Nicaragua

When we awoke this morning we were still on our way into Port Corintho. I looked out and saw the local pilot coming aboard to bring us in. Mom and I were heading in on an excursion, so we went up to the dining room to have an early breakfast. Our meeting time was 9:15, just about the time we were finally docked. Our trip today took us into the colonial town of Leon. It has numerous reasons for being important, but one of which is that the revolution began here in the 70s. We had a wonderful tour guide again today, Guillermo. He gave us a great deal of background on the country including the times when it was ruled by Sandino, who was assassinated and was followed by three different Samosas. Nicaragua has a very violent history, which they are trying to overcome to this day. The living conditions here are quite poor, and it is certainly considered a developing country. It's probably where Costa Rica was about a decade ago. Due to the nutrient rich volcanic soil, farming is the main industry. They produce many different products including sugar cane, cotton, fruits, and in the mountains, coffee. One item that is grown here is the Jicaro. 

They use the seeds and grind them up as a nutritious beverage and the entire fruit can be dried and turned into maracas. Nicaragua is called the "Land of Lakes and Volcanos". There are 25 official volcanos, but we were told that there are probably closer to 200 within the country. 

The largest, San Cristobal was visible from the time we left the ship, all the way to Leon and quite an impressive site. After about an hours drive we arrived in the town square where we found lots of local artisans selling their goods and even a guy carving personalized maracas. I have been in dire need of some decent internet, so we went into a cafe on the square and ordered two Victorias, a Nicaraguan beer. The things we will do to get internet! 

I was able to upload photos from yesterday and Mom was finally able to talk to Dad. We then went into the Basilica Asuncion, a church that has been there for centuries, though this is the fifth building constructed in 1610. After walking around some more it was time to head back. We arrived back on the ship around 1:45 and we went up to grab some lunch before the dining room closed. Since the weather was so perfect, we decided to dine in the courtyard between the Grills. We had a most enjoyable lunch followed by some time lying out in the sun working on our tans. Later we ended up on the balcony watching the other groups come in from their tours and watching our departure from the port. 

Before long, it was time to head up for another meal. We had a wonderful stuffed veal chop, however, it was way too much food tonight. After dinner we went down and listened to the quartet play a set before coming up for bed. Another long day and we're looking forward to getting some rest.

Costa Rica

This morning we arrived in Costa Rica which literally translates to rich coast. Today's tour, the mangrove eco tour, was to meet at 6:15 am which meant that we had to get up at 5:30. Wow, was that early for us. Good news is that we gained an hour overnight, so it was only 6:30 to us. We went by the Lido deck to grab a quick bite and then off on our tour. Somehow we managed to get on a small bus with only 20 or so people. The weather this morning was cloudy, humid, and in the upper 70s. We wore layers since we're going into the rainforest, and you never know what you might get. Our tour guide Alfonzo provided us a lot of background on our way up the mountain. Costa Rica gained it's independence from Spain in 1821 and since then has prospered due to it's thriving fruit, melon, coffee, and cashew industries. However, their largest industry is microchips, thanks to Intel. We traveled quite some distance, including 15 km on gravel roads. We saw some unusual trees including the mimosa, which has fruit before it flowers, and the peeling tree, which has green photosynthesizing bark. Just before arriving at the river, we pulled over as we spotted several scarlet macaws. I know we've seen them in the zoo, but seeing them out in their natural habitat is something entirely different. They are stunning. We soon arrived and boarded a type of pontoon boat that was designed for 50+ passengers, so we had lots of room to jump up for photo ops. The overall scenery was gorgeous. It wasn't long until Mom spotted a crocodile in the water who was having breakfast. I happened to catch a sot of him as he enjoyed a catfish! 

Further down we saw blue herons, kingfishers, ospreys, snowy egrets and the list goes on. We also saw even more crocodiles, some of which didn't even look real, well that is until they moved into the water. We also saw an iguana and what they call the Jesus Christ lizard, since he can walk on water. After an hour or more we returned and enjoyed some music and fresh fruit. The fruit here is amazing and we even took back a couple of bananas for the bus trip home. The trip back was about and hour and a half with lots of rain. Fortunately the rain cleared as we returned to the ship. We were both ready for some lunch today especially since we'd gotten up so early. We went to the QG for lunch and had a wonderful panini. Mom went back to the room to rest while I went back into town to find some internet and so a little shopping. They have interesting pieces of wood art and so many other types of souvenirs. It was getting late and all aboard was at 4:30. I knew Mom would be getting a little nervous, but I did get back about 4:15. We discussed the day as we sat on our balcony for the sail away. 

Dinner was casual, but we still needed to wash the day off and get ready. We made it down about 8:00 and both enjoy different fish dishes for our dinner, and of course we had spinach with it! We tried to decide what to do after dinner and decided it was best to head back and call it a night since we arrive in Nicaragua tomorrow morning and have another full day of exploring ahead of us. See you soon!

En Route to Costa Rica

We have enjoyed going up to the QG for breakfast, so we decided on that again today. We both had berries and cream for part of our breakfast  and it was really good. Afterward we went into the lounge for me to work on uploading pictures, but due to he weather, I had very little success with the satellite internet. At 11:00 we went down and watched a pastry demonstration. Due to the inclement weather, there was quite a large crowd. They make everything look so easy from making the swan from pate de choux and teacups made from chocolate. I think I have a few ideas for the next dinner party. 

They also made the "tuxedo strawberries" that were offered to us at the conclusion. I swear it looked as though people were afraid they weren't going to get another meal! It was a feeding frenzy. At times I get a bit disgusted with the way people act in certain settings, they seem to lose all sense of good manners. After the demonstration, I again tried to get online, but had to give up. This has been very frustrating. Lunch was very nice today even though we were going through heavy periods of rain, almost white out conditions. The afternoon was rather quiet and we even snuck back to the cabin for a bit of a nap. What else can with do with such rainy weather? By 5:00 it was time for our version of happy hour before getting ready for this evening. 

Tonight was semi-formal, so we dressed up a little for dinner. We have really gotten on a kick of caviar as an appetizer before dinner. Though I think they may be running a bit low because we each were served a smaller portion than usual, though probably a good thing. We had a shrimp bisque followed by orange roughy, which was some of the best fish I've ever eaten. A few night ago I requested sautéed spinach to go with our entree and now it seems to have become standard issue for us. I have to laugh about this because my grandmother used to be the same way, if she found out that you liked something, you would have it every day. I could tell them to not prepare it, but I have to admit it's my favorite vegetable and at least I'm getting my iron intake everyday! We went down to deck 3 to listen to the string quartet, but have called it an early night since we have to meet at 6:15 for our mangrove tour tomorrow in Costa Rica tomorrow. The good news is that we fall back another hour so it will really only seem like 7:15, or so we hope.

Panama Canal

We were both very excited to get back an hour overnight. Our morning did begin earlier than usual since we were beginning our passage through the Panama Canal. It truly is an engineering feat. This is the only canal system where the captain of the ship gives up total control of the vessel to the pilot who comes on board. Normally the pilot is brought on just to assist in the navigation of the channel. It wasn't long before they were coming on the PA system to start pointing out some features of the canal and some of the wildlife. We were lucky enough to see two crocodiles along the banks just as we started entering into the lock system. 

We decided to go up to the QG for breakfast where we have wonderful views. It wasn't long before we entered the Gatun Locks, a pair of 3 lock systems. Here we were on the way up to reach the same level of the lake at 85 ft above sea level. 

For those of you who do not know, the PC is not a straight through system of locks (as I thought it was). Instead, a dam was built to flood the Chagras river that would create a lake for ships to navigate across the Panama Isthmus and then go back down through another system of locks out to the Pacific. The ship is so large that it's possible to not even know that you are raising up or down in the water. There are 100 valves in the bottom of each lock which allows 3 million gallons of water per minute in or out of the lock. The average price for a passenger ship to transit the canal is about $375,000. 

Once through the lock we could see the dam and the lake out ahead and the tops of hills that were still visible above the water. We navigated along the same passage as the original river so we did a zig/zag all the way though. We were seated out on deck about lunchtime when a heavy rain came up and forced us inside. The weather today has been much cooler with heavy cloud cover at times. We went on in for lunch since we had more locks coming up. By 2:30 we were approaching the Pedro Miguel Locks, where I managed to get up to the front of the ship for a better vantage point. We passed through the "cut" area in the Continental Divide where we could see Gold Hill on our left and Constructioners Hill on the right. This was the cut that was started by de Lessups in the late 1800s and later completed by the US. We could see a large bridge ahead which is the Centennial Bridge which was completed back in 2004 to help relieve the traffic on the Bridge of the Americas. 

Once we entered the lock system the whole process took quite a while, but was amazing to watch. We were hooked up to the "mules" or locomotives that help guide us through the PC as we are under our own power. 

The "mules" are there to make sure we keep to the center of the lock as there is only about 2 feet of clearance on either side of the ship. We also saw the other freighters moving thorough only feet away from us. We had about an hour before the approach of the final set of locks so we enjoyed our afternoon tea and scones out on deck. The final set of locks were the Miraflores Locks. We stayed on deck through the rain for a bit, but decided to go back to our suite to watch the rest of the process. 

These were a pair of two locks that would bring us down 28 ft followed by another 17 ft that brought us down to sea level and the Pacific Ocean. At this point it was just about dark and couldn't see much except that there is a large port and Panama City has huge skyscrapers. We passed under the Bridge of the Americas, which is part of the Pan American highway system. 

After briefly trying to use Skype to talk to Dad and H, it was time to get ready for dinner. We made it up around 8:00, but the dining room was very quiet this evening. We both started with our caviar, and a Caesar salad. For an entree I opted for the salmon and mom had the turkey and dressing - it was like Thanksgiving all over again. We both finished with the bread and butter pudding and wow, that was great. We were both tried from being out in the heat all day - plus we were gone from 8 am - 5pm, like a regular work day, so we called it a night. When we returned to the room we even had a certificate that states the date and when we transited the Canal. What a fun souvenir!

En Route to Panama

This morning was supposed to have started with my alarm going off, however, with the time difference, something went awry. It was a good thing that Mom was already awake by 8:15. We made a command decision to go up and have breakfast in the Queen's Grill. I think our waiters were shocked to see us so early and especially since we often don't even make it to lunch. Breakfast was a nice change followed by a lecture on the upcoming ports in Nicaragua and Guatemala. Mom came down and joined the following discussion on the Panama Canal. We both thoroughly enjoyed learning the history behind it and the logistics of it's design. I've realized that I didn't know much about it before now including how its actually constructed. After our morning lectures it was noon and I hit the sun deck. I haven't felt such oppressive heat in a long time. Not only was it 90+ degrees, but about 90% humidity and not a bit of breeze to be found. I can only imagine the conditions that the workers faced when building the canal. We are to expect this type of heat for at least a day or two more. I stayed out in the sun all of an hour, some of which was spent in the pool, and I still managed to get quite red. By 1:30 I'd had enough sun so Mom and I went and had a sandwich for lunch. There wasn't much going on this afternoon so we returned to our suite and watched a documentary on the Panama Canal. It was done by National Geographic and was very interesting. Tonight was the Captain's reception, and formal evening, so we had to start getting ready rather early. 

By 6:30 we were heading up to the Wintergarden to meet with Inger Olsen, our captain, and first female captain of the Cunard line. Tonight's even was for Grill guests only, so was a much smaller affair. The heat has been so bad today, that they had a difficult time cooling down the area. Nevertheless it was very nice to meet the Captain and her officers as well as watching all of the gorgeous gowns come in. We did stake out an area under a fan and right where everyone was waiting to meet the captain, a perfect vantage point. We had a nice time talking to Tom and Tricia (our friends we met at muster) until it was time to head to dinner. We had pre-ordered our entire dinner earlier in the day since the menu is typically set for this evening due to the reception. We had the caviar for an appetizer (I think this is also Mom's favorite), followed by the beef wellington, cooked perfectly with some steamed vegetables and we finished the meal with crepe suzette made table side. I can't believe that I forgot my camera for these events, but I did. We will have to have a redo of the evening's activities so I can post it a bit later. All I can say is that the heat has gotten to me today. After dinner we went by the Masquerade Ball en route to the performance by the Royal Cunard dancers. It was a very nice performance, though slightly harder to follow than the one from two nights ago. We are both quite tired, thanks to the heat, so we're heading on to bed. Best part about tonight is that we gain our hour back :) Tomorrow will be an exciting day as we transit the Panama Canal!

Aruba

This morning we arrived in Oranjestad. Our breakfast arrived at 8:45 and we decided to have it out on the balcony. Since we were docked, we noticed that it was quite a bit warmer since we had less breeze. It was surprising that for a very desert like climate it was actually what we would consider as humid. We waited for the various tours to get underway so that we didn't have to deal with the crowds. There were two other ships in port, so there was a lot of activity going on. We were off of the ship by 10:30 and walked into town. The town itself has numerous jewelry and souvenir stores. It reminds me a bit of Georgetown, Grand Cayman. 

I was excited to find some wifi so that I could upload yesterday's post and talk with Dad and Hunter. We wandered around for several hours, but the heat started to get to us, so we headed back to the ship. We went to the Lido for a late lunch. We haven't been eating all that much, but we just don't seem to get hungry. I think today the heat could be the explanation. By 4 we were back in our suite and it was time for cocktails and crosswords. Dinner tonight was casual, but we still had to shower and get ready. 

The dining room was unusually quite tonight and we saw a bunch of sunburn. We can definitely tell that we are closer to the equator and the sun is much stronger. Mom and I both had the filet for dinner and some more sautéed spinach. We finished dinner in time to listen to the string quartet and then went on to the show. Tonight's performance was by a young women out of NYC who performed a number of classical as well as contemporary hits. She had a fabulous voice and a range like you wouldn't believe. Tomorrow is another day at sea and we're looking forward to hearing more about our passage through the Panama Canal which will take place on Sunday. Good evening!

En route to Aruba

Overnight we lost an hour...sigh. Neither one of us are very fond of "springing forward". This morning we decided to have breakfast a little later taking into account the loss of an hour. It was sunny and warm out, so we opted to have our breakfast set up out on our balcony. 

I think we could have stayed there for hours, and we actually did. I went on up to the 12th deck to take in the sun while Mom stayed on the balcony and read. The winds picked up quite a bit, and by about 1:15 I'd had about all the sun/wind I could take. Neither one of us was very hungry this morning, so by 1:30 we were ready for a bit to eat. We managed to make it to the Queen's Grill for lunch, surprising our waiter. Mom had the sweet and sour pork while I went Italian and had the spinach ravioli. Mom decided to try Eve's pudding for dessert. It looked a bit daunting, but was ever so tasty.

I had sunned enough, so after lunch we did some shopping around the ship and before we knew it, it was time for tea. We had a great spot for people watching both inside and out on deck. We enjoyed our "gunpowder green mint tea" along with some scones and clotted cream. The other sandwiches and sweets that were presented looked divine, but we were both too full at that point. After tea we came back to the suite to catch up on Fox News. Before we knew it, I think we both had fallen asleep for a bit. Marchell soon arrived with evening canapés and some blue cheese and crackers. So's here's something funny. Yesterday, I ordered blue cheese and olives so that I could make blue cheese stuffed olives for a martini. It's not like Silversea where all you do is mention it and within 24 hours every bar onboard has it. I had to take a more proactive approach and stuff them myself. Well tonight he brought more blue cheese (since he thought it must be a favorite). We hadn't even opened it when I started to smell something reminiscent of smelly feet. It wasn't long when we realized that it was the type of blue cheese that they had sent to our suite. It's a French blue call Eppoise, and it is very very pungent. We braved the small and tasted it. Sure enough, it was a lovely cheese. It was time for us to get ready for our first formal evening, the Black and White Ball. 

We donned our gowns while enjoying an original cocktail that we created just for this trip. We arrived in the dining room around 8:15 and settled in for a delicious dinner. I started with caviar, and ended up with a second serving. I think it's some of the best I've ever had. For our entree we opted to have lobster thermador and some sautéed spinach as a side. It was truly an awesome meal followed by one of our favorites, a white chocolate grand mariner soufflé. I'll leave it at that. After dinner we made our way down to the Black and White Ball just for a moment. We ended up in the Royal Court Theater for a Celtic musical which was incredible. The singer and dancers did an amazing job. By now it's after midnight and time for us to get our beauty sleep. Tomorrow we arrive in Aruba! See you then.

Day at Sea

First of all let me say that the internet does not appear to be my friend on this trip! It took me yesterday and all day today to even get connected, and the iPad has presented it's own set of challenges when it comes to the blog. Now that I have that said, today has been otherwise a wonderful day. We actually woke up at 7:30 - yes, shocking for those who know us, but it was a nice change. We had breakfast in our room and noticed that the seas were so calm that we didn't even feel like we were moving. Most of my morning was spent trying to get online as well as going to a seminar on Aruba. We will not arrive there until Friday, so we are spending two days at sea. We were on our balcony, but it was in the shade and a bit breezy. We ventured up to the Grills deck where we found our spot for the next few hours. They have the most comfortable lounge chairs and we were able to get out of the direct wind. Not much can be said for this afternoon other than we thoroughly enjoyed lounging in the sun. We had planned to get a bite of lunch, but I thought maybe just a sandwich. Within less than a minute a steward appeared with a selection of sandwiches for us. It was like he read my mind! A little later in the afternoon they came by with some ice cream to cool us off. We couldn't ask for better service. At one point we looked out over the sea and there was a perfect rainbow that started and ended in the water. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me. We stayed out until we realized we were turning pink (which turned out to be closer to red after a shower). At long last I was able to connect to the internet, but I think everyone else must have been on as well because I couldn't get the photos uploaded. I soon gave up as it was time for our "cocktails and crosswords". I think this became a tradition on our very first crossing on the QM2, but we now look forward to it. Mom has already gone through about 6 crosswords in just 2 days. We enjoyed our bloody marys and canapés while we dressed for dinner. 

Tonight was our first semi-formal occasion. We managed to get upstairs to dinner about 7:45 PM and as we walked in we saw a very familiar face. I will have to find out her name, but she and her husband we on the trip last year from NY to Dubai on the QM2. We didn't officially meet them until the very end, but we recognized them nonetheless. Mom and I copied each other on dinner tonight, a lovely seared salmon and blackened shrimp. The shrimp were too spicy for our palettes, but everything else was perfect. We topped it all off with a rhubarb tart and creme anglais. After dinner we wandered around and found the string quartet playing in the midship lounge. We've noticed a lot more movement on the ship this evening, so we've had to watch our step. From there we had to take a walk down to the Queens Room where we could watch all of the dancers, or those who were at least giving it a try. Tonight we have to spring forward an hour, a occurrence that Mom has been complaining about all day - I guess since I was all exciting about only heading west. Maybe I should look at the map more closely next time!

All Aboard!

After a wonderful night's sleep we awakened bright and early at 6:30 AM so we had time to get our luggage ready. They keep to a tight schedule and by 8:30 our luggage was picked up from our room. We went down to the lobby restaurant and had a yummy breakfast of orange French toast and sausage. It was such a large entree that we ended up splitting it. We're trying to be a little smarter about all of our meals this time. We went back up to the room to ready our things, when I realized that I'm having some trouble with the posting to the blog from the iPad. I had planned to test all of this out before I left, but due to other circumstances, that didn't happen. Evidently, the iPad is not quite as streamlined as I thought. I did get a wireless Apple keyboard which has been the best addition ever. I think I've finally figured out how to get the pictures uploaded, but things may look a little strange until it's figured out. We finally boarded the buses about 12:20 and were to the terminal just a few minutes later. 

While we waited we saw a familiar site. We had to find our luggage and then finally boarded the buses about 12:20 and were to the terminal just a few minutes later. The queues were quite long, but thanks to being in the Queens Grill we were able to get through very quickly. We were taken to our suite and showed around. The Queen Victoria is quite a bit smaller than the QM2 and you can really feel the difference. Our suite is beautiful and we have a balcony that is larger than any trip we've been on to this point. It was already 1:45, and me, not wanting to miss a meal mentioned that we should head up that way. The QG dining room is up on the 11th deck with fabulous views. We enjoyed our lunch (Greek salads and lamb) and just took in the views. It was after 3 before we returned and I was excited to see that my luggage had arrived. Mom continued to work on crossword puzzles while I unpacked my bag. The time goes by quickly and before we knew it it was 5:00 PM and time to muster. This is one of our least favorite activities, yet very important. After this was concluded we returned to our suite and our other luggage had still not arrived. Needless to say, Mom was starting to get very worried about the location of her bags. We met our butler Marcell and he said he would track them down. 

Only moments later, one bag arrived. We opened our champagne and I quickly went to work getting all of our gowns hung up and in the closet. We were still short one small bag which arrived about 7:00 PM. We finished our champagne and started getting ready for dinner. 

Tonight was elegant casual, so not as much "readying" needed to be done. The dining room was quite full when we arrived and we quickly started deciding what we would have. Mom started with chicken livers, a cold soup and proscuitto wrapped scallops. I too opted for the scallops, but had the smoked salmon to start. The ship departed the port about 9:15 PM, so it was a great view as we departed. We wasted no time getting back to our room and getting ready for bed. It's been another long day and we need to get some rest. Hopefully I can get the shipboard internet squared away tomorrow so I can get these posts uploaded!