Panama Canal Day 9

A day at sea today. I tried to sleep in but woke at 7 and got up at 8. Guess it pays to go to bed early. I attended a talk on things to see and do in our next 2 ports, Puerto Chiapas and Huatulco. Then I went to my Zumba class. A lot people cram into a small area to do this class and I am quite surprised how almost everyone follows, even though the cueing is minimal. I love the music and the moves and it’s a really great workout even though it’s only 30 minutes long. I am going to look for some good Zumba music and/or dvd’s when I get home.

After class, I headed to the photo studio to look at the 8x10 Panama Canal photos they have for sale there. Along came Darlene, then Dawn a few minutes later. We couldn’t have timed it better. We decided to go for ‘coffee’ and that turned into lunch in the lovely Versailles dining room. In the afternoon we went to another Q & A on ‘Life at Sea’ with the staff. Some great questions were answered.

Later on I went to a bachata dance class. After practising solo, we paired off and practised some more – another good form of exercise.

Every night between 5 and 6 depending on our location, the sun sets, providing wonderful color each and every time. You have to be alert because it sets quickly. However there is a lot of nice color afterwards for a few minutes as well.

We ate supper at the buffet and retired to our rooms early.

Panama Canal Day 7

Got a good rest last night with the time change and woke up early on my own.

There were lots of interesting activities onboard this morning. First came a card-making class, then a great Zumba class. It’s only half an hour but I get pretty warm. At 11 AM they had the ‘unveiling’ of the emerald jewelry and a free draw which you had to be present for in order to win. Then I attended a Q & A session on the running of the ship which was very interesting.

I met my roommate and we went to the fancy dining room for a change to have our lunch. There is no specific dress code at noon so we were good the way we were. We shared a table with others and came away with some great travel tips.

I attended a short session on our next port of call, Puntarenas, then visited the library to look up info on some of the other ports we will be visiting. After that, I returned to the room to type and hang out.

While Dawn and I were writing, typing and visiting, there was a knock at the door. Thinking it was Merv and Darlene, I jokingly asked what the password was. A staff member said, “Chocolate covered strawberries?” Another plate had appeared together with a bottle of Chilean chardonnay! I looked at the card which read “Compliments from Guest Services”! We tried to refuse them, saying we hadn’t ordered them and explained yesterday’s mistake. But he insisted there was no mistake, so how could we argue? We had a good laugh again and enjoyed the delicious combination of flavours.

Panama Canal Day 3 & 4

Monday, December 9th

With nothing pressing on my agenda today, I decided to get up when I woke up. After I opened the curtain, I began to laugh and laugh which caused my roommate to wonder about me. When she saw what the source of my merriment was, she joined me. Our cabin is located on the lowest floor (4^th) at the very front of the ship. The seas are quite rough and every so often, the ocean splashes up into our porthole window, swirls around like a front-load washing machine, and completely obliterates the light for a few seconds. It is literally black in the room. It is quite a sight really!

I went up to the buffet for breakfast on my own then came back to the room to grab my new laptop. I had purchased a data plan in order to post my blog while I am away. In case of problems, I went to the internet cafe to log on and also downloaded some programs I had brought with me. Then I ran into my cuz and we played a game of Chinese checkers while waiting for the agreed upon time to meet for lunch.

The cafeteria food here on the ship is not bad at all. There is an incredible variety so if you can’t find something you like, you are pretty hard to please. After lunch we headed down for merengue dance lessons. It was lots of fun, easy to do, and we worked up quite a sweat. The ship really began to rock so it was a challenge to dance gracefully

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Back in my room I began to feel tired and queasy so I took a Gravol and had a great nap while the boat rocked away. Sleep, eat, sleep, eat. Oh what a life I lead whilst on a cruise ship. We dressed for supper in order to go to the Versailles Restaurant: an egg roll, kung pao chicken and jasmine rice. Life is good!

Tuesday, December 10th

The boat was really rocking last night! And oh what sounds the water makes against the side of the ship. Looking out of the porthole, the ocean seems tremendously rough from the point of view of the 4^th deck. It’s very hard to describe, but it sounds like someone rolling a huge heavy roller back and forth on the outside of the ship with the occasional loud thumping noise.

Each night we get a program of the next day’s activities and we had pre-planned what to do. No sleeping in today! After brekie, we headed over to a presentation on Columbian emeralds. We aren’t planning on any expensive purchases but were interested in them for interest’s sake. Right after that, I booted it to the opposite end of the ship for a Zumba class already in progress. It was quite crowded and hard to see the instructor but I just followed someone in front of me. I enjoyed myself and burned a few calories off I hope. There had been a vegetable carving demonstration in the main foyer going on at the same time and I took some photos of the results.

Lunch was a light bite as we had supper reservations at a special restaurant. In the afternoon we attended a champagne art auction. Few paintings were to my liking and I was amazed at the crowd of people and the prices the artwork brought. There was a talk on Cartagena, our next port of call then I headed back to the room for a quick nap.

Our supper was in a Japanese restaurant called the Teppanyaki. The chef artfully prepared our food on a large grill in front of us and explained what he was doing each step of the way. First off, we had miso soup and seaweed salad. For the main course I choose sea scallops and jumbo shrimp served with jasmine rice and green onions, egg and garlic.  Dessert was fresh fruit sashimi. All in all it was a delicious, interesting experience.

Our evening ended with a comedian, a great way to end the day!