Live - Panama Vancouver-S.F.-Fort Lauderdal Sept 14 - Oct 1st

[vickie_bernie]

Karen, the island you mentioned is right across from the beach we were at, very close. Personally I wouldn't snorkel there -- but that is me. Huatulco is the place to go and snorkel. Your excursion there is a great one.

People going to Huatulco definately take the taxi trip to La Crucicita for 20 pesos one way. Beautiful.

We are not doing the excursions you mentioned we have Friends of mario booked for Panama there is a huge group from CC doing the tour. He also offers one out to the Indians too.

tomorrow in Putarenas we are doing Turubari -- zip lines and superman ride. We have a group booked. Rex from CC arranged it. Seems that if you don't have something booked here you will have to take a long taxi ride to town ($$$). Will report more on the city after we come back.

2nd seating is still 745

dining room for anytime is still busy early, but any time after 745 no problem getting in and a table. Lots of early eaters on this sailing, crowd is older too.

Re Cruise Director, We've met him a few times he knows many of us from the CC boards personally and says hi to us, plus we have lovely Panamaniac door signs that Rex did for us that identify us throughout the ship. The Deputy Cruise director is new as of Acapulco. I will not say anything negative :cool:

the one thing we hate is the sound on the morning show -- they are broadcasting from various locations and it is very annoying the sound sounds like they are in a tunnel and we change that channel because of it. And those of you who know us know we love the morning shows.

[vickie_bernie]

I think it is Tuesday yup it is tuesday! Right?

Start with last night, we did end up in the dining room as they had Chateaubriand and Bernie loves it. We went and had a quiet meal... I think most of us were worn out from a sleepless night the night prior (beause of thunder/lighting show) and no nap. Plus the heat.

We left the dining room and we were all intending to go to the Island night deck party but we jsut looked at each other and said nope, can't do it. And crashed. i think my head was asleep before it hit the pillow. They were showing Confessions of a Shopaholic and Bernie watched that for a short time before his eyes closed.

Woke up this morning and was up to see the lovely dolphins jumping along side the ship beautiful sight.

We watched a movie in our room and had room service and I went and got my latte.

Ventured out of the room around 1030 to see what is happening all around. There is some cloud cover which is actually a nice break from the heat, but it is going to clear up this afternoon.

They are having their bijoux sale today, bought three nice tops.

met a lovely lady in the coffee bar from Calgary and sat and chatted with her for almost an hour (love crusing and meeting new people).

Bought our perfume. We had a $10 off coupon from our coupon book, and with the extra 10% off from being elite it comes in handy.

Bernie is off to watch a movie in the Universe lounge, Angels and Demons (part 2 of the Da vinci Code). today's movie on the TV is Star Trek

Tonight the Cabaret Show is vinny Talarico. Universe Lounge is showing Chris Contillo pianist who is quite popular -- it states in the Patters that he has played with the Boston Pops and at Carnegie Hall.

We loose another hour tonight, so that is 3 hours time change since leaving Vancouver so we are now on Eastern Time tomorrow morning.

Drink of the day is Mai Tai for 6.75

There are also doing the Panama with Love where you do up your own poster and display it when we go thru the canal and they will take your picture and put it on the Reflections DVD, a lot of great artists on board.

Cheers for now.

[MarciaQuilts]

Hi Vicki- What a great trip you guys are having! Wish we were with you.

We are doing a quickie on the Sapphire to Mexico on Oct 17,our daughter

is getting married in a few months so we are watching the pennies. David

really wants to do the cruise your on, maybe next year. Say Hi to Karin

and John. Marcia

[senior lady]

Hey Vickie...... great thread..... as usual;)
Sounds like your having a great time.......... you left the good weather at home, so I thank you for that....lol

4 wks today we'll be in Sydney and starting our great vacation and cruise!!!

As we did this cruise a few yrs ago, love to hear your comments.

have fun

[sunnytwo]

[quote name='vickie_bernie']You are too funny Larry -- sun is very strong! Lots of burnt people so I am not alone.
a private excursion.


Oh I also got my shorts/skort back were delivered to the wrong room.


Vickie and her man (still the same one, celebrating 14 years on this cruise)[/quote]


What an interesting couple you and Bernie are. So generous of you to bring all to the school. Enjoying your posts. Looking forward to sailing with you in January on the Ruby.

Lu

[vickie_bernie]

Hi Marcia, will say hi to Karin and John for you.

Today we were in Costa Rica we docked in Puntarenas. Again we are hit with a wall of heat, really wasn't ready for that this morning. From our baclony we saw a school of dolphins playing. NICE

Our roll call had arranged to go to an adventure park for the day. The place is called Tura ba ri. It is about an hour away and they have all kinds of things to do there. zip lines, canopy, sensational ride (superman ride) horseback riding, rock climbing, rapelling, nature walk. Depending on what you do you pay different prices. Bernie and I signed up for Zip lines, and the sensational ride and all I cansay is WOW so glad we did. The day also included a great meal buffet style. It was about an hour away and included tansportation. It was just under $100 each for the whole thing.

some in our group had so much fun on the Superman ride that we negotiated a discounted price to do it again. So crazy me did it again. I will put up the video on my blog when I get home.

Karen Allan would love it, not sure if you are coming here though.

One thing we have been experiencing almost daily is a wonderful light and sound show from the heavens. Truely amazing. Lighting is happening all around me right now.

dinner tonight is International dinner, with escargot, french onion soup etc. Sounds good. I am getting tired of dressing for dinner, wish I could go in my pyjamas.

I have heard all around the ship how much fun the Island deck party was and how so many people danced, the cruise staff were great and they all jumped in the pool afterwards !!!

So many staff know us by name and many we recognize from other sailings.

Jerry in our party spoke to the Future Cruise Consultant and she pulled out a memo and it clearly says that now you will each need your own fcc, you can't use one and buy one when you book.

Tours are very busy on this sailing and I believe most are selling out.

Bayou cafe is getting great reviews, and so is Sabatinis we haven't done either.

The chef's table is happening three times on this 15 night sailing. And there is the Ultimate Ship's Tour happening too. We aren't doing any on this sailing. But want to do the Ship's tour on the Crown in Jan. May do the chef's table on teh Ruby again.

Take care -- tomorrow is a sea day so I will have more time to write.

I know there are some Panama Canal web cams so you can watch out ship go thru, we will be going thru on Sat. Does anyone know a link>? Maybe you could post here for others.

Cheers

Vickie -- with Bernie napping in the cabin

[OCruisers]

:) Thanks! Very much enjoying!

[Sea Fan]

[quote name='vickie_bernie']Hi Marcia, will say hi to Karin and John for you.

Today we were in Costa Rica we docked in Puntarenas. Again we are hit with a wall of heat, really wasn't ready for that this morning. From our balcony we saw a school of dolphins playing. NICE

Our roll call had arranged to go to an adventure park for the day. The place is called [B]Tura ba ri. It is about an hour away and they have all kinds of things to do there. zip lines, canopy, sensational ride (superman ride)[/B] horseback riding, rock climbing, rappelling, nature walk. Depending on what you do you pay different prices. Bernie and I signed up for Zip lines, and the sensational ride and all I can say is WOW so glad we did. The day also included a great meal buffet style. It was about an hour away and included transportation. It was just under $100 each for the whole thing.

some in our group had so much fun on the Superman ride that we negotiated a discounted price to do it again. So crazy me did it again. I will put up the video on my blog when I get home.

Karen Allan would love it, not sure if you are coming here though.

One thing we have been experiencing almost daily is a wonderful light and sound show from the heavens. Truly amazing. Lighting is happening all around me right now.

Take care -- tomorrow is a sea day so I will have more time to write.

I know there are some Panama Canal web cams so you can watch out ship go thru, we will be going thru on Sat. Does anyone know a link>? Maybe you could post here for others.
Cheers
Vickie -- with Bernie napping in the cabin[/quote]

[I][SIZE=3]Hey Vickie we had a family emergency so we are back & forth between San Francisco and LA Right now, I'm playing catch up. I had to check out You tube for the zip lines...wow does that look like fun! I'd do it in a heartbeat.[/SIZE][/I]
[I][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/I]
[I][SIZE=3]Great "live"[/SIZE][/I]
[I][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/I]
[I][SIZE=3]Dianne[/SIZE][/I]
[SIZE=3][/SIZE]
[URL]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S2TMMyCLkc&feature=related[/URL]

[URL]http://www.costa-rica-adventure-tour.com/html/superman_zip_line_video.html[/URL]

[Sea Fan]

Okay so I'm a Web Cam freak :o Here's what I have for the Panama Canal:

[URL]http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html[/URL]

As I remember I refreshed them fairly often, an when I changed cameras it took awhile for them to come up.

Also you can use [URL="http://www.kroooz-cams.com"]www.kroooz-cams.com[/URL]

Choose port cams, then Mexico's & South America cams. If you go to the Multi cam on the bottom of the list then choose the big cam you can get some great views.

Unfortunately I won't be near a computer Saturday:( so you guys are going to have to tell me about it.

Dianne

[Pacificlander]

Here's another link for Panama Canal Cams: [url]http://seacruisechat.com/index.html[/url]

Has other cams also but some nice ones of the canal.

[Sea Fan]

[I]Pacificlander, I like that one especially the map... I see you are heading out for Panama soon I think it's one of my favorite cruises. I would do it again in a heart beat! BTW I live about 30 minutes from you what do you think of this heat? Personally I'm done with it!:D[/I]

[I]Dianne[/I]

[vickie_bernie]

thanks for the links to the locks, will post on my facebook page too so my family can see them.

We are at sea today... love those sea days. We are very relaxed!

Last night I got lazy and just stayed in the room, Bernie went for dinner with our friends and the sweetie that he is arranged to have french onion soup and the raspberry creme brule delivered to our room for me to enjoy.

I was asleep by 930! But did wake up later and read for a bit.

We got our laundry back and there were two items missing. Again one of my skorts ( I swear there is someone in the laundry that is enjoying them :p) and one of Bernie's Tommy Bahama shirts, we called last night and this morning they found them. We have never had this many problems with our laundry... not sure why.

We printed out our bill and well even with a $550 obc we are managing to be in the black now, but we did buy perfume and some clothes and well a few drinks.... :D No mistakes on the bill, which we have encountered in the past, especially on the Golden last May. But all is good

We have given up on the morning show, the sound is driving us too crazy.

Today we went and saw the lecturer on the history and making of the Panama very good and very well attended, hardly a seat available.

Bernie is off to see a movie in the Princess theatre, I think it is "I Love You Man"

Buffet lunch theme today is Italian Tratotoria. There have been a few pub lunches in the Bayou but it isn't every sea day, and there isn't one today.

Wine tasting today at 3pm - I will take Karin our friend (another elite perk).

Motown show is playing tonight and it is the Captain Circle parties too. And it is formal night as well.

What we have loved about the trip so far

- crew are amazing, many remember us from other sailings
- entertainment is fabulous and varried to meet everyone's needs
- Ship is beautiful and in good condition
- Cabin Steward is very sweet and tries very hard
- Purser's desks, amazing how patient they are
- Dining room and all food on board
- sitting on the balcony enjoying the wild life... today we saw dophins, birds, turtle, and a stingray (someone else said they saw a whale but usually they are not this far down - so this is 2nd hand)

Things that we have had some problems with

- Anytime dining early seating -- issue resovled for us with standing reservation but it does defeat the purpose of the anytime dining
- Cabin steward seems to forget things all the time, like glasses, ice, towels (we like 4), shampoo -- a quick reminder and it is done -- he tries VERY hard though
- no other issues!

In total this is a very relaxing voyage!

tomorrow we arrive in Panama City and we have a private tour booked thru Friends of Mario we are a group of around 28, I will report about it after the day.

See you on the water (to quote Rex)
Vickie

[vickie_bernie]

Lets see if this works, here is a link to our pictures yesterday in Costa Rica, first it is bernie Zip lining, and the second is me on the superman ride

[URL]http://www.photoadventure.com/public/galeria_cliente.php?entrada=1&email_cliente=vickie_bernie@hotmail.com[/URL]

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks!

Your Stewart is not working in the laundry too is he?? :eek:

[vickie_bernie]

[quote name='Colo Cruiser']Thanks!

Your Stewart is not working in the laundry too is he?? :eek:[/quote]


good point I should check .... :rolleyes: He is so cute though, he has a four month old daughter and he hasn't seen her yet. Seems like he has a lot of cabin to clean -- certainly can't complain guess we were just so spoiled with our steward on the Grand in Jan.

[Colo Cruiser]

[quote name='vickie_bernie']good point I should check .... :rolleyes: He is so cute though, he has a four month old daughter and he hasn't seen her yet. Seems like he has a lot of cabin to clean -- certainly can't complain guess we were just so spoiled with our steward on the Grand in Jan.[/quote]

Who is the PSD?
Our good friend PSD Emilio Mazi (Reg) was onboard for our Alaska cruise. I think he's on vacation now. :)

[chamima]

[quote name='vickie_bernie']Lets see if this works, here is a link to our pictures yesterday in Costa Rica, first it is bernie Zip lining, and the second is me on the superman ride

[URL]http://www.photoadventure.com/public/galeria_cliente.php?entrada=1&email_cliente=vickie_bernie@hotmail.com[/URL][/QUOTE]

OMG Vickie! :eek:
Allan is at work but I can't wait to show him these pictures!

[Retirement]

Vickie, those are amazing photos! The one of Bernie, especially, is fantastic!:)

We enjoyed our 2 days with you on the cruise to San Francisco. :)Our cruise home--one day on the Pacific Princess back to Vancouver--worked like a charm. We were very interested to experience a small ship. The Pacific is quite beautiful, but I think that the ship might become a bit boring on a long cruise.

Well, I'm busy packing, as we leave for Venice on Tuesday for another cruise on the Grand. By the way, we're having record high temperatures in Vancouver--yesterday we had a high of 28!:):)
Anita

[PescadoAmarillo]

Vickie, I'm loving your posts. Thanks for taking the time. And enjoy the Panama Canal...it's a favorite of ours. The zip lining looked like it was a blast. We love that kind of thing too.

[quote name='mississauga']PescadoAmarillo, I agree that Vickie's LIVES are always very enjoyable but so are yours. Perhaps you can be a tag team and both post on the LIVE when you cruise together in January. CC would be missing something if you don't post also. We enjoy and learn so much from your postings too.:D[/quote]
Mississauga, you are so kind to remember my LIVE FROMs! I've been doing them since I made Elite. Only Princess gives us that kind of internet time, so my Princess cruises are the only ones I post from.

[csss]

When we were in CR (Limon) we did our first ziplining with Charlie Soto, and i think there were 13 runs, just way too much fun, but this park sounds even better. Superman is just another version on your tummy, right? How many lines did you do? You have ziplined before, right?

When we were in P.C. last time, we went kayaking on Gatun Lake. Was great, but one in our group ran his kayak straight into a wasp nest. It was terrifying to see, and really scary since we were miles from help. The couple (2 person kayaks) were stung multiple times, then ditched in the water to stop the mad wasps. Amazingly they (with help from the guides) got back on their kayaks, and despite some nasty welts, they continued on with us. The thing i did not mention is that the lake was a couple miles wide, and this nest was clearly visible on the top of a tree branch protruding from the water, so how they managed to steer themselves right into it was a mystery to the rest of us.

So, if you kayak in Gatun Lake, just be on the lookout for protruding branches with wasp nests...

How are the Elite cocktail parties?

Wish we were there with you, have some fun in our honor...

Carole + Ron

[D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL]

Vickie:

 

Excellent photos of the both of you zip lining. I've been told that you can not take cameras as you have to have both hands free at all times but it was sure nice to see you in such a relaxed position taking pics. Were there any "no camera" rules with this tour ? Who took your pic ? as I did not see Bernie with a camera.

Continue to have a great cruise and thanks again for these updates.

[vickie_bernie]

Vickie:

 

Excellent photos of the both of you zip lining. I've been told that you can not take cameras as you have to have both hands free at all times but it was sure nice to see you in such a relaxed position taking pics. Were there any "no camera" rules with this tour ? Who took your pic ? as I did not see Bernie with a camera.

Continue to have a great cruise and thanks again for these updates.

 

we didn't take pictures with the zip line, but we could of but we had gloves so it made it difficult. my picture with the superman ride was easy to video tape.

 

They took these pictures at a cost of $7 very reasonable.

 

 

Just had a lovely dinner, it was lobster with crab cakes, yum. After dinner we went in to enjoy the Newly Wed/Not so Newly Wed which is guaranteed a good laugh but I have to say with Shane and Amanda hosting it was torture... it was very scripted, Shane kept loosing his place, and he is very stiff. he just got on in SF so I am hoping he improves.

[Drews_Cruise]

I know lots of people have been thanking you for your posts Vickie and I just wanted to add to the thank-you's. Some of us just sit in the back ground and don't say much, but we learn a lot from your postings. I followed your B2B on the Grand in Jan as we were taking the same itinerary a month later, and I was glued to my computer each day waiting for your posting. I'm not scheduled to take the trip you are on now, but I can still learn a lot from it so I visit it daily. I wish more people would do "live from" postings but I know it's expensive unless you are Elite. Even if more people did do them though, no one would do them quite like you do. It's nice that others have also jumped in and added posts while on the same ship. Thanks so much. Drew

[Pat & Jimmy]

Vickie, I thought your pictures were fantastic! We're going to be doing that zip line thing is just a couple of weeks... I am so pumped - especially since I saw your pictures!

[milan84]

Great live from! :)

 

Quick question - how late are pools / hot tubs open?