Panama Canal Cruise/winter hiatus 2018-2019

Cruise ship departure day!

Greetings from the Crowne Plaza Hotel San Pedro/Long Beach, California.

(Sis in law) Julie and I just finished our buffet breakfast after a much-needed night's sleep.  Shuttles to Royal Caribbean's "Vision of the Seas" start at 10 a.m. and leave every half hour until 1 p.m. Outside, it is 63 and raining/sprinkling, the latter a rare event here ("It never rains in Southern California"). It will make for a gloomy sendoff from port, but that is OK.

Our journey began yesterday (11/28) with an 8 a.m. bus Van Galder bus ride to O'Hare airport. Arriving at 10 a.m., we checked a bag apiece ($30 each), cleared security and got to our gate no problems. The flight aboard American Airlines #2744 direct to LAX was booked solid. J and I each had window seats on opposite sides of the cabin. We arrived LAX 2:30 local time, about half hour late. We claimed our bags and headed to the Uber pickup point, where "Jose" was waiting for us in a blue Chevy Tahoe. With heavy traffic on the I-105, it took near an hour for the 22-mile journey. We checked in to the Crowne Plaza and found our room to be all in order. We got unpacked and then headed for the hotel restaurant where they had an abbreviated menu. I went for the top sirloin steak dinner while Julie opted for a cheeseburger. I also had a Makers Mark Manhattan to calm the nerves and soothe the aches and pains from the day's travels. Everything was good, even surprisingly good considering we're talking hotel food.

We hit the sack about 9 p.m., which was 11 p.m. back home. We both fell asleep pretty quickly, though I was up 3-4 times to pee because I had taken a water pill upon arrival here. Despite wearing Ted stockings on the flight, my lower legs swelled to the size of deli bolognas. (They are back to normal size now.) I have new meds for this trip with my recent heart surgery which most of you know about. It will be interesting to see how it goes.

We got up around 6 a.m. local time, showered, and went downstairs for our included buffet breakfast. The fresh fruit was outstanding. The chaffing dish stuff was its usual mediocre, but will do fine until we reach better fare aboard the ship. We are back in our room where I am finishing up this blog entry and Julie is reading a book on her new Amazon Kindle. I am in the middle of John D. MacDonald's "Nightmare in Pink," the only physical book I brought with me. The rest are on Kindle.

Hope all is well with every one. We are anxious to get aboard the ship and begin a leisurely vacation.

Love,

Bruce