Robin & Karen Living the Dream: Week 1 of our Panama Canal cruise 2016

We began our adventure on February 18, 2016, flying to Los Angeles via Air Canada, then heading directly onto our ship, Island Princess for our 15 night cruise. We were greeted at our door by balloons & a Happy Anniversary sign (we are celebrating our 40th this year). Cabin A608, deck 12 - cozy room, king bed, balcony & a tiny little shower. Left home at 3:30 AM & onboard by 1:30 PM, & off to explore the ship from deck 5 to 16. Buffet lunch on deck 14 & dinner on deck 5 in the Bordeaux dining room. Let the fun begin!

looking down from our balcony

The next 4 days were spent at sea, following the coastline of Baja California, Mexico - we saw whales breaching and many sea birds. We were invited to a fancy wine tasting, compliments of AMA/AAA, for the folks that had booked through them. We watched Panama Canal documentaries on the Movies Under the Stars, complete with popcorn & pillows and I attended a Shopping Spotlight show, designed to get everyone excited about the duty free shopping soon to be available. A lot of time & paper was spent advertising shopping onboard & in Aruba & Cartegena, mainly for diamonds & the like - not in my budget or my interest. We attended the first of 3 formal attire dining nights, suits (or tuxedos!) & fancy dresses, very posh! We left winter behind, by day 2 we were up to 25C & it kept getting hotter. We were lucky to spot a pod of killer whales, bat rays, a large group of dolphins circling a churning mass of fish & several turtles.

killer whales

On Feb. 23 we docked in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala, 28C at 8:30AM. We boarded our bus for an hour long bus ride thru sugar cane fields & up into the mountains, heading for our volcano hike. Guatemala is home to 33 volcanoes and Pacaya Volcano is still considered active. We arrived in the small town part ways up Pacaya & were greeted by crowds of young kids waiting to rent us walking sticks for $1. We headed up following our guide & were huffing & puffing in a very short time. The trail was steep, rocky, then loose dirt changing to lava pebbles & rocks as we neared the end. Many folks opted for the donkey "taxis" that followed us up. We walked for about 80 minutes, one of the most strenuous things either of us has done! We arrived to a strange landscape, moonlike - lava hills & valleys, huge piles of hardened lava, clouds swirling around us obscuring the peak. Time to catch our breath, wander about & take photos before a quicker trip down.The kids were waiting for us, to reclaim their sticks & to try to con us out of another dollar or two. We can now say that we have climbed a volcano, but not something we plan to repeat! We had a bit of time to visit the craft market at the pier, bought a colorful table runner, a Tshirt for Robin, a Guatemalan jade necklace and still had time for local Gallo beer. Then back on the ship to scrub our filthy legs & shoes.

note the red faces!

Another sea day, took in a presentation on Ships, Then & Now and a destination lecture on Costa Rica. There was no shortage of things to do - hot tub, pool, walking the decks, lectures, movies indoor & out, musical entertainment in one of the many lounges and the multi story atrium. Oh & shopping of course! We dined most nights in the dining room, always with a different group of people - food was amazing & the company generally good (there are a few strange folks out there though). We were in the younger demographic on the ship, saw only a handful of under 20's, most were 65-95. Mainly Americans, a good number of Canucks with a few others for diversity.

the multi story atrium!

Feb. 25, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, 33C & humid! Our excursion choice here was an aerial tram ride & a Tarcoles River boat trip & lunch. A one hour elevated tram ride up into the tree tops - hoped to spot monkeys or a sloth, but no luck. We did see waterfalls, birds, butterflies, thick jungle, huge trees & vines. After an excellent lunch, including traditional rice & beans, we had a guided walk thru the jungle, seeing a variety of birds & iguanas. A short bus ride took us to the Tarcoles river for our Jungle Crocodile Safari, a 2 hr. boat trip where we saw a spectacular variety of birds, lizards & crocodiles. We were given a photo guide for the birds, we spotted 30 varieties, including some scarlet macaws. Of course I took a lot of pictures! On our return to the ship we took in a production show, Motor City, performed by the ship's singers & dancers. A great way to end the day!

purple gallinule

scarlet macaw

anhinga

pelicans

Another sea day, another 10 laps around the ship - 1 lap = 650 steps, 10 laps = 3 miles. More hot tubbing & sun lounging, working on the tan, took in a destination lecture on Cartegena & Aruba. Saw dolphins & turtles off the balcony & starting to see ships - it has been pretty lonely in our part of the ocean until today. Watched The Martian, on the deck, under the stars, but so windy you could barely hear it. The sea has been pretty calm, today it is "moderate" with waves 4-7.5 ft. You can usually feel movement, not really bothersome, more noticeable today. We came the closest to the equator this evening, at 6 degrees. north.
We have been taking the stairs everywhere since arriving - one flight up to the buffet, 7 flights down to the dining room on deck 5, shops & theatre on deck 7. A walk to & from breakfast in the buffet is 500 steps! - we were hoping the walking would balance out the ridiculous amount of food that we were eating!