LFL AT SEA

Classic California Coast Cruise

Since it has been a while since my announcement of this short cruise, I'll begin with a repeat posting of the itinerary (if you're a close reader you will see some minor changes):

Fri 01 Nov 10:55am lv Tucson (TUS) / Southwest #1292

12:20pm av San Diego (SAN) / Wyndham Bayfront Hotel

Sat 02 Nov 12:00nn Embark Holland America ms Koningsdam (7 nights) / "Classic California Coast" / Veranda Stateroom 6126

05:00pm ms Koningsdam sails from San Diego

Sun 03 Nov 07:00am Av Avalon, Catalina Island

09:15am GYG Excursion: Two-Hour Inside Adventure Tour

05:00pm Lv Avalon

Mon 04 Nov Day at Sea

Tue 05 Nov 09:00am Av San Francisco (overnight)

Wed 06 Nov 10:00pm Lv San Francisco

Thu 07 Nov Day at Sea

Fri 08 Nov 08:00am Av Ensenada, Mexico

10:00am Shore Excursion: Ensenada City & Shopping

05:00pm Lv Ensenada

Sat 09 Nov 07:00am Av San Diego (Cruiseport)

09:00am Disembarkation

12:00nn Dollar Rental Car (SAN)

12:30pm Lv San Diego (SAN)

I-5 N from Car Rental

I-5 N from Wasington Street / 1.1 miles

Follow I-5 N to US-101 N / 116 miles

Take exit 1A from US-101

Take E 4th St to E 4th Pl to E 3rd St to Flower Street / 2.3 miles

Hotel will be on the right

04:00pm Av Los Angeles / Westin Bonaventure Hotel

Sun 10 Nov Los Angeles

Mon 11 Nov Los Angeles

11:00am Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Tue 12 Nov 10:00am Return Dollar Rental Car (LAX)

01:05pm Lv Los Angeles (LAX) / Southwest #0055

03:30pm Av Tucson (TUS)

Friday , 1 November 2024

Tucson to San Diego

Today is a busy day of travel, even though the Southwest Airlines flight from Tucson takes less than one hour. But with my early arrival at TUS, the hour waiting for the plane to arrive, another 30 minutes waiting for all the slowpokes to board and find seats--I was at the head of the wheelchair line and secured an aisle seat in the first row--it was pretty much four hours until I was checked in at the Wyndham Bayside Hotel.

The hotel has a great location facing the seaport and Embarcadero. Of course, my room is facing the parking lot in the back (you have to pay for an upgrade if you want a real view). But the best part is the hotel's location right across the street from the cruiseport. The rooms need some serious refurbishment and the mattresses need to be destroyed. Although most of the staff is friendly and helpful, the luggage handling is a very complicated and totally useless system.

After waiting an hour calling the bell station, where the phone is never answered, I finally went back downstairs and carted my luggage myself.

By now it's 4pm, but the weather is delightful, so I play tourist along the Embarcadero, with a view of the early modern City Hall. I pass the Maritime Museum with its 19th-century sailing ships, a slew of very busy waterfront restaurants and bars, the permanently docked aircraft carrier Midway open as a museum, and the Seaport Park, with its iconic, over-sized statue of the "Peace Kiss."

City Hall

The Star of India

The Midway is Much Too Large to Capture in a Single Photo

Seaport Park

I return to the hotel restaurant for a barbecue chicken sandwich with fries And then I called it quits for the day.

Saturday Morning, 2 November 2024

San Diego

This morning begins with the sun shining brightly on the large balcony of my hotel room--still looking out at the parking lot as well as a slew of shiny, post-modern hotels, condos, and office buildings.

There is enough time for another self-guided walking tour, before 11am check-out time, which I requested to have extended to noon. Using the "My City GPS" website/app as a guide, I head out, with my phone in my hand, for San Diego's trendy and popular Gaslight District. It takes me 45 minutes to walk to the starting spot and then another hour to visit the district. I look for a taxi to take me back to the hotel, but alas, this morning they are all sleeping late. I do pass the restored Santa Fe Railroad Station, now home to Amtrak, Caltrain, and the city's streetcar lines, but they are all heading north-south and I am walking west. And so I remain in walking mode all the way back to the hotel.

My first view is ms Koningsdam, docked right across the street from the hotel:

View of Back of Wyndham Hotel

Station Inter

Balboa Theater, 100 Years Old

Saturday Afternoon, 2 November 2024

Boarding ms Koningsdam

At noon, with my backpack strapped to my body and my luggage in my hands, I walk across the Embarcadero to the cruiseport. Because of my 4-star Mariner status, I am able to drop off my luggage, check in and board in about 15 minutes, at 12:20, although cabins are not ready until 1:20. I spend the waiting time having salad and cold cuts for lunch in the Lido Marketplace. I share a table with a couple from California's Temecula Valley. While we are chatting, I learn that Donna Mann has published a book about the experience she and her late husband endured on Holland America's Zaandam during the worst part of the Covid epidemic. When I finish reading her book, I will give a full report.

I spend the afternoon unpacking and preparing for the evening's entertainment: the sail-away party at 5:00pm, a 3-, 4-, and 5-star Mariner's champagne party by the Lido Pool at 6:45, a short stay at the crowded Pride Get-Together (formerly LGBTQ+) in the Rolling Stone Lounge, before I head for my reserved table for one in the upstairs level of the spacious Dining Room at 7:30.

For dinner I enjoy a lime shrimp cocktail, followed by Tomato Caprese with fresh tomato, mozzarella cheese, and balsamic dressing. The main course is an excellent and very filling, rustic lasagna with garlic bread. I accompany this with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon from California (drink as the locals do). Dessert is a lovely lemon torte, very artistically decorated.