After a reasonable night sleep in our temporary room, we watched our Mother Ship sail into the port of San Pedro. The first hurdle was having a queue for over 1 hour for the waste of time face to face immigration debacle. This was followed by another 2 queues just to actually step foot outside of the terminal. I realise they are very security conscious in America but when we only have about 6 hours in L.A. it does annoy everyone.
We arrived at Universal Studio around 11.a.m.,(the drive there was very enjoyable and it felt surreal to see signs like Hollywood Bowl, Capitol Records and the real HOLLYWOOD sign in the distance), and our first impression was WOW. It cost us $72 each for the entrance fee but this covered everything. As we were limited for time we queued,(again) for the Studio Tour. It was certainly worth the wait, it was fantastic! We drove down Wisteria Lane, (Desperate Housewives), saw the set for War of the Worlds,(with a real 747) and then the trolley train took us into the King Kong meets the Dinosaurs experience. We wore our 3 D glasses, and it was the most amazing and hilarious experience. Very well done.
George ordered a beer at one of the stalls and he was asked for I.D., you may have noticed that he has shaved off his beard and he has been told by many people that he looks younger, but he was most flattered at this person asking for I.D. He was let down gently as he was told that everyone has to produce this as its their policy!!
Outside the actual park there is a street full of restaurants and shops. We had a delicious chinese meal at the Panda Inn, huge serving for only $10. We forgot how big the servings are in America.
Arriving back at the dock, we had 2 more security checks! We were going to have an early night but luckily we were talked into seeing the show as the vocalist was really good. He is from Scotland and really entertaining. Lots of new faces onboard, 362 to be precise.
Well its our final sector which brings feelings of mixed emotions. A bit sad that our holiday is coming to an end but huge excitement to see our family again. We have never been away from home for this length of time and I must admit that we are now feeling it. Nevertheless, we still have 23 days to go and we intend to keep enjoying ourselves.
