"Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann: Report #20 San Diego, California January 19, 2017 Thursday Chance of rain & 63 degrees Part #1 Of 3 86 Pictures

Rain and wind greeted us as the Amsterdam slipped into the San Diego Bay very early this morning. Of course, it is winter time, and this weather is typical this time of year. We have been spoiled since almost every visit here has been warm and sunny. We do need the rain in our state, so we cannot complain.

But before anyone could get off the ship today, there was mandatory inspection with the US Border Protection officials. Starting shortly after 7am, all non-US guests had to be seen in the Explorer's Lounge to be cleared. There were about 250 persons attending this earlier inspection. This process was completed by 9am. This is the first time in a long time that people complied with the instructions. Kudos to those behind the scenes to make these instructions for the passengers detailed and understandable.

While we were eating breakfast in the dining room (7 to 9am), the crew members were also circulating through the inspection. Finally, those guests that were disembarking today (about 87 of them) were called off, followed by the five tour groups. The remainder of us were allowed to leave the ship any time after that. We were required to bring our passports, room key, and an ID, such as a driver's license. These were checked on or way out of the terminal.

We had also been given an "in transit" pass to use on our way back to the ship later on. But since we were the only ship docked today, we really did not need it. Another thing we did not need to show again were our passports.

Here's a little info on the USA. The capital is Washington DC, and the population is 307,213,000 or more. The main language is English, but dozens of other languages can be heard depending on where you go in the 50 states. Speaking of states, New York City locals consider it the center of the universe. While in California, they boast having the world's 8^th largest economy, as well as boundless beauty. Looking for wine? You will surely find the best in the valleys of our state. And where else can you find a city like Las Vegas, lit with one billion lights? Or experience the charm of New Orleans, and the stunning autumn leaves in New England? Ever seen the Grand Canyon? A big "wow". Seeing the "real" Disneyland, or Hollywood with music, films, and fashion industries can be a thrill.

Trademarks of the US are cheeseburgers, red, white, and blue everything, oversized cars, food portions, and people. Coming in behind that, are the national parks, guns, Hollywood, and vast open spaces. Are we proud to be Americans? You betcha!

By 10am, the skies began to get brighter, and the rain actually let up. Is it possible that we might have a nice, dry day? Bringing the umbrellas would certainly guarantee the rain would stop. Guess what? It worked. The sky turned blue and the sun came out. There was a strong breeze, but it was not that cold.

The good news of the day was finding out there was a free bus that would take us to Westfield's Horton Plaza from the pier. This is a first for us in this port. It ran from 9:30am to 3:30pm. Big help for the folks that planned on picking up some supplies they may have forgotten on this long trip. We had a list for things to buy too. The next chance will be in Hilo, Hawaii, where there should be a bus that will take people to Walmart.

Since it was not raining, we decided to skip the bus, and do our usual walk towards the USS Midway, used during WWII. Following the harbor, we went through Seaport Village with over 50 shops and galleries. There are 17 eateries here, although, we were here fairly early, and little was open yet.

There is a series of yacht harbors and marinas here, filled with fabulous vessels of all sizes. Some of them must cost millions. There are ferries here that will take you to Coronado Island, with beaches, gardens, mansions, and shopping. The iconic and historic Hotel del Coronado is located here. Many years ago, we met with friends and had lunch there.

We passed by the Convention Center before arriving to the Hilton Hotel. Going through their lobby, we made our way across the foot bridge that passes over Harbor Drive. That brought us to Petco Park, where we always have seen baseball practice happening. Today, the field was covered with mounds of sand for what looked like a demolition derby.

We found the street that took us into the Gaslamp Quarter Historic District, a 16 ½ block of historical neighborhood downtown. This area dates back to 1850, and is filled with buildings from that era. These days, it is filled with shopping, dining, and entertainment facilities. We did make a quick stop at Cost Plus to look for a new wall clock. They did have some really cool ones at terrific ½ off prices, but they weighed too much to hang them off of the sticky hooks in our room.

Lunch was next on the itinerary. We always go to the Hard Rock Café, across the street from Westfield's Horton Plaza. A new item on the menu was a Heineken Burger, made with shaved beef brisket cooked in beer, then soaked with BBQ sauce. We split it along with a generous portion of French fries. The bartender recognized us from last October, mostly due to the fact one of us always wears a HRC t-shirt from another café from other countries. This popular restaurant filled up with customers by the time we left at 1pm.

A little shopping was in order, and the best place for that was at Horton Plaza. We zipped around the multi-level mall, then ended up at CVS, where we found all that we needed. Except a new wall clock. We'll have better luck with that in Hilo.

We could have gone back to the ship on the complimentary bus, but we chose to hike back downhill. Although rain threatened, it stayed away for the rest of the afternoon. How lucky was that? In hindsight, we could have worn shorts today, but we opted to wear long jeans in case it did rain. You know that if we wore shorts, it would have been rainy and cold.

Across from the Star of India on the dockside, a new Claim Jumper opened up last fall. We have one where we live, and they serve the best house salads ever. Keep that in mind the next time we visit here. Built on hotel grounds, this restaurant is among one of the first CJ's that offers breakfast daily.

Back at the security gate, we found we did not have to show our passport to anyone, just our room key and ID. Usually, we do not like keeping our passports with us onshore, but there was no choice today. Wonder if we will do the same thing in Hawaii, since we will still be in the USA.

At 4pm, there was a call for the emergency muster drill, but only for the newly embarked guests. Good for us, as we are experts at this drill. Shortly afterwards, the sail away was held in the Lido Pool area. This time, there was no champagne celebration like we experienced when we left Ft. Lauderdale. We understand that the 87 new guests had been invited to the Crow's Nest for a private champagne welcome onboard earlier in the afternoon.

It was quite chilly and windy at the aft deck before the lines were dropped. Therefore, few folks braved the cold. The sun was going down rapidly, and we knew once it was gone, we also would be gone. Just as we considering leaving, up popped good friends Bill & Leta, who joined the ship today. So good to see them as we caught up on news since we last saw them in October. We met up with them while on the Tales of the South Pacific. They spend one month in Honolulu every October, and we all went out to dinner on our overnight stay.

Sadly, we were one man missing at dinnertime. Bob had left the ship this morning, and will be flying home tomorrow. He will be missed, but knowing Martha, who stayed on, she will try to fill his seat with cruise friends occasionally. Our entrees of prime rib were excellent. The meat was tender and tasty. For some reason, prime rib has been served on almost every start of a segment.

The entertainers this evening were the Lomax Brothers, performing side-by-side with piano duos. Recall they were also onboard last year…..good show.

Captain Jonathon mentioned a few times today that he will be taking the ship due south to avoid deep swells on our way from the northwest storms. He was right on when we began experiencing deep swells as we left the San Diego harbor. A sign that they expected some high seas was the pool lounges all stashed and lashed securely on the aft deck.. All of the chair pads went stored away on the promenade deck, with signs going up to warn of high winds and dangerous walking conditions.

After dinner, back at our room, we found a card from the laundry department telling us not to plan on a quick turn-around with our laundry requests. We can expect a three day delay in getting our laundry back, due to too many requests to the available laundry equipment. Reading between the lines, we interpret that to say, there may be fewer crew members working in the laundry department, but that is only a guess on our part.

We now face five days at sea on our way to Hawaii…….sure hope it is smooth and warmer.

Bill & Mary Ann

Taking on fuel portside