First Place
Wednesday, February 21, 2024
Catalina Island (Avalon), CA
We LOVE new ports and this one was AMAZING !
Morning
Our alarms went of at 7AM and we were up and out the door to the Main Dining Room for breakfast by 7:30AM. TIP- We really enjoy port day breakfasts in the MDR on most cruise ships. It is MUCH less crowded than the Lido deck buffet and typically the service is fair reliable. I would say that the service on this day was just that- Fairly reliable. It seemed a little slower than usual but the food was good and we enjoyed the non-rushed feeling. During our slower and delayed MDR breakfasts, the tender boats were supposed to be already taking passengers to Catalina Island but we learned there was a delay so we literally missed NOTHING.
Natalie and Chris enjoyed the slower pace of the MDR!
Catalina Island is a tender port and that means if you want to go ashore, you will need to travel on a tender boat, or smaller boat (even a life raft in some cases), to get to your destination. TIP- With PLATINUM benefits, you can get priority tender service at any time, This time we had to meet in the forward dining room and wait for a small amount of people before a Carnival worker took us all to the front of the line and we got right on a tender boat.
I personally LIKE tender boats, solely for the view of the cruise ship and the pictures that can be taken of the ship. However, most passengers (including my family) does not like the process as it is SO MUCH EASIER to just walk right off the ship! Our tender boat ride was short and sweet and we were on Catalina Island by 8:45AM.
Our first "real" view of Catalina Island and we were already in LOVE!
The Carnival Radiance anchored off shore Catalina Island!
Luke and I were enjoying the tender boat ride to shore!
This was a very easy Tender Boat ride into Catalina Island!
We got off the boat and made our way to the downtown Catalina Island area for the starting point of our excursion. We opted to do the "Amazing Catalina Island Scavenger Race" offered through our travel agent as our excursion. Chris and I have done the "Amazing Cozumel Race" on our 2nd cruise and we LOVED it. You can read about that HERE! We thought the kids would LOVE to try and solve puzzles for clues and find unique things on the island.
The thrill to be a kid again. "Can I go swing"- Of course!
We have arrived in Catalina Island!
This excursion had 21 different clues and you had to solve each clue before getting another one. It took place all over the island but covered approximately 3 miles. It was a digitally enhanced race where you had to enter the answer for each clue into the website before it generated the next clue for your group. If you mistyped a word, or left our other details, it would count it as wrong and not advance your group. In addition, you could ask for hints or other help along the way. We answered the first 5-6 clues very easily and made our way to the "casino" area at the far west side of the Island. It was here that 2 odd things happened: 1) we got stumped and made our only mistake of the race by a MATH clue of all things and 2) someone from the ship stopped and spotted Natalie from the comedy show saying "Hey, are you the girl who lost her phone in the ocean?". Luke and Chris could not stop laughing that someone actually recognized Natalie.
On our way to clue #4 with a brisk .8 mile walk to the Casino area of Avalon!
We made it to the "beach" area behind the Casino and got a great view of our ship!
Another clue reveal...
We answered those clues and continued our race and found a coffee shop inside the US Post Office. These were incredibly high priced at $9.75 PER COFFEE and I made a note to plan for high prices like that for our April land vacation to Los Angeles to see Dodger Stadium and Angels Stadium in our quest for seeing all of the MLB stadiums. (And it was not even good coffee). We made our way to a clue at the mini-golf course and it was closed so we googled with no help but found a local tour company worker who knew the answer and we took no penalty.
Overall we scores 675 points, took 2 hours and 11 minutes and came in first place for the day. In fact, we were first place for the past 30 days and even now as I am late in writing this blog, we are still FIRST PLACE in this race!
We made it to the finish line!
FIRST PLACE- WE are the Champions!
This was such a great excursion and only $50 TOTAL!
We got some souvenirs from this new port and we were back on the tender boat by 11:45AM and back on the Carnival Radiance shortly after noon. We went straight up to the Lido deck for lunch as we know on port days, 12pm is often when people start getting back on the ship and we did not want to have to wait in lines. We ate and Big Chicken and Blue Iguana. HINT- I think Blue Iguana LUNCH options get lost in all of the other amazing food venues on board the Carnival Radiance. The breakfast burritos are still a hit but the lunch just fell a little short to me.
For 30 years, the Chicago Cubs had their spring training in Avalon so there was CUBS stuff EVERYWHERE!
This was a view from our ship!
If you look really closely, you can see Downtown LA!
Afternoon
The kids wanted to do the Ropes Course so they went up to the Sports Deck on Deck 10 to get in line as the Ropes Course opened at 1PM. Chris and I waited at the Tides Bar until it was time for them to actually go on the course. They both went all the way around the Ropes Course (even the "plank") 3 times and were able to do every single part, easy and hard, of the Ropes Course! TIP- Be sure to check the Carnival Hub app or the paper FunTimes for open times of the Ropes Course and get there RIGHT when it opens. Our kids had to wait for about 20 minutes for them to actually be ready to open but got first dibs on the course and got to go around several times. The line grew as it got closer to the time of opening and those people who were 20 people deep were not even on the course after my kids were on it for 30 minutes or so. GET THERE EARLY! Although, I will say that the times were not as clearly marked as other cruises with Ropes Courses... I had to dig to find the open times!
After the Ropes Course, we all went back to the room to change clothes before spending the rest of our afternoon on the decks of the Carnival Radiance. Chris and I then spent the majority of our time at the Atrium Bar on deck 3 while the kids did the water slides and hot tubs all afternoon. Around 4pm, Natalie and I went and showered for the evening while Chris took at nap and Luke went back to the hot tub.
Evening
One of our souvenirs was a deck of cards from Catalina Island and Natalie and I got ready and then went to Alchemy bar lobby to play a few games before the boys joined us. The Alchemy Bar does not open until 4PM and I was there at the opening but the service was exceptionally slow with only 1 bartender for a while. We all chilled and played cards in the Red Frog Pub before the crowd for karaoke formed. Luke said "I want to sing karaoke" and we all looked at each other and kinda laughed saying "umm ok". But sure enough, he went and stood in line and put in to sing a song. Mind you- This child is VERY reserved and usually stays in his shell, so to speak. And he has never been one to sing in public (not even church). He was the 3 person to sing and we had no idea what he was singing.
Us girls are READY for another great night onboard!
Luke got up to the stage and... RICK ROLLED us all! He sang "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley and it was a HUGE HIT with the crowd. He made even more friends as other people recognized him later in the cruise "Hey Luke, what's up". Chris and I were completely dumbfounded as to how much he came out of his shell on this cruise - AND it wasn't even over!
Having NEVER done Karaoke before, he did exceptionally well!
And his smile says it all!
Where did this guy come from????
We then made our way to Deck 4 aft to get in line for the PG comedy starting at 6:30PM. We were able to get another front row seat and Luke was able to go up on stage and tell another joke but he did not win another medal as many other kids were on stage as well. The comedian was funny but did not pick on the kids as much as the other comedian did the night before. We enjoyed the show and then went to the Limelight Lounge for the Deal or NO Deal gameshow. We did not buy cards as we did not know if the kids would like this but we should have! It was a lot of fun, even just to watch! TIP- Carnival sells these cards for only 30 minutes prior to the game show for $25 per card.
Waiting to get into the MDR for dinner on night #3.
We then made our way to the Main Dining Room for our 8PM seating. The service was somehow even WORSE than the previous night, which was FORMAL night. Yet this night, the dining room was only about 65% full. In fact, there were empty tables in our section and we still had atrocious service. The head waiter came and explained that the assistant waiter(s) were helping on Lido instead of the MDR, which made no sense. The maitre'd came and apologized, which was good customer service but once again, this was some of the overall worst service we have EVER had on ANY cruise line in the MDR. IT took 75 minutes just to get our appetizers and a total of 2 hours and 25 minuets to get in and out of the MDR. I am NOT a buffet fan but I can see why people just eat there, the wait is just not worth it!
After dinner we ran upstairs quickly so Luke could change as he wanted to watch the 80s Rock and Glow party from the hot tub. Chris, Luke and I went up to Lido deck to enjoy the party and Natalie was behind us after she changed. The party was good but not near as fun as the parties with Kyndall Fire. Luke was able to get on the big screen (in and out of the hot tub) multiple times and he LOVED it.
Luke living his BEST LIFE in the hot tub during the Glow Party!
Shortly after the party, the kids opted to go to bed as it was nearly midnight and Chris and I made our way back to the Alchemy Bar (I told you it was my favorite) and then eventually the Casino. The Alchemy Bar closes at midnight so we grabbed a few drinks and shut it down before going to the Casino Bar and the Blackjack tables. I lost all of the Platinum perk of $25 free play within 4 hands at the Blackjack table. We were back in the room before 1AM.
It was a GORGEOUS day on Catalina Island and evening on board the ship. Stay tuned for our last day and our first time in Ensenada, Mexico!
Up Next- Ensenada, Mexico
God is Good... ALL THE TIME!
Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas- March 2019
The Norwegian Breakaway- November 2018
Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas- 2018
Carnival Legend- ALASKA- 2016
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