dancing bear

We took 3-500ml boxes on board the Miracle last month in carry-on, and they didn't even look in our bags. I had a fourth one, which we drank before boarding.

NO DVD player in our room last month on the Miracle, and I don't remember if it had the plug-in jacks or not.

Cngratulations! My wife and I shared an elevator ride with you and your folks on the cruise and it brought back lots of happy memories.

We didn't see any vendors there last week, but $80 for the 4 of us to rent chairs and umbrellas was a bit much. Very clean and new, and there were more employees than customers there the day we were dropped off. I had asked our cab driver to go to Shipwreck, but he insisted that Carumbola would "knock our socks off". We ended up walking 15 minutes down the beach to Shipwreck to lie on the sand for free and later enjoyed 6 beers in a bucket for $15 and $5 burgers. Cab fare was $21 down and only $16 back, so it pays to ask around for best rate. All the locals hang out at Shipwreck, and that's where the monkeys and mongoose come down out of the trees to feed a short distance from the restaurant tables.

Took a 3-night cruise from LA to Ensenada on the Carla (sister ship to the Italia, owned by Boise Cascade at the time). A highlight was taking a life boat to Guadaloupe Island to see the elephant seals. With an Italian crew, they offered Campari free at the bar. Two years later, we went on the Deuschland (the largest ship to go through the locks) for a 5-day cruise on the Rhine from Boppard to Basil.

We were on the Mariner in January and docked in Puerto Vallarta. They had a bomb scare, and those passengers on the bottom four decks who didn't get off before 9 a.m. were restricted to ship for the day. A young couple spent their time at the pool bar, and when we returned late that afternoon and my best friend and I went to have a drink there, the young lady...who was quite attractive...all of a sudden lifted her top over her head for a good two minutes. She was amply endowed, and while I was enjoying the scenery her husband/boyfriend looked over at me and said "Those are $8,000 worth" and I immediately replied "She definitely got her money's worth!" The next morning, my wife and I (and I had told her this story after returning to our cabin) happened to pass the couple sunning by the pool. I said "Good morning", and it was obvious by her sheepish acknowledgement that she was quite embarresed about the incident.

That was the sister ship to the Princess Carla, which I took in the late 1960's from LA to Ensenada. As I recall, Boise Cascade owned the two ships at that time, and they were later sold to the Princess Lines. A highlight of that cruise was taking a lifeboat to Guadalupe Island to visit the sea lion rookery there. That island has since been protected, as I understand, is not able to be visited anymore. Crews were Italian, and one had to get used to eggs being cooked in olive oil, but Compari was poured free on board.

It was on the MS Deutschland up the Rhine River from Boppard to Basel in August of 1967. The ship carried in excess of 500 passengers and was the largest ship on the Rhine at that time. It had been chartered by a group of Israelis, who cancelled out due to the Six-Day War that summer, and there were only 12 passengers on board. A wonderful cruise, with us being the only Yanks, 8 Australians and a couple from South America.

It was on the MS Deutschland up the Rhine River from Boppard to Basel in August of 1967. The ship carried in excess of 500 passengers and was the largest ship on the Rhine at that time. It had been chartered by a group of Israelis, who cancelled out due to the Six-Day War that summer, and there were only 12 passengers on board. A wonderful cruise, with us being the only Yanks, 8 Australians and a couple from South America.