Cactus527

Hyatt Regency Long Beach - some shots of the interior. This is a BIG hotel, as evidenced by two different conferences happening here right now. Check in area Main foyer You can kind of see down into the next level. No clue why this is in the lobby.

OMG they are anal about this today. Just got this text.

THIS IS THE BEST NAME EVER I feel a kinship to this lumpiness...

I never leave home without it. In fact, we keep misplacing ours, so I think we have three of them!

I know you're sad to be ending your cruise, but I am so excited to get on board today!

I'm picturing the poor Porter having an aneurysm trying to figure out where to put the bag because the suites/pinnacle section is so far away from the 64 section.

Cruise shirt #1

It's daylight now, so I can actually post pictures of my room view. You can see the Long Beach harbor across the way, and the little pond/like around the hotel directly in front. You can actually rent swan boats by the hour to paddle around on this pond, and it extends way back to the left of this photo. It's really beautiful. View to the West, including the pool area with its cabanas and sun chairs. One of the things I love about this area is that there's a lot of raised pedestrian walkways so people don't have to fight traffic to get around. More pool area. You can see all of the equipment in the port area. That Port area is closer to where Carnival has their embarkation/ disembarkation building (big round metal thing). More of the harbor area. There's a whole bunch of restaurants and bars down there too. Mr. Cactus says hello.

Can do! If you want, @WAYNO is currently wrapping up his live blog of the seven night cruise. He's getting off Navigator today. There's some great photos over there too!!!!

Isn't it adorable? I got it for Spouse years ago when business trips were happening very frequently. Spouse would then take it to various places, pose it, and then send pictures back for the girls to see what kind of adventures Mr. Cactus was going on. It was their favorite part about Spouse being away.

I get the extra blankets because I don't like crawling under the covers if I haven't showered. If I'm feeling dirty or just not clean, I can have the extra blanket to wrap around myself, sit/ lay on top of the bed, and then I don't feel like I'm making everything messy/ dirty.

Apologies! I figured that that was probably the assumption you had made, and then I realized that "cans" is probably a colloquial term. Sorry for the confusion! Right? It's almost @Lovetocruise2002 or @Jax fancy. I think in the future I may just stick with Hyatt Place or Hyatt House. I used to be a Best Western person, to give you a clue as to how fancy I think this place is. Credit card points, though, make me a Hyatt person!

Just got this email at 6:00. a.m.. It seems to be a duplicate of the one I received earlier this week since there's the state room request form there again. Still, just to be safe, I filled it out again. I'm going to bet money that I don't get my extra blanket!

I cannot for the life of me remember where we got it, but I think it was either Amazon or Target? I just looked right now but can't find it, it's been a few years since we got it; however, I see that Amazon has some really cute others available too. FINALLY!!! I remember this now! I have no idea what that show was about, but if you ever saw this dog run around the yard, you would understand her nickname. Right? I rely on those! Woke up at 5:00 a.m. cuz I'm still used to Arizona time. So excited to get on the ship today! My Uber is coming to pick me up after 10:00 a.m., so I've got a few hours to repack things and figure out what I want to have on me today and what can be given to the luggage porters. IT'S CRUISE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My flight from Vegas finally left at 6:15 p.m., putting me into Long Beach at 7:15. Got my luggage very quickly, took a Lyft over here to the hotel (Hyatt Regency Long Beach), and am now ensconced in my room for the night. I'll try to post pictures tomorrow morning of the main hotel area, but this is a very fancy hotel! Definitely high-end, which means I stick out like a sore thumb. My room has freaking artwork that has its own light switch! I have a beautiful view of the Long Beach harbor and the cute little swan boat pond that's right in front of the hotel.

LOOK AT THOSE PORTION SIZES!!!

Guess who remembered to do the health check in and scored express boarding for tomorrow?

More of The Potato, watching me pack yesterday.

Here's the case: Here are the cans (headphones): I just put it on a loop on my backpack and voila! Saves interior space. Bookworm and DQ named her when they were 9 and 11. She's potato colored, sweet like a potato, and has the intelligence of a potato. Black Lightening is because she's black and is so freaking fast/hyper, but that's her nickname. Apparently due to the heavy winds around here today, my second flight *diverted* to Ontario, CA. Now it's coming here, putting my second flight at 5:45pm. Ugh. But, do you know why that's okay if I'm 4 hours late arriving today? BECAUSE MY CRUISE IS TOMORROW, not today. Annoying but manageable. I also love that you can gamble as you wait in the Vegas airport. Current view isn't too shabby either.

Not great news: my outbound flight was delayed arriving. As soon as we boarded, they issued a ground stop in Vegas. Thankfully, I've already been routed onto the next flight to Long Beach. Ugh but okay. So, I'm now sitting next to an unhappy man with gas for the next hour before we take off...

At the airport and through security. Now awaiting the delayed flight. Stray observation: why are most pilots so hot?

They ARE a cartoon to watch together. Black Lightening recently had to have a toe removed (mid December) and has recovered really well. Potato is just...a potato. I love that they love each other. I was comfortable doing it because I knew the other flights were happening. Otherwise, no way.

I hate saying good bye to Black Lightening and The Potato, but at least everyone else will still be here to play with them. It was apparently too chilly this morning.

Packed and ready to go! It all fit, and I LOVE my new Monos medium suitcase! Ocean Blue is the way to go. When I was traveling back from LA last time, I almost attacked a guy I saw with a headphone case for his cans asking him where he got them. Amazon, of course. So, I asked for a case for Christmas, got it, and now can use it. I love that I can just hang it outside my backpack instead of taking up precious inside space! A bit concerned about the flights now. I only put 45 minutes between my first and second flights, and they've already delayed my first flight. Not TOO terribly concerned because I know there are 3 more flights from LAS to LGB this afternoon after mine, but...I'd rather not get shuffled.

IT'S TRAVEL DAY!!!! The hotel already sent me check in stuff, now I've just got to drag suitcases downstairs after the girls head off to school. Flights are still listed on time! I'm definitely in a good mood. Best news: it's 34° here this morning, but it's 52° right now in LA. WARMTH! Can't wait.