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

ARUBA

We have reached the half way point and now head out southeast for two days in the Caribbean…Have picked up lots of new cruisers in Ft. Lauderdale, will get to know some of them as we head back to San Diego.

Open seating is fun, generally have lunch and dinner with 2 new couples everyday…Saturday dined with a couple from Scottsdale who summer in Montana and a couple from Logan, Utah who winter in Mesa. Sunday met a minister and wife who live in Seal Beach but teach in Thailand in the summer and another couple from Henderson, Nevada on their 64th anniversary trip.

Sunday morning Liz found a man swimming with her, so she had to speed up a bit to leave him in the dust (waves?)…I read some classic books in the morning…TS Eliot’s poems…maybe that will help me? and the War of the Worlds, with pictures…Nothing like reading the classics and observing the people around the library. Everyone had glasses!! Very quiet and sedentary except for one loud gentleman and his PAPA? There’s always one?

Saw a rich skinny old man with a very attractive redhead eating breakfast at the Pinnacle? Didn’t know the Pinnacle was open for breakfast…I guess they will do anything to part you from your money.

Liz and I both were in the finals for the 4th Blackjack tournament…I had qualified with $3100 and Liz with $1800…Liz came in 4th and could have won the $500 bucks with a blackjack on the final hand but NO…I came in 5th…Two more blackjack tournaments…The odds are getting better??


Tomorrow morning Aruba…we are looking forward to an interesting day in Aruba… Pics and Videos below…

Arrived right on time...Neat little town and Island...should have fun and get FREE internet??


Bye for now....Liz and Dick