LIVE from: Z and TB go from Atlantic to Pacific in Style

Lol. I actually tried and it only worked when I added some colorful language.

Z and TB

 

 

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Hmmm, do you remember when you were ordering in Spanish at one of our stops in Malaga and we ended up with a lot more food than expected. It was fun but still think that the Sangria that Daniella made on the Explorer was the best!

Back in Panama! We left the ship at 1240 for our eco tour and visit to the Agua Clara lock which is one of the new ones built for larger vessels (Max, I took measurements but I think you can fit).

We were fortunate to see the passing of a ship as it went through the process of being lowered to sea level.

Our tour continued with a stop at the Melia Hotel to hop onto our tour boat. What is interesting about this is that the hotel was the former School of the Americas on Fort Sherman where many famous (and some infamous) Latin American officers attended training. The eco portion of the tour was ok with slim pickings when it came to spotting wildlife. We saw some howler monkeys, blue heron, and a toucan.

The sad part of our time in Colon was seeing so many former US military buildings which are mostly in disrepair although some have been repurposed.

The evening ended with a wonderful outdoors bbq on the pool deck. I had some of the best stir fried beef ever as well as some grilled lobster (awesome) and veggies.

We sat with a great couple from Hawaii who had us in stitches. The wife had a fake microphone and was conducting interviews.

This was one of the best bbqs we’ve ever attended with Regent.

Today we cross the canal. This is a highlight for me since I’ve been coming to Panama for 35 years but have never crossed it. Can’t wait!!!

Z and TB

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Great report Z ! Love the pics! 💞👍🏻 Glad you enjoyed! Pam looks beautiful!

Keep having a blast🎉🥂🎉

K

Great report Z ! Love the pics! [emoji179][emoji1303] Glad you enjoyed! Pam looks beautiful!

 

Keep having a blast[emoji322]🥂[emoji322]

 

K

Thanks I’m not so bad either!!! Miss you guys.

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Our first lock

Google gatun lock webcam if you want to see our ship going through Canal now or google Miraflores lock webcam for when we cross around 4pm eastern time.

Z and TB

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Wow, what a busy weekend! Z your neighbors pooled their money and moved your belongings to temporary storage. I’ve never seen them so happy. Yesterday your Mom had a Block Party in your old/former backyard. Her Fiancé, Juan, brought his Mariachi band over to play. You and him will get along splendidly, he plays the Triangle as well as you! Boy can he drink! It was no time before he went through your private stock and your Manischewitz wine collection. BTW., Juan is a huge collector of fake sports memorabilia. He said most of your stuff is fake, except the John Rocker autographed baseball. He said, he will keep it for his collection. Juan is also a great dancer, Your Mom and him won the Limbo contest for couples. All and all it was a great time. When you return from your trip, your belongings are at CheapStorage in Fort Lauderdale. You’ll want to see them right away, as we did not have money left over to pay them. The auction is on Friday. Anyway, have a great trip.

LOL!!!! Now that’s how you respond to a thread!!! Well done and I see you learned to write without using a crayola box. That speak and spell app your kids downloaded for you works well. Stay away from math because I know you can’t teach your toes.

Z and TB

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Wow, what a busy weekend! Z your neighbors pooled their money and moved your belongings to temporary storage. I’ve never seen them so happy. Yesterday your Mom had a Block Party in your old/former backyard. Her Fiancé, Juan, brought his Mariachi band over to play. You and him will get along splendidly, he plays the Triangle as well as you! Boy can he drink! It was no time before he went through your private stock and your Manischewitz wine collection. BTW., Juan is a huge collector of fake sports memorabilia. He said most of your stuff is fake, except the John Rocker autographed baseball. He said, he will keep it for his collection. Juan is also a great dancer, Your Mom and him won the Limbo contest for couples. All and all it was a great time. When you return from your trip, your belongings are at CheapStorage in Fort Lauderdale. You’ll want to see them right away, as we did not have money left over to pay them. The auction is on Friday. Anyway, have a great trip.

From your great post I can see why you and "Z" are such great friends. I'm sure that when you go on vacation, he will take care of your home and he'll have fun doing it!:evilsmile:

Z - amazing photos - keep them coming!

Z, your friend sounds like he is cut out of the same piece of cloth as you.

Have fun in your locks. George loves going through him.

Z, your friend sounds like he is cut out of the same piece of cloth as you.

Have fun in your locks. George loves going through him.

Thank you, I think🤔 We may be cut from the same cloth....His is just a much larger piece of material 😂

Thank you, I think[emoji848] We may be cut from the same cloth....His is just a much larger piece of material [emoji23]

Hah let’s not go there because I know you had to cancel this cruise because there isn’t enough ballast on board to keep the ship level.

Lol.

Z and TB

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Wow, what a busy weekend! Z your neighbors pooled their money and moved your belongings to temporary storage. I’ve never seen them so happy. Yesterday your Mom had a Block Party in your old/former backyard. Her Fiancé, Juan, brought his Mariachi band over to play. You and him will get along splendidly, he plays the Triangle as well as you! Boy can he drink! It was no time before he went through your private stock and your Manischewitz wine collection. BTW., Juan is a huge collector of fake sports memorabilia. He said most of your stuff is fake, except the John Rocker autographed baseball. He said, he will keep it for his collection. Juan is also a great dancer, Your Mom and him won the Limbo contest for couples. All and all it was a great time. When you return from your trip, your belongings are at CheapStorage in Fort Lauderdale. You’ll want to see them right away, as we did not have money left over to pay them. The auction is on Friday. Anyway, have a great trip.

Lol!!! Too funny! The ultimate would be to cruise with you & Z and just sit back and watch the action 😱

K

Lol!!! Too funny! The ultimate would be to cruise with you & Z and just sit back and watch the action 😱

K

I would love to be in the audience for that show!:D

Thanks I’m not so bad either!!! Miss you guys.

 

 

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Ohhhhh Z you are beautiful too:o💞

Really miss yous too, we are hanging on every post!

You need to join us on another one of our future cruises! !

You know you miss us 😉

K

Wow, what a busy weekend! Z your neighbors pooled their money and moved your belongings to temporary storage. I’ve never seen them so happy. Yesterday your Mom had a Block Party in your old/former backyard. Her Fiancé, Juan, brought his Mariachi band over to play. You and him will get along splendidly, he plays the Triangle as well as you! Boy can he drink! It was no time before he went through your private stock and your Manischewitz wine collection. BTW., Juan is a huge collector of fake sports memorabilia. He said most of your stuff is fake, except the John Rocker autographed baseball. He said, he will keep it for his collection. Juan is also a great dancer, Your Mom and him won the Limbo contest for couples. All and all it was a great time. When you return from your trip, your belongings are at CheapStorage in Fort Lauderdale. You’ll want to see them right away, as we did not have money left over to pay them. The auction is on Friday. Anyway, have a great trip.

:D:D

ELCID : As you exit Z's kitchen, look in the cabinet immediately to your right. That is one of his booze hiding places. Also the cabinet on the north wall just past the end of the dining table - he likes to keep the better stuff in there : you know - the booze he won't serve to guests.

Don't bother looking for his collection of Salsa Records. I took those in January when I was there.

Next time you two get together ask him to tell the story about a certain day in Santorini where I found him, hands on hips, swearing and ranting at a parked van, with no one in it.:eek:

Glad to see you are enjoying yourself, Putz.

K

:D:D

 

ELCID : As you exit Z's kitchen, look in the cabinet immediately to your right. That is one of his booze hiding places. Also the cabinet on the north wall just past the end of the dining table - he likes to keep the better stuff in there : you know - the booze he won't serve to guests.

 

 

 

Don't bother looking for his collection of Salsa Records. I took those in January when I was there.

 

 

 

 

 

Next time you two get together ask him to tell the story about a certain day in Santorini where I found him, hands on hips, swearing and ranting at a parked van, with no one in it.:eek:

 

 

 

Glad to see you are enjoying yourself, Putz.

 

 

 

K

Ken: so glad to hear you chime in. I didn’t know you were out on parole!

Z and TB

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Ken: so glad to hear you chime in. I didn’t know you were out on parole!

 

Z and TB

 

 

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:D Early release for good conduct. Cruise on, oh Prince of Puerto Rico. Say hi to TB from Noemi and I.

Sasquatch

:D:D

ELCID : As you exit Z's kitchen, look in the cabinet immediately to your right. That is one of his booze hiding places. Also the cabinet on the north wall just past the end of the dining table - he likes to keep the better stuff in there : you know - the booze he won't serve to guests.

 

Don't bother looking for his collection of Salsa Records. I took those in January when I was there.

 

 

Next time you two get together ask him to tell the story about a certain day in Santorini where I found him, hands on hips, swearing and ranting at a parked van, with no one in it.:eek:

 

Glad to see you are enjoying yourself, Putz.

 

K

Thanks Ken for the great intel! We will be on the lookout for it. I think Juan and his band found it Sunday night. After the block party ended, the neighbors said the Mariachi band played all night and a good part of yesterday. There is a really large pile of empty bottles in the back yard.

I’m finding Juan to be a really nice guy. Yesterday he insisted on helping to straighten out Z’s banking and investment portfolio’s. Thankfully, Angela was able to give him Z’s usernames, and passwords. Juan is also a pretty smart guy! After just a short amount of time, he figured it would be best to consolidate all Z’s finances into one account. Personally, I was surprised Z had any finances😊.

Juan called last night concerned that he did not have enough time to get everything moved around before Z’s return. I assured him Z wasn’t going to be back till next week and had limited access to his email and internet. This made Juan very, very happy! He said he should have everything finished by then. He asked me not say anything as he wants to surprise Z. He also said he had recently come into a large sum of money and was taking Angela out of the country for an extended period of time. He said he was leaving Z a note at the temporary storage facility with all Z’s belongings.

Lastly, kudos to the Captain for getting the ship through the locks yesterday. I was concerned the extra tonnage might bottom the boat out in one of the locks. I’m guessing Z’s low carb, high alcohol diet saved the cruise line from an embarrassing international incident. The next challenge will be the numerous upcoming ports of call. Z and I have been thrown out or politely asked to leave a number of places over the years😅. Hopefully TB can keep him out of trouble!

Happy sails Z , TB, and All!

Max

A man, a plan, a Canal, Panama (say it backwards!). What an incredibly enjoyable day. We started it if by going under the new bridge under construction in Colon

...followed by entering the Gatun Locks. This set of three locks climbed us from sea level up to 85 feet above sea level.

What an amazing feat of engineering. I loved every minute of it as we slowly approached the lock, got hooked up to the mules (not real ones like the ones you used to ride on family day at the prison, Max), felt the ascent, and crawled into the next one to repeat the process.

Throughout it all, you could just imagine how it all looked when the Canal was all one zone with quite a few bases spread out throughout its length.

Next, we entered Gatun Lake which is a huge man made lake designed to hold water for the locks. As a young lieutenant, we would send a 13-man crew from an AC-130 gunship to catch peacock bass. They would return with enough fish fillet to feed all three hundred of us in our deployment.

Our descent started when the Pedro Miguel locks were approached around 2ish with Miraflores next at 3pm.

Afterwards, I pointed out to Pam the former locations of Forts Clayton, Amador, and Kobe where her parents lived in the fifties; Rodman Naval Base; Howard Air Force Base; and Quarry Heights where HQ Southern Command was located. I also pointed out the spot to the right of the Bridge of the America’s where I was once picked up by the Panamanian National Guard and hassled until I showed them a card signed by Gen Noriega, the dictator we deposed during “Operation Just Because” in 1989.

Of course, one of the highlights of crossing the Canal is being able to see the impressive skyline of Panama City along with the Causeway.

What a great day. Although the day was cloudy, it was not too hot and being outside was bearable.

Z and TB

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Sorry I'm so late to the party! The photos have been fabulous, but am concerned you're taking advantage of the poor pool bartender (who is it, BTW?) I understand that you're halfway thru the Hendrick's horde....what world, what a world!

I've been enjoying the shipboard/cc SNL with you and Max....pretty good show so far!

Best to you and Pam

PS have a Hendricks for me at the pool bar!

Linda (and John!)

A couple of observations regarding this cruise:

1. The oldest crowd we have ever cruised with. Some folks claim they started cruising with Noah.

2. Pool deck is not as crowded as previous cruises.

3. The lectures have been very good

4. Service is excellent.

5. Some folks report that there are still a few glitches from the refurb to include no hooks in the bathroom, unusual noises coming from the ceiling.

6. Tours guides have been excellent.

7. Excellent narration during te Panama Canal crossing.

8. If you want to eat at 630PM you’d better stand in line early. We seem to have a large number of folks who want to eat ASAP.

9. All Compass Rose meals have been excellent. Prime 7 gets a second chance to redeem itself in two days

10. Don’t let your friends know you are blogging about your cruise.

11. Overall, we like the look of the refurbished Mariner.

Z and TB

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Sorry I'm so late to the party! The photos have been fabulous, but am concerned you're taking advantage of the poor pool bartender (who is it, BTW?) I understand that you're halfway thru the Hendrick's horde....what world, what a world!

 

I've been enjoying the shipboard/cc SNL with you and Max....pretty good show so far!

 

Best to you and Pam

 

PS have a Hendricks for me at the pool bar!

 

Linda (and John!)

There are two great pool bar bartenders:

Inna who makes a great Bloody Mary

And Catalin who is Romanian and lives in Spain. I believe he was our pool bartender during the Bloody Mary and Margarita Society meetings. Both are excellent.

Z and TB

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Thanks very much for the canal pictures. We've been through the canal several times, but it never gets old. Really fascinating experience. Continue to enjoy your cruise!

Here’s a pic of Catalin on the right with his younger sidekick Ruslan:

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Here’s a pic of Catalin on the right with his younger sidekick Ruslan:

 

 

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Zqueeze,

Please say hello to Catalin for me (Sir John, the Scotch and Diet Coke guy). I'm just about the only person who drinks this odd combo and he has prepared it for me many,many times. He is a fantastic bartender.

Thanks,

John