San Diego Port Review…

One of the most important things in cruising is the destinations and I don’t think that I talk enough about destinations here on this blog. One of the reasons I haven’t done so is because, as you know, I have yet to go on my first cruise (AHHHHH!!!! ROAR!!!) and I have been reluctant to write about places I have never been to. It’s easy to write about Alaska or Hawaii or the Caribbean and tell you different facts, that they are beautiful places or what you can do there, however it’s not so easy to write about what a place is actually like;… what it feels like. With that in mind, I have decided to write about a destination that I know very well…in fact, I have chosen to write about one of my favorite places in the world!

Ahem…

One of the saddest things about the down turn in West Coast cruising is there are some really great ports here. Los Angeles is awesome and one of the greatest ports in the world (really I am not biased just cause I live there), Catalina is charming (or so I hear…I have never actually been there…but everyone I know who has seems to like it), and the Mexican Riviera has a lot going for it. But there is one port here that I don’t think gets the attention that it deserves…California’s second largest city and one of its most charming…San Diego.

San Diego has been hit pretty hard by the lack of cruise ships here in California lately. For several years there has been a ship based out of San Diego sailing to places like Hawaii, or, of course, Mexico. However, with the mass exodus going on here, calls in the city have dropped, and the two ships based there for part of the year – Holland America’s Oosterdam and Carnival’s Carnival Spirit (Actually Spirit will start her season there later this year) – will be leaving San Diego for the suddenly relevant Australian cruise market! It’s a real shame though because San Diego is really a great city (in fact, if I couldn’t live in on by Los Angeles, I would choose San Diego) and a great cruise port whether you are based there or just calling.

Located in the southern part of Southern California, close to Mexico, San Diego is one of the West Coast’s most historic cities (it is the oldest European settlement in California and the West Coast), playing host to the first of California’s 21 Spanish Missions, Sea World, a historic old town, numerous tourist attractions, hundreds of great eateries, and one of the oldest and most important ports on the west coast. The city’s Downtown core sits right next to the San Diego Cruise Terminal(s) on the beautiful San Diego Bay. The design, culture and layout of San Diego make it to me an ideal cruise port…in fact, I wish Los Angeles (and other ports) would take a note from San Diego on some points.

One of the best things about SD (that’s San Diego for short) as a cruise port is the fact that many of SD best amenities are within walking distance of the cruise terminals. San Diego International Airport (the second busiest single runway airport in the world) is less then a mile away; the historic aircraft carrier USS Midway, the quaint and trendy Seaport Village, The San Diego Convention Center (home of Comic Con), the train station, Downtown San Diego, the San Diego Maritime Museum (which has the Star of India – the world’s oldest active merchant vessel – on display, among others), Petco Park, many great hotels & resorts, the ferry to Coronado Island, and much more is all right next to or within a few blocks of the cruise terminal. Other great amenities such as Balboa Park with its many museums and gardens, the world famous San Diego Zoo, historic Point Loma, Mission Bay with its many different attractions, fancy La Jolla, and Sea World are just a short (like maybe 5 minutes) car, train or bike ride away…I can personally vouch for the above mentioned attractions…they are all fun!

(San Diego Skyline at night)

The city is huge! With a population of over 1,307,000 people the city is one of the largest in the USA (number 8 I think), and second in California, but at the same time it doesn’t feel like a huge huge city in the way that cities like New York or Los Angeles does…I mean it feels big but not in that densely packed, rush rush, hustle bustle kind of way. SD has a cool and laid back attitude to it. Its cool and sophisticated but at the same time doesn’t try to be (if you can figure out what that means). It has the typical Southern California beach city vibe with a bit of Los Angeles, Miami and Navy town (the US Navy has a big presence in SD) thrown in. It’s a little hard to describe but its is definitely distinctive and unique (in a good way). A world class city!

San Diego is also a pretty good city for shipspotting! Like I alluded to above, when docking in SD, cruise ship dock right in the heart of Downtown SD, almost like the old piers on the West Side of Manhattan, NYC. And just like in NYC, you can stand practically underneath the bow of the ships! Also good for shipspotting is the fact that ships have to travel several miles into the bay to get to the cruise terminals…this gives you many different great vantage points to watch to ships sail from.

SD has many great hotels for you to choose from, which is great for any post or pre cruise stays. Across the streets from the cruise terminal is the Holiday Inn, with one of my favorite restaurants in the city – Elephant & Castle – located on the bottom floor; however if you would prefer something a little more special then a Holiday Inn then you have the wonderful Manchester Grand Hyatt –- one of the largest Hotel/resorts on the West Coast with 2 very tall towers (some of the tallest in the city) and amazing views over the city, bay and the ocean beyond- - located just a couple of blocks away, as well as the beautiful (from what I hear) new Hilton, the Omni (which overlooks Petco Park) and the Marriot (next to the convention center) all within walking distance. If you want a slightly quieter experience then I would suggest my favorite place to stay in SD; in one of the 5 hotels on Shelter Island, located in the north- west section of San Diego Bay near Point Loma and with marvelous views of Downtown, the Bay, Point Loma, North Island and the Coronado Bridge….however this is a couple of miles from the cruise terminal and might be to far to walk for most.

There are many other options, including Paradise Point Resort on Mission Bay, very close to Sea World, the world famous and very beautiful Hotel Coronado, and many many more.

As far as food and drink options go, SD is full of them! The Gas Lamp district in Downtown has many trendy bars and restaurants, Seaport Village (also in Downtown by the cruise terminals) has many also (Including one of my favorites, The Harbor House). There is the very good Fish Market (which serves more then just fish…though I have to say that the sword fish was very good!) located across the quay from the USS Midway. Next to the cruise terminals you will also find ‘Anthony’s’ a restaurant I have been going to since I was a little kid (it has very good clam chowder!). I won’t list anymore here but there are many many more great place to eat.

If you are looking for culture SD offers some great options! There is the extensive Balboa Park with its many different museums - ranging from Natural History, art, Auto History and Aviation history -, gardens, parks, theaters - including the world largest outdoor pipe organ and its dedicated pavilion – , and the world famous San Diego Zoo. Other museums around the city include the Maritime Museum – with the Star of India, the Berkley, two submarines, the Surprise (the ship used in Masters and Commanders) and other boats, the retired aircraft carrier, the USS Midway, and the historic Cabrillo National Monument (commemorating the first landing of a European expedition on what would become the West Coast),and the Old Point Loma Lighthouse.

I could go on and on some more about the many great things about the city, like its beautiful scenery at Point Loma, Torrey Pines State Beach, Sunset Cliffs and else where, or then many other entertainment options like the shops, malls, theaters and other attractions, but for the sake of time and the length of this article…I won’t.

In conclusion…whether or not you are sailing to or from San Diego, or even not sailing at all; this is a great city definitely worth a visit! There are many different things about the city that I have not mentioned here (not even I have seen the whole city, and I have been there dozens of times) so you have much to discover here! Hopefully, the California cruise market will pick up again, bringing more people to this great city!

This past few weeks. The SS United States, Cunard in Los Angeles, and other industry news!

EEEEEEE!!!!!! I am still glowing! Why? Well if you don’t know by now…Cunards Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth were here in Los Angeles!!! It was beautiful!! Too beautiful........I almost died. But that’s not all that happening lately, nope. There is also news of RCI’s plans for a new class of ships, some small updates on the Carnival Splendor (the one that caught fire), Oceana’s newest ship is out and sailing, the SS United States has been bought and some other news!

Cunard!
AHHHHH!!!!! AHHHH!!!!! IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!! Seeing two of the Cunard Queens here in my home town was incredible! The day started off very early, like at 3:30 am early!(…usually I have not even gone to sleep yet at that time.). I got up this early so I would be able to travel from Pasadena to the port (a drive of about 30 miles I’d say) in time to see the Queen Elizabeth sail into port. Unfortunately, when I got there to San Pedro (the port district of the City of Los Angeles) there was some very thick fog and I was not able to see the ship sail in through Angles Gate (the entrance to the Port to Los Angeles), however I was able to go to a park across the quay from the cruise terminal. From here, I was able to see the QE come up the main channel through the fog and dock at the terminal. It was beautiful and I was totally ship geeking out!! (photo at right- "Queen Victoria" by flickr member "Voyager One")

There was only one problem I had. For some reason, it had been decided that the QE would use one of the lower terminals. Let me explain…the cruise terminals at the Port of Los Angeles are arrange in a ‘L’ shape. Two berths are parallel to the main channel, the other terminal and berth is perpendicular to the channel (you see it in the beginning sequence of “The Love Boat”) and it’s perfect for ship spotting as there is a small park and boardwalk located across the slip from it. This later terminal is where I wanted the ship to dock but alas, they docked at the other lover terminal. This terminal isn’t horrible for ship spotting as there is a long walkway that has a good view of the ship but it does put more distance between the ship and you not to mention a large parking lot and a chain link fence. As it turns out, the Sapphire Princess and the Norwegian Star ended up taking the 2 other berths.

As you know, I have my problems with the Queen Elizabeth but seeing her in person was great. I have to admit I am really starting to like this ship (even though I stand by all I have said before) and have never been able to resist a ship in Cunard color. She’s still not as good looking as her sister the Queen Victoria but she’s not as bad as she looks in some pictures. After looking at her pretty much all day she departed from LA in the dark as me, my family (who I dragged along with me) and some other shipgeeks watched.

Next day, it was the Queen Victoria (my favorite of the two)!!! For the sake of keeping this article at a shorter length I shan’t go into the details of the day. I think it will suffice to say, that the day went pretty much like the day before had gone…she docked at the wrong terminal (Disney Wonder got the one I wanted for QV), I geeked out and she was beautiful! I should also mention that despite that fact that the QV had been to Los Angeles before, this was my first time seeing her, which made it very special to me. Unfortunately, I was not able to watch her sail out as I had to get back up to Pasadena but I am sure it was beautiful!!

The only thing that would have made the weekend better was if Cunard had allowed me to visit!!




Royals New Ship?

Speaking about RCI’s better then expected results for the 4th quarter of 2010 and the year as a whole, Richard Fain Chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean also stated that RCI is working on a new class of ship.

In his own words…

"I know the question, when will you be ordering another ship is out there, and
it's waiting to be asked -- it almost always is," said Fain. "I have previously
confirmed that while we look forward to a period of slower growth, we do not aim
to stagnate."

“It will probably be the start of a new a series, which
would incorporate our latest learnings about efficiency and about guest
amenities.”

“We’ve been working intensively on developing a design that
reflects our innovative spirit but in an efficient package and we think we are
near an acceptable outcome,”

Of course, the online cruise and ship geek communities like Cruise Critic or my favorite Cruise Talk at Travel Server, have been buzzing with speculation and predictions about this new class of ships. Everyone is sure that the ships will be smaller then the Oasis class (that is pretty much what Fain said) but can’t seem to agree on just how much smaller. Some are predicting ships around 180,000grt and others are predicting a more modest 120,000 to 130,000grt ship. Some speculate that these ships will not have all the bells and whistles of the Oasis Class or the Freedom Class, others say that these amenities (like the Boardwalk or Central Park on Oasis) can and should appear on these new smaller ships as they are what RCI is know for.

If I can throw my own predictions into the mix here… Personally I think that RCI will or should go smaller with this new class; maybe around 110,000 to 130,000grt in size. I also think that while many of the newer features on RCI ships should be retained, I think these ships should be toned down slightly. My reasoning for these ideas is this…I have read many reviews and opinions that have said they would like to see smaller ships from RCI. For many, the Oasis, Freedom and even the Voyager class are just to large for them, they prefer the likes of the panamax (the largest size that can fit in the Panama Canal) Radiance Class ship. A class of ships sized in between the larger classes and the smaller classes in RCI’s fleet could at like a bridge or stepping stone, for people transitioning to the larger ships. A smaller ship also has more versatility then a larger ship. It can serve more destinations and be put to work on up and coming markets, for example, Australia or Asia. Also some destinations like Alaska, Hawaii or other Caribbean destinations, are more suited for smaller ships (if you can call 120,000grt small).

What ever comes out, I am sure it will be great! RCI are know for their newbuilds. Its very exciting!

Oceana’s New Ship!

Oceana (a luxury line) just put its first new ship, the Marina, into service this past week. Oceana is a relatively new cruise line, started in 2003, and up until now has only had 3 “R” Class ships which were built in the early 2000’s for the now defunct, Renaissance Cruises. A few years ago Oceana ordered a duo of new ships for the line. These new ships would be larger and hold more people then the original ships but were still heavily related to them.

A few days ago, Oceana hosted a naming ceremony for the ship at its home port of Miami. The ship was christened by Entertainment Tonight star Mary Hart. After this the ship set off on a preview cruise with travel agents (which are responsible for the vast majority of Oceana’s bookings) and invited guests. So far the ship looks good (maybe a little dated looking in some areas, but that works for Oceana’s passengers) and the reviews are really good.

The United States has been bought…

The world famous Ocean Liner, the SS United States, has recently been bought from its previous owners, NCL, by he United States Conservancy, a group dedicated to the future career and preservation of this American flag ship. (photo at right - "The SS United States coming in" by flickr member "Captain Zenith ")

The sad thing is that most American’s have never heard of this ship, their flagship and Ship of State, the United States (also know as the Big U). They don’t know of its unique mark on the USA’s history, they don’t know of its career or the way it came to symbolize a powerful post WWII United States to the rest of the world.

The United States Conservancy and I would love to change that.

Short history of this ship…
After WWII, the US wanted to build a passenger liner to serve on the North Atlantic and compete with Brittan and France for the passenger trade. The ship was to be safe, reliable, fast…like really fast, and comfortable. On top of this, seeing the way the glorious Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth heroically served the allied forces during WWII, delivering hundreds of thousands of troops to the front, the US wanted a liner that could do the same in a time of war.

The answer to these demands was the beautiful United States, our nation’s new Ship of State. Setting sail on her maiden voyage on July 4th, 1952, she shattered all previous transatlantic speed records (……the Queen Mary’s speed record…-_-…). After that she went on to have a successful but short career. She carried many of the worlds most elite on almost every voyage and never once did she have any kind of mechanical failure delay her. Throughout her career she was an icon of American ingenuity, innovation and power. However due to the emergence of clumsy jet travel, transatlantic travel by ocean liner began to decline. Because of this, the United States Line (her owners) decided to with draw her from service and lay her up. After that she was passed from owner to owner having all her interior fittings removed until eventually she was bought by NCL with the intention of putting her back into active service in Hawaii. These plans never materialized for many reasons and as such the Big U remained laid up in Philadelphia. Through the last few years the United States Conservancy has worked tirelessly to insure that this ship is preserved and protected. In 2009, NCL announced that it was taking bids for the ship which of course attracted the scrap yards. In response to this the Conservancy ramped up its fund raising in effort to by the ship themselves. Luckily due to the generosity of some people and NCL, the Conservancy was able to reach an agreement with NCL where the Conservancy would buy the ship for only 3 million…even though this was less then the bids from scrap yards.

This past week the transaction became final and the SS United States is under the owner ship of the Conservancy. Now comes the real challenge…the Conservancy only has a limited amount of time to raise money and come up with a viable way to save this historic ship. Keeping up a ship is not cheap and to say that this will be a difficult undertaking is a large understatement. But I sincerely hope that they will succeed…this ship is too important for it to just be scraped or laid up forever. It’s a symbol of our country and needs to be saved. I would encourage anyone reading this to donate to the cause or do anything you can to help the Conservancy in this important effort.
PLEASE LOOK HERE... http://www.ssunitedstatesconservancy.org/

Anyways, sorry it has been so long since I have written on here. I haven’t forgotten about this blog or my readers (who apparently now number in the thousands :D ).
Hope by the time you finish reading this really really long article that I have the next one ready for you. I currently have 3 other ones in the oven.

Stay tooned!!

Above photo- the SS United States (top) passing her fleetmate the SS America (bottom) in New York City.

California Cruising

With my recent article about Carnival and the exodus from Los Angeles and the rest of Southern California, I thought it might be interesting to talk a little bit about cruising out of California, and what I think should happen in the future as far as California cruising and destinations go.

First, why is California having these problems?

Cruising from California is failing for a number of reasons. First, there is the violence in Mexico. People are scared to travel there (at least this side of Mexico) even though Mexican officials and port officials, as well as the industry, point out that the touristy areas are not affected or dangerous. People don’t see it that way and the numbers reflect that (apparently).

Secondly, the infamous Swine Flu (da da da daaa!!) also bit into the Mexican Riviera cruise passenger numbers. When the outbreak first occurred, the cruise lines moved ships from the Riviera to California and Canadian coastal cruises that went up to Vancouver and Victoria, BC and San Francisco. This affected many passengers and the bottom line for the cruise lines, as some people just cancelled their cruise altogether. (Funnily enough some people actually really liked the altered itineraries).

Thirdly, Southern California’s economy is sluggish at the moment. With the recession hitting CA pretty hard (haha!! we are still richer then all you puny other states! Just playing!!!) and even if the ships are sailing full, this causes problems for the industry as the sluggish economy drives down cruise prices in the region, and subsequently, profits.

Fourthly, a problem that port officials here in California like to point out, is that Mexico has failed miserably to market and advertise its ports and the uniqueness of each one. Because of this many people are just not really interested in the ports on the Mexican Riviera because they know nothing about them or why they would be a good cruising destination.

Fifthly, I think there is a lack of choices on this side of the continent. Out here we have the big 3 mass market lines…Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and NCL. Other than that, lines usually only sail really short seasons here, or just stop in on their way to Alaska, Panama or Asia. Carnival, RCI and NCL are all great, but what if you want a Cunard or Celebrity Cruises experience? You’re out of luck.



The last problem I will list here today is destinations, and the things limiting them for the west coast. You see, one of the biggest problems facing the cruise industry in California is a lack of varied itineraries. On a 7 day cruise out of California, you have the Mexican Riviera and that’s pretty much it. You can go to Hawaii, Costa Rica, Panama or Canada but all those cruises take longer then a week, and in the case of Hawaii, you can’t even cruise from CA to Hawaii without first stopping in Mexico or Canada, according to federal law. That law is also the reason you don’t see cruises of the west coast.

Which brings me to what the future should hold for CA, in my opinion…

This law should be changed. California has many coastal cities like, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Pismo Beach, Monterey, Eureka, San Simeon or San Francisco that would benefit greatly from cruise business. The problem with this is the Jones Act; a federal law that requires that foreign flag ships stop at a foreign port between traveling from one US port to another. Back in the day of ships being the only way to get around, this was done as a way to give American Shipping companies an edge over foreign competition. Forcing foreign ships to first stop in a port out side the US meant that foreign ships could not keep the same schedules that American ships could, and it also meant that they could not service routes like New York to Florida, or California to Hawaii.

Back in the day this might have been a good idea, but now-a-days it’s a problem in some cases…this is one of them. Cruises from L.A. up the California Coast could be really popular and could generate millions and millions of dollars for the local economies of the cities cruises would go to. Not to mention it could help turn around the cruise industry on the west coast by giving more options to the cruising public and the industry. It could also open up cruising to Hawaii and give more options in Alaska, Washington and Oregon. Most cruise ships are flagged in foreign countries like the Bahamas or Panama or England so all these good ports are, for all intents and purposes, cut off.

Like I said in my last article though, I think the California based cruise industry will start to pick up again soon. Maybe in 2012! The port of Los Angeles is investing over one billion dollars into the surrounding area and into a new cruise terminal as a way to attract more ships and cruise lines. Southern California is a great place and it would be a real shame for cruise ships to keep leaving here. Also like I said, California is one of the largest cruise markets in the country, behind FL, and it would make little sense to leave CA.

We will have to see what the future hold for California. I think it’s going to be good! Maybe a Cunard ship will be based out here all year round!! AHHHH!!!! Dream come true!

P.S.- My Dearest and most beautiful Cunard,
Please let me visit next week!!!!! PLEASE!!!
I love you always and forever!
Yours forever…
- Mark

Happy 2011 from Pasadena!!

Well I have had a thoroughly fun, thoroughly Pasadena-ish and thoroughly Cunard-ish New Years so far. Sorry I have not blogged about it yet, but as I am sure you, my dear readers, can understand, I have been quite busy!

Picture at right is from Rambling of a ShipGeek's flickr account. ramblingshipgeek

Any who, late as it is I wish all of you a happy and prosperous 2011 and I hope you had a great New Years holiday! May this year be full of cruises and ships for all of you!

My 2011 started off great, also most importantly to this blog and to anyone reading this, my New Years has been very Cunard-ish like I said. First of all, there was the Rose Parade. For those of you who did not see the Rose Parade in person, or at least on TV, you missed out because it was beautiful! The marching bands were all great, the horses were cool, and all the floats were beautiful (remember that in the Rose Parade, every square inch of visible surface on the float must be covered with some kind of plant material) and of course one float in particular stood out as the most beautiful...CUNARD’S FLOAT!!!

Unfortunately during the parade, the float went by rather fast and I didn’t get to see as much of it, in action, as I had hoped. However I saw enough and let me tell you, it was nice. The Float had won the ‘Queen’s Trophy’ for the best use of Roses (there were a ton of them) and onboard had many people waving and dancing to a live band playing Big Band music, as well as Cunard Bell Boys walking along side the float. From front to back, it had a black and white bow (decorated with different kinds of seed to replicated Cunards livery) flanked by dolphins, made from silver leaf, jumping out of an ocean of blue and white flowers. After that there was a lounge space with bottles of champagne, a ball room with dancers, and a stained glass ceiling with a giant chandelier, a live band and then a grand staircase with a large golden globe and a floral graph depicting the three Cunard Queens. All that remained after that was an area with the Iconic Cunard funnel (which was giving off smoke) and 2 levels of out door deck space. It was beautiful and despite the fact that it went by too fast, I did get a video and some pictures. Both of which can be seen on Ramblings of a Ship-Geek’s Youtube channel and soon, it’s Flickr account!

From Rambling of a ShipGeek's youtube account...

My experience with this float did not end there though, for the very next day I spent ten dollars and did a ton of walking up hill and in the rain (ok no rain…yet) just so I could go to the float viewing and take almost 100 pictures (which are now available to view on our Flickr page) of the float. I also took pictures of the other floats just in case you readers are interested (they will be available on Flickr soon).

After that I expected my story with the float would end, and that I would probably not see it again….But I did!

First some back story…every year a couple of days after the Rose Parade (usually on the second) the floats are taken back to the ‘float barns’ where they were built and decorated. When this happens some of the floats pass down the street in front of our house on their way to one of these barns (so its like we get our own personal Rose Parade right outside our door!). Well this year after the floats passed, my cousin, a friend and I, decided to follow the floats in a car and pick up and flowers that were dropped along the way. Our flower scavenging lead us to one of the barns, the so called ‘Rose Palace’, where we discovered that if you asked nicely they would let you come in and pick what ever you wanted off the floats. We came back home with the motherlode!

With our flower hunting success we decided to go out early the next morning and ask for more flowers. Well next morning comes and as we are standing in front of the Rose Palace we chicken out and decided to go to another float barn in a city called, Irwindale. I am glad we did!....I had a date with destiny.

When we got there we stood outside for about 10 minutes trying to work up the courage to ask if we could go in and look, and pick flowers. Eventually we did and I think you can all guess what float I made a beeline to...yup, the Cunard float! We ended up picking tons of flower from the float and then tons more from the other…a ton a flowers which are now all over the place in my house! I was really hoping that I could take something with the Cunard logo on it but I had to settle for just flowers. Oh well..at least they were Cunard flowers! We were there for about an hour picking flowers and by the time we left my car was full of them.

This is where I finally said goodbye to the Cunard float. But the story of Cunard and me is not over, oh no, it will go on forever until the stars turn cold! I look forward to next years Rose Parade with the hope that Cunard will continue participating in it. But for the immediate future I am looking forward to 2011, QV and QE (Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth) being here in Los Angeles in just a few weeks (LET ME VISIT THEM CUNARD!!! PLEASE!!!...pretty please?), my first cruise, which I am determined to do this year and a great year for this blog to grow even more!

I hope you all have a great 2011 and I hope you continue to read and enjoy this simple blog!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A Cunard New Year! less the 24 Hours Till the Rose Parade!

Well less the 24 hours left until next year! and less the 24 for hours from now I will be watching as Cunard's "Grand Celebration at Sea" sails down Colorado Boulevard here in Pasadena!! It is a pretty exciting time to be a shipgeek and more specifically a Cunard-geek, in Pasadena! I will be posting tomorrow with pictures from the Parade and most of all with pictures of Cunard's float!

For those of you who do not know about or read Cunard's blog... here is a interesting and relevant article.

http://wearecunard.com/2010/12/a-new-year%e2%80%99s-day-grand-celebration/

HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

The Rose Parade and Cunard!!

Well I am very excited for this coming New Year! A whole new year for cruising, blogging, geeking out over ships, visiting the Beautiful and Ever Perfect…Queen Mary in Long Beach and also…The 2011 Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade!!

Why am I so excited about a Parade?? You ask. Well for one, it’s the world famous Rose Parade! Secondly, I am from Pasadena, California and I love the Rose Parade and Pasadena, Thirdly…this year, for the first time ever The Great, The Powerful, The Amazing and Historical Cunard Line (….*geek drool…) is going to have a float in this, the greatest of all Parades!

Named “A Grand Celebration at Sea”, the float will be Cunards first ever foray into this Parade even though, interestingly enough, Cunard has had a connection to Southern California for decades. The float is designed to show different scenes and experiences that you could have on a Cunard ship like a Grand Ball, a grand staircase, a big band orchestra, a large floral graph of the Three, current, Cunard Queens, a Cunard funnel and other such er…um…..grandness. AHHHHHHH!!!! I LOVE CUNARD!!!!...sorry, I had a geek out moment there :D. (The picture below shows what the float will look like)

For those of you who might possibly not know what the Rose Parade is….first of all I would suggest you get out from under that rock you live beneath, because if you hadn’t heard of the Rose Parade, well…you must live under a rock. Secondly, the Rose Parade is a very large parade that we have here in Pasadena every year on New Years to celebrate the coming of the new year. Millions of people every year watch the Rose Parade all over the world. There are marching band, horses and of course the floats. The thing that is special about this parade over others is the floats, because in the Rose Parade every single visible inch of them has to be covered in flowers or some kind of plant material. As a result the floats are really quite beautiful and now with the addition of a Cunard float the parade will be incomprehensibly beautiful! ;)

I will try and get pictures from the parade route of the Parade and most importantly of the Cunard float. I will be sure to post those here so be sure to keep reading!!