South America Cruise Day 3 A Day in Cabo

     The weather has turned warm and the sun was shinning this morning. We are on the port side of the ship and since we are heading south it means that we have the land mass to the east of us. I tried to get a sunrise photo this morning but we had turned due east as we approached Cabo. The sun was directly ahead of the ship but a cloud bank covered the sunrise until for about 30 minutes. No photo there. The morning program of activities was very light with the 4 things that we were interested in all running concurrently. I hope that in the future there is better spacing of activities.

The Arch

     The day was very warm with just some high clouds in the blue sky. As we approached Cabo we rounded the tip of southern California. The arch and all the outliers (rocks in the water) made for some good photo taking. The sun was in the right place as well. We arrived about an hour early and had to wait before we headed ashore. This is a tender port and it took awhile to get ashore as a “wandered” as they take all the scheduled tours first.

Golden Princess At Anchor

      The visit to Cabo was quite pleasant. It has changed plenty since we were here 11 years ago. The marina seemed to be much bigger than we remembered. We followed the marina around and then headed down the beach. The sand is quite different from what we see in Florida. You sank into it as you took a step. It did not support like the fine sands at Clearwater. After a very nice walk we arrived at the bar that we were in years ago.

Return To The Bar

A Safe New Bar - Only One

     The last time we were there we arrived in the morning and it was pretty calm. This time it was mid afternoon and the party had started. We watched the beer guzzling contest which was followed by a conga line. Anyone who got in the line got a free shot. After we left they had a shake your booty contest. By then we had wandered back to the main part of the city and found a nice quiet bar right on the marina. Having walked a bit from the tender port, this bar was not packed with the people from the ship. We did have a Margarita (one only – no mescal this time – we asked!) and some tortilla chips. It was a pleasant afternoon. More wandering followed as we made our back to the tender area. It was packed as a Holland America ship has also arrived while we were in port.

Sunset Over The Rocks

We sailed after sunset. The sky was really beautiful with the reds being very vivid. We watched a tango demo in the Atrium before dinner. The couple were the same that were on the ship last January.     

      They are very good and will be teaching tango during this cruise again. Dinner was pleasant again. We only had 6 at the table. There is still 2 either missing from the table. Usually tables of 8 are all subscribed. We tried to go to the late show but cut out early. It seems that by the end of the evening we are tired. I wonder why!

South America Cruise Dec 2014 Day 2

     Talk about your lazy day at sea! After the long tiring day yesterday needless to say we slept in today. I think that the entire ship did the same. We also had a time change (advance) last night as

Smooth Sailing

well. By the time we were out and ready for breakfast, it was pushing 9:30. We simply went to the International Cafe, the small food service in the Atrium! We sat with a couple from Thunder Bay who indicated that they we on their way to Machu Pichu as well. They winter in Arizona. So far just about everyone we talked to is going. We think nobody will be left on the ship!

    There was a port lecture on Cabo that we attended as well. He was a great speaker but his slide presentation could have used a bit of improvement. His information was very through but he talked for 20 minutes then showed photos of what he talked about. From a presentation point of view not the best. In addition some of his ocean shots were tilted! The ocean was apparently draining away! Shopping followed for us. I did find a new Citizen watch. I have been looking for a dress watch for some time and we found something that I liked. Apparently now I am getting a Christmas present! We managed 2 discounts on it which of course fits my mold! Judy also did some shopping as well.

Atrium Decorations

   We had lunch in the dining room where we sat with 2 couples. They are going to Machu Pichu as well. Either we have incredible luck finding everybody going to the ruins or everybody on the ship is going. The day was warm and very sunny so we took the opportunity to walk the deck for 30 minutes. We missed the ballroom lesson this morning but went line dancing for 40 minutes. It was packed and the staff did 5 dances. She really kept the class moving. Here are the steps, practice, play the music. The rest of the short afternoon was spent relaxing and getting ready for the first formal night tonight.

     Tonight was the first of the formal nights – the Captain's welcome aboard party. We did spend a bit of time just relaxing and waiting for our chocolate covered strawberries which are part of our Elite package. We waited until an hour after they were suppose to be delivered. We needed to call they to get them delivered. Someone messed up somewhere.

James Bond And Friend

     We had our formal pictures taken as we waited for the Captain to speak. His Italian was great but English limited. He said all the ok words but not much else. At dinner another couple did show up. Lil is recently retired and has a interesting way about her. After that we opted to go to the improve comedian from Second City in Toronto. He set situations and then it went from there. It was a bit like whose line is it. In any case he was looking for a James Bond type (see the photo of Judy and I) and since we were seated near the front, he asked me to join him on stage. For whatever reason, I did.

    The scene was James returning a bra to a store. The improve entailed starting everything that was said with the next letter of the alphabet. He said something that started with I, I answer with B, etc. We made it all the way to Zed! He did say that most people can't get through the skit but it was not that hard. I just concentrated on the next letter and ignored what he said. He never said that it needed to make sense!

   

Oh when we returned to our cabin we found another plate of berries in our room. Cabo tomorrow!

From Toronto To The Golden Princess

If has been a bit of mad dash since yesterday. Before we left we managed a line dance class where we knew some things and plenty that we could not remember very well. Then it we a 4 hour drive to Toronto where we stayed before boarding the flight to Los Angeles early this morning. The drive was difficult. Darkness and a steady rain/snow mix made for a a tiring drive.

Waiting In Toronto

The Toronto airport experience was actually quite pleasant. Check in was quick- we were among the first there. The U.S. Customs was a breeze. They now have automated check in where you make your declarations on a touch screen. It checks your passport and then spits out your declaration. We took that to the agent and were finished within about 10 minutes.

The direct flight to LA. was 5 hr 38 minutes. The day was bright and sunny. The plane had a bit of leg room for a change. In typical Air Canada fashion it was classed as a domestic flight. That means that we had 1 drink of juice/coffee, etc. And that was it except for the occasional glass of water.

   We arrived around 10:30 and picked up our luggage. The plane was only half full so that was quick . Out the exit the Princess rep was waiting for us and directed us to our luggage. We were among the first to arrive and very soon after the bus to the port arrived. They had just started boarding as we arrived. We were on the Golden shortly. We had been upgraded to a lower deck and bigger balcony (deluxe?)cabin. This is the first time in many cruises that we are in the front part of the ship. It is a long walk to the buffet for a snack.

    The first thing we did was head for the food. After the long flight and early rising we needed to eat, something of a regular routine on the first day. We knew where it was. After a walk around the ship we waited for our luggage to arrive. That was stored quickly just in time for the safety demo followed by the going away party held in the rain and in the dark. The band was typically loud but we could do some of our line dance steps. They danced the electric slide but we managed Move Like Jagger, a cha and even Little Rumba.

Leaving In The Rain!

    They have the cocktails and Hors d'oeuvers on deck 17 (Skywalkers) for elite passengers and we did stop by there for some guacamole and tortilla chip. We meet a nice couple there and found out that they are booked for Machu Picho. Then more wandering until dinner at 8. The dinning room was “empty” which seems to be typical of first nights. Our table of 8 only had the 4 of us at it. The other couple is from LA. They travelled about 30 minutes to the port! Later we came across the couple that we met in the bar at Skywalkers. They still had not gone to dinner. We found them at another bar. Love those New Zealanders!

We did go to the welcome show but we both fell asleep. By the time we were back to our cabin, we had been up for about 21 hours straight. No wonder sleep came quickly!

Leaving For LA

  South America – Here we go again! We arrived back in Canada long enough to pack and be ready to go to Los Angeles to board the Golden Princess for our cruise to Santiago Chile. We fly from Toronto to LA tomorrow. The cruise starts on Wednesday 3 December.

Golden Princess

We were on the Golden last January when we sailed from Santiago around the southern cape and then to Buonos Aires. This will be the second leg of sailing around South America! We picked this cruise because of the 2 day stop in Lima Peru and the chance to go to Machu Pichu. That will surely be the highlight of this trip. We will be offloaded for 3 days to do this “excursion”. It is a limited excursions but we were able to get space on it. Soon after we booked, the web site said wait listed only! More about that in the future.

Our Sailing December 2014

  The Golden has the International Cafe - the little food bar in the atrium - which is where we like to gather for small meals . For some reason we did not pack as in the past. Our suitcases seem to be half empty. Perhaps it is because we are going to a warm area. Crossing the equator will be something we have not done by ship in the past. Packing for a land portion of this cruise sea trip was different.  As the maps show we start in LA. The complete itinerary is shown on the right. As you can see we have plenty of sea days with very few ports.

Day by Day

     After this trip we will be around 270 days plus on Princess (stuck in a rut?) but now that we attained Elite status we can hardly pass up the perks.  The mini bar and free laundry are just a few of the things that go along with the staying with one line. It will be interesting to see if this cruise is filled with Elite members as some of our cruises have been in the past.

        We have booked 2 shore excursions. The Machu Pichu is the big one but we have booked one to an active volcano in Costa Rica. The other stops, including Cabo will simply be a walk around.

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