December 2018 Cruise thru Panama Canal

12-12-2018 (Wednesday) At Sea.  Attended talk on The History of the Panama Canal and two movies: "A Man, A Plan, A Canal." and "American Experience: Panama Canal".  Otherwise, just hung out and ate!

12-10-2018 (Monday) in Corinto, Nicaragua.  Excursions required travel so we opted out of any.  Corinto was a decent sized town so we walked around awhile then hired a bicycle taxi driver (Alex) for a tour of the town. He took us around the town and to an internet café where internet access was free with purchase - the manager entered the password into our phones!  We bought some smoothies which tasted good.  Didn't get the temperature reading but it was hot and humid.  Another dress-up night for Gala night in the main dining room.

12-9-2018 (Sunday) in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala (9:00 am to 7:00 pm).  All of the excursions were in Antigua (1 1/2 to 2 hours away); there were none we felt worth traveling that far for.  Only a small market and Jade Museum (the big one is in Antigua).  Jenny did get a couple of sets of Jade jewelry (necklace & earrings).  After shopping, we returned to the ship and pretty much "chilled" until supper.  We played cards with Dave & Deb after supper until bedtime.

Sea day.  Had breakfast with Dave & Deb then to the main stage for Tails of Glory presentation (origin & evolution of neo-tropical mammals) by naturalist Eddie.  He does present the evolutionary process but most was just about mammals of Central America.  Dave & Deb then joined us for EXC talk by Jude (she's from Birmingham): Make the Most of Your Visit to Corinto and Puntarenas.  Jenny is still not well so after the talk, we went back to the cabin so she could rest.  After dinner in the main dining room, we hung out awhile then Jenny took some Nyquil (Deb shared hers) and went to bed.  I went to the evening show, "Variations".  It was okay but not really "my cup of tea".

Shore day at Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  David & Debra Droste, Jenny and I met up with Marianna, the ship's jewelry "guru"; she took a group to Diamonds International on the "Malecon" (Spanish for "pier" but it's actually a boardwalk) (hey, it was free transportation!).  When we told the salesperson how much and what we bought on the last cruise (April), he realized he probably would not sell us anything but he kept trying. Because we were VIP customers, he did give us some water.  We walked along the Malecon, Jenny bought some pure vanilla ($8/liter), and coffee.  I called Monica and Angela (T-Mobile has free calling from Mexico).  We then got a cab to WalMart, next door to Sam's!  One big thing I noticed, other than everything being in Spanish, was access to the cash registers - one single line that fed to the registers.  We got more medicine for Jenny to hopefully relieve the symptoms of her cough/sore throat.  We then returned to the sh...

12-05-2018 (Wednesday) Sea Day Jenny is still battling a sore throat, cough, and hoarseness.  She used all of her throat lozenges; all she has left are cough drops - they help a little.  Mostly did a lot of exploring, walking, and resting.  We did attend a presentation on Huatulco, Mexico, thus the pictures.

12-18-2018 (Tuesday) Fort Lauderdale Florida. Back to reality; the days of being pampered by a great cabin steward (Sahal), Lido deck server (Ittata), Lido deck speciality chef (Neil) and main dining room servers (Herman & Agust) are over!  All went smoothly with debarkation, transfer to the Ft Lauderdale Airport and through check-in at the airport.  I did have an open bottle of water that I forgot to empty before going through the TSA checkpoint so they took it.  We had about a three hour wait for our flight so Jenny got in some walking.  Delta checked our second carry-on to Birmingham for free to lighten the load for the overhead compartments. On the way home, this side of Birmingham, we had Town Car issues!  The petcock to drain the radiator blew out.  We were on the Interstate but luckily near an exit where we found an O'Reilly Auto Parts store.  They did not have the part we needed, nor did any other in the area; all the radiator repair sh...

12-17-2018 (Monday) Key West Florida 8:00am - 4:30pm. No excursions, just lots of walking!  Went to the Southernmost point (allegedly!) in the United States.  Got frozen chocolate covered key lime pie at Kermit's Key Lime Shoppe.  Spent about five hours walking around the city then back to the ship for a late lunch.  Began packing.  We have to have the larger bags packed and out by midnight; we'll pick them up in the Customs area when we get off tomorrow.  I did buy another carry-on; it was small enough to comply with tight Delta baggage rules and was cheap but good quality.  To make things go smoother through customs tomorrow, immigration agents came aboard this morning and checked our passports.

12-16-2018 (Sunday) Day at Sea. Calm seas - quite different from yesterday!  Nothing going on on the ship of interest to us.  I did go to a Close Up Magic show by Ran D Shine.  After his performance, had a picture taken with him and asked him if he knows our friend Matt Adams. He does and is friends with him on Facebook!  Gala night in the main dining room.  Played dominoes afterwards then to our cabin.

12-15-2018 (Saturday) Day at Sea. Rough seas so the open deck around the ship (deck 3) is closed.  Jenny and I are coughing! Jenny is also experiencing seasickness. Dave and I attended a presentation about the ship's bridge and engines.  Chilled the rest of the afternoon - rough seas all day.  After dinner in the main dining room, we went to the Main Stage for a performance by magician Ran D Shine, 2016 Magician of the Year. He's great! With Ittaya

12-14-2018 (Friday) Cartagena, Columbia. 12:00 pm - 5:30 pm Excursion: Cartagena City Highlights (4 hours). The city tour took us through Fort San Felipe and Old Town.  Old town is also the walled city to protect it from enemy attacks long ago.  Also visited the Church of San Pedro Claver. Jenny bought an emerald ring.  After the tour, we went to the terminal shopping area and aviary; saw birds, peacocks, and a bunch of parrots (or macaws). Took pics of one on our arms.  We just did not have enough time in the city - a lot more to see but not enough time to see it.  Back on board, supper, several games of Mexican Train Dominos, then bed.

12-13-2018 (Thursday) Panama Canal.  Went through the Panama Canal - quite an experience! With waiting our turn, going through locks on the Pacific side, waiting our turn, then going through locks on the Atlantic side, it took from sunset to sundown (about 9-10 hours).