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We spent two days relaxing after our Alaska Air cross country trip in First Class...courtesy of DrKoob and his marvelous airmiles program.
We got to Fort Lauderdale and it was not. It was windy but it was warm. After booking a hotel many months in advance we arrived at the hotel to find that the pool was being repaired..our fist sign of issues. lol.
Feel free to send me anyone I missed or that need correction. :)
There is also a new “Class” of travel. “Aqua” has some perks and their own private section of what used to be part of the main dining room 2nd floor Now walled off its called “Blu” I didn’t make it there.
Here are some shots of Quzine.
The mates took advantage of a price point in the specialty restaurant “Quizine” It’s a recent addition to the ship and along with “Bistro on Five” and some changes to Martini Bar and it's position the biggest changes. Of course the bigest change is the complete new group of cabins which added approximately 250-300 more persons to the guest list. Deck 3 and Deck 11 were affected. I have a pic somewhere of the added cabins' veranda's somewhere if you want it.
The rest of the mates did a tour and it was warm. You can see all the details of the Mates tour on Mike’s great travel site HERE.
and
Here’s a few pics from the secure tourist area at the port and an overview from the ship leaving and one of some Mates on their Trek.
Mike the guru of Tour Guides caught another gem in his honey pot
Here are just a few pics of us. We were able to walk across a lock and visit a control room at the Gatun Locks.The next day I touched the lock that we had walked across…very cool. Click the pictures to get info for each shot. I have placed a few photo’s of the transit here too along with photos of the New Lock build which was to have been completed and hence the timing of this cruise. The Canal is 100 yrs old this year.
For a more detailed picture Trip through Cartagena, Colon and the Canal I once again invite you to visits Mike’s great website/ Click right here
Old Locks : 1,000 Feet by 110 ' wide 42 feet deep
New Locks : 1,400 Feet by 180 ' wide 60 feet deep
There will be more pics on my Cruises & Cruise People Page in due course Click right Here and hit the drop down.
A long pier right off a great beach. Although it could have been cleaned up a bit here were chairs and umbrella’s available and facilities I think were also. Definitely need a Florida Beach Zamboni at this stop. Washed up debris, mostly the small type was piled in many places.
A limited time as usual was spent out in the bright sun. The beaches were dark sand and the surf kept the fist 50 feet or so quite turbid. But the water was great. My partners for the day CarolE and Danny spent much longer out there. They looked crispy at dinner time...
Nice harbour and entry point. Once again I didn’t make any plans here and was going to go looking for a beach. There was a nice beach just “Over there” but across the harbour and the route around the harbour didn’t look too inviting. Very hot and I did pool time on the ship. A very relaxing day. I did walk the port are and its very nice with a visitors building small set up for wifi off a hotspot phone by a couple of “Entrepreneurs” beer $2.50 I think and free wifi. I gave my beer to another Canadian from the ship. A very nice Marina guarded by a Policeman who spoke great English and we chatted for bit. On duty the whole day with no relief.... hiding in the shade of a Banana tree. Didn’t blame him. A very nice restaurant was attached. There was also a rather large area of Local crafts. Way to big for such a small place and most stuff was repeated from shop to shop. There were ladies doing weaving of remarkable blankets etc. however. So the crafts were apparently real.
Another port where I had no plans but to beach it. Visited here just 2 yrs ago with Chris and the gang on the Mariner of the Sea’s so beach it I did. Easy walk through the Port area and down through a market to a great beach that extends all the way into the city. I think there is a bridge or water obstacle along the way but it’s further along and was out of my walking distance on a hot Mexican beach. I checked out a few of the hotels along the way. All had a fee for day use of their pools and some include drinks. $20 bucks and Up to & 90. Lower price for drinks and/or food.of course. Great Pacific coast beach. Lots of tourists and most appeared to be from Latin America.
Sail away from here is rather pretty. Oh and there is a Walmart right across the street.
If you dock on the north side of the Harbour like we did it is quite a hike (for most mature people in the heat 😇) to the market and then the beach on the south side. X did run a shuttle and taxi’s were available right off the ship. The shuttle was not advertised or even signed. There is an exit from the controlled zone right on the North East corner of the harbour not far from the ship. Outside the gate is a 4 lane busy road.
Our only Tender Port. Its really not an issue unless the sea’s are a bit choppy and then it can get interesting when loading and unloading. X has pretty well got this process under control but things do happen sometimes. I believe also that the max wave height/weather that they allow tendering to go ahead is much lower than in times past.
A great port to walk about. Downtown is reachable by a promenade along the harbour. The usual stores of a Mexican Port plus bars and restaurants. Glass bottom boat tours available for $10.00 if you wait long enough and bargain a bit.
Having been here a number of times I once again just “Went to Town” with Mike and we explored a bit. The damage from the recent hurricane was still obvious in a few places but almost everything else in the core of the town was up and running without visual affects.
Lands End is a remarkable sight. Always try to get a few pictures of it and the area. There is a nice beach to the east of Cabo and you can walk or take a water taxi. The walk is through the town and around and through several blocks. I’ve yet to do that myself.
From here we sail to: Our Last Port and disembarkation in San Diego
We landed early in lots of time and because of our previous learning process here related and left around 930 near the end of the mess. San Diego is not a great spot to leave a ship. Well get off is what I mean San Diego itself is a great City.
We rented a car and went to Palm Springs to relax and allow Jim to catch up with his Dad. I love Palm Springs.
Two days later arrived back in Seattle and drove home in the cold damp rain to Chilliwack. 👎
Here’s a bit of a collection of some of the good friends and others that I met along the way on this solo Journey. Some deserve big shots and comments some don’t. lol As usual with the gallery click on a pic to make it bigger.
THE END