This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin
Ground Staff
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Checked in on line the night before which was of course painless as ever and got the seats we has pre-booked. Got to T3 at about 12.30 and went to the DIY check in where there were only 4 people in front of us, bliss, especially as there was a pretty big queue in the economy check in.
Went straight to security from check in and the queues here were huge. I don't know if there was a security alert on that day but it took us nearly an hour to get through. Anyway once through we did a bit of shopping, grabbed a bite to eat and went to the gate where we boarded the plane immediately.
The plane was African Queen and was packed. Obviously a trip to LA was a popular choice today. We pushed back at around 3.00pm and were airborne 10 minutes later. The captain informed us that our route that day and the prevailing winds meant that we were expected to get into LAX around 90 minutes early which was a bonus. Movie choice was a bit limited and so watched the best of a bad lot, 40 year old virgin which turned out to be reasonably amusing (I think everyone will be able to associate themselves with at least one of the poor sod's scenarios) .
Food was OK (Sausage & Mash) and the service was up to the usual VS standards (i.e. good considering the plane was full). The flight itself was quite smooth with very little turbulance and overal the journey was very pleasant.One interesting point was an announcement by the in flight super who stressed the importance of filling out the visa waiver and customs declarations correctly as the week before a whole VS flight into LAX was held in the immigration hall for an hour and a half because of some mistakes made by some of the passengers from this flight on these forms.
Needless to say I checked our forms several times to make sure we weren't going to be responsible for a repeat experiance and I noted the crew were very keen to help anyone that needed help (the crew on the other plane were apparently held up with the passengers).
And so after flying over Vegas (never ceases to impress as it stands out in the desert) we began our decent to LA LA Land as the sun was setting. Landing was pretty smooth and true to the Captains word we were about 90 minutes early. The plane had to be towed to the stand and then we were off. Did our usual trick and ran to immigration, were were about 10th in the queue and were were through within around 10 minutes. 30 minutes after that we had our bags and were making our way out to meet the Town Car I'd booked.
Oh dear, 20 minutes later still no towncar. So I rang the hotel, Le Merigot, (booked the car through them) and they announced that no car had been booked. OK, so why am I holding a confirmation email in my hand?
Profuse apologies and the promise of a taxi fair refund had us on our way after a 15 minute wait at the taxi stand. Arrived at the hotel and they couldn't have been nicer about the whole situation. Upgraded our room, knocked $25 a night off our original rate and gave us a $48 a night credit for breakfast which definately took the wind right out of my sails and will ensure that they are my first choice when we're back in Santa Monica later this year.
The weather was great for the whole weekend and we really enjoyed the area around the beach, pier and 3rd street prominade including eating at Johnny Rockets and Bubba Gumps.
Monday we drove down to Long Beach and had a quick look at the Queen Mary (decided not to go on board at $33 a head and so left for San Pedro and our first Cruise.
Cruise details in brief are, San Diego - OK, but not as good as we thought it would be. Gas Lamp Quarter was a real dissapointment although I suspect it would be better at night. Catalina - Great fun once you get off the ship, if you go rent a golf cart. Ensenada - Not somewhere you would choose to go on holiday but nice enough for a few hours. The ship was really good, 24 hour food if you wanted it and up to a good standard. But we don't think cruising is really for us. We had a good time but can't really enjoy holidays on a timetable.
Finally on Friday we left the ship and drove up to Anaheim for a few days in Disney. Hasn't changed much since we were here 3 years ago, but still great fun and more easy on the feet than Orlando. The California park was a big dissapointment. The new Monsters Inc ride was rubbish, Soarin was good but too short, Screamin was OK, The Tower of Terror is much the same as Orlando but the Aladdin show was fantasic and well worth a visit.
So that's it for part one. Part 2 will follow in a few days.
Miopyk
