Happy New Years Eve! What a wonderful day at sea we had today! So relaxing—it is going to be hard getting back into the grind of everyday life once we return home. I like this—someone cleaning my cabin, someone cooking three meals a day for me, and someone planning all my social activities!
Our boat holds a little over 2000 passengers and 900 crew members. It is not the newest and biggest ship in the Princess Line, but it is just the perfect size to get through the Panama Canal. We are four to a cabin with Sir and I in a double bed. Daughter 2 is in a bunk that comes out from the ceiling over Daughter 1’s extremely uncomfortable hide-a-bed. The diversity of the passengers on board is amazing. Tall, short, dark skinned, tan, pasty, men, women, young, old, manicured feet, feet that need manicures, looks good in a Speedo, should not wear Speedos, sleeping styles in lounge chairs, books being read, and languages being spoken. The food has also been very diverse. Main courses have included dishes such as: salmon, steak, chicken, pheasant, duck, frog legs, veal, halibut, rabbit, shrimp, and lobster. Daughter 1 and Daughter 2 have been adventurous with their appetizers—I have been proud of them. The caviar was not a big hit and poor Sir had to help Daughter 2 eat it!
While Sir and I were taking our morning walk, we watched beautiful birds flying with the ship. We rounded the back of the boat and were shocked to see two birds sitting on deck. Lap 5 around deck we ran into an officer and he was telling a group that the birds were injured. I am not sure what they were going to do with the birds! The other birds followed the ship all morning—it was a beautiful sight.
The rest of the day was spent playing cards, indulging in afternoon tea, attending a computer class, competing in a trivia game, and, once again, getting ready for a formal dinner. Dinner was a lobster feast celebrating the New Year! We went to see a great show then headed to the top deck for dancing and bringing in the New Year. Sir and I left just after midnight and the Daughters danced for a while longer.
What a great end to a great day. Tomorrow we are going through the Panama Canal. Check back for an update!
Our boat holds a little over 2000 passengers and 900 crew members. It is not the newest and biggest ship in the Princess Line, but it is just the perfect size to get through the Panama Canal. We are four to a cabin with Sir and I in a double bed. Daughter 2 is in a bunk that comes out from the ceiling over Daughter 1’s extremely uncomfortable hide-a-bed. The diversity of the passengers on board is amazing. Tall, short, dark skinned, tan, pasty, men, women, young, old, manicured feet, feet that need manicures, looks good in a Speedo, should not wear Speedos, sleeping styles in lounge chairs, books being read, and languages being spoken. The food has also been very diverse. Main courses have included dishes such as: salmon, steak, chicken, pheasant, duck, frog legs, veal, halibut, rabbit, shrimp, and lobster. Daughter 1 and Daughter 2 have been adventurous with their appetizers—I have been proud of them. The caviar was not a big hit and poor Sir had to help Daughter 2 eat it!
While Sir and I were taking our morning walk, we watched beautiful birds flying with the ship. We rounded the back of the boat and were shocked to see two birds sitting on deck. Lap 5 around deck we ran into an officer and he was telling a group that the birds were injured. I am not sure what they were going to do with the birds! The other birds followed the ship all morning—it was a beautiful sight.
The rest of the day was spent playing cards, indulging in afternoon tea, attending a computer class, competing in a trivia game, and, once again, getting ready for a formal dinner. Dinner was a lobster feast celebrating the New Year! We went to see a great show then headed to the top deck for dancing and bringing in the New Year. Sir and I left just after midnight and the Daughters danced for a while longer.
What a great end to a great day. Tomorrow we are going through the Panama Canal. Check back for an update!
Nicaragua. Welcome to a land of volcanoes, sugar plantations, sesame oil, peanuts, and fruit. For a minute I thought I was in China: factory after factory lined the major roads we traveled on. Once again we pulled into a commercial port, Puertro Corinto, the only seaside port in Nicaragua capable of handling large international ships. Again, the government provided us with a small market within the walls of the shipyard. As with our other stops, they had “built” a secure perimeter around boat. Military and machine guns—did we feel safe?
A warm welcome from Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. The sun was rising as we watched the captain navigate the ship into port. We didn’t dock at a resort or marina but in a commercial area. Of course, the Guatemalan government set up a nice tourist shopping area where we docked, but most people headed out on tours for the day. We headed to Lake Atitlan, a two and a half hour drive through the countryside. What an interesting drive—We drove through such diverse terrain: mountains, pineapple fields, sugar cane fields, rubber trees, and volcanoes. The drive was surprising—the roads were great! Guatemala is proud of their main roads: smooth, new and large. The rest of the drive was an expected sight with tin and wooden shacks (houses) lining the roads, small towns with fruit stalls lining the streets, and minivans with passengers hanging out the sides driving down the roads. We stopped in one town to walk by the fruit stands. One poor guy got lost (we still don’t know how) and we waited a while for the guide to find him. When he walked on using his cane and moving slow, not a word was spoken. I guess the rest of us had to struggle with our own sense of our inevitable aging.
