Cruise Part 14. Back in Florida.

Docked back in Fort Lauderdale at 7 AM. Another scorcher, 30C or 86F

Our total distance travelled, from Ft Lauderdale back to Ft Lauderdale was 3,098 nautical miles or 5,737 kilometers. That's a lot of kms! It's particularly nice  when you don't have to actually drive them.

I was dreading the line-ups and hassles of getting off the boat, but to my delight and relief, they have things so well organized these days. The day prior to disembarking we came to our room to find a pamphlet explaining how it worked, and some stick-on name & number tags. 

First of all, I forgot to mention that the ship docks at 7 in the morning and our flight leaves at 7 in the evening. What to do? What to do?  However, I was pleased to see that there are shore excursions for exactly these types of situations. I was able to book a tour through the Everglades that included the airport transfer (the one where I booked the wrong airport, remember?) 

So, our name tags had the excursion number on it also which made everything even easier, although it did make me feel a bit like I was back in elementary school again. Our tag said to meet in the theatre at 7 AM-ugh. I had gone to the buffet last night and made a couple of meat and cheese buns just in case the buffet was jam-packed with 2000 people trying to eat and leave at once, but when I ran up to get morning coffee I was surprised to see hundreds of empty seats. Like I say, it was well organized. People were given different times for disembarkation, it just so happened that ours was early.

Anyhow, we met in the theatre and at 7AM sharp, our numbers were called and we followed a staff member to the gangplank and then another person checked our numbers and we were on a bus. Because we just had our little carry-on suitcases we didn't have to go to the luggage place and search for our luggage. 

Goodbye Island Princess, we left with no fanfare, no bells or whistles, all of a sudden it was just over.

It was a pleasant drive to the Everglades, maybe 1/2 an hour or so, the fellow on the bus, not the driver but the sort-of-guide thought he was a comedian and regaled us with really bad jokes, everyone laughed politely and rolled their eyes.

We arrived at the alligator and air boat place and and lined up and sure enough, a photographer is there to snap your picture.  You're only in front of a sign, nothing exciting, and they were $20 each. Our bad comedian driver told us earlier not to buy them, becuase he could bring them on the bus later and sell them for $5. What kind of a strange scam is that? Everyone thinks the their guide is saving them $15, so they buy, and probably tip him as well. I'm sure he splits the sales procedes with the photographer. Anyhow, he gave us our photos afterwards and forgot to even charge us anything at all, which is just as well because it's just another dorky picture. Can we look more touristy? 

Anyhow, do you ever watch that show on Animal Planet called "Gator Boys"? Me neither, but Steven does and this is their gator place, so he got a kick out of that. Plus, he's always wanted to go on one of those airboats and see alligators in the wild.

 

It was actually a lot of fun, the mangroves are beautiful, and not quite as creepy as I had thought. I imagined more like the bayou's in Louisiana...dark and sinister. These were quite bright and cheery.

The driver would speed up now and then and take us on a bit of a joyride and my fear was falling out and meeting an alligator. And believe me, they were there and visible.

 

It's really hard not to drag your hand through the water when in a boat, but after I saw a few of these things, silently eye-balling me, I pretty much sat on my hands.

After the boat ride, we went to the rescue centre and watched a strapping young man handle some alligators. These were nuisance gators, this one had gone into someone's back yard and eaten two chihuahua pups. 

Look at it's sneaky grin. There were a dozen or so alligators in the enclosure with this guy, this was one of the smaller ones he handled, I think he said it was about 200lbs.

I probably should have paid more attention to his spiel, but he really was a fine specimen to look at and my mind was elsewhere. The gator was a nice specimen as well.  (ha, ha, I know, corny joke, I'm as bad as the guide on the bus.)

Resting his chin on the alligator's chin

After this we had a chance to shop in their store, I bought water, I think Steven bought himself a t-shirt.

And then we headed to the airport, so see 'ya later, alligator. (Again...I know...but you have to say it)

The  bus dropped us off at the Air Canada terminal, and since we were a few hours early for our 7PM flight the line up through security was minimal, it didn't take long at all.  We found a restaurant called The Torn Basil and had the best little pizzas I have ever had. 

The flight was uneventful and we reached Montreal on time, there were no line ups through customs or security, but mind you, I had booked seats in the area right behind first class, the "in-between" of first class and economy, I can't remember what it's called, but the seats are roomier and you can get off the plane super quick, and with no luggage to wait for, we booked it to the in-terminal hotel. I tell ya, I'll never stay in a hotel that isn't in the terminal again when I have an early flight. We were in our room, literally, within 25 minutes of leaving the plane. No waiting for luggage, no waiting for a shuttle, no getting up extra early to catch the shuttle next morning. Obviously with age I have discovered I need a bit more "easy and simple" in my air flight life.

The room was glorious....beds were like clouds and the curtains were black-out. I was able to practice my pathetic French, but I did learn it in Quebec, so the québécois here was ok. Morning came far too early, I think the alarm was set for 5:30, so we stumbled out of the hotel and to our gate. The wait wasnt long, we lined up according to our "group number" on our boarding passes and after the first group left, there was a bit of a wait because they were lookiing for someone or something, I'm not sure, but the point being, I was first in line for the next group....there was no one in front of me for me to follow. The gate-lady gestured us through, and I headed down the corridor.

Now, let me mention, as you know, those corridors go directly to the plane. They don't go anywhere else, thus the reason there is no one there to point you in any direction. Well, at one bend there seemed to be a junction of sorts, and I took the one that seemed to continue in the plane direction, and of course 100 or so people were behind me. Aaaand.....dead end. WTF? I hastily and shamefacedly did an about face and headed towards the unmarked junction, the group following me like lemmings. How embarrasing. One fellow said, jokingly I hope, "Remind me to never follow you again." I just mumbled "No one should ever follow me, ever." Eventually we boarded and flew away. Tried to watch a couple of movies, but the exhaustion had set in and we both dozed off and on. Got to Calgary on time, had a short wait, about 45 minutes I think, and then caught the 18 seat mini-plane home. Our friend picked us up and in 20 minutes we were home. All over and back to the usual routine. Steven is always happy to return home, but not me, I could travel for months and months at a time. Really, I really could. 

I will do one final entry after this one, a synopsis of sorts. 

Welcome Home.

Cruise Part 13. The last sea day...

Since departure yesterday we have travelled 361 nautical miles at about 19.3 knots. Much quicker than usual, maybe the captain is in a hurry to get home.

The temperature is 30C or 86F and humid. Most of the day today we can see the coast of Cuba and the buildings of Havana are visible. Getting close to Florida. 

Breakfast was Eggs Benedict and lots of fruit. The pineapple, bananas and mangos in the buffet are so fresh and delicious that neither of us can get enough of them.Then we hot tubbed and swam for bit before starting the inevitable chore of packing. Actually, packing wasn't too bad since I didn't really buy anything. A small bottle of hot sauce for one son, at his request, and that went in my liquids bag for carry-on, a linen shirt for second son, that was his request, it was thin enough to fit in my carry-on and that was that. Easy-peasy. I did buy one picture of the two of us, it's not great but it's the best out of what I think might have been as many as 50. 

And before I knew, it was lunch time! We both had stuffed calamari for a starter and Beef Bourginone for a main. Steven had a banana split for dessert and I had creme brûlée. Our last sit down lunch.....

The main pool was empty, which made for an awful lot of pissed off people. The staff said it was "for maintenance", and I guess it was, but they could have done it this evening. It's obvious that once the cruise is basically done, the fawning over the passengers is done as well. I remember this from our other two cruises also. 

We wandered thru the casino and used the last of our credits (didn't win) and did some swimming and hot tubbing in the other pool and before long it was suppertime! Can you tell that food is an important part of my life?

I had a watermelon and feta salad with roasted pumpkin seeds and a citrus dressing, as well as a seafood terrine. For a main I had salmon with a glazed tamarind sauce. Steven had a pork riblet and Caesar salad and a New York strip steak for his main. For dessert we both had Baked Alaska. That must be "a thing", the Baked Alaska Parade on the last night. The kitchen staff all come out with Baked Alaskas on a trays,  with a candle (a battery operated one) on each, and everyone sings and applauds as they circle the dining room.

I remember on our cruise to the Bahamas, the staff actually balanced the Baked  Alaska's on their heads, and they were flambéd and the flames were pretty high! I guess all that is a thing of the past, but the song was the same, "Hot Hot Hot" by Arrow, and covered by everyone from Buster Poindexter to Menudo. It's a catchy tune though, and suits the occasion. It was, like many things on the boat, cheesy but fun. And the cake was excellent.

The show that night was, without exaggeration, fantastic. It was called The Secret Silk and was produced by the composer of "Wicked", Stephen Schwartz  (he wrote songs for "Pocahontas", "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", "Enchanted" and others. The dragons and monsters, (of which there were many) are all from Jim Henson's creature shop. It was as good as the Broadway productions of "The Lion King" and "Warhorse". I seriously would not have been disappointed if I had paid money to see it. It was created especially for the Princess Cruise Line, but I'm sure it would be equally at home on Broadway. 

We were in bed by 11-ish, as usual, and the engines were just as irritating as they were on day one, except I was a bit more used to them, but I'm sure glad I had the foresight to bring along some Gravol as it's a great sleep aid.

Good night.

Cruise Part 12. Grand Cayman and Hell.

We travelled 293 nautical miles since yesterday at an average of 17.5 knots. The temperature is 30C or 86F. There is a breeze, but the sky is cloudy.

We docked at 7 AM and there were tenders all day long to ferry passengers to and from Grand Cayman. The ship has to drop anchor further out as it's too shallow for a proper port close to the island. Tenders ran back and forth all day like busy little ants.

The little boat to the left is a coast guard type of boat or a pilot boat, the tender is the tiny one snuggled up the ship, in the middle. I'm not sure what the small black thing is, over to the right. A periscope? Checking for money launderers? 

Apparently during the busy season there are 6-8 big cruise ships anchored there at a time, making for extremely busy tours, streets in town, long waits for a tender and so on.  There was one other ship when we were there, and it left before us. Another huge plus for going in the off season.  

Grand Cayman is super clean and very, very wealthy. A huge amount of foreigners both live there and bank there. Yes, this is the home of the infamous "off shore banking" accounts, this and Turks and Caicos are the two main ones left now that Switzerland has changed their policies. (Of course Switzerland was never literally "off shore", but you know what I mean.) 

A clean and colorful place. 

We met up with our tour guide and bus, a very tiny group today, hoorah! I think most people wanted to tender in and out,  and shop at all the fancy stores. Apparently watches are "the thing" to buy here. Patel Phillipe, TagHeurer, Cartier, Blancpain, Chopard and even the "lowly" Rolex, which is #12 of the top 15 watches to purchase here. 

I guess whatever floats your boat (hahaha, cruise humour), but a watch is a watch is a watch. I don't understand people who need to have the best of everything, but that's a rant for another day. 

(As a side note, when I was in Lichtenstein, I discovered that "the thing" to purchase there is false teeth. More false teeth industry in that teensy little country than the rest of the world. How odd.)

We stopped at the legendary 7 Mile Beach (which I'd actually never heard of) to learn that it's only 5.5 miles long! Scandalous! 

There was an unattended stall selling conch shells, no price so I'm not sure how much they were, but I am pretty sure that we can't bring them into Canada anymore. I have two from years ago when we were in the Bahamas, and we paid $2 each. I imagine they are worth much more than that now.

Then we went to Hell. It's the actual name of the place, the story is: back in the 1500's the first explorer who saw this place said "What the Hell?" 😕. Obviously not quite the truth, and it's now just a kitschy tourist attraction, but it did look sort of hellish and it was certainly as hot as Hell. But they stamp your passport, and I was overly and ridiculously thrilled with that. Doesn't take a lot to thrill me.

When in Rome....

 And the reason they call it Hell:

It was a bit of an eerie sight. 

They have a post office here and it's popular to send a postcard home  "from Hell", but I wasn't interested. The passport stamp was what I wanted. 

Anyhow, after that short and strange little stop, we headed to a rum factory. A rum and cake factory actually. Unusual combination, and more of a kick-back shopping stop for the tour guide than anything else, but we did have samples of both rum and cake. There were 2 types of rum, plain and pineapple. I tried the pineapple and oh my god, to my surprise it was like nectar of the gods! Thick and sweet and like a pineapple liqueur. The cake was saturated in it, as well as having it in the batter before baking, and it was just as fabulous, even more because, well, it was cake! 

As I've said, I'm no shopper, but man, did I want one of these. They actually have enough liquor in them that you can become impaired by eating a few slices, not "tipsy" drunk, but enough to show in a blood alcohol test. "But officer, I swear, I only had cake today..."  That's what they told us anyhow, not sure how true it is, but the ones they sell at the store are not the same "quality" as the ones on the website, so maybe they do have more booze in them. The ones you order online have 1% alcohol. 

They called this a "tour" of the rum and cake factory, and it wasn't really a tour, you could look through windows and see the cakes being made, and the same with the rum, but it was still a fun stop to get to have a few samples, plus the store had fabulous air conditioning. Whew.

 

For those that bought booze, it was delivered to the ship and taken somewhere to be stored until disembarkation. It is very much against the rules to bring alcohol onto the ship by yourself. A few of the ports had duty free shops, as well as the ship itself, and all the liquor you buy is set aside for you until you leave the ship. 

Still more to do today. We hopped back on the little bus and headed over to a sea turtle rescue/breeding "farm". 

They were so big!  The facility was initially used to breed the endangered green sea turtle for commercial purposes. By raising the turtles in a farming operation, the turtle meat could be produced for local consumption without depleting the wild population of the species. It sounds sort of harsh, but it's no different than raising cattle, pigs, sheep etc for consumption in North America.

"Although still in operation as a farm for raising turtles in order to sell product, the Cayman Turtle Centre has been developed into an important research project and conservation facility." (From their website)

So these giant sea turtles are all rescues, and not going to be eaten.

They also breed them and release the babies once they are old enough to survive. It was a huge 23 acre compound, you could spend a whole day there, if one had the time and the inclination, of which I had neither.

Steven was allowed to hold a young one, but they struggle, so he had to lean over the tank in case it struggled it's way to freedom, however his promptly fell asleep as soon as he picked it up. 

There was also a odd (to me) amount of chickens and roosters there.

Just strolling into the shade.

Posing nicely.

It was soooo hot that even the iguanas were hiding in the shade.

We were then ushered into the gift shop, as you know, the exit is almost always through the gift shop and people just shop like crazy. I used that time to find a washroom and also to buy a cold drink. 

After that we headed to a small dock and boarded a boat to go.....TA-daaaah! Swimming with stingrays. 

Now. Let's have a quick chat about cavorting with wild animals.  It's something I vehemently disagree with, I would never swim with dolphins, I won't go to a zoo or a sea park. Certainly some rescue organizations are legit and helpful, but the majority of them are not. They're businesses and in it for profit. We do not have "the right" to see animals in captivity, bottom line. 

So you're thinking, "Well,  Ms Hypocrite, were you not at a turtle farm just two hours ago?" Why yes, yes I was.  And they have indeed rescued hundreds of sea turtles, but you are not allowed to swim with them or touch them. They will be re-released back into the ocean. They are the ones who have been injured by propellers, plastic bags, refuse in the sea, fishing nets and lines etc. The ones we were allowed to touch are the ones who are farmed, which, before you scream "EEEK! Cruel!", it's no different than petting a calf or pig or lamb that will end it's life in a supermarket. Sea turtles are raised in these islands as a sustainable food product. So there.

Anyhow, back to the stingrays. When I first saw this as a shore excursion I thought it seemed like a really amazing experience, and when I did a bit of research I was happy to see that they are not in any sort of an enclosure, to the contrary, they are out in the ocean, and it's hit or miss as to if you will see any. They come and go as they please.  Like whale watching off our coast. 

So I signed us up, I didn't tell Steven as I knew he'd love it and be bitterly disappointed  if it didn't pan out, weather wise as well as stingray wise. I sort of wanted it to be a surprise. 

So we waited on the shore for out little boat to come for us. This little boat came from nowhere, we got on and rode for 30 minutes towards the horizon. I wasn't sure how the whole thing was going to work, especially since there were no visible life jackets, I'm wondering how the "swimming" part was going to  pan out when you're 30 miles out to sea with no life jackets. 

 

To my surprise, there is a sandbar out there, with the water only 3-4 feet deep. Our guy just hopped right out and stood with the water up to his waist. He gave us instructions on how to touch a stingray...only on their edges and "wings", not the middle or their tails. We were not allowed to wear any sort of watershoes or sandals, I guess in case you accidentally stepped on one, so as not to cause an injury. As he was telling us this, a whole group of them swam right over. A group of stingrays is called a "fever". There must have been 30 or more, a couple were the size of a large dinner plate, but others were huge, easily kitchen table sized. We were told to jump in, so we did.

The stingrays swam over to us right away, and brushed against us, undulating around our legs, actually pushing us over into the water. They appeared at an alarming rate, all around us. They were so soft, like fuzzy, warm rubber. It was the weirdest thing. It was amazing. Have you ever seen a stingrays "face"? Adorable....

(Not my picture, I didn't have my camera in the water)

 

They would come right up to the surface and smack their wings, or fins, or whatever that part of them is called, on the water.  We were given a piece of squid and had to hold it in your fist, with your thumb tucked in and the squid sticking out.  Our guy reiterated a few times "Thumbs  in! Thumbs in!"  Well, holy cow, when the creature takes it, he (or she...) he sucks it in and the suction is unreal...I'm sure your thumb would be gone along with the squid if it wasn't tucked in. Even with it's mouth underwater you could hear the gurgle of the suction. Very cool. They are incredibly docile and sort of reminded me of cats, rubbing around your ankles.

Of course I accidentally stepped on a tail and had a moment of Steve Irwin fear, but I survived with only two tiny scratches. I figured the salt water would clean any germs, and apparently it did because I'm still here with my foot intact. I didn't say anything to anyone, so my death would have been a mystery.

My stingray injury on the arch of my foot. 😊😊

The water was so warm and so crystal clear with big waves that sort of rolled you over into a fever of stingrays, it was the best day ever. Something I'm sure I'll never do again. 

After it was all over we took the little boat 30 miles back to shore and took our tender back to the ship and tidied up for dinner. For a starter I had a yucca fritter stuffed with spicy beef, as did Steven and we had chateaubriand for our main, and a Grand Marnier Soufflé with vanilla bean sauce. Mmmmmmm.

The entertainment was a comedian/guitar player, he was really very funny, one of the better shows.

Oh, I forgot this story. When we were in our room  earlier, Steven wanted to see the airport transfers, which annoyed me because they were all packed away, but he insisted, so I grudgingly got up and dug them out of my suitcase. I had booked them weeks ago, along with all of our shore excursions, and I had booked everything very, very  carefully, checking times again and again because once you hit that "purchase" button, your credit card is charged. 

He says "Oh. I didn't know were were flying out of Miami." And I said "Ha-Ha. Not funny."

He says "I thought it was Ft Lauderdale" and again my comment is "Not funny." He handed me the vouchers. Well, fuck. It says Miami. How could I have possibly not noticed? 

I flew down to the shore excursion desk and of course they were closed for the next few hours. I was a mess thinking that this was going to cost me big bucks. 

After a restless and nervous wait, they opened and I was first in line and when I explained what I had done, she said "Oh. No problem, I can change that in a jiffy."  And she did. I'm sure my sigh of relief could be heard all over. Can you imagine if he hadn't noticed until we were at the airport? Yikes.

Anyhow, I slept well after that, and tonight we change the clocks again!!

Good night.

Cruise Part 11. Another sea day.

It's 29C or 84F today, clouds off and on. We have travelled 316 nautical miles since leaving Limon yesterday at a speed of 17.5 knots per hour.

I like the sea days because we can sleep in, but I also find that they make me a bit restless. I stare at the water a lot. It's quite mesmerizing and...now don't be alarmed, I don't mean this in a bad way, but it makes me wonder what it would be like to leap off of the balcony.

The water always looks like someone has just dived (dove?) in there. I wonder how many people actually do jump/fall/get pushed overboard on cruises? I bet it's waaaay more than we think.

Well. That was a gloomy start to the day.

We went to the buffet for breakfast this morning and I was surprised at how few people were out and about. The ocean looked the same as ever, but the ship was really swaying. The pools and hot tubs  had little waves and the water was slopping over the edges. Our coffee cups at the breakfast table were visibly moving. I thought it was kinda cool, but the little store ran out of Gravol and Dramamine. I saw a honeymooning couple with a green bride and a loving husband distraught because there was no more seas-sickness remedies for sale. (I know this because you can't help but eavesdrop in such tiny spaces and she was saying "What a horrible way to end our honeymoon" and he was consoling her: "Its ok, it happens, let's  get some tea and you can go back to bed" and the salesclerk was telling them to go to the ship's doctor and get a shot of something.) 

It was windy and a few raindrops were starting to appear, so Steven went hot tubbing in the covered area and I got a lounge chair answer read (and stared at the water). We decided to go back to the art auction, man, that guy was really funny and we had some free champagne and before long it was time for lunch. So much eating on a cruise.

We checked out all our photos at the photo studio, out of dozens and dozens and dozens, only one was even remotely worth purchasing. I've never met anyone as unphotogenic  as me. I decided to not buy it in case a better one came along. Those photographers are everywhere. It's kind of cool, they just print up all your photos, and line them up in these massive shelves, by day, and you can just pick and choose which, if any, you want to buy. Some are posed and many are spontaneous, or sometimes you're totally unaware a photo was even taken. 

Spent a couple of hours in the casino, which was fun, but no winnings, and then, by golly, it was time to eat again. Tonight was the second and final formal night, but we passed. Such an effort to dress up and pretend to be classy and use the correct silverware. Everyone we met at these dinners were so pretentious. The first question is always "So, how many cruises have you been on?"  (Jackie Jackson....I don't  mean you two....you guys were people after our own heart, and besides, we met you in the buffet!). One couple had been on 72 cruises and another was on their 54th. I don't know what these folks do for a living, but it must pay well. One night when we didn't want to wait for a table for two, we said we'd share (you always have that option) and we ended up with a table of doctors and nurses. No offense to my nurse friends and family....you guys aren't like these folks were. It was ugh. Another time it was a table of some sort of Wall Street types, another ugh because they all seem to want to outdo each other and impress one another. The third "share" was regular folks, or so I thought, until they asked where we were from and I always say "British Columbia, in Canada" and an older lady actually, and I am not exaggerating, said "Oh! That's amazing. Do you live in a log cabin? Or, no, not an igloo?"

Seriously? I though that was basically an urban legend. 

After that we always had a table for two, and that was really a table within inches of another table for two (so that they could be easily moved together for a family of four). That way you could sneakily peek over at the other two and make eye contact and decide if you wanted to chat. We met some awesome people that way. So there's a tip for you...."Beware of the Share" 

Anyhow, back to dinner in the buffet. We had a Bloody Mary Seafood Cocktail, *whew* spicy! Also had seafood salad, which was soooo good that I went back for more, then Beef Wellington with the flakiest crust I've ever had, whitefish (I think it was monkfish) with saffron and for dessert I had two slices (they were small) of pie. One was "nut pie", come on, how can you not try a pie called "nut pie"? It was like  pecan pie, but with hazelnuts, walnuts etc. The other slice was key lime, and I'm always looking for a good key lime pie, and they are hard to find. I wasn't sure how good this one was so I had to have a second slice from the other side of the buffet to compare and make sure they were up to par. 

The show that night was a singer from Australia who did small bits of comedy through his show. He was a bit off colour and really, really funny. We sat with our mob friends again. He was looking more and more Joe Pesci as the cruise went on. 

After the show we decided to continue with the Aussie theme and go to the buffet for a late night snack of a Pavlova, which I have  always heard about but never tasted. It was delicious. 

Bed at 11-ish, the vibration of the engines was still noticeable and still somewhat annoying, but the two Gravol I was taking every night helped me sleep and no grogginess in the morning. I was thinking I could probably have sold them at a profit today to the green bride and her hubby. 

Good night. Notice no 13th floor.

 

Cruise Part 10. Costa Rica and the rainforest.

Panama to Limon was 191 nautical miles and our average speed was 18.6 knots. Temperature was 25 C or 77 F with a breeze. It was glorious!

Hellooooo Costa Rica!

Our tour today wasn't until 12:20 so we had a leisurely breakfast at the Bordeaux, bacon and eggs for him and French toast for me. It was "real" French toast, made with a brioche bread and I'm pretty sure the maple syrup was genuine.  I could have eaten more (I actually could have ordered more, but I didn't want to appear so piggish first thing in the morning.)  After that we went to the Lido deck and Steven hot-tubbed with his cronies for a bit while I read and people watched. The crew had their mandatory fire drill, so it was sort of fun to watch them scrambling to their places. We had been told earlier that they had to (by maritime law) enter a certain % of cabins to make sure they were empty, so if you didn't want to be disturbed, or just plain didn't want them in your room, to hang out your "do not disturb" sign.  It was over within 30 minutes or so, but good to know they're on the ball.

I went to the buffet and got some buns, cold cuts, and fruit, and went back to our room and made a small lunch to bring as we weren't going to be near a restaurant for a while. Unlike organized bus tours that have a free breakfast included but absolutely frown on take-away, this was ok and I know this because I asked. I would think that if they frowned on it, there would be no room service, because a person would order the buns etc to their room and when it was delivered they would simply just pack it up. This way there is not a bunch of waiters running to rooms all day, plus more tables available in the buffet. 

We disembarked and found our driver and off we went. It was a 45 minute drive through small villages and towns with an interesting and informative guide.

The houses seemed to be all nicely kept, and they all had a satellite dish on top. I guess the entire world is connected these days. Unless you live in North Korea or Cuba.

I won't bore you with the history of Costa Rica, but I will mention that they have no military at all, one of the few countries in the world that do not. They have police of course, but no army of any kind.

We drove through the banana plantations of Dole, Del Monte and of course Chiquita.

I knew that bananas grew in bunches upside down (in comparison as to how we hang them) but I didn't know that they were covered with blue plastic to keep them from ripening too soon, and also to keep bugs away. But...and I'm getting chills here, that is also why you sometimes find spiders in the boxes of bananas, they crawl in the bags and can't get out. Ewwww. Ewwwww. Ewwww. 

I did not walk into a banana grove if there was the slightest chance that a tarantula was going to fall on me. Some things are best observed from a distance.

We then arrived in a small village and boarded an old train on the historic railroad that was the beginning of the banana industry. I won't get into boring history, but about 100 years ago, the banana train ran all through Costa Rica, and Central America to deliver bananas to the ports. As time went went by and trucking and airlines became the better way, the railway slowly fell apart. There are small sections still running (like this one) mostly for tourists, but some workers still use them to get to and from their homes to the fields for work.

Out guide was really informative, plus the scenery was fabulous, and I loved  the train. It was like an old museum. Lots  of wood and leather.  Some people were complaining that it was "an old piece of junk"  (what part of "ride an old historic train from the turn of the century" didn't these people understand?) 

The one part that had me a little concerned was when we passed this river:

And the train stopped and backed up (it was only 4 cars long) and stopped on the bridge and we were to marvel at how sturdy the bridge still was...after 100 years. I quickly made sure I knew where the windows and window latches were, and hoped that the crocodiles were not waiting underneath for a bridge collapse and a train full of snacks.

 

But all was well and we were given bags of banana chips as a reward for not panicking. Oh, there was also a bathroom on this train, but I was too afraid to look into it. I can only imagine....

  About now it started to rain. It had been drizzly the past couple of hours, but this was rain. And rain and rain and rain. Our guide reminded us that we are in the rainforest, but man, this was a deluge of biblical proportions. Everyone on the left side of the train quickly moved to the right side as the rain was almost coming directly straight in the windows! You could close the windows, but then the humidity was too much. 

We soon burst out of the rainforest (where we had seen a few monkeys and a couple of sloths) and I was surprised to see the ocean right beside. In my usual "always lost" way, I thought we had been going towards the centre of Costa Rica.

The train soon stopped and our bus drove right beside it so that we could hop from one to the other without getting drenched, thus I didn't get a good photo of the train.

We stopped at a huge (yuuuuge) artisan market with maybe 100 little shops, the whole thing was under a roof, so it was rain-free and fun to look at all the crafts and goodies. The walk from here to the gangplank was only a few minutes, but sometimes the actual wait to get in is longer, so I bought two of those plastic raincoats for $2. I only have a dozen or so at home in my travel drawer, and they take up virtually no space.....someday I will remember to throw a couple in my backpack.  We covered ourselves up and made the mad dash to the ship, along with everyone else. It was a "bump to pass" affair and the rain didn't let up. Luckily the wait was pretty much non-existent, but we were still dripping with rainforest tears. (If I phrase it that way it makes the rain sound more appealing, but it really wasn't.)

Getting on the ship requires (in every port) passing through security screening, just like an airport. All phones, cameras, electrical devices, purses and bags have to be put in a tray and go thru the X-ray machine. That's what sometimes holds the line up.  Plus you have to get your princess card scanned as well. I guess the staff  has it down to a fine art in cases of rain and crowds, because it went pretty smoothly.  My big fear was losing  my card, and I'm  sure it happens a lot, but I wonder what kind of hassle it is? I guess that's why they tell you to take your passport with you as well.

So we headed upstairs to shake off the rain and checked out the Bordeaux, which had nothing appealing, so we headed up to the buffet which was having Bavarian Night! All the staff were dressed in lederhosen (they always dressed in the appropriate costume on theme nights, and I'm sure they hate every second of it)

There was schnitzel, spaetzle, bratwurst, knockwurst, weisswurst, bierwurst and something called currywurst. There was sauerkraut in many shapes and forms, saurkraut with bacon, with cheese, with bacon and cheese, there was pork and sauerbraten and a whole suckling pig. Of course desert was Black Forest cake, but also many stollens and other pastries. It was pretty awesome.

We gorged ourselves and then made a couple of laps around the boat before we went to the show, which was "Do you wanna dance?" an extravaganza of dance throughout the world....flamenco, Irish step dancing, Argentinian tango, and a lot of good old rock n' roll. It was a lot of fun and everyone was toe-tapping and/or singing along. I think more than a few folks had had a beer with their schnitzel. (You could also order drinks in the theatre, and every seat had a tiny table, so I mean, how could you not utilize that?)

Bed by 11 and yet another time change tonight. What kind of area is Central America? The time zones are crazy-wonky.

Good night.