Sunday 12/30/18 ~ Thursday 1/3/19 - Carnival Imagination Cruise

On Sunday (12/30) I woke up in the morning, and I didn't really do anything. I just ate breakfast and did other things to pass the time. At around 2:50 P.M., my entire family, which is my dad, mom, 2 brothers, sister, and grandparents; 8 people left to board the cruise in Long Beach. My brother called it a "luxury moving hotel". We got there at around 4:40, because we got lost. I saw the ship from far away so I told my dad to go there and we arrived. They even called us to tell us that we needed to be on the ship in a while. The ship didn't leave until 6:30, but everyone had to be on board by 5:00. First we got to our rooms, we were on the 5th floor which was also called the main floor. My room number was M220, and I was supposed to share it with my mom, dad, and my brother. The other room we had was M224 for my sister, my younger brother, my grandma, and grandpa. We didn't actually sleep like that though. My parents, my sister, and my younger brother slept in M220. My brother and my grandparents slept in M224. When I first saw the room, I loved it, because it reminded me of those tiny house tours that you can find on YouTube. When you enter there are huge cabinets to store suitcases, and on the right is the compact bathroom. When you walk forward, on your left there is a small desk with information, and right in front of you is a queen bed (it was actually 2 smaller beds put together). We had a fake window, sadly. There were two beds that could go up into the walls, one on top of the bed already there, and one on the other side. After we explored the hotel room, we had to go to a meeting talking about what to do in an emergency. Then, we navigated to the dining room. The food was really good, but I don't remember what I ordered. I loved the bread, in the beginning. I watched T.V. with my sister, and I used the restroom, and it wasn't my favorite. After showering, I went to bed, and the bed was super comfortable. The next day was Monday (12/31), we arrived at Catalina Island. We at breakfast at the same place, and it was pretty good but I was so full after that. We had to be back on the boat by 2:45, so we just decided to skip lunch and eat lunch on the boat. Did I mention that all the food on the boat (not alcohol) was free because it was all included in the ticket? At around 9:30, we left the boat. We had to go on a smaller boat to get to Catalina Island. When we first arrived, we saw a cute little park near there, and some golf carts that were rentable. We played around for a bit, then we rented the a 4 person golf cart for 2 hours. My dad brought my brother and my grandparents for the first hour to drive around. My mom rented two bikes for my sister and me. For 40 minutes, we just biked around. Then my dad came back, and my grandparents went to go on a tour, they saw fish through a glass-bottomed boat. My mom drove the golf cart with my sister, my little brother, and me. It was really fun looking at the view. After the two hours were over, we returned the car. My older brother said he wasn't feeling very well, so my mom brought him and my little brother back to the boat. I wanted to buy a sweatshirt as a souvenir, so we went to a store, and I got a really soft and fluffy one. After that, my dad saw a roundish building, so we went to check it out. It was closed, but it was a movie theater. Then we went back to the boat. I didn't do much after that, but I ate lunch at the buffet. For dinner, I ate at the same place, but they had a different menu because it was New Year's Eve. I had a headache, so I wasn't in the mood for eating. There was a party where many of the waitresses and cooks were dancing. It was really fun, but I couldn't participate because of my headache. I went back to the hotel room and I ate some pain reliever and went to sleep. After I slept I was feeling much better, and I showered then I went to sleep for the night. We arrived in Ensenada, Mexico on Tuesday (1/1). I was really happy that it was finally 2019. I was just in the hotel room watching T.V. when my dad said that we needed to decide what we were going to do in Ensenada. I looked at one of the brochures and decided that I wanted to go horseback riding. We left the boat, and we saw activities for Carnival, but they were all pretty expensive. So we went outside and bought tickets for buses. My brother wasn't feeling very well so he stayed in the hotel room and slept. We got to a booth where we could buy tickets for other places. There was horseback riding, zip lining, and looking at the blowhole. My sister, my dad, and I decided to do all three. My mom did ziplining and blowhole. My grandparents only did the blowhole, and my little brother was free because he was so young. We had a really nice driver who used to work at the ziplining place. When we got there, it was so nice looking. I got my harness on, and my sister and parents did too. We took pictures then we climbed up the ladders and waited in line to go on the first line. There were 5 zip lines and 5 bridges. I went on the first zip line, it was pretty short but it was really fun. I waited for the rest of my family to finish. Then, there was a bridge, it was really simple. There were wooden planks that were full, and other planks were cut in half. Then, there was a zip line that led to a place near the place where we started. You would get off of that zip line and head back to the building where you started and go up a blue ladder. Then you would go on the third zip line to head back to an area full of more bridges. The second bridge was the hardest of all. There were two sides, each with planks that were nailed down the long way with more secure wire in the middle of each plank. My entire family did it, and it was really fun. Then we went on the third bridge with single planks and then a barrel, and it repeated. After that bridge, the fourth bridge with square-shaped planks that had four thick ropes keeping them above. That one was pretty easy. The one thing I had to have was balance. If I didn't keep my balance properly, I would have fallen off. The fifth bridge was very easy, the planks were rectangles that were nailed down the wide way. The planks were also very close so it was very easy. I got too confident so I started to go pretty quickly and I almost fell, but I saved myself. Then, after a short hike, it was time for the fourth zip line. The fourth zip line was supposed to last for a whole minute. It was really fun, but I wasn't light enough so I had to go with my mom. My sister and my dad went together. Then, we waited in line for the fifth and final zip line that led back to the building we started in. Overall, the entire experience was really fun and I hope to do it again someday. Then, we went to the blowhole and bargained with the merchants there. The blowhole didn't blow the water very high, but we still bought some food and other things. We bought these cute bracelets that had our names on them and a cute unicorn backpack. We were running late for the horse-back riding. We ended up only get 35 minutes on the horses when we should have had an hour. Then we rushed back to the cruise at 5:30, and my mom was saying that we were probably the last ones on the boat (we weren't). Then, we ate dinner at the same dining room and it was pretty good, but I ate something called mango cream. It had the tiniest mango jello and then they poured the "cream". It was so sweet, and there was a slight spicy tinge and I get queazy just thinking of it now. The next morning which was Wednesday (1/2) was a "day at sea". I forgot to mention that I watched many cool shows run by the cruise director named Melessa, they were all really fun. Wednesday was just doing random things on the ship. I went up to deck 12, which was the sports deck. There was mini golf, which was pretty fun. At 12:15, there was a hairy chest competition that was really funny and weird. After that, I went to eat lunch at the buffet. Then, I watched some ice-carving, and the outcome was so cool, it was the cat in the hat. Then, I watched a movie called Elliot the Littlest Reindeer. It was a pretty cute animated movie. Then, I watched Skyscraper which was really cool because of all the special effects. Then, it was night time and I ate with my family at the same dining room. The food was really good, and then there was a farewell party. Then I went to sleep. The next morning was Thursday (1/3). I was sad that the four-night vacation was over. The trip was definitely worth it and super fun. We were packing up everything and getting ready to leave, and then we went to breakfast. We had to be out of our room by 8:30 A.M. We left the cruise and we went back home and took our clothes out of our suitcases to wash. I've been writing this blog for a while, and now I am done. The trip was really fun.