One of the main reasons we decided to go on this cruise is because it was cheaper to FLY to California AND pay for a cruise, than it was to fly home to Ottawa for Christmas. That being said, it's not like the trip was cheap, so we still had to save money wherever we could.
When we arrived in Long Beach, California, we still had a lot of time to kill. So we did a little research and found a nearby mall. This was not your average mall. It was HUGE! And attached to it was a Target AND a Costco! It was also crazy busy since it was the day before Christmas. We spent most of the time in Target so we could push around our luggage in a shopping cart.
Wondering how we got around in Long Beach? You guessed it! Good old public transportation. A taxi to the cruise ship would of cost us $40!! A bus ride was only $1.10 each. It was a no-brainer.
Notice the palm trees?? Jealous yet? Did you notice I'm also in a t-shirt IN DECEMBER?
By the time we got on the cruise ship, named Carnival Paradise, I was ready to scream with excitement! Good thing there were already hundreds of kids screaming, so I didn't feel the need. There were seriously sooooo many families on our cruise. Every few minutes there were kids running up and down the hallways. I didn't mind though, it kinda added to the experience. But it did make me miss my own nieces and nephews.
Our room was great! We had a king bed, which always feels huge to us, since we only sleep on a double at home. I loved when our room was cleaned because they would leave chocolates and fun towel creations.
Our first morning on the cruise was Christmas morning. This is what sunrise looked like from our window. Gorgeous, eh??
I'm still amazed Santa was able to find us in the middle of the ocean! Can you guess which stocking is mine?
Tom got a 16 GB flash drive, a tie (which coincidentally matches one of my headbands), a Pass the Pigs game, a belt, gum and, of course, lots of chocolate.
I got lots of jewelry, flowers for my hair, a couple LillyMae bags (a flower wrist bag and the gym bag), chocolate, gum, and, my favorite gift, a subscription to STAR magazine. Bring on the celebrity gossip!
We spent Christmas Day on Catalina Island. Wait until you here what we rented to get around the island! Stay tuned for the next blog post!
I am so jealous of your cruise! Looks like you had a great Christmas, but my real question is: when is Tom going to create some fantastic sewing creation for ME?!
ReplyDeleteAlso, PS Lesli: you are so cute and photogenic! I love the pic of you with your new headbands--you look like a little kid in a candy shop!
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