Cinco de Mayo. Sea Day. Off the left coast of Mexico. At least 10 bars on the boat not including the bars inside the dining venues. What’s not to love? The young people, AKA the 60-somethings, have organized a pub crawl.
Got about 9,000 steps in today. By bedtime, I should hit 10,000. Otherwise, it’s been a lazy day. Happy to report that it’s about 10 degrees cooler. I took 102 pictures yesterday. 53 remain. The pain of dealing with 2023 images is burned into my brain at this instant. I also napped, read, and ate scones with clotted cream.
More photos from yesterday.
Huatulco – yesterdayI thought I had found the ultimate in outdoor shit. But…But, upon closer examination – they are huge seedpods.From this tree. Apparently, it is called the “ear tree”.For my green friends. Huatulco has very clean beaches. At least on boat day.
And another bad bird photo from this morning.
More Masked Boobies. From this morning’s deck walk. I also saw a bunch of dolphins and one container ship.
Puerta Vallarta tomorrow. Then 2 more sea day. Then LA and the SW Chief heading east. But. Nobody is promised tomorrow. Enjoy today.
At 8AM we crash into Huatulco, Mexico. It’s your typical end-of-the-earth beach town. Which is to say, it’s my kinda town.
Never mind that it’s over 80° before 8:30. I fill up my water bottle and head out. All of the crew are excited to be there. They say it’s one of the best towns they stop in. Well, at the end of the ship pier, there is a perfectly fine beach and a bunch of bars and restaurants. The crew is correct. And, the crew rented every jet ski in town.
Seems like an outstanding beach town to me.Don’t think it has rained here since Noah was a boy. Even the cactus is struggling to survive.HuatulcoThe Grasshopper (Locust?) Resturant???
Oh, I remember they eat these grasshoppers in parts of Mexico. This must be one of the parts. Well, the restaurant wasn’t open. I must have been too early. Not sorry.
It is seriously hot. Awesome wall art.Like every end-of-the-world beach town – there are broken dreams.
After 3 hours of wandering around and having a grand time, it’s over 90° and I know it’s time to head back to the friendly air-conditioned ship.
Back on the ship, I jump in the hot tub to cool off.
Just wondering. Why do people do this to themselves? Isn’t there enough misery in the world?
Another sea day. I read, messed with my photos, went for a swim, and walked about 3 miles. Oh yes, I ate and drank coffee. Also had a little nap. A hectic day!
Today I saw lots of dolphins. Lots of birds. And one small turtle. Well, it looked small from the 14th deck. I wouldn’t have expected to see a turtle just swimming along. No picture of it.
Lots of nice dolphins today.Lots of birds too. I think they are masked boobies.This fuzzy shot is a masked boobie.
Of course these are crappy photos. I don’t have a real camera anymore.
The ship isn’t much on entertainment. Since this is currently Day 113 of the Round World trip that this ship is making… my guess is many of the passengers have figured out how to entertain themselves. Or they have abandoned ship.
Cruise ship entertainment – a fruit-cutting demonstration.
But for us newbies on board – today’s event fruit-cutting demo.
All things considered, I’d rather enjoy my reading. In the library or on the deck on the shade side of the ship.
Sea Day so I spent a lot of time walking around this deck. Every other ship I have been on has had a running track. Not this old ship. But her passengers don’t look much like runners anyhow.
The outdoor pool.
The outdoor pool area is very popular. There is either live entertainment or a movie running from 9AM until 10PM. At night they replace the beach towels with blankets so you don’t get a chill. They also have popcorn.
The indoor pool.
The indoor pool isn’t as busy and it is bigger. It’s nicer in this part of the world because it is cooler. I am hoping that it will get cooler as we progress north.
If you have more money than sense you can pay $40 and get access to this “gated” lounge community.
Except on Canal Crossing day, I have never seen anyone using this area. I think that reflects well on the intelligence of my fellow passengers.
And there is pickleball. It is very popular.
Nope, I didn’t play pickleball. Didn’t even stop long to watch.
Accept the things I can not change.
Back in the day, I could consume almost unlimited quantities of beer. Not anymore. Especially when it is hot. Puts me right to sleep. Enter pretty good non-alcohol, Heineken. Only 80 calories as a bonus. Pairs well with the ship’s most excellent pizza.
Saw a whale early this morning and I just saw a pod of dolphins. Also saw a couple of birds today. But no other boats and no land.
Everyone seems to be getting on buses this morning.
It stopped this long because everyone was getting on buses and going on great long excursions. To see “real” Costa Rica.
Well, not everyone. They carted an old man and his luggage off in an ambulance.
If they took him to San Jose, he would get good treatment. Back when I didn’t have medical insurance, San Jose, Costa Rico was a part of my “Plan B”.
These tire marks were not on the side of the boat when we were in Cartagena. Must have gotten too close to the locks coming through the Canal.
I didn’t book any excursions. I wasn’t even going to get off the boat. Well, of course, I got off the boat. And the first thing I noticed was there huge tire tread marks along the hull of our nice white ship.
OK. I couldn’t walk on the white lines. My legs are too short! Sorry Costa Rica.
I started on the wrong foot. I couldn’t walk on the white lines no matter how hard I tried. According to Google Puntarenas is a small flat sand spit. 4 short blocks at the widest. I can not get lost. So, off I go.
The Border.
The cute little train goes from the ship to the customs control point. I walked. That’s were I had trouble with walking on the white lines.
An interesting-looking hotel. $30 per night.
Google says it’s $30 a night. I bet it’s cheaper.
A fancier hotel. $80 per night.
These hotels are across the street from the beach.
Nice sandy beach.
There are more expensive-looking hotels on the beach. This is a pretty fragile-looking town. It’s absolutely flat with water on two sides. The high tide line is inches from the street on both sides.
A distressing amount of plastic debris on the beaches.
On both sides the beaches have a distressing amout of plastic debris. The bottle caps and buttons are bad enough. But the tiny pieces of plastic are worse. The people I had dinner with complained about how dirty the town is. My standards aren’t very high and I felt the town was perfectly acceptable.
Besides. It has lots of great wall art.
Funny story for my Asylum family.
Why I don’t pick up men (anymore). I was having a early dinner, alone, in one of the two “traditional” dinning rooms. And interesting, lively old woman comes up and engages one of the waiters in conversation. Seems that she is looking for a man, she thinks his name is Daniel. He is Asian, maybe. They were supposed to have dinner together. But she doesn’t see the gent.
Well, all of us passengers have “air tags” and the ship knows were we are all the time. (Think about that.) Well, the waiter types in Dan and get several location hits. One is in the other dining room. A man’s picture pops up. It’s her date. His name is actually Danny. The woman happily goes off for a night of dinner and who knows what else. And I very happily return to my Janet Evanovich book while I await my dinner.
Why I don’t pick up men (anymore). I could have been that woman. I would completely forget the guy’s name and where I was supposed to meet up with him. And was he Asian or not?
SeaDay Today. It wasn’t boring. There was land, Panama I believe. There were birds. One large pod of dolphins and I happened to be in the right place at the right time to see them.
Ships came and went.
The ocean is a busy place. Me not so busy. Not busy at all.
The Pacific was just velvety smooth.
I sat in the library and looked out the window. I sat on the deck and looked out at the ocean. I walked round and round the deck to get my steps and cardio in. I read. I culled and cataloged photos.
New photos as well as 2023 photos. Dealing with the 2023 photos has made me do a much better job culling “today’s images today”.
Big question is: How to wash my hair in a tiny shower with poor water pressure?
Cruise ships seem to be like Vegas. Patronizing the casino gets you all kinds of goodies and freebies. Seems to me, it’s cheaper to just buy my stuff and room. Back when my brain functioned on most of its cylinders, I could manage to not lose my ass at 21. I wouldn’t risk it anymore. So, I’ve not darkened the door of the ship casino. The ship understands this – so they bring games of chance out into the ship on sea days. More like they sell “raffle tickets”. Not tempted. I would not buy a $10 chance for a $500 shipboard credit. What does the ship have for sale for $500 that I would even want? Really!
6AM and we are off across Panama.Still remember the Key Bridge in Baltimore. This is the Atlantic Bridge in Colon, Panama.Not only did two pilots come on board, but 24 Steel Cable handlers as well.Most folks spent the day watching. This couple even dressed in matching outfits.Standing Room only on the bow.Inside a lock, coming up.We were not alone in the locks.These cog rail things hauled us through the locks.
But, it was hot and humid and the weather just sucked all the energy out of me.
View from inside the nice cool library.The cold towel guy was busy.
Finally. A storm appears.
I was more than happy to retreat to my room as a storm approached.The locks as seen from my room. A whole lot of black.Cheers. If you think you are having fun, you are having fun. Quoting Carlton.
The whole thing took from about 6am to 3:30PM or so. And the cruise ship paid a transit fee of $300,000.
We didn’t stop very long and it was very hot and humid. So, I didn’t see very much. But I did see birds.
There were a lot of birds. My friend Christie would not have been amused.What???
I am rather pleased with this image. Especially since I no longer have a proper camera but only a phone. Luck. You shoot with what you have.
Must admit that I didn’t do much at all today. Hello, my name is Peg and I am old. I am pretty sure that “cruising” isn’t a competitive event. On this ship, no one seems to be doing anything with rubber ducks. And very few doors are decorated. It’s a much tamer crowd than on my first big ship cruise back in February.
I did make a reservation for dinner in the dining room this evening. Figure I should give it a try.
Another Sea Day. Walked about 3 miles. Went for a “swim”. Lounged. Worked on my photos. Didn’t wear the damn compression sox. Read.
Missed sunrise this morning.
I may have missed sunrise, but, the people who shared “my” tea table missed lunch. They thought it was 12 and therefore LunchTime. Well on the ship it was 3PM and TeaTime. I could tell they were a little mystified by the service. Like where are the menus. And why do they keep offering us tea. Maybe they had the Deluxe Drinks Package. Or maybe they just didn’t know that their Apple watches were not smart enough to know about ShipTime.
A traveling companion for most of the morning.Thanks to Billy and Steven, who nudged me to bring the Mac.
So far I am glad that I have my computer. I’ll hate lugging it from ship to train. But, If I have the 2023 photos all culled and cataloged, it’s a price that I can pay.
Oh dear, the string quartet is playing Nessun Dorma. I hope no one starts trying to sing it. I told you this was an old boat. They have a string quartet. According to one of the ship photographers, they also have a darkroom. (The Quartet moved on to Pachelbel’s Canon, I believe.)
Sea day. Today. I logged 3.25 miles, 8,500 steps. Early AM coffee, exercise walk, breakfast, attend a lecture, nap, some light reading on the deck, afternoon tea. And now I am in the library.
No trouble getting a deck chair.
There are no children in this boat. The average traveler is geriatric. Of course that includes me. And about 300 of them have been on board 90+ days.
The boat is kinda stuck in the early 60s. Basic boat music is what we used to call “progressive jazz”.
The ship is a little creaky. And it has the shakes. Last night, I woke up. What’s wrong? Why am I shaking? Because the boat is shaking. It’s all good. Sorta like being a a little time warp.
Oh, we have a “ship’s doctor”. She is doing botox treatments this afternoon. Hope I don’t get sick.
Another day at sea tomorrow. And, the wifi isn’t too bad after all. I am supposed to just have one device connected. And I do have one device connected. My phone. And, the phone is a fine little “hot spot” so my computer, iPad and Kindle can connect too without constantly logging on and off. That’s a real first-world “problem”.
I could see the ship from my hotel. But, I was told it was “impossible” to walk there. I decided to call an Uber. That was a very mature decision. IMHO.
I am pretty sure I could have walked to the ship. But, I got here fine via Uber.
The WiFi that I am paying $17 a day for, doesn’t seem to be very good.
We are still parked. Wondering if we are going under that bridge. Last bridge I went under on a ship isn’t there any more. Home Sweet Home for the next 14 days.
That’s about all there is to the room. No chair. No sofa. It has ONE electrical outlet. But – it has a window. And a tiny bathroom. What more do I need? I am all unpacked. I have discovered where to get good coffee. Life is good. Even if I have my doubts about the WiFi.
This is the Island Princess. And you can find the bridge cam on this page: Princess Bridge Cam Page.
Sometimes I hate Google Maps. I wanted dinner. There didn’t seem to be anywhere to eat. But there was a Whole Foods nearby. Silly Peggy, instead of going the obvious way, just walk north on A1A for about 1/2 a mile, I followed Google’s directions. Took me the scenic route through a mid-century neighborhood that has somehow avoided being torn down. It was charming. But, I was hungry and tired. Got my dinner. And walked back south on A1A for about 1/2 mile.
Day 0 of the Panama Canal Trip was uneventful. Jet Blue got the job done. Uber got me to the hotel. Whole Foods provided a nice big grilled chicken sandwich. Half of which will be breakfast tomorrow morning.
Spent the travel/waiting time reading about the Panama Canal. The David McCullough one. Plus a “travel” oriented book. Of course, I should have done research and investigation before booking a trip. But what fun would that be?
The travel book did convince me that I should not be “scared” of Cartagena. You are no longer at serious risk of being caught in the crossfire of a gunfight. Well, at least no more than at home. And frankly, I am always more worried about dysentery than gunshots.
Chilling in the bed. Looking out the window.
It’s only 7PM. But, I am tired and it’s time to wash out my undies, make a cup of coffee and enjoy a couple of World Foods cookies. Then read about the Panama Canal until I fall asleep.
Tomorrow, I have to find the boat. Assuming the boat finds Ft Lauderdale.
