I booked a cruise starting next Sunday, a few days ago, on the Carnival Splendor. They cancelled its regular weekly itinerary out of Long Beach to Mexico, and it's going to Canada instead. This was due to the swine flu pandemic. What a joke. Most people don't want to go to Canada this early in the Spring and cancelled their reservations. It's a humongous ship, that can carry up to 3700 passengers in pampered luxury, so they were literally giving the ducats away. I couldn't pass it up. It turns out to be pretty much free and will be a nice little break from my usual very relaxed schedule. I'll take a few books along and wallow in high quality, 24 hour, all you can eat buffet. We will take some nature walks on Victoria Island, high tea at the Empress Hotel, and prowl around the Chinese sections of Vancouver.
Since it is so cheap anyway, I'm not planning on doing a lot of ancillary spending. One of the things they really soak you for on board is Internet, at a few dollars a minute. Usually I never turn the computer off and am connected 24/7. I'm sure at least one of my four regular readers will miss my 3 or 4 normal posts next week. Sorry. If you can get to Long Beach cheap, you should consider coming along. We can get a table together. Last I looked, they were still selling $200 tickets. Try cruisedirect.com. The whole thing, for two people, is costing me $500 and I'm getting a $250 kickback on my Carnival cruisebucks account that should cover gratuities, parking, and all other incidentals. You don't need a passport 'til June.
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High Tea is really nice there. Take in Pikes Place market if you make a stop in Seattle. The waterfront isn't what it used to be before they cleaned it up and yuppified it for the vanilla pallet of the cruise ship tourist. But there are still some cool shops in the market. Also across the steet on Pike is Piroshky Piroshky – 1908 Pike Place – Order at the counter.
In addition to the outstanding piroshky, (the smoked salmon is not to be missed!) try the coffee rolls, and possibly a marzipan roll. The line for this tiny shop frequently extends outside on the sidewalk in the summer, but it is well worth it.
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