Year 4, Day 150 “Living the Dream”. Friday, 9/27/2024. Day 17 of 25-day Alaska to Las Vegas. Day 13 of 13-night Brilliance of the Seas cruise. It is our last cruise day. We are at Catalina Island, California today. This is a tender port. Catalina Island is a total of 76 square miles. 22 miles long and 8 miles wide at its widest point. The coastal perimeter is 54 miles. The island is part of California’s Channel Islands and is administratively part of Los Angeles County. It has two towns, Avalon and Two Harbors. We will be docking at Avalon today. The island’s highest peak is Mount Orizaba, which rises to an elevation of 2,097 feet.
This is a tender port. First thing I ran down to deck five dining room to wait in a huge line to get a tender number. We were given number 14. Then breakfast and off to the spa at 8 am for a mani pedi with shellac on my finger nails. The price was $152.64 with a diamond plus discount of $31.00 and gratuity of $25.44. Everyone always wants to know about the spa services and prices. I always get the best mani pedi on the ships.
The hair services and facials are wonderful as well. Although the prices to me are high. I asked about having my roots colored today and was quoted a price of $170.00 plus an additional 20 percent service charge to color my roots and blow dry my hair. Total would have been $204.00. Well call me CHEAP. I am going to find a Sally’s store tomorrow. I will purchase some color and then color my hair in our Hilton hotel room. If we were on the ship longer I would have paid the ship salon to do my hair. We docked out in the water at 11am at Santa Catalina island. It is one of California’s Channel Islands. It lies southwest of Los Angeles. It’s known for its wildlife and dive sites. Mt. Orizaba is the highest peak. Looking from the ship it reminds us of a Caribbean island. The hillsides are pretty and look very remote. A small harbor town and homes are clustered on the hillside. They are going up from that harbor valley. At 11:43 am we are standing on deck two. Many other passengers are with us. We are all waiting to get on our tender. We tendered over to the island. The water here is super clear.
The shops have very nice clothing, gifts, and souvenirs. You can rent golf carts and tour by yourself. We just walked around. On this island here in the town of Avalon there are a lot of hotels, bars, restaurants, gift shops, and a casino. The passenger ferry to Catalina Island costs $84 round trip on the Catalina Express. The Catalina Express departs from Long Beach, San Pedro and Dana Point. The cost on the Catalina Flyer from Newport Beach is $78 round trip. We saw lots of helicopters coming in also. A little history about how movie companies have affected the island. In the 1920’s 14 bison came to Catalina Island for the filming of a feature film. They were allowed to stay and have become an integral part of Catalina Island. Cared for by the Catalina Island Conservancy, the herd, now around 100 bison, roam wild within Catalina Island’s vast wildlands. Several island tour companies offer interior tours. On these tours, you can view bison, Catalina Island fox, and American Bald Eagles. Palm trees are not native here and were also brought to Catalina for aesthetic and filming purposes. More than 500 films, documentaries, commercials, and TV shows have been shot in and around Catalina over the years.
We found a duck.
This is our last night on the ship. Tomorrow we are off the ship and heading to Las Vegas, Nevada.
Cruise Compass:
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
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