All hands on deck!

So so happy to report that I have checked doing a girls trip with my WA bestie off my 2023 resolutions! I just got back from meeting her in Long Beach and doing a mini cruise- and my heart is oh so happy! 

No chance of mistaking my luggage for anybody else's here! With sunshine on the horizon, I took the opportunity to pack my luggage with tons of Lilly!

We booked the "4-Day Baja Mexico from Long Beach, CA" on the Carnival Radiance. This mini cruise makes a stop at Catalina Island and Ensenada.

We were greeted with sunny skies when disembarking to Avalon on Catalina Island. Avalon is definitely the tourist spot on Catalina and is lined with tons of shops and restaurants to grab a bite.

We walked up and down the streets checking out all the little shops. 

There's a little beach right off the boulevard that was a great place to take a little break. 

Catalina is also a vacation destination for many divers. Gray has big dreams of visiting during lobster season and doing some spearfishing. 

And this was the cherry on top for me! I had heard about Weezie's online and couldn't wait to visit this store. I'm not sure if they are technically a signature store but they do in fact carry Lilly Pulitzer!

As a NorCal Lilly lover who does 99% of my shopping online, it's a treat to get to see Lilly in person! I also got a little sneak of new arrivals getting unpacked!  

IYKYK... Step Brothers lovers would be amused to know that the Catalina Wine Mixer is real and was just around the corner!

Catalina was the perfect stop! The weather was great and it was so nice getting to walk around all the little shops!

The second stop on our trip was Ensenada, Mexico! 

We started off our trip with some horseback riding on the beach! 

All smiles here even though our horses DID NOT like each other! Anytime our horses got near each other Courtney's horse would try to bite mine and my horse would try and kick hers. Thankfully, Courtney and I are both experienced riders so nothing disastrous happened but probably could have been more enjoyable. 

Next up we traveled to La Buradora, one of the world's largest marine geysers- also referred to as the blowhole.  

To get to the blowhole you have to walk through the flea market where tons of goods and tasty foods are available. The food here was probably what I was looking forward to the most on this vacation! 

There she blows! Pina colada in hand, we checked out the blow! If I'm being honest here I didn't find the blowhole to be anything spectacular... Living so close to the Norcal coast I get plenty of opportunities to see waves crashing into rocks. 

This was our tour guide for the day, Gerardo! He was the best! We chose not to do an excursion directly affiliated with Carnival. This was a total gamble but defiently paid off for us! Gerardo, or "Tiny" as his friends call him, was the kindest guide. He answered all our questions and helped us pick the best food booths!

Smoked clams are one of THE foods to try at the blowhole. Neither Courtney or I eat seafood so it was a miss for us but I still had to grab some photos for Gray! 

Fresh Ceviche being made!

Elotes were on my food bucket list for this trip and this one was soooooo good!

Gerardo told us not to get tacos at the blowhole because they were "tourist tacos". So on the way back towards the port Gerardo took us to his favorite taco shop. There was a cow head on the counter so I think we got the authentic experience! No surprises here, the tacos were delicious!

After we were dropped back off at port we had a little bit of time before we had to get back on the boat so we decided to check out the nearby shops. 

This area was pretty cool and honestly had about the same type of shops and food available that was at the blowhole. If I ever found my way back to Ensenada I would likely skip the travel to the blowhole and stick around the port. 

This was cool mural that was right by the entrance to the fish market!

I'm oh so glad you can't smell photos.... the fish market was cool but the smell was wayyyy to fishy for me.

Churros! Churros! Churros! These were also on my food bucket list and oh boy did I indulge! We tried some at the blowhole and then again at the port. This one was freshly fried and filled with caramel. Sooooooooo gooooood! The perfect last food to say adios to Mexico!

The cruise then finished off with a day at sea and then back to the port of Long Beach. 

I don't have a ton of photos from being on board but one of my favorite things were all the towel animals! Our housekeeping guy was the sweetest and we were excited to see what animal we would receive each day!

Another favorite thing on the boat was the Piano Lounge with Raz. This was both of ours favorite entertainment! Raz is super talented and entertaining- though that pour soul has for sure had to play Piano Man one too many times! 

Final thoughts on the cruise?

This cruise was definitely a booze cruise so if you are looking for a relaxing vacation, this is not it. From the moment we stepped on the boat there was thumping music and continued late into the nights. It was difficult to find a secluded spot on the deck to just chill and my voice is still recovering from trying to speak over the noise.

There was a ton of different food options on the boat... but none of them were great. Neither of us found anything particularly crave worthy and often stuck to snacky, basic foods (bread, fruit, cheese ect.)

The Carnival Radiance is an older ship and while it has been more recently renovated, it still couldn't escape the strange deck plan. There was no deck that you could walk outside around the whole boat which was a disappointment. There were also times to get to a certain place you had to walk directly through the casino (which was always super smokey) and other times where you would have to go up a floor, walk over, and then go back down to get to your final destination. It was a very confusing layout AND that's coming from two people who were sober the entire trip. 

The ship is also on the smaller side, which meant unfortunately for me I could feel every dip of the ocean. Even with motion sickness medication, neither of us felt great to be on the boat. 
The ship was also so COLD. Our weather wasn't great to begin with but even on the inside they kept the air pumping throughout the whole ship. We were both ecstatic to get loungey blankets!

The overall phrase for this trip was "the price is right". AKA this cruise was so cheap that expectations and deliverance was pretty low. 

I am absolutely SO happy I got to finally see my bestie and I did really enjoy both ports. That being said I am also happy to be back on solid ground!