Cruising! The Only Way to Go ! ! !

We had planned our vacation already some time ago and finally on Saturday, May 5th, bright and early in the morning we were off to the airport, YVR.

We flew down to L.A. and boarded our ship, the Diamond Princess! She is a spectacular ship!
From L.A. we sailed down to San Diego and then came back up to Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Astoria-Oregon, Victoria and back home to Vancouver, where we disembarked on Saturday, May 12.
We knew that quite a few acquaintances were going on this 7 night cruise but mostly, especially when it came to day excursions, we stuck with our long time friends, Hans & Mika Toews.
At dinner time we would meet up with the rest of the gang and then wander around the ship, check out the boutiques or just sit around visiting and enjoying the evening musical performances.
For any of you who have cruised before, you know that there is always something to do and keep you busy. You can take art classes, computer classes, dance lessons, (line dancing, ballroom dancing, etc.) cooking, swimming, aerobics, manicure, spas, exercise rooms, casinos, bingo, movies, karaoke, children's activities, any kind of live music you care to listen to, magic shows, art shows,and it just goes on and on.
By the time you finally get comfortable with knowing where everything is, 7 days have almost come and gone.

LOS ANGELES - Saturday

So then, in L.A. we did not do much other than boarding and getting settled in our rooms but the next day we were of early.

Port of Los Angeles

Leaving our berth at the port!

Heading for open waters!

The evening sun on our first night out!

SAN DIEGO - Sunday

Port of San Diego

During the night, the ship had slowly sailed down to San Diego and we had pre-booked a day excursion to the San Diego Wild Animal Park with a short Safari included.

These are only a few of the animals that one can see there!

This was quite enjoyable! We saw all sorts of wild animals here. They bring them from all over the world for studies and breeding, mainly endangered species but you will also see others that are there mainly for entertainment.

San Diego Bay picture taken from inside the bus
as we were driving over the Bay Bridge!

It was a very hot day in San Diego but it was gorgeous.
On the way back to the ship, our tour bus driver took us for a short trip around the city and it is a beautiful city, for sure!

SANTA BARBARA - Monday

Again, during the night we had sailed a bit further up north and had arrived in Santa Barbara early in the morning. Here the Diamond Princess is simply to large to dock and the city actually had no harbour facilities for cruise ships, so we were tendered in with the ship's lifeboats which is actually a fun ride and you get to see the ship from a totally different viewpoint.

Watching as the lifeboat nears the ship's doors!

Beach front resorts!

In Santa Barbara we strolled around the beach front for a bit, visited a few shops, had some drinks and went back to the ship! Very enjoyable and quite relaxing!

Having a cool drink with friends!

Seals on a buoy!

Lifeboats tendering the passengers back and forth
between the ship and city!

When we got back to the ship, it was time to get ready for our first formal evening and we all went to our staterooms to make ourselves presentable for the evening! Lots of fun!

Enjoying a glass of wine and good company!

SAN FRANCISCO - Tuesday

Coming into San Francisco.

Golden Gate Bridge already in view!

We went under it and drove over it!

After we were all secured in our berth and had grabbed a quick breakfast, we were off on our next adventure. We were headed for the ferry terminal, 2 blocks from where we disembarked the cruise ship, and the ferry would take us to our next destination, ALCATRAZ!

The Island of Alcatraz

Wally had always wanted to see the prison. You watch all those movies a home and you wonder about certain places in this world, and Alcatraz was such a place for Wally and Hans. We were each given a head set with an audio track and while we walked and looked, it narrated the story of Alcatraz for us.






Cells inside the prison!
I must say, it was indeed a fascinating place to visit, but once you've seen it, there is no need to go back, other than seeing it again in movies.

Wally walking around on Alactraz!

When we came back from Alcatraz, we still took a tour bus to Sausolito.

Sausolito

It reminded me very much of White Rock! A beach community with lots of little specialty shops and restaurants. Very picturesque! Snooped around the gift shops a bit, had an ice cream here and took some pictures. In one of the shops I overheard a woman telling the cashier that in her 35+ visits to San Francisco, this was the first time that she was here and the city was not fogged in. It was a gorgeously sunny and clear day.

When we got back to the ship at about 4:00 pm, we went to get ready for dinner and when we sat down for our meal, about an hour and a half later, we looked outside and the city was gone!
We could not believe our eyes! We were still in the harbour and we could not see a thing, that's how thick the fog was! We all agreed that we had seen San Francisco at its best and worst in just a few hours time!

At Sea - Wednesday

The next day we spent at sea! You can just explore the ship and take it easy. I love those days but my goodness, was it a shaky day at sea we had! It was extremely choppy and lots of folks were holed up in their staterooms, seasick! To my surprise, it did not affect me in the least! There were times it was downright entertaining. You walk down one side of the hallway and the next thing you know you are on the other side of the hallway. Makes you sympathize with someone who had a few too many drinks!

The swimming pool was getting emptier by the minute, too!

Take a look at the sea!

There is so much one can do while at sea but we just relaxed, played some cards and enjoyed the company of friends, old ones and new ones we met on the ship.








In the evening, eventhough, the ship was rocking, the show must go on! So they built a Champagne Waterfall! tt didn't even crash. I bet they got a few tips from the engineers. It was fun to watch! This Waterfall took 780 champagne glasses!

ASTORIA, OREGON - Thursday

Beautiful to look at from the ship. The day we were there, it was unbelievably windy.
There was a small tent market set up on shore and we did go snooping a bit, but did not last long. It was just to windy and cold. One of the vendors actually had his tent blown away!
But I did manage to pick up a few gifts!

Tent market on the dock!

VICTORIA - FridayVictoria Harbour

We did not get off the ship in Victoria. We had just been here over New Year's! So we just enjoyed our last day aboard. So sad knowig that the fun is almost over! Later on Friday afternoon we had to go and pack our suitcases, once again!

And finally VANCOUVER - Saturday morning

If you ever have the opportunity to cruise into Vancouver, you will know exactly how beautiful Vancouver really is! We are so very priviledged to live in such a gorgeous part of the world.

We had breakfast and then left the ship, took a taxi and were home shortly after 11:00 am.The Diamond Princess

We had a wonderful week and recommend cruising to anyone that asks us!
You are basically living on a floating, 5 star, all inclusive resort while you're on a cruise ship!
Everyone should at least try it once in their lifetime!
It's the only way to go!


































After we docked in Vancouver, 3 more ships arrived within maybe one hour. It was very pretty to watch them gliding in to the harbour! Vancouver is a very beautiful city!

So, is everybody happy now?
Talk about a long post! I'm exhausted!
I think that I may need a day or two to recuperate, before attempting another post.