CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA AND PANAMA CANAL

CARTAGENA - Day 100 - 1 sea day and an early arrival to Cartagena.  Sitting on the north coast of Colombia with a population close to a million.   Near the equator with an average temperature of 82 and high humidity  (85% today).  Colombia is the only South American country with coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.  95% of the world's emeralds come from Colombia. 

We were in port for a very short time and as we will be back in January didn't do a tour.  We walked around the terminal where they have pink flamingos, brightly colored parrots, peacocks freely running  around the grounds and a variety of other birds in cages.  There were also small monkeys in the trees.

We left port by 1 pm to get in the cue for the transit of the Panama Canal early Saturday morning.

PANAMA CANAL -   It was an early morning.  We picked up the first of 2 pilots and a person who described the transit by 6 am.  We were through the Gaton locks by 8:30 and anchored for at least an hour.  I know most of you have either done the Panama Canal or been subjected to videos taken by relatives or friends so I'm not going to bore you with descriptions.

There are about 35 ships that use that Canal each day at a cost of over $100,000 each.  The new locks are not yet open but they have an inauguration of them planned for June 16th of this year.

Pictures - 1 - coastline of the new city (Cartagena ), 2 - parrots at the terminal, 3 -  Coral Princess following us through one of the locks

FT. LAUDERDALE and CURACAO

Our 6th and final leg of the world cruise.  Available cabins became very cheap for Florida people so the ship is pretty full - 629 passengers with 62 Canadians.

FT. LAUDERDALE - we've been there many times and had to change cabins so we didn't plan a shore excursion.  We moved to a  mini suite and, although quite a bit smaller, is certainly adequate and much smoother than the front of the ship.  We now have 2 sea days until Curacao.

CURACAO - an island about 40 miles from  Venezuela. Dutch is the official language but English was widely spoken.  US $ were accepted.

There are big celebrations today for the King's birthday.  We arrived at lunch time and there was a 32 cannon salute.  Not sure what it was for or why the odd number of volleys.  Once again we seem to be docked in the boonies.  It was about a 20 minute walk to downtown Willemstad across a pontoon bridge (built in 1888) which swings open to allow boats to pass.  The city is very colorful with the buildings painted mainly yellow, blue and rust.  Green, pink and red are also seen.

As we were warned the city was jammed with people -almost impossible to walk the downtown area.  Everyone must be given a holiday to celebrate the King's birthday.  Orange was the color to wear.  There were flea markets, all sorts of food and drink booths, musical stages and masses of people.

Pictures - 1 - I think this is similar to a sun dog that we sometimes see in Alberta but the officers called it a rainbow around the sun
2 - brightly colored buildings across the pontoon bridge.

BERMUDA

Day 91 -Arrived in Hamilton, Bermuda after 2 calm and 4 ugly days at sea.  Last night was the
worst with gale force winds and 25 foot swells.  It was almost impossible to sleep.  Our phone went flying with such force that the cord broke - it didn't just come unplugged, the cord broke.  Desks turned over, glasses broke and doors slammed in other suites at the front.

Hamilton is the capital of Bermuda and home to a lot of celebrities and wealthy people.  Some have their own islands.   There are a lot of white buildings mixed in with bright colors like yellow, purple, blue and rust.  The city is very clean and people are very friendly. We took a local bus to the popular Horseshoe Bay beach and when a local got on they greeted all the other riders and wished us a good day when we got off.  It's not quite warm enough for the beaches to be busy but it was one of the nicest we've ever seen with really fine sand -they advertise it as pink sand and you can see a hint of pink when the sun shines on the wet sand.

Bermuda  $ and US $ are equal and both are accepted everywhere.

We now have 2 days at sea until we get to Ft. Lauderdale and we expect that they could be pretty rough.  Around 450 people are disembarking in Lauderdale and they say it's fully booked for the cruise through the Panama Canal to LA.

CEUTA, MOROCCO and MADEIRA, PORTUGAL

CEUTA - Day 83 - On the tip of Northern Africa and considered Spanish Morocco  - across the Strait from Gibraltar.  Average income is 600 Euros per month, 45% of the population are Muslim.  Average temperature is 80.  The port welcomed the ship with flags of the different nationalities aboard.

Washed by the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean and boasting a stunning coastline of blue seas the fortified city of Ceuta watches over the Strait of Gibraltar - it is the meeting point of 2 continents, 2 seas and 4 cultures - Christian, Muslim, Hebrew and Hindu all living side be side.

There was a brilliant red sunrise as I was walking the track.  I only saw it because I was walking the wrong way (which only 1 person mentioned today).

We did a city highlights tour and it was the first ship excursion which was a waste of money. With the exception of a viewpoint high above the city, everything was within walking distance of the ship and some of the stops were not yet open for tours.  We could see the Rock of Gibraltar but pictures turned out quite hazy.

Morocco  border is just 3-4 kilometers away and a passport is required for entry.  One of the busses from the ship picked up an extra passenger as it was returning.  The stowaway was a young Syrian refugee trying to get into Europe.  We understand Syrians have no problem getting into Morocco and then they attempt to get into Europe via Spanish Morocco by catching rides under the tour busses. This appears to be a daily occurrence but they check  under the busses with mirrors and have dogs so it's not too successful.

MADEIRA - Day 85 - After sailing past the Rock of Gibraltar, we had a sea day.  Located in the North  Atlantic Ocean, an island about 550 miles from mainland Portugal and about 370 miles from the coast of Morocco.  Pop. 268K, climate averages 67 degrees.

We've been in Funchal a couple times and have done the wine tasting, toboggan ride and cable car.  The toboggan ride is known as the snowless sled ride.  The sled is actually a wicker basket for 2, set on runners with 2 local guides running along side as it slides at high speed along narrow roads (also used by vehicles) down the steep slope.

We were a couple days late for the flower festival and parades but there were plentiful displays of the flowers on the streets and we saw an exhibition of flowers entered in a competition and the winners.

Entertainment - Karen Grainger from Toronto did two different shows this week.  She does her impressions of a great number of singers from Celine to Shania to Willie Nelson.  She was very good and some of you from the Lethbridge area may have seen her since she has appeared there twice.

Pictures -1 -Cueto,  2 - Rock of Gibraltar, 3 - a clearer picture of the Rock, 4-6 - flowers on the street and some winners

We will now be at sea for 6 days heading for Bermuda so no posts for a few days.

PALMA de MALLORCA and CARTAGENA, SPAIN

PALMA -Day 81 - a day and a half from Malta via heavy, rough seas.  It's another Sunday and there's another marathon that's taking most of the day.  No taxis or hop on hop off bus to city center as a lot of roads were closed for the race.  Len had a bike tour booked but it was cancelled due to lack of interested people so we walked to the old town.  The cathedral supposedly has great stained glass  windows but we couldn't get in to see them unless we went to Mass.  It was certainly impressive from the outside.  The old town again had narrow, cobblestone streets with a lot of small cafes and bars.  I don't think we've ever been in a city with so many boats - several marinas just jammed with sail and motor boats.  It was a beautiful day with blue skies and warm temps.

CARTAGENA - Day 82 - Pop. -217K, average temperature is around 70.  Another beautiful day.  There are 2 other ships in port with us - Costa and Silverseas.  The city was only a short walk from the pier.  The streets of the shopping area are all tiled - no cobblestones here.  Cars sometimes drive down the tiled streets but they are mainly for pedestrians.  Many old buildings, all are well cared for.  Again many sidewalk cafes and bars. There was a big military presence on the streets.

Pictures -1 & 2 - Palma, 3 - Cartagena

KORCULA, CROATIA and VALLETTA, MALTA

We have now started the 5th segment of the World Cruise.  It should be our final leg but Princess gave us a good deal to go from Ft. Lauderdale to Los Angeles - another 17 days so we will have completed the full World Cruise (111 days).  There are now 620 passengers on board with 73 Canadians.

KORCULA - Day 77 - A small island off Croatia - only 29 miles long with a population of 15k.   $1 US = 6.35 Croatian Kuna  - few places accepted either US $ or Euros.

What a picturesque setting!  Imagine sitting in a boat in clear blue waters surrounded by miniature Rockies. The mainland is on our left and the island of Korcula on our right.
We anchored in a calm bay and have a 10 minute tender ride from the ship.  Marco Polo was supposedly born here and as we walked through the old city we saw his home.  Again, many small cafes and souvenir shops along narrow cobblestone lanes. There was a nice shoreline path - the water was clear and a pretty color.  Tourism started to expand in the 60's but we were still in the off season.

It was one of the prettiest sail a ways we've seen on any cruise - we sailed by many tiny little islands.

VALLETTA - Day 79  Capital of Malta one of 4 islands that make up the archipelago of Malta.  Located in the middle of the Mediterranean just a mile south of Sicily.  Pop - just over 420k - language -Maltese and English.  Currency - Euro.   Mostly Catholics but a few other religions also exist.

After a very rough ride we arrived on the Island of Malta.  I can tell you that the Captain's cure of a couple of cocktails does not curtail seasickness.

We visited Rabat where the Catacombs are located.  They've done a lot of excavating and put in narrow pathways so you can tour the burial places.

We also toured Medina and St. Paul's Cathedral - what an ornate place!  Beautiful frescos on the walls and ceilings.  During our walk we tasted a Maltese snack called pastizzi which is puff pastry filled with ricotto cheese.  Then we went to a glass blowing factory.

Malta is a beautiful area with many churches, cafes and bars.

Pictures - 1 - old town of Korcula, 2- some of the islands on the sail away, 3 - coming into the Malta harbour early morning, 4 - inside St. Paul's Cathedral

BARI & VENICE, ITALY

BARI - Day 74 - located in the southeastern heel of Italy.  We sailed into Bari in thick fog (they say they've not had fog for at least 3 years).  It was a Sunday so most places were closed - only a few cafes were open  A marathon was on so there were some street closures and congestion. There was a nice walk around the seawall but otherwise Bari was not a great port.
I think we must have missed something as other people thought it was a great port.

VENICE - Days 75 & 76  Because we're a small ship we were able to approach Venice via the Lagoon.  Our on board destination expert narrated the last hour or more of the sail-in.  It was an amazing experience and made our front of the ship cabin and balcony worthwhile - similar to the Suez Canal as we saw everything on both sides of the ship as she described them.  The only downside of the day is that it's cool and cloudy.

We took a water bus to St. Marks square and wandered for a few hours.  The crowds were big and the pigeons plentiful.  There were lots of restaurants, little sidewalk cafes  high-end shops and souvenir booths.  We ended our day at St. Marks with a pizza, had a gondola ride, picked up some wine and headed back to the ship (we knew that pistachio ice cream was on the dinner menu).  As a lot of you know, Venice has 420 bridges and 170 canals.  The Venice Chamber Orchestra along with a tenor and soprano came on board for a couple performances - what a great concert.

On our second day in Venice we did their version of the hop on hop off bus - only on a boat.  Stopped in St. Marks again to pick up some wine and then carried on to the islands of Lido and Murata before heading back to the ship.  There was local entertainment - 3 Gondolieri singing and playing guitar and accordion - not as good as the night before but interesting.

Pictures - 1 gondola ride, 2 - St. Marks, 3 - start of the Grand Canal, 4 - along the Lagoon as we sailed into Venice

RHODES, GREECE and CHANIA, CRETE

RHODES - Day 71 - One sea day cruising the Mediterranean Sea and we arrive in Rhodes, the largest in an island group in Greece and only 11 miles from Turkey.  There are 2 seasons on Rhodes - rainy winter and hot summer - summer starts the day after we visit.  They average 300 days of sunshine.

It is a Greek custom to spit after giving someone a compliment.  This supposedly protects the recipient from the "evil eye".

Pop 60,000, currency  Euros.

We did a tour covering the old and new cities.  The old city is surrounded by walls and there are large pebbled, narrow streets.  There are around 5000 people living in the old city and you must be a resident to drive a car or scooter on their streets. We spent quite a bit of time in the Palace of the Grand Master where the floors are made of marble and small mosaic tiles.  At the Acropolis  (which just means the edge of the city) we had a great view of the island and Turkey.  There were a lot of peacocks strutting around (it is mating season).

Cafes are numerous and some shops are not open as tourist season will start towards the end of April.  At this time of year the Mediterranean Sea is warm enough that people were swimming but as temperatures rise the snow in the mountains of Turkey will melt and the water will become colder.  There are lots of beaches but most are small pebbles instead of sand.

CHANIA - Day 72 - pronounced with a silent c (or maybe not - it seems to be a personal preference).   Pop around 200k,  language -Greek but English is widely spoken.

Sailed in and anchored around 7 am -saw our first snow since Christmas. This is one of our few tender ports and it takes about 10 minutes to reach land from the ship.  This is a highly unionized country and we expected that Crete would supply the tenders but we did use our own life boats.

Again, this is an old city with narrow streets.  There are lots of restaurants and small shops - several not yet open for the tourist season.  It seems that the ship passengers can't wait to get ashore to eat and drink.  Today people were not only eating ashore but bringing things like Greek salads and baklava back on board - the amount people can consume boggles the mind.

Pictures - 1 & 2 - Rhodes
                    3 & 4 - Chania