Hunnybear and I scouted out the deal of the millennium on a Royal Caribbean cruise this week. Apparently the first half of December is bargain time for cruises, so we got this 7-night Mexican cruise from Cruise.com for an astounding $602 each plus air to LA. That’s half what I usually pay for a cruise. We decided on a leisurely schedule in case of flight delays, so we are overnighting in LA at the Westin LAX. We’ve got the whole time between now and the cruise start booked with seeing friends who live in LA.

This UA flight was previously scheduled as the one to put me over 100K miles, but with the UA 2500-mile bonus for Chicago problems I requalified for 1K on Dec. 1 returning from my Vegas jaunt with Kevin and Dave Rottweiller. Nevertheless, we’re taking the good planes to and from LA (meaning no 737s). I consider video an important part of the flight experience. It’s the only time I ever get to watch sitcoms. There’s one called “It’s Like…You Know” that seems like an attempt to be a twentysomething rip-off of Seinfeld. They also have “Spin City,” but I didn’t get to see it earlier in the month because the forward video screen was inoperative in FC on the 757.

Today we are set to cab it to the airport around 11:30 for our 12:45 flight. I want to leave a few minutes to chat with the ladies in the 1K room about some upcoming flights. I usually book them myself on United Connection but invariably screw something up, like leave myself a three-hour layover in Dulles. They wave their magic wands and fix it.

I have to say that initially I didn’t think 1K was that big a deal and I had planned to give half my business to Continental so as to qualify for PremEx on UA and Continental’s top level as well. But then the confirmable upgrades started arriving and I met the angels in the 1K room. That changed my mind. They really do treat 1Ks like kings, and really that’s what I look for in an airline.

The cruise itinerary takes us to Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas. For me, the ship is 90% of the cruise and I’m not too concerned about which ports we’re stopping at, although there are some (Enseñada and Casablanca) where if I go again I won’t bother to get off the ship. Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) has good food, good service, and a great casino. The ships are nice. The entertainment is just as cheesy as on other ships. Last time we cruised RCCL we were on the Majesty of the Seas. This time we’re on the Rhapsody of the Seas. Most of RCCL’s ships are the Something of the Seas. Pretty creative. Well, Holland America’s are all Something-Dam. And Renaissance are all the letter R followed by a number.

Anyway, Hunnybear was beaming as she came home from work yesterday because she is now officially on vacation! We watched Titanic last night. More to come.