Leaving Los Angeles harbor it is clear there is an international problem with ships backing up and unable to unload or reload. This is a result of previous backlog of demand due to COVID19 shortages. Also, the harbor is under a more stringent protocol, due to COVID19 requirements.
After leaving the harbor we see Patty happy to be underway.
Cabo San Lucas
We were just at Cabo last month, so not much to say. Entering Cabo around The Arches, Patty tendering back to the ship, finally a great shot of The Arches at sunset.
Mazatlan
We barely left the ship in Mazatlan, but this is a view of the city and port - with lots of autos/vans shipping out.
Puerto Vallarta
We hadn't been here in quite a while so we took a cab to the boardwalk, extending from the main downtown south over the river.
First we see Patty with the seahorse and large city letters, then the boardwalk itself.
At the south end of the boardwalk is a monolith - just visible in the distance - and we found a vegan restaurant here (the Elixir Spot).
Patty & Craig had a farewell drink from the Wake Bar - deck 16 at the stern of the ship - and then watched the city of Puerto Vallarta recede into the sunset.
At Sea
Particularly on sea days, we spent time recording our stops at all the memorable places on the ship - a few are noted here.
First is the Skywalks on decks 16 and 17 of the ship. These curve outwards from the side of the ship below and part of the flooring is a type of glass - just like is used in the bridge for the crew to see exactly how close the ship is to the dock. While functional, the passenger views are also a bit scary (you can see deck 7 far below you) - appropriate on a cruise ending just before Halloween.
Then there are the various restaurants around the ship for passengers to try. Here Patty is eating at Alfredo's - a pizza joint.
On deck 18 is an exercise track, with various workout stations. Also the pictures above are painted on a couple of walls. Of course they are there for people to take the kinds of pictures we see Patty in.
We always like to spend some dining time sharing tables with other cruisers. We frequently meet interesting people this way. On this cruise we met Bonnie and Gerard, from Palm Springs. They are fellow Tesla owners and we anticipate meeting up with them in the near future.
San Francisco
We spent two days in San Francisco and the picture at the top of this page shows the skyline from our cabin, early the morning of the first day. Below is the view from the Wake Bar at the stern of the ship - showing downtown S.F. and the Bay Bridge. The ship was docked at Pier 27 (the Cruise Ship terminal) and we walked from there north to Ghirardelli Square and back - over 12,000 steps on Patty's Fit-Bit. Our first stop was at the shopping center - Pier 39 - where we got this shot of Alcatraz Island.
Passing Fisherman's Wharf, we stopped at Ghirardelli Square. We see Patty on the large field in front of Beach Street, then with pumpkins inside the square itself.
Left is Craig with hot chocolate, in the Ghirardelli store checking his messages.
Leaving Ghirardelli Square, we walked a block to Beach & Hyde Street, home of the Buena Vista Bar & Grill. This is where Irish Coffee was first introduced to the U.S.
Well, Craig had to order not only an Irish Coffee, but some food as well.
Now it was back to the ship, just in time to meet CJ, Olivia, & Caleb for dinner. Then a family picture at Pier 27.
So ended our first day in San Francisco. Our second would feature walking, riding the electric metro, and the famous cable cars from Mason to Powell to Hyde streets.
This day we walked south to Pier 1 - the Ferry Building - now a type of farmer's market. Then we got on the metro to ride to Fisherman's Wharf - Mason Street.
This is where one trolley line ends and we purchased an all-day ticket on our metro smart phone app. While waiting for the ride to start we got these pictures.
Above is the final hill down Powell Street, where this trolley line ends. At the bottom the car has to be manually turned around for the return trip. Since both lines stop here, we took the Hyde Street line to return up the hills. This passed the curvy end of Lombard Street (the curviest street in the world) and we got off to take this picture. Then back on, to the bottom of Hyde Street and the Trolley turnaround at the Buena Vista Bar & Grill.
We did walk back to the ship from here - over 10,000 steps today - and prepared for our late night departure from San Francisco
We said goodbye to downtown S.F. and the Bay Bridge, then sailed under the Golden Gate.
Patty could almost touch the bottom of the bridge - the ship was so big - and our final picture was of San Francisco, shining behind the Golden Gate.
San Diego
Upon waking up in San Diego one can't help but notice the airliners landing at Lindbergh Field. The flight pattern takes them below the high rises in downtown. For pilots, this is one of the more dangerous places to land in the U.S.
Here is Patty, in front of the Majestic Princess.
We walked to the nearby Santa Fe Terminal and took the 215 bus, almost to the front entrance of the San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park.
Once in the zoo, we took a tram around much of the area (red), then walked what we hadn't seen (green), finally we took the aerial tram (blue) across the zoo and walked to the Urban Jungle area we hadn't seen.
While we saw much of the zoo from the tram, the animals were farther away from us and we didn't get good photos.
We then walked back up the middle of the zoo, but pictures weren't good enough to include here, until we crossed over the Bashor Bridge, where we saw lions and elephants.
The Tapir is from Brazil and the Southern Gerenuk is from Somalia
The Chacoan Peccary is from South America
The aerial tram took us back near the entrance and we walked to the Urban Jungle to see the Tasmanian Devil..
..and the Koala Bear - both from the Australian Continent.
Finally we passed the Cheetah and the Giraffes - both from Africa.
Returning on the 215 bus, we took this sunset photo of the Point Loma area.
Finally night fell on the San Diego harbor.
Before leaving, we got this picture of a late night snack at
the 16th floor buffet.
Ensenada
Here we see the ship docking in Ensenada. Yes, it is moving sideways into the dock.
Getting off the ship we follow a new boardwalk fronting the bay, taking a picture of the Majestic Princess in the process.
In the city we find vendors making custom bracelets and get four for our grandchildren.
We show Hussongs Cantina because it is the original destination for American fishermen coming to Cabo San Lucas in the early 1960's and it is as far as we walked into the city.
Finally, we leave Ensenada behind as we return to Los Angeles and complete another cruise. We were happy to see GiGi and she was happy to see us.
