What a fabulous last minute 11 day cruise with our friends Kathy and John Borja. Attached is the map of our trip, however disregard the dates:
| Day | Date | Port | Arrive | Depart |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 12 Jan 2015 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US | 04:00 PM | |
| 1 | 13 Jan 2015 | Half Moon Cay, Bahamas TR | 08:00 AM | 02:30 PM |
| 2 | 14 Jan 2015 | At Sea | ||
| 3 | 15 Jan 2015 | Oranjestad, Aruba | 01:00 PM | 11:00 PM |
| 4 | 16 Jan 2015 | Willemstad, Curacao | 08:00 AM | 05:00 PM |
| 5 | 17 Jan 2015 | At Sea | ||
| 6 | 18 Jan 2015 | Cartagena, Colombia | 07:00 AM | 01:00 PM |
| 7 | 19 Jan 2015 | Enter Panama Canal CristobalCO | 05:00 AM | |
| 7 | 19 Jan 2015 | Cruising Panama Canal and Gatun Lake CO | ||
| 7 | 19 Jan 2015 | Gatun Lake, Panama SC | 09:00 AM | 10:00 AM |
| 7 | 19 Jan 2015 | Cruising Gatun Lake and Panama Canal CO | ||
| 7 | 19 Jan 2015 | Exit Panama Canal CristobalCO | 01:00 PM | |
| 7 | 19 Jan 2015 | Colon, Panama SC | 03:00 PM | 07:00 PM |
| 8 | 20 Jan 2015 | Puerto Limon (San Jose), Costa Rica PR | 06:30 AM | 04:00 PM |
| 9 | 21 Jan 2015 | At Sea | ||
| 10 | 22 Jan 2015 | At Sea | ||
| 11 | 23 Jan 2015 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US | 07:00 AM |
Willemstad, Curacao - This was a very interesting island in the southern Caribbean and one of our favorite stops. The Queen Emma bridge is a swinging bridge (swinging old lady) that swings opens for boats. If you are on the bridge at the time it is opening, you will enjoy the swing. We took a tour of this area and the building and homes are brightly colored. We were told the Governor did not like all the homes painted white and hurt his eyes, so he declared everyone was to paint their homes and businesses of color. Come to find out the Governor owned the local paint company on the island. (Not sure if this is true - but cute). Needless to say the colors made this a very unique island. The green house is what they call a wedding cake home. Colors and architecture beautiful. Over 150,0000 people live on this Island. "Dushi" is a expression of sweet, nice or good which perfectly fits this island. Curacao is famous for their bittersweet oranges and the liquer carrying the name. We toured the small factory.
Cartegena, Colombia - a city in the northeastern coast of Colombia and capital of the Bolivar Department. Over a million people in this area. We took a tour of this area and went to the Convento La Popa De La Galera (highest point in the city). The views from here were outstanding and stretch all over the city. We also visited the Emerald gem factory, which was very interesting.
We were taken to Las Bovedas (The Vaults) which is a place where you can shop for souvenirs. We stopped here for a short shopping trip and the guys bought cigars. Then we left and went to the Old town of Cartenega. There we found beautiful architecture, Santa Domingo church and this area reminded of us New Orleans. Beautiful area of Cartenega.
As we left Cartagena, I noticed this statue in the water. It is the statue of the Virgin of Carmen and is said to protect sailors traveling the seas.
e of John by La Gordita (fat lady).
This was another great place to visit and probably need more time to see all of the great sites. Would be an area to return.**********
Panama Canal - The highlight of our trip where the Atlantic Ocean is connected to the Pacific Ocean. We entered into the locks, which is a system that lifts a ship up from 47 feet to 85 feet to the main elevation of the Panama Canal and down again. It has a total of 6 steps for a ship passage. The engineering of this locks were one of the greatest engineering works. This was so interesting to watch. They are now expanding the canal.
Here we went kayaking. This was fun and we were able to see the rain forest and some of the monkeys in the trees. We also seen a village with natives that are still uncivilized. Great!!
*********
The best cruise we have ever gone on. Excellent ports to see, the ship, the food, the overall experience with our friends was awesome. Would do it again!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment