Wanderlust Wednesdays: Oahu 2015 Day 1

Two weeks ago I took a mini trip to Hawaii to not only get some much needed r&r but also to celebrate my friend's dirty 30! It was a short trip but since I have been going every year since graduation, we weren't planning on doing anything crazy touristy so it was very relaxing.

It was my first time flying to Hawaii on United and it was less than stellar but I was able to get to Honolulu at 11:30am so it was a good trade off. I usually fly on Hawaiian or Alaska and most all flights fly out of San Diego at 9 or 10am so you don't get to Hawaii until 2-3pm so you lose some precious time to get settled. I started off the day flying from San Diego at 6:20am to LA and then transferred to a jumbo plane to fly to Honolulu. We were delayed for about 30 minutes. On the plane, they ran out of hot food so I was pretty much starving by the time we landed. Luckily, my friends were on the same wave length so we headed to Curry House. Noms. Got too hungry to take pictures but curry never really looks too appetizing lol.

After lunch we went to the store to purchase some snacks and beverages before heading to Aulani. It was the first time we stayed during the start of the busy season so it was crazy to see so many people there. We checked in and our room wasn't ready so to continue the #YOLO tradition of these trips, we headed to the bar. We were lucky enough to grab a seat and some desserts on the Mouse!

Treats from the Mouse included chocolate cake, macarons, chocolate dipped strawberries and pineapple pound cake. I don't have a sweet tooth but I still enjoyed all of it!

While we were enjoying our drinks, we got a text that our room was ready so we headed to the front desk and we were placed in room 842. This was the first time we got an Ocean View room and let me just say it was worth every penny. The view is absolutely beautiful. If you're going on your honeymoon and plan on spending a decent amount of time in the room *wink wink*, know that you aren't missing much. Enjoy a sip of coffee or a cocktail from your balcony. Make sure you head down to the infinity pool to watch the sunset since it's something you won't be able to see from this side of the resort.

We unpacked our stuff and changed into our swimwear and headed to the nearby beach to try to spot some sea turtles which I've missed every time I've been. Unfortunately even though it was high tide around 5pm, there were no turtles so we headed back to Aulani to enjoy the lazy pool.

The day was coming to an end so we went to the community center to borrow 2 movies and headed out to grab dinner. We were going to grab shabu shabu but the wait was close to 45 minutes (on a Thursday!) so we opted to grab boba and Aiea Bowl to-go. Twas delicious and we called it a night since I had been up for almost 24 hours.

Stay tuned for Day 2 on Oahu!

Wanderlust Wednesday: Ensenada

A couple of weeks ago we went on a little vacation to Ensenada on the Carnival Imagination. It was a 3 night cruise leaving out of Long Beach, CA. I've been itching to go somewhere but I didn't have much time off so this was just perfect. The cruise started on Thursday and we came back Sunday morning. This would be my 4th cruise and 3rd with Carnival. I've been a big fan of cruises since my very first one because of the convenience. You don't have to worry about lodging, food, or basically anything! Despite getting sea sick on every single one of the cruises I've been on (I took meclizine too!), I was still able to enjoy all of them.

no waiting in a separate line to get our sign and sail cards since our rooms were already ready!

This was the view from our room on the Riviera Deck (Deck 4).

We opted for the beverage program on the ship which was 15 alcoholic beverages (valued at $10 or less) for $50 per day. Each person in that cabin must also enter the beverage program. We weren't able to drink all 15 drinks each day but it was a stress-free way to not have to lug a bunch of alcohol in our luggage.

muster station selfie!

menu on the first night

The towel animals are usually my favorite surprise of any Carnival cruise! You never know what you'll get! On the first night we got this fellow. We think he might be a lobster. What do you think?

We arrived in Ensenada around 9am and would be leaving again at 6pm. We weren't sure what we would be doing that day yet so we decided to check out the shore excursions desk. We ended up deciding to go horseback riding in the mountains. I've only been horseback riding once before (in Santa Barbara for a bestie's bachelorette party) but it should be like riding a bike? lol.

we were wondering why mr. potato head doing there and his significance to mexico lol

Getting off the ship is sometimes a long process so we had breakfast and explored the ship a little since we had some time before our excursion started.

On the ranch

After horseback riding, we wanted to eat some seafood and decided to pick the brain of our tour guide. He recommended Haliotis which turned out to be this really high end restaurant but super delicious food. We felt bad because we were dressed in workout attire and everyone else there was dressed in business attire! Luckily the staff made us feel right at home and didn't look at us like some dirty Americans lol.

fish ceviche

Formal night ended up being on the same night that we were ported! That was really weird but we still managed to do it and snap a few shots around at all the booths. Our photos were much to hideous to post lol.

Formal night means unlimited lobster!

Then we find this cool guy waiting for us in the room.

Mornings started at the omelette station. It reminded me of the good 'ole days at Covel at UCLA.

Overall we had a nice little getaway to Ensenada. We were able to try some really great food. We were a bit disappointed with the quality of the ship as well as the quality of the food on the 3 day cruise (Baja Mexico) versus the 7 day cruises (Mexican Riveria). But if you're not impressed with the food on the 3 day cruises, don't let that deter you from going on the 7 day cruises. The food is SIGNIFICANTLY better on the 7 day cruises. I was also disappointed that there was no sushi bar! That was one of the highlights on the 7 day cruises for me. It was a nice appetizer before dinner especially if you had the later dinner. I would probably do the same cruise again if I had a 4 day weekend to spare and do a different excursion (probably visit the blowhole).

The quality of the ship was also a disappointment. This ship must have been decades old and as much as they tried to maintain it, it still looked really dated. Again, the cruise ships that they use for the longer cruises are also much newer so don't let this kind of cruise deter you from future cruising. You pretty much get what you pay for.

Because the cruise wasn't really up to par with what I had expected, the travel bug is latched on and not letting go. Not sure where we're off to next but we're off to brainstorming!

Happy Hump Day friends! Hope the rest of your week will fly by!