LA Sail Away

We hauled all of our purchases on board the ship and made a few more calls to the girls while we still had phone service. We received a call from Betsy that she was going to stay to watch the sail away. This is a picture of her waiting on shore for us to leave. Sorry it is so grainy, but she was far away and I still don't know how to use the camera.

Stirling and Clare went to Costco to stock up on wine. He now created a still life of flowers and wine.

He had to make four trips on the ship through inspections to carry everything on while Clare stood guard of the purchases. Clare left their cell phone in the friend's car. We are hoping it catches up in Honolulu. That was the drama of the day.

We were docked at the San Pedro Port which was a huge container port. It seemed even larger than the one in Hamburg, Germany which was immense.

A day with Betsy in LA

January 30, Los Angeles, CA
Eastern Time minus 3 hours

Los Angeles was the official end of the first segment of our Voyage (New York to Los Angeles). One down, five to go.

We had no trouble getting off the ship as "In transit passengers". We were off in 1 minute and through Customs and Immigration. Our friend Kazzie is British and she told me it took her from 10:15 to 11:45 to go though the same, but she needed to do other things to pass. She even needed to get fingerprinted to enter the US.

Our friend Betsy was there to pick us up shortly after 7 AM. She is a great high school friend of both of ours. She still lives in Waukesha, Wisconsin most of the time, but works out of LA. She is involved in the production of television commercials. She flew out to LA the night before to meet us. First stop was Wal-Mart of course. We stocked up on more supplies and then were off to Starbucks for some good coffee.

Here is a picture of the two terrors of our high school.

This is what Betsy and I do best (errands with a lunch and coffee break thrown in). We have been doing this since we were 16 years old and still enjoy it as much! We get our stuff done and still get time to catch up on the news. When we drove past Tuesday Morning we could hardly keep ourselves from stopping.

Our main stop of the day was to visit the old Queen Mary Cruise Ship. We have been hearing a lot about it on this ship and have attended a couple of lectures about her so it was fun to visit.
We had a wonderful lunch and a couple of Bloody Marys and just enjoyed the day.

Phoning in From LA

I just spoke with Mom, and they are in LA and spending time with her friend Betsy.

It's 8:30am there and they are already done with their Wal-Mart run. She bought a notebook so she can "take better notes for the blog."

Now they're off to Starbucks and then on to Best Buy to purchase the photo software that has been used in the on-board computer classes.

They have been very busy on board. Mom said that on Monday alone she had two computer classes, book club, a lecture, and a group meeting for the online forum www.cruisecritic.com.

They are still looking for the perfect dinner companions, but have a new table tonight as many people are boarding the ship in LA.

She said that she has a lot of on-board photos, including some of Dad fencing, but they're waiting to send them until they have a few days at sea. When they depart LA tonight, they have four days at sea before arriving in Hawaii, and then four more days at sea before arriving in American Samoa.

I think that the more exotic portion of the trip starts now!

Updated:
I think I've said this before, but they love getting the comments. If you have any suggestions on what she should write about, if anything is too long or too short, etc. leave it in a comment.

Mom is up about $150 in Blackjack and thinks she's played about 50 hours so far. Not bad!

They have champagne with Stirling and Clare (on their balcony) every time the ship leaves port, so they stocked up on a few bottles tonight. Stirling and Clare will be on the ship until Sydney.

There is a big gala planned for when the ship is in Lisbon, Portugal. There will be a fancy dinner with free wine, and there is rumor it may be held in a bull ring? Stay tuned for updates.

Liz

Dom Perignon with John and Petie

January 29 en route to LA

One great couple we met on board is John and Petie (Sharon) from Bellingham, Washington.

They talked to Jeff on deck on day when they noticed that he was wearing a shirt from Bellingham that he got while we were out there in Summer of 2006 working some regattas.

John is actually a Cheesehead from Plymouth, Wisconsin.

We really enjoyed them. Jeff may go out to Washington to go on a fishing trip with John and his friends. I really hope that happens.

They embarked in Ft Lauderdale and were to disembark in LA. They called us to come and share a bottle of Dom Perrignom with them to celebrate their last night. Sharon had revived it on board from her daughter for her 65th birthday. They had also invited their tablemates.

Jeff Blogs

First off, thank you Liz for this blog.

It is 100 steps from our cabin to the Golden Lion, which is a Pub with Guinness and Harp on tap. Suffice it to say that from that and every other point of view, this new Queen Victoria is laid out beautifully. It is a great ship.

We left the North Atlantic together with Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2, first on our starboard beam, then later on our port beam. In addition to these two ships extending their cruise together, they acted as moving break-waters for each other along the way. We had 20+mph breezes on our beam for most of the run to Fort Lauderdale.

After Fort Lauderdale the ships split-up, with ours headed south towards the area of the Trade Winds. All the way through the Caribbean and into the entrance of the Panama Canal it blew stink from a bit south of east, never less than 20+ kts, day and night. There was relief from some of the banks of islands. After turning west, we used the tail-wind to our advantage. On deck, it was like a scow going down-hill. There was noise from the waves breaking, but still air while we went almost as fast as, and the same direction as the wind.

Upon reaching the Pacific, the winds calmed remarkably. On the Caribbean side of the isthmus, there is a constant blow from the east. The wind blows moisture from the Caribbean up the slope of the continental divide, and that feeds moisture to rain forests. However, here on the Pacific side, only 50 – 100 miles away, the winds are “normal”, and the local climate is all but arid.

Acapulco was interesting. It is beautiful from the 10th floor of an ocean liner. 1 ½ million people. At one time it was a vacation destination for gringos. Now it is a resort city for the 25 million people that live in Mexico City. Jeanne organized a great tour, including a $14 lunch right at the cliff-diving venue. As a veteran high-diver from St. John’s Summer Camp (30’ max.), the highest dive was impressive at 105’. Our guide, a single parent mom, went to the States to have both of her kids, but then raised them in Acapulco. As US citizens, the kids are now on the dole, attending the University of Florida. She did the best she could for her family, and they all love America.

Sport fishing in Manzanillo, Mexico was a bust. 5 hours of listening to a pair of droning, 2 cycle Detroit diesels. One strike from a big Marlin, but the captain couldn’t get the hook set. Anyway, the sea was calm, the weather was pleasant. Conversation during the fishing trip yielded the following. With satellite TV on the ship we were able to hear about the $600/$1,200 checks being sent to everyone in the US. With China funding the US national debt, this “Wal-Mart rebate” completes the circle: consumer-to-Wal-Mart-to-China-to-the-US-government, and now finally back to the consumer.

Presently we are off of Cabo San Lucas, which is a few hundred miles south of San Diego, CA. We thought of Jimmie and Maria’s trip – volley ball anyone? The winds are calm, but there is a gentle swell to the sea. That seems to be a difference between the Atlantic and Pacific. In the Atlantic, when it’s calm it’s like a mirror. So far, on the Pacific, even when there is no wind, there is still a swell.

A few more comments before wrapping up -
Our cabin has been renamed ‘The Cave’ by us and our friends, Stirling and Clare. It has turned out to be what we wanted and what we hoped for. No daylight whatsoever, but extremely well ventilated. At 207 sq ft, it is roomy. With the help of Vince and Debbie, who drove over to Fort Lauderdale from Marco Island, a huge (Wal-Mart) chest of drawers was added. All 13 or so suitcases were unpacked. It is on the lowest deck, which means that we are subjected to the most minimal ship’s movement. Our lifeboat drill was simple. This is the deck where they just lock all of our doors so that there is more room in the life boats for the rich and famous.

The best lecturer so far has been Ben Cameron. The subject matter, the future of live theatre, was interesting and timely for our family. Cameron was the head of the National Endowment for the Arts, and is currently the president of a multi-billion dollar, grant giving foundation. I tried to get a redacted version of his comments, but he claimed that his 5 lectures were made from notes on napkins. Anyway, a couple of general comments followed by some pointed, reasoned prognostications: More money is spent on computer games than movies and music combined. Movie attendance and revenue went down for the first time in decades. The typical theatre audience member has not changed in decades – which is a 48 year old white woman with an average income of $63k. That as youth ages, the theatre must figure out how to change from “linear narrative” to “visual interpretative”, and from “created content” to “co-created content” – meaning that since younger people are making their own content, that live theatre needs to come up with a way to have that happen within/during a production.

As with any cruise, over-eating is the permanent problem. It is made even more difficult by the quality, which really is exceptional. Skipping a course here and there, even an entire meal when possible, helps. We’ve been using the stairs, and have gone to the gym on most days.
Last month Errol and I went to the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show. I bought a pair of Sebago deck shoes for the voyage. At first thought, that may not seem to be remarkable. But for me and the people I hang with, it couldn’t get any more Thurston Howell the 3rd than that. Put another way, if you actually need deck shoes on this boat, you’ve got a problem that the shoes aren’t going to solve.

Actually, the deck shoes do go with a particular vest that was given to me by Linda’s Jeff D. It’s this Ralph Lauren Polo, really nautical, really well made, over-the-top, nice red vest. Jeff told me that he didn’t know what he was thinking when he bought it, but that maybe I would get some use out of it someday. Anyway, between the deck shoes and the vest, nobody touches me on the ramp.

For my retired brethren having difficulty in coming up with a reason to know what day of the week it is, you’ll be happy to know that you are in good company. Yesterday, Captain Paul Wright, in giving the weather forecast, said what “tomorrow’s” weather would be. Then, instead of saying something like ‘and the day after that’, he tried to spit out what day ‘day after that’ was. He stumbled a bit, chuckled, gave up, and finally said, “well, whatever day that is”, and then gave the forecast. If there is no purpose in knowing . . .

There are “unhosted” gatherings posted in the daily activities. Unhosted means that no one from the ship is involved. Passengers just show-up and make something of the theme. The first one was “Rolls Royce and other English cars”. Too many people showed-up and we all became immediately willing to let the most outrageous anecdotes dominate the discussion. Suffice it to say that listening to English gentlemen speaking in-depth gear-head lingo about their cars was truly impressive. Especially the ones that had the new BMW Rolls Royce. They were very pleased with what BMW has contributed to their brand, more as if it were a purchased option, than a failure of their homeland in being able to support the technical and market requirements of their car maker. As an impromptu discussion, really an amazing discourse.

Another “unhosted” activity is “Yachts and Yachting”. If gas outside of the US is expensive, stand-back for the cost of diesel fuel for boats in Europe: $10/gal. The gear-head speak was, again, impressive. There were only six of us in this group. My 32’ was by far the smallest, but they were kind to the upstart. Everyone came at it from different directions – the trawler guy from England, but keeps his boat up a river in France; the cruising sailor from the US that sailed over to the Med and back; the couple from Sydney that have cruised their trawler everywhere; an authentic “yachtee” who keeps his 85 footer on the island of Palma de Majorca, Spain. Anyway, during the session we all gave and got good technical advice from each other. We’ll be meeting regularly during the cruise.

My first book for reading on the trip is “The World is Flat” - thanks to Sharon B. (“Aunty Sharon” takes care of us on a lot of levels.) It talks about outsourcing. Here on the ship we have the usual Eastern European, Philippine, but also a lot of Indian staff. From discussion on-board, Tata Industries, in India, is set to buy Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford very soon. Another Indian paid Ford a billion for Aston Martin a few months ago. The transition from stand-alone British companies to Ford was a big deal for the Brits. Going from Ford to India now seems more like an accounting event than a further change in their sovereignty. My guess is that the Brits are about a decade ahead of the US on the globalization thing. The on-board meaning of that might go something like: our great-grandchildren will be serving the grandchildren of our Indian servers. And all of their combined descendants will end-up serving the Chinese. Anyway, the book is timely for me, especially in the context of what are seeing on the voyage.

In a few days we see our friend Betsy in Los Angeles, and then on to Carl and Carla in Honolulu.

All the Best!
Jeff

Blogging by Association

Mom just emailed me the link to her new British friend Kazzie's blog.
http://karen123.wordpress.com/

They took the same tour in Acapulco, but neither of them has written it up yet. I will post a link on the sidebar as well.

The next two days they're at sea, so hopefully we'll get another update soon.
Liz

Acapulco with Rosie and the Cliff Divers

Acapulco, Mexico
January 26
Eastern Time minus 1 hour

Today in Acapulco we had a small group tour that I set up with some people I met online from Cruise Critic. There were 7 of us in a large 10 person van. Our tour guide was Rosie. I located her from her great reviews on Cruise Critic.

Rosie picked us up first thing in the morning and we were off! She had a route planned out to beat the crowds from the Cruise line tours.

The main thing I discovered about most of Acapulco is that it is all about the views. Everywhere we went the views were outstanding. ( Other than that it seemed to be a city that is past its prime.) Even though the rich and famous were here once, they are no more. The city now has a population of about 1.5 million.

Our first stop was the Los Flamingos Hotel. This was a neat place that was once owned by "The Hollywood Gang". I didn't write down the names on the list, but I know John Wayne and Johnny Weissmiller (sp?) were two of the owners, but can't think of the others. There were about 6 of them. The place was old with a lot of character. Sorry, I have to improve on taking more pictures for the blog. Somehow I didn't take any of the hotel.


The next stop was the Chapel of Peace which featured this huge cross and beautiful views.

On to the market so Stirling could add to his vast bar. This man came rolling down the street with a loaded cart full of the purchases.


Lunch and the Cliff Divers were next on the agenda! The main cliff is 105 feet above sea level. The water they dive into is about 15 feet deep. Notice the man on the top of the cliff on the right. I just couldn't seem to get them in mid-dive.


The people came by land and sea the watch the divers. Do you suppose there is a life jacket for everyone on this boat?


The walls were covered in signatures of people who have been there. They were sort of wood burned into the walls and then painted white. I just took a picture of this very small section. (Fred McMurray, ray Milland, Esther Williams etc.)


Rosie had arranged for us to eat at a table overlooking the divers and it was undercover. This is a big deal because the sun was HOT!!! Liz has asked me to take pictures of the food. I forgot that, but does beer count?


On the way out the divers met us and we gave them tips (of course, this is Mexico).


There was a little boy that met us when we got to the cliff diving place. He took out the stool for the van and helped each of us out. Rosie told us we could tip him on the way out, not in. He helped in reverse when we left. His last comment was "hasta la vista baby! " I should have gotten a picture of him.

Most of the beautiful old hotels in the old section are now run down and falling apart. Stiring and Clare were interested to visit one of the hotels that they had visited about 40 years ago, right after their marriage. The view was spectacular. They said that at that time it was a top hotel. Now it is really bad. We saw a sign that you had to pay a $10 deposit for two towels. It is now for sale for 6 million dollars. Rosie said that it may be sold to someone to build a condo building or time share, but it is now in the wrong part of town. The best hotels have now moved far down the beach to an area called the Gold Coast. Here are two pictures of the view from the hotel named Casablanca.

The next stop was the Mercado (market). Stirling and Rosie went into the city market (Mercado) to buy flowers for Stirling and Clare's cabin. He bought some for me too. He told Jeff he couldn't buy flowers for his wife and not for Jeff's. Works for me!

The rest of us continued to check out the pig heads and chickens hanging in the open air. It was quite an interesting site.

Our last stop was at the Cathedral and the square in front of it. Rosie said this was the heart of Acapulco.

As we returned to the van, there was the "hasta la vista baby!" boy. We can't figure out how he got way to the other side of town and found us. Makes you wonder...

Pura Vida from Costa Rica!

Puntarenas, Costa Rica
January 23
Eastern Time minus one hour

Pura Vida from Costa Rica!

Pura Vida (pure life) means Wonderful Life here Costa Rica! It is used as a greeting or to say all is right with the world.

My brother Rick and his wife Lori named their boat Pura Vida which made our guide Carla very happy. She knew that meant they loved Cost Rica. Carla was an excellent guide. Tourism is the number one industry here. She has a bachelor degree and a master’s degree in tourism. She was really outstanding.


Our excursion for the day was a 9 ½ hour trip to the Monteverde Cloud Forest for a guided walk through the treetops. We also visited a hummingbird garden and an insect museum with over a million specimens. The trip started out on the Pan American Highway
but quickly changed to a very bumpy trip on a very rutted dirt road. The road was so bumpy that it was hard to take pictures.

We did really go into the countryside which made for some interesting viewing like this ox cart pulling water.

As we approached we could see the clouds hanging over the mountain that was our destination.

The forest has been well preserved thanks to the conservation efforts of several Quaker families that emigrated to Costa Rica in the 1950s. We took an approximately 90-minute walk that traveled on eight suspension bridges through the forest canopy and along trails on the forest floor. The suspension bridges were quite long and had some movement.

The trip seemed even longer on the way back than on the way there. The explanation for the bad roads was that they now get 100,000 visitors a year with the road so bad. They feel that if they improve the road the amount of visitors will double and that may wreck the area. I was really happy we took a ship’s tour. I would have been nervous the whole time due to the distance form Puntarenas and the bad roads. We don’t want to miss the ship this early in the trip!

We really enjoyed our day in Monteverde.

When we got back to the ship we went straight up to the hot tub and then had a great dinner at the Todd English Restaurant on the ship.

Panama Canal

Panama Canal: Eastern Time Zone +0 Hours
AM Portion: Gatun Locks
Beautiful day (overcast so we don't roast in the sun)

The Pilots boarded our ship at 6 AM. The Captain must give up complete control of the ship. This is the only time this happens. Our ship is on its Maiden Voyage so it was its first time transiting the Canal. I also heard it was the first time for our head Pilot. I am not sure if that is true. The Pilots communicate continuously with a control center as well as the linemen, the towing "mule" drivers and the lock engineer.

The Admeasurer also boarded because this was our first passage. It is his job to measure the ship, define its Panama Canal tonnage and from that calculate the toll for each transit. The anticipated toll is in excess of $275,000. (The Suez Canal transit will cost twice that).

We arrived at Gatun Locks at 7:30 AM and began our transit.
Notice the little vehicles next to the building. These are the "mules" that guide us through the canal. If ships drift into the side, the "mule" on the other side will pull its lines tight and pull it
into the center.

The Coral Princess left Aruba about six hours ahead of us. She is in the set of locks next to us. We can't really see what is happening to us, but we can watch her transit which is very interesting. We will have 2 feet of clearance on each side. Look what a tight fit she has.
We are passing from the Atlantic Ocean into Gatun Lake in this portion of
the transit. Gatun Lake is 85 feet above sea level. The principle involved
is simply letting the water run downhill and filling up the next lowest
lock. Every time a ship makes a transit about 52 million gallons of fresh
water is spilled into the sea.

Here is the Coral Princess entering Gatun Lake after leaving the first 3
locks.

We entered Gatun Lake and anchored to wait for the Northbound traffic to pass before the Southbound had their turn. We were surrounded by 17 other ships from cruise ships to freighters.

Around one o'clock we were on the move through the rest of the canal. We ordered a great lunch and had some wine and watched the world go by.

People lined the shores to watch our first transit. About 1000 people were on shore when we cleared the last lock. As the sun set and the moon rose, we passed Panama City and headed into the Pacific Ocean.

"The Cave" (Our Cabin)

Here are some pictures of our cabin. We feel it is a good size and very comfortable. If you are in a cabin other than a suite, this is quite large.
Please note the new drawers! (Sharon, here are my shoes that you are wondering about. I brought 15 pair and I've worn 7.)

The closets are ample, but you need to stay organized. I have several of the multi-tiered hangers that hold 5 jackets or tops and 5 tiered pants hangers that hold about 8 or 10 pair.

Shipboard Life

Living aboard the Queen Victoria is a lot like being at a sleep away camp for adults. Every day is jam-packed with things to do.

We have each taken several computer classes and are really enjoying them. Jeff is taking a PowerPoint class right now.

The gym is really nice and they have many classes there each day as well. Lots of variety and also some that repeat, like ZUMBA. Jeff’s fencing classes begin the day after the Panama Canal.

There are also have great discussion groups. Jeff participated in one yesterday for Classic Car enthusiasts with an emphasis on Rolls Royces. He really enjoyed it.

I have also joined the onboard Book Club. Our first book is The House at Riverton by Kate Morton. She is from Brisbane, Australia. I will ask Sandra about her when she returns from Antarctica.

There are also speakers everyday on a variety of subjects. Everything from Theater to Forensic Science to Maritime History for this segment. New Speakers will join us for each segment and give about 5 lectures or so. The Forensic Science speaker is also a Mystery Writer. The lecture I went to had to do with The O. J. Simpson and JFK cases. Very interesting. The day I went to his first lecture he and his wife ate dinner with us. We had a great time.

The entertainment has been fine, some better than others. We were surprised to hear that we will have different entertainment every night for all 105 nights. That is really unbelievable. It is really a huge undertaking.

Last night we were at Stirling and Clare’s for Sail away. We were yucking it up, having our champagne and watching the Aruba Harbor. Suddenly a face peered around the corner of the balcony from the one next door. That cabin had been empty until now. The woman introduced herself as Theresa and said she boarded in Aruba. She is a freelance travel writer and has come to write abut the ship. We preceded to tell her everything we knew and thought we knew. The whole time she was straining to see around the corner to talk. Finally she started to wave a bare arm around the corner to emphasize what she was saying. Stirling asked her if she had any clothes on because she could come over to have some champagne with us if she did. She didn’t really answer, just said she had to be to a meeting an disappeared. We are curious about her. Hmmm…..

Aruba "Aloe," Anyone?

Oranjestad, Aruba 1/19/2008
Time Zone: Eastern plus one hour

We had a leisurely breakfast and then went into town. Jeff spent his first time working on email since we left New York. We took my laptop, but they didn't have WiFi, so Jeff just worked in the Internet cafe. I didn't get much done.
Then off to Palm Beach and the Riu Resort. We took a taxi and wandered around the resort and then headed out to the beach. It was pretty windy, 26 MPH, so we didn't go into the water. We just sat and read and soon a colorful character walked past selling "Aruba Aloe." I didn't see him get any takers.

We went back the ship and enjoyed the pool before sail away.
While we were in town the crew started to prepare for the Panama Canal Transit. The preparations included removing all of the window washing machines from the side of the boat and putting them on the promenade deck until we reach Costa Rica. The also adjusted the position of the tenders that are hanging somewhat outside of the edge of the ship. The ship must be close to the maximum size that can make the transit if this is necessary. The transit starts at 7 AM on Monday with the boarding of the Pilots.