Panama Canal April 2023 - pictures at the bottom
Started our cruise with a couple of days in Galveston, Texas.
The first day, Dale toured the Houston Space Centre, while I had a long, long walk on the beach in Galveston. We both had a wonderful time!!!
Then we found a great place to eat called the Gypsy Joynt. You could have all manner of burgers, but we opted for their highly recommended pizza and were delighted with our choice.
http://www.gypsyjoynt.com/cafe
Moody Gardens, Galveston
Got a full day ticket for the Aquarium, Rainforest and Museum pyramids. Also did a tour around the lake on their paddlewheel boat and watched a couple of 3D films on sharks. The films were supposed to give you an appreciation of sharks, but I am not sure that they attained that goal!
Ruby Princess
We were onboard and met up with Greg in the piazza for a visit before our rooms were ready. Had a lovely lunch at the International Café then off to our room to unpack. A bit of R&R at the pool before dinner at 5pm followed by comedian Phil Tag.
Day 2 – at sea – Dale and Greg got into a sea day routine – Trivia at 10am, lunch at noon – usually some time at the pool before Dale’s lectures at 3:30pm, Trivia at 4:30 followed by dinner at 5pm – Theatre at 7:30pm (Vocal Impressionist Darren Dowler) then usually a game show at 8:30pm (the Yes/No game). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmPo0oXj4iw
Day 3 – at sea – (formal night) – a talk on Cartagena, Columbia at 9:30am so Dale missed Trivia – then he went to an Aviator’s get together at 2:30pm before his talk. After dinner comedian Phil Tag was on in the Explorer’s Lounge and the production show Stardust was on in the theatre.
Day 4 – at sea – a talk on the Panama Canal at 9:15am followed by a talk by our Captain, Mario Tani. Dale did his talk then dinner and afterwards, Darren Dowler put on a whole new show in the theatre.
Day 5 – Cartagena, Columbia – had an early morning as we took a tour to a aviary/refuge that was about an hour’s drive. It was a bit humid, so at our halfway rest stop I had a pineapple popsicle with chunks of pineapple in it – what a treat! We took far too many pictures, so will only post one or two. Our show was an Instrumentalist, Laszlo Pap (violin) – absolutely phenomenal followed by the Majority Rules game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6ZJRzs0GAs
Day 6 – Panama Canal – so sort of at sea – went through the new locks. We had a shorter passage this time, from about 6am to 3pm. After dinner we had comedy and magic by Naathan Phan (our favourite so far), followed by a game called We Play, You Say, where they play a tune and then stop it part way through and you have to fill in the next line. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7kS-_Xvkmg
Day 7 – Fuerte Amador (Pueto Amador) – had a really long day, as we got on a smaller boat and went back to Gatun Lake through the old locks. It really was a different experience being the small guy in a lock behind a huge tanker! They fed us lunch onboard, then we took a bus back to the ship through Panama City – wall to wall traffic – I am amazed we got back as soon as we did as we desperately needed a nap! There was a production show in the evening called Colors of the World (great singing and dancing), and we managed to stay awake for the Liars Club game which is always great fun. https://www.tourismpanama.com/places-to-visit/panama-city/amador-causeway/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid_media&utm_campaign=live_for_more&utm_content=text&adara_campaignid=15714269909&adarapixelid=111839&utm_source=google&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=&utm_content=LFM&utm_term=&gclid=CjwKCAjwuqiiBhBtEiwATgvixA2Oe5PSib9zRHqNpGME7xoNFjVMskU-Zu9OqmUDl0UYtlDrgLkWiBoCQ00QAvD_BwE
Day 8 – at sea – (formal night) – a talk on Puntarenas at 9:15am and Dale’s talk was at 2pm, so at least we had a bit more time to get all gussied up for dinner. Busy evening as Naathan Phan was back but in the Explorer’s Lounge and Instrumentalist Ryan Ahern (piano) was in the theatre – superb pianist!
Day 9 – Puntarenas, Costa Rica – an even longer day! Although with the time change, we at least got an extra hour of sleep. Our adventure today was visiting the Costa Rica Animal Refuge Center with lots of other animals including Sloths, Spider, Howler and Capuchin monkeys, Pecorie, Kinkaju, Toucans, Parrots etc. The baby sloths though were the highlight! Afterwards we went to the Butterfly Exhibit and then up through the rainforest on a tram. Didn’t see much life (I thought there might be a few more birds out and about) and it was very hot and humid. We enjoyed the A/C on the bus ride back. The comedian was AJ Jamal and some big band tunes in the Explorer’s Lounge with the Ruby Princess Band – they are so talented.
https://www.costaricaanimalrescuecenter.org/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vET3lwbKfbI
Day 10 – at sea – Dale was busy – Trivia twice then his talk then one more Trivia. I sat by the pool in the shade for a couple of hours and caught up on emails, the blog and vetted photos. Entertainer Kevin Brando (Elton John and Billy Joel tunes) was at the theatre followed by The Sky’s the Limit game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccjG9vUAMNw
Day 11 – at sea – ditto except the entertainment was a vocal instrumentalist – Ric Steel. Afterwards was a game called Hollywood Hiccups – great fun! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orxNGTn6qkc
Day 12 – at sea – a slight change as we had a talk at 10am about Cabo San Lucas – so much to see, so little time! Other than that, another leisurely day for me and Dale did his lecture. Gary Delena was the comedian entertainer followed by 80’s music trivia (I think we were busy that decade, so didn’t do well). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEx67wDYz9Y
Day 13 – at sea – the cruise director’s staff were probably wondering if we would ever land anywhere so they could have a break. There was a tug-of-war amongst the crew, which the room stewards won. As it was just before Dale’s talk I wondered if he would have an audience, but they showed up and filled the venue as usual. AJ Jamal did a repeat performance (all new material of course) and did not disappoint. Javier hosted an Improv 101 workshop, but the participants didn’t have mics, so we decided on an early night, as we were going ashore in the morning (early).
Day 14 – Cabo San Lucas, Mexico – what a treat of a day. We helped out early in the theatre to get the guests to their assigned seats and excursions, then Dale and I joined our different groups. Dale was off to tour the Arche then snorkel, while I also had a boat tour of the Arche then hit the beach for a couple of hours. A lovely dip in the ocean followed by fajitas and (virgin) piña coladas and all was well with the world! What a beautiful place. Gary Delena was back again for another great show followed by another Trivia challenge.
Day 15 – at sea – (formal night) – went to the talk on San Francisco – again, so much to do and see. Dale’s talk was well attended as usual then we went to the theatre for the production show Magic To Do. Fantastic performance followed by the Marriage Match game, which is always hilarious.
Day 16 – at sea – the last day always features a Culinary Demonstration, which is more of a comedy act than a cooking show. Dale then did his final talk for the first set of passengers and we finished up with Instrumentalist Ric Steel in the theatre. What a whirlwind cruise; we saw and did so much.
Day 17 – San Francisco – most of the passengers disembark today. Our ship then does a San Francisco round trip with stops in Anastasia (Oregon), Seattle, (Washington) Vancouver, then Victoria. We will be getting off the ship in Vancouver to pick up our car from Joel’s place then catching the ferry home. The evening’s entertainment was comedian Leonard Ouzts followed by the Strikeout game.
Day 18 – at sea – formal night – as this is our only sea day on this last leg of our journey, Dale gave two talks – 10am and 3pm. The production show was cancelled due to high waves, so we watched a wonderful magician/comedian Reggie Rice, followed by the Yes/No game – always great fun.
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheSuperMagicMan27?app=desktop
Day 19 – Astoria, Oregon – visited the small towns of Seaside and Cannon Beach. Lovely little shops, but a very cold day for walking around. The production show of Magic To Do was even better than the last time followed by the Majority Rules game.
Day 20 – Seattle, Washington – we got tickets to the Chihuly Glass Museum and then the Space Needle. I will have to make another post just for the Chihuly pictures – phenomenal! Kevin Brando was the pianist followed by the Hollywood Hiccups game.
Day 21 – Vancouver, BC, Canada – almost home, and a very interesting route from Seattle, through Puget Sound, past Cape Flattery and up through the Strait of Juan de Fuca and through the Salish Sea (Strait of Georgia), then under the Lions Gate Bridge to Canada Place. Breakfast on the ship then had lunch with Joel before heading for the ferry. So glad we had reservations as there was a huge lineup and a possible wait otherwise.
The best part of the cruise though, was meeting so many lovely people. We are hoping to be able to meet up with some of them in the not too distant future.
There are good ships and wood ships, ships that sail the sea, but the best ships are friendships, and may they always be!
No comments:
Post a Comment