Saturday, August 8, 2009








Thursday 6th August
Our ship arrived at Panama city at about 4.45 this morning. We surfaced about 5.15 awakened by the flashing lights from the pilot. We then stood out on our balcony, as did many others watching daylight arrive before we were escorted into the first lock soon after 7 am. We went and had some breakfast just after we went through the last of the entrance locks. After breaky we went back to bed to catch up on a bit of lost sleep. It truly is quite and experience and an amazing piece of engineering. We sailed through the central big man made lake where the ships traveling from east to west wait to travel on. We have seen one or two crocks, considered a workplace hazard, along the way. They are widening the canal to allow big modern ships to pass each other. At the present time the only places they can pass is in the lakes. We also then waited our turn before being guided into the next set of locks about lunchtime to complete our journey through the canal. There are a couple of large bridges that we go under, across the canal. We are now in the Caribbean Sea heading north to our next port of call, Cartagena, Columbia, which we should reach about 8am in the morning. The weather had been very mild, nowhere near as hot as it usually is or as forecast. It’s usually stifling hot at almost any time of the year. It took approximately 9 hours from when we were joined by the pilot on the Pacific side till when we exited the canal on the Eastern seaboard


After dinner, we went to see the documentary on the building of the Panama Canal. It was commenced by the French in the late 1800’s and abandoned due to deaths from yellow fever, before they knew that mosquitoes were the cause, lack of finance and the difficult terrain. The Americans later took on the project and it was completed on Jan 7th 1914.



Thursday, August 6, 2009

Tuesday 4th August

A bit of excitement late in the afternoon at dinner time. We had just started dinner when the ship slowed down dramatically. Soon after the captain announced that a fishing boat was missing and had been adrift for 48 hours and that we were on the lookout for it off the coast of Costa Rica. About 5 minutes later it’s flare was sighted. It’s motor had broken down and their radio was not working. Our ship came to a stop and sent out the rescue boat. We spent about two hours there, supplied the floundering boat with necessary radio, battery etc so that it could regain contact with it’s fleet which was about 100 miles away. We left when that contact had been made and one of their own fleet was on its way to tow them or repair their engine. They were offered passage on board the Princess but they chose to stay with their vessel. The earlier part of the day was as usual, cards, trivia, etc.

Wednesday 5th August

It would appear that the delay yesterday has altered our place in the cue for the Panama Canal on Thursday. The time keeps changing and we are not really sure what time we will be navigating through the Canal. Last night we went through a storm and today it’s wet, miserable and hot outside. We are about 100 miles off the coast and moving closer as we travel in a south easterly direction. A few large sea birds are keeping pace with us, probably gliding on the slip stream from the boat.

Tuesday 4th August

A bit of excitement late in the afternoon at dinner time. We had just started dinner when the ship slowed down dramatically. Soon after the captain announced that a fishing boat was missing and had been adrift for 48 hours and that we were on the lookout for it off the coast of Costa Rica. About 5 minutes later it’s flare was sighted. It’s motor had broken down and their radio was not working. Our ship came to a stop and sent out the rescue boat. We spent about two hours there, supplied the floundering boat with necessary radio, battery etc so that it could regain contact with it’s fleet which was about 100 miles away. We left when that contact had been made and one of their own fleet was on its way to tow them or repair their engine. They were offered passage on board the Princess but they chose to stay with their vessel. The earlier part of the day was as usual, cards, trivia, etc.

Wednesday 5th August

It would appear that the delay yesterday has altered our place in the cue for the Panama Canal on Thursday. The time keeps changing and we are not really sure what time we will be navigating through the Canal. Last night we went through a storm and today it’s wet, miserable and hot outside. We are about 100 miles off the coast and moving closer as we travel in a south easterly direction. A few large sea birds are keeping pace with us, probably gliding on the slip stream from the boat.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

POSTED
Monday 3rd August
Woke up this morning, another port, another part of Mexico – Huatulco, perhaps better know to us as Santa Cruiz (spelling?). Took a taxi into the main town centre – only a small place. Checked out a church that was suggested to see, did the rounds of the shops – all much the same as the last port. The church was quite interesting, with lots of frescos painted on the walls and ceiling. Went back to the square near the port and had couple of XX Mexican beers to cool off, right near the beach. Did a little shopping then had a couple more beers and a pizza for lunch at the same place we had a couple of drinks earlier. Set sail at 3.00pm. It will be another two sea day before we reach the Panama Canal on Thursday 6th.





Monday, August 3, 2009










Saturday 1st August
What’s the world coming to? We refrained from going to a show last night – checked out the movies under the stars – not our style, then visited one of the lounges to wait for the next lot of musicians but decided to go home (the cabin) instead. The washing machines were free so I did a little laundry instead. Late in the evening is the best time to go to the laundry as there is usually a queue during the day. There was a bit of a punch up in there one day but it’s pretty safe at night. I’m told that those in the scuffle we put off on an earlier port. We’ve spotted a few flying fish, a turtle and there has been a few whales and dolphins seen by other passengers. The pelicans are dark grey or brown – quite different to the ones we see on the east coast of OZ. We’ve been through a bit of a storm today but the weather is now fine and sunny and about 33 degrees and humid with flat seas. We can see the coast and mountains at a distance as we sail south along the Mexican coast.


Sunday 2nd August
Arrived at Acapulco at sunrise today. It’s already very hot outside on the balcony. Had a leisurely breakfast on Lido deck (the top deck No.14) taking in the view, then a few snaps from the outside deck. Went ashore around 10.00am.
A 9 seater tour bus took us and two other couples on a tour. We watched the young men and boys jumping from the cliff top in the bay. They really do take their lives in their hands when they dive into a very small area of deep water. The driver,Jose, a nice fellow, then drove us to the former home of Johnny Weismuller and John Wayne. I n his broken English, I think he told us that a Mexican boy adopted by one of those two now owns the place and runs it as an hotel. The boy now in his senior years was actually there and was pointed out to us. Quite a lot of other stars have visited and of course there photographs adorn the walls. It’s in a beautiful location, lots of stairs though to get around the grounds. Then we went on to a place made famous by the film “Casa Blanca” which is falling into a state of repair. You can almost feel the buzz that would have been part of it’s life many years ago. It’s now just hired out for weddings etc and a few of the room are apparently still used. It has magnificent views of the city, the bay and the port where the ship is berthed. We were dropped off in the Market square a short walk from the pier. We stopped for a short while just inside the Cathedral in the square, where a service was in progress. The speed limit in this part of the city is 15 miles per hour which is not surprising as there is not a straight level road in the area except for along the foreshore. It’s really quite a pretty place if you don’t look too closely. We didn’t see too many beggars and most people seem to have very modern cars and look pretty fit and healthy. Though we didn’t visit it, they have built what the call the new city a little further along the coast, apparently in the old style. Back to the ship, lunch and a nap before exploring the shops in the terminal building. This city has 3.5 million tourist per year. Time to dress for dinner.