Partial Panama Canal Transit - Day 8 - Sea Day

Heading back to Tampa, it was a beautiful sunrise! Some final pictures. First is rounding Cuba (it was a ways away), then of Fary, our fantastic flamboyantly gay waiter at the steakhouse and our fun bartenders at the Alchemy Bar Amel and Nattida. The next day we got into port and drove home. Had a great time!

Partial Panama Canal Transit - Day 7 - Grand Cayman

FINALLY! WE CAN GET OFF THE SHIP! Actually, last night wasn’t too bad, the seas finally calmed down a bit, and I was able to get some good sleep. We were able to get off in Grand Cayman. First things first, we did our PokemonGo-ing. Were able to catch a new Oricorio, the red one, and walk a good bit around the town. Met Cissy and Vernon at the Hard Rock for lunch - lovely time. Also, looked for a flowy orange dress for the Club Orange party on the Holland America cruise in a few months.

Back on the ship, we rested for a little bit, then the Alchemy Bar stop before dinner, then back after dinner. Suraj the magician did a trick with me. I wrote my name on a (fake) million dollar bill, and he did some pretty cool sleight of hand to put it in a little box! Had a little chat with Al and Tamsy as they were passing through to the Red Frog Pub. And retired early for bed. Sorry - no pictures again.

Partial Panama Transit Cruise - Day 6 - Sea Day

Spent most of the day in the room, lolling around sleeping. At lunch, we sat next to Cissy and her husband Vernon. Taught her how to play Five Crowns. Did the Diamond and Platinum party - it was very nice. The captain apologized for having to miss Limon, Costa Rica.

It was Elegant Night in the dining room. Lee and Stacey joined us for dinner. The magician came by our table again - he was fantastic! He did the Stacey’s name on the paper trick, couldn't figure it out. Then, Alchemy Bar to wrap up the night.

Partial Panama Canal Transit - Day 5 - Panama Canal Partial Transit

Very foggy this morning. Not really getting a break on the weather. But we are excited to go through the Panama Canal!! Got to the viewing deck early, but it was already full of people. There’s a very high bridge over the canal as we come in - the Atlantic Bridge. As we came up to the actual locks, there was a Holland America ship ahead of us.

It was very cool to see it lifting up in front of us! Then it moved into the next lock, and the water drained out. We very slowly moved in, the gates swung shut behind us, and we were lifted up! Mind you, this took about an hour.

It took a little over 3 hours to go through all three locks.  Once we were through all three locks, we sailed into the lake and turned around and waited for our return time to go back out. Bill and I had lunch and played cards for a while. Talked with Dick and Deanna at lunch, they’ve been to Vidanta! Then over to the Alchemy Bar for the afternoon where we chatted with Richyle Payne about her grandkids. Met up with Al and Tamsey for dinner in the dining room. Then a few more drinks and bed.

Partial Panama Canal Transit - Day 4 - Limon, Costa Rica

Waiting to reach land and get off the ship for a walk around.

Well, that didn’t go well. We pulled up to the dock, there was already two ships there from earlier in the day. But when we tried to dock, the captain said (afterwards): “It was raining pretty hard, and the swells were so big that it was very dangerous to dock.” So, no docking, another sea day. Which is fine, we saw Costa Rica two months ago.

Went over for trivia, but didn’t have much luck. Then over to the Alchemy Bar to play cards. Then Mataja came to set the bar up. He was not happy because they canceled their day off. :( So we went to get lunch, then back to the bar were Amel and Nattida were also not happy. One was going to have dinner with her husband, and the other was going to lay on the beach with his girlfriend and send selfies to his friends on the “cold” ships.

Met a guy who was saying they knew two days ago that they weren’t going to be able to dock. He seemed extremely bitter about not stopping in Costa Rica because he was going to look for a place to live. I said he should buy a plane ticket and go for a week. But he did not seem like a very nice guy after hearing about his life story.

Anyways, we had fun watching Amel pour out two martini tastings!

Partial Panama Canal Transit - Day 3 - Sea Day

Skipped the hot tub this morning, there were too many people in that tiny tub!

Went to trivia, lost the first game but won the second!! It was about food. :) Bill went up to do the tiebreaker, and won the ship on a stick! Then, had to eat lunch before the Alchemy Bar class. The glass was fantastic, however lots of drama. Bill broke the glass when trying to separate it and all the pieces fell on the floor and my glasses. Then, later, one of the guys on the left, Lee, knocked his over. Amel did a great job with the class! And we talked with Lee and Stacy for a while.

We ended up staying after and talking with Stacy and Lee for a while, they were very nice. Then got ready for dinner at Fahrenheit Steak Restaurant. The steakhouse was fantastic as usual, but one of our waiters was fabulous! His name was a Feri, and he was flamboyant, made the evening very fun. Our other table waitress was Lucky. Talked with our table neighbors for a bit, he started to explain about the casino offers. And he also said, stay away, just pay.

Back to the Alchemy Bar, then tried the comedy show, but it was standing room only so we skipped it. And went to bed.

Partial Panama Transit Cruise - Day 2 - Sea Day

Got up early, walked up on the 10th deck. That was crazy! The ship was rocking side to side, and the rail was not that tall. Moved down to the much safer 9th deck (Lido) and walked around the inside restaurant and Serenity deck. I liked the Serenity section in the back of the ship a lot more than the one on the Liberty. We did the (small) hot tub and met a lady who is a travel agent. She was telling us all about the ships and ports, and we friended her on Facebook.Showered, and went for General Knowledge trivia, which we didn’t win with 15 points. :( Then we had lunch, then went back to play cards with Colleen and Linda for a while. After that, went to dinner, was not impressed. Then one more drink and talked to Alan and Tamsie for a bit before bed. Sorry - no pictures. :(

Partial Panama Transit Cruise - Day 1 - Embarkation and Sea Day

We drove over to Tampa last night. I-4 was a heart stopping mess! But we got there soon enough. Had a quick drink at the bar, and then bed.

The next morning, we took a walk around downtown Tampa playing PokemonGo. I realized we had been here before because some of the stops were already spun. We were here with Anton and Mariah a few years ago and did the disappointing river walk! But it was a crisp morning and a good walk. Then we headed over to the port to catch the ship.

The port was easy, found the parking garage and boarded the ship early. The Carnival Pride is absolutely beautiful! It’s slightly narrower than the Liberty, but it feels so large! Very decorative as I would expect. There was one feature that I loved! The “Secret Garden” on the third floor that went all the way around the front theater. Very serene, and meant for reading and contemplation. And our room was an Ocean Suite which was nice and roomy.
Of course, Guy Fieri’s burger joint! Then we settled in at the Alchemy Bar (opened early!) until dinner. I was not fond of our table which was just the the right of the check in stand. Dinner was ok. The back to the Alchemy Bar where we were able to chat with several people.

Then, my old Air Force buddy Al Audet and his wife walked by, and he said Carla!! So nice to catch up with him! Hopefully we’ll see them again on this trip.

Weekend Cruise - Day 2 - Bimini

Got to Bimini around 7:30 or 8 am. We didn't get off the ship at all. Bill and I went and hung out in the very back of the boat trying to reach that one Pokestop... Got it a few times and we were done. Then up to the front hot tub for a bit. Second breakfast with the kids. Played cards in the back by the pizza place, then moved over to the Alchemy bar. Dinner in the main dining hall, then more cards at the Alchemy bar. It was a very nice and relaxing trip!

Weekend Cruise - Day 1 - Sea Day

Bill and I sat in the hot tub in the morning, then we did the Mind Games trivia. Missed one question and someone else won. 😖 Chris and Ashlee finally showed up! Played a lot of Dead Man's Draw. Saw the comedy show - Percy Crews 2 - funny guy! More games, then dinner. And finally topped the day off with the Rock show in the front theater.

Weekend Cruise - Embarkation

Did a weekend cruise with Chris and Ashlee. We were upgraded to the Captain's Suite - nice!! Didn't do much other than some games at the Alchemy Bar and dinner in the main dining room.

Watts Cruise - Day 6 - Sea Day

Julie: Last night on the ship - Japanese steakhouse was awesome. Spent the day around the pool and then walked the ship for random photos - Eeyore and Al were more than happy to pose for pictures. Home tomorrow and back to our pup pups. The pictures with the two gentlemen and the lady are from Effy’s - the jewelry store onboard the ship - yep - we made a couple of purchases there 🙂

Watts Cruise - Day 5 - Cozumel

Julie: Too tired to post yesterday but we had a quiet day at the beach so not much to see. We did see a huge iguana and we were parked right across from the MSC ship - cool jacuzzi. Our crew welcomed us back with the Ole Ole song which we loved (video). I did take some photos of the buffet as they did some decorations for Thanksgiving - so cute and yes - Dave and I had turkey on Turkey day 🙂 Today - final day at sea - spending it poolside and then an afternoon nap 🙂. Tonight we have reservations for Tappanenay which is a Japanese steak house - can you say hibachi?

Watts Cruise - Day 4 - Costa Maya

Julie: Another amazing day. The Chacchoben Ruins was incredible. Well preserved structures and when we climbed to the top of one there was a whole other one up there you can’t see from the bottom! Al and Eeyore had to stay in my hat because there was so much slimy moss on the steps I didn’t want their little bottoms getting dirty - Eeyore is quite particular about that. Up for tomorrow - last port of call - Cozumel and we will be spending it by the beach in Playa Mia.

Watts Cruise - Day 3 - Belize

Julie: Another amazing day in Harvest Caye, Belize. Today we toured Nim Li Punit. It is a medium sized site from the Maya Classic Period during the 5th century. Pretty interesting tour as I’m always amazed as to how people lived before the era of cell phones. We were also graced with a wild black howler monkey who was watching over us during our tour. Belize is absolutely beautiful and recommend it highly. #Belize. Even Al and Eeyore enjoyed the tour.

Watts Cruise - Day 2 - Honduras

Julie: What an amazing day - we did exactly what we wanted to do - sit out by the beach and relax! Roatan, Honduras is absolutely beautiful and the people are so kind! We went to Maya Key which is an animal sanctuary that only has rescued wild animals. I got to feed the old, blind sea lion (so so sweet) and hold a Capuchin Monkey (even sweeter). The Monkeys name was Chuckie and he stole Dave’s hat. Check out the video! Dave finally found Dr. Pepper so he was very happy. Lovely day in #roatanhonduras! Al and Eeyore had a most excellent time! Tomorrow - on tap - Belize!

Panama Canal Drive By Cruise - Day 10 - Debarkation

We finally got back to Miami around 11:30 am. They started the debarking by muster station. Ugh - we were in muster station G. Announced A with luggage, then went on to B and baggage tags up to 10. Slowly. After group C about 45 minutes later, I asked Bill to go upstairs and see if there was any lunch. Then D & E with baggage tags up to 15. Then, they took an hour break, double ugh. Finally, finally they called F & G. Headed down and got off the ship. Then waited about a half hour on the gangway, it was soooo slow. Finally, get into the building, then in the baggage claim area, it was complete pandemonium! Had to inch through a double line to get to the immigration line, then finally past immigration. Outside, there was a ton of people waiting to get on the boat as well as people desperately trying to find shuttles to the airport. And then to the car. It was about 3:30 pm at this point. Home by 6:30 pm. Thankfully, Frank and Diane made dinner for us.

Watts Cruise - Day 1

Julie: Good morning! Day at sea today and Al and Eeyore are up for it. In two today is just relaxing by the pool - something I’ve needed for a very long time!!

Panama Canal Drive By Cruise - Day 9 - Sea Day

So we had a late night medical emergency stop in Grand Cayman, so we weren't getting back to Miami until around noon on Sunday as we have to go all the way around Cuba.

Played games and lazed around. And Alchemy Bar in the evening.

Watts Cruise - Pre-Cruise Travel

And Julie and Dave are also off for a much needed vacation! They will be on the same Norweigen ship that Chris and Ashlee are currently on. Three hours to Miami and then they will sail away into the sunset! So excited