Monday May 2nd. 2011

The final post…..

We were up at 6.30am. I don't do mornings very well but it was necessary and we were off the ship by 8.30am. Claimed our luggage and found the bus taking us to the airport, the driver loaded and unloaded the bags reminding us tips would be appreciated :) Off loaded at Ft. Lauderdale airport and though we have wheeled luggage, the sky cap had grabbed our bags and put them on this dolly…then took them to the Air Canada gate. I'm throwing dollar bills around like their going out of style but everyone was happy :)

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Now we join the conga line to print our boarding passes then joined the next conga line to check our luggage in. Our two bag trip worked fine going BUT with Dorothy and her shopping expeditions, one bag was over weight by 10lbs. This cost us $75 which is $50 more than if we'd taken our usual three bags. Well another lesson learned.

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Now it's time to go through USA homeland security, off with jackets, shoes, everything in pants pockets, I wait till the guy says step forward please into the scanner and assume the position. Hmmmm we are going to have to pat you down sir, no problem sir says I. What's this he says, I lift my shirt and show him my braces/suspenders. Fine sir he says, pat, pat, pat,…Thank you sir, you can go, he got no where near my ostomy appliance?????? Have these guys ever caught anyone. I mean this machine shows "everything"??? How safe are we really!!!

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Any way, we're here waiting for  our flight to Toronto and then on to Calgary, we'll be in our own beds tonight " Ahhhhhhhhhh"

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The end.

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Ton

Saturday April 30th 2011

Okay, one final post then.

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It was frustrating not being able to get the blog off but finally this morning it started working again :) We are well on our way to Florida now, the weather is perfect and we are enjoying our last two sea days. After 30 some days of dining on the various gastronomical creations of the master chef, it will good to get home to simple food.

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Tonight is the Captains farewell dinner, 8 of us have decided to pass on it, and go up top and enjoy a dinner together. It will no doubt be a lot of fun. Dorothy is at the hairdressers getting a cut as the heat and humidity have really made her hair grow. It's made mine grow too but I'll wait till I get home, I don't have enough hair to pay their prices.

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Soooo, that's about all folks. Again thank you for following, I appreciate it and your comments. I hope Calgary has finished with snow and will welcome us home with more seasonal weather.

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Bye bye from the final voyage of the Royal Princess, soon to become P&O Adonia

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Tony

Saturday April 30th 2011

Okay, one final post then.

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It was frustrating not being able to get the blog off but finally this morning it started working again :) We are well on our way to Florida now, the weather is perfect and we are enjoying our last two sea days. After 30 some days of dining on the various gastronomical creations of the master chef, it will good to get home to simple food.

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Tonight is the Captains farewell dinner, 8 of us have decided to pass on it, and go up top and enjoy a dinner together. It will no doubt be a lot of fun. Dorothy is at the hairdressers getting a cut as the heat and humidity have really made her hair grow. It's made mine grow too but I'll wait till I get home, I don't have enough hair to pay their prices.

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Soooo, that's about all folks. Again thank you for following, I appreciate it and your comments. I hope Calgary has finished with snow and will welcome us home with more seasonal weather.

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Bye bye from the final voyage of the Royal Princess, soon to become P&O Adonia

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Tony

Wednesday April 27th. 2011

Wednesday April 27th. 2011

Greetings land lubbers,

It's hard to believe that we have only one more port of call to go, then a North Easterly course will be set to bring us home. The joy of  the longer cruise for me is, it's easier to adjust to what has to be, and like all good things must come to an end.

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It doesn't hurt to already have another cruise booked either, and so although it will be difficult to say goodbye to new found friends, the blow is softened knowing we have a HAL Grand cruise to look forward to, come September.

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But I digress, we've barely left San Blas, home of the Kuna Indians, where women are "boss" and take care of the purse strings, where the local brew distilled from sugar cane is freely swigged by the whole village, kids n all. Where on the surface things appear to be primitive but peek behind the veneer and you'll see big screen TV's and all mod cons. And who knows, perhaps on the mainland a Mercedes and condominium await!

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It was very still when we arrived at our anchorage this morning, the kind of still that conjures up images of lazing away in hammocks, too hot and humid to move, or don much more than a pair of cut off's…In days of sail, these were the "doldrums" not a breath of wind to ripple a sail, too hot to think of anything cept, finding a spot of shade and waiting for things to happen.

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We didn't go ashore, the early tenders were being boarded eagerly by those who just had to check things out, and get their feet on mother earth. It was great to have the ship to ourselves along with others who'd visited here on more than one occasion. Soon the dug out canoes arrived with youngsters crying out for "money money money" They seemed to be less in numbers than  in years past, then I learned that nowadays days ships discourage the throwing of coins over the side for the locals to dive for. It used to be a big part of calling in San Blas but alas no more.

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Speaking with fellow pax, things were much the same here as in past decades, $s required to take picture of lady with monkey, boy with parrot or girl with iguana, etc. etc. etc. Cold beer was readily available, plus the embroidery that the Kuna women are so famous for. Other than that, it was the quaintness of the place which if you've not seen before is well worth a look. Pax struggled back on board looking bedraggled and wilted from their time ashore and showers were the order of the day.

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By early afternoon we were on our way and headed for Limon, Costa Rica our final POC. We have a tour booked there with Jennie & some of our CC friends tomorrow morning. The forward motion of the ship causes air to move and it feels good sticking my head over the rail letting my face feel it. Some thrive in this climate, we must have lived too long in the Great White North or something, I find it much easier to warm up than to cool down…

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Dorothy has gone with Volker and Jo to see tonight's show, I'm enjoying the quiet and coolness of our cabin. The clocks go back an hour to Mountain time tonight but we need to be up early for our tour in the morning so the hour gained will come in handy.

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I'm going on the balcony to soak up some moon shine, (no not the drink) but moon and stars, I like the night sky where there's no city lights to spoil the effect and what better place to experience it than aboard a ship upon the sea.!

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Buena notte.

Tony

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Sorry but after 15 minutes of watching the satellite icon go round and around using up minutes with nothing to show for it, I logged off and will include this with Thursday's posting :)

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THURSDAY APRIL 28th. 2011.

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We were up before the alarm this morning and after a quick breakfast went ashore to meet Oscar, our tour guide for the day. Only Jennie, Peter, Dorothy and I were going on this trip, Bruce stayed aboard with Cathi, who was not feeling too well.

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It was hot and sticky, not a breath of air, and with "natural" air conditioning it was fine as long as the van was moving. As soon as it stopped we were drenched. After showing us the down town area, it was off to look at the variety of fruit growing in and around Limon. Papaya, mangos, coconuts, bananas, pineapples, cocoa beans and  cashew nuts to name some of them.

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We saw a dog with 14 pups, and a pet sloth, before boarding a motorized punt for a lazy cruise down a canal where we observed sloth's, bats, and many colorful birds along the banks, but no crocodiles. We were now knackered and couldn't wait to get back to the comfort of the ship. Dorothy wanted to shop, I wanted a shower so we went our separate ways. I've now had two showers but still feel  hot and bothered, the Sloth has it right in my book, "why move if you don't have to" and if you do, do it .. S L O W L Y !

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Ohhhh, that was a lovely snooze and though I need another shower I feel human again. I'll not venture out now until we move away from the quay, breezes are hard to come by today. Dorothy was not impressed with the local merchandise, and came back to the ship with most of  the money she'd taken ashore :)

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At 5.30pm it's all aboard, at 6.00pm we sail, setting a North, North Easterly course for the 1296 nautical mile voyage to our final destination, Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale and the end of another fabulous cruise.

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I hope you've enjoyed tagging along, I'm not sure how much more I'll be blogging.

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Best wishes to everyone.

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Tony

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My apologies but there's been satellite problems for the past few days, let's see if I can get this away now...

Tuesday April 26th. 2011

Good afternoon,

We were awakened at 6.00am by the breakfast steward, it had been a short night and I did not want to get out of bed but out I got anyway. It was hot, humid and overcast,  we were surrounded by merchant shipping and creeping toward  the approaches to the canal, with the "Bridge of the Americas" connecting the Continents of North & South America looming just ahead.

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At about 8.30am we arrived at the Miraflores locks, taking about an hour to wend our way through them into Miraflores lake. Next we arrived at the Pedro Miguel locks at around 10.00am and in just over a half hour had passed through them, then after negotiating the Culebra Cut, entered Gatun Lake. After a quick lunch up at the buffet, we were back on the Balcony in time to see the Gatun locks  come into sight. At about 2.00pm we lined up next to a huge container ship, the "Liverpool Express" and preceded her into the first of the three locks  to begin lowering us  into the Caribbean Sea. As we looked back it was strange to see this huge ship floating and towering above us.

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We are now through the lock system and heading for Colon where we are scheduled to arrive at 5.30pm for a four hour visit. On this side there is another flotilla of shipping waiting their turn to pass through the lock system on their way to the Pacific Ocean.

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We are not sure what awaits us at Colon, not having called there before but will go ashore, look around and then probably have an early night. Today has been quite lazy but with the heat and humidity, we feel exhausted.

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5.25pm. We are nudging into our birth at Colon, one side is busy with container shipping loading and unloading. Where we appear to be docking is very pleasant with sailing boats from all over the globe and tidy looking apartment buildings, all very tropical looking. It will be interesting to find out the reason for our call here, if and when I find out, I'll be sure to let you all know. I see a quaint street of multi colored buildings with red tiled roofs, a church, pods of palm trees, a Radisson hotel, all just a chip shot from our balcony. lots of flowers with people strolling, I really like the look of this place.,

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As soon as we were docked an ambulance arrived and EMS people boarded, it took a while before a man was taken off, we recognized him as a very emaciated person we'd seen from time to time and wondered if he had some sort of non curable disease! I'm not sure if I'd want to be hospitalized in Panama but when one has no choice???? I also wonder if he had insurance???

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We did get ashore, but apart from some casinos, bars, restaurants and touristy trinket stores, "nada". The air was hot, heavy and damp, it took all my strength just to walk the few blocks along the pier. It looked far nicer from the ship. We mooched around for about a half hour, then in a rare moment of "Dorothy not finding a single thing to buy" we decided to get back to the cool of the ship…Too late for the dining room and not really feeling hungry we opted to eat light up top and then down to the comfort of our cabin for the night. We'll miss the on deck party and champagne waterfall, can you believe I'm such party pooper:)

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My eyes are getting heavy  so I'm keeping this short, next stop San Blas " woo hoo" I may not go ashore I'll watch the action from the rail.

TTFN

Tony

Monday April 25th. 2011

Hello and good afternoon,

As I sit here composing the blog, a crossing from the southern hemisphere to the northern ceremony is taking place, I'm giving it a miss. It's been a quiet day for me not to mention hot and humid with not much wind across the decks. An air conditioned cabin is the place to  be for me, I do stick my head out of the balcony door and in a second I feel and look like a wilted lettuce.

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I must mention that David Knight the hypnotist did another show last night. We encouraged our table mate Jo to volunteer, as she stood to go on stage, she grabbed Dorothy (she who would never allow herself to be hypnotized) and soon all eight seats were filled… Jo fought it all the way and would not let it happen, Dorothy on the other hand was putty in his hands. :) After it was all over she was worried in case she'd done anything to be embarrassed about!!!!! I let the people who've been stopping by to talk to her today, fill her in, he he…She was so happy that Yvette & Jolene were not there to see her :)

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I went down for a nap this aft. and  was just waking up when the phone rang. It was Randy from our Cruise Critic group telling me he had recorded Dorothy doing  "her thing" last night, and if I would like, he'd come to the cabin and load it on to the computer :):):) "Come on down" says I. Sooooo girls,

I have video of your Mum being a goldfish, and also  a chicken laying a square egg :):):) You'll both love me for this, Mum on the other hand is not in any position to make one single demand of me:)

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There was a two hour delay leaving Manta last night as a group had flown to Quito for the day, Heavy thunder storms prevented them from leaving on time and being a tour booked through Princess, we were able to wait for them. One must carefully choose the tours to do privately, this would not be one of them. The ships do not wait for private tours who return late,  over the years we've witnessed more than a few people "miss the boat". Time was made up during the night so we still plan on reaching the Gulf of Panama on time tomorrow at around 6.30am and ready to begin the transit at 7.30 ish. If all goes according to plan.

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We've transited the canal  in the past, but before cruise ships began adding balconies.... I recall standing out in the heat and humidity for hours trying to take it all in and each transit noticing things that we'd missed before. It will be great to be able to step back into the cool of the cabin when things start getting too hot.

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Time for a shower before dinner.

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Dinner's all done, I had sole and though it was recommended, it was dry and tasteless, but I don't think I'll die of starvation overnight. I just heard after dinner that our friend Cathi had to call 911 in the wee hours as Bruce was in pain. It turned out to be a kidney stone that he was able to pass and he's fine today. We've not seen them at all since yesterday,  it may well be a small ship but large enough that they were invisible today.

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I am really tired tonight, Dorothy's gone to the show to see the pianist who is we're told, very good. I'm getting this away and then to bed, 6.00am will be here soon enough.

Hasta manana

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tony

Sunday April 24th. 20011

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A gorgeous day at sea, I decided to giv

Saturday April 23rd.I thought I'd give myself a break and combine this post with Sundays. I slept well after my hypnosis session, and talking to others who were on stage too, found that they did  as well... We were in no rush to rise and greet the day so took our time getting shipshape then headed up for brekky, taking our time there too. After that we spent time at the spa in the pool & steam room.

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The next thing we knew it was time for trivia, far too taxing for my brain when I'm so vegged out but by gosh and by golly we won. Our prize was "Cadbury Easter eggs", the genuine English ones, they are in the fridge waiting for me to attack them. There were two trivia sessions today being a sea day, but I was not feeling up to doing the second one, I'm sure the team will fare just as well without me, perhaps it was too much sun this morning. I'm just waiting for Dorothy to get back.

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Tonight is another formal, it's far too hot to get all gussied up really but it's a tradition and even though I'm travelling "tuxless" the collar & tie feels alien about my neck since I've been retired.

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I'm sitting on the couch with the drapes open looking out past the balcony to the sea, one of my favorite sights is the enormous ocean devoid of all normal day to day things we take for granted. Just me and the sea at peace, a very special feeling, hypnotic even, in it's own way. The sun hangs there, waiting to drop over the horizon within the hour, day becomes night and another circle completed.

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Time to gather my wits and get dressed for dinner, Ohhhhh, Dorothy's back from trivia, they came 3rd. With 14 out of 20, the winners had 17 correct. As if I would mention anything about me not being there:)

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I was not in the mood to eat but went to dinner anyway, We really enjoy the company of Volker and his wife Jo. He keeps us entertained with tales of his career as a pilot for the Johnson & Johnson company. What an awesome gig that was, allowing him to purchase his own plane and hanger in

Florida. Oh and we all had rack of lamb tonight, it was  delish…

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EASTER SUNDAY, MANTA, ECUADOR.

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And a very happy Easter to everyone. The chefs and staff must have been busy throughout the night as we found the ship decorated with Easter eggs of every hue and size in most public rooms. The Royal Princess has slipped into her birth right on time, it's hotter than Hades out there and sunscreen is the order of the day. We are less than one degree North of the equator, so the wise will adhere to the constant reminders to slather on the sunscreen.

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There is a nasty cough going around the ship and I being no exception have it. It does not make for good nights sleeps for anyone as even if one doesn't have it, the other will keep them awake with the constant hacking. We woke up, neither having had a great night, at 8.00am ate a bit of brekky and are just about ready to catch the 10.00 o'clock shuttle bus into down town. No special itinerary just a general look about, take a few photos and knowing Dorothy, she'll be buying something.

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It was me who spent money today, on a Panama hat,  some Ecuadorian cough medicine for $1.25 and some agua con gaz. Manta is a pleasant city and IMO nicer than Guayaquil where we stopped the last time we were down this way. Manta has become a major port along the central Ecuadorian coast in the province of Manabi, as well as an important local tourist resort. We enjoyed our time ashore but finally the heat got  to us so we opted to head back to the ship before the rush.

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Judging by the number of large fishing boats at anchor as well as docked along side us, it's easy to see that Manta also serves as the primary industrial port for Ecuador's Tuna fishing industry….. From our vantage point on the port side we can see a bustling beach area and with the high being 30c. It is looking very busy. The ship was taking on fuel for most of today, I would not want to be responsible for putting that on my credit card.

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The Princess Patter announces that David Knight (the hypnotist) is doing a late night show tonight!!! We plan on going but I just may have to tune him out as It promises to be a bit risqué and some of our crowd would like to see me up there (I don't think so). 

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Tomorrow we transit the Panama canal, we have friends joining us in our cabin to view the passage, it will be a lot of fun.

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Until tomorrow then!

Tony