On Sunday morning,
Norwegian Bliss was back in Los Angeles. We headed to the Garden Cafe buffet for breakfast.
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| lift up glass panels to get food |
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| ate too much yesterday, gotta slow down |
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After our meal, we had no issues getting off the ship or through immigration. Disembarkation went smoothly as everyone was only allowed to bring carry-on baggage; no need to depart by various colored groups as on regular cruises. Bye bye Norwegian Bliss, hope to sail you some other time!
We planned on meeting my brothers and their families at the
Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach around 9:30am. What I suspected when we first arrived at the World Cruise Center was true, that it would be difficult to catch an Uber there due to the area being very industrial. My request in the Uber app was not picked up for several minutes. Kaleb and I ended up hopping into a cab, which were plentiful, and got to the aquarium. My brother Allen and his family were already there, with my brother Edmund's family arriving shortly afterwards. We bought discounted combo tickets that included admission to both the aquarium and the Queen Mary.
The Aquarium of the Pacific is very comprehensive, with a variety of exhibits including sharks, seals and touch pools. It's similar to large aquariums in other cities, so I didn't take too many pictures here. I recommend it for families. It was a bit crowded due to it being Memorial Day weekend.
We walked across the street to eat at
Bubba Gump. I forgot to take pictures of my meal but it was as expected of a touristy restaurant. Our server was very friendly and provided the kids with lots of activities such as coloring and folding boats.
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| the diver spoke to us through a mic in her mask |
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After lunch, we walked to the bus stop to catch the free
Passport bus over to the
Queen Mary. It took a while for the one we wanted to arrive, but we eventually made it. I had never been inside the Queen Mary - the last time I walked by her was a few years ago
while attending a cruise inspection. The interior is as expected of a vintage oceanliner, with small spaces not conducive to photo taking. You can pay to stay in the cabins just like a hotel. The exterior was in good condition. A wedding was being set up for later in the afternoon.
Carnival Imagination was docked at the nearby Long Beach Cruise Terminal.
Our Queen Mary ticket included an attraction, so we chose to visit the
Princess Diana exhibit. Her life story was presented through pictures, keepsakes, letters, media articles and clothing she wore at certain events. No photos were allowed once inside.
Afterwards, we took an Aqua Bus back to the aquarium. The fare was only $1 per person and provided a short adventure for everyone.
Once back at the aquarium (parking tickets had been validated for a flat-rate cost when we exited before lunch), we found the cars in the garage, then drove over to the nearby
Hyatt Regency Long Beach.
Another hitch of the trip...one of the three rooms I reserved was missing, and the front desk agent told me that the hotel was sold out. What?!? I had all three confirmation emails on hand and were listed on my Hyatt account before I left for the trip. The front desk called the main office to sort it out and I also had to call World of Hyatt customer service to re-attach the Club Access certificate, with lots of hold time. While everything was being fixed, the other two rooms were processed so that everyone else could settle in and go to the Regency Club Lounge for refreshments. In the end, it took about 40 minutes to get the third room in order - kudos to the Hyatt Regency Long Beach front desk team and manager for resolving the issue. No one could explain what exactly happened, but I'm thankful that I didn't have to stay at a different hotel or smash into one of the other rooms.
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| our king room |
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| complimentary water for Hyatt members |
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The Regency Club Lounge had limited seating. There was a decent selection of refreshments, though bar items were not complimentary.
For dinner, we walked down the street to see which restaurants could take a party of nine without a long wait. We settled on
California Pizza Kitchen. I hadn't been to one in quite a long time and I was surprised to find a variety of food on the menu besides pizza.
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| convenient walkways from the hotel to downtown |
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| Shanghai power bowl |
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| mushroom pasta with shrimp |
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On Monday morning, the sky was overcast, but eventually it burned off in the afternoon. We had breakfast in the lounge. It was a nice spread, including smoked salmon, bacon and scrambled eggs. It was a bit crowded due to the small space.
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| view out our window |
After breakfast, I checked out of the rooms as the guys brought all the luggage to the cars in the parking garage. The kids had fun playing video games in the lobby. We then strolled the hotel grounds and found some food trucks at the convention center but nothing appealed. We walked across to
Shoreline Village and had lunch at
Tequila Jack's, a Mexican restaurant. I forgot to take pictures of the food but it was good and had hearty portions.
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| thanks to Angela... |
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| ...and Edmund for swapping out taking photos :) |
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After lunch, we headed back to the Hyatt Regency. The hotel is in a great location, and with all the pedestrian walkways and bridges towards downtown and the harbor, you can't help but want to take a stroll.
Edmund dropped us off at Long Beach airport. Kaleb and I had an uneventful flight back home.
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| boarding available from the back |
We'll all be seeing each other again soon...on a family cruise to Alaska on
Emerald Princess, roundtrip Seattle...stay tuned!
***
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Another disclaimer: The intention of this blog was to remind Future Me in full detail about where I went and what I did. I could have made it private, but I frequently get questions from family, friends and internet folks about how I planned things, got deals, etc., so instead of repeating the story over and over, I direct them here. If you are offended by anything I say or do, save yourself the discomfort and kindly click away from my blog. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!
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