Picture day at school - and yes - breakfast!

Field trip to the zoo! The hats helped me keep tabs on them!

Allie came home last week with a back pack of drawings. Here are 3 of them

Puerto Vallarta

Last port! We had booked a "small group city tour" through Viator before we left home. We found our driver and discovered that we were the only ones on the tour. Our driver/guide, Miguel, was very pleasant and we spent the day seeing all the sights. We stopped at Senior Frogs for lunch, where we asked Miguel to join us.

Now, two days at sea before our arrival in San Diego for our trek home.

Guaymas Today is very cool and very overcast. The town is very poor and very shabby. We walked along the malecon, where there were street vendors and Mariachi Singers, then returned to the ship for lunch and rest. Tomorrow will be a very long day, as our alarm is set for 3:00am!

Copper Canyon

After a very short night, we boarded our bus at 4:15am for the 2 hour ride to El Fuerte where we boarded the train for the Copper Canyon. It was still dark as the train departed, and eventually, as the sun came up, we were able to see the beginning of this wonderful area. The ride was very pleasant and comfortable, as each car had only about 36 people and a Tour Guide in each rail car. We were given a box breakfast to eat along the way. There are two different kinds of people living in this area. The lower altitudes are mostly very poor Mexicans. The railroad company had built many small concrete buildings along the route for the construction workers. When the construction was done they stripped the buildings completely. The locals have moved into these building shells, with no windows, doors, sanitation, etc! The second group is the tribal Sierra Tarahumara Indians. These are not Mexican people, do not speak Spanish and they do not mix, at all, with the Mexicans! The tribal people live in lean-to's and caves in the canyons. They are very poor. The men scratch out some gardens and hunt small wildlife and the women weave baskets to sell to the train travelers. The baskets are made of pine needles and they smell wonderful. The train stops at Barrancas, where the women and their small children run along the tracks with their handcrafted baskets. They are not allowed onboard and the Tour Guides act as onboard negotiators, unless you can get to an open door to pick out a basket on your own. The tribals do not speak English.

At the top of the canyon lunch was served in one of the three Hotels. The one we went to has a dining room right on the rim of the canyon. The view is very beautiful and the lunch was wonderful, including a glass of Hibiscus Juice. There were more Tarahumara's selling baskets and doing some dancing demonstrations.

The ride back to the ship was quieter, as everyone began drifting off to sleep and it began to get dark well before we were completely through the canyons. Once back on the buses, I think that everyone but the drivers were asleep! When we arrives at the dock, at about 10:30pm, there was a whole contingent of senior crew members waiting to welcome us back at the gangway and a special buffet waiting for us in the Lido. We went straight to bed!

Mazatlan

We did not plan anything at this port and so we just took a short cab ride into the Old Town. It was not a very pleasant place, very dirty and uninteresting! We decided to go back to the ship and take a nap!

Holland America - Sea of Cortez Cruise - 1-2-11

New Year's Eve, 2010, was spent with family and friends at the Dallas Stars Hockey game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. We have traditionally gone to the Dallas Stars game on New Year's Eve for many years. This year Jim got a Suite and invited family and friends to help pay for it! It was a great Suite and included food, beverages, beer and parking. Too bad the Stars got "whipped" by the Canucks! Jim wore green hair for the occasion!

Jack and I were booked on this cruise Jan 2nd from San Diego. We booked ourselves on the standby list for San Diego, but the flights filled...so we booked ourselves on a flight to Santa Anna and rented a car, but the flights filled...so we booked ourselves on a flight to Palm Springs, changed the car rental...but the flights filled ... ..... so we booked ourselves on a flight to Las Vegas and changed the car rental! We did manage to get on the flight, arriving in Las Vegas on New Years morning around 7:30am! Once car bound, we headed for San Diego, about a 6½ hour, long, boring ride through the Mojave Desert and then down into San Diego. We had booked a room in the Holiday Inn, again, which is just across the street from the pier. We had stayed here in October when we cruised to Baltimore, through the Panama Canal.

Finally aboard HAL Zaandam, we were pleased to have gotten an upgrade from a "closet-room in the bilges level" to an obstructed view room on the Promenade Deck! The room is okay, except that the dishwashers are just above us and they wash a lot of dishes!

Cabo San Lucas

This is our second visit to Cabo and we decided to just do a little Whale Watching. We booked a tour online, not through the ship, and it was just great! We did see lots of whales. One picture is of a Momma whale with her baby! The weather today was sunny but windy, causing the seas to be choppy! Because this is a tender port, it made it difficult to get to and from shore! Going back to the ship, I went to step off the tender and the ship crewpersons grabbed my arms just as the tender dipped, causing me to land on my knees on the ship platform with my legs hanging over the edge. I threw myself forward to keep my feet from being crushed between the tender and the platform, but then I could get myself up! Finally I had to yell for them to help me up; they just stood there looking stupid! I was so glad to get back to our room and dry off!

Loreto

We spent the afternoon walking through the small tender port town of Loreto. I was overcast and quite cool for Mexico weather! I am having some knee and wrist pain today, from the fall yesterday! Guess I will have to use some Tylenol Crème, but that seems to make me so sleepy! There is very little to see in Loreto, but we enjoyed our stroll through town.

Guaymas

Today is very cool and very overcast. The town is very poor and very shabby. We walked along the malecon, where there were street vendors and Mariachi Singers, then returned to the ship for lunch and rest. Tomorrow will be a very long day, as our alarm is set for 3:00am!

Picture was too big. Will be posted tonight.

Coco Cay, Bahamas, Oct 15th

Hurray! We appear to be in front of the hurricane!

We arrived at Coco Cay under overcast skies. I immediately decided to stay in the stateroom...dry! Besides, as you see, there were critters on the island that were large and loose! Jack did venture out to the tender for a quick ride ashore. The better weather followed and it turned out to be a pretty nice day. This is a small private island, nestled in between many other little islands (owned by other cruise lines). Other than swimming, everything else had a charge...para sailing, seadoing, kyacking, glassbottom boating, and more. The food and non-alcoholic beverages were all brought from the ship and were free, but anything else had a fee.

Noro-virus has not escaped us! We have heard that 60 staterooms are quarantined because of the illness. They say that the virus lasts for 24 hours, however, no one recovers in less than three or four days... We were not quarantined because we have colds, not stomach ailments!

As we sat down to dinner tonight the Captain came on the PA to tell us that we would be making an unexpected stop in Freeport, Bahamas tonight because there was a crew member that needed to have an appendectomy! We watched out our window as the tug boat came up and slipped next to us for the transfer. Poor soul!

At Sea, Oct 16th

We were offered a "Suite" menu for Room Service breakfast this morning! We could not figure that out. When they delivered our wonderful breakfast, they asked about a cake. Jack had no clue and I was in the bathroom, so he said to send it to the dining room! We still had no idea. Today was a special Cruise Critic Luncheon and we were sitting with some very knowledgeable cruisers, so I asked and they said that it must have been on our Profile..our anniversary. We were under the "Don't ask, Don't tell" plan, so they didn't get it from us. When we returned to our stateroom after lunch all was figured out! THANK YOU - JIM STACEY ALLIE BRIAN

Beautiful Bathrobes with matching slippers, champagne, flowers.. What a surprise!

Tonight is a formal night and since all of my evening clothes are still hanging at home we are heading for the Buffet for a quick snack and then on to the Theatre for the Production Show.

Tomorrow is an at sea day and also a packing day, so this will be our last addition for this cruise! When we arrive in port we usually do the "Express Disembarkation", where we drag our bags off the ship ourselves in order to get ahead of the zoo! We had to change that this morning, as I am still having respiratory problems and would have a hard time pulling my bags and using my inhalers at the same time! So.. Irene and Joe, it will be a little later than we thought before we get to Ocean Pines... We will call you when we are on the road...not too early...

GO TEXAS RANGERS!

Love to all.....

At Sea Sunday, Oct 10th

Today Jack started complaining about a scratchy throat. We spent a quiet day and Jack went to another lecture on the Panama Canal. By evening, my ear started to throb and my throat was also scratchy. We decided that spending the day in Puntarenas, on and off the highly air conditioned bus was what had done us in!

Panama Canal Monday, Oct 11th

There were no tours planned for the Canal, but at the last minute the Captain decided to add some shore excursions. We had been through the Canal in March and so a tour would have been okay, but we just were not feeling well! Jack has a full fledged cough and I am now scared to death that I might go into bronchitis, like I usually do. Jack decided to slow down and stay close to the stateroom and I took to the bed or the chair by the window to rest and ward off evil bugs! The pictures are of Holland America's Statendam, also known as "Those Dam Ships". The Statendam was right in front of us in the opposite canal, as we entered. You can see that the Statendam had already been raised about 84 feet and then you can see her sail away from the locks toward the Gatun Lake Bridge. We spent the day cruising around the lake and then we finally went to a pier to pick up those who had gone on the tours. By now, I had a fever and was hovering in the bed, so Jack just got a bite and then came back for a quiet evening.

Cartagena, Columbia, Oct 12th

Determined to get rid of my ailment, I stayed in the room again today. Jack did get off the ship and walk down the pier. We had been in Cartagena in March, taken a private tour and shopped for emeralds, so we really didn't anything here. Tonight was Room Service dinner!

At sea, Oct 13th

Another day for me to rest and re-coop! The fever has gone and now I am just puny! Jack is better but still coughing! We spent the day watching the Miners in Chile on the TV. Jack brought dinner back for me then he ate quick in the Lido and went on to the Theatre for the night's entertainment, a female singer.

At sea, Oct 14th

After leaving Cartagena we were in some bumpy waters all night, but it settled down and since then the seas have been quite calm. This morning we showered and dressed and went for breakfast. I still have to go slow because as soon as I try to speed up, I start to cough! It is a VERY long walk to any food, as our room is just under the Bridge, and all food services are at the Aft.. good exercise, but not when you cough and hack every few feet!

Today was a special Wine Tasting for Cruise Critic people, but we didn't get to breakfast until after 10:00am and that event started at 11:00am. The Cruise Critic group also scheduled the Backstage Tour and the Bridge Tour (no camaras!). We went to the Captain's Brunch for Captain's Club members as we at the Select Level (one more Celebrity cruise to reach the Elite Level) You can only touch elbow to elbow, as there is no handshaking aboard ship, but we did elbow the Captain and some of his top Officers. There were some brunch foods, lots of free drinks and entertainment from the Show People.