Los Angeles April 25

We slept like babies, we must have been really tired.  After taking our time to get ready we wander out of the hotel to the restaurant ….. on sixth.  I order the Chaquilles and Bernie gets the huevos ranchero.  HUGE plates and I could only eat about a third of my plate.  We should of split something.  

After breakfast we wander up to Gaffey to the Starbucks and sit and enjoy our drinks.  We make note of how darn cold it is.  Heck it is colder here than at home.  It is overcast and looks like it could rain (in fact is does start raining later in the afternoon).

Around noon we get back to the hotel and get our bags that we stored with the bell hop.  The hotel does have a shuttle, but I believe they now charge $5 for it and the walk is not that far so we head out on foot.  

We walk along the promenade to the ship.  It is the only ship in port and it looks rather quiet.  We arrive at 12:30 and we are on board at 12:45.  We had to fill out the health questionnaire.  Note they are still screening for the Ebola with the questions about where you have been in the last 21 days.  

We head up the escalator to the line to get our cruise cards.  We get to go in the priority but it really didn’t save much time as there really were no lines.  As soon as we have our cards we go thru the security screening which takes a bit of time.  We didn’t have any alcohol but if we did we would have been directed to the table right after the screening.

Boarding has already started but since we are elite we get to go right on.  Note they were giving out boarding numbers to those below Platinum.  As we were getting on they were calling group #10.  

As soon as we got on we went to our cabin which is P204, the second oceanview cabin on Plaza deck.  It is bigger than most insides, a little longer.  We do notice that the beds are in twin format and there is only one night stand that is a bit bigger than the normal one but smaller than two normal ones put together.  

Hmmm if the beds are put together how are we going to have each a nightstand.  After speaking to our cabin steward Qi, she says he can put it together but one side of the bed will be right against the wall.  Or she can turn the nightstand sideways (but we won’t have access to the drawers).  Which is what we say is fine with us, we don’t need to access the drawers.  It is only a seven day cruise and we don’t have that much stuff.  Plus we have a large window sill that can take things.

Footnote – later when the bed is put together as a Queen the night stand is positioned so we can access the drawers. 

There is a wide space on one side (where stand is) and a narrow side on the other side.  So take note that P204 is a bit narrower (by about a foot) than the standard cabin.  

However it is longer with more space at the foot of the bed to the dresser than the standard cabin.

We ask for extra towels and a top sheet.  

The ship looks great.  It is strange coming back to this ship after being on the Royal for so long but we love this size.  

We get a coffee and run into Norma and Kim who are friends of Monika and Rick and just sailed to Hawaii with them. 

When we get back to our cabin our small bag is there so we unpack it.  The second bag took another four hours to arrive, but it did.

Not sure why but it seems often that Princess needs to change out their shower curtains more often.  Ours stinks of mold so we let our steward know and she brings us another one.  But later on when we enter the bathroom all I can smell is mold/mildew.  I lift up the shower curtain and see the black marks at the bottom and smell it and it is horrible.  

I am sure she just grabbed this shower curtain from another cabin that wasn’t in use.  It is so bad the smell I take the shower curtain down myself.  She promises us she will get us a fresh one, and she does right away.  It is a newly laundered one.

But other than that the cabin is great, we have our mini bar, we have ice.  The bed is very comfortable, we have a clean cabin, a big window with no obstruction and it appears to be very quiet.  

The Horizon Court is crazy busy, which is the norm on embarkation day.  But we are not hungry at all.  We wander around and it is busy with people inside cause the weather is not nice, in fact it is raining.  Guess sailaway is going to be inside.

We get a call from the dining room telling us that they are able to accommodate us at Mark’s station tonight for 8 pm. We are so excited to see Mark again.

Looking forward to a wonderful voyage.

Off to muster drill now, more later.