Swine Flu, Earthquake and FLOOD???

Greetings from San Elijo...

Yeah, I know it's not on the schedule, Holland America does not have a dock that I know of in San Elijo...

Actually, Liz and I are relaxing in the spacious living room of my daughter Laura...

The bad news is when we got home, our Ocean Hills Country Club home was in the process of being restored due to a exploding toilet, while we were cruising... Who knew, it was definitely an Act of God.

Good thing that I won the Black Jack Tournament and another $300 on 3-card poker on the last night of the cruise...

Anyway, it looks as though Liz and I will be looking for temporary living quarters....or maybe just get back on the ship...heading to Vancouver and Alaska...

Many thanks to my daughter Laura for handing the insurance and restoration projects now going on...

Pictures will be forthcoming, once we get situated...

Cheers,

Dick and Liz

Heading into the back stretch

YEAH, YEAH...LAST CHANCE TO WIN THE BLACKJACK TOURNAMENT

AND I WON...NOW WE CAN PACK, HAVE A BIG BREAKFAST AND COME HOME...

CHEERS..........LIZ AND DICK

24 hours till the port of San Diego....

Last day should be filled with anticipation, saying goodbyes to friends, big lunch and dinner and final Blackjack tournament...Really got to know lots of people from many countries and different cultures...

Cruising is so great for sitting back and relaxing and enjoying life and other people...especially NO PHONE...but must get back to normal tomorrow...

Know some people who will be taking 30 or more days in the fall...I would say that about 25% ofthepeople on this ship took the "whole enchilada" 28 days from San Diego to San Diego...

Liz is starting to pack some stuff, so we will be ready for the debarkment procedures...Should be a snap with no other transportation needed except LAURA...Thank you Laura... Other people are scrambling for planes, trains, buses or hotels...Really nice to be so near San Diego and the port...

Here are a few more pics...

Cabo is Quarantined...Heading Home

We are at sea for two more days...formal night and the last night should be big blasts with the Final Blackjack tournament???

Boring day so far, people are reading, puzzling, playing games, eating and wondering what is happening in Cabo...

Having a good time, have a little extra internet time...later...

Dick & Liz

Acapulco Rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yipes, just after we found air conditioning and an internet cafe, the earthquake hits. and we thought the four story building we were in had HAD IT? Cracks and creaks like we have never heard, glass shattering...Liz left in a hurry...I protected my laptop and signed off in a hurry without finishing the upload of the Video of the internet cafe?????

The earthquake stopped after about 10 seconds, but it was NOT FUN...The walk to the ship was also eventful, people jammed in the streets, buildings evacuated and horns like downtown New York...We got lost trying to find the ship...one of the streets gates was CLOSED on Monday...Started to look like a real bad day...but found directions from someone eventually, the police don't even talk english???

Anyway, back on the ship and really thankful, lots of people had similar experiences on excursions, one lady was naked when the earthquake hit...she had been diving to see some dolphins.???

All is OK, except the captain just informed us that we will NOT be stopping at Cabo tomorrow morning, but other than that Life goes on, no one was hurt, no one has any Flu....and we are enjoying all of the excitement...well, we could go without the extra crap...

Will try to post what I couldn't yesterday..

See ya tomorrow...Liz and Dick on the way to Cabo.....

Acapulco...the old town...walking???

Yep, that's right...No resorts, no tours...just Liz and I walking the streets of old town Acapulco...

We did pick up a helper Alfredo and eventually found an internet cafe (video attached) and took a few pics of the bay by the ships...The Royal Carribean ship followed us from Hualtuco and we beat them here...

Our Captain was very happy today....He said to us that "he was happy he found Acapulco",
There is a Virus scare in Mexico City, but all of the Holland's 14 ships are clean...Yeah..

Tomorrow, last formal night, next Cabo, then the Last Night...and Laura will pick us up on Friday at 10:00am.......Quite a trip....We may just STAY ON....and turn over the house to Holland???

Bye for now...

Liz and Dick

Hotel Hualtuco...In Mexico (Sunday)

Made it back to Hualtuco, Mexico at the Hotel...Internet service is great along with a BIG Corona...Love it here...Liz is shopping and doing the great beach..two big cruise ships have docked here...

All is going well, tomorrow Acapulco then Cabo, and home on Friday....Laura will pick us up around 10:00am...* I hope...

Met lots and lots of interesting people the least of which are the Dealers from Russia, South Africa, Hungary, Romania, China and other points...doing ok on Black jack, but came in 3rd again in the 5 th blackjack tournament...Thursday will be the Final....I'm due to be #1???

Will post a few pics and maybe videos and send a few emails...and update all the web pages that I can....

Bye for now...

Liz and Dick Travis

Almost to Costa Rica

We have left the Island of Aruba and are heading across the Caribbean Sea for the Panama Canal. This day at sea was very restful, even made some money and enjoyed learning about the Microsoft Live programs on the ship. Liz and I had a nice time relaxing in the Crows Nest (deck 12) around sunset, with a drink and a nap. Then had a very nice dinner.

I had an interesting main dish and both Liz and I had anth excellent dessert.

The main dish that I had was written up as follows:

Fillet of Unicorn topped with carmelized scallions…Served with a dill sauvignon cream sauce, saffron causcous and fresh green asparagus spears. Our waiter explained what this meant in Indonesian. His name was BUDI…He said he was very close to BUDDHA!!

The dessert menu read as follows:

Baked Apple Blossom…A warm flaky pastry wrapped around a stuffed cinnamon spiced apple, surrounded by crème anglaise and vanilla ice cream. The waiter had to check with the chef do explain what all this meant in English….We have found that the average weight gain on this ship is 6 ½ pounds a week?? That might add up to 26 pounds, but I’m sure we will stop eating somewhere around Cabo San Lucas???? Liz only had salad tonight…Good for her..

Tomorrow we will transit the canal from Atlantic to Pacific…Will try to get some free internet off the ship, but probably not, and take some pics…The next night will be formal at sea almost to Costa Rica…

Crusing the Golfo Dulce and running out of internet time...Yipes


Bye for now....Liz and Dick