We were up before the sun to watch our approach to the Gatun Locks. Transiting the Panama Canal is always exciting regardless of how many times I have done it before and always worth getting up a little early to watch our approach. We went to the observation platform...
Today would be a short day in Cartagena, Columbia. We would arrive pier side at 7 am and the all aboard was 12:30.  We didn’t sign up for any shore excursions but decided to explore something other than the typical tourist areas. As normal we started our day with a...
Another lazy day at sea as we continue south toward Cartagena. There is a little more deck motion than yesterday, but nothing close to what we experienced while crossing the Atlantic last week. I spent the morning in the cabin straightening up and reading. Judy headed...
Smooth seas and clear skies greeted us this morning as we started our first sea day on our Panama Canal cruise. Many of the changes of returning to a normal cruise from a Grand Voyage are not obvious until you start to look for something at a particular time or place...
Today would be our first time at Half Moon Cay, or for that matter, any of the many cruise ship private islands in the Caribbean. Since we live on the West Coast we prefer to go to Hawaii instead of the Caribbean since it is about the same distance for us and we can...
We arrived in Fort Lauderdale before the sun was up. Disembarkation was scheduled to start around 7AM and I was curious to see the first few people who were in the express disembarkation line which means they have to lug all their own stuff on the ship. There were...
Today is the final day of our Grand World Cruise and it has exceeded all my expectations. We will be continuing on thru the Panama Canal and disembark in our home town of San Diego. We have 16 days to decompress as we enjoy what used to be a long cruise, but now seems...
Today was the last day for Good Morning Amsterdam. Event Manager Mark joined Cruise Director Gene and Culinary Arts Center Host Donna for a reflective discussion of the previous 114 days. For future cruisers, I highly recommend putting Good Morning Amsterdam on your...
Island Magic was the guest on Good Morning Amsterdam this morning. They are the steel drum band that wowed the crowd the other evening. They got their start playing calypso music by the pool on cruise ships in the Caribbean. They wanted to move off the pool deck and...
Good Morning Amsterdam was canceled this morning due to a crew drill. This gave me time to check out one of the morning exercise/dance classes led by one of the passengers, Linda, who has also been our tablemate and friend for the past 4 months. Her class was held in...