Live from the Island Princess--Panama Canal Eastbound

[lrm]

No. The gift exchange is done only with the roll call people who elect to do it. And the gift is usually something in the vicinity of $10 and represented sometimes by your home state, country, province, etc.

 

Great--I am looking forward to hearing about the rest of your adventure!

[Colo Cruiser]

[trbarton]

There are some of us following your cruise that are on a similar cruise in September 2014 leaving from Vancouver & San Francisco.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post!!!!

 

We're interested to hear about the tours being offered.

 

Thanks!

 

SF Tom:)

[greenie082756]

Punki-

 

Thank you for posting your live cruise!

 

DH and I are thinking about doing either a B2B Panama or the 28 day Tahiti cruise for our retirement celebration which unfortunately is still another 4-5 years away.

 

To get you point of view and experience of the Panama cruise is fantastic!

Looking forward to reading what your adventure brings! :D

 

Smooth seas ahead!:)

[windsor26]

Why? You need more food on your plate? :eek:

 

I use my oval plate as a tray so it was very useful that way

[caribill]

Why? You need more food on your plate? :eek:

 

Most mornings I bring breakfast back to the cabin from the buffet. The oval plate size meant I could do it for two of us in one trip.

[PunkiC]

Live from the Island Princess--Panama Canal Eastbound--Day Three

 

We are finally enjoying some breaks in the weather. We never had any rain but it was gloomy and it nice to see the sun and sail along with our door open, listening to the waves.

 

DH skipped stretch to make it to the 8:00 a.m. Catholic Good Friday service, but, although 50 passengers showed up, the deacon decided he would wait until Sunday to celebrate Easter instead of having a service today as advertised. ???? What’s up with that?

 

I did win a prize in the Wake Show yesterday, but now you have to go pick up the prizes and I forgot where they told us to go. Ooops. I guess I can check in the library. They will know. Today, in addition to the trivia question and the “Where on the Ship” game, they are also having a drawing for dinner for two in the Crab Shack so we had to enter 6 piece of paper to the library prior to 11:00 a.m. We keep a stash of forms in our cabin and DH ran them all down when I was getting ready for breakfast.

 

After breakfast (late breakfast) we went down and joined the Flash Mob Dance rehearsal. I guess we are going to have three Flash Mob performances during the course of the cruise, the first of which will be tomorrow night at the Ultimate Deck Party. It is lots of fun and a very good workout. This is another first for us.

 

As always, I went to the Holiday Store at Sea. Who knows why, as they almost always have the same stuff, but this time I actually found a turquoise Easter bonnet and matching scarf. When we are in Cabo, I will try to find some wild colored flowers to decorate my hat. I always wear a fancy hat for Easter.

 

We decided to have lunch in Alfredo's which on this ship is in Sabatinis. Another first for us. We each had a small individual pizza and a glass of wine. Pizza, wine and beer are all they serve. It was pretty good, like all Princess pizza. I had Romana and DH had Tarantino—a seafood pizza.

 

We followed our Italian lunch with a Spanish lesson. I had asked Richard Joseph yesterday if we were having Spanish lessons and he said he hadn’t planned it but he didn’t see why we couldn’t since a Spanish speaking staff member just boarded. Without much time to prepare, they did a really good job. They plan to have more Spanish lessons as the cruise progresses. Hopefully it will make us all sound a little more accomplished and civilized when we visit Cabo, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Columbia.

 

Our Spanish classes led to a short siesta before dinner. Ship siestas are so wonderful.

Although we always have Anytime Dining, we call in the morning and make reservations at a sharing table for eight. Last night we ate late, but tonight we will be eating early. This is a great way to meet lots of new people. When we got to the dining room they initially tried to sit us at a table for six, but, just because we are stubborn and like to meet as many people as possible, we reminded them that we had a reservation for a table for 8, not 6, and they moved us to a fixed dining table. Another group of very nice people.

 

We got in quite a few dance in The Wheelhouse before the band took their break and then popped into the Princess Theater to hear the vocalist, Chris Riggins, and he was really good and put on and excellent show. My favorite of his songs was “Starry, Starry Night” by Don McLean, complete with background shots of Vincent Van Gough. Do you realize that Van Gough killed himself when he was only 37 years old? Such a tortured talent.

 

After the show we went back to The Wheelhouse to dance a couple more sets. I was a little tired so I encouraged DH to ask two other women to dance while I rested. He really is an amazing lead and the women did seem to enjoy dancing with him—he is also pretty darned cute. The band leader came over later and complimented him on reaching out to single women and said he had never seen anyone do that before. DH will frequently do that as he is the original Energizer Bunny and never wants to sit one out and, from time to time, I like a bit of a rest. I also enjoy watching him.  While we were dancing in The Wheelhouse, we ran into another couple who had been on a previous TA crossing with us a couple of years ago. We had originally met them on the street in Brooklyn, NY, where they were lost and trying to figure out how to get back to the ship. We were with our daughter, who lives in Brooklyn, and she directed us all to the proper bus to get us back to the ship on time. Pia, I am not sure if you were on that cruise as well—it started in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and ended in Southampton.

 

Just as I was ready to crash for the night, DH wanted to go up to the HC and grab a snack. On The Island the buffet is open ‘til midnight, but I suspect that after she is refit with the International Café when she is dry-docked, that that will no longer be the case.

 

So ends another amazing day at sea.

 

P.S. In answer to your question, we are in a balcony. We always get balconies because we really like getting out and watching the water, as well as sleeping with our door open. I will try to take and post some pictures, but they might not get posted until I get back to free internet.

[The CRuIseLLS]

Oh...... this all sounds fantastic, loving the flash mob idea......seems like it will be a lot of fun. My schoolgirl Spanish is more than a touch rusty, hope they think about organising lessons on our cruise.

 

Lovely idea about the Easter Bonnet.

 

Talking of hats.......

Have you noticed if they sell panama hats on board?

 

 

Again, thanks so much for posting......I'm getting really excited now & we've still got just over 5months to go!!

[Pia1913]

I use my oval plate as a tray so it was very useful that way

 

Most mornings I bring breakfast back to the cabin from the buffet. The oval plate size meant I could do it for two of us in one trip.

 

You're taking my statement way too literally. Windsor, you don't know me, but Bill does. Actually, we shouldn't be having private conversations on this thread, so I will try to stop. Sometimes my fingers have a mind of their own.

Edited April 19, 2014 by Pia1913

[Pia1913]

 

 

After breakfast (late breakfast) we went down and joined the Flash Mob Dance rehearsal.

 

Have never seen this; sounds like good exercise

 

 

We got in quite a few dance in The Wheelhouse before the band took their break and then popped into the Princess Theater to hear the vocalist, Chris . Pia, I am not sure if you were on that cruise as well—it started in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and ended in Southampton.

 

.

 

Nope. Didn't do that one.

 

Folks, Punki and her man are fantastic dancers! :D

[Kenswing]

Thank you for posting your Live report.. We hope to do this cruise next year. Although we've cruised on the Island twice before it's nice to see what we have to look forward to in terms of the itinerary and activities..

[lone_stranger]

Live from the Island Princess--Panama Canal Eastbound--Day Three

 

We are new to Princess cruising so I hope that you will answer my questions about places and events that may to you be obvious.

 

they are also having a drawing for dinner for two in the Crab Shack

Where is the Crab Shack and what seafood is served there?

 

After breakfast (late breakfast) we went down and joined the Flash Mob Dance rehearsal.

What is The Flash Mob? (I know what a Flash Mob is, but this sounds more organized.)

 

We decided to have lunch in Alfredo's which on this ship is in Sabatinis.

How does one find out the location of all the hidden eateries (like Alfredos, the Crab Shack, etc.)?

 

We followed our Italian lunch with a Spanish lesson.

Great idea! I hope that we get to have Spanish lessons.

 

 

We are avidly following your posts. Thank you so much for posting the information. It is far better than a cruise review.

[PunkiC]

Live from the Island Princess--Panama Canal Eastbound--Day Four, Cabo

 

This is a totally glorious day requiring lots of sun screen. DH let me sleep in very late, which I really appreciated. I was tired.

 

By the time we got to breakfast, it was lunch time and we received a very enthusiastic welcome from the crew for being their first lunch customers. Being the only passengers in the HC didn’t last long, however, as it soon filled up with the early birds who had already been into town and returned.

 

Cabo is always a tender port. The tenders were unloading tons of passengers returning from Cabo at the time we decided to go ashore so we had to wait a while to board—not to get a number as there were only about 15 people going into town, but just to allow the returning passengers to get off their tenders and through security. They must have had at least two tenders unload before we boarded. On The Island the tenders embark and disembark passengers at the same door, whereas on the larger ships they usually use separate doors which really speeds up the process .

 

We didn’t do much in Cabo but walk around and look at stuff and stop in a bar for a Corona and some free internet so we could upload a picture of the Cabo rocks on Facebook. When we get to Florida I will post it here as well. There were no artificial flowers available for my Easter bonnet so I will have to wear a plain bonnet or order a corsage and pin it to my hat. I guess I could steal a flower somewhere around the ship—I will have to keep my eyes open.  While walking through the Flea Market I did find a new sundress which looks a lot like my other sundresses. I love them for wearing when it is hot. I don’t do heat very well so I am delighted that so far on this trip the weather has been perfect.

 

One of the fun things that happens in the harbor in Cabo is that the sea lions jump on the sterns of the boats sailing into the harbor and beg for food. Apparently they succeed often enough to keep them at it. Have your camera ready and I am sure you will catch a picture of a sea lion riding on the back end of a boat in the harbor.

 

I had noticed when we disembarked that there was no wine table, so, just to see what would happen, we bought a bottle of wine in Cabo and brought it back on board. Nobody said a word. We will try it again in Nicaragua and see what happens. We took the wine to dinner where we paid the corkage fee and it turned out to be a really good inexpensive bottle of wine. We should have bought more.

 

At dinner they sat us at the same table we had been at last night and that was OK as we really liked the people. Our goal, however, is to meet as many people as possible on the ship—that’s why we get anytime dining—so we will have to start specifying that we would like a different table every night.

 

We thought to take a quick nap after dinner before the Flash Mob performance, but the short nap turned into a long nap and we missed the show. Ooops. By the time I woke up the 10:00 p.m. version of tomorrow’s Wake Show was already on. We both won prizes in the “Where on the Ship” contest and I was happy to learn that I knew the answers to tomorrow’s contests. I am not going to share any of the question or “Where on the Ship” locations so I don’t ruin it for those of you who will be doing this cruise in the future. I love these silly contests and wish I would have started the Scavenger Hunt starting the first day. Unfortunately, we didn’t find the contest sheets until today, so we have already missed out on too many challenges.

 

Speaking of future cruises, I know that some of you are interested in shore excursions, but I don’t know if we will be much help as we almost never take an organizes shore excursion. We prefer to be on our own schedule so we usually just wander around, or take public transportation. Once in a while we will grab a local excursion if we see something that appeals to us in a port, but, in over 30 cruises, we have only taken one official ship tour and that was the White Pass railroad last summer during our fifth cruise to Alaska. If there is something specific you would like me to research, I will be happy to do so. Just let me know.

 

Now I need to join DH in sleep so we can get up and be dressed and ready for the Catholic Easter Service at 8:00 a.m. At home we always go to a 10:00 a.m. Mass as we are not really early morning people.

 

Stranger, you will get a map showing you the location of all of the eateries. The flash mob on the ship, is just like a flash mob out in the world and believe me, this one wasn't particularly well organized. Since we didn't make it to the "show" I don't know how it went off, but will let you know.

[lone_stranger]

Live from the Island Princess--Panama Canal Eastbound--Day Four, Cabo

 

Stranger, you will get a map showing you the location of all of the eateries. The flash mob on the ship, is just like a flash mob out in the world and believe me, this one wasn't particularly well organized. Since we didn't make it to the "show" I don't know how it went off, but will let you know.

 

Thank you Punki. We really appreciate your response and your daily activities reports. We are getting to experience the cruise vicariously which will help us enjoy ourselves even more when we finally sail away in September.

[lone_stranger]

If anyone isn't familiar with what a flash mob is, examples speak to the subject better than words. However, for those who wish some words ... flash mobs are generally musical performances in public places, but not always. In my humble opinion the best flash mobs tend to be people celebrating the joy of being alive by dancing to or playing music. On the other hand there is the flash mob that recreated the orgasm scene from the movie "When Harry Met Sally" and they did it in Katz' Delicatessen where the movie scene was originally filmed. For video examples search YouTube for flash mob videos. The performances are usually videotaped and posted. This is a link to one of the best flash mob videos: http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/videos/girl-gives-coin-to-street-musician-epic-flashmob-ensues and if you search Google for flash mob videos you will find a number of others worth seeing. I highly recommend the "5 Flash Mob Videos That Will Brighten Your Day" and the "YouTube Trends: The 10 Most Viewed Flash Mobs of All Time." There may be some overlap there, but they are fun to watch.

[PunkiC]

Live from the Island Princess--Panama Canal Eastbound--Day Five, at sea

 

He has risen. He has risen indeed!

 

Happy Easter from the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Mexico, almost level with Puerto Vallarta. I wish we could be in port for Easter as I would love to go to Mass in Mexico, but we are grateful that at least we have a deacon aboard so we can have a Eucharistic service to celebrate. 200 people showed up to celebrate Easter and the communion service was very nice. I was the only person I saw wearing an Easter Bonnet, but that sometimes happens at home as well. People really need to start wearing hats again.

 

Following our service we had breakfast in the main dining room at a table for six. It was very pleasant to sit and be served in a quiet place, but I sure prefer selecting my own food in the portions I want in the buffet. I had a frittata which was too greasy, and half a grapefruit. I am sure I will be able to find more food when I get hungry. ;) Once again we were the last people out of the dining room. I guess we really talk a lot.

 

By mid-morning, the weather was really heating up and the humidity was getting way too high for me. We had lunch in the Horizon Court. We first checked out the Mexican Buffet out by the pool but the lines were way too long so we went back inside and had a bite of salad first, waiting for the lines to clear. Having salad before lunch is a really good idea—by the time the lines got short I could barely handle a single enchilada. Another great conversation with our lunch mates almost made us late to our Cruise Critic Wine Tasting party.

 

We finally broke away and got our wine, glasses and pencils and headed down to our friends’ cabin for the party. Everybody brought red wine and all of the wines were quite good. It is very interesting see how different our tastes in wine are. DH and I liked pretty much exactly the opposite wines. Our wine came in in second place. The one I liked best came in last and the one I liked least came in first. I guess I just have bad taste in wine. We decided to have another wine tasting following Aruba, only including wine that we have bought between here and there—Nicaragua, Costa Rico, Cartagena or Aruba. It will be interesting to see what we all come up with.

 

Can you believe that we had to follow the wine tasting with a nap? We just love ship naps. Fortunately we had late dinner tonight so a nap fit in perfectly.

 

We had another great group for dinner and were once again among the very last to leave the dining room. So far everyone we have met on the ship has been really interesting, which is great. Sometimes we run into people who just sit there and don’t want talk and that’s not much fun at all, but on this cruise everybody we have met is pretty darned cool.

 

The production show was “Do You Wanna Dance” and this was the first presentation with this new crew. For the first show the theater was filled up 30 minutes prior to the show and the second show was filled up as well before we got there. We peeked in for a few minutes when The Wheelhouse band was on a break and very much enjoyed the part that we saw.

 

The further south we go, the more hot and humid it becomes. I don’t think I will be able to be out on the deck during our crossing through the canal as I really don’t like heat. That’s fine as there are plenty of inside places with good views where we can view the canal.

 

I can’t believe how fast the days are flying by. Today, DH said, “It’s almost over!” He is so funny.

 

Happy Easter to all.

 

P.S. Thanks Stranger for posting information about Flash Mobs.

[PunkiC]

Live from the Island Princess--Panama Canal Eastbound--Day 6, At Sea

 

It just keeps getting hotter and muggier as we head south. This is another one of the reasons that we don't particularly like planned tours. We really don't want to get stuck somewhere hot, standing or sitting around waiting for things to happen. At least when we are out there on our own, we can always escape into an air-conditioned bar, restaurant or store, or just go back to the ship and take a shower.

 

One of things I really like a lot on Princess ships are the showers. Yes, I know the showers are small, but the water is so hot and the pressure is amazing. The best part is that the water is all recycled so I don't have to feel guilty about standing in the shower forever, letting the hot water beat down on my shoulders, melting away all of my tension. Our shower, unfortunately, has a new floor base, so with the water on very hard, we have to be careful not to let it overflow and flood the bathroom floor. I will learn how to do it just right with the water on full blast because I love taking really intense showers

 

We were worried about our cabin location, by the forward stairs on Emerald, but we are really liking it a lot. We haven't felt any ship action at all (of course the seas have been very slight) and we love the proximity to The Wheel house, the Princess Theater and the elevators to the Horizon Court. We love to hang out and watch schmaltzy chick flicks while we are getting ready in the morning and DH runs up to the HC at least once each morning to refill our hot water and coffee pots. Very convenient.

 

The "Where on the Ship" question of the day is really hard. For the first time I have no clue where it is, so, after breakfast, which I guess would really be lunch, we had to go wandering around looking for it. Finally we found it. The Trivia Question required us to get a crew member from the Philippines to help us out. That is the only clue you get. The Wake Show is also giving away a free dinner for two at Sabatinis so we signed up for that as well. Wish us luck!

 

The format for the Spanish classes was very much improved from the first time which makes sense as they only had about 12 hours to prepare the first time and this time they had two whole days. The classes are now shared by one native Spanish speaker and one native English speaker which makes a lot more sense. I am really enjoying the classes and the opportunity to refresh my meager skills. Hopefully they will continue the classes all the way through Columbia.

 

Of course, we had an afternoon nap before our late dinner. Tonight was a formal night so we got free hors de oeuvres delivered to our room. In the past I have always gotten the smoked salmon and caviar, but the caviar we had the first formal night was really bad so I let DH just order whatever he wanted this time and I couldn’t eat any of it. I usually love caviar, but beyond that don’t eat much meat or fish.

 

We made it down to The Wheelhouse to get in about a half hour of dancing before dinner and it was lots of fun, as was dinner. We sat with one couple we had met at the Meet & Greet and another new couple from Vancouver. There sure are a lot of folks from Vancouver on this cruise. Tonight was lobster night and I typically like lobster, but this was tough so I couldn’t finish it. Our table mates turned out once again to be a very interesting group and we were among the very last to leave the dining room, like always. 

 

We danced two whole sets after dinner and it was a seriously good workout which left us both sweating before we were done. Getting good exercise while you are having lots of fun is the best. At the end DH took off his tux jacket and untied his bow tie. He has only recently learned to tie his own bow ties and he loves to untie it at the end of the evening and look uber cool like Frank Sinatra. On our way out of The Wheelhouse, we ran into the Music Director and were happy to give him lots of lavish compliments about the band CJS. They are turning out to be pretty darned good dance band.

 

Are you beginning to wonder if we mostly just eat, meet people, talk, play ship games, learn Spanish, nap and dance? Well that’s about it for us and we love it. At the end of the day, I can’t believe that the day is already over—it always goes by so quickly and we are left wondering how it could have gone by so quickly. Is that because we are so old or because we are having so much fun? Maybe both.

 

DH is also busy reading “The Path Between Two Seas” so he will have all the info fresh in his head before we get to the canal. He highly recommends the book for those planning to do the Panama Canal.

[IECalCruiser]

If you don't find wine in the first three stops, there is always the Hong King supermarket in Aruba. We stopped there in January of last year and they had a fairly good selection of wine at reasonable prices. We didn't stop in Nicaragua, we didn't see wine in Costa Rica and although we saw some liquor for sale in the shops at the port in Cartegena, I don't remember if they had wine also.

 

Have enjoyed reading you posts!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[nunuc2000]

Really enjoying your posts - It almost feels like we're along for the ride!

 

Hope the rest of the cruise is just as enjoyable as the first half, and that the seas continue to be smooth and wonderful. :)

 

Celine

[Colo Cruiser]

[PunkiC]

Live from the Island Princess--Panama Canal Eastbound--Day 7, At Sea

 

There sure is a lot of ocean out there. As DH says it’s 70% of the world.

 

The weather today is hotter and more overcast and the humidity is something like 85%. DH just read in his book that the humidity is even higher on the Atlantic side of the canal. Is that true? Can that be possible?

 

The Wake Show questions were really hard this morning, but after puzzling over the trivia question for a half an hour or so, I realized it was a trick question. It made me laugh at myself so I am tempted to tell you the question as long as everybody agrees not to blab the answer if you figure it out. OK, here goes: What one word can you make using all of the letters contained in the words “new door”? The “Where on the Ship” was also pretty tricky but we were lucky enough to just stumble on to I before breakfast. This is the first cruise where we have ever had “Where on the Ship” and we are really liking it. So far we have gotten the right answers to every question and every challenge and have won 4 times. Our prizes are those silly vault dollars which we haven’t used yet. Does anybody ever win at that?

 

Today we had an actual breakfast breakfast, not lunch to break our fast. Today we weren’t quite so pokey. We always like to sit right up on the bow in the Horizon Court and today we were rewarded with two huge schools of dolphins playing in front of the ship. It is always so exciting to spot sea life on a cruise, but this huge mass of dolphins was especially fun. As I am writing this they just made an announcement of another large group of dolphins off our port side. We are currently sailing off the coast of El Salvador, arriving in Nicaragua tomorrow morning.

 

On this cruise we have an actual Stateroom Television Guide and I love it. It is so much easier than trying to figure what’s happening from watching the TV Guide Channel. It’s funny but I never watch TV at home, but on the ship we love watching romance movies.

 

While we were exploring we found a secret room. Well I don’t know how secret it is but we had never noticed before that they have a little P&O museum right behind The Wheelhouse. How could I have missed that after all these cruises or is it new? When you get on the ship be sure to check it out they have lots of old photos, and many different memorabilia, including old menus.

DH plopped himself in the library with a book for a couple of hours, just like a regular cruise guy, while I went up and wash and did my hair. I have a lot of hair so it is a bit of a pain to wash and do it. Fortunately, I can sometimes get away with only having to do it only once a week or so.

 

I snagged DH who was nearly asleep in the Library and we went up once gain to the HC and ate with some lovely English people whom we had previously met. They are sailors and maybe someday e will hook up with them in Croatia and join them in a bare boat charter flotilla. That would be fun. The islands and water around Split to Dubrovnik are very similar to the island where DH grew up and we sailed a lot when we were first dating and married.

 

We decided to go to early dinner so we could get up and into town before it get too hot in the morning. We were at a table for 10 and met even more really nice people. In a way, being on a ship is sort of like being in high school. You have so many shared experiences with lots of different people and so many wonderful opportunities to make new friends. That feeling of community is especially strong on the island because it is smaller.

 

On our way out of dinner we did a few dances in The Wheelhouse—we love that floor. While we were chatting during a break someone asked us if we were going down to dance to the Big Band in the Universe Lounge. How did we miss that in the Pitter Patter? We went down and danced the whole set, by which time our feet gave up.

 

Following the Ball Room Dance session a singer named Julie James joined the band and gave a performance. Some of you may know her as she has served in many different capacities, including Assistant Cruise Director, performer and entertainer. She is a very talented young woman and can really belt out a song.

 

Tomorrow, we visit San Juan Del Sure, Nicaragua, a new country for us. One of the things we did this afternoon was count the countries we have visited together. By the end of this cruise it will be 40. As soon as we made a list in my iPhone and counted them, we became tempted to try to hit 100. We have several friends who have visited 100 and I am hoping we can live long enough and stay healthy long enough to make it as well.

 

 

Sorry I was so late posting this, but we did not have internet all day long.

[Pia1913]

Live from the Island Princess--Panama Canal Eastbound--Day 7, At Sea

 

There sure is a lot of ocean out there. As DH says it’s 70% of the world.

 

The weather today is hotter and more overcast and the humidity is something like 85%. DH just read in his book that the humidity is even higher on the Atlantic side of the canal. Is that true? Can that be possible?

 

The Wake Show questions were really hard this morning, but after puzzling over the trivia question for a half an hour or so, I realized it was a trick question. It made me laugh at myself so I am tempted to tell you the question as long as everybody agrees not to blab the answer if you figure it out. OK, here goes: What one word can you make using all of the letters contained in the words “new door”? The “Where on the Ship” was also pretty tricky but we were lucky enough to just stumble on to I before breakfast. This is the first cruise where we have ever had “Where on the Ship” and we are really liking it. So far we have gotten the right answers to every question and every challenge and have won 4 times. Our prizes are those silly vault dollars which we haven’t used yet. Does anybody ever win at that?

 

Today we had an actual breakfast breakfast, not lunch to break our fast. Today we weren’t quite so pokey. We always like to sit right up on the bow in the Horizon Court and today we were rewarded with two huge schools of dolphins playing in front of the ship. It is always so exciting to spot sea life on a cruise, but this huge mass of dolphins was especially fun. As I am writing this they just made an announcement of another large group of dolphins off our port side. We are currently sailing off the coast of El Salvador, arriving in Nicaragua tomorrow morning.

 

On this cruise we have an actual Stateroom Television Guide and I love it. It is so much easier than trying to figure what’s happening from watching the TV Guide Channel. It’s funny but I never watch TV at home, but on the ship we love watching romance movies.

 

While we were exploring we found a secret room. Well I don’t know how secret it is but we had never noticed before that they have a little P&O museum right behind The Wheelhouse. How could I have missed that after all these cruises or is it new? When you get on the ship be sure to check it out they have lots of old photos, and many different memorabilia, including old menus.

DH plopped himself in the library with a book for a couple of hours, just like a regular cruise guy, while I went up and wash and did my hair. I have a lot of hair so it is a bit of a pain to wash and do it. Fortunately, I can sometimes get away with only having to do it only once a week or so.

 

I snagged DH who was nearly asleep in the Library and we went up once gain to the HC and ate with some lovely English people whom we had previously met. They are sailors and maybe someday e will hook up with them in Croatia and join them in a bare boat charter flotilla. That would be fun. The islands and water around Split to Dubrovnik are very similar to the island where DH grew up and we sailed a lot when we were first dating and married.

 

We decided to go to early dinner so we could get up and into town before it get too hot in the morning. We were at a table for 10 and met even more really nice people. In a way, being on a ship is sort of like being in high school. You have so many shared experiences with lots of different people and so many wonderful opportunities to make new friends. That feeling of community is especially strong on the island because it is smaller.

 

On our way out of dinner we did a few dances in The Wheelhouse—we love that floor. While we were chatting during a break someone asked us if we were going down to dance to the Big Band in the Universe Lounge. How did we miss that in the Pitter Patter? We went down and danced the whole set, by which time our feet gave up.

 

Following the Ball Room Dance session a singer named Julie James joined the band and gave a performance. Some of you may know her as she has served in many different capacities, including Assistant Cruise Director, performer and entertainer. She is a very talented young woman and can really belt out a song.

 

Tomorrow, we visit San Juan Del Sure, Nicaragua, a new country for us. One of the things we did this afternoon was count the countries we have visited together. By the end of this cruise it will be 40. As soon as we made a list in my iPhone and counted them, we became tempted to try to hit 100. We have several friends who have visited 100 and I am hoping we can live long enough and stay healthy long enough to make it as well.

 

 

Sorry I was so late posting this, but we did not have internet all day long.

 

NEW DOOR = ONE WORD :)

 

Enjoying your LIVE and getting emails from Gloria saying how hot it is. Phew!

[trbarton]

Live from the Island Princess--Panama Canal Eastbound--Day 7, At Sea

 

There sure is a lot of ocean out there. As DH says it’s 70% of the world.

 

The weather today is hotter and more overcast and the humidity is something like 85%. DH just read in his book that the humidity is even higher on the Atlantic side of the canal. Is that true? Can that be possible?

 

The Wake Show questions were really hard this morning, but after puzzling over the trivia question for a half an hour or so, I realized it was a trick question. It made me laugh at myself so I am tempted to tell you the question as long as everybody agrees not to blab the answer if you figure it out. OK, here goes: What one word can you make using all of the letters contained in the words “new door”? The “Where on the Ship” was also pretty tricky but we were lucky enough to just stumble on to I before breakfast. This is the first cruise where we have ever had “Where on the Ship” and we are really liking it. So far we have gotten the right answers to every question and every challenge and have won 4 times. Our prizes are those silly vault dollars which we haven’t used yet. Does anybody ever win at that?

 

Today we had an actual breakfast breakfast, not lunch to break our fast. Today we weren’t quite so pokey. We always like to sit right up on the bow in the Horizon Court and today we were rewarded with two huge schools of dolphins playing in front of the ship. It is always so exciting to spot sea life on a cruise, but this huge mass of dolphins was especially fun. As I am writing this they just made an announcement of another large group of dolphins off our port side. We are currently sailing off the coast of El Salvador, arriving in Nicaragua tomorrow morning.

 

On this cruise we have an actual Stateroom Television Guide and I love it. It is so much easier than trying to figure what’s happening from watching the TV Guide Channel. It’s funny but I never watch TV at home, but on the ship we love watching romance movies.

 

While we were exploring we found a secret room. Well I don’t know how secret it is but we had never noticed before that they have a little P&O museum right behind The Wheelhouse. How could I have missed that after all these cruises or is it new? When you get on the ship be sure to check it out they have lots of old photos, and many different memorabilia, including old menus.

DH plopped himself in the library with a book for a couple of hours, just like a regular cruise guy, while I went up and wash and did my hair. I have a lot of hair so it is a bit of a pain to wash and do it. Fortunately, I can sometimes get away with only having to do it only once a week or so.

 

I snagged DH who was nearly asleep in the Library and we went up once gain to the HC and ate with some lovely English people whom we had previously met. They are sailors and maybe someday e will hook up with them in Croatia and join them in a bare boat charter flotilla. That would be fun. The islands and water around Split to Dubrovnik are very similar to the island where DH grew up and we sailed a lot when we were first dating and married.

 

We decided to go to early dinner so we could get up and into town before it get too hot in the morning. We were at a table for 10 and met even more really nice people. In a way, being on a ship is sort of like being in high school. You have so many shared experiences with lots of different people and so many wonderful opportunities to make new friends. That feeling of community is especially strong on the island because it is smaller.

 

On our way out of dinner we did a few dances in The Wheelhouse—we love that floor. While we were chatting during a break someone asked us if we were going down to dance to the Big Band in the Universe Lounge. How did we miss that in the Pitter Patter? We went down and danced the whole set, by which time our feet gave up.

 

Following the Ball Room Dance session a singer named Julie James joined the band and gave a performance. Some of you may know her as she has served in many different capacities, including Assistant Cruise Director, performer and entertainer. She is a very talented young woman and can really belt out a song.

 

Tomorrow, we visit San Juan Del Sure, Nicaragua, a new country for us. One of the things we did this afternoon was count the countries we have visited together. By the end of this cruise it will be 40. As soon as we made a list in my iPhone and counted them, we became tempted to try to hit 100. We have several friends who have visited 100 and I am hoping we can live long enough and stay healthy long enough to make it as well.

 

 

Sorry I was so late posting this, but we did not have internet all day long.

 

What dinning room is used for Traditional Dinning?

 

Thanks!

 

Tom:)

[Colo Cruiser]

I love that display of P&O items. I have quite a few of the same in my collection, crew hand painted life rings and the melamine trinket dishes with the ships on them. :)

[Kenswing]

I love your relaxed style of cruising.. Thanks for continuing the live postings.. :)