My cold kept me from sleeping very well, so I slept in until 9:30. After getting packed and ready to go I checked out of the Vacations Inn and took a taxi to Mom and Dad's hotel. I met with them, and after breakfast (brunch?) spent a couple of hours doing phone calls. Mostly related to TANSTAAFL; paid a bunch of bills on the credit card, and also had a nice chat with Scott. Also called Frankie and talked with her a bit.
The bus to the SS Rotterdam (cruise ship) was a short one; at $10/person I think it would have been a lot cheaper to take a taxi! But, oh well. I was feeling rather poorly by the time we got settled into our cabin, so I took a nap.
Dinner was at 6; it was "informal". Definitely in quotes: you
couldn't wear t-shirts or shorts! I didn't stay for desert, but
put my cold to bed again. By 10 though I was feeling good enough
to spend half an hour on deck watching the boat get under way.
Then I went and caught the last half of Independence Day (for
about the 6th time!)
We slept in until around 10. I wandered around the decks for awhile, watched the shores of Cuba slide by (at a range of about 10 miles) and had brunch. Then I put in a couple of hours on the computer, getting this diary caught up and working on the ISECCo web site.
Dinner was a formal affair, so I had to wear a tie and jacket. *sigh* One of the ships crew dined with us, as well as Blake Taylor and Betty and Ernie.
After dinner I changed and wandered the decks for awhile before settling in the library reading until midnight. Dad was watching a movie when I got back to the cabin, so I stayed up and watched it with him (until 2 am!).
I got up at 8:45, feeling nearly well. I wandered around for a while and then sat and watched the sea. The previous day I'd seen a school of 4" flying fish--I thought. Today I confirmed my impressions as I saw quite a few more…a few of which were 8 or 10" long.
Blake (from the night before) joined me and we chatted for a couple of hours. It turns out he is from Canada (Nova Scotia), and had a turkey farm. He had also worked 25 years as a lumberjack, and had only one arm (lost the other one in an accident with a gun). Quite an interesting character.
Around noon I went and found my folks, and we went to lunch. After lunch we went and talked to the tour director about our Williamstad, Curacao (the Netherland Antillies) stop tomorrow. When we returned to the cabin everyone took a nap; not enough sleep the night before!
That evening after dinner I spent reading in the library.
We got up at 8:30, when we were docking in Williamstad. We missed the entry into the port, but saw the tieing up procedures. After the boat was secured and customs cleared by the ship everyone was allowed to disembark. Mom, Dad and I walked down into town, did a little shopping and saw the oldest synogog in the Western Hemisphere.
We returned to the boat for lunch, after which I took a nap. Dad tried to track down some sail boards, but didn't have any success so I went on a long walk through the town. I returned shortly before dinner. They were having a barbeque out on the deck, so I went to that rather than the formal dinner. After dinner I went to see a movie with Mom and Dad ("Fly Away Home"). I spent the evening reading and watching the boat get under way.
Today was a slow day. It was hot out, there was little breeze because the boat was steaming straight downwind, and so I didn't do much but watch the flying fish and read.
We arrived at the Panama canal at about 7 am. We steamed slowly to the locks, and then attached onto the mules (3 on each side) which towed us into the lock. The gates behind us closed, the water was let in and we rose 28 feet. Then we repeated the process through a second set of locks, and then again through a third set. After that we were in the series of lakes formed by damming up a river. We took most of the day steaming through the canal, and then reversed the process to get let down on the Pacific side of the ocean.
We spent the day at sea. I was fairly industrious, walking 6 miles, studying Russian and reading.
Today we stopped at Puerto Cauldera, Coasta Rica. Mom wanted to see the rain forest so we took a tour through it. Our guides were very knowledgeable, and so it was a good outing. I put in 4.5 miles of walking around the deck (5.5 loops per mile), and 1.5 in the hike through the jungle, so I managed another 6 miles.
Though the weather was a little warmer than it had been (in the high 80's), it felt cooler because the humidity was lower. Which was good for me: I spent most of the day walking around deck for a total of 10 miles. It was formal night again for dinner...bummer. Spend the evening studying Russian.
Santa Cruz. Our first Mexican stop. It is a small town (pop. 3000). We didn't take the tour, just took the tender ashore and wandered around. I went swimming on the beach, which was clogged with some kind of jelly critter...made for an ikky swim. Walked a total of 11 miles for the day.
Acapulco! A big city, which Mom, Dad and I took a tour of. Primarily to see the cliff divers, who dive 130 feet off a cliff into 18 feet of water. Pretty spectacular sight...I wouldn't want to fall that far! The city was an odd mix of lots of money and very poor people. The harbor is a large one, and reasonably well protected from the ocean. Walked 7 miles.
Spent the day at sea. I did a lot of walking, going around the deck for a total of 77 time (14 miles). Spent the evening listening to Bonnie Bach play the harp, while working on the computer. Harp music is very good background music for reading or computer work!
We stopped in Cabo San Lucas and tenders took us ashore. Mom, Dad and I took a tour, the only part of which I found interesting was the glass blowing factory. Cabo San Lucas was, however, one of the nicest stops in Mexico. The town was clean. Very formal night. So after dinner I spent the evening in the room!! Didn't do any walking during the day.
Last day! Spent the day at sea, about 10 miles off the Baja
coast. I walked 18 miles (99 rounds of the deck), which turned out
to be a couple more miles than my bad foot would put up with. So I
was hobbling around most of the evening.
{Next days}