Sunday, August 19 – Carnival Imagination from Long Beach CA

What a lovely day to go on a cruise, the sky is blue, the sun is out and it’s going to be another 29C!  Lots of people leaving the hotel early this morning, in fact breakfast was relatively quiet.  We get back to the room to do the final google, emails, facebook pack and organise our Uber to take us to Long Beach Cruise Terminal.  We are down at reception well in time and we need to borrow their stapler to affix our luggage tags.  As we are walking down to reception we hear the squeal of brakes and the ominous thud of heavy metal colliding.  Hawthorne Boulevard is a major road, three or four lanes going each way with a wide island between and turns are well marked and have separate lanes.  It was a decent fender bender at the intersection by the hotel, a mustang and another car had an altercation, neither come off very well but looks like no one hurt.  Pretty soon fire engines and police rock up.

The first Uber to arrive has a huge speaker in his trunk so our suitcases won’t fit.  There is another car two minutes away and he arrives in a Toyota Prius which does fit our cases.  We like Uber, our fare was less than half what a cab would be.  Our driver, Saad didn’t speak very clear English but he got us there safely.

We arrive at the cruise terminal early but we are able to check in and are on the boat in no time at all.  Must be time for lunch, they have similar layout and restaurants to the other Carnival lines we have been on so we now know where to go. The ship doesn’t sail until 6.30 so we have a nice long relaxing afternoon to enjoy the views off the stern of the ship looking over Long Beach.

Long Beach CA from the Carnival Imagination

Queen Mary is getting a birthday, nice new paint

There are four quite round islands, with palm trees, they look man made.  Google it while we still have coverage, they are called the Astronaut Islands (each named after an Astronaut who died in space) and they were beautified with trees and screens to mask oil derricks back in the 60’s.

One of the Astronaut Islands

Our cabin is ready soon after 1.30pm, but no suitcases yet.  They have been delivered when we go back to the room prior to the muster station exercises.  These are much more civilised, we are in a bar, no they aren’t serving, but we have comfy armchairs to sit in and the AC is on while they count and tick off the guests etc.

Our cabin is much smaller than the last boat, so is the bathroom and we don’t have a fridge!!  Waste of time bringing a bottle of Chardonnay then wasn’t it?  And Kim’s Coke Zero!  We will have to make do with ice buckets, I will ask our room steward to keep the ice coming.

Then back to the Serenity Bar aft for watch the goings on of the huge marina we can see, many Miami Vice cigar boats tooling around, yachts sailing, tour boats coming in and out all, against the backdrop of tall palm trees and sandy beach with some highrises thrown in to balance the height.

We depart exactly on time at 6.30pm and we wonder why the coastguard with his for’ard mounted gun and the Long Beach Police boat and whispering together.  The police boat motors off and the coastguard primes his gun and follows us out of the harbour – that gun is pointing at us!!  Maybe they were there to prevent pirates boarding us??

Coastguard - guns not quite ablazing - yet!

It is past cocktail hour in my book, my first choice is the ole fave - Frozen Margarita, perfect in this heat.

We tried for “any time dining” but are allocated “late dining” so dinner is from 8.15pm.  We will eat in the restaurant tonight, maybe not tomorrow as it is dress-up night and Kim only has shorts or jeans. He does have a proper button up shirt though, we might pass muster.

There are only two others at our table for ten tonight, Christian and Edith and we have enjoy their company over dinner.