Welcome To Los Angeles
Early last evening we received a call from a representative at the Crystal Cruises Los Angeles office who takes care of the airport transfers, advising us that she had confirmed that our private chauffeured transfers were all set for today. We were very impressed with the follow-up call and to us this is yet another fine example of the high level of customer service that Crystal provides to its passengers.
We awoke quite early this morning with great anticipation for the start of our World Cruise Adventure. We will keep the precise time that we woke up our little secret, except to say that we suspect that some of you were just going to sleep at the time we we were getting up. ☺
Our pick-up was scheduled for 5:30 AM (ouch) and at around 5:15 AM we could here the vehicles arriving on our driveway. Crystal arranged for two vehicles to take our assorted luggage along with us from our home to the airport. We rode in a Lincoln Continental, while our luggage followed closely behind us in an executive van. Coincidentally, the driver of the Continental remembered us from last years World Cruise as he had driven us with all of our luggage in a ten-passenger limousine. Our ride over to the airport was actually more comfortable this time around since we did not have any of the luggage in the vehicle with us. Since it was so early in the morning, there was hardly any traffic to speak of so it took us less than an hour until we arrived at the airport.
We quickly checked in at the ticket counter and Keith explained that most of our extra luggage was due, in part, to all of the shoes that Anne Marie brought with her for this trip. This got a chuckle from the ticket agent and from the porter as well. After check-in, we made our way through security and once inside the terminal we stopped to pick up some light breakfast goodies, which we then took with us into the Admiral's Club. We took advantage of the time in the Admiral’s Club to do some reading.
Now for the good news. When we arrived at the gate, the airplane was there, boarding began earlier than scheduled, and we arrived at Los Angles International Airport about twenty minutes ahead of schedule and the gate was ready for our arrival. The flight crew was one of the best we ever had.
After arriving, we were met at baggage claim by the Crystal Representative and the chauffeur. After collecting our bags, we were driven to the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel in a Mercedes Sedan while our luggage was taken via van. We settled into our room after our check in and after unpacking we went on a long walk along various streets in Beverly Hills. The weather was delightful so it was perfect walking weather. We picked up some items that we needed for the World Cruise and didn’t want to take with us on the airplane. Later we went back out a second time to have dinner. We each wanted to have something light and simple so we decided to eat at Nate’nAl, which is very well known for its breakfasts. We each had a salad entree. On our return back to the hotel we discovered a new popular trend in Beverly Hills. For the second time we passed an area where about fifty people were waiting in line for this venue. At first we thought it was either a new restaurant or some type of club, but when we took a closer look we discovered that it was a shop selling cupcakes called Sprinkle Cupcakes.
Originally the Beverly Hills Hotel was expecting a full house this evening and tomorrow evening as tomorrow night they were supposed to be hosting the Golden Globe Awards. However, with the continuation of the writer's strike the televised show has been canceled and the hotel has quite a few vacancies this evening.
Today has been a wonderful way to begin our World Cruise Adventure. We are excited to be in Beverly HIlls and look forward to enjoying the next several days in California.
Keith & Anne Marie
