We just returned this past Saturday from a 13-day cruise from Miami to Los Angeles through the Panama Canal. Needless to say, we had a great time.
We sailed on the
Norwegian Star, operated by the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). This photo of our ship was taken during our stop in Acapulco. We thought NCL provided a very good cruise experience, especially since it is one of the least expensive cruise lines. The food and service were both good, and we had excellent entertainment every evening. Our cabin was smaller than what you'll find on many ships (142 sq. ft.), but it was sufficient for our needs.
We left from Miami on Sunday, December 5. For much of the first full day at sea, we sailed past the coast of Cuba. I didn't realize Cuba had so many mountains.
Our first stop was in
Cartagena, Columbia, the first time we've been in South America. Cartagena was founded by Spain in 1533. The older part of the city is inside a stone wall built for defensive purposes and that took many decades to complete. The buildings above are in that part of the city. Note the ever-present members of the military/police.
Towering over the city is the fortress of San Felipe, which was completed in 1686. It helped to successfully defend the city against a British attack in 1741. The fort was later destroyed by the French in 1697 and rebuilt between 1762 and 1769.
When you visit Cartagena, you are met with a swarm of aggressive street vendors selling everything from hats to t-shirts to jewelry. In this photo alone, you can spot five or six vendors. There was one guy who would let you take a picture of him and his sloth for $2. In retrospect, I wish I would have done it!
From Columbia, it was on to the
Panama Canal. We got up early that morning only to learn the the canal was closed! For the first time ever, the canal was closed due to weather (heavy rains). But we were only delayed a couple of hours.
The journey through the canal is a fascinating experience. This was a cloudy and somewhat rainy day, but that really didn't detract from the experience. This photo was taken shortly before we entered the first lock. In front of us is a Holland America passenger ship.
The Star is at the maximum size for going through the canal. I believe there was about two feet of clearance on each side of the ship. You can see in his photo just how close we were to land.
These are the locomotives that guide the ship through the canal. Because of the size of the Star, it took eight locomotives, four on each side.
There are two lanes in the canal, though only one was being used when we went through. This photo gives you a good view of the other lane. And if you look closely on the right side, you might see someone you recognize.
And hopefully you recognize both of these folks. I believe we were in the last of the three locks when this was taken. It was just starting to rain quite hard, so we had to hurry to get the picture taken so we could run for cover.
With the canal behind us, we were back on the Pacific Ocean side of the Americas and heading to our next destination --
Costa Rica.
Our stop was in
Puntarenas, though we didn't see much of the city. Instead, we took an excursion to see the rain forest. Ironically, it was a bright and sunny day. This photo was taken near the beginning of our walk through the forest. As you can see, Costa Rica is a very beautiful country.
From there, we ventured into the rain forest. Part of the walk was over suspension bridges like this one. You have to understand that neither of us is comfortable with heights, so it was just a bit scary to be about 75 feet up in the air and on this bridge that didn't want to keep still. We managed to make it over the first two bridges. When we got to the third, our guide told us to just go across the bridge, turn around, come back and head off in the opposite direction. But we had a better idea -- watch the others cross bridge and wait for them to return.
We didn't see much in the way of wildlife during our hike. We were hoping for a monkey or a sloth, but that was not to be. On the way back, we stopped at place where
macaws are often sited. Sure enough, there were several in the trees. It's off in the distance, so it's a little hard to see. But it's right in the middle of the photo.
Our next stop that day was on a bridge that spanned one of Costa Rica's rivers. We were told that crocodiles would likely be present. Were they ever!
After Costa Rica, we made the first of three stops in Mexico. First up was
Huatulco. Because we hadn't seen enough crocodiles, we scheduled a trip to a crocodile preserve. Unfortunately, it was a 90-minute drive in both directions over hilly, winding and often bumpy roads. Steph is susceptible to motion sickness. Even though she was wearing one of those anti-motion sickness patches behind her ear, that was not enough for this trip.
We were on a small boat that took us through a lagoon. We actually saw only a few crocodiles, including the one in this photo.
From there, we went on to Acapulco. Of course, the biggest attraction there are the cliff divers. The idea of diving off that cliff is pretty scary. But actually, I think the climb up would be even worse. There were about ten divers in all, but the final dive was the highest.
Click here for a somewhat grainy video of that dive.
Almost as memorable is the traffic in Acapulco. Most of the intersections are uncontrolled -- no traffic lights, no stop signs, no yield signs. Drivers would just have to force their way through. And old VW bugs are everywhere. Like these two, most of them are taxis.
Lastly from Acapulco, here's a photo of us taken up on the side of a hill overlooking the city. It's a beautiful area but a little too hectic for our tastes.
Our last stop was in Cabo San Lucas. There weren't any excursions that appealed to us, so we just walked around the downtown area for about 90 minutes and then went back to the ship. This photo is of the downtown harbor area.
We reached Los Angeles last Saturday morning. During the 13-day cruise, we met a lot of very nice people from various parts of the country and from several other countries, as well. That's one of the things we enjoy about cruises. But we were also very happy to get home. We decided that nine or ten days is about the right length for a cruise for us.
We don't have any more cruises scheduled, though we're sure we'll take some more. Our next trip will be to Hawaii in March. It wasn't something we were planning, but some really good airfares became available, so we figured, why not?
