Day 4: At Sea

What to do on a day at sea?  It's not your usual day.  It's not even your usual vacation day.  It's easy to get cabin fever and do weird stuff.

There's the obvious.  Like acting out scenes from the Titanic

And the not so obvious.  Like taking selfies of a random guy with yellow baby

On sea day you can gamble, and not be as lucky at bingo as the day before

Or you can get lucky because Vivianne's family didn't want her to chop in the poker tournament, so she could win the whole $500.  So she got nothing!

You can ignore your kids fighting

And you definitely can find yourself snapping ship pic memories

And places where you ate lunch

You can catch your daughter preparing for sub zero weather in Madison

And you unexpectedly can man crush Alex the Cruise Director

 But as the day at sea goes by.  You always come back to thinking about what matters most

Having a great time, with amazing friends 

And some awesome kids

A day at sea was a great time to be grateful.  Here's to Kruisin and that K thing.  

Day At Sea

Day 3 Ensenada

What do you do in Ensenada?  Let's shop, eat, and go see the blow hole.  BINGO!
We took about a 30 minute drive to La Bufadora.

La Bufadora means the home of the Buf A Dora's.  This guy is a nice Buf a dora.

Julia, stay away from all Bufadoras. Especially this brand of Bufadora.

Ok.  Let's go shopping.  My favorite place on earth is an outdoor mall on the way to a blow hole. When in La Bufadora...

At the end of the mall are great views.  Where is the blow hole?

It's got to be close.  BINGO!

WOW!  Biggest blow hole who's name does not rhyme with DUMP.

I wish there was a place to take the signature pic.  BINGO!

 
Lidias for Fish Tacos and spirits!

Some had too many spirits...

Time for some phone snatching...

And for dinner tonight, here's what happens when the fish swims out of the fish taco

What to do tonight on the ship?  Alex our cruise director recommends.... you guessed it....

                                                  BINGO!

And if there is any question who won the grand prize on the entire cruise.  You guessed it!

So the moral of Ensenada is.....  

BINGO! BONGO! $$$$$$$$

Day 2: Katalina

So Day Juan, here is my take on the Karnival Imagination Kruise.  It's a great choice when you have a kid in college and a kid that just got their driver's license. A) it's affordable and B) they are forced to be with you a lot

Here's my take on a trip to Katalina.  You can do it in 3 to 4 hours:

0-30 minutes:  "Oh, this place is so cute"

31 to 90 minutes:  "Let's take a hike to the bell.  Where's the bell?"

91 to 100 minutes:  "Where did the kids bike to?"  

101 to 180 minutes:  Bloody Mary's, Fish and Chips, and Fish Tacos at Bluewater Restaurant.  Good Bloody Mary, service a bit slow.  But, it's cooooooool man, it's coooooool.

181 to 220 minutes:  "Gotta go for Ice Cream at  

4 hours and then back to the boat with Willy Wonka (glasses) and the rest of the Umpa Lumpas (Karnival guests)

Nothin better than traveling with my family and great friends.  Best days of the year.  Here are some "trips tips" that help us enjoy our journey.

Tip #1:  Black and white takes off about 5 pounds on me.  Probably not the best way to lose weight.

Tip #2:  Karnival likes to up-sell pictures and other stuff.  They take great pics.  And there's nothing wrong with "phone snatching."

... or photo bombing 

Tip 3: But apparently they do have a problem with snacking on their ginger bread city

... and under age gambling

Katalina was fun and a great day at sea.  Off to Ensenada with the Soul Sisters.  Adios!

Day 1: Long Beach to Katalina (Merry Christmas)

It's Day 1 of our annual year end trip with the Kingsdales.  This year Wendy and Saka booked us on a Kruise to Katalina and Mexiko.  The girls started this "K" thing, so I am going with it.

Props to Ian and Friends at Spiritual Gangster

Since there usually isn't a lot of food on kruise ships, we decided to stop at the only place open on Christmas Day.

So incredibly grateful to be Hanging with my Homies for the Holidays (HHH thing). All aboard. Let's Kruise.  

   

It's that time of year where we all take inventory of what we have, what we wish, and what we change.    Wendy's wish is that over the next 4 days we won't have to line up under this sign.

Reid wishes he and Saka were on America's Got Talent

Noah wishes he can find a way to get these Kollege voices out of his head

Nat wishes this dude didn't drop the ring from the Lido deck into the bay

I wish I can win this award next year like my brother Dave did in 2016.

Julia wishes her straw didn't go up my nose (hard to miss)...

From all aboard, to karaoke, to dinner.  All in all a great start.  I wish you all a Happy Hanukah, Merry Kristmas, and a Happy and Healthy New Year.  Off to Katalina!  Bon Voyage!