THE GRAND FINALE

Today we woke up to brilliant sunshine, What a lovely end to a perfect holiday. Didn’t get really mobile til about 10:00 and that was just perfect. Pam decided not to emerge til about 3:00 – she even had room service bring her lunch. – the lazy sod.

I went to the room to see if Pam was still alive and much to my dismay, there was Stacy – almost mortally wounded - she had opened the stateroom door and scraped the top of her third toe – almost right off. However, because you are not supposed to be sick or injured outside the clinic hours, we had to wait from 12:00 until 2:00 to get some attention. They poured hydrogen peroxide over it and then applied some bacitracin and then a supply of bandaids to keep the dressing changed – as of 9:30 this evening, it is still weeping, stinging and uncomfortable. No doubt she will be riding on Nana’s knee on the wheelchair to disembark. An unfortunate end of a wonderful journey for her. I’m sure it will take a while to heal.

Some of us saw dolphins swimming and playing along side the ship, (some of us were gambling and saw nothing). Later there was a sighting of a pod of orcas and Pan, using dad’s camera’ was able to get some closer shots than the rest of us. Then it was time for dinner.

We enjoyed our last dinner in the dining room and had the parade of the baked Alaska and the Filipino farewell song. Lots of sparklers and lots of baked Alaksa for all to have dessert. We waved our napkins high in the air in appreciation for the dining room wait staff. Lots of fun tricks and really bad jokes. I think we will all remember why the giraffe didn’t come to Tarzan’s birthday party!

Well, since this is the last post before we debark tomorrow, I will keep it short and sweet. So good night all, and we will be seeing you very soon now

Cheers

Ketchikan...and rain, rain, and rain!

Thursday August 30, 2007

We arrived in Ketchikan at 1:30 in the rain. It is mostly drizzle, but rain nonetheless. There were three other ships in port with us, but the shops never seem to run out of merchandise.

Stacy and Shannon went on a sea kayak trip for 3 hours. They were rained on, but not terribly wet because they had the proper clothing. Shannon said it was very hard work as “the seas aren’t exactly glass, you know”. They saw lots of eagles and enjoyed their ride.

Pam didn’t get to go on her float plane trip today – it was cancelled due to the wind and rain and visibility. She ended up doing a zip line and said she was scared at the beginning but like the adventure. She does have a picture, but it will have to wait until tomorrow as I can’t find her or her camera right now!

Eileen, Mom and I didn’t do very much this morning and when we docked in Ketchikan, Eileen and I went out to find the Silver Thimble Quilt store. We came out empty handed and just couldn’t quite understand how that happened. Could it be possible that we finally have everything? We will have to check our stash when we get home. We called home to find out that the temps were soaring and we are about 60 degrees F here – we both decided that we are glad that we are here! We were off the ship for about an hour and a half and came back to the ship and then the heavy rain started.

The casino has been closed all day because we are still in port, however as we are set to sail in a few minutes, the jingling should start soon! I know mom is ready to play the little machine with the squirrel and the money tree. That has been a favourite for all of us on this trip!

Well, nothing more to report – no great wins – yet – I’ll let you know tomorrow!

Ciao

MAN THAT MARGERIE - SHE IS ONE COLD BITCH!

Today we awoke to the rude clock alarm set to go off at 5:00 – we were told that you could see whales beginning at 6:00 and we didn’t want to miss a thing. Well the “DAM” whales forgot to show up! So there we were all dressed and nothing to see. The weather report from the Navigator’s log said that it was partly cloudy – he must have been on another ship. It was raining here and continued to rain until we were in Glacier Bay. Then the skies lifted and although not sunny, we had a great day there. Pea Soup was served on deck as well as in the Crow’s Nest Observation lounger – where we were. Then at 10:30 we were invited to partake in wine and cheese with Margerie – the glacier.

We bundled Nana up on our balcony and she was able to have an excellent view right at her own door. All in all it was a great day!

There was lots of activity – which interprets into lots of calving at the her base. She is reported to be moving forward at a rate of 7 feet per day. Also, the glaciers here are thinning in depth. It will be interesting to compare pictures from 2 years ago, although I think it would take more than that to see a significant difference.
After a very long luxurious sleep (none of this 5:00 am stuff) and her own personal beautification, Pam arrived on deck at approximately 10:30 to take in the wonderful sights and of course had missed nothing. She was playing poker last night and walked away – or should I say danced away - from the table with $150.00 in her pocket. She began taking more photographs.

She took a great one of Shannon, Stacy, Eileen and I. We were all smiling beautifully for her when all of a sudden Margerie let out a huge crack and we all (but Eileen) spun our heads around at precisely the moment that Pam pressed the button. Another great picture for scrapbooking.
Some of us had a nap this afternoon after our early morning – I needed it and slept soundly until it was time to get up to dinner. We had dinner in the nice restaurant on board – the Pinnacle Grill. It was nice, but I think I would rather just eat in the dining room or the Lido – too fancy for me.
After I went to the internet café and was able to chat on line with Matthew, Colleen and Kim. It was nice to be in touch even though it was brief. I might try again tomorrow as I just noticed that there is a web cam on board. So that might be fun too.

Well – on to the casino to try our luck again. I am staying even and Pam is the big winner! We’ll see what luck she has tonight!

Love to everyone!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR BRIAN, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Happy Birthday Brian! We are all thinking of you on your special day and Eileen and I phoned to sing to you, but you were not home.

Now phoning turned out to be quite an experience and a story for the blog. The phone we called you from – oh pardon me attempted to call you from, was out of service, however we did not find that out until after we had put 25 cents in TWICE. So we moved to another payphone up the street and as I went to get my wallet opened to put some coins in, my wallet fell and all my coins dropped through the slats in the boardwalk. A special memory of Skagway to be sure! Now at that particular phone there was no dial tone anyway, so we moved to another phone – got the dial tone, tried to put a coin in and the coin got jammed in the slot! Finally, not to let this get the better of us, we went to an internet café where they always have payphones in good repair and we were finally able to connect to your number – but you were not home. So I hope you are able to read the blog tonight to get your special greeting!

Now for Pam and Stacy’s intimate encounter with “Spot” the humpback. Pam took the most amazing pictures of this whale with our camera – she was in the right spot (haha) at the right time and I think National Geographic should be calling her any time. I am working very hard to get a picture of the whale that Pam took up on the blog, but the resolution was too high I think – so I will give it my best shot.

We cannot believe our luck with the weather. Before we left home, there were a lot of internet weather sites that indicates the weather up here was going to be quite dreary – however, as I told Pam, if you don’t like what one site says, keep looking until you find one that you do like. So that’s exactly what we did and found a website that indicated we would have sunny and partly cloudy days – and that is exactly how lovely our weather is! Beautiful sunshine and actually wore T-shirt and shorts today.

We walked around the town and poked our noses in some shops. There were 4 ships in port altogether today and that makes for a busy day in this little town of Skagway. We are completely surrounded by mountains except for the ocean on one side. It is quite a lovely place to be. Right off the side of the ship there were several fish swimming about (don’t ask me what kind) and there was a seal who moved into the area – the fish disappeared – that is all but one – and the seal played with it like a cat plays with a mouse or bird. Catching it – letting it go and swim away – then catching it again and so on and so on. Poor fish. I guess the seal wasn’t very hungry at that particular moment and was just looking for some amusement.

Mom sat out on the balcony for quite a while today. She really enjoyed the fine weather and all the fresh air. Eileen and I were gone about 3 hours and she had her nap, watched some TV and then moved out to the deck to take in the glorious sunshine.

The girls rented bikes and went for a nice bike ride. I haven’t seen their pictures yet, but they said they had a great time and it was a nice easy ride. They are enjoying their holiday together. I am so glad they are having this opportunity.

Love to all and enjoy your day Brian!

2nd POST FOR MONDAY THE 27TH

Well today was quite lovely – the weather shaped up very nicely and even ended up quite hot for a day in Juneau. Juneau is in the natural rain forest and rainy days are way more common that sunny ones, but today was absolutely gorgeous t-shirt weather here.

Our trip up the Tracey Arm was disappointing as we were unable to get to the end to see the twin Sawyer Glaciers. There proved to be too much ice to chance the narrowest part of the channel, so we turned around, but we are promised to have a very close encounter with the active Marjorie Glacier in Glacier Bay on Wednesday.

This is a picture of Mom enjoying the scenery up the Tracey Arm.

We arrived in Juneau earlier than expected and shopping was on the agenda! We went to the famous T-Shirt Company and picked up a few things – I was lucky enough to get two great jackets for Peter and Eileen and Shannon got some sweatshirts and t-shirts and a few other knick knacks. Pam and Stacy went up on the gondola (we think) to visit the top of Mt. Roberts and then they were to be twilight whale watching out of Auk Bay. We will be anxious to get them home to hear of their adventures!

Eileen, Shannon and I took a cab to go to Fred Meyer to buy some walkie talkies for the girls to use on this ship. We learned a valuable lesson today – before you ask a cab to take you someplace, it is wise to find out approximately how far it is and the approximate cost of the trip. As it turned out, we got the walkie talkies for a very good price on sale for $39.99 but the cab ride there and back for $50.00 – oops!

I bought a $5.00 phone card and phoned Peter – the card is good for 15 hours of talking, so I let Shannon use it to call Tom too. I don’t even know enough people myself to talk for 15 hours in one week. We will make some more phone calls later in other ports and then I shall give the card to the cabin steward so he can call his family at least once.

We went and had a peek in the Red Dog Saloon – they have sawdust floors, an old honkey tonk piano with an equally old honkey tonk piano man. They were all singing along and drinking $6.00 beers. The lady at the door wouldn’t let me come in to take pictures cause they were too busy, so I asked her if I could please take one from the door and stepped inside and took a picture and then left – what a crabby pants! I sure wasn’t going to wait for a table and drink a $6.00 beer in there!! It did look neat though,

Right now, Nana, Shannon and Eileen are playing tile rummy and arguing about the rules, I am so glad that I am typing the blog J

Oh I forgot to tell you – this morning at 4:00 there was a signal of 6 bells. While I was counting and hoping it wasn’t the dreaded 7 short blasts and 1 long one which means get your lifejackets on and get to the muster station, Eileen was madly smacking the night table trying to shut off the phantom alarm clock – Mom was saying what’s happening – what’s happening…

Anyway 6 short blasts means FIRE! However, there was no fire. Just a whole bunch of fire alarms going off at the same time in the engine compartment. The chief officer came on to tell us that is was a false alarm and go back to bed etc. Then a couple of minutes later, as we were beginning to fall asleep again, the captain – who sounded like he was just woken up also, told us that no fire was detected – it was a false alarm and go back to sleep. We used this mid-night interruption for a pee break and then we did all fall asleep again before anyone could come on the blower and tell us to do just that.

Well, once again I will try to upload a photo or two – we have tried to use less resolution and that might help – other wise you will have to be satisfied with my ramblings!

I will report tomorrow from Skagway.

FIRST OF TWO POSTS TODAY

Well yesterday was good for Pam! She was the great grand champion of gambling. She won $176.00 at bingo – then she won $48.00 at the little 2 cent machine after putting in only $10.00 and when I left her she was grinning like mad at the 21 table. I played one shoe with her at the 21 table and was up $4.00 from the $20 I put down and then it was time to take mom home and give her a snack and put her to bed. Pam’s lesson today is NEVER SPLIT TWO JACKS! A mom can still teach her 26 year old daughter a thing or two!

The clock went back one hour through the night. So we awoke at 6:00 am to take in the beautiful sights of Tracy Arm. We are looking forward to more whale spottings – specifically humpbacks and orcas - throughout the day especially near the mouth of the channel. Spotting grizzlies, black bears and mountain goats along the route is entirely possible too. Tracy Arm is a true fjord and is just south of Juneau. Although there are no guarantees, as the twin Sawyer Glaciers at the upper end of Tracy Arm are retreating at the rate of about 2 feet per day, seeing glacier calving is a possibility. We arrive at Juneau at 2:30 in the afternoon and leave at 10:30 at night so this is a long day for us. All that shopping and one of the best little quiltshops is so close to where we dock.

We look forward to seeing the Red Dog Saloon – it still has the original dirt floor and is on the historical registry.

Interesting asides – Bruno Marti of La Belle AuBerge and the producer/judge of “The Next Great Chef” is aboard with us and enjoying the fabulous meals and chatting with all that know him.
My neighbours, the Dryfout’s are on board also and I have run into them from time to time.

Well, time to take in some of the amazing views – will write more later when I have seen it all and bought it all in Juneau!

p.s. having trouble putting picture up on this site – will keep trying

Here we are at last!

Sorry for the delay in blogging, but the day went by so darn quickly or should I say “dam quickly” since we are on Holland America’s Zuiderdam ship it took a bit of time to get set up, but here we are on line at last.

The trip by limo to the ship was uneventful and we moved quickly along through the lines. We were aboard by 1:00. There was a great buffet lunch set up and after lunch, getting all the stuff put away, it was time to get out on the deck for the lifeboat drill – that’s always a thrill. Pam took a great photo of Stacy and Shannon while Mom, Eileen and I were struggling away on the other side of the ship with our lifejackets and the belts and belts and paraphernalia … thank God it wasn’t a real emergency!

Dinner was served and Stacy tried to be electrified by the big brass ball – didn’t work. After dinner, we all tried our hand in the casino and although we did come away with a little bit, overall the machines were pretty stingy. Lots of 1 and 2 cent machines to keep us amused though.

Pam even tried poker. She had won $40 on the machines, so she took her winnings to try her hand at the Texas low limit no holdem poker table. She had fun and after playing for about an hour, left the table with $15 remaining from her $40 win.

Oh my gosh typing up in the crows nest and just saw a whale (probably a hump back) surface and then he and his tail submerged for another feeding frenzy. Ho Hum just another day in paradise!

Well today we played trivia and came 2nd with about 6 other teams! No fancy luggage strap for us! Now we are waiting for the Majority Rules game that will be starting after ballroom dancing. So relatively quiet today which is fine by me.

Tomorrow we are in the Tracey Arm in the morning and then in Juneau in the afternoon from 1:30 until 11:00 pm - a late one! So I will resume blogging tomorrow with some more photos from the kidlets! I think they are deciding between whale watching or Pam is thinking about helicopter adventure! Wow sounds exciting. Eileen and I will stay on board except for our adventure to the quilting shop!!!!! Talk to you tomorrow!

ALASKA BOUND AUGUST 2007

Well the sisters are on the move again! . We are sailing to Alaska on the Zuiderdam on August 25, 2007 to share another wonderful time together with more of our family! Mom, Eileen, Stacy, Shannon and Pam and I will be together for this voyage. Who knows what fantastic sights await us on this journey! We will be going to Glacier Bay and up the Tracy Arm. I wonder if the quilt store in Juneau will recognize us - or the other little shop in Skagway.

The laptop will certainly accompany me, and as I believe I have some credits awaiting us as far as internet time goes, I will try and reserect the site with some more stories and I hope even more chuckles. I have been very firm with Eileen, that we are not snorkeling! Also I am not buying another new bathing suit - perhaps ever! I'm sure we will find some other tales that need to be told and shared "privately" with EVERYONE!

til then ......

The last post

Well the last day has arrived and we will be home in less than 24 hours. What a wonderful trip and such memories we are taking home with us…along with Mexican, Colombian and Jamaican treasures.

The Bingo jackpot that kept running for the two weeks was finally won today and 2 people shared $8750.00 US - what a nice way to end the cruise.

It has cooled off considerably and long pants and long sleeves are definitely the order of the day. The pool deck is empty and because of our speed and the large swells, the pool looks like a tsunami zone!

It will be good to get home. Even the ship is full steam ahead now as we make our way up the peninsula to San Diego by 7:00 am tomorrow morning. We are in the first group to disembark and our plane leaves at 12:15 pm
So Adios amigos and talk to you all in person soon! Thanks for all your responses – we enjoyed that so much as we hope you enjoyed coming along on our journey with us. It made us feel closer to home!

Cabo San Lucas

Cabo was beautiful and the weather wasn’t too unbearable. Peter and I took a later tender than Tom and Eileen. This time we were docked quite close to Los Arcos and the view was definitely breathtaking.

We wandered around and shopped some and found a bar with free phone and free internet. So of course I had to phone home – must say that the connection was lousy, but it was good to talk to Mom Troje, Pam and Kit. If it seemed that I couldn’t hear you – that’s exactly what happened. Mom Herrin and Colleen, I wanted to call you took, but it was 12:15 so I knew that you would be at lunch. We had drinks there of course and they made me a lime margarita that was actually on the sweeter side! I also had a shot of Pomegranate Tequila – It was absolutely delicious and was as smooth as ice wine – wow too bad we don’t have anything like that at home! Or maybe that’s a good thing!

Then it was time to head back to the ship and a fellow tried to sell me a bracelet just like the one I bought for $15.00 in Acapulco for $1.00. I’m sure it wasn’t sterling silver - God I hope not! When I got back to the ship I made sure that mine had the stamp on it and thank goodness it did! Whew!

Thank goodness I am feeling better than I did yesterday! Tonight is crab and lobster and the last formal dinner! I think I convinced Peter to put pants on for this one!

Puerto Vallarta

Got off the boat to see Puerto Vallarta and it was a lovely day – either is wasn’t as hot as the other ports we have seen or we am gradually getting used to it. Peter’s so dark now or should I say Pedro, I think he rivals the natives! Saw the fliers in town – I think they are called the Papallenta Fliers or something like that – they hang from ropes upside down and play music and twirl down to the ground.

Eileen and Tom went one way and Peter and I went another. P.V. is quite safe and easy to navigate and it was good for them to have some time to really do the things they wanted to do. Each day Tom has faithfully gone to the shopping lectures and had yet to follow his own agenda. A perfect opportunity in P.V. as the lovely Malacon is the most beautiful walk with shops on one side and the beach on the other. The statues are weird and lovely at the same time.

There were 4 ships in P.V. and the shopkeepers were delighted! We bought a few things and then made a trip to Walmart to buy a suitcase for our return trip home. Our biggest piece of luggage blew up on the way here – well not exactly, but there was a rip in it and one of the wheels was off. Kind of like how I felt yesterday. Oh well, 2 immodiums later I think I will be able to handle the tender into Cabo!

I will post again later this evening! - 2 in one day!!!!

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES ....OH HOW I WISH

Sorry I missed you all yesterday. Montezuma kept me close to the banos. I'm sure you can figure that out. We are in Cabo San Lucas today and after 3 immodium tablets, I am feeling considerable better!

Found another internet cafe with a free phone and phoned Mom Troje and Pamela. Sorry Colleen - you and Mom were at lunch!

There will be actually 3 posts today this one and two others, so make sure you see it all. Only one more day and then we are home!

Miss you all and look forward to face to face communication and frequent phone calls!

At Sea #5

Last night there was a farewell to Acapulco and Mexican midnight buffet. We didn’t sail until 12:00 midnight, so we were able to see the city all lit up. It was quite beautiful. And as an added attraction, the neon lights on all the busses and many vehicles was quite something! I tried to get a picture, but as you can see it was dark and they were moving. As we left the port, Eileen and I were hot tubbing. It was a lovely warm evening for all the festivities.

No rushing around today, just got up and had breakfast and then tried to catch up on the journal, but the battery was running low so we quit and came back to the room to read and sit on the deck to watch for turtles. Peter is the turtle spotter, but by the time he says – hey there’s a turtle – it’s gone. You really have to spot them for yourself. There are certainly lots around!

At 2:30 we went to the Day 5 of Trivia Challenge. I like to call it Cut Throat Trivia. The teams have been formed since the first day of the cruise and the people ruthless – tattling on each other if one has more than 6 members. And to think it is all for the grand prize of a pen or a key chain. Eileen and I sat close by but we worked on Sudoku and let the others fight it out. The next Challenge Trivia is the last one and will be on the next at sea day. I think I will come to see the carnage when one team is finally declared the winner. They do have morning triva and that is fun but this is stupid.

Tonight is our Mystery Theatre dinner. It starts out with Champagne and hors d’ouvres in one of bars and then we go to dinner in one of the other restaurants where we are part of the investigative team to figure out who dun it! Should be a lot of fun.

Tomorrow we are in Puerto Vallarta – more shopping and maybe another wonderful lunch of beer and shrimp in an outdoor restaurant!

Acapulco

Hola from Acapulco!

We are having fun here and the internet cafe is right across from the ship, and the price is certainly better than the ship. We had fun today. Went to the old city and shopped a bit. Took a taxi for $12.00 there and $12.00 back. When we got back to the ship, we walked around the corner and a guy said - "hey I'll take you to the old city for $1.00 per person!" Oh well. That's Mexico.

We went out for lunch and had taco's and beer and huge shrimp and good guacamole and some fresh salsa to die for. The restaurant right overlooking the harbour. We had lunch with our friends from the ship, Terry and Curtis. It was lots of fun. We bought buckets of 5 Coronitas - you know Pat - the tiny ones for $4.00 and we had a few buckets and then we were in great shape to bargain with all the silver jewelry guys on the way back. It was so much fun. I remember the first time I went to Mexico, I was afraid to barter, but not any more! He kept telling me what a good deal I was getting and telling me not to tell anyone. Yah right! Oh well I ended up with bracelets on my wrists and a necklace and didn't mind paying him for the experience - it was so much fun.

Now I am ready to get on the ship and get into air conditioning again. It is so hot and sweaty here. Now another day at sea and then P.V. and finally Cabos. Won't be long til we are home.

Oh and for anybody that wanted to see Tom's battered knees, here is a good look! Poor Baby!

Talk to you later!

Huatulco, Mexico

Hola from Huatulco! Eileen wants me to tell you that it is pronounced (Watoolco)

Today we went on our snorkeling adventure and it nearly killed us! Tom had a rough encounter with coral/rocks and although his knees are scraped and probably a bit bruised he is actually fine. Nothing that scotch on the rocks didn’t cure! However, to hear him tell it – he was bashed against the rocks and his knees are shredded. Peter quite enjoyed his adventure and Eileen and April kept smashing against one another in the shallows. Our personal floatation devices (not our breasts) were practically strangling us as we were sputtering through the mouthpiece.

I thought that Eileen was sitting enjoying the waves, until I realized that because of the extra 20 lbs of sand in her bathing suit and the flippers she was quite unable to stand Finally she was hauled out by her loving sister and by a kind spirited gentleman. Course I neglected to mention that it took 2 kind spirited Mexican women to help me stand and retrieve my flippers earlier! We are proof of how easy it is to drown in 6 inches of water. It was truly a Kodak moment! Our snorkeling days are over – thank God!

Huatulco has 36 miles of coast line with 9 bays and 36 beaches and 365 earthquakes each year! Our guide was quite informative and all in all it was a lovely day. The weather was a balmy 84 degrees and beautiful ocean breezes kept us most comfortable!

Please somebody – write to Tom on this blog – he is feeling sorry for himself after his painful encounter.

At Sea for the 4th time

At sea day #4 and a very lazy day it was! Time to reflect on the trip and the things we have seen.

We found out that the Juan Valdez we had our picture taken with is the new and improved Juan after the death of the original one. We also saw someone getting a picture with Juan and holding “Flat Stanley”. What a journey this Flat Stanley is having for the lucky little person that will write about him once he is returned. If you haven’t heard of Flat Stanley, you can google the name and read about the interesting project.

Today we saw several sea turtles swimming around and lots of dolphins at play. Eileen saw a shark, but the rest of us missed that sight!

We try to get in the water at least once a day and sometimes twice if we are lucky. It feels so good and the hot tub is relaxing – like we need to be more relaxed on a day like today.

I am including a picture of the sun as it was setting. I remember the sunsets can be quite spectacular in this part of the continent. Got a few nice pictures, but not as good as I think it could be, so I will try again another day!

At Sea for the third time

At Sea again and loving it! Had a bit of a later start today – especially after getting up extra early to see the Panama Canal yesterday.

Lots of rain during the night complete with thunder and lightning! When we were on deck there were puddles everywhere! I met Eileen later at the Coffee Talk by David from Georgia. We learned that for the real connoisseur, coffee should be consumed within 2 weeks of roasting for the best flavour. We also learned that decaffeinated coffee with kill you (along with everything else in life), but at least you won’t lose sleep over it. The best news was that he buys all his Swiss Water Decaf from Vancouver – cause it’s the best!

There were some interesting birds skimming across the water. They stayed with us for most of the day catching the odd fish now and then….but mostly just playing and enjoying their flight.

Tonight was the 2nd formal night and we had surf and turf for dinner. Mmmmm. You can tell how much Eileen enjoyed her dinner by her plate!

So as you can see, not much newsy stuff today, just a day of relaxation. A bit of sewing, a bit of reading some time in the pool, some nap time, some wandering around time. Some time for reflecting on our little wins at the casino last night. Eileen was playing a 2 penny machine right beside me and somehow the bet changed from 2 cents to 25 cents and she was playing 18 lines ($3.50 a pull) - yah go figure, but she hit two big ones in a row and was up to $115.00. I worked very hard for my $80.00 at 2 cents for 18 lines (36 cents a pull). But we had fun!

Here is an extra canal picture for you, Shannon. Each picture costs between $1.00 and $2.00 to upload, so you will have to wait for more once we get home.
Love to everyone and we will report in again tomorrow

CRUSING THROUGH THE PANAMA

Cruising through the Panama Canal today was wonderful…The Gatun Locks and the Pedro Miguel Lock only had one lane open. So we never saw anything else coming the other way. Miraflores Locks had both lanes open, but all was quiet on the other side. So other than a couple of ships in front of us, it seemed like we were all alone in the Canal.

Today we traveled 50 miles from Colon on the Atlantic side to Panama City on the Pacific Side. We traversed 3 locks rising 85 feet… went through the narrow canal and then down 85 feet with the other 3 locks and out into the Pacific Ocean – total trip took about 9 hours. It was really interesting and as long as you weren’t in the sun it wasn’t too hot.
In the Pedro Miguel Lock, Peter was able to touch the side of the wall. He was on Deck 5 on the Starboard side. Eileen and I were on the Port side and were about 2 feet away from touching the side of the wall. This particular lock – the drop is 31 feet, so you are actually below ground level for that one only. So Brian and Joan – try to see that lock from the lowest deck possible and maybe get a picture touching the wall. Lots of pelicans and frigate birds and we have pictures to prove it!

Oh Helen! Dinner tonight was Osso Bucco – I was thinking of you as I ate the wonderful meal and finished it off with a strawberry Napolean! Mmmmmm. This ship also makes awesome lattes – but they sure don’t taste the same without you! Actually they brought me some birthday cake too! So happy birthday to me and to you also Joan Mills – bet you wish you were here!

Now we have 2 at sea days to relax before our snorkel adventure in Huatulco, Mexico. We will try and rest up.

Cartagena

Cartagena! Wow how lucky we are to have seen this beautiful place. So clean and the very friendly people were so happy to have our cruise ship stop here. This is the first time in 7 years that Royal Caribbean has had a ship dock here. We were treated very royally! When we entered the port, we were greeted with fire boats spraying water and as we got closer to the dock, there was a 3 masted schooner with uniformed crew all the way up the rigging and standing at attention on deck.

Eileen and I had our picture taken with Juan Valdez and his donkey. As we were standing waiting, the donkey decided to shift and nearly knocked us over. What an ass.

They had an area set aside for the ceremony that would involve el presidente and our captain….and later, el presidente shook hands with several of the passengers and each lady was presented with a rose (their national flower) as we made our way back on board. We felt very welcome and very special here! There certainly was a military presence – probably more to do with the president being on the dock.

Once again we hired a taxi and we were able to see the new town, the old town and the forts that were most picturesque. The buildings in the old town were very colourful - lots of balconies with beautiful flowers hanging down. We went to Les Bovadas - a handicraft market - and were inundated with peddlers selling necklaces, sunglasses, Tshirts, tablecloths and drawings. Don’t they know that No means NO! I can’t tell you how many times we said “No, thank you” today – we are practically hoarse from it. If Eileen and I hear another “hey lady!”, we are going to start punching!

Even though we had to be back on board by 1:00, we had a full day and we were pooped! A lot to do with the heat and humidity. Glad I had sunscreen, hat and sunglasses. Brian and Joan, you are in for a treat!

Now if you are still reading….you can go to http://www.pancanal.com/ and click on the live web cam for Gatun Locks at approximately 7:00 CST (you figure it out) and Miraflores Locks approximately 3:00 pm CST. The times are subject to change due to traffic in the canal!

Talk to you tomorrow from the canal!

At Sea #2 Day 4

Ahhhh at sea again! Quiet…peaceful…relaxing…HECK NO! Lots going on today.

It started off with breakfast at the back of the ship and then we had to hurry to get our Latte and play morning trivia. We came 2nd. (it was only for a key chain) After trivia we went back to sit on the deck of our cabin and read. When we woke up we had to hurry and get to lunch! Then we had to race to the pool deck to witness the International belly flop contest. Thank goodness it ended on time so we could get to the championship trivia – but those are too hard for us! We only got 1 right out of 20. Did you know that in the song “Yellow Submarine” that the word submarine is only sung 6 times? Well neither did we – our guess was 72. We won’t go to championship trivia again. The one answer we got right, was that old fashioned quill pens were made from goose feathers – the others said turkey …. BOZO’s.

Then it was time for a swim and a hot tub. These really seem to help Eileen’s hip – not to mention the bottle of wine that we shared right after! Time for dinner and then to rush to “Name that tune”. We were only a team of 2 compared to 6 on all the other teams and then because I had the computer with us – we were accused of cheating! I had to show them that I had the network card in my pocket, but alas we came in second! Well, tomorrow is Cartagena, Colombia. This is the first time that a Royal Caribbean ship will have docked there in 7 years and rumour has it that the President of Colombia is to come aboard for some sort of a ceremony.

Oh by the way Peter and Tom are having a good time too relaxing by the pool deck drinking Coronas and enjoying the odd swim…. They think that cruising is so relaxing – especially Peter. Talk to you tomorrow after we come back from visiting Cartagena!

Jamaica

Today we were in Jamaica, Mon. We found a cab driver, Anton, who stayed with us for the day and took us around sightseeing. It was quite amazing to have our own personal tour guide. He took us to the downtown area and up into the hills to a plantation house and a beautiful view of Montego Bay. Eileen and I even had our picture taken with the real Olympic Jamaican bobsled.

We also went to the Rockland Bird Sanctuary and fed the hummingbirds from little bottles filled with sugar water. They perched on our fingers and had a drink. It was a very special visit in an area filled with blooming bird of paradise plants, hibiscus and other fragrant exotic flowers that I did not recognize. He also drove us to the place where they make Tortuga Rum Cakes – we had samples. The small gift shop attached had free internet and a free telephone! So we called Mom Herrin, Mom Troje, Pam and Matthew – it was great to talk to everyone.

For lunch we stopped at the Pork Pit. We had delicious jerk chicken and bbq ribs. Then we were on our way back to the ship. Our guide went above and beyond the call to make sure our Jamaican experience was a good one– Thanks, Anton!

Today’s lesson is:Never drive in Montego Bay. Traffic is horrendous and they honk their horns for everything – it can mean “move it!”; “hurry up!”; “I’m gonna pass you!” or simply “Hi – howya doin, Mon.” There are no lights, very few stop signs, speed limits that no one obeys and to top it all off, they drive right hand drive cars on the wrong side of the road! Very scary, mon!

Day 2 - At Sea

Ah yes today is an at sea day….. and we are loving it! Eileen went to a cooking demonstration, then we enjoyed our scrapbooking craft and then we went for a swim. During our swim, the captain, Trym Selvag, invited us for a champagne welcome reception! I assured Peter that it was a personal invitation and we should go. Well we shall see.

OK so the captain’s reception was not what we thought – the whole ship had been invited – and – you couldn’t have your picture taken with him unless you wanted one for purchase! Well, that was pretty nervy, so Eileen and I drank the free rum punch and had our picture taken with some of ship activity staff! That was way better and it was free!

Today’s lesson is for the girls:
You know that peel and stick little item on a new bathing suit? Well I learned today that it is important to remove it before you wear the suit in the water! – nuf said!

HERE AT LAST!

Well after 20 hours of traveling and being up for a total of 38 hours and still counting, we are indeed aboard the Radiance of the Seas. The skies are overcast and temps are around 75-80 and that is quite bearable. We are bone weary and have had our first of many wonderful meals. Tomorrow is an “at sea” day and I don’t imagine I will be getting up too early …. But there is a scrapbooking workshop at noon. Hmmm we better check that out!

WE'RE ON OUR WAY!!!

We are just packing the car and then we are off to the airport. Course I guess it is anticlimactic with the Canucks about to begin their second game with Dallas. Oh well, I'm sure there will be lots of hoopla (is that still a word) on the plane if we win again!

I bought a couple of sleep masks for Eileen and I to wear on the flight. It didn't help matters any that the Dollar Store I first went to thought I wanted to buy 4 kiddie pirate eye patches with ambossed skull and cross bones! Bozo! Thank goodness for Shoppers Drug Mart and a sesible clerk who recognized my obvious sophistication and found me the proper item!

So I guess we will have to see what happens next - and if you want to see too.....then tune in tomorrow! This is only the beginning!

Itinerary

April 14 leave Ft. Lauderdale
April 15 at sea
April 16 Montego Bay, Jamaica
April 17 at sea
April 18 Cartagena, Colombia
April 19 Panama Canal
April 20 at sea
April 21 at sea
April 22 Huatulco, Mexico
April 23 Acapulco, Mexico
April 24 at sea
April 25 Peurto Vallarta, Mexico
April 26 Cabos San Lucas, Mexico
April 27 at sea
April 28 San Diego and home

Our journey begins on April 13, 2007 when we will be on our way to Ft. Lauderdale to board the Radiance of the Seas on our fantastic adventure through the Panama Canal. We hope to make regular posts to keep our family and friends updated along the way -

Til then ....