Puntarenas, Costa Rica

            On Saturday, 8 February, we awoke to our alarm at 7:00 AM.   In the Horizon Court we shared breakfast with Richard and Ruth of near Nashville, Tennessee.  We mostly talked about our cruises and other vacations.

Although our tour bus was not scheduled to leave until 9:30, when we boarded at 9:00, we took the last two adjacent seats.  Two couples that boarded after us didn’t seem too concerned about having to sit separately; most couples aren’t “joined at the hip” as we are!  The bus took off at 9:10.

Our tour guide, Gabriel (pronounced with a Spanish accent), described the sights and gave us a brief history of Costa Rica as we rode toward the Pacific Aerial Tram. At one time, coffee was Costa Rica’s largest industry, but now they manufacture microprocessor components for Intel.  They also export produce, including watermelons.

Almost immediately, we passed a beach, which was within easy walking distance of the ship.  Soon we could see muddy, fresh water from the left windows of the bus and ocean water from the right windows.  We passed by an above-ground cemetery; this land is often flooded in rainy season, and global warming is a great concern for the people who live here.  At one point, the bus pulled to the side so that we could see some black monkeys high up in some nearby trees.

We arrived at Carara National Park about 11:30, where we were divided into groups of twelve.  Carlos, assigned as our tour guide, first took us on a nature walk through the park to visit the Serpentarium and view the many brightly colored tropical flowers in the Heliconias Gallery and medicinal plant garden.  One woman in our group, terrified of snakes, amused us with her antics.  During our walk, it was extremely hot (88 degrees or more) and humid; and grasshoppers (or some similar insects) provided a sound not heard in January at home.

Aerial Tram Ride

Next, we boarded the aerial tram in groups of eight.  We (even Jesse) enjoyed a thrilling gondola ride that skimmed the eco-friendly rainforest canopy.  Sitting in our “box” we felt very safe, with floor, partial sides, and roof for the hour-long trip from bottom to top, and back down to the bottom starting point.  As we glided through a living backdrop of giant trees, hanging gardens, waterfalls and lush green landscapes, Carlos narrated the tour.  The ride took us across part of the 222-acre conservation park, enabling us to take in panoramic ocean views, its wildlife and many waterfalls.

Waiting for Bus

After the tram ride, we enjoyed a traditional Costa Rican buffet lunch, consisting of pasta salad, rice, beans, steamed vegetables, grilled chicken, sweet plantains, and fresh fruit.

On our way back, we passed by a river bottom where crocodiles had been viewed earlier by passengers on the other side of the bus; unfortunately for us, this time there were no crocs in sight.

By 3:30 we were back onboard the ship – about an hour ahead of schedule.  Hot and tired, we were glad to have more time to clean up for dinner.

Tonight we sat at a table for eight with Don and Barbara, from near San Francisco, whom we had dined with previously; Rich and Bev, from Manitoba, Canada; and Desmond and Gail, from Vancouver, Washington (which is near Portland, Oregon).   Rich is a retired public official and Bev is still working as a nurse.  Desmond is an aircraft mechanic for United Airlines, who also likes to build custom cars.  After dinner, we danced again to the Playlist Band in the Wheelhouse Bar.

Tomorrow is an “at sea” day, so we will get to sleep in.

At Sea

            On Friday, 7 February we awoke about 8:00 AM and went to breakfast about 9:00.  Although we shared the table briefly with another couple, we didn’t get their names.  We mostly talked about our Panama Canal excursions the previous day.


2nd Formal Night

Today was laundry day.  Jesse did one load in the ship’s Laundromat, and we washed several items by hand.  At lunch we shared a table with John and Irene from Alberta, Canada.  They are with a large group of Canadian farmers and ranchers, many of whom are sporting cowboy hats – about 200 of them are traveling together.  We mostly talked about farming.  (They own 2,000 acres for their stock.)

Since tonight was a formal night, we dressed in our formal attire and went to the dining room about 5:30 PM.  We shared a table with two other couples:  Larry and Bev from Vancouver, Canada, and Ed and Ronnie from Grand Rapids, Michigan.  We enjoyed interesting conversation, mostly about our travels.  Ed and Ronnie met on a blind date and have been married for 55 years; Larry and Bev met at a ballroom dance and have only been together about 6 years.  They said it was love at first sight!  After dinner, we danced again to the Playlist Band in the Wheelhouse Bar, where we met a friendly couple from Amarillo, Texas, David and Barbara.  We told her that we had met a lot of Barbara’s on this Cruise.  David took our photo on the dance floor.

Tomorrow, the ship will be docking at Puntarenas, Costa Rica.  And tonight we will set back our clocks one hour – so that we will then be on EST!

Panama Canal, Fuerte Amador, & Panama City

            We awoke about 8:30 AM on Wednesday, 5 Feb.  On our way to breakfast in the Horizon Court, we stopped on deck 7 and took a few photos of the canal.  Passengers lined the windows at the front of the ship in the Horizon Court, as we sailed towards the Gatun Locks, the first set of three locks that we would be passing through to the Pacific Ocean.  After breakfast, we went out on deck with the other passengers and snapped photos of the locks and scenery.  After passing though the first two locks, we returned to our cabin.  From our 5th floor window, we could see the wet concrete walls of the channel.  Then we watched the walls as the ship rose with the water level until we could see the blue sky and the sunlight shining on the dock and the green vegetation bordering the canal.  Soon, we became bored from watching the ship sail through Gatun Lake and lay down for a nap.

Gatun Lake, created as part of the Panama Canal construction, is one of the largest manmade lakes in the world.  It lies 26 meters above sea level and provides the navigation channel between the Gatun and Pedro Miguel Locks.  The Gatun Lake concept facilitated the construction of the Panama Canal, which otherwise would have been next to impossible, even with modern construction techniques and equipment available today.  According to the ship’s narrator, the Island Princess was charged $150,000 to pass through the Canal.

The Panama Canal will be celebrating its 100th year of operation this year (1914-2014).   The canal took more than 34 years to complete and cost the lives of more than 25,000 people, who died from either tropical diseases or landslides.  Although the Canal Expansion Program was also scheduled for completion this year, it is now 1-2 years behind schedule.  The expansion project will open two new sets of locks that will accommodate much larger ships, and facilitate maintenance of the other existing locks.  A Spanish construction company won the project with a bid so low that one of the competing American companies claimed their bid would not cover the cost of the concrete!  Of course, now the project is at a standstill as the Spanish company asks for more funds to complete the project.  The two new sets of locks will include one from the Caribbean Sea to the Gatun Lake, and the second directly from the Gatun Lake to the Pacific Ocean.  (The existing lock system consists of three sets of locks.)

We awoke for lunch about 1:00 PM.  Passengers were still lining the deck, watching the scenery around the canal, without conversation going on other than pointing out interesting scenery.  We passed through the Pedro Miguel Locks from 2:20 to  3:40 PM to the Miraflores Lake, then through the Miraflores Locks  to the Pacific Ocean from 4:10 PM to 5:25 PM, both of which were repeats of the Gatun Locks process, only in reverse.

At dinner, we shared a table for six.  Conversation was not as enjoyable as it had been on previous nights.  One couple was from near San Francisco.  We did not get their names; they both seemed to be hard of hearing and were difficult to converse with.  Larry, a retired Air Force physician, had attended medical school after a tour in Vietnam as an Army artilleryman.  Bob, a native of Wisconsin, said he was 89 years old and had played tuba in a Polka band for a few years.  He told Sally that two of his great-grandfathers had served in the Civil War from Wisconsin; one had written a 250-page diary in old German handwriting.  However, mostly, Larry, Bob, and especially their wives, carried on conversations that excluded the other members of the dinner table.

By 7:00 PM we had finished dinner, which was much earlier than usual.  This time, the Princess Orchestra was playing jazz music in the Wheelhouse Bar, which is impossible for ballroom dancing; therefore, we gave the Magnitude another chance in the Explorer’s Lounge.  The band started with 60s music, to which we could do the East Coast Swing; but later, they played a few cha chas and waltzes.  After the band went on break at 8:00 PM, we retired to our cabin.

On Thursday, 6 Feb, we awoke at 8:00 AM and headed to the Horizon Court for a leisurely breakfast.  Since our excursion to Fuerte Amador was not scheduled until 1:00 PM, there was no need to hurry.  We shared breakfast with Peggy and Lou, from near Philadelphia, whom we had met previously at dinner and on the dance floor.  They soon left and were replaced by another couple, Lois and John, from Pennsylvania.  After breakfast, we returned to our cabin to prepare for our day’s excursion (and a little more resting).

At noon we went to the Horizon Court for a quick lunch, then boarded the tender to Fuerte Amador at 12:30 PM.  It was a bright, sunny day of about 86 degrees (about like yesterday), and we enjoyed sitting atop the tender.  Our tour was scheduled to depart at 1:00 PM, but was delayed until 1:10 PM.  Elizabeth, our tour guide, described the sites as we rode through the streets of Fuerte Amador to Fort Clayton, the Army base that once housed the Southern Command Headquarters, and through portions of Albrook Air Force Base, where the new domestic airport is now located.  A section of the base has been converted into a commercial and high-end residential district.  This is the dry season, as we could see by some of the lawns. 

On Ship's Tender

We then proceeded to the Miraflores Locks, located on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal.  The system is slightly over a mile long and the gates are the tallest of all the lock systems, due to the great fluctuation in the Pacific Ocean tides.  Upon arrival at the Miraflores Visitor’s station, we toured the museum, which is a wonderful resource for information pertaining to the canal’s history and operations.  About 5:00 PM we re-boarded the ship and quickly readied ourselves for dinner.

Again, we shared a table for eight, this time with two couples whom we had met previously during dinner and dancing, Peggy and Lou, and Eileen and Scott; a couple from Switzerland, Richard and Monique; and a couple from near St. Paul, Minnesota, Ellen and Mike.  We had lots of interesting conversation this time.  After dinner, we danced again to the Playlist Band in the Wheelhouse Bar, before retiring to our cabin for the night.

Tomorrow will be an at sea day, so we’ll get to sleep in.

Cartagena, Colombia

            On Tuesday, 4 Feb, we awoke to our alarm at 7:30 AM and went up to the Horizon Court for breakfast, where we joined Carol and Conway, whom we had met while waiting to board the ship.  We conversed about cruise adventures that we had all enjoyed so far.  The skyscrapers of Cartagena loomed in the distance.  (Somehow, our memories of the movie “Romancing the Stone” didn’t leave memories of a big city!)

After fighting the crowd to exit the cruise ship, with everyone going out at about the same time, we boarded our tour bus at 10:00 AM.  At least three busses were assigned to our tour, “Scenic drive of Cartagena and La Popa Monastery.”  This actually had been our second tour choice because “Spanish Galleon Harbor Cruise” was cancelled due to mechanical problems.  Our tour guide’s name was Rafael.  He told us much about himself: he was 85 years old; was married in 1950; and has one daughter and 5 sons, one of whom is a physician and one, a lawyer.  He also has a grandson living with him.  He was asking if any of the passengers was in a similar situation and willing to discuss their situation with him.  Rafael was shockingly fit and didn’t look more than 65.

Rafael said that someone like Obama could never be a president in Columbia because the wealthy control the elections here.  During the colonial era, Cartagena was the center for slave trade.  Many slaves, after arriving from Africa, would be sold to work in the silver mines of Peru or Panama’s sugar-cane plantations.  Columbia retained only enough slaves to construct their gigantic, fortress, which made Cartagena an impregnable stronghold.  According to Rafael, today Columbia is about 75 percent white and 25 percent colored (his term); however, to us, the majority of the inhabitants of Cartagena appear to be of mixed race.  The population of Cartagena is about 1,250,000 (only 952,024 according to Princess Cruises) and the population of Columbia is about 53,000,000.

 Our first stop in Cartagena was La Popa convent, built during the 17t h century and dedicated to Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria, one of the city’s patron saints.  The main altar of the chapel is decorated with magnificent gold leaf.  La Popa is built on the highest point in Cartagena and provides a splendid view of the city.

La Popa, Cartagena

La Popa Altar, Cartagena



Spanish Fort, Cartegena

Our second stop was the impressive Fort of San Felipe de Barajas, the largest Spanish fort in the New World, originally built in the 17th century.   The walls of the fort towered high above us.

Our final stop was the Navy Museum, established in 1986 from restored ruins of the Jesuits’ school.  There, while sitting in air conditioning and being given cold bottled water, we enjoyed a show of dancing young women in their full skirts and young men with their hats.

We re-boarded the ship at 1:15 PM and shared lunch with a couple from Boston, Massachusetts, Ron (?) and Kathy.  Afterward, we returned to our cabin for napping and relaxation.

Since we had to wait so long for our dinner last night, tonight we went early (5:15) and were seated immediately.  We sat at a round table for eight, and enjoyed conversations with Dorothy, Barbara, Joyce, Dick, Barbara (another one), and Don.  Two of the first three women were sisters, one was a cousin, and Dick was a husband.  At least some of them live in Minneapolis.  Barbara and Don live near San Francisco, and have taken more than 50 cruises.  Don is a retired chemist from Bayer.  His wife, Barbara, still works for Bayer in their quality assurance.  After we finished eating, we sat longer at the table finishing an interesting conversation about DNA genealogy.

After dinner, we danced to the Playlist Band in the Wheelhouse Bar.  Peggy and Eileen were there tonight.   They were the two ladies from near Philadelphia that we shared dinner with on Sunday night, while their husbands were busy watching the Super Bowl pre-game show.  We met their husbands this time: Les and Scott.  We retired to our cabin about 9:30 PM after the band went on break. 

Tomorrow morning we will be going through the Panama Canal.

Aruba

            On Monday, 03 Feb, we awoke to our alarm at 5:30 AM, ate a quick breakfast, and proceeded to our excursion meeting point on the pier about 7:00.  Although we arrived well ahead of the 7:20 AM meeting time, somehow we ended up being the last two passengers to board the bus.  It turned out well, however, because we sat in the back row of seats, the only ones left; the back windows were much larger than the others, and since we had the entire row to ourselves, Jesse was able to move back and forth between seats to get photos from both sides of the bus.  Hearing the tour guide/bus driver’s voice from the back was easy; understanding his heavily-accented English was difficult.  His name was Luis (pronounced Lou’ee).

The tour began with a drive through the small island’s capital, Oranjestad.  Luis pointed out Aruba’s colorful markets (many jewelry stores) and Dutch colonial buildings.  Although Dutch is the first language and is taught in the schools, Spanish is also common, with English third.  Purchase prices for modest homes in Aruba range between $100,000 and $200,000 US, but homes in the more exclusive areas range from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 US.  (We decided that we could afford to live on Aruba, but what would we find to do here?)  The island is about 70 percent Catholic, with several Catholic churches, schools, and cemeteries.  Families buy cemetery plots that are used over and over again; after 50 years or so, the bodies are exhumed and the bones are re-buried in smaller boxes to create space for the newly deceased.

Very soon on our bus tour, we noticed very tall, skinny cacti everywhere.  The shrubbery around most of the homes includes several cacti.  Luis pointed out the island’s desalinization plant, from which Aruba gets almost all of its water, although the roofs of many of the houses drain into water storage barrels.  Water in Aruba is very expensive.  (Therefore, there is usually a charge of $1 to use a restroom unless a purchase is made, as in a store.)

Our first stop was the Casibari Rock formations, a shrub-covered landscape shaped by boulders, some the size of small houses and weighing several tons.  Arawak Indians would visit here in order to hear incoming thunderstorms.  Many of our group climbed the stairway to the top of the largest rock; however, when we saw people standing in line on the narrow stairway, we opted to snap photos from below.



Lava Rocks on Aruba's Coastline

Our next stop was the sea-worn Natural Bridge that collapsed in 2005, and the still intact Baby Natural Bridge, an arch carved out of rock and coral.  In an area near the bridge, we saw small brown rocks stacked on bigger ones, and were told that people do this with the hope that a wish will come true.  Sally stacked a few to get the feel for it.

Our next stop was the California Lighthouse, which is named after the steamship California, which sank off the coast of Aruba in 1891.  From the base of the lighthouse, we were given time to admire stunning island views.

Our last stop was the beach.  Aruba is famous for its white sandy beaches, where the sand is very fine and soft; and where the calm, clear water is “perfect for swimming, snorkeling and sunbathing.”  Although we had expected warm ocean water as in Florida from the Gulf stream, this water felt like it had come from Antarctica!  Sally ventured out a little farther than Jesse, who only went out waist deep.  There was a strong undertow.

At noon, we returned to the ship, and then showered and went to the crowded Horizon Court for lunch.  We joined a table with two other couples.  One couple was from Canada and the other from Kansas City.  (We have met numerous Canadians on this cruise; and we were told that twelve passengers from Kansas City are traveling together.)  After lunch, we returned to our cabin for a nap (Sally) and relaxation.

            At 6:00 PM we left our cabin for dinner; however, we had to wait 45 minutes for a table.  We ended up being seated (again) with John and Barbara of Kansas City; “Go-toe” (a woman from Japan); Les and Marge of Calvary, Canada (on their 20th cruise); and Bob and Sandy from Warren, Michigan.  Ironically, it turns out that Bob is a retired mechanical engineer from General Motors, and Sandy is a retired Department of the Army civilian for the Tank, Armament, and Automotive Command (which had been Sally’s last employer before she retired)!

            After dinner, we danced to the Playlist Band in the Wheelhouse Bar and retired to our cabin about 10:15 PM.  And tonight we set our clocks back.  Hurrah!

Tomorrow morning we will port at Cartagena, Columbia.

At Sea

             On Saturday, 01 Feb, Jesse awoke around 9:30 AM, but Sally slept until 11:00 AM.  By the time we made our way to the Horizon Court, breakfast was no longer served; but we were able to find fruit, yogurt, and rice pudding on the lunch buffet, which satisfied our breakfast appetite.

            After breakfast, we stopped by the library and picked out a few books.  No librarian was on duty, but notes on the back of the books state that their books are equipped with security devices which will alert security if you attempt to take one of their books off the ship!

            When we returned to our cabin, Sally lay down for a nap and ended up sleeping until 5:00 PM.  Jesse wrote a couple of genealogy e-mails and then read the first two chapters of the Hunger Games.  Yes, that’s right; Jesse was reading a book rather than watching TV for a change.

            Because we had a formal dinner tonight, we dressed in our finest and made it down for dinner (yes, we skipped lunch today) about 6:00 PM, where we were joined by John and Barbara from Kansas City.  He is a retired lawyer, and she is a retired school teacher (and principal).  Our interesting conversation ended with a discussion on DNA genealogy, and they asked how to sign up.  After dinner, we danced to the Playlist Band in the Wheelhouse Bar before retiring for the night.

            On Sunday, 02 Feb, since Sally had napped all afternoon on Saturday, she awoke at 4:30 AM and played on the computer for a couple of hours before returning to bed.  Jesse awoke at 6:00 AM and resumed his reading program.  We finally headed for breakfast about 9:00.

            Although there was a dance lesson (waltz) at 1:00, we could see that they were spending so much time on the very basics that we wouldn’t learn anything new. 

After lunch, Sally decided she wanted to swim in the smaller, inside pool, where the water was warmer than in the somewhat bigger pool.  Jesse went along with the idea, even though the water was sloshing almost dangerously in and out of the pool.  At one moment, the strong current would carry a swimmer in one direction – and then, suddenly the current would reverse itself, carrying the swimmer in the opposite direction.  Staying afloat in the water was difficult, and swimming nearly impossible.  At least we expended considerable energy!   Rails on the sides of the pool were extremely helpful.  There were at least seven other people in the pool at one point, possibly because it looked so exciting.  (We were surprised that the pool was kept open.)

            The captain’s channel on our TV reported “rough seas” with 7.5 to 12 ft. waves, which caused the pool to slosh over the sides.  Also on this channel was a map showing the path of this ship, which was eastward past Cuba (the reason we had set our clocks ahead), and then south going west of Haiti and east of Jamaica.

            We went to dinner at 6:00 PM and joined a table for six, the others being:  Peggy and Eileen, from near Philadelphia (their husbands were busy watching the Super Bowl pre-game show); and Judy and Bryan, from Vancouver, Canada.  Bryan is a recently retired firefighter.  He’s going scuba diving in Aruba; maybe someday we’ll do that… but probably not!  Mostly, we discussed the bad winter weather and cruises.  After dinner, we danced again to the Playlist Band in the Wheelhouse Bar before retiring for the night.

Ft Lauderdale & Embarkation

            Wednesday, 29 Jan 2014 – Yes, we have departed for ANOTHER cruise.  This time, we’re sailing on the Island Princess from Ft Lauderdale, FL, to Los Angeles, CA, with stops in Aruba, Cartagena (Columbia), Fuerte Amador (Panama), and Puerto Chiapas (Mexico). 

We awoke to our alarm at 6:00 AM and headed to the airport for our 10:20 AM flight from Peoria to Ft. Lauderdale, via Chicago and Dallas.  Although our scheduled flight to Chicago had been cancelled, lucky for us, American booked us on a later flight to Dallas at 12:40 PM.

            In Ft. Lauderdale, we were picked up by the Rodeway Inn shuttle and arrived at the motel about midnight – two very exhausted people.

On Thursday, 30 Jan, Jesse woke up about 9:00 AM, but was unable to get Sally to budge.  After checking to make sure she was still breathing, he went down to the hotel breakfast room and picked up waffles, eggs, and cereal from the buffet and brought it back to our room.

Since it was rainy and dreary in Ft. Lauderdale, instead of visiting the beach or traveling about on a water taxi as suggested by our hotel shuttle driver, we decided to spend the day in our motel room, taking turns playing with genealogy on our laptop and watching TV.

We enjoyed an excellent dinner at the motel’s restaurant, which included clam chowder, Caesar salad, prime rib, and Key lime pie.   Since Jesse decided that this Key lime pie tasted better than the one he makes, when he gets home he’ll be searching the Web looking for a new Key lime recipe!

We woke up about 7:00 AM on Friday, 31 Jan, even though we had set our alarm for 8:00 AM, and soon went down for the hotel breakfast.   We loaded the motel’s shuttle at 10:30 AM.  While waiting to board the ship, we met a nice couple, Carol and Conway, from Alberta, Canada.  After a few minutes, we were allowed to board the ship and were in our Island Princess cabin by 12:05 PM.

After enjoying a light lunch in the Horizon Court with Pat and Reggie, a couple from Charlotte, NC, we returned to our cabin to unpack.  We had not totally finished our unpacking when the alarm sounded for the 3:15 PM lifeboat drill.  On our last cruise, we sat comfortably in the Princess Theater for the drill; this time, however, we had to stand for about 20 minutes in a very warm, humid room with no seats.  A man standing behind us looked as though he might pass out.  Afterwards, we returned to our cabin, finished unpacking and relaxed while we recovered from the day’s ordeal.

For the first time since our Alaskan cruise in 2008 with the Norwegian Cruise Line, we chose “anytime” dining.  Although we had decided then that we did not care for anytime dining, we decided to give it another try.   We sat at a table for two, but enjoyed a pleasant conversation with Aaron and Geneva, of San Antonio, TX, who sat at a table just inches from ours.  After dinner, we danced to pre-recorded music in the Explorer’s Lounge, and then to the Playlist Band in the Wheelhouse Bar.  At 9:00 PM, we decided to call it a night and returned to our cabin.  Since we have to set our clocks forward one hour tonight, it was good to stop early!