. I notice there are heaps of sunloungers everywhere and more than enough to go round. Usually you find they are all in one area and people put their towels on them in the morning and there arent many left, but here it seems good. There are lots of sun levels, glassed in, covered, uncovered in the wind, out of the wind etc etc.

Lined up and changed one of our shore excursions as there are a lot more available now than pre-cruise online, so we changed from a beach one in Jamaica, to a visit and lunch to a 1700's plantation house and its grounds. Apparently it is really good.

We had a light (ish) lunch in one of the restaurants then a walk before Graeme had a Grandpa nap and I did photos and the blog. Mooched around until dinnertime and met Bob & Linda for a lovely dinner again. We went to a bar afterwards and had a cocktail then we went to the show 'Cats'. We saw it last year in Melbourne, but found it hard going as we didnt know the story- this time however really enjoyed it and its amazing how well all those actors manage on a smallish stage. They were very professional and gave the Melbourne show a run for its money. There was a kiwi in the cast, from Oakland NZ- wherever that is?!
We are stopping in Haiti tomorrow and have a snorkelling safari, so should be good!

Cool seat onboard

View from the 16th floor at lunch today

The wave rider pool

 Mini golf!

Kids swim pool

Day 13-
We had contental breakfast in the room again this morning - a good way to keep the food intake down! Then off the ship as we are anchored in Labadee, Haiti. Apparently the poorest nation in the world? But royal caribbean have leased  a village/beach area, so they employ locals and of course get the kickbacks from putting all their passengers there for shore excursions.

We went on a snorkelling safari, the crew were great but I thought the reef was pretty bad. Only brown coral apart fromt his massive purple one, that looked like giant purple cabbage leaves, full of lacey holes! There were minimal fish and unfortunately quite a bit of plastic floating. Think cos we have snorkelled in Fiji and Tahiti we have probably been spoiled a bit, but it was still lovely clear warm water. Very hot and sticky today so it was great to swim and the gear they gave us was National Geographic fins and masks, so they were great. It was a pain how many people didnt seem to have any water etiquette here though, we were following the instructor dude and several women were constantly swimming across you with fins in your face or squeezing up beside you - must be our pheromones haha!!

Labadee, Haiti

We had a lovely couple of cold 'prestige' beers on the way back, it is their local beer the crew guy said which has won several awards. Graeme looked at the BBQ lunch the ship had put on at the beach, but as all the food was out in the heat and in the open- he, like a few others thought better of it and we went back to the ship for a nice lunch there. Went for a walk around the ship as its very quiet onboard today, then we meandered back for a afternoon kip.

One of the restaurants- they put out 100,000 meals a day onboard!!

Richard our Haitian snorkel leader 

Another day, another beer!

Went and tried a couple of cocktails before dinner - a central park fizz and a chocolate martini- yep they were nice! Then went to dinner with Bob and Linda. Another couple joined us tonight who are from Maryland, near Washington DC, they are very nice and we all had a nice night. Funny for the night - they had the waiters in each area sing Oh Me-oh-my-o (sic), ours was our waiter from St Vincents & Grenadine, so a black man humming along to Italian lyrics, singing into a peppershaker!!!

We have an adult comedy show on tonight at 9pm- they booked out on day one so sounds like they are pretty good.

Days 9 - 11, 21-22April. California to Tampa Florida & Cape Canaveral

Days 9 & 10

Day 9-
Flight was 4 ½ hrs from LAX to Tampa Florida last night, landed at 8.15pm and we were picked up by our old friends Linda & Bob who we met in 2007 on a Trafalgar Italy & Greek Island tour. Linda and I have stayed in touch over the last 10 years on FB and it was so lovely to see their faces again - we just picked up where we had last left off from. They have not changed at all – living in Florida must keep you young!!

Into bed and adjusting to the 3 hr time difference. Moving around the States, we are changing time zones a lot by the time we do a circle of the country!

Day 10-
We got up today and sat around and chewed the fat, catching up on the last 10 years, then out to lunch at a Greek area called Tarpon Springs. Took us all back to the greek cruise we enjoyed together- although this time, not with hundreds of american 18 yr olds getting drunk as skunks after graduation, thank god haha. Then on to look for Walmartians!! I loved Walmart, similar to Kmart but a bit more trendy and SO cheap – bought skinny jeans that were better quality than the ones at home, on sale for $5!!!!!! The girls will be happy :) Then we went to a couple of other dept stores, including another Walmart- they are in abundance here lol. That took up most of the afternoon then we meandered back after a look around the area. It is so incredibly neat and tidy here, the houses, the streets, even the letterboxes!

Did some washing – so good to use a washing machine instead of washing clothes in the shower!  Then sorted yesterdays blog as it seems to have thrown a hissy fit when I try to add photos.

Then we went out again for dinner in the evening to a steakhouse called Cody’s… Linda and Bob have their retirement lifestyle balance so right. They live in a community where things are taken care of like the front yards are mowed, the roof kept painted, community swimming pool and tennis court, a cleaner and it is cheaper to eat out every day than cook! Food is SO much cheaper here than at home or in NZ, even with tipping. California wasn’t cheaper, but Florida definitely.

Codys roadhouse waiting area (note the barrel beside Bob has peanuts in it)

We enjoyed our meal in the fair dinkum Roadhouse, where they have fresh peanuts in the shell in big barrels and you help yourself then drop the shells on the floors (never chucked food on the restaurant floor before haha!) We have steaks and drinks in this madly busy, happy noise place, was great. They do a chicken fried steak, where they coat the beef in a coating like KFC and fry it. Graeme really loved it and they also served hot sweet, soft buns with cinnamon butter- another first! They were very yummy and like hot cross buns.

Went home and packed up for our West Caribbean cruise we are all going on tomorrow. We are being picked up at 4:45am for the coach transfer to Cape Canaveral where the ship leaves from. We are sailing on Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas which is a big ship and I’ve been told it has heaps of activities and even a zip line lol.


Day 11
Up at 3:45am *groan! Got ready and the taxi picked us up at 4:30, which took us the the pick up point in town. We were lucky that the driver and another couple were really early so we got to leave 45mins early. Drove to the next point for a cuppa at Macca’s and a toilet stop. It was starting to get light by then, so got to see some of the surrounding countryside as we drove towards Cape Canaveral where the ship is in port. We passed Orlando disney and they have some pylons and power poles nearby that they have connected with Mickey Mouse metal ears!!

Onto the final stop to pick people up and on to the port canaveral dop off. We waited for a bit then checked in pretty quickly as we were before the hoards. Waited an hour or so in the nice big terminal then were able to board. Nice stateroom on deck 11, so we have a good height view.

Wedding onboard

In the gardens

Open glass lifts & atrium

Settled in and unpacked then went to the obligatory safety drill - didnt have to take the life jackets for the first time! We went back and lay down on the oh-so-comfy bed and - goneski for an hour! We are feeling the time difference, so it was lovely to lay down. Went down to dinner with Bob and Linda and have a lovely little nook right next to a massive round window. Enjoyed lovely food as always on cruises- how to they achieve fine dining for so many? Our waiters are from St Vincents & Jamaica and they say they are brothers from another mother haha! They are funny :-)

After dinner we wandered around the ship and had a look at the decks as our 1st night aqua show was cancelled for some reason. We have pre-booked our shows and activities and glad we did with 5900 passengers on board! There are also 2100 staff, so a big ship, although I read the capacity is 7100 passengerss and 2300 staff.  There is an outdoor 'central park' in the middle of the ship which is amazing, you can walk through garden areas and there are cafes and benches, then on another deck there is a zipline and a merrry-go-round, they have it all.

Back to the cabin & showers then into bed - crashed!

In the outdoor park onboard

Love the humour!

Days 7 & 8, 19-20th April. Disneyland & California Adventure Park

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Day 7-
Up at 6.30am this morning, in order to get down to breakfast while it is quiet as advised by the Hilton. The hotel is Full of small children & families, somewhat expected in this area with Disneyland just down the road. The breakfast was bluck, have to say which is a disappointment as many of the Hiltons are good (although the one in Papeete, Tahiti wass really bad!). But no biggee really as we are only here 2 nights.

We walked next door to the giant parking lot and caught one of the shuttle buses up to Disneyland. We are doing this park today and California Adventure park next door tomorrow.  No big queues really at 8am surprsingly - dont take a selfie stick if you go btw- saw a family lose their very flash one as they are not permitted in the park.

We wandered around getting our bearings as this place is Huge. It is all themed and the streets are a wonderful looking-glass into the fantasy land Walt Disney wanted it to be and remain as. It is certainly a park for families with young kids, not at all like universal studios which is a lot more action packed with its rides. The rides at Disney are very sedate and suit probably the 7-13 yr old age group the best.... tall UIKeyInputDownArrenough to be able to go on the rides & not terrified of the dark or sudden frights. But there are adults of all ages here too (most wearing mickey mouse ears) and it is easy to enjoy this place and the delight you see on all the faces, as well as ours!

The sign as you enter Disneyland

Enjoyed the Indiana Jones rides & Splash Mountain was heaps of fun & very, very wet in the first 3 rows we found!! Haha. By then it was getting pretty hot though so it was a welcome relief but Graeme especially was completely soaked! It is yet again another clear blue sunny day, although it got super hot as the day wore on and waiting in line in the sun was taking its toll on everyone.

At disneyland, you cant buy the express passes to go through first, they have an fastpass system where you go and take a ticket which tells you when to come back for your ride and when you do, you go through quicker. A lot of the rides here are interactive in the waiting line and you move along pretty well. The wait times got to an hour in the afternoon, so we wandered through the streets & stores where it was cooler instead.

Once we got back to the hotel we decided to wander down the road for dinner and tried a taco bell. Was ok but pretty sloppy and not as good as the ones you make back home! Graeme tried all the chillie sauces and yes the black one was hot!

Diablo- the hottest!

aH- YEP!

Day 8
We were through breakfast and out the door by 8 am this morning. Graeme said he notices that everything in the hotels, food and drink-wise are all cooked and starchy- waffles etc and the fizzy and juices  are so incredibly sweet. The fizzy drinks come in 590ml sizes, basically everything is super sized so you have to watch it a bit or you will grow in size too!! At the theme parks, the food is mostly deep fried & there is a lot of young obesity in the touristy places at least - many using mobility scooters around the parks. It is a lot of walking though, think we did 15,500steps  in 1 day!

It wasn’t so hot and humid today thankfully, was about 27C but not sticky like yesterday at Disneyland. Funny thing is – a whole summer wearing jandals in Australia and no jandal suntan, but after a week in California all 3 of us have them lol!

California adventure park next door to Disneyland has more of the thrill rides and Danni was hanging out for a good roller coaster, so we went to the back of the park first where the wait was only 5 mins. Yeehah that was sh*t your pants material! It was awesome. Quite a decent length and a full loop in the middle. Got off, lined up again and went around a 2nd time, this time not so much screaming as our throats were sore haha! Later there were ridiculous wait times, so we were glad we had done it first.

Wandered around for a few hours and went on a couple more rides. There was one about aviation that was amazing. Dad you would have LOVED it. You sat in rows of seats with your feet dangling in front of a huge curved screen. They start a movie of travelling around the world showing the wonders of the world while they lift you up high, so you actually feel like you are flying free. They also have vents which they blow different scents through – like warm grass and dirt as you fly over wild elephants in Africa and frangipani flower scent as you skim the ocean over Fiji. Would have done the ride over and over if the queues hadnt been long as that is the closest you could get to the sensation of gliding with nothing holding you up!

Day 7
We were through breakfast and out the door by 8 am this morning. Graeme said he notices that everything in the hotels, food and drink-wise are all cooked and starchy- waffles etc and the fizzy and juices  are so incredibly sweet. The fizzy drinks come in 590ml sizes, basically everything is super sized so you have to watch it a bit or you will grow in size too!! At the theme parks, the food is mostly deep fried & there is a lot of young obesity in the touristy places at least - many using mobility scooters around the parks. It is a lot of walking though, think we did 15,500steps  in 1 day!

It wasn’t so hot and humid today thankfully, was about 27C but not sticky like yesterday at Disneyland. Funny thing is – a whole summer wearing jandals in Australia and no jandal suntan, but after a week in California all 3 of us have them lol.

California adventure park next door to Disneyland has more of the thrill rides and Danni was hanging out for a good roller coaster, so we went to the back of the park first where the wait was only 5 mins. Yeehah that was sh*t your pants material! It was awesome. Quite a decent length and a full loop in the middle. Got off, lined up again and went around a 2nd time, this time not so much screaming as our throats were sore haha! Later there were ridiculous wait times, so we were glad we had done it first.

Wandered around for a few hours and went on a couple more rides. There was one about aviation that was amazing. Dad you would have LOVED it. You sat in rows of seats with your feet dangling in front of a huge curved screen. They start a movie of travelling around the world showing the wonders of the world while they lift you up high, so you actually feel like you are flying free. They also have vents which they blow different scents through – like warm grass and dirt as you fly over wild elephants in Africa and frangipani flower scent as you skim the ocean over Fiji. Would have done the ride over and over if the queues hadnt been long as that is the closest you could get to the sensation of gliding with nothing holding you up!

Wandered round  through the shops and bought a few things – they think of Everything theme wise!! Then we caught the shuttle back to the hotel and got the transfer we had arranged with the Hilton hotel to the Wingate by Wyndham hotel at LAX. We planned to take Danni to the airport as she flies home to Melbourne tonight at 10.15pm.

Checked-in and Danni had a shower and we had some quiet time, then we got dinner in and caught the hotel shuttle to LAX and got her all checked in. She is on the top deck of the plane which is good as a lot less people and only a small economy section up there. Definitely worth paying a little extra for a 15 ¾ hr flight. We had a drink in the planet hollywood bar, although they wouldn’t serve danni alcohol, even with us there, so she got an old fashioned lemonade! Then she went through…. goodbyes are hard especially when your children are flying alone but as a travel mad kid, its good experience and she was fine.

We went back to the hotel and to bed. This hotel is interesting, it looks a bit tired around the edges but the room was big, the bed extremely comfy and it had double glazing. We were all disappointed with the Homewood by Hilton we stayed at in Anaheim- staff were great but there was no sound proofing and Dannis first bed had springs sticking through it! We moved after the 1st night though and the 2nd room was better. The Hilton did offer however a free drinks and limited buffet type meal Mon to Thurs also free, which was wonderful especially for those with young kids.

Days 4, 5 & 6, 16-18th April. Beverley Hills tour, History Museum, Universal Studios & Moving on to Anaheim

Day 4-
Set the alarm today! After waking so late yesterday lol. And after another after-midnight night, was glad I did or it would have been a repeat performance. I went down and brought brekky up to the apartment again as the other 2 were still in bed. We enjoyed a relaxed meal then got ready to go do a city tour. Decided on the hop on, hop off bus as we werent really interested in the stars tours. The red line tour starts right in front of the shopping mall nearby, so it was easy & great timing as seems to be the case with buses and trains since we have been here.

Another lovely sunny and clear day, had to cover up a bit though as I got a tad burnt at Santa Monica yesterday. We drove all around Beverley hills, Rodeo Dr, Sunset strip and various famous hotels and restaurants/night clubs they frequent. All very pristine and clean and since it was Easter Sunday, a little hard to imagine all the glitz & glammer really! I just found out too, that the Dolby theatre we are staying just behind and walk through every day, is in fact where the oscars have been held!

 

 

The Viper room nightclub, famous for where River Pheonix OD'ed & died unfortunately

 

L.A beautiful with its palm tree lined streets

Car museum

Came back from the tour and we caught the 2 trains back along the same line as yesterday, this time to the Natural History Museum. Danni and I especially love all the antiquities, dinosaurs and various old, old, old stuff! Spent a good few hours there wandering around then we trained back to Hollywood and walked to where the In-and-Out-Burger joint is, as recommended but alas was shut!  Pretty dodgy actually as soon as you get off the main road - lots of homeless wandering around or sitting stoned or yelling at ??? Around the roadsides. We walked back to the main strip and bought a couple of bottles of beer and the most delicious chicken nachos from the Mexican bar and grill. They are different to ours at home, much lighter in the meat department, so you arent over-full after. They were delicious.

T Rex

Triceratops foot 

The museum has many gemstones

Graeme decided we need an early night tonight as we are hitting Universal Studios tomorrow. Looking forward to it since I remember Mum and Dads photos fromt here, back in the 80's.

Day 5-
Up and at 'em early today, we were ready before breakfast was on! We worked out that we could get the train to universal studios easy - its just one stop on the red line in the other direction to usual. Loading the metro cards is easy too- a one trip load on a myki -like card is $1.75 each way or an all day pass if you are doing more than one line is $7 p.p.

Off the metro and we were picked up by the universal studios shuttle to go up the mega hill there. After going today, the biggest tip  for sure is to buy the Front-of-Line passes. They are SO worth it cos you whiz past everyone in the ordinary queues, so we barely waiteed at all on any of the rides, when the wait time was up to an hour normally. The rides have moved with the times too - there are still some regular roller coasters but a lot of them are simulators with giant screens showing the roller coasters or drops etc. Makes it easier to handle on the faster ones. We all took turns at screaming and I mean All of us hahah!  The Jurassic park & Transformers rides were great especially, they are all pretty short though, we noticed. The Waterworld show was action packed and really worthwhile too!

Show had actors from famous tv shows & movies in it 

We're going in!

OMG the rotten egg, vomit, bogie & dirt flavours were d.i.s.g.u.s.t.i.n.g.!

Animal actors show

We ended the day with the studio tour that takes you down to all the movie and sound lots and puts you through some of the special effects. Saw some of the old sets from movies like Psycho (Mum!) and Jaws - we the shark came out of the water in a big hurry and proved that I really can scream like a girl haha and the real street off Melrose place etc.

We left about 6pm and back on the metro, then out for dinner at a fantastic Italian restaurant called the California Pizza Kitchen, which is just in the shopping mall next door- it was yum! Getting used to adding 20% tip on everything, painful but a fact of life when visiting the States. Then we wandered up Hollywood Boulevard for the last time and bought Danni a travel neck cushion for her flight home  on Thursday and we bought a freshly cooked and still warm churros - put Melbournes to shame!

The world of Harry Potter 

Look at the size of the beer over here! We shared lol

Harry Potter street 

Transformers - was an awesome ride

We are packing up tonight to head to Anaheim tomorrow for the last 2 nights Danni is here, to visit Disneyland!

Day 6-
We relaxed this am- need to get over the last  few days haha! Went down to the Pink store which is like a  cheaper version of Victoria Secret, then packed up and off to Anaheim. We were picked up in a massive GMC SUV, the suspension was so good! Didnt take too long to get there today as the traffic wasnt bad, about 45 mins. We decided to move instead of adding 2 hours of driving each day to the theme parks. The hilton here has a happy hour where they serve free dinks - the Karl Strauss wheat beer is awesome! And a light buffet which is complimentary Mon- Thurs. Very family orientated food but still nice to have.
Into bed after packing up, Danni is charged up for the theme parks tomorrow!