Westbound Panama Canal Cruise

So, for those not familiar, Cartagena is in Columbia, South America. We did an excursion when we were here in 2022, where we saw some highlights and were pretty much sure we were not going to get off the ship here, this trip. Many of those on this cruise do this itinerary yearly or every couple years as it is such a great cruise and truly affordable for the length of the trip (two full weeks on the ship, all meals, entertainment included)!!! After hearing and reading about the bird sanctuary located right at the port (no need to even leave the port area, where you are often bombarded by locals trying to sell you goods) we decided to get off just to take a walk at the port. It is definitely hotter in Cartagena than anywhere else we had been. Very humid. We walked around the sanctuary and got real Columbian coffee, Dale of course had an espresso while I got a frozen latte. Definitely was good on a very hot day. We didn't spend much time in the port, but did enjoy our time walking aro...

  Another very early morning, boy these are hard when you stay up way too late enjoying yourself. But we had a great turnout for day two of our 5K’s. This photo is even better as it has the ship on the Funnelvision!!! We had a great turn out both days and I believe everyone that participated had a great time. I heard from so many who really loved the medals. I had some who hadn’t exercised in a long time and this 5K got them out walking and they continued to do that during the entire two week trip. This is one reason I do these, I love to encourage people to get out and get some sort of exercise in.  After the 5K, it was actually off to the gym to get my scheduled workout in, I had a routine I was in and kept at it the entire trip. After my workout, I met Dale at the Cove for coffee and then off to Cabanas for a light breakfast (one of my favorite things on board is getting an omelette made to order with exactly what I want in it) and we went about doing some ‘duck tradin...

  On our last cruise, I organized a 5K for about 140 people on the ship. The Wonder (what we cruised in the fall) and the Magic, the ship we were on for this sailing have a running/walking deck. Deck four goes completely around the ship so that you can get your steps in, or in many cases, get some miles in. A 5K on deck four is just about ten laps around the ship. This cruise the interest in the 5K was even greater with almost 300 people wanting to participate. I had a medal created for the group and those who wanted to participate, ordered the medal through me. There were 280 people who got medals. There were at least another 30 who opted to do their miles, but did not want a medal (so I honestly did not keep track of those after a certain point). With this many people wanting to participate, I had to put together two separate events. This was day one and tomorrow would be the remaining cruisers.  This was a very early day after staying up late to watch the show the evening b...

  Best Day Ever (well, it was one of the best)!!!  Today, we docked in Cozumel. We did visit this port in 2022, but if you recall, I had a broken foot in a boot, so we were limited on what excursions we could do. We had a great time that visit, but this time, I wanted to ‘swim’ with dolphins. The fun thing about this cruise, is we were doing it with friends and when I found out they also were going, it made this so much more fun. Dale was an observer for this excursion so he sat above the pool areas and watched us and took some great photos, but of course the best photos were the ones the professional photographer took that you had to purchase. Look at my smile, it was so worth it!!! But when you go with friends, it was nice that we shared the photo package so it was a little cheaper. I had done my research and already knew approximately how much this was and had budgeted for it. We went to Dophinaris in Cozumel. We had the best guide there and Disney had an amazing set up wit...

Our first sea day was a relaxing one. I woke (before Dale for a change) and went to the gym. I am in the middle of a workout program and was determined to stay on track. I do try to workout on our trips, but some times best intentions are just that. This time, I knew I needed to workout each day to try and offset some of the calories that I was consuming. Dale likes to get up and go get breakfast while I’m at the gym and then he will return to the buffet for his ‘second’ breakfast while I eat. He doesn’t really eat a second breakfast but he will go and keep me company and he will have a pastry and coffee. While at breakfast I met up with my friend Joe who designed our Hawaii cruise shirts. He had made me an Evie shirt. For anyone who does not know who Evie is, I’ll share this adorable Disney Cruise Line ad. Evie has become the infamous, hard to find, souvenir. Thanks to Joe, I have a shirt with Evie on it. We had a couples massage scheduled for this day. When we were on the Wonder in t...