Cactus527

It is POURING rain. I wish I had thought to bring dry socks! That's going to be annoying now... At least I remembered an umbrella!

I boarded Navigator on Friday from the Port of Los Angeles. You couldn't even really see/smell smoke from the wildfires there. That area of LA is unaffected by the fires at this point. The areas affected are north and west of LAX.

Cruise shirt day 3 is a plain black shirt, so I'm not taking a picture of that.

I can't forget the workout, I'm on day 24 of 30! Yesterday was awful - it was a leg/ glute workout, and I have decided to try to avoid elevators as much as possible on the cruise. While I realize libraries are trying to make themselves out to be more gathering places than quiet places nowadays, this was just kind of unacceptable. 1:00 p.m.? Okay. 1:00 a.m.? Please, sir, go to bed. I'm really hoping it was a one-time thing and that it doesn't happen again tonight. I even had ear plugs in and I could still hear everything!

They have chicken on the inside, that are wrapped in cheese?, then wrapped in some sort of batter and deep fried. I take back what I said about the ranch dressing, it's apparently some sort of blue cheese dressing and buffalo sauce that they give you for it. Magnifique!

Kind of a rough night for me. Got back to the cabin at about midnight, exhausted, and went to sleep. Starting at about 1:00 a.m., It was getting loud in here. I assumed it was the people next to me, so I did call GS with a noise complaint. They came and checked, couldn't figure out what was going on on this deck, and called me back saying that everything on my deck is fine. Weird, because the sound is still continuing! We finally figured out that the library is directly below my room. Someone had decided to go in there with about 10 of their closest friends and have a party. Of course, that didn't get figured out until almost 2:00 a.m., and I needed to get up at 5:00 to get in my workout before Ensenada today, so...I'm very tired. I think when I get back from my excursion, I'm going to grab some food and grab a nap. Very thankful I don't have to pack today! It appears to be kind of overcast and raining at the moment in Ensenada. I have my umbrella and poncho packed just in case, but I'm hoping that it's just chilly and not wet at La Bufadora. My weather app says 54°F/12C outside right now.

Two full size rolls, but they are cut in half so you have four pieces total. You also get buffalo sauce and ranch dressing. I don't know what it is about those things, but they are definitely addictive. I am so glad they were recommended! I love beef, and I love chicken, but Chops somehow makes beef on another level. I wish I had been in the mood for it last night, but I'm glad I didn't have to sell my oldest child in order to get the goat cheese salad.

I actually had enough energy to stay up late tonight, so I went to see both the headliner's late show and Crazy Quest. Both were entertaining, both were fine for what they were, and I'm satisfied with seeing both of them just once. Ever.

Dinner at Chops. Really wasn't terribly hungry, so I just ordered my favorites - the goat cheese salad and dessert. Both were delicious. I went with apple pie for dessert. It was a bit late for dinner (8:45), but the advantage was that I could watch the ship starting to come into the Ensenada area. Looks like we will be arriving at right about 10:00 p.m. Chops is probably my favorite restaurant on board for ambiance. Playmakers is just behind it. They are on two totally different ends of the scale, but they do what they do very well.

7:50pm PST - The captain just announced that there is a passenger in need of medical evacuation. We are going to Ensenada at "full speed" to take care of the guest. Fingers crossed that this person will be okay, and thankfully we are not that far from Ensenada.

You guys have started a serious Playmakers problem for me. Got a berry press from the R Bar as well (definitely would have it again). I think it's one of my favorite bars on the ship because they consistently have really nice bartenders.

@OCSC Mikeis correct - any fried potato is considered fries. In fact, sometimes when I make them at home, I bake them instead of frying them, and they are still fries. Chips = fries. Crisps = chips. My children were completely confused about all of this when we were in the UK this past fall.

I lived in the UK for awhile during college (study abroad). I was very familiar with the fish and chips shop just down the street from my flat.

The pool deck is FRIGID. It's so strange to think that today is a sea day and there's hardly anyone out here. Most of the staff are wearing fleece! I may have to go back for mine if I come back out here again. Hitting up Johnny Rockets to utilize my UDP. The poor bartender at the bar connected to it was being harassed by another passenger regarding how big his shots being poured were. Rude. He visibly brightened when I came over to order a soda, and then we were talking about how chilly it is out here.

Remember my terrible flights out to Long Beach on Thursday? I filled out the survey yesterday and got this just now.

Well, now I know where I'm going to be spending my time between Johnny Rockets and Playmakers tonight!

It's going to be amazing! Thank you. It's no wonder I love them- I usually put 10 times as much garlic in my food than the recipe actually indicates. #teamgarlic #teamnovampires

I'll admit I watch the live takeoffs and landings at LAX in the background when I'm doing stuff around the house... Thanks, YouTube!

@Lovetocruise2002, this is why you should go to the Windjammer more often - there is apparently a milkman!

Lunch at Jamie's. I got a phone call yesterday afternoon that Chops was closed for lunch, which is where I had my reservation, but that I would go to Jamie's instead. I was rather confused as to what was going on, but in my head I assumed I was still going to get Chops, just have to sit in Jamie's. I get to Jamie's, let them know that I'm coming over from Chops, and they seat me and hand me a Jamie's menu. Okay, fine, I can make do, it wasn't what I expected though. Had lunch, then promptly went over to Chops to try to get my dinner reservation switched over to there since I had Jamie's scheduled for dinner. Of course, since it's a sea day and everybody and their brother want to eat specialty dining today, the only time they could fit me in is 8:45 p.m. Thank goodness for UDP and the opportunity to take advantage of Johnny Rockets and Playmakers again today! I wonder if I will even be hungry by the time I show up at 8:45... Lunch: garlic bread, rocket salad, chicken burger, fries, and banana split. Oh, and the margarita. Who DOESN'T love this garlic bread? I don't know what those crunchy things are on top but I want to take them home with me and start a relationship. In my real non-cruising life, I'm a huge fan of salads. This one's pretty good, but not at the top of my list. I would still die for the one in Chops. Pretty sure whoever made that chicken burger today was showing off. I mean, look at how sexy that is with its charred bun top too. Mrawr, sandwich, I see you, I want you... This is taking a decidedly non-PG turn. Summary: good sandwich. I haven't had a banana split in ages and so I thought I would give this one a try. It was not great. Whatever they have on top of the banana, which I think is just crystallized caramel, didn't work really well with the whole combination. I'm sure that there are people that would plow through that and call it amazing, it just wasn't for me. And it was about this time that I decided I wanted to go try to get a reservation for dinner at Chops instead of coming back to Jamie's. I WILL say that the interior of Jamie's is my favorite of any restaurant fleet wide. It's light, bright, clean looking, and homey to me.

Oh man, the amount of incidents I've had with a cactus are just ridiculous. Highly recommended to leave the plant f*ing be at all costs, ESPECIALLY the ones that look fuzzy and soft. (IT'S A LIE! FAKE SOFT! DON'T FALL FOR IT!!!!)

Overheard just now: "Bro, I wouldn't even do that in private, let alone in the middle of a restaurant. You should probably stop." I DID NOT TURN AROUND TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON

I thought I was doing good with my margarita but now I realize I'm not because my brain just yelled OMG WE'RE NOT DRUNK THIS IS AMAZING internally. Cheers, folks.

I just sat down in Jamie's for lunch and thought "wow, it's a great view, maybe someday I'll see a whale out there" and DOLPHINS LEAPT FROM THE SEA!!!!! Maybe I should go back to the casino today...!

I love that we all do the same thing. Sometimes I like to see what kind of shenanigans people get up to on the helicopter pad. Went out there and got my selfie this morning when I was on my walk. EDIT - I just watched a family do an entire photo session out on the helipad via this channel. It was so charming, I loved it but totally felt like a peeping Tom.