San Diego, California

We're home! Just kidding. But it almost feels like it because we put our feet on US soil today! One day's stop in San Diego today let 800 passengers off and took on 700 new ones. These "transition" days are hard on the staff and hard on the oncoming passengers as well. Room stewards are busy getting rooms of departing departing passengers cleaned and ready for new passengers as they arrive. The cruise terminal is chaos as long lines of weary travelers standing in winding lines to await processing. Some fail to obtain visas from various countries and frustrations of those behind them rise. Been there, done that and thankful we don't have to do it again.

 

hey! yall got any french fries?

Even though California is one of my least favorite states, it was nice to be in familiar surroundings. Any time there's US currency and a Walmart Super Center, it feels like home. Hopefully before we set sail, Amazon boxes will be delivered to our room as well.

 

downtown San Diego

The weather is beautiful today, though always windy in and around a port. Our "excursion" today was a walk to the nearest UPS store and Uber rides to and from the nearest Walmart Super Center, 20 minutes each way.

 

headed to UPS

It's hard to believe we're already 1/3 of the way through our trip around the world, but we're ready to set sail again. Oh, and we were able to find mint chocolate and banana chips for our room stewards. Good ole' Walmart and good ole' USA. 

US Coast Guard in port

sailboats in harbor

perfect weather for dining on back deck

looking down from our balcony as supplies are loaded onto ship

 

Update: Once again we were late getting away because of the amount of supplies that had to be loaded onto the ship. Good news! Our Amazon packages finally arrived, so we're very happy about that. Also, Ronnie's Dr. Peppers and Extra Toasty Cheez-its arrived as well. And Ronnie has already spotted a few people we met on the 2023 cruise, so we'll enjoy re-uniting with them, as well as meeting more people who are on for the rest of the trip.

We'll be at sea for the next 5 days so I'm not sure how much I'll be blogging as I probably won't have that much to share. We're headed to Honolulu and should arrive on March 13. 

Here's a shot of the harbor as we left tonight. You can still see the US Coast Guard ship on the left and the WWII aircraft carrier Midway in the back (blue and red lights) along with part of the skyline. Here's her story according to Mr. Google "Commissioned on September 10, 1945, just eight days after WWII ended, the USS Midway (CV-41) was the lead ship of her class and the largest warship in the world at the time. Named to commemorate the pivotal 1942 Battle of Midway, it featured an armored flight deck and was designed to hold over 100 aircraft. Though missing WWII combat, it became the 20th century's longest-serving carrier (47 years).