Fri, 12/2
Fly from Ontario Airport (11am) to Fort Lauderdale Airport (8:36pm). The flight was relatively uneventful, though the connection from the layover in Dallas-FortWorth was very tight due to the travel time from terminal A (top right side) to terminal C (middle right side). Wouldn’t have made it if it hadn’t been for the help of the people who help the disabled.
Overnight at the Westin (2nd & 3rd photos are the view). BTW, throughout each of the days, the first set of pics are from my camera, the second set from Dave’s; although in some cases, Dave took pics with my camera.
Sat, 12/03 Ft Lauderdale FL. The next morning, we get to the ship well within the check-in time of 12:30pm-3:00pm. We were supposed to sail at 4:00pm, but it was closer to 4:30pm as they were still loading supplies. Same link has the pics of the approach to the ship (Emerald Princess) and our cabin. Co-incidentally, our cabin number was the same as when we were on the Diamond Princess on our 2008 cruise to Alaska. It’s a handicap room so room for both our scooters; and with a “roll-in” shower making it easier for me with my broken ankle.
Sun, 12/04 At Sea – each day (evening prior) we got a sheet called “Princess Event listings” (used to be called “Princess Patter” so I’ll refer to it as the Patter). It gave times and locations for all the things happening aboard. I, Kathryn, looked through it each evening to see if there were things either of us wanted to attend. Many times, I went to an event, while Dave spent time in the casino. Today we spent time exploring the ship. I went to the “MedallionClass” presentation, so I could get familiar with the app that worked great. We both went to the walk-in acupuncture consultation, and based on it, I made an appointment for a session tomorrow. in the afternoon, we attended a Veterans and Military Personnel Get Together and enjoyed mingling with other vets. In the evening were the first of Fun Photos. The photographers had various backgrounds you could pose in front of and have pictures taken. That night, we made friends with one of the photographers (Sagar Bhatkande), and that friendship lasted throughout. His wife (Nardia Brady) also works aboard in guest services. She later sent us some flowers to thank us for introducing ourselves.
Mon, 12/05 At Sea – We went to several of travel lectures given by “Destination Expert” Chris Roberts. Today’s was on the Panama Canal & Puerto Amador. He was very informative on what to expect at a port, and was entertaining with his sense of humor. This was the first of our daily visits to the whirlpool for some physical therapy on my ankle. The temperature was like a bath instead of the really hot as jacuzzis usually are, which allowed me to stay in for 45 minutes to an hour each time. In addition to the usual jets about waist level, there was a really strong jet about ankle level. I saw/felt daily improvement in my ankle. In the early afternoon, I went to my accupuncture session. It made a huge difference in my back pain that had accumulated starting with the flight (also too much time in my scooter). My back seldom hurt me for the remainder of the cruise. Later, we went to “Deal or No Deal”. We bought participation cards and didn’t win, but it was still fun. Today was also the first “formal night” and you can see all 3 formal night pictures here, as well as the Fun Photos and a some pics Sagar took at the Eco Park (see 12/6 entry). We had dozens of photos taken, but these are the only ones we purchased.
Tue, 12/06 Cartagena, Colombia
National Aviary of Colombia is where we were supposed to go, but due to a mix-up (on our part), we ended up at “Port Oasis Eco Park” which was a short distance from the dock. First excursion using the combo of my walker and my walking boot. I probably did a little too much, but I recovered pretty well after my whirlpool PT. Then I took it easy the rest of the afternoon while Dave spent time in the casino – BTW, during the entire two weeks, I ended up only $16 down, and Dave was only down the amount he took with him to play with. Our goal when gambling is to make the “nut” last as long as possible, then quit. So we did pretty well, all things considered.
Wed, 12/07 Panama Canal and Full Transit New Locks Scenic Cruising – Today was the big day. I took a picture of the schedule posted in the Patter. The first picture on the page is off the Bridge Cam as we didn’t want to get up at 6am, though we did get up in time for the first bridge. The pictures are pretty self-explanatory.
Thu, 12/08 Fuerte Amador, Panama (for Panama City) – Today’s excursion was the Panama Canal Railway & New Locks of the Canal Expansion and we rode in the Dome Car of the train. The first part of the excursion was the train ride from the Atlantic side, back over to the Pacific side through some protected rain forest (no pics). Once on the Pacific side, we took a bus to see the visitor center at Agua Clara. On way back to train, we took a detour to actually go over the Bridge of Atlantic. Then back on to the train back to the Pacific side.
Fri, 12/09 At Sea – a low key day with no pictures. I went to the Great Egg Drop Challenge; surprising how many eggs survived, about half. Great engineering.
Sat, 12/10 Puntarenas, Costa Rica – Since we missed the National Aviary, we changed our planned excursion and went to the Scarlett Macaw Sanctuary (called Natuwa) instead. I wasn’t able to make it through the whole thing as the path was a volcanic-like gravel that was too unstable for my boot and walker. So I handed the good camera to Dave and he continued while I want back to the entrance. At least I was able to see the birds part of the sanctuary, even though I missed the jaguar, monkeys and sloth. Part two of the excursion took us on a boat ride through the mangroves. It’s hard to see things in some of the pictures, but there are birds, monkeys, and more. The odd looking thing in this picture is a termite nest. We did have to laugh about the traffic encountered on the bus ride. We traveled on Route 1 which part of the Pan American Highway system. The US portion is interstate 5. They were starting a widening of the Route, which meant that it took us over an hour to travel what would have taken 15-20 minutes without the construction delays.
Sun, 12/11 was At Sea as stopping in Nicaragua was canceled; we were told because of political strife there. Another low key day with no pictures. Went to another Chris Roberts lecture, this time on Huatulco & Puerto Vallarta.
Mon, 12/12 At Sea – In the morning, I went to the fruit and vegetable carving demonstration. Other than that, nothing special, with Dave in the casino, and I went in whirlpool twice.
Tue, 12/13 Huatulco, Mexico – Today’s excursion was the Best of Huatulco but first, are pictures of the buffet before the pictures taken in the town. Because of all the walking involved (and the heat), we didn’t make it into the church. Instead, we gave the camera to the tour guide requesting he take picture in the church. We both thought he did a beautiful job of choosing pictures to take. Though we didn’t get pictures inside, we really liked the Arts and Crafts exhibition store that had been in family hands for over 100 years. Amazing how they get some of their vibrant colors to dies their yarns from which they make their rugs, table coverings, and scarves.
Wed, 12/14 At Sea – another low key day with no pictures.
Thu, 12/15 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – the excursion we had originally planned was cancelled, and the the one we thought to replace it with was one we were on in 2006, so instead, we just went to the flea market at the end of the pier and the fancier “duty free” shops as well. Fri, 12/16 and Sat, 12/17 were both At Sea, so the pictures from those days are on the same page. There was a culinary demonstration (one of the waiters sang – fantastic singer), next is the “in charge” pool attendant (pics 4143 are some of his crew we managed to get later on), the ice carving demonstration, the choir made up of passengers, another photographer we liked (along with Sagar), and finally, Sun, 12/18 Los Angeles CA Port of San Pedro arrive 6:15am.