At NCV

Our first time here.
I did not like our villa assignment (I had called in a request) but I was able to secure a change to a top floor in elevator bldg (1100) but no ocean view. We do have a view of the small pool -- better than a view of the parking lot.

Seems that this time of year they have 70% owner occupancy and only 65% of the units have ocean view -- so do the math. I overheard an NCV owner at check-in who was very disappointed that all she could get was a ground floor in her preferred building.

Villa is quite nice. Carpet a little frayed but no big deal. The AC problem was fixed right away. LOL

If you have any questions, I will be here until the 7th.

pacheco18 said:

Our first time here.
I did not like our villa assignment (I had called in a request) but I was able to secure a change to a top floor in elevator bldg (1100) but no ocean view. We do have a view of the small pool -- better than a view of the parking lot.

Seems that this time of year they have 70% owner occupancy and only 65% of the units have ocean view -- so do the math. I overheard an NCV owner at check-in who was very disappointed that all she could get was a ground floor in her preferred building.

Villa is quite nice. Carpet a little frayed but no big deal. The AC problem was fixed right away. LOL

If you have any questions, I will be here until the 7th.

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Bummer... I think we got the same view the 1st time we visited. The second time we got an ocean view.

Have a fun week. Are you doing anything special?

Just being away is special

We will probably go to Catalina Island, walk around Laguna Beach and visit the galleries, eat some great seafood -- no plan. That's the way we like it.

If we have the energy, we may go to the SD Zoo -- it's been years since we've been there and we love animals -- again, not much advance planning and no schedule for us!

Fortunately we can come to this resort again and again and on little notice as it is only a 7 hour drive and less than an hour flight from Tucson. There is no need to "get everything in" this trip.

If I couldn't have an ocean view, there isn't anything better than the view from 1100 & 1000. The pool is normally quite and the access to the fire road makes a walk to the beach very easy.

Have fun!!

The SD zoo is great, BUT, have you been to the wild animal park which is much closer than the downtown SD Zoo.

pacheco18 said:

Just being away is special

We will probably go to Catalina Island, walk around Laguna Beach and visit the galleries, eat some great seafood -- no plan. That's the way we like it.

If we have the energy, we may go to the SD Zoo -- it's been years since we've been there and we love animals -- again, not much advance planning and no schedule for us!

Fortunately we can come to this resort again and again and on little notice as it is only a 7 hour drive and less than an hour flight from Tucson. There is no need to "get everything in" this trip.

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Going to Catalina Island is a very nice trip. There is an inland tour that takes you quite a few miles over beautiful rugged terrain of Catalina Island and shows you the coast on the other side of the island too. This tour is about 4 to 5 hours.

There are many shorter tours you can take too and they have combination packages so you can see a lot in one day. I also recommend the glass bottom tour because you will see from that it is a diver's paradise here. Another tour that I like very much is the Casino tour. The ballroom is absolutely beautiful and so is the movie theater too that they show you also. We often go to a movie at night when we stay here because they used to have an organ player here who played on an old pipe organ. I don't know if they have a new person now.

If the children are still out of school, I recommend that you make reservations for these tours before you go because once you arrive there, the tours may be sold out. This has happened to us so we know better now when we take guests to Catalina Island. If you take a combination of tours, they will tell you what you can do or not because the time may be overlapping.

There are several nice restaurants on Catalina Island but our favorite of all is Armstrong's. The fish is the best and so fresh. The restaurant is very popular so we always go for a late lunch or very early dinner. Not a fancy restaurant for the looks but the view you have from here is great over the harbor. We haven't been to the island for quite a while so won't comment about other restaurants. We always ask the local shop owners what their favorite restaurant is and they will tell you.

I hope you can fit Catalina Island in. Almost 90% of the island is left untouched. You can read more about the Catalina Island Conservancy here.

Take the fast ferry over so you will have more time on the island!

No kids with us --

I think we will do the Catalina tour and go to Armstrong's as you suggest.

Thanks so much for the tips

Bill4728 said:

If I couldn't have an ocean view, there isn't anything better than the view from 1100 & 1000. The pool is normally quite and the access to the fire road makes a walk to the beach very easy.

Have fun!!

The SD zoo is great, BUT, have you been to the wild animal park which is much closer than the downtown SD Zoo.

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I agree about the 1100 building -- if no ocean view it's quite a good location.

And no -- we have not been to the wild animal park -- maybe we will try that instead.

pacheco18 said:

No kids with us --

I think we will do the Catalina tour and go to Armstrong's as you suggest.

Thanks so much for the tips

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What I really meant is that when school is out, these tours are booked up very fast so when you get there, you may not be able to book any of them. I would go to Catalina after this holiday week-end and you should be fine if school has started again. You better ask someone else about that.

Go to my picture trail for restaurant suggestions. BLUE FIN!

iconnections said:

What I really meant is that when school is out, these tours are booked up very fast so when you get there, you may not be able to book any of them. I would go to Catalina after this holiday week-end and you should be fine if school has started again. You better ask someone else about that.

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we'll go mid week -- after Labor Day
Kids should be safely in school LOL

I live in OC and my kids don't start school until Thursday, just an FYI.

If you like a small town feel you should visit San Clemente (Del Mar Street) quaint shops to stroll by lots of places to eat, and the pier is at the very end if you drive down. The restaurants on the pier are just ok they are there more for the view and ambience.

Have a great time. Pam

You chose the perfect week to be here. We live nearby and drove past NCV around 6:00 pm today. The water was stunning. It is very hot even a few miles inland, but near the water it was in the 80's today.

Have a wonderful week.

Thank you all ...
It's great to be a member of TUG

For those of you from that area...is balboa island worth visiting if you're in town with a couple of kids? I'd never heard of it...but my husband had been years ago. Thanks for any info.

Balboa Island is very small. We love it. There is a small downtown area. Cute touristy shops and a few restaurants. Parking is at a premium on the island. My parents used to lived on the island. We felt like we won the lottery whenever we found a parking spot close to their house! It is fun to take the ferry across the channel from Newport Beach to Balboa Island. You can ride across in your car or on foot. If you park in the public parking in Newport Beach and walk onto the ferry, be aware that the walk from the ferry to the downtown area is approx. 1/2 to 3/4 mile.

Another fun thing to do is to rent a "Duffy" boat and cruise the harbor around Balboa, Lido and Linda Islands. Do a google search for Duffy boat rentals. They are small party boats with tables and seating for approx 15 people. They rent by the hour not per person. At least once during the summer we go with friends and do this around sunset. We take our own food and eat dinner while watching the sunset on the harbor.

We're here too!

It's beautiful weather right now and we're relaxing with our kids (ages 14 & 17) at the pool. Pacheco, we're waiting on a room move today as we received a first floor room in the 2100 building when we checked in on Friday night.

Yesterday, we got a pass to Crystal Cove State Beach. It was OK, but that's only because we're spoiled with our own San Diego beaches. Last night, we took the car ferry over from Balboa Island and ate at the Ruby's Diner on the pier. We had a blast...

My DH reminded me that since we're not NCV owners, I should just be happy to be here and he's right...

How's the weather in Feb. and March?

Rain a problem?

No way can we guarantee our weather in February or March in southern CA. It is still our rainy season here but we have booked our vacation week often on the coast in the month of March.

I can only remember three or four times that we had rain during our week. Most of the time, it is a day or two but once we had rain five days on a row and that was a disappointment because when it rains here, it rains hard.

Here is a web page that gives you the average temperature and rainfall for each month of the year in Newport Beach where the NCVs are.

Jan/Feb/Mar are our wettest months.

gvdelizo said:

It's beautiful weather right now and we're relaxing with our kids (ages 14 & 17) at the pool. Pacheco, we're waiting on a room move today as we received a first floor room in the 2100 building when we checked in on Friday night.

Yesterday, we got a pass to Crystal Cove State Beach. It was OK, but that's only because we're spoiled with our own San Diego beaches. Last night, we took the car ferry over from Balboa Island and ate at the Ruby's Diner on the pier. We had a blast...

My DH reminded me that since we're not NCV owners, I should just be happy to be here and he's right...

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Take the free shuttle to Laguna Beach. Crystal Cove is nice but the main beach at Laguna has a lot more to offer and you can walk to many stores, galleries and restaurants too. There are several little coves too you can visit if you know where they are.