January 21 - Puerto Chiapas, Mexico

We are at our first port in Mexico---Puerto Chiapas.

An armed boat came out to greet us and stayed at the mouth of the channel until the ship was docked. We wondered if they have had problems with modern day pirates in this part of the world. We'll be going to the lecture about modern day pirates tomorrow and maybe we can ask. Possibly having gun boats follow cruise ships is a normal precaution.

This area seems to be under development with large paved areas under construction right now. There are no tall buildings in view. There is a thick heat haze between us and the local volcano.

There was a Mexican band at the pier when we arrived. That must have been an early day for them as we pulled in to the port before 8AM.

We tried to get on a tour to the Izapa ruins that are about 45 minutes away but the tour bus was full. Other tours didn't interest us as much so like many other passengers, today we are just going to hang around the immediate area. We had an interesting meal with a couple from New Joisy (Jersey). It seems that every time you share a table with someone you get the most amazing stories. We agree that it is one of the selling points of cruising. The staff and other passengers have been consistently friendly.

January 19th - Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a beautiful country. We were here once before in the last seven or eight years with Jim and Sophie. We were reminded of the friendliness of the people and the diversity of the landscape today.

This time we landed at Puntarenas and drove south toward Jaco and Carrara Park. We went on a private tour with three other couples from the ship, two American couples our age and one from England that are the ages of Tom, Brekyn and Scott.

The day included a 2km hike, downhill through the rainforest. We stopped at a spot where the guides knew we'd see several types of monkeys and coati mundi. A second stop during the drive allowed us a close up view of macaws. A third stop, right in the middle of a busy bridge was where we saw crocodiles, brahma bulls, vultures and heron all within several meters of each other. We've got some good photos we'll post eventually.

We hope you are all keeping well and warm.

January 18th - Pacific Coast

Sunday on the Sea
We walked on the deck track for about an hour before breakfast and before the heat of the day made walking outside more of a challenge. After Sunday brunch in the Grand Dining Room, we went to a wine tasting session with a dozen other passengers, three sommeliers and the ship's cellar master. We tried five different wines and we agreed on two that we'd like to try again. Most of the wines were from the USA, but one was from Epernay, a place in France we want to visit. Later in the trip, on the next two sea-days, the same group is talking about champagnes and premium wines.

Margaret watched a movie, Mamma Mia with a crowd who laughed and cheered throughout the movie. Harry went back to his deck and returned to reading Paris 1919 for the second time.
And now ?? ---- A quick trip to the library to write this and then on to a presentation by an art historian who is going to talk about Picasso. Harry will probably watch the football playoffs later.

It's a beautiful sunny day with temps close to 30C. The ocean is calm.

We are thinking about our friends and family and how they would enjoy this day.

Atlantic to the Pacific

Passing through Panama

Day 6

Today is the big day. We're passing through the Panama Canal. We didn't think ours was the best room when the ship was bouncing on 12-foot seas a couple of days ago as we traveled across the Caribbean Sea from Key West to Cartagena, Columbia, but today as we journey through the Panama Canal, we are thrilled to have this great and comfortable front row seat at the bow. We would pick a room on the bow again.

The horn is sounding! We just passed through the Gatun Locks into Gatun Lake. In total there are three sets of locks as we move from the Caribbean/Atlantic side to the Pacific side of Panama. The passage that will take us through those locks and various artificial lakes and channels will consume a large part of the day. We leave the Mila Flores Locks, the last in the sequence at 4:10 PM today.

Harry saw a couple of crocodiles sitting on the shore. Margaret heard the ship announcement about the crocodiles but was in a hallway with no windows at the time.

It's very sunny, very scenic, hot (+27) and very humid right now. We've been going from our deck into the room to cool off occasionally.

You can see what we see from our stateroom by looking at the bridge cam of the ship. We've put a link on this blog.

Cartagena
Yesterday, we visited Cartagena with a small group of eight people. Our guide and driver were the best. We visited the old and new city as well as the walled fortresses (largest in South America) that were used to guard the city against pirates and privateers who constantly threatened to cause damage and steal the gold, silver and jewels that came from South and Central America to await transport to Spain. Sir Francis Drake, the English privateer ravaged the city several times. When we get our photos posted, you'll see the mixture of beauty and scruffiness, wealth and poverty that is so often typical of large cities.

The bells are sounding indicating that we're ready to move onto Gatun Lake. A large container ship called The New Jersey (owned by the Yang Ming company) is just ahead of the Regatta. Now we'll sail across the lake to the next lock at Pedro Miguel which we'll be in at about 2:40PM.

Food
The food is truly outstanding. It's not just that there is food available at any time, it's that is flavourful, nutritious, and beautifully arranged, truly gourmet. We've been told by other passengers (many of whom have cruised multiple times) that the food on the Oceania ships is outstanding. We're going for a cappuccino in a bit to see the Panama vendor display on the pool deck.

Company
We had breakfast with Pat and Mike from Victoria this morning as we sailed into the first of the locks. Pat and Mike are amongst more than 100 other Canadians on board. Yesterday, we missed the Canadian get-together because we went to Happy Hour and met two other couples who entertained us with their stories. Being polite and slightly under the influence of two alcohol drinks, we stayed with them and missed the Canadian event. C'est la vie.

Books
Harry is on his third book, Margaret her second. We started to borrow from the ship's wonderful library, leaving our books for home reading.

Hope everyone is well.

On the Water

This is our first full day at sea with no ports of call. We're headed to Columbia, over the top of Cuba and then south. We'll be there at 8AM on the 16th.

We attended a very interesting lecture by Harry Chittick on pirates this morning and then another one on digital photography by Murray (pronounced Mooray) where we learned a few new things. We're going to an art history talk this afternoon, the second one in a series. The one yesterday was okay. The talks are held in a large entertainment centre. The fitness centre and pool deck are well equipped and the library is phenomenal. We've spent a bit of time in all of those.

We have bought 200 minutes of Internet time so we'll be able to keep in touch.

We put the Spot on today. It should be tracking now. We left Key West about 1:30PM yesterday and will be another two days in the Spanish Main/Caribbean Sea before reaching Cartagena.

The food has been absolutely perfect, every meal. We have been trying to show some restraint, eating lots of fruits and veggies. Although we usually have lunch and breakfast on our own, we've asked for shared tables at dinner which has allowed us to meet some very nice, very interesting people. Tonight we're eating dinner by ourselves for the first time...our choice because we reserved late and that was the table that was available.

We are also going to afternoon high tea for first time because we aren't eating dinner until much later tonight.

The rain has come and gone and might come again. It was sunny when we ate on the aft deck for lunch. I have lots of pics and a bit of video which we'll upload eventually. The computer guy, George says this is a slow connection, so we'll see.

Heading to the Airport

We're on our way. The flight tonight will be a red-eye flight to Miami. We're glad we came to Vancouver first ...Margaret's Dad is in poor shape and we think the visit perked him up temporarily.