Mom and Dad Z. went on an Alaskan Cruise last year and they loved it so much! They really wanted to do another Alaskan cruise, but we weren't ready to do a 7 night cruise. We looked and found a 4 night cruise leaving from Los Angelos that fit right in our Spring Break. We had so much fun learning all about cruising and researching our ports and deciding what we wanted to do.
We got all ready Sunday night and had everyone bathed and our bags packed so we could leave for our 6:30 AM flight. Brian picked us up at 4:15 and dropped us off. The kids were super excited and good helpers carrying our 5 carryons and backpacks through the airport. We were set to board the boat at 10:30 AM and our flight had a short layover in Las Vegas where we didn't have to get off the plane. We were supposed to land in Long Beach at 8:30, but were about an hour delayed because of snow.
Los Angelos was green! No snow and it was so nice!
The first thing we did on the ship was find the buffet. We were all super hungry. We ate yummy food then changed into our swimsuits. I had read that the pools were not heated on the boat and the temperatures were only going to be high of 60. Plus it was supposed to rain the entire time we were there. But I was so pleasantly surprised that the pools were heated really well, like 80 degrees! And it was nice and sunny!
When we got the notice our room was ready we headed down to deck two where our rooms are. The room was clean but we had to find our room attendant Edi who put down the beds from the ceiling and opened the door that connected our room with my parents. Brett and Lizzie slept with Sean and I and Alana slept with my parents. One of the things my dad kept telling the kids in preparation for the trip was that he would take them for ice cream whenever they wanted. Alana asked him to take her and the soft serve machine was down so they found the pizza place on deck 5.
The formal dining room took about 2 hours to eat. Lizzie was getting so so tired so I told her I would take her to our room and Daddy would bring her cookies when they came with dessert. As we walked out of the dining room we decided to sneak out and look at the ocean before heading to our room. When we got out there we saw dolphins jumping. It was so so cool and so so special. I didn't expect to see dolphins at all. We took videos then ran back to the dining room to tell our family. Lizzie said she wished our whole family could have seen them and I agreed. I told Lizzie that what we saw was pretty special and we may not see it again. Alana was really happy for Lizzie but I could tell she really hoped to see dolphins too. I said a prayer that we could see more and on Day 3 in Catalina we saw so so so many! The captian said it was the biggest dolphin pod he had ever seen! What a testimony that Heavenly Father cares about little girls and moms and listens to our prayers.
Here is our rooms with the beds down from the ceiling.
It was breezy but the skies were clear and it warmed up really nicely! The captian said he kept sailing the ship out of storms and back into sunshine.
We all climbed and we were all brave! Sean made it all the way to the top. Physically I might have been able to, but I got scared of the height.
We found a little duck in the elevator and it said we could keep it or hide it for someone else to find. We hid it.
There was a figure skating show two nights of the cruise and I am sad we missed it!
We rested for a bit that day and watched the ocean out our window. The kids played a game with Sean.
Dad, Sean, and I went to an escape room that was really fun!
We got dressed up for dinner that night.
Here's our boat:
We found this fun playground after the beach and shopping.
Brett was freezing because he of course got super wet in the ocean.
When it was time to head back to the boat we got in line for the tender but it was pretty long so the kids and I went to climb into the cave while Sean waited in line. On the way back to the ship on the tender was when we so so so many dophins!
We ran into the wandering pianist on the elevator!
This is the blowhole, its hard to tell what it does without it being a movie =)
Seriously though! Look at how gorgeous!
Sean and I wondered how different this area would be in the United States. It seemed so dangerous to have the cliff right there with kids climbing up on there. We held on pretty tight when our kids wanted to be on the edge. There was a gentleman with a guitar serenading us too and Brett used some spanish to tell him Thank you for the music.
The baby animals and bar were downstairs and the restaurant and playground upstairs. It was called Habana Banana
After rock climbing we decided to go ice skating, but when we got down there we were too late to sign up for the morning session. So we changed clothes and went swimming. Then we went to lunch and I went and got us a time for the afternoon ice skating. 
Edi folded towel animals for us!
Later that night we left Mom and the kids in the room and Dad, Sean and I went to an escape room which was so much fun!
On Day 2 we woke up and could see Catalina Island outside our window. It was super drizzly and overcast. We decided to pack for cold weather and didn't take the beach towels and sand buckets I had packed thinking it would just be too cold. Catalina is a small port and so the ship can't dock there, so there are little tender boats you have to load onto and take a little 10-15 min ride over to the island.
We had a semi-sub excursion planned so we got to the area where we were supposed to board the sub. After loading on, we went out to a wildlife reserve where we saw so many fish! The windows were dirty and the water was murky so I was worried at first, but it was still so cool! There was little beach right by the dock for the submarine so we wandered on that right before the sub left too.
After the submarine the weather had started to warm up quite a bit. My parents decided to go find some lunch and do some shopping. The kids were wanting to play on the beach so I went back to the cruise ship and got our beach towels and sandals and buckets. Luckily I caught the boats just right and walked right on. I grabbed our stuff and headed back. While I was gone Sean got the kids some ice cream and when I came back we got more ice cream and a crepe. It may have been my favorite moment of the trip: eating icecream while watching the kids play on the beach.
When we got back to the ship the kids were super tired and just wanted to swim and eat pizza. We got pizza, then they wanted to swim. We decided not to do the formal dining that night because we wanted the kids to swim. So Sean and Mom and Dad and me went to the buffet for dinner while the kids swam. We were on the same deck and just checked on them every so often. There were good lifeguards and they are old enough that it felt safe which was super fun!
Sean and I had an apetizer of mexican food by the pool.
Sean and I woke up the next morning as we were pulling into port in Ensenada. It was fun to watch the boat slowly moving in. We got up and got ready. Brett in particular was super tired and would have preferred to stay on the boat that day. We were only in Ensenada that day though and we had already paid for a tour to see the Blowhole and the rest of us wanted to go. We got everyone up to breakfast and ate yummy food, then got off the ship in Ensenada. We were early for our tour and had to wait while others continued to gather. Once everyone was there our tour guide Roxanna took us to our bus. We had to pass a dog who smelled our bags and such for drugs, weapons and fruit! The dog somehow told its owner that we had apples in our bag! I was so impressed! We were happy to throw the apples away, I didn't know that was a rule. What a good puppy!
We loaded onto the bus and Mom and Dad got to sit in the front so that Mom wouldn't have to walk so far. Lizzie and I sat up front too but Brett, Alana, and Sean had to go to the back. Roxanna told us all about Ensenada and its local culture and agriculture. I could hear great, but unfortunately Sean couldn't in the back. It took about 45 min to drive to La Bufadora. It was on a cliff up on the shore of the Ocean. It is a naturally occurring blowhole where waves crash into a cave and there is a hole in top. The waves crash in and have nowhere to go so they blow out the top. On the little hike up to the blowhole there were a hundred different vendors selling all kinds of things from jewelry to pottery to toys to ceramics. And of course lots of churros, fish tacos, and alcohol. Brett and my mom in particular were not prepared for the cultural shock of being rush at and asked to buy or sample so many things. It is a bit suffocating to have so many vendors begging for your money!
The views were absolutely incredible and Lizzie and I even paid 75 cents to use the bathroom. We were supposed to be rained on most of the day again and luckily we weren't! I loved the whole experience, my only complaint was the bus ride being rather long. It was interesting to look out the window and see the town. It was very poor in some areas. Some were just like America with Costco and Carls Jr. But there were lots of shacks and rundown buildings, stray dogs, and bumpy crazy roads. One of the most shocking things to me was seeing the drivers with kids on their laps! 
We started walking back and found a nice lady who painted sea shells with La Bufadora on them. We each bought one and then continued on to find a shop that Roxanna had told us had baby tigers. We were of course intrigued. We found it and looked at the baby tiger, baby lion, baby panther, and a few other exotic animals. You can pay $35 per person to go in a play with the tiger or other animals! The kids REALLY wanted to do that, but I was a bit nervous about how sharp the animals teeth were! We weren't allowed to take pictures unless we paid, so we just enjoyed watching them and then went upstairs to get some lunch. Sean and I ordered some fajitas to share and the kids mostly ate snacks I had packed in my bag. My parents ended up picking the exact same restaurant and we ate with a beautiful view. We did notice that we were a bit short on time and needed to be back at the bus pretty soon. The waiter promised us very quick service. The chips were so so yummy! There was also a playground in the restaurant that the kids could play in a free bathrooms. Brett was falling apart at the start with the crowds and the fact that he was hungry and just wanted to go back to the boat. We were able to work through it though.
The restaurant we ate at was on the upper level of the building and you can see down below how the market was.
As we were leaving the restaurant we had about 5-10 min to get back to the bus. Sean and the kids went ahead to make sure the bus would wait for us and I walked with my mom and dad. We were already slow and late for the bus but they wanted to look at more shops and my dad disappeared and then came walking up with this pineapple drink, lol! We were the last on the bus and one guy was pretty irritated with us, but it was kinda funny!
The ride back was long but we took a different route to avoid some traffic and saw more of the rural areas.
We got back to the boat and the kids wanted pizza. Alana and I went to get some and then brought it back to the room. The girls went swimming while Brett chilled. After resting for awhile we took the kids to the kids club and went and got tacos at the pool. The kids HATED the kids club! They called in kid prison. We went to the game room and Brett and Sean were doing a puzzle. Alana joined them and Lizzie and I went exploring a bit. Then we all went to the buffet for dinner. The ship was moving really fast to get back to Los Angelos by morning and we could really feel the motion especially at the back of the boat.
The next morning we got up and ate a quick breakfast then got off the boat. It was a long process to get through all the security and then customs and the kids were tired and grumpy. We made it though and found a car to take us to Long Beach Airport. We had plenty of time and made it home to pick up our puppy. It was a wonderful trip and I felt like I experienced so so many new things!
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