Christmas Street in Yuma, AZ

"Christmas Street"

55th Ave., Yuma, AZ

When the sun sets here in Yuma, people head out to 55th Street in the Foothills to view the Christmas lights. And what a display! The whole block is involved with many displays and lights. I have tried to capture some of that in this short video(My first attempt at this). Bob, Cathy, Marge & I toured this block and were in awe of the work and dedication of these people. Some of the neighbors were out on there decks, or driveways and they were very friendly, wishing one and all a Merry Christmas. At the start of the block, one of the neighbors was popping pop corn and handing out a bag to anyone that wanted one. He said last year he went through a 50lb sack and expected to do the same this year. Very friendly and willing to chat with one & all.

4 Day Cruise (Part 2)

Ensenada, Mexico

View from the Lido Deck of the ship

Across from where we are docked & the marina

We took a tour on a bus... the 4 of us... cost $3.00US each... The tour lasted about one hour. We travelled to the outskirts of the city showing the poor section and through the business section, and to the top of the hill here. From here I took this photo. You can see the ship off to the right in the photograph.

We walked some in the downtown area. Many shops and also the city appeared very clean and well organized

Cathy, Bob & Marge standing beside one of the many cactus plants placed throughout the downtown area. PS... I like cactus gardens!

Couldn't resist taking a picture of this billboard. The person who ran the corner business was also funny.

Cathy, Hector & Marge.

We went to a local restaurant "PICANHA RESTAURANTE" and had Shrimp Tacos. Also had 6 beer for $10.00. Hector was our waiter & he provided excellent service & spoke excellent English.

Thatsaneewan & Ameliya

These ladies were our waitresses that looked after us at the dinner table. We had dinner at the 6pm time slot. There were 10 of us seated at the table we were assigned to. Excellent service and at the end of each meal Ameliya provided us with a problem to solve. Used toothpicks for illustration. Very entertaining. Her assistant was Thatsaneewan

We set sail from Ensenada right at 10pm. All persons were told to return to the ship by 9:30pm. We saw a couple of stragglers boarding at about 10 minutes before we set sail. If you are not there they don't wait for you, and you must find your own way to the next port of call.

Picture taken in the Cole Porter lounge and these people were all from the RV Resort we stay at for the winter.

After we had dinner we went to the karaoke lounge held in the Cole Porter Lounge, for a time to listen to the singers. Over the 4 days that we went to the karaoke lounge each night, we heard some mighty fine singers. The first night in there a fellow sang "My Way" written by Paul Anka. At the the end of the song he received a standing ovation. There were many other singers who also did a mighty fine job of singing also. The hostess of the karaoke lounge .. Sam .. also sang very well & she had a mighty powerful voice. We felt that she should have been the main female singer for the show that took place in the Mikado Theater, but appearance does play a very important roll!!

We returned to our stateroom and proceeded to pack our bags. The stewards came around at midnight & picked up your bags and took them, as the the next morning you could claim them at the terminal.

The next morning all persons that were not US citizens had to report to the Cole Porter Lounge and along with your customs & immigration declaration & passport you were given clearance to get off the ship. We cleared the ship about 9:30am, claimed our luggage, then called AVIS car rental & they came over & picked us up. We had a wonderful, fun filled time. Would we do it again...you bet!

We booked our cruise with www.vacationstogo.com. The person we dealt with there was K.K Strimple extension 7101. We have dealt with her the last 3 cruises we have gone on, and will only deal with her. She was very efficient and all went very smooth.

4 Day Cruise - Nov 30th to Dec. 4th (Part 1)

San Diego, CA

We arrived in San Diego around 11 am on the day of our departure, Nov 30th. We did not have to be to the ships terminal till around 2 pm. If you arrive around 1 pm then you get to stand in line and wait as there are a lot of people like to get on board early(Might miss the food,that they never to seem to run out of!). If you come around 2 pm you usually miss the crowd and processing goes a lot quicker. So as we had the rental car we just drove around sightseeing and one of our finds was at this unique place. Bazaar Del Mundo - pic below. The shops were of the crafty type and we enjoyed the walk through. After spending some time there, we drove back to the car rental place.... Avis Car Rental on Kettner Blvd & turned the car in. The car agency then took us to the ships dock and we started the process of getting on board. They checked our "Funpass" and our I.D., from there we walked through a metal detector and they scanned our luggage. From there we proceeded to the check-in counter. This process was very quick, because all the required information that was needed, we had previously entered this via the computer at home. So all in all the process from the time we entered the terminal till we were walking to board the ship was about 20 minutes. They issue you a "Sail & Sign" card when processed. At the entrance to the ship you are stopped and photographed. This allows them to match the Sail & Sign card whenever you leave the ship at the different ports of call via a check point when your card is checked. They then know that you have disembarked at the port of call & when you re-embark they then know you are back on board ship. On a couple of the last cruises, we have had several passengers not make it and reboard before we sail. You know this because there is an announcement shortly after sailing that would so & so please report to the information centre. After we found our rooms and deposited our luggage we proceeded to head to the Lido deck, as this is were we could sit & relax, also have something to eat. This is a cafeteria style, and there are several stations one can select food from. They had one station that was just salads, one station that served hot food, another station that served pizza, and one was sandwiches. So one had a lot of choices.

Bazaar Del Mundo & rental car, a Ford Edge

The ship we cruised on. Carnival Elation 855 feet long and 203 feet tall from the top of the stack to the keel of the boat. Passengers .. 2628, Crew .. 920

Pitch & Putt golf, plus running/walk track on level 12

Midship there is a bar and piano entertainment


Swimming pool & the Carnival stack identifying symbol

We are at Catalina Island. Our first stop after a day & a half getting there from San Diego. Distance 78 miles. How come so long to get there, you ask? Well we cruise real slow... 1.8 knots to 2.5 knots. Plus at night we are just sitting & stopped. We were told also that we do a couple of figure 8's just to put in time & so people know we are moving. As there is no dock large enough to accommodate the ship we are tendered into port. A firm that they have contracted with comes out & ferry's you back & forth from ship to shore. The boat that takes you back & forth can carry approximately 30 people at a time. Several boats are always moving back & forth. About a 10 minute ride.


This community is known as Avalon. To read about the history of Catalina Island follow this link
http://www.catalinachamber.com/catalina/history