Carnival Cruise on Splendor

Spring 2019 Adventure  

Friday, February 1, 2019 

Larry and I left Clearwater Beach, Florida at 7:30am with a direct flight into Los Angeles, California arriving at 9:45am. Great Flight! We watched a couple of cute  little Hoopla movies called The Olmands and The Bag of Marbles.

Our good friends, Mark and Julie Martini met us at the airport to go to lunch. We had a great walk around the Long Beach Port before diving into some tasty food around 2:00.

After lunch they took us to scenic Naples, California for a stroll among the numerous villas and canals. It was a gorgeous day. 

The varieties of homes and  flower gardens were fascinating for me.

Larry enjoyed the yachts. 

                                      How about a private putting green beside the canal?

We had such a great time together that the Martinis decided to join us on the cruise around Japan. They are world travelers and just couldn’t pass up an opportunity to visit Japan.

Saturday and Sunday, February 2 & 3, 2019

The next day we woke up to torrential rains reminding us of the song, “It Never Rains in Sunny California”. HA! Mark and Julie picked us up and delivered us to the Long Beach Port where we ran between the raindrops to board our ship, Carnival Splendor. 

The Queen Mary was docked right beside our ship.

                     The Dome where Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose was housed for several years.

This was one of the smoothest and most pleasant embarkings we have ever had. Carnival had purchased the globe building that housed the Spruce Goose years ago, making it into a park with trees and benches and a really peaceful, enjoyable area. They scanned our passports when entering the building. There were no long waiting lines. We sat on the park benches and watched some big screen televisions that told the history of the Spruce Goose and other interesting sights in the area. 

                                           After boarding we took a quick tour of the ship.

 The ship has lots of artwork.... exquisite sculptures and....

fascinating paintings.

                                                              two of several pools

 

atrium

                                                                  the formal dining room.

                               After a little lunch we found our cozy room...perfect for a rainy day escape.

                                                      So Long to Long Beach, California!

It was quite a cloudy, cool day on Sunday so Larry and I settled into our room reading, watching movies and taking a little cat nap. Ahhhhh!  What a great way to start off a trip!