SAN FRANSISCO

May 5-6

Yesterday was our day in San Fransisco, we did not do much but our feet were sore when we got back to the ship. Our day was spent walking on fishermans warf when we got to the end it was a ride on the cable trolley down town and more walking around. It was about 25 years since we were last in the area so the warf had change over the time. We did find one of the shops that cook crab on the docks that we recognized. I thought that we would stop and eat there but I guess with all the big meals on the ship it was too much so it was a bowl of clam chowder.

We arrived under the Golden Gate bridge about 7am, it was very foggy so the view of the bridge was poor but luck was with us during the day and on the way out. The fog was just starting to cover the bridge on the north end so we were able to get some reasonable picutes.

Today we are heading north to Astoria Oregon, the seas had picked up during the evening and the ship was pitching about a little making walking a straight line impossiable. We will arrive in Astoria around 7am tomorrow. Then it will be a short dash to Vancouver arriving Friday morning.

It is hard to belive that we have been away from home for almost a month, we are both looking forward to getting back to our own home. The trip has been fun but I will not miss all the people around all the time. I will complete the blog when we arrive home, I think that our internet minutes have just about run out. Good night for now.

NEXT STOP SAN FRANSISCO

Monday May 4th

This is added as a PS. Tried to add to the blog last night to find that our account had been canceled, I had checked with the internet office, everything indicated that our account was still up and active but when I tried that was not so. Anyhow we are up again and on our way. The fog has closed in around the ship and we can see nothing and the wave action is up and we are doing a little rock and roll.


Sunday May 3rd

After being told that our two stops in Mexico had been cancelled we were crusing in open water heading towards San Diego. The Captain came on and advised us that our course was being changed so that if nothing else we would be able to say we had seen Los Cabos. His new course took us about one half mile off the coast and we did see and took pictures of the rock at lands end. Now we will have to get back there at some time in the future.

We arrived in San Diego, Saturday morning and spent a good part of the day in town. Before we could go ashore everyone had to be cleared by US immigrations. It was set up very well and went smoothly with the exception of a few people who either would not listen or did not feel they had to follow the system. Until everyone had been cleared, no one could go ashore so their names were paged over the ship PA. We walked down town to a shopping center, it was good exercise but that was all. After walking back to the ship we took a double decker bus tour around town. From what we saw San Diego is a nice city with a lot of history and buildings have been preserved to show it. The ship pulled out of the harbour about 8pm. (See the night time picture of San Diego harbor )

We arrived into Los Angeles about 7am. This is the last day for about 2000 passengers, their holiday is over. About 2000 new passengers boarded and will be heading north to Vancouver and further north to Alaska. The average age on the Panama portion was 66.5 years. I have not heard about this portion but I can already see that is is going to go down ( it is sure hard on my eyes !! ) As we were leaving the harbor every where you look there are cranes for loading and unloading of container ships, I thought Vancouver was a large port but it has nothing on Los Angeles as you will see in one of the blog pics. We decided to not go ashore as today was our day to change cabins from a balcony stateroom to an Inside cabin. The cabin in a lot smaller and I am sure I am not going to enjoy it as much. Will tell you more after we have been here for five days. The weather on deck was great so you know where we spent most of our time. Tuesday we will arrive in San Fransisco. We are planning on going ashore but not on a tour we will do our own thing as the pier is close to Fisherman's Wharf so plenty to see close at hand..

CRUSING TOWARDS SAN DIEGO

Thursday April 30th

Today is our 2nd day of open water cruising since we left Mexico on our way to San Diego. The air temperature has dropped in is now in the high 70's and low 80's the humidity has also dropped. As we had started getting use to the higher temperatures it is now starting to feel cool. Sure hate the thought of getting back home.

The Captain has increased our speed in an attempt to get into the Cab SanLucas area before dark in hopes that we will be able to see the lands end rock formations and maby if he can get close enough some pictures. This will also get us into San Diego earlier and give us more time ashore. Not sure what we will do, most likley will go to the zoo and marine land.

Us and a lot of other are not happy as when we get to Los Angeles, everyone has to get off the ship. There is nothing to do there unless we want to spend more money and take a tour. The reason for this is that we have to clear Customs, the crazy part is that we will all ready have gotten off the ship in the US, at San Diego. ???

Not to get too upset I am sure we can find something to do. This is where we will change cabin as we booked the portion up to Vancouver in an inside cabin to see what it is like. Not as good as the balcony statroom has been but if we can put up with it the it would mean that might be able to cruise a little more often as there is a great saving and most last minute cabins are inside.

HUATULCO MEXICO

Tuesday, April 28

Our stop today is in Huatulco, Mexico in the town of Santa Cruz. Again we had not booked a tour, we thought we would hire a taxi and see how that would work out.
The pier was located beside a nice sandy beach so we made our way there through the normal market shops that exist /thrive on cruise ship traffice. The temperature was in the nineties along with high humidity, so the wading in the sea was wonderful and quickly cooled us off. After talking to a number of cab drivers and bartering on the price, we managed to find one that spoke English well and was able to find us an air conditioned car. He came with us and directed the driver to give us what turned out to be an amazing and informative tour of this area. Most of the area is very new and evident that a lot of thought and planning is being down to develop the area and the community; water sewer, national parks, and size control for the number of hotel rooms available. The overall impression was very clean and safe while still incorporating the culture of the indigonous people.
Upon return to the ship, we were advised that the outbreak of Swine flu originating in Mexico has resulted in NCL cancelling our next two planned stops.... Acopolco and Cabo San Lucas. Disappointing but understandable given the need to make sure that no potential of this flu ending up on board. Many of the passengers are being quite critcal of the decision, however we all will now have 3 sea days and look forward to a replacement stop at San Diego. The weather is warm so being at sea , relaxing by the pool is still not too hard to take . Accordingly with not much happening we will not update the blog until our next stop.

Puerto Quetzal Guatamala

Monday April 27

Today we arrived in Puerto Quetzal, Guatamala, and have not booked a tour at this stop. We decided to just hang loose and go ashore on our own. As it turned out it was about a 3 hour round trip into Antiqua, so we stayed close to the ship.

There was a market place just out side of the pier where we spent most of the afternoon in the heat and humidity bartering with the local mechants. This was a lot of fun! we would haggle over the price for a few minutes and get no where. They would ask “what will you pay mister” I would give a price which they would not accept, I would turn to Ray and say lets go and start to walk away. This they would not like and would call to you a lower price to which we would say NO and carry on. Then we most likely would hear “OK Mister 10 dollars” (or what ever we had offered). It was a hoot. We picked up a blanket and a few pieces of Jade, which is found in Guatemala. We had thought that Jade was green which is not true it comes in colours from White to Black depending on what other mineral it containes. If what they were telling us is true it is next in hardness to Diamonds.

After spending about three hours doing this it was time to have a cool one and head back to the ship. As we did not go far not many pictures were taken at this stop.

PUNTARENA, COSTA RICA

Day 6 & 7

We woke up to another beautiful day at sea with calm seas and very warm temperatures. This was a lazy day on the deck, reading and keeping out of the direct sun. We had had a late night as we had gone to the late performance of Bud Andersen, a comedian that is one worth seeing should you get the chance. He never uses a swear word, a derogatory racists slant but tells each story leaving you the audience to imagine the insinuation. .... Very funny and most entertaining.
We had also attended the evening entertainment in the theatre... Professor Watson playing the fiddle. He had the most outrageous hairdoo to look the part but man could he play.... classical, jazz, country...everything. One of the most entertaining shows to date, next to the commedian.
Saturday we arrived in Puntarenus, Costa Rica. Being on port side we watched the ship dock at one of the longest narrowest piers. The shore operators had a new fork lift that they were trying to manuever the gangway for the ship to disembark... after watching the antics for over a half and hour, we had to leave togo on our shore excursion up to the POS volcano through the Cloud Forest with stops for a local flavored luncheon and visit to Sarchi where they carve the famous painted oxen carts and also produce beautiful furniture. The trip up there was a long 3hr. Drive on narrow roads, frequent switch backs as we traversed the country side. This was the end of the dry season so many of the trees were in full bloom and we were able to see the agricultural focus of this country. Most of the hillsides are terraced for coffee and cocoa trees. We saw every kind of palm tree imaginable along groves of bamboo, eucalyptus and large rhubarb looking plants. (can't remember the name the proper name even through our guide told us numerous times!) Vast fields are covered with black netting to shade the feathery fern crops and strawberries from the ultra violet. Both crops are harvested and exported to the US, At the top of the park we walked up to the volcano crater and being a clear day we could see the mud bubbling and smell the sulphur. There are 12 active volcanos that we could see from this panoramic vantage point. \Most days clouds cover the peaks so we were fortunate to come on a clear day. The walk was in our minds pretty easy however others on the tour found the altitude approx 5,000 ft a little strenuous.... we on the other hand felt quite at home and found the walk very easy.

We had hoped that this tour would give us more time to stroll though the jungle/forests and that we would see some of the monkeys and colorful birds Costa Rica is known for, however, not to be as we drove through the forests and were unable to glimpse any wildlife.
We stopped at Sarchi and did the normal tourist shopping stop....everything I liked was too big and probably would have cost an arm and a leg to ship so enjoyed the snoop and sampled the fruit brought out for the visiting tour buses... Fresh pineapple and papaya ...so much better than we get in the stores at home.
Back on the ship for more food and entertainment. Tomorrow is another seaday so time to toast the back to match the front and finish the book.

PANAMA CANAL TRANSIT

Day 5 (Thursday)

Today we entered the Panama Canal to transit from the east to west. We arrived into the east harbor about 6 am and into the canal about 7am, we left the last lock at aprox 5 pm, transit taking about 10 hours. It was an uneventful day as we were going no where very fast. Even at that we spend most of the day hanging over the railing of our balcony to watch the progress of the ships entering and leaving the locks and marvelling at the engineering feat that produced the canal.

One of the interesting things is that the Norwegian Pearl is the largest ship to transit the canal, we are 106 ft wide and the canal is 110 ft wide, our length is 965ft and the lock is just under 1000 ft. As the captain said the first time he made the transit to took a deep breath as he started into the first lock. With the help of the mules we made a touch free passage. The mules are electronic engines that are attached to each ship by cables to keep the ships from drifting in the confines of the locks. We had 8 such mules attached to the Pearl. Additionally we had a pilot board the ship prior to entering the canal. Our pilot was a extremely well spoken female who pointed out the various detail along the way and filled us in on the history of the building process. She stayed on board until we passed under America bridge which signaled that we were entering the Pacific Ocean. As we passed under the bridge we were able to see five oclock traffic in Panama is the same as any city .....gridlocked.

Upon entering the canal zone the temperatures were in the high 80's with the humidity in the mid 90% range, by the time we left the temperature and humidity had dropped considerably.

CARTAGENA, COLUMBIA

Cartagena, Columbia was founded in 1533 by the Spanish. The Spanish discovered that the interior of Columbia was rich in Gold and Emeralds. These riches used the port of Cartagena to be shipped back to Spain. To fend off attack the city was protected by a wall, and the streets were made narrow and crooked. When completed the wall (50ft thick) had cost Spain 59 million ounces of gold to build. The treasure that flowed out of the area soon attracted the pirates of the high seas.
It was this walled city that we toured in the heat and high humidity. The start of our tour was in and air conditioned bus which was great we got out an number of times but we were glad to get back in after about 15 minutes. The tour wrapped up with about and hour walking in the old walled city to see the narrow cobble stone streets which were as they were in past history. There was a visit to the Gold museum and of course to a jewellery store that sold Emeralds. Never have we seen so many street peddlers and they would not take no for an answer. They mainly sold hats, watches, sunglasses and bead necklace. I was wearing a hat, sunglasses and a watch, I guess they felt I needed a spare of each! The town was very interesting but the poverty and traffic was unreal.
We were back to the ship about 3pm. It was time to have a shower and a change of cloths, a cool one and put up the feet. The heat had taken it's toll we did not get down to the Stardust Theatre to take in the show. Early to bed as tomorrow we will be getting up early to see the entrance and passage thru the Panama Canal.

LEAVING THE PORT OF MIAMI DAY 1

Today is day one on the Norwegian Pearl, what a difference in the embarcation here as compaired to Buenos Aries. Everything moved along with out a hitch, no standing and waiting to speak of. The weather is great just a slight breeze to keep us cool. I know Ray will end up with a little colour, not what she would wish for. We were able to get into our stateroom a little after 2pm, the ship left the pier right on time at 4 o'clock

The Pearl is a little larger than the Sun that we were on for Alaska and South
America. It is taking longer to find our way around as they make you walk
thru all the places that they would have you spend some money
After dinner we took in the show at the Stardust Theatre. As had been the case
on previous ships the show was great and we look forward to more show in
nights to come.

The next two day are cruising on our way to Columbia, as there will not be
much happening there may be no posts unless I get some good on board
pictures.

Gay Parade

We took a taxi and did a little tour of Miami. We ended up at South Beach to take in a parade, and what a parade it was. Yes is was Gay Pride. We saw it all and there were a lot of others down to watch as well. Not much else to say I will let the picture say it for me. Tomorrow we will be down to the pier to board the Norwegian Pearl

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Michelle is driving Raylene and I to the airport. I was surprised to find the Michelle was already up and ready to go. The drive to the airport was very smooth as there was very little traffic at this time of day. I have to admit the number of cars on the road was surprising. We arrived at YVR with time to spare which made getting thru security and to the gate very relaxed. As we had not stopped for a little breakfast before we left my mouth was watering for a Tim’s coffee and Breakfast sandwich. You guessed it, with all the upgrades going on in the Terminal there was not a Tim’s to be seen. We bought a Harvey’s breakfast muffin on the plane, it was tough and dry. I don’t think that is the way Harvey’s make them it just had been around for too long.
The flight to Toronto was uneventful; we arrived with only 30 minutes to boarding of our flight to Miami. We had to get around the terminal, pick up our bags and get thru US Customs and down to the gate. Oh and security, I thought because we had gone thru security in Vancouver this time everything was checked. We made it with time to spare. Again the flight was uneventful. We arrived in Miami with the temperature about 30 degrees. Our hotel is the Hilton Airport just outside the airport. As we sit at the pool we can see the airlines moving around on the ground and watch the planes heading out of Miami.
Today we did very little, we did take a walk to a local Mall. Ray had new shoes on and by the time we reached the mall a band aid was in order for a blister. The food at the hotel is very limited and very pricey, with the blister on Ray’s food and the distance to the mall we stayed at the hotel again. We are on the ship on Sunday so we can survive. This is the hotel we are at on

Blue Lagoon