We took the airport shuttle from Petaluma at 7:30 am on Monday morning, January 28. When we got to the airport, at 9:15 am, we had a slight problem. We used curbside check-in and got to the security line, where we had pre-check status. Yay, no need to take off our shoes or belt. Well, my ticket wouldn't scan so the TSA agent sent us back to get a new ticket. That was just a quick trip back to the check-in area. The line was very short and I made it through the scanner, but Bill didn't. I took all our carry-on things, and left him to work out the problem, 13 minutes later, he made it through, and as we started towards the gate, he asked for his jacket. I didn't have it. It turned out the TSA agent had taken it and laid it on one of the tables while he was trying to figure out why Bill couldn't make it through.He found the jacket and we were on our way to the United First Class Lounge to wait for three hours for our flight. We get lounge passes sent to us every year because we have a United Airlines credit card. We had a nice breakfast and read our books until it noon. We had two free cocktails each with our lunch of tomato soup and vegies. we boarded the plane at 1:30 pm.
We had a wonderful flight from San Francisco to Ft. Lauderdale. We landed late and took our first Uber to the Sea Club Resort. The resort turned out to be more shabby than chic, but, it was clean and comfortable and right across the street from beautiful Ft. Lauderdale Beach.
My plan of getting up early every morning and walking on the beach for sunrise was thwarted by the weather. I don't love 43 degrees at the best of times, but especially when I walk on the beach. We did plenty of walking while we were in Fort Lauderdale. We took two more trips with Uber and one with a cute little open air bus with a friendly driver who recommended a restaurant for dinner our first night. He didn't charge for his advice or for the ride. He was happy to be paid in tips. We ate at the Upper Deck for our first dinner on his recommendation and we thoroughly enjoyed it. .We walked to the Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, and enjoyed walking through mangroves but we never spotted any manatees, which I really wanted to see. The second day, we broke down and bought a cocktail at the Drunken Taco after a long hot walk. On our last night, we had pizza at Spazios,because we ate there the last time we were in Ft. Lauderdale, and we remembered how good it was.
In total, we walked over 20 miles in 3 and 1/2 days and we had a great time in Fort Lauderdale.
At Hugh Taylor Birch State Park
Cool tree at the park
Floridian lizard or baby alligator?
The resort pool
Resort restaurant
Free bus with friendly driver
Interesting thorn tree
View from our room
Libation time after a long hot walk
Bill had a well deserved beer
We had to put our feet in the water
Pizza at Spazios
Spazios
The Coral Princess
We got to the ship at 1:30 pm, figuring we would be behind the crowd of people who want to get on the ship first. That didn't work out. The ship had been in dry dock for maintenance and it was not opened up for boarding until almost 3, so we had to wait, anyway. Because there was a long line and there was no place to sit, we left the line an went outside to sit on some steps, because I couldn't stand for more than a few minutes without extreme knee pain. Bill asked a porter if I could get a wheelchair to use while we waited for the line to start moving. Not only did he bring me a wheelchair, but as soon as the line started moving, he wheeled me all the way up to check-in, on to the ship and right into our cabin.
We had reserved a disabled cabin due to Bill's toe drag, which caused him to trip and badly injure his leg on the raised threshold of the bathroom on our Alaska cruise. It was wonderful for both of us, though, because with my knee hurting from when I sprained it a few months ago, and the fact that I tend to trip and fall on my face, I was happy to have no threshold, as well.
Balcony is huge
Extra Large Balcony
Bathroom with no trip hazards
Very roomy
The desk and TV
Our cabin is on the second row in the middle
Susie's anniversary anchor
Our welcome gift
Huge closet and storage area
Princess beds are the best
Our steward, Gil, greeted us immediately. He brought us two glasses of champagne and two bottles of wine to start our cruise off right. After we had gone out and explored, we found a plate of sushi waiting for us. Several times we found a plate of chocolates on our table, and every night, there were wrapped candies on our bed.
What a nice surprise
The ship was lovely, but, as always, we spotted issues, such as places that needed to be painted, a missing railing that had crime scene tape so people would see the missing spot, and a couple of windows in public areas were missing, and covered with a piece of plastic.
We were supposed to sail away at 5 and we didn't leave the port until close to 7, but aside from that, everything was smooth. We had dinner in the Bordeaux dining room with Ron and Deb, who we later befriended, and Brian and Beverly. After dinner, we went to see the comedian, Scott Harris, who put on a wonderful show.
Food
We only ate in the dining room a few times. Most of the time we got our meals from the Horizon buffet, or the Grill, which serves hamburgers, hot dogs, and such, or the pizza stand. That way we were able to eat outside on the upper deck and enjoy the view. Bill had some delicious salmon. The buffet had themed meals, so one day, we had Mongolian BBQ and another was Mexican night. The food was good but we have had better ship meals. There was a lot of variety, it just seemed to be all the same every day.
One night, we went to the specialty restaurant, compliments of Costco; the Bayou. There we both tried the Crocodile ribs (fatty) and we had fantastic steaks. For our breakfasts, we usually ate at the buffet. And then there was tea. They used to only have tea on sea days, but now they serve it every day at 3 pm in the main dining room, The Provence. Oh my, how we love the tea meal. Finger sandwiches, little pastries, the best scones in the world and Devonshire Cream. Thank goodness we don't eat lunch, or we wouldn't have been able to have tea. One day, we went to a special English lunch at the Bayou with Deb and Ron. Bill had Shepard's pie and the rest of us had fish and chips. Dessert was cherry trifle. That was the only day we skipped tea.
Breads
Happy Valentines Day
And another Valentine cake
So many desserts
And more desserts
One of the salad bars
The Bayou
Specialty Restaurant Menu
Cocktails and snacks
Gator Ribs
Dinner at the Bayou
Entertainment
There were always musicians playing in the Atrium and several of the lounges. Some of the entertainment they had was movies under the stars, including Hearts Beat Loud, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Mama Mia, Here We Go Again. We saw parts of a Carole King concert and an Elton John concert. Live entertainers were comedian and magician Trigg Watson; Scott Harris, who we saw twice; Jesse and Colleen Kazemek, who did a Beatles tribute; Kenny Boyd, ventriloquist; a couple of production shows, which we skipped; guitar comic, Gary Delena, who was fantastic; and a hilarious comedian, Doug Funk. We weren't interested in a couple of the shows, so we played cribbage and shuffleboard with Deb and Ron. There were enrichment talks in one of the two theaters which we attended. We saw the talks on the ports we were going to visit, and there were several interesting presentations on the 60s, TV commercials, old cars, and funny old TV shows. We enjoyed those a lot. After some of the shows, we went to the Wheelhouse Lounge to listen to music, and we even danced a couple of times.
At the Wheelhouse Lounge
Formal Night
Elton John concert under the stars
Enrichment talk in the Universe Lounge
In the Princess Theater
Guitar comic, Gary Delana
Concert under the stars is the coolest thing
The Coral Princess
The Atrium on the ships are always beautiful. We sat in La Patisserie (a bar), just outside of the Bordeaux restaurant. quite often to play cards or visit with friends and especially to wait for the doors to open for tea. We really liked the library and game room. They were large and isolated from other areas, so they were quiet. We sat in the library several times to read and enjoy the view from the large windows. The Princess Theater wasn't as large as the theaters on other ships we've been on, but the seats were comfortable. The Universe Lounge was another theater-type area that wasn't as large as the Princess Theater, but more comfortable with the seating arranged so people could visit while they waited for the shows to begin.
An interesting thing happened one morning. We were leaving our cabin to go to breakfast when we found that we couldn't open the door. The deadbolt was off, but it was stuck. Bill tried, then he shook the handle. Gil was nearby, in the hallway, and he came to the door to ask if we were okay. He tried to open it, and he failed, too. He said to wait a minute. Suddenly, he appeared behind us, having gone through the cabin of our neighbor and through the door between the balconies. He tried to open the door with a special tool - a kitchen knife. He couldn't do it. He said he would be right back. I asked if we could go out the way he had come in and, at first, he said we couldn't go that way. But, he left for a couple of minutes, then came back and said he had made a call, and gotten permission for us to go through. He accompanied us, which I thought was good, as I wouldn't want anyone walking through our room unaccompanied. We had a nice breakfast and when we came back, the lock mechanism had been replaced.
Atrium elevator
Atrium Stairs
Corridor near the Bayou and the Princess Theater
Game Room
Library
One of the indoor hot tubs
Our own private pool
A peaceful view from the Promenade Deck
Shopping frenzy in the dining room
The indoor pool and hot tubs
Relaxing in the library
In the Universe Lounge
There were two regular pools, one inside and one outside, one pool at the sanctuary, and a splash pool. The sanctuary pool was the one we had been looking forward to using, but it turned out to be a small round thing with no seating around it. To sit down, people had to pay to use the chairs above it. The splash pool was worthless, being only about 6 inched deep. We never even saw anyone using it. We liked the sports deck, which had a large checkers board, a basketball court and shuffleboard. As always, we liked the promenade deck, which had the most comfortable lounge chairs on the ship. We sat out there often. We walked there several times, but usually, we didn't walk for very long. We figure we walked three to five miles on the ship every day. Our cabin was aft, and the restaurants were all forward.The pools were midships as was the grill and pizza stand.
The People
Karen and Rob
We made a few friends, with whom we plan to stay in touch. On the Panama transit, we met Karen and Rob as soon as we walked out on the Promenade deck to claim our spot for the day. We hit it off right away and we hung out together a lot for the rest of the cruise. We had dinner together several times and they joined us for tea a couple of times. They live near Fresno, in a motor home on their son's property, and they travel all over the country.
Deb and Ron
Deb and Ron live in Washington. We met them at our first dinner and we kept seeing them during the first few days. Finally, we got together to have dinner, play cribbage and play shuffleboard. They went to the special English lunch with us, and joined us for tea a couple of times.
Rob and Bill
Karen and me
At tea with Karen and Rob
Rosa was the photographer for Princess. We befriended her on the bus taking us to the ferry, and we hung out with her the rest of the day. She is the one who goaded Bill to go into the water at the lagoon after Charles did it. Bill bought her a coconut cocktail and we saw her several times on the ship as well as in Cabo. Rosa was so sweet and we plan to keep in touch.
Victor was our tour guide on the Ometepe adventure. Really friendly young man, who worked hard to show everyone a good time.
Tour guide, Victor
Charles and Cynthia. We met them on Ometepe Island. There were only 17 people on the excursion, but we didn't really talk to anyone in particular on the way to the island on the ferry. When we really got to talk to Charles was at the lagoon, when he was the first one to be brave enough to walk in and get his shorts wet. Their friends Steve and Mary were along, and we talked to all of them several times later back on the ship.
Bill with Charles and Mary
Michelle and Ron. We met them early on the cruise and we exchanged a few words now and then but until two days before the end of the cruise, we didn't really do anything with them. Thankfully, we had mentioned that we had taken the shuttle from Petaluma and were going to use the shuttle to get back there. They did the same thing. She found out that we were planning to leave the ship at 11 and call for the shuttle. Michelle said there is only one shuttle a day, and it would be ready to leave at 10:30. She gave us different tags for our luggage so we could get off the ship sooner than we had planned. When we got off, we walked the wrong way and Michelle saw us from the shuttle. She got off and called out to us that we needed to go the other way. If she hadn't we would have missed it completely. They live in Santa Rosa.
The Ports
Cartegena, Columbia Feb 3
We left the ship and were immediately inundated with taxi drivers and tour operators. We managed to get by them and we got to the little port shopping area, where we enjoyed beautiful birds in a pretty setting.
Flamingos
Pretty parrot
They are tame, but we didn't touch, just in case
Black swans
After a few minutes, we set out to walk to town. Again, there were tour operators and taxi drivers to bypass. On the walk, every time a taxi would pass us, the horn would honk. We enjoyed our walk, a little over 5 miles. We visited the Cemetario Manga, which was in very bad disrepair and very overcrowded with above-ground graves.
Three pics from Cemetario Manga
We passed lots of interesting people and old buildings. Some of them were cared for, and some not so much. We saw one yard that looked like they really didn't want anyone to go in because the whole top of the block wall and metal fence was lined with broken beer bottles.
Somebody actually lives here
A very secure fence
Tourists don't typically see this kind of area
One of the nicer streets
What we walked through to get to the city
Street vendor
Poverty is everywhere
Street mural
Finally, we got to, what appeared to be the city. We asked a policeman if we were going the right way and he said to go over a bridge and we would be in the city. By that time, it was hot and we were getting a bit worn out.
One of the Mercadas de frutas.
One of the first things we did was buy a hat from a street vendor, which started out at $30. I bought it for $5.00.
When we got to the city, we walked just a couple of blocks before finding the Hop On Hop Off bus. The cost for that tour from the ship was $45.00 per person, but because we met it in town, we got tickets for $20.00 each.
On the bus
We sat on the top of the open bus (which did have a cover,) so, even though it was hot, we had a good breeze and a great view. The whole city was clean and ready for visitors. We saw one walled city, and when we got to the second walled city, we got off and explored it for about an hour. There were so many kinds of businesses that one would expect to see in a city, including a McDonald's, which one of the scheduled Hop On/Hop Off stops.
We were tired by that time, so we got back on the bus and rode around the whole city for close to an hour, getting off at the waiting spot for another bus to take us back to the ship.
Street in the walled city
Inside the walled city
Through the window
The Hop On, Hop Off bus
Panama Canal Transit Feb 4 We got up early and had a quick breakfast, because we didn't want to miss a minute of this. As the canal approached, we passed under the Centennial Bridge, which is very pretty. The locks were amazing and we got to see them as they filled and emptied along the way. Half way through, we got to Lake Gatun, and the whole trip took approximately 8 hours.
Approaching the canal
Under the Centennial Bridge
Entering the canal
A small lock
Being towed by a mule
Depth marker
Holding our spot
Looking back at the Centennial Bridge
The track for the mules
The Centennial Bridge in the distance
Open gate
Closing gate
Closed gate
Another ship in a lock
Lighthouse
Another lock next to the ship
Another ship
Bridge over a gate
Visitor Center
First glimpse of Panama City
Full lock
Filling a lock
Bridge of the Americas
Under the Bridge of the Americas
Fuerte Amador, Panama Feb 5
Library
As we cruised by the area we were going to visit the next day, we could see lots of unidentifiable buildings, but one of the stood out. It was a library, with the roof shaped like opened books. The skyline was beautiful, with all the buildings being white due to the intense heat.
We got off the ship via tender, and planned to walk to town, but after about a half hour, we realized that it was already very hot and the town was still very far away. We decided to walk back to the ship and spend the day there. We went swimming and had a very quiet tea.
The entrance to the port
Puentarenas, Costa Rica Feb 7
We had an excursion, so we left the ship early, and didn't get to see any of the town until we returned. We went on a Crocodile Safari, which was a large bus which took us to a small boat that floated along the water for about an hour and let us see a few crocs and lots of birds, including vultures, herons, storks, egrets and an osprey.
Our tour bus
The tour
Our boat
The first croc
Waiting for a handout
We got back to the ship early enough to be able to walk through the shopping plaza to buy a couple of gifts. Puntarenas is interesting. It is a peninsula with so the town is only a few blocks wide.
The town area is very run down, but we saw a lot of people just going about their lives. Then we walked through several blocks of the town just enjoying being there. We found the post office, where we waited 45 minutes to buy three stamps and send our mail.
The town with the cruise port on the top right
Leaving the dock
The dock from the ship
Shopping at the flea market
Flea market on the beach
Beach near the port
San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua Feb 8
We took a bus to ride on a ferry which took us to Ometepe, an island in southwest Nicaragua's large Lake Nicaragua, known for its twin volcanoes. The active Concepcion is in the north. On the south end of the ispand, is Maderas, which is extinct. On the island is the town of Altagracia. At the nearby Ojo de Agua, natural pools are fed by a spring.
Ready for the trip
Approaching the dock at Ometepe
Om the ferry to the island
The water was a little rough
We saw lots of wild dogs, horses and cattle. There were hundreds of birds. We went to the Museo Ceibo, which was a very small museum with mostly artifacts from pre-Columbian era.
We went to the Villa Pariaso for lunch. It was right on the lake, so the view was wonderful. We enjoyed the huge lunch, which was pork, black beans with rice, plantain chips and some kind of mushy cheese dumpling.
View from Villa Pariaso
Enjoying the view
Then we went to a lovely lagoon, called Ojo De Agua, or Eye of the Water, where we walked in the water. The water from this natural pool comes directly from the Concepcion Volcano. Because it's volcanic water, it is rich in potassium, magnesium, calcium, sulfur and sodium. The water is said diminish muscular pain, fever, stress and some allergies. Some people say they help rejuvenate. We hadn't taken our swim suits because I thought there were going to be crocodiles and alligators, but the lagoon was protected so it was completely safe. We had a very good time. We met Charles, Cynthia, Mary and Steve on the ferry and we had a great time at the lagoon with Charles and Rosa. Charles got in the water to wade, so Bill and Rosa had to get in, too. I was taking a walk around the lagoon, but when I got back, I waded in with Bill.
I walked around the lagoon - Rosa, Charles, Bill and Mary on the other side
Such a pretty place
Rosa made him do it
The water was colder than we expected
Rosa was the last one out
Bill and Rosa got a coconut cocktail
Very refreshing
The drive back to the ferry was short, but it was getting late. We had hoped to have time to wander through the town when we got back, but we were due back at the ship by 4:30 and it was already after 2. The ferry ride took a little bit longer than the ride over, but we had a relaxing ride while visiting with Charles, Steve, Rosa, and a few other passengers. When we got to the other side, we got onto the bus for a 40 minute drive back to the ship. But, as we got close, Victor said that several other buses had been delayed, so, instead of going directly back to the ship, they stopped a few blocks away, and let us get out to wander around for a few minutes, visiting the area shops.
This is where we stopped to explore
We got to the ship and boarded just before 6 pm, and the ship left the port well after 7, over two hours late. Everyone we talked to had enjoyed their day in San Juan Del Sur.
Puerto Vallarta, unscheduled stop Feb 10
We had to stop at Puerto Vallarta to offload a passenger who had taken sick. We were there for almost two hours while they took the person to shore with some ship staff, and then brought the staff back again.
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico Feb 11
Cabo from our cabin
Ship from the tender
Secure area of Cabo in the green
This turned out to be our favorite stop, and we didn't even leave the secure area of the port. We went into the flea market, and bargained, in Espanol for the souvenirs we wanted to get. The market is huge and full of mostly the same kind of souvenirs, pottery, clothes, silver, lots of jewelry and hand carved wooden bowls. We tried not to make eye contact with any of the vendors, because as soon as they see anyone, they immediately start hawking. "What size you need, Senora?" "What color you want?" We only wanted to buy four things, and I knew what I wanted, so I bought from a man who wasn't pushy. He was very gracious, and I told him that I bought from him, because he didn't try to sell us anything, until we expressed interest in doing so. He made us good deals on the things we bought.
So many shopping booths to go through
Then, as we left the flea market to head back to the ship, we ran into Rosa. She said she wanted to get a beer. We walked toward the ship and found a tiny cantina, called Stones.
Rosa and Bill had Margaritas and I had a water. Then Rosa pointed out a little place next to the cantina where they have the tiny fish who eat dead skin. I have always been intrigued by that. Just then, as we were being serenaded by two mariachis who sang Celilito Lindo, Karen and Rob came along and joined us.
I told Karen about the fish place. While the mariachis finished their song, Karen and Rob went over to check out the fish and soon, I heard shrieks of laughter coming from behind me.It was Karen with her feet in the tank. I went over and she said it was so freaky. I decided I had to do it. I loved it!! Again, Rosa talked Bill into doing it too, and then she got into the act.
We could tell we were getting close to home two days before the end of the cruise. The weather turned cold and we wished we had brought warmer clothes.We had cruised under the Golden Gate Bridge before and we were looking forward to it, so we got up at 5 am. We got up on deck 15 and there were only a handful of people, so the views were perfect, however, we had forgotten that the sun wasn't going to be up, so it wasn't quite as beautiful as we remembered. But we got a few shots. We said goodbye to Charles and Steve. We went back to our cabin, got our things and went to breakfast while we sailed into the port. After arrival, we met Karen and Rob for coffee in the Bordeaux Dining room until it was time to disembark. Back to reality and ready to plan for our next adventure.
Orr last view of the ship
Rancho Cordova
We visited Brian in Petaluma for only one night, because we had a date for dinner with Tony and Anais in Rancho Cordova on Saturday. We had a nice lunch with them and Monique at Cracker Barrel, and we had planned to leave for home on Sunday, but the roads over the hill were socked in so we stayed with Tony and Anais until Tuesday morning. As always, they kept us busy.
