Craft Beer Cruisehttps://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4677128461568251329#allposts

Having just completed a California Coastal Cruise and being one who enjoys trying new brews WHENEVER possible, I complied a list of some of the breweries that are an easy reach of the ports visited on this cruise. Some I was fortunate to visit and others I wish I had enough time to visit. The cruise itinerary that this works with is a 7-day cruise round trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco, Santa Barbara, San Diego, and Ensenada. Currently Princess cruise lines offers this itinerary and they have three craft beers sold on board; Sea Witch IPA, Denali Red Ale, and a Blonde which are all three quite good.

Most breweries do not open until 11:00 AM which for most ports does not leave a lot of time to sample but then again ...MORE

California Coastal Pt 5

One of the best aspects of a cruise vacation compared to a week stay at a resort hotel is that each morning you wake up somewhere new. Yesterday evening we sailed away from Santa Barbara and this morning when I wake up was are slowly cruising into San Diego harbor. Past the Navy submarine pens and around the bend heading straight for downtown.

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The pier that the ship comes to faces the downtown San Diego area. Looking straight off the bow you can see the bustling morning traffic on Harbor drive and all the taxis and buses making their way through the check point to enter the pier. Just two piers to the south of us is the USS Midway museum. Growing up watching movies involving the Navy, the aircraft carriers of history ...MORE

California Coastal Pt 4

Next port call will be Santa Barbara after a full day at sea. Personally I love the sea days as a great day for relaxation. No time to be up, no time to go to bed, eat a meal when ever you are hungry. Sadly my body clock does not endorse my lazy day plan and fully wakes me between 5:00 and 6:00 AM. ARRRG!

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Still fully showered and dressed shortly after 6:00 with my wife and kids still sound asleep, I head off to the Horizon Cafe for some breakfast and to enjoy the view of the sea. Scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns, some fresh fruit and a couple glasses of water. On a cruise experiencing a little dehydration can occur fairly easily, especially if the cruise were to warmer climates than we are used to. I always try to drink a little more water than usually the week prior to a cruise and try to continue the higher water intake throughout the cruise, consuming even more water when I choose to enjoy ...MORE

California Coastal Pt 3

Note to self, "self, stay away from the International Cafe on deck 5!". Seriously, the deserts served in the cafe are in most cases better than served in the main dining room and I find myself somehow drawn to the place.

Last Saturday as we prepared to sail the extended forecast for San Francisco called for a 50% chance of rain. Well, we were in port from 07:00 until 11:00 PM and had maybe two hours of rain and mostly light rain at that. So mostly cloudy was something we could work with. Light jacket with a hood, camera, and cell phone would be all that I need.

When in vacation mode, and in a port that we have visited several times past, we are not in any way early risers (except me to watch the sail under the Golden gate). So once everyone was awake and ready for the day we went to the Horizon Court for breakfast and chose a table with an Embarcadero view. From our table we could see all the way to Fisherman's Wharf and see the vintage street cars rumbling along. MORE

California Coastal Part 2

Well sail away day has finally arrived and everyone bright and cheerful. At least as cheerful as two teens can been waking at 7 AM on a Saturday. Our Princess cruise departs out of San Pedro (Port of Los Angeles) which is about an hour and on half drive from home WHEN THERE ARE NO TRAFFIC ISSUES! So we are planning for a drive of two hours.

Just a few toiletries to finish the packing, a filling breakfast to last until we are on board for lunch and then loading the rolling duffle bags into the car and run through our final check list and away we go.MORE

The California Coastal Cruise - Part One

"Nothing will change!" Oh those infamous words had come back to haunt me over the past few years. In reality, the vacations changed dramatically from when we were just a couple to when we began traveling with our children in tow. Everything had to be more carefully planned out compared to a high level of spontaneity and adventure.

When our children both were over five years old, we began cruising again; our favorite vacation mode. The ships who are know to advertise as the Fun Ships provided us with many family cruise vacations that still hold special places in all of our memories. Now both children are teens and while the Fun Ships are still a favorite, we decided to expand their cruise experiences by taking them on a Spring Break Coastal Cruise on the Crown Princess. MORE