Miami and then home

 

It was now our day to get off the ship.  We were leaving our home of 15 days.  We got up early to go and have breakfast and then waited in our lounge for our number to be called so we could leave.  We disembarked a little late as they had troubles with all our luggage but we were off the ship by 9:45am or so.  We waited for our car rental shuttle to pick us up but had to fight for space with some Americans, and even though we were first in line, they figured they had preference on getting on, so I nicely shouted to my dad (who as arguing with the driver)… “don’t worry Dad, we can be the Canadians and wait until the next shuttle” … we got the next shuttle and waited patiently.  We got to the car rental company and then got upgraded to a Yukon… it still didn’t fit 6 adults and all our luggage properly… oh well… we managed.

We got to our hotel (Marriot Villas at Doral) around 12:30 and got our room.  I got a travel agent rate here and couldn’t believe how beautiful this property was.  We just about didn’t want to leave here.  We got unpacked and right away ate a free lunch that they had set up for the guests and then had 2 for 1 smoothies after.  For dinner I went to the grocery store and bought some salad, a loaf of bread and a chicken.  I also bought ingredients for breaky the next morning.  The rest of our day was just relaxing by the pool and not working hard at all.

Our last day in Miami consisted of me making breakfast for everyone… bacon, eggs, toast and hashbrowns.  I also tried to deep fry my finger, but managed to get it cooled down before it blistered.  After breakfast we drove about 20 minutes for our Coopertown Airboat ride.  I had done my research ahead of time and this company was close and got good reviews.  Everyone seemed to enjoy this trip and we even got to see some Alligators.  After the ride we went to their restaurant and had Alligator meat.

We went back to the hotel to relax for the afternoon and did some swimming and Doug even did some fishing.  For the evening we had done our research and found a Cuban restaurant in Little Havana that we wanted to check out.  We ate way to much here and couldn’t finish all our food.  After dinner Doug went and bought a few cuban cigars and then it was back into the Yukon to explore South Beach a bit.  I loved seeing all the buildings and the yachts.  I think we saw some houses that have been featured in CSI: Miami.  It was exciting to see it all.  We saw the tail end of the sunset on South Beach.

We got back to the hotel around 8pm and packed a bit and then watched a movie.  We all enjoyed The Blind Side.  We should have gotten to bed earlier, but we didn’t.  We were all having too much fun. 

On flight day we got up at 5am and were out of the hotel by 6am.  We made it through security at the airport without any issues (i got the full body scan) and had a great 6 hour flight home.  Even though it was long, we all managed pretty good.  There was a bit of space to spread out and we had books to read or music to listen too.  I think this was one of our better flights even though it was so long. 

We managed to get home around 4ish after a short stop at Costco and a late lunch at Old Country Buffet.  The evening consisted of us unpacking a bit, sorting some laundry and watching some recorded TV.  We were in bed by 9:30pm.

What a great vacation this was.  We had 3 weeks of lots of excitement, relaxing and eating.  Even though Doug was limited a bit, I think it was still one of our better vacations together.  We didn’t get into any major fights and the GPS didn’t cause us too many quarrels.  We had a blast vacationing with my parents.  It is always nice to go on vacation with someone else.  My friends Conny & Eleanor where a lot of fun to vacation with too.  We spent every dinner on the cruise together and we all had some great dinner conversations.   All our tours went really well and I think we all had a great time.  There are always a few stressful times when it comes to embarkation and disembarkation, but all in all, we did well. 

I hope everyone enjoyed the blog posts.  This will help me remember all the fun we had on this first time ever to South America through the Panama Canal.  Here is to many more vacations with my parents.

Ship Life

 

According to our paper work, we have had a total of 7 days at sea on this cruise.   Our ports have included Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarata, Gutemala , Costa Rica, Panama Canal Transit, Colon, Columbia and ending in Miami.  It has been a perfect amount of ports and days at sea.  The days at sea have been a lot of fun and tend to be a lot of the same kind of things. 

 

 

We get up in the morning (usually me first) and I find a place to sit near the back of the ship (quieter there) and slowly the rest of the clan come wandering in.  I start with a danish and coffee and once the rest of the peeps come in I have my egg’s benny and hash (why don’t we have that in Canada) and probably more coffee.  We usually land up staying back there for awhile and then we wander around from there.

 

Usually a lot of our day is spent on deck near the pool.  Some of us go swimming, some just sit on the deck chair and read, and some sleep the day away LOL.  If you don’t get a lounge chair early, you probably won’t get one, unless it is pouring rain and then you can easily get a deck chair outside HA HA HA.

 

 

Lunch is usually at the grill where the hamburgers and hot dogs are good along with some really good salads and fruit.  Afternoon is the same as the morning, with a few fun things in between.  Doug has been going to the talks by a stand up comedian, and I have been going to the scrapbooking sessions to work on my picture pages or do the blog.  The movie selection hasn’t been that great, but I think Doug has gone to a couple of them.  I went to one call the Conspirator but didn’t really like it.

We have made it to all the dinners… and boy have they been good.  Our wait staff has been incredible and our maitre d’ (Dal) has been even better.  Mom has been treated really well with her gluten free requirements.  Early on in the trip we asked about a word on the menu (Succotash) and now everytime he sees us, he says that to us.  We even asked about boxes of plantains that were put on the ship and he told us it was only being used as garnish.  When we showed disappointment in that, he brought us a plate of them for us to have one night.  We all love Plantains and need to learn how to cook them.  By the way, anyone who knows me, knows that I do NOT like banana’s, but Dal said I should try the banana’s foster, and so I did.

Since we are sailing during the rainy season of this area, we have had some amazing rain storms.  As you can see from this picture it can rain here and this day we got a great thunder and lightning storm too.  We were all cheering when the lightning struck and right away there was a huge thunder noise… what a great show this was.

 

 

Evenings usually consist of us going to the show around 9pm (early to get a good seat).  They have had a lot of good comedians which has been nice.  The deaf interpreters have been amazing (early post has a pic of them) and yesterday they got flowers from the ship staff and a very large applause from the audience.  They have been more fun then most of the acts because it is so entertaining to watch them translate the words into hand signs.   Once the comedians figured out what they were doing, then the fun began.   They would say words just to see what the hand sign was for that word.  Turns out “cheeky monkey” was everyone's favourite on board.  These two people have become famous and everyone wants to talk to them.   I gave them my name and hopefully they will request a facebook friend. 

Depending on what is going on after the show, we either do a little something else, or go to bed.  Sometimes we have to get up early the next day, so we have been going to bed early at times.  Tonight will be early again as tomorrow we have to get up early to get off the ship and pick up our rental car. 

We have loved the Millenium and look forward to sailing on Celebrity again.  They have a great quality product and it has been so much more relaxing than Carnival.  I love Carnival though, but it just isn’t as relaxing and low key.   The Captain’s club perks have been great and because we were CruiseCritic memebers, we got a great party and a bridge tour. 

Columbia

 

We were so grateful to have a little later start for this port.  Our ship didn’t arrive until 9am but we had to be off the ship ASAP.  I think we were the first 10 off the ship… yes we are efficient.  Our tour guide company Leeland Miles (Mr. Emerald) was there to meet us and all 20 of us boarded a nicely air conditioned van and headed off on our tour by about 9:15am.

Our first stop was La Popa Monastery (I have the itinerary beside me as there is no way I would remember this on my own).  We toured the Monastery a bit, but I think the highlight of this stop was the view of the city.  As we got off the bus the merchants surrounded us to sell us their stuff.  Our tour guide Anna had a colourful umbrella so we could always see her on the tour.  Doug did a lot of just sitting around since all the walking was a bit tough on him.  After this stop, we drove to the San Felipe Fortress for a picture stop.  We didn’t go in but walked around a bit to take some pictures.  Again the merchants where at the bus ready to sell us their stuff. 

This group was the same group (for the most part) as the other two groups.  It was nice that we all knew each other already and we all got along great.  We had people from South Africa, Australia, Texas, Arkansas and of course us from Canada.  We had great conversations and even a few of the people got into the healthcare debate between the US system and the Canadian system… I personally like the Canadian system that allows it to be free. 

 

So after the Fortress, we were off the Plana Bolivar (Old Town).  Here we drove through a narrow road and got dropped off at the side of the road to do some walking.  Thankfully our guide was with us the whole time though.  We walked quite a bit here and Doug was pooped by the end of it.  We saw the Gold Museum, the Palace of the Inquisition and then we did a stop at the Church of San Pedro Claver.  None of this really interested me much, but I knew this was a great way to see the city and get some culture.  A person needs culture every so often… I think I am good now for awhile HEE  HEE HEE.

For some reason I thought it would be cooler here… I was wrong.  For the third day I sweat so much that I would drink water and not have to go pee right away.  I have never been so soggy in my life, but I didn’t care… I was in South America for my very first time.  I found this to be my favourite port as it was clean, and actually felt really safe. 

Now we were off to the Pierino Gallo Plaza (aka New City).  Here is where you could do your major shopping if you wanted to.  I was going to buy Emerald earrings here but the ones that were affordable didn’t fit into my ear as the post was too big.  Thankfully I thought to try them on in the bus before we left and so I went back to the place and returned them for a full refund.  This is the bonus to buying from reputable business’s… the ability to return the item.  I did buy some Columbian coffee and some Columbian Rum.  I got to taste the rum before I bought it and it is very good.  Hopefully we can share it with friends when we get back.

We were back on board by 1:30 and of course after dropping off our stuff, we were having lunch on the Lido deck.  I had a cheese/bacon burger and Doug had a hot dot.  They have really good burger’s here on board and where the grill is, there are some wonderful salads.  The rest of the afternoon was relaxing on the pool deck and virtually doing nothing.

We are now on the ship for 2 days at sea before we get to Miami on Tuesday.  Once we are in Miami we pick up our rental vehicle, go to our hotel and maybe book an everglades tour for that day. 

Panama Canal Transit & Colon

 

According to our schedule, we were picking up our pilot on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal at 6am and going under the Bridge of Americas at 6:45am.  I set my alarm for 5:30am and gave everyone a wake up call.  I was out on deck 11 about 15 minutes later and got myself a prime spot with lounges and everything.  Because Doug can’t walk too far, I stuck with midship location which worked out very nice.  I got some nice city pictures of Panama City as the sun was coming out.  There are some really cool high rises in Panama City. 

We were scheduled to get to the Miraflores locks at 8am (the first set of locks) and they did not disappoint.  We had some great seats for this.  They did open up the helipad if you wanted to go up front to see it, but it was very busy there and so we stuck to our spot and enjoyed the view from there.  It got really hot, but we slathered ourselves with lotion and wore hats.  What an amazing experience to see the Panama Canal locks.  This history of it is equally as amazing and we heard it a few times from various places.  The night before we watched a documentary about it and then during our transit there was a Panama Canal Narration by an official guide.

The Miraflores locks consists of two locks and then soon after is another one called the Pedro Miguel Locks.  By 11am we were done with the first set of locks and went down to deck 10 and got some breakfast and a few other snacks.  We found a good spot to sit near a window and had a nice view of the Cut (I forgot the official name of that) and Gatun Lake.  We did a bit of walking around to see various views of things.

In between the locks, the spa decided to put their staff on the pool deck and give out neck and foot massages (free)… yes I got a foot massage and it was very nice.

Early afternoon got us to the Gatun Locks(Atlantic Side) and here I decided to go down to deck 4 to see the canal a little closer… now that was an experience… you could touch the side of the Canal if you wanted (we were told not to).  In fact some excitement was when the ship scraped the side of the Canal and then you could see the smoky concrete dust come up (yes I took pictures).  After watching one of the locks like this, I went up to the front and watched it a bit more from there.  I still didn’t go to the helipad area, but I could see it from where I was sitting. 

None of us got burnt, which is a pretty amazing feat if you ask me.  We all got some great pictures of this one of a kind experience.  The weather had been nice the whole time and we got some great views of the Panama Canal.

By 5pm we were through all the locks and were out to the Atlantic Ocean.   We got passed by the Carnival Freedom which had been in the port of Colon that day.  We didn’t go to Colon until the next day because we had to go out 12 miles into the ocean to flush the ships toilet… yes, you read that right… they had to dump our waste and so we spent the evening going very slowly out into the ocean.  They also had a deck party that night because we were going so slowly and not moving much.  They did a fruit buffet and dancing on deck.  We stayed for a bit, but then grabbed a few snacks, visited a bit with Conny and went to bed by 11pm.  We had to get up at 6:15am the next day so we didn’t get much sleep.

Colon – we had to be off the ship by 7:15am so we could meet our tour guide at 7:40am.  All 19 of us were on time and we all piled into our tour bus and our tour guide Rey kept us entertained for the next 6 1/2 hours.   We were very very tired by the end of this tour.

We started out by going to the Gatun Locks and checked out the viewing area.  Along the way we stopped on the side of the road and took some pics of a sloth in a tree.  We were actually on one of the locks for this viewing area.  There was a long set of steps to the area, so Doug and our friend Dennis stayed at the lower area.  It was nice for Doug to have someone staying with him every so often.  After the locks, we crossed over the Canal (via a tiny one way bridge) and went to the Fort San Lorenzo.   This was a long drive through the Rain Forest and we stopped to see some monkeys and also a short hike to see some plants, etc.  the picture is all of us on the side of the road taking pictures of the howler monkey’s in the tree.  For the hike to see the plants, etc,  Doug only walked a ways before stopping and headed back to the air conditioned bus.  My mom went back too as she was getting too hot.  I have never sweat so much in my life.  There was sweat pouring out of every pour in my body.

The fort was interesting… very small but rustic.  There was some good views from there and everyone seemed to enjoy it.  Doug walked out for a bit, but eventually went back to the bus to enjoy the air conditioning.  It was a long tour but that was mostly because of the long drive.  The tour also included water, pop and beer.  Yes, Doug had a beer at 9am in the morning…. and he wasn’t the only one in the bus who did that.

We got back to the port at a decent hour to spend a bit of time shopping.  Doug and I looked around for a few minutes but went back to the ship and rested.  With these long excursions, Doug has to come back to our cabin and put ice on his back to relax it.   By this time we were tired, but still had to go for dinner.   The dinner was great and mom’s veal shank was HUGE… yes we took a picture.  We did go see the juggler comedian but we didn’t manage through the whole show as we both couldn’t keep our eyes open.  We were asleep by 10:15 and the alarm was set for 7:30am the next morning.

The next day would be our first time in South America…. we were excited to go out in Columbia and see the sites…. more blogs to come.