Embarkation Day--Hotel Maya, Port of Long Beach

Embarkation -- January 20, 2014

After a restful night at the Hotel Maya, we woke up to a beautiful morning in Long Beach. Right out of our balcony was the sight of Downtown Long Beach, the marina, and the Queen Mary. It was a good idea to spent the night at Maya to get us into the mood of vacationing and cruising.

Waiting for the sun rise.

Fire pit down at the hotel ground. That walkway can easily take us to the cruise terminal in about 20 minutes.

Queen Mary from our balcony. Inspiration was not there yet.

Gorgeous!

After a really nice breakfast buffet at the hotel, we took a relaxing walk around the area.

This was building 3 and we stayed on the 3rd floor.

Inspiration is now docked.

Downtown Long Beach in the background.

Large outdoor swimming pool at the Maya.

The park between Hotel Maya and Queen Mary.

It took us less than 10 minutes to walk from the hotel to here.

Carnival cruise terminal--the Dome where they used to house the Spruce Goose. 

(Sorry, this is the Long Beach Arena, not the Aquarium. Thank you, Rosefloater, a cruisecritic member, for pointing out my mistake.)

Hotel Maya

We requested the hotel shuttle to transfer us to the pier at 10:00 and we were dropped off exactly where the luggage collection area was which was very convenient. The driver told us what to expect and how long it will take us to go through the process. We were the only three passengers on that shuttle.

We arrived early and the whole place was quite empty and quiet. Queen Mary to the left of the dome.

No lines at all at this outdoor check-in area. It took us less than 10 minutes to check-in. Little did we know that we were there for the longest wait. The staff who checked us in said it would be 1:15 before we will be boarding. I thought he was joking.

Our beautiful ship waiting for us.

Zone 1 waiting area. That's the parking structure where they charge $17 daily rate.

We were given this for boarding.

As we waited and waited, more and more passengers showed up and this was how it looked at around 12:00. The reason for the long wait was that they were still disembarking passengers from the previous cruise. This has to be the slowest disembarking port there is. We found out later on our debarkation day.

I would hate to be in that long check-in line now.

People were getting impatience. By the time they started boarding it was close to 12:30. They started with Priority Boarding of Diamond and Platinum guests and guests who needed assistance, then zone 1, and so on... and it was time to move into the dome for security check and embarkation pictures before boarding.

We skipped the pictures and walked onto the gangway.

Finally getting on the ship.

Ready for our short cruise on the Inspiration!

Pre-Cruise, Hotel Maya, Long Beach

Hotel Maya, Long Beach and Ports O' Call, San Pedro -- January 19, 2014

We had arranged a 4-day Baja cruise for about 30 member ministers of GLACMA on the Carnival Inspiration departing from Long Beach on January 20. We decided to stay at the Hotel Maya, a Doubletree Hotel with the Hilton Group near the port the night before. This will give us an early start the next day plus free parking for the duration of the cruise instead of paying $17 for daily parking at the port. Using the Carnival code got us the cheapest rate, even better than AAA, AARP, or Hilton Honor.

We were upgraded to an oceanview room as Hilton Honor Gold member and were sent to our with some warm cookies for the night. Our room was in Building 3 on the 3rd floor with a balcony overlooking the shoreline. The room was of good size and nicely appointed. We could see the Queen Mary and downtown Long Beach from the balcony.

I thought the headboards were interesting, the pebbles made for a beach-like atmosphere.

Ports O' Call, San Pedro

After settling in, we needed to find a place for dinner. We had not been to the Ports O' Call for many years and wanted to check it out. It turned out that the place went through a lot of changes. Seems like most business in the area were closed down and the place was very quiet, except the part where there were stalls selling freshly cooked seafood. Mariachi bands were playing and many people enjoying their expensive seafood there. We didn't feel comfortable eating there but found the restaurant called "Ports O Call" at the other end of the port and enjoyed a nice dinner.

From our table looking out towards the Los Angeles Port area.

The quiet restaurant with a nice salad bar.

We weren't that hungry, so we ordered an appetizer platter to share. Stuffed mushrooms, fried calamari, artichoke and spinach dip, tortilla chips, and sweet potato fries.

Both Christian and I ordered the Clam Chowder while MOR had the soup and salad bar. Clam Chowder $6, Soup and Salad Bar $14 (MOR ended up paying $12 for the salad bar and the bowl of Clam Chowder, maybe because he had only one bowl of soup). The appetizer platter was $19. Everything was delicious and the salad bar was nicely-stocked with a few sushi items and also caviar.

Entrance to the restaurant

Front of the restaurant. It seems like the restaurant was the only thing that's opened.

Hardly any one in the area. I remember it used to be a busy place filled with tourists before.

Heard that they have plans to renovate this area. I think they need it badly in order to revive this place.