October 12, Long Beach

Wednesday October 12, 2016

Today we are in Long Beach. Those 2 sea days seemed all too short. When we have been in this area before we have docked at San Pedro. I thought Long Beach was a distance from San Pedro but Wendy tells us it is only 2 bridges away. We will be meeting Ken and Wendy later today. I was concerned that we might not see them because of the change in docking location. But I was wrong which is great. We always enjoy visits with them

Because we have been here several times before and because Ken and Wendy have been great tour guides we were having a difficult time trying to decide what we would do while we were here. It is going to be a long stop. We arrive at seven am and we leave at eleven pm.

Finally I decided on a Princess excursion, LGB-240 harbor Cruise. It leaves at 11:00 and returns to the ship at 1:30. The icons tell us it involves light walking and they provide a snack.

We depart the pier by motor coach for a city drive before embarking on a 45 minute fully narrated cruise around the Long Beach Harbour. We will see the world famous Queen Mary. We have seen her before because Ken and Wendy took us on a tour of her several years ago.

We also view the Black Scorpion which is a Russian submarine. Again we did an actual tour of this sub thanks to Ken and Wendy. I recall being so surprised at how cramped the quarters were. Being underwater for weeks or months on end in such small spaces would certainly be a psychological challenge.

The description goes on to tell us that we will see California sea lions in their natural habitat, witness the large container docks and cranes in action, the world’s longest break wall, the spectacular Long Beach oil islands. They tell us we will also view large cargo and container ships from around the world and much more

We are scheduled to return to the ship at 1:30pm. We will have lunch and then we will call Ken and Wendy. We are meeting them this afternoon.

So whether or not the day turns out to be as described remains to be seen.

As usual we woke before the wake up call. It was dark and it was calm. We enjoyed watching as Captain Tuvo maneuvered the Star into position.

It is a bit foggy right now and it is a little warmer than it has been. We can see that the sun is trying to break through.

Because we are on the port side we have a grand view of the fueling barge The Ann Elizabeth.

This is our first stop and because we have entered the US we have to clear customs and immigration. Our appointment is for nine o’clock and we are to be in Crown Grill at 10:40 to connect for our tour. So we will have a relaxing morning with no pressure.

I will report on our day later this evening as usual