Live from Emerald Princess, April 16 - May 4, 2023, full Panama transit

[jaycruising]

We continued around the south loop with more incredible views of the salt flats and the area.

 

The pink on one side and the most brilliant blue on the other.

 

Hard at work.

 

 

 

A close up of one of the salt bubbles.

 

[jaycruising]

Our next stop was at the slave huts, there are 2 locations of these on the island.

 

 

 

[jaycruising]

Then we came across a kite surfing school, if we had the time we could have spent the entire day here, they were so fun to watch.

 

 

 

 

 

Follow the progression of the kit surfer on the right.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2023 by jaycruising
fix photo

[jaycruising]

Now was the time for the flamingos, there are some on the north route as well.  Do you know why Flamingos are pink?  They actually are white, but turn pink from their diet and eating shrimp!

 

 

 

 

 

I have no idea how many there are here!

 

 

There is also a beautiful lighthouse over here as well.

[jaycruising]

As we made our way around towards the Atlantic side, the terrain changed quite a lot, there was a lot of driftwood and the locals would do many interesting things with it.

 

 

 

I could also sit and watch the waves crash along the cost for hours.

 

 

Our last stop was at Sorobon beach for a quick stop and view of the wind surfers.

[jaycruising]

It took us about 20 minutes or so to get back to town from Sorobon Beach and the place we rented the golf cart from. The process for return was very easy, pulled up to the side of the building and drop the cart of, then we went around front, returned the insurance papers and received our $100 deposit back. 
 

I highly recommend renting a cart from Bonaire Cruisers, they were fantastic to deal with, very helpful and we had the best time exploring the island at our own pace!

 

By the time we made the walk back to the ship we were pretty tired, time for a quick shower and then headed up to dinner with some of our new cruising friends. 

 

 

I started with the crab and artichoke dip, it was delicious 

 

For my main I went with the grilled seafood bowl, that came on a plate 😉

 

For dessert I had a double serving of the appetizer fruit

 

DM had the carrot cake, the presentation was fantastic 

 

 

After dinner we just had a quiet night on our balcony playing some cards and enjoying our sail away from Bonaire. 
 

I really enjoyed Bonaire and would love to come back one day. 
 

Here are the patters, I forgot to share them at the beginning. 

 

[jaycruising]

April 20, Aruba

 

We had another long port day in Aruba, we arrived at 8am and departed at 10pm. We decided to put our card out for breakfast last night, and I also ran down to the international cafe for an egg bite. 

 

We enjoyed our balcony breakfast. We left the ship around 8:30 to meet for our private tour. I had booked a 7 hour island tour via Viator with Aruba Fantasy Tours. There instructions were very clear and we quickly found our guide outside the Diamonds International. 
 

We left shortly after 9, there were 3 other pairs from the ship and 2 other pairs that were staying locally on the tour. It was a great group. 
 

First stop was at the Aloe Factory, normally I don’t like these kinds of stops as they are just really trying to sell you something, and don’t get me wrong, they were here too, but we also learned all about the aloe harvesting and how and what they manufacture from it. We started with a demonstration of cutting the aloe and what you can get from it. They have 20 acres of aloe plants and they can continue to harvest from one plant for 25 years. 

 

 

After we headed inside and they showed us the production area, everything is done by hand, for the most part, just to keep jobs on the island. And they employ about 180 people. 

[jaycruising]

Next we bagan making our way to the California lighthouse. Along the way we passed some beautiful beaches. 

 

We also passed a lot of beautiful hotels and a whole bunch of North American stores and restaurants. There are something like 7 Burger Kings on the island, that’s more then I have in my city. 
 

We arrived at the lighthouse and enjoyed walking around for a bit, there were a ton of UTVs there from another tour. 
 

 

There were also a number of young men from the Holland Army and one of the ladies on our bus convinced them to all gather around and she got a photo with them, she was hilarious, but I didn’t get a photo. 
 

Our tour guide was fantastic, he drove us by many locations, including this house, whom you could say is a little eccentric. I guess they decorate their yard for every season. 
 

[jaycruising]

Next we visited the smallest church on the island, it was very pretty. 
 

 

Notice the guard dogs, they didn’t move the whole time were there, but they are breathing and have water. 

 

 

The land surrounding is barren desert terrain with large rocks and a lot of cactus. 

 

We had about 20 minutes at each of our stops, which was just perfect. As we made our way around the island our guide would point out different facts. We stopped outside of the cemetery where he told us you had to have family to be buried there. The longest deceased were in the ground and up to 3 others in the crypt. If someone else in the family passed away they took the bones from whoever had been in longest and put them in the ground to make room. 

 

[jaycruising]

After we left the cemetery we went to Rock Formation, it is all of these rocks from the island and you can climb up and take photos of almost the whole island. There are 2 ways up, a staircase and then ambling through the rocks, if you go these way be sure to watch your head. It was a nice viewpoint, but very windy so keep that in mind!

 

 

 

Ships in the distance. 

 

On the way to our next stop we drove by the ostrich farm, loved this sign!

 

Next we went to the natural bridge, the original, larger one collapsed a number of years ago, but there is a smaller one still there called baby bridge. You can walk on it at your own risk. 

 

[Ellipooh]

Your pictures and descriptions are wonderful, really appreciated and now I’m getting excited for my 2024 eclipse transit — there’s a bunch of us following along with you!

[jaycruising]

4 hours ago, Ellipooh said:

Your pictures and descriptions are wonderful, really appreciated and now I’m getting excited for my 2024 eclipse transit — there’s a bunch of us following along with you!

Great! We have been loving the trip, tomorrow is canal day!

[jaycruising]

Our beach stop for today was at baby beach, which is on the east side of the island in what was the colony for the refinery workers, they installed a breaker so it could be used by the families and it is no deeper then 6 feet, so does make for a great beach for families. Keep in mind getting here on your own is pretty pricey as it is about 30 minutes from port. 
 

We had about an hour and a half here. Once we got here we were very hungry though so we got lunch, it was very good, but pretty pricey!

 

They do have chairs for $10 and clamshells for $60. There are a few palapas, but otherwise no shade. Once we were done lunch I was ready to hit the water, but by this time we really only had 45 minutes and it wasn’t worth buying a chair and DM couldn’t do sitting on the beach, so she took my stuff and went and sat back in the restaurant. I got in the water and had a little snorkel, the current was very strong in here as well. There is a lot to see while snorkelling so it is worthwhile to bring your gear if you like it. Another not about the water around Aruba is that they have installed Jets around in the water that allows smaller and medium size fish through but won’t allow the larger ones or sharks in. Again no pictures of snorkeling, but here is the beach. it is very busy too!

 

 

While we were drying off and waiting for our driver to come back a couple of the gentleman had a few ladies trying to make friends with them, it was pretty funny to watch. BTW the oldest profession is legal in Aruba. 

We made our way back to port and dropped off one of the couples at their condo. I cannot say enough good things about our tour, it was fantastic and Ato our driver was the best, I learned so much about Aruba from him. 
 

Once back we did a little walk around the port area, we didn’t venture further out for shopping then that. And we came across the double decker tram car that horas around town. 

 

This ship below was docked next to us and has some pretty interesting history, it is called Freewinds, google it if you are curious, it belongs to a religious organization. 

[dave_k58]

On 4/19/2023 at 10:14 PM, jaycruising said:

I have so much more to share from today, but it was a long day and I am exhausted so going to call it a night and will continue as soon as I can!

I think this is the best "Live" I have ever seen. The writing is fantastic as are the photos.  You must  be a professional photographer. 

[jaycruising]

Back on board we enjoyed some time on our balcony and doing some people watching on the ship next to us, really fascinating!  
 

Dinner as usual was in the MDR and I unfortunately forgot to take pictures of the menu tonight. 
 

I started with the calamari, it was very good 

 

For my main I had the sirloin 

 

I doubled up on desert tonight, first I had the flambé peaches and then I had the grilled pineapple from the appetizers. 

 

 

After dinner we headed to Explorers to watch the Little White Lies game show, it was ok, not my favourite. 

 

After that we called it an early night as we were tired from two long port days!

 

Here are the patters for today. 

 

[jaycruising]

2 minutes ago, dave_k58 said:

I think this is the best "Live" I have ever seen. The writing is fantastic as are the photos.  You must  be a professional photographer. 

Thank you so much, it means a lot, I am a semi professional 🥰

[jaycruising]

April 21, Sea day

 

 

 

Managed to get a bit of a sleep in, but not too much. And then we leaned I to our sea day morning routines. Time at the gym for a workout for both DM and I, followed by some breakfast in the buffet. It is rather small, but more then enough choice for us. I’ll try and grab some photos one day. I really like the space up there, it has been modernized and uses lots of greys and light colours. 
 

Then back to the cabin to get ready for our day. We didn’t have much planned though. We did have a meeting to go to at 11:00am in the Botticelli dining room. When we came on board I put our names down for Chef’s Table and I found out on our Bonaire day that we were 2 of the lucky people to be chosen. On our 18 day sailing they are doing 4 of them and each will have 10 people. So this was a meeting to go over the schedule for the evening and what we can expect. We will be attending on April 24th, I am so excited!  
 

After that meeting we camped out in Club Fusion, we played a bit of cards, DM participated in the trivia and I was editing some photos. And then at 1pm we had the destination talk for the Panama Canal. This event is so well attended there was standing room only, they do record it and you can watch it on your TV later if you miss it. 

 

Toll through the canal for cruise ships is based on the number of people / beds and the toll for Emerald Princess tomorrow is $493,000 which they pay by wire transfer 2 days ahead of time. 
 

The rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful, there weren’t a ton of activities on the schedule that were appealing to us, so we hung out in our cabin or on the deck, me fighting with transferring photos for a chunk of it, playing some cards, just enjoying the day!  
 

As per usual we headed to the main dining room tonight. We sat with a couple from Australia who had been travelling for the last year, they had so many great stories. 
 

 

 

I started with the Peach Bellini soup, I really like their cold soups!

 

For my main I went with the fettuccine Alfredo, I am so happy to see this back on the everyday favourites menu!

 

DM had the chicken breast. 

 

 

I was so excited for dessert as they had the lemon meringue cheesecake on the menu and I loved it on the crown, but this one just didn’t compare, it didn’t have enough lemon flavour. DM had the crème brûlée and loved it. 

 

We had planned to go to the Elton John performance tonight but changed our minds. We had time change tonight and a bright and early excursion in the morning so back to the cabin and we watched A Man Named Otto on demand, I cried 🥲

[jaycruising]

Good morning from the Sanctuary as we begin our transit through the locks. 

 

 

[Essiesmom]

Agua Clara locks cam:

 

 

[nini]

Have a great day! The weather looks like it is cooperating for you.

[jaycruising]

2 hours ago, nini said:

Have a great day! The weather looks like it is cooperating for you.

So far it’s been fantastic, and very very hot today!

[jaycruising]

April 22, Cartagena, Colombia 

 

 

 

We were unfortunately up way too early this morning. We had time change last night and we were not sure our phones would change over correctly and we had an early excursion in Cartagena, so we set a couple of alarms, the first being for 5 am, well turns out our clocks had changed and we could have waited until 6, but of course I was awake from then on. 

 

it wasn’t all bad as we got to enjoy sail in and I really enjoyed it as it is so different then others. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jaycruising]

Today we had booked an excursion through the ship as we were only in port from 7-2:30. We booked the old city tour and sea rumba. Our meeting time was 7:10 in the casino, we didn’t have to wait for very long and we were on our way. Lucky for us we were travelling by boat to old city and not by bus.  We got to enjoy some nice views and we were actually the first tour to arrive. 

 

 

 

Our guide for the day was Carlos and he was fantastic and everyone knows him. He led us around for just over an hour.  This is him next to the statue. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jaycruising]

He introduced us to a local artist who was able to paint on a smallish mirror in about 2 minutes, his work is beautiful, this is one of his larger pieces. 

 

Then we enjoyed more sights. 

 

Painted tabletops

 

 

 

 

As we passed by the church there was a first communion happening 

 

 

[jaycruising]

Next stop was the Emerald Museum, it really is interesting and didn’t take to long. It did of course open into a store that had many beautiful pieces but over my budget. We then had about 45 minutes on our own to explore. We headed over to the local square and found a restaurant to get a drink at. I got a coconut lemonade, if you are in the area I highly recommend it!

 

One word of warning, there are many many vendors in this area and will come to sell you magnets, hats, tshirts, cigars, etc. A polite no gracias is usually all it takes, sometimes you may have to say it twice. There will also be ladies in colourful costumes asking to take a photo with you, just remember they will want a tip. And finally some rappers, they will come up and play their music and start rapping to you, again no gracias is all it really takes. They are all ok and just trying to make a living for their families but it does get relentless. 
 

It was then time to head back to the boat and our sea rumba portion!

 

These ladies came on board and were dancing with and for us. 

 

 

We then got drinks served on the way back too

 

then they preformed for us and even got some of us up dancing.