I've been talking about getting to Catalina for YEARS! A business trip brought us to Long Beach and I thought, "Why not go a couple of days early and visit Catalina on Valentine's Day?"
Getting there on the Catalina Express was lovely. Great waiting area, great onboarding, lovely seating area on the ferry with plenty of windows.
Please bring cash if you want to buy something at the bar, please get there early if you want a seat next to a window because the line gets pretty long, but all the seats are good. There are some 2-seaters, 3-seaters, and some seats with a table.
It was a 70-minute ride for us.
The staff were all super friendly and pleasant.
Excellent experience all around.