While flying down to Florida, the clouds look different than I’ve ever seen before. Normally clouds have a puffy look to them, but this time from above the clouds had a hard and flat look to them.Waiting at the airport to catch the bus from Princess Cruises to take us to the ship’s boarding areaHere’s Linda, smiling and happy while boarding the Coral PrincessThe four story tall atrium in the center of our ship. Although it looks empty, you’ll see in other pictures. It’s a pretty happening central place.This is a screenshot of our Internet connection while we were on the ship. It was a good steady connection considering we were in the middle of the ocean.Our first night on board after dinner, we decided to go upstairs to the horizon food court and got a couple of yummy desserts as a treatThe first night entertainment in the main princess theater was a hypnotist. What a joke of a show both Linda and I thought it was fake and left about halfway through.I’d get up very early in the morning and do a work out and then come to the horizon food court to have a cup of coffee and a small breakfast. Look at that sunrise out the front window!The first two days of our journey were open seas “sailing days” and I have to admit it was pretty rough goingThe ship was rocking and rolling from the heavy seas as you can see by the pool water splashing and whipping out everywhereIt was rough enough seas that even though Linda had her motion sickness bands on, and had taken Dramamine she was sick and pretty much stayed in our room. It was two days of that.Each morning a destination expert would speak on our upcoming port of callsDuring one of his talks, the destination expert had told us that the captain of our ship told him that our “toll” to pass through the Panama Canal was just over $600,000!In the evenings, our cruise ship had different production shows in the theater. They were amazing.The performers were outstanding singersAnd the costume changes for each of the different scenes were fantasticI’ll leave you with this parting view of the wake from our ship
Now arriving in Aruba . . .
As we were coming to Aruba just before sunrise, I saw something in the distance that I couldn’t make out. After zooming in with the camera and taking this picture, I figured out what it was. Do you recognize what this is?When sunrise did happen, it was beautifulThere were these sea birds that came out to the ship as we were coming into Aruba. They’re not seagulls. These were huge – sea birds with a wingspan of 6 to 8 feet!That’s our ship docked in ArubaOur shore excursion wasn’t scheduled until the afternoon so mom and I got off the ship and took a walk through the townHere we are just exploringAruba was originally owned by the Dutch so the architecture has a little different flairThis is an original Dutch mailbox from the early 1800sOne of the old historic buildings being restoredSince Aruba is so far south, and just off the coast of South America, the vegetation grows year-round and has beautiful flowers!After spending a few hours out in the warm sun, it felt good to come back to our air conditioned state roomGetting ready to head out on our short excursion to the butterfly sanctuary, Aruba’s world famous Aloe factory and some cool rock formationsThere were about 150 different butterfly species in the sanctuaryThis is a picture of some of the caterpillar chrysalis where the magic happens and the caterpillars transform into butterflies while looking for butterflies to take pictures of, I came across this blue CanaryYep, there was even a Koi fish pond in the sanctuary with these colorful fish swimming aroundWe arrived at the Aruba Aloe factory/farmWe did have a representative from the factory give us the history on aloe and how it’s processed and what products are produced thereWe arrived at those rock formations that I mentioned earlier. They really were quite interesting.After climbing to the top of this huge rock formation, we could see our ship way off in the distance. The Coral Princess is the ship on the right
Onto the Panama Canal . . .
The Atlantic Bridge & The Gatun Locks (1st set of locks)
I got up early in the morning to steak out our space for the day. This picture was taken at about 5 o’clock in the morning.What struck me was how many ships were lined up either coming or going out of the locks just on the Atlantic side. There had to be 30+ ships all within sight.The Chinese owned shipping port on the Atlantic side of the canal at sunriseAs we approached the canal, we raised our ships flag.Another picturesque sunriseA very busy shipping port. But what struck me was there’s a sunken ship right there in the bay.Instead of excavating and getting rid of the sunken ship, they just market with bouys and suchBreakwaters are important to keep things easier for steeringAnother sunken shipThe famous Atlantic BridgePanama Canal is a very busy placeThis is a great picture showing the Gatun locks as we approachGood picture showing size. Amazing how large the ships are.Princess had photographers on the ground, taking pictures of us as we went through the locksThese are called mules. There’s one at each corner of our ship and they attach cables to our ship to keep it centered in the locks.Really amazing engineeringAlmost finished with the first set of locksGatun Lake ahead
After sailing through Gatun Lake – we come to Locks 2 & 3 and The America’s Bridge
Close-up of the mechanical muleAgain, trying to show the size of things. Look at the markings on the wall in feet.The famous Culebra Cut – the toughest part of building the canalThe America’s Bridge signals the end of our transit through the Panama CanalA cool picture of a cargo ship being unloadedSuper old Canal guidance markerAs we exited the canal, you could see Panama City off to our left
A day in Panama City . . .
That’s Panama City – there’s two parts to the city. The old historic area and the new modern skyscraper areaThe “Hat Street” What an interesting piece of artwork 🤩One of the old “City Parks” in the old historic part of townSidewalk vendor areaThese next 3 pictures are a park/memorial to Panama’s historic pastI took this picture because I liked the lightingLinda taking a short break in the shadeInteresting bird was having out in the park where Linda had taken a break – kinda looks like a an American RoadrunnerLooking down one of the streets in the old historic Panama CityCool Church Steeple – notice the stairs leading up to the ropes to ring the bellsThe old historic area of Panama City is really niceWaiting to get our e-bikes for a tour around Panama CityOur bike tour guide giving us a narrative of some building artworkThat’s a interesting trunk of a tree don’t you think?That’s the America’s Bridge that we went under the day before when we were exiting the Canal – can you tell I “zoomed” in 😜Short break during our city bike tourA real tourism picture that I couldn’t pass upOne of the “cool” high-rise buildings in the modern part of Panama CityMichael was really intrigued by Panama CityThe old historic area of Panama City is picturesque Linda couldn’t resist this stopping to take this picture during our rideShort break during our bike tourThree Fishing Boats tied up together The harbor where all the local fishermen tie-up their boats when the return from their mornings catchLunch break right across the street from the fishing harborAfter our bike tour – we just walked around the old part of PanamaWalking around in the remains of a super old church in the historic part of townThen . . . walking around in the historic park of town we came across a local artist . . .Both Linda and I loved this painting that the artist was in the middle of painting – so we bought it and told him to ship it to us when he finished itHere’s a picture of the Artist with Linda in front of his store front studio – – – time to get back to the ship!
A day at Sea – heading to Costa Rica
I’d start my day with a workout in the guy area – then head to the Horizon Cafe for breakfast and my daily scripture readingsThen it was up to the 15th level to play some PickleballThese are a few of our Dinner Table people – they invited Michael to play – That’s Ginger, Lisa and Geof in the background – I don’t know the guy sitting downTake note of how “still and quiet” the pool is when we have “normal” sailing seasI took this picture at about 10 o’clock at night – – I know it looks like I just messed around in Photoshop – but honest, I didn’t do that
Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Arriving to Mountainous Costa RicaTruly, beautiful looking country!After we duck, the crazy Pelicans were waiting for the fish to be stirred up by our shipThis is our tour bus in Costa Rica. That’s our tour guide in the orange shirt.Getting ready to head out to see Costa Rica’s mountains and explore the suspended bridgesBefore we headed out on the trail for all the bridges, there was a bird sanctuary that had some interesting birdsI was able to get a good picture of this green birdOur first Suspension BridgeOur guide took this picture of us as we get ready to step on the first Suspension BridgeI do have to admit it was a bit unnerving since the bridge did swing and sway a lotWhat can I say beautiful flowers and vegetation all along the wayThis was our Naturalist that we had for our bridge tour. He was a very knowledgeable and could explain things in easy to understand terms.These are called “Walking Trees”I love finding these bright sprinkles of colorYes, it was raining a little bit when we first started our hike. We had to buy these PonchosLinda crossing a suspension bridgeThe rain finally stopped, and we were able to takeoff our PonchosI tried to capture crossing a suspension bridge, but to be honest, it was hard to film anything because the bridge kept throwing me off balanceA good picture of the suspension bridges that we crossedHere’s Michael trying to take a selfie, but the bridge kept swinging, and he was having a hard time keeping his balance and holding onto the cameraVery lush vegetation in Costa RicaAfter our suspension bridge adventures, we had a sit down lunch. It was very good food!A picture of the Costa Rica landscape as we were driving back towards the shipThe bus made a stop at a souvenir store up in the mountainsBehind the souvenir store was this beautiful garden areaAnd back by the garden area, they had a small butterfly sanctuary that was actually pretty niceBack on the ship. What was each passenger was given a Medallion and as you approached your room, the screen by the door with censor medallion and show your picture and name and would unlock the door before you even got there. Pretty cool!
Puerto Chiapas, Mexico
Another beautiful sunrise as we pulled into the portI’m just mesmerized how these Ship Pilots so easily and casually step from their speedboat into our shipMexican Army/Navy came out to meet us as the ship arrives to portNice looking dock areaThe water was clean enough that even jellyfish could be seen as we dockedThat’s the ships security officer talking to some local contractors that needed to do some work on the shipBoth Linda and I felt embarrassed for these people who put on this act.Hear the Aztec dancing guide was blessing Linda with smoke and a shakerStarfruitLots and lots of Banana Trees in areaThe Aztec ruins that we were supposed to see were a jokeThere was a field with about eight of these structures, set up, protecting some rocks that had supposed carvings in them 🧐Can you believe it? This is what they call the “Tree of Life”After the bogus Aztec ruins, we went into town and it was truly a pretty townObviously, they get lots of tour buses coming through hereWhile we were in town, some locals were there to show us how they used to make chocolate for the Aztec RoyaltyCrushes the beans until they become oily powderThen with pressure and the oils that are in the beans, she’s able to make chocolate discs. We had a chance to sample and they were VERY, VERY good.One of the local vendors selling the handmade chocolateLinda went to one of the local venders and bought some chocolate to bring homeEveryday they would slip the ships newspaper “Patter” under our door so we would know what was happening on the ship that day. They would also have a bio of one of the Ship’s Officers.
Huatulco, Mexico
Another beautiful sunrise as we come into Port. Just look at those Mountains in the background!!Our tour took us to a Family Compound that was set up very nicelyYou could see the Owner of this property in the white shirt behind the cactusesThey showed us how Adobe Bricks are madeThen, of course, Michael volunteered to make a brick himself while everybody on the tour watched (they didn’t want to get dirty hands)Linda then carved into our brick that will eventually be used in a wall someplace on this ranch areaAfter the Adobe brick demonstration, we went to another area where they showed us how they grind up the corn to make Cornmeal and then into TortillasNothing like enjoying a fresh off the Griddle Tortilla with some salt on itThey had a beautiful garden set up with some of the plants labeledOur bus took us to the next local place where the owner showed us how she makes fresh TamalesLinda made a couple Tamales. She’s at the bottom of the movie. I believe you could see her blue hat.The next step on our journey was to a family who does weaving. Kind of disappointing because they didn’t show us the actual weaving button instead spent their time explaining how they make the fabrics.Walking back to the ship, there was all these boats in harbor. I thought it was worthy of a pictureThat’s it for the day. Back on the ship and heading to our next port of call.
Manzanillo, Mexico
We arrived to this port while it was still dark outsideIt was a very picturesque townThought I would film how hard these dock hands work, trying to tie up our ship as we butt up against the dockThis town is famous for Sailfish fishing. So they have a big blue monument of a sailfish in the town by the harbor.We didn’t have any tours planned so Linda and I just took an Uber to a Mexican flea market to do some shoppingLinda was negotiating with the lady on getting a blanketThe flea market was right on the beachYou walk out the back door of the flea market and you’re in a picture postcardWe decided to just walk down the beach for a bitWaiting for our Uber to come pick us up and take us back to the shipYep, that’s our ship the Coral PrincessWe got back early enough that I quickly grabbed my fishing stuff and came back out and did some fishing. Can you believe it? I caught this decent sized fish on a shrimp lure.On our way into the dining room for dinner mom stopped at the ships jewelry store, and convinced me to buy her some blingSaying goodbye to Manzanillo as the ship left port
Two Sea Days, heading to Los Angeles
When I would get up in the morning, I would go up to the exercise room and spend some time on the elliptical and rowing machineThis is where I would go to do some stretching and just general calisthenics before heading down to breakfastThis was the normal view that we had as we walked to the dining room every night.In the Horizon Food Court they had a seafood buffet set up that included scallops, shrimp, crab, legs, and clamsTonight’s entertainment was a musical named “Down on the Bayou”. The next couple of pictures are from the show.Before I went to get my breakfast the next day while we were at sea, I took this picture just as a reminder of the Horizon Food Court’s dining areaToday they had a sushi bar out by the pool areaI’m not a sushi person, but I did pick up a few “rolls” and yes, they were OKTonight before heading off to dinner, the ships officers and department heads came out to the atrium to wish the guests safe travelsAnd for the last night on board the ship they put on our farewell variety showWhen we came out of the show, we were walking outside and you could see another cruise ship a couple miles away sailing towards Los Angeles like we were
Arriving to Los Angeles & Traveling Home
Yep, that’s Los Angeles Angeles as we’re coming into PortI can’t help it. I have to keep videoing these pilots getting on board our ship.And the police coming out to greet us as we came into portYep, we are tied up in Port and they’re already loading more supplies on for the next cruiseLinda getting on our bus to take us to the airportAnd what would you expect in Los Angeles. We are in Hollywood so everyone is a singer or an actor. This guy was one of the people who took tickets at the Delta counter, but he came out to sing for us!
