Come Sail a Way with us LIVE as the Westerdam meets the Sail a Way Gang

[freestyling]

A very touching time.

[kazu]

When the last dance began, the children came up reaching for our hands to get us to dance with them.

 

Who could say no?

 

 

 

 

 

[kazu]

After their performance, it was our turn.

 

And up we came with out multitude of HAL bags with their supplies.

Simple things that we take for granted are very expensive there.

 

The children were unsure at first if they were going to get to keep the gifts (the pencil cases were first), so, a bit of HAL pillow chocolates quickly convinced them that this was real.

 

Here you can see them opening up their pillow chocolates as we kept unloading stuff.

 

 

digging out some of the supplies. The chocolates and ink cartridges were priority. We had kept them cool but didn't want to take the risk that the heat would hurt them while we were watching the performance.

 

 

The teacher couldn't even hold all of the ink cartridges. If her face looks a tad shiny it is because she was crying.

 

 

Here are some of the children examining their pencil cases so lovingly made by 10f4 and her DS.. We had emptied the supplies into baskets and they were busy examining everything!

 

 

After we saw the communal toothpaste and 4 toothbrushes, we were so glad we had brought them a good supply of toothpaste and toothbrushes.

 

We left them with their ink jets, note books, lined paper, paper for drawing and arts, pencils, pens, colouring pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners, scissors, rulers, toys, stickers to name a few things.

 

While it's always nice to do charitable donations, it really does the heart good to see the gifts put to use and know they get where they are supposed to go and see the light in the eyes of the recipients.

 

The children got the gifts, but we were the ones that left richer for the experience.

 

 

Our day in Guatemala was fantastic.

 

We sailed away with warm hearts and wonderful memories.

 

to be continued....

Edited May 12, 2015 by kazu

[Copper10-8]

We drove into a small town which was obviously not well to do to get to the Children's School. It is primarily a town of Mayan's. The teacher came out to meet us and walked us down to the school. First she showed us the new construction they were doing. No hard hats here and it is obvious everything is being done manually.

 

If they can get the construction completed, they will be able to take in 25 more children.

 

These children would not have an education without this school so it is a very worthwhile cause.

 

We went into the school's main courtyard with anticipation and the children came out. First, to make everyone aware of their need!

 

 

You should have seen the shock on their faces when I went up and gave them some cash. We had a poker run on the ship in conjunction with the cabin crawl and the roll call agreed that 1/2 of the proceeds would go towards helping the school.

 

Each child came up and introduced themselves. Some speaking Spanish and some had already learned English!!!! They wore regional dress of Guatemala and told us their ages.

 

The boys were charming swooping their hats off and bowing.

 

The girls were just too sweet for words. It was very touching. Especially because we knew that we had a surprise for them. I had asked our guide Carlos to keep our gifts a secret unless they needed to know. He agreed that a surprise would be wonderful as all the supplies were desperately needed.

 

 

 

you can see the little lineup forming here as each one came to tell us a bit about themselves.

 

 

 

This is an awesome goal! Thanks for showing it to us!

[retired714]

Thank you for sharing these pictures of Antigua. You really focused on the beauty of the city. We saw the big church and now have a better understanding of why it has not been more fully restored. We saw the pond in the square and just found out from you that the purpose of it as the town clothes washing area. Our guide may have been new, because he didn't have the great explanation about the places we saw, so we both are appreciating your pictures and the narrative you are providing!

[kazu]

Thank you for sharing these pictures of Antigua. You really focused on the beauty of the city. We saw the big church and now have a better understanding of why it has not been more fully restored. We saw the pond in the square and just found out from you that the purpose of it as the town clothes washing area. Our guide may have been new, because he didn't have the great explanation about the places we saw, so we both are appreciating your pictures and the narrative you are providing!

 

That's too bad that you didn't get the info on your tour. what a shame. Were you on a HAL tour? I think everyone that was on our tour with Carlos' team were quite pleased. We certainly were :)

[retired714]

Kazu RE: That's too bad that you didn't get the info on your tour. what a shame. Were you on a HAL tour? I think everyone that was on our tour with Carlos' team were quite pleased. We certainly were :)

 

We were on a HAL cruise. The tour started with a tour of a coffee plantation, and that was great, so it was mostly a really good day. My bad because I didn't do research on Antigua before we went, we didn't understand what we were seeing. The other HAL tours we went on had very knowledgeable guides who were really interested in their country, the history /culture /natural beauty. We had our tours organized before I found cruise critic. Next time if we sail with any sail away gang, we will join their tours[emoji6].

Edited May 13, 2015 by retired714

[kazu]

Kazu RE: That's too bad that you didn't get the info on your tour. what a shame. Were you on a HAL tour? I think everyone that was on our tour with Carlos' team were quite pleased. We certainly were :)

 

We were on a HAL cruise. The tour started with a tour of a coffee plantation, and that was great, so it was mostly a really good day. My bad because I didn't do research on Antigua before we went, we didn't understand what we were seeing. The other HAL tours we went on had very knowledgeable guides who were really interested in their country, the history /culture /natural beauty. We had our tours organized before I found cruise critic. Next time if we sail with any sail away gang, we will join their tours[emoji6].

 

We skipped the coffee plantations - seen one you've seen them all so to speak.

 

And we did the culture thing to get the sense of the place. We prefer that and a taste and drink of the local places. :) It was really fantastic and definitely one of my favourite ports. Antigua is enchanting and our guides were wonderful.

 

You are welcome to join us anytime :) Warning though, we don't like to be herded so we often do private tours in smaller groups.

 

hope to see you again on another cruise

 

......to be continued tomorrow.

[kazu]

Our next stop was Puerto Chiapas. I wasn't looking forward to this port. I knew there wasn't much other than a nice facility for cruisers at the port.

 

I had read mixed reviews on Tapachula and it seemed to be described as a dusty town with too many beggars by some.

 

As we were eating breakfast, we had a great view of the performances that were being put on for our benefit by the locals:

 

 

I had originally told DH that we would just stay in the port. I thought after all our touring, the rest would be good, but it turned out he was adventuresome and wanted to go into the town!

 

So we headed through the visitors centre where there was more entertainment

 

 

 

The port provided a shuttle to the town for $10 per person round trip which seemed like a pretty fair deal (about a 30 minute ride) so we bought our tickets and headed into town.

 

And it was a very pretty town. We liked it. We didn't find it overrun by beggars and there was entertainment at whatever restaurant we stopped in (free wifi) which was certainly worthy of a tip.

 

 

[Folk Singer]

Wonderful Photos.:):)

[kazu]

We strolled around the town and actually made a couple of little purchases.

 

 

the only thing was, this town wanted Mexican pesos so we made a stop to obtain some. It turned out that this was a very good move for our future Mexican ports as I did find that the prices were better in pesos than in American dollars.

 

We thought it was quite nice and not at all what I expected. A very pleasant surprise indeed!

 

 

 

I had heard about a market here so we went walking and found it. Surrounded primarily by locals, we checked things out and then we found a flower stall. Oh! oh! Anyone who has cruised with kazu knows that she likes her flowers so as we watched him put together an arrangement we asked how much something like that was. When he told me the price I just about dropped! Just a few pesos, less than $4 US and I could have a freshly made arrangement. How could I say no? Here's what I got

 

 

 

 

Now that I had this huge bouquet of flowers, we did have to worry about the heat as we didn't want them hurt. We also didn't want to be relying on the last shuttle to the ship knowing it would be hard to get so we decided that the best thing to do was to head back.

 

We lucked into a shuttle quickly and despite the fact that it was illegal (one passenger got on making it one too many and refused to get off and wait for the next one) we got back to the port easily and safely.

 

When we arrived back, there were more people waiting to greet us at the port

 

 

After admiring the costumes, it was time to head back to our home away from home.

 

[summer slope]

Jacqui, where did you get the peso's? Is there a local exchange? Your photo's are just wonderful. Making me decide to get off the ship in ports I was going to stay on board.

[kazu]

Jacqui, where did you get the peso's? Is there a local exchange? Your photo's are just wonderful. Making me decide to get off the ship in ports I was going to stay on board.

 

Thank you. You are very kind.

 

There were currency exchanges in the town as well as ATM's. The currency exchanges were not bad but the rate was better at the ATM of course :)

Edited May 13, 2015 by kazu

[kazu]

The next day we arrived in lovely Huatulco. We had no plans for this port planning to do stuff on our own. There were lots of guides at the port (which is very pretty) offering tours of the area.

 

There was a very congenial licensed guide (always get licensed in this port) who offered us a tour for $50 which we thought was very reasonable.

 

So, DH and I went with him to explore some of this lovely area.

 

First we went to visit the different bays on the island. This is the one where the Westerdam was:

 

 

the views were gorgeous so we snapped like silly people

 

 

 

 

 

and then we went to the next bay and what a gorgeous sight it was.

 

greeting us before we looked at the view:

 

Edited May 13, 2015 by kazu

[kazu]

We visited a total of 5 bays so a good portion of the beautiful stretches of the island.

 

 

 

 

Along the way, we saw some unique trees and plants

 

 

see the pineapple?

 

Edited May 13, 2015 by kazu

[kazu]

Our guide gave us some great information, was a lot of fun and made the trip really enjoyable. The tour actually lasted longer than he had originally said.

 

 

there were so many nice beaches, nice views and fauna to see that it was a truly worth while trip

 

 

 

 

 

running out of time, so I will continue later

[canadianbear]

I haven't had time to read all the posts but the photos are wonderful! I love looking at them all. Hopefully will get time to read them all this weekend.

 

Your CC attendance was amazing on this cruise. Such great memories for all of you.

[kazu]

I haven't had time to read all the posts but the photos are wonderful! I love looking at them all. Hopefully will get time to read them all this weekend.

 

Your CC attendance was amazing on this cruise. Such great memories for all of you.

 

Thank you. We usually get a good turn out at our CC meet and greets :)

 

I guess I have been lucky to have been on some great roll calls :)

[kazu]

carrying on with Hualtulco...

 

We went to another Bay that is very popular among surfers.

 

The sand was quite nice.

 

 

 

then it was time to visit another bay and more wonderful scenery

 

 

 

[kazu]

Then, we went to the old town which is not far away from Santa Cruz. The ship docks in Santa Cruz which refers to the cross of course.

 

The story goes that a man came walking out of the water and arrived in Hualtulco carrying a cross. He stuck it in the ground and told the people there to worship it. The cross could not be destroyed by pirates nor fire despite all attempts. When the Spaniards arrived they saw the people here worshipping the cross and thought they were Christians already. What they didn't know is that they were worshipping the wood and the name Hualtulco really means lover of wood according to our guide.

 

The original cross has now been put in three pieces - one in the Vatican. At the port itself is a small concave (church like) which marks the spot where the cross was. In the old town, there is a church which is devoted to the story of the cross and the Saint they believe that brought it.

 

The Church had a beautiful mural depicting the entire story.

 

 

as well as another one at the other end. Sorry but flash was not permitted of course so the photos are not as good as I would have liked.

 

 

 

Then it was time to explore the lovely park and have a real taste of local cuisine with our guide..

 

 

We had a lovely lunch and yes, I even ate mole!

We had a great day with our guide

 

 

Afterwards, he drove us back to the port. The area here is very nice and DH and I relaxed with a drink (and wifi), and had a drink with Ingo our cellar master.

 

All too soon it was time to leave this pretty spot. A very splendid day in lovely Huatulco

 

[Scrapnana]

Just caught the end of a news segment that said there was a volcanic eruption near Leon, Nicaragua. Lots of ash but, according to reports, nobody killed.

[kazu]

Just caught the end of a news segment that said there was a volcanic eruption near Leon, Nicaragua. Lots of ash but, according to reports, nobody killed.

 

What a shame. Wonder if it was that big volcano we saw?

 

Glad to hear no lives were lost. Will have to check the reports.

 

Thanks Kathi

[kazu]

Our next day was a sea day. We had our cabin crawl and poker run planned for that day but it looked like our timing was going to be off. The Mariner's luncheon was scheduled for that date. So, everyone kindly agreed to the change in the time of the cabin crawl and we held it a bit later than planned.

 

There were two mariner luncheons and two receptions with the second luncheon reception being the medallion awards.

 

Several of us got our invites for the earlier luncheon and/or reception.

 

Not good as we had some roll call members getting medallions, so we all requested a change in our times, explaining why and we were happily accommodated.

 

I know, for some medallions are no big deal, BUT when roll call members are getting them, it can be a lot of fun and why not rejoice for them?

 

We had two rolls of chairs (at least) as we waited with great anticipation for the awards.

 

The Sail a Way Gang became known as the 'rowdy bunch' by the Captain. I'm not sure if it was before this or not, but trust me, this occasion certainly legitimatized the name

 

gathering together enjoying the time together

 

 

 

 

When our roll call members were called to the stage a mass of cheering erupted from the sail a way gang.

 

 

And just so you don't think that we upset the apple cart, check out the thumbs up for our next medallion recipients' cheers from our Hotel Director

 

 

In fact, when they heard our cheering, they turned around to face our group so we could get pictures

 

[kazu]

We had one other roll call member get a medallion and he was totally shocked. Sadly, the angle was not good enough and he was hidden so we couldn't get his picture. (DH will be fired later - LOL)

 

The Adagio performed for us and they were marvelous as usual

 

 

Everyone was having fun before things got going

 

 

 

 

Once everything was over we were led to the Mariner's luncheon. the sparkling wine was pouring quite freely and the meal was very nice. Of course, when you have good company, the meals are always nice.

 

The tile was a new Stephen Card tile that I hadn't seen before so I was very pleased to get it.

 

Here is the menu from the Mariner's luncheon. Sorry, it's sideways and I can't edit it on the ipad. I'll move it to the computer and edit it later in my spare time. LOL

 

[kazu]

After a very enjoyable sea day we were scheduled to arrive at Puerto Vallarta. I thought DH and I could do this port at a DIY quite easily and I was right.

 

We headed off early to investigate

 

 

Puerto Vallarta has a lovely sea walk. We had decided we were going to walk down there in a leisurely way with the odd browse and then head to the church, Old Town and the Market.

 

 

 

It's a very pretty walk with all kinds of lovely statues and views. Now, let me just give a bit of a warning. It is a bit of a hike from the ship to the end of the sea walk. For those who do not enjoy a lot of walking, cabs are plentiful and very cheap if you want to have a less taxing day.

 

Some of the stores were your typical quaint store and some were, well different