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

[theloo]

That looks amazing.  😍

 

[jaycruising]

April 25, Sea Day

 

 

 

After 3 really busy and long days we needed a break so we both laid in until around 10:30. I was watching videos on my iPad and just vegging out. Which is what a sea day is all about. 
 

We headed down to the Michelangelo dining room just before 11 for craft time, it was pretty full and they struggled to find crafts for all of us!  Today was a beaded bag charm and wine charms. I just made the bag one. 
it has slipped already. 
 

After that we decided to just grab a table in crooners and play a bit of cribbage, so far I am winning most of the games!

 

We had booked the sanctuary for this afternoon so we headed up there shortly after 1. We didn’t do much up there, visited with those around us, I watched some videos again and tried to catch up on here (which I am still trying to do) and intermittently going for a swim to cool off. 
 

Our first meal of the day was when they served tea time, we were still so full from dinner the night before. I didn’t take any photos as it was much the same as last time. 
 

Before we knew it, it was 5 pm and time to head back to the cabin to get ready for dinner!

 

 

 

 

I started with the coconut shrimp, very good

 

My main for tonight wasn’t actually on tonight’s menu it was from the night before. Last night while sitting at vines waiting to go for our dinner I took a look at the menu and saw the twice baked goat cheese soufflé was on the menu and I said, of course the night we aren’t there is the night they serve my favourite. Well one of our servers for the night said oh well maybe we can see if they can make it for you tomorrow. I said no worries as I don’t want to put anyone out and didn’t think anymore about it. Towards the end of our meal the server came over to confirm they would make it for me the next day and just to confirm that head waiter Michael had a special meal for me. 
 

So when I sat down tonight I mentioned there was a special meal for me and I actually got 2 soufflés tonight, instead of just one!  I also got a side of veggies 

 

Still my favourite. 
 

For dessert it was the warm berry cobbler. 

 

We also got treated to a lovely sunset during dinner 

 

After dinner I went to the casino for a little play, left about $20 up and then we went to the comedian and called it a night after that!

[Ellipooh]

Really appreciate the Chef’s Table review, I’m hoping to try it next year. Your pictures are a little intimidating, as I am not a “foodie” per se. I mean, I generally know which fork to use, but some of those items would leave me quite bewildered as to how to go about eating it — e.g., the yummy-looking shrimp puff pastry. Should I just wait to see how someone else approaches the challenge?🧐

[jaycruising]

2 hours ago, Ellipooh said:

Really appreciate the Chef’s Table review, I’m hoping to try it next year. Your pictures are a little intimidating, as I am not a “foodie” per se. I mean, I generally know which fork to use, but some of those items would leave me quite bewildered as to how to go about eating it — e.g., the yummy-looking shrimp puff pastry. Should I just wait to see how someone else approaches the challenge?🧐

You are very welcome and no need to worry about that… want to know what I did, picked it up by the tail and bit into it… just like any other shrimp!  Give it a try it was fantastic, just go hungry!

[voljeep]

13 hours ago, jaycruising said:

You are very welcome and no need to worry about that… want to know what I did, picked it up by the tail and bit into it… just like any other shrimp!  Give it a try it was fantastic, just go hungry!

go hungry?  that would be enough food for me for a 5 night dinner ... wow - just give me one course and the bottle of wine that goes with it, a cool buzz, and some tasty waves, and I'm all fine 😎

[jaycruising]

April 26 - Puntarenas, Costa Rica

 

 

Well today started off as an interesting one, the alarm went off at 6:40 am to get us dressed, fed and on our way to our excursion by 8. After I got dressed and ready I looked at my phone and it was now 6:40am listed on it. Turns out the time change hadn’t gone through on my phone so we were ready a little early. We decided to watch the destination talk on our tv since we had the time. 
 

We got our usual port day breakfast at the international cafe. Then we began the long walk down the pier. Be prepared if you are taking a private excursion, there is a train that will take you down the pier and back, but it isn’t frequent. If you are doing a ship tour they will pick you up and drop you off at the ship. 

 

 

 

[jaycruising]

We had booked a private tour with Thumbs Up Tours with a group from our roll call, they were easy to find  once we got to the pier and we were quickly loaded in our van and off. Our guide told us quite a lot about Costa Rica, tourism and industry. Keep in mind that any of the activities you will do here are more than an hour away from port. 
 

Our first stop was at a local fruit stand to see the different fruits and items they sold. I loved all the colours and what I would give for such fresh fruit. For us it is picked so early that it never really ripens and we don’t get the full flavours. 

 

 

 

 

 

I was told that these large piggy banks are for the adults to save and they have smaller ones for the kids. 

 

A new friend I made

 

[jaycruising]

Next we stopped on the bridge over the river and found these guys enjoying a mud bath!

 

Crocodiles!

 

The scenery around there was so beautiful, I just couldn’t get enough. 
 

 

 

 

 

[geocruiser]

I am enjoying read about your cruise.  Love all the pictures too.

[jaycruising]

During our drives we had been on the lookout for monkeys and red macaw’s. So far they had been alluding us, but we made our way into a small fishing village you couldn’t help but hear the macaws high in the trees. They were very high up in the trees but we could see them. 

 

 

 

 

 

Our guide had a scope along and would set that up for us so we could look and even get a picture 

 

 

Back in the van and we didn’t go far until we came across some monkeys. However we found all the lazy monkey’s as they stayed high in the trees and didn’t come down to visit us.  Some images are from the scope again. DM spotted this mom and baby high in the tree

 

 

[jaycruising]

1 hour ago, geocruiser said:

I am enjoying read about your cruise.  Love all the pictures too.

Thank you!

[jaycruising]

Next we headed to the river for our cruise. Here they had some men playing music, plenty of shopping opportunities, washrooms and juice and fresh fruit. They did request tips for the fruit, it was so juicy and delicious. 

 

 

 

then it was time to board our boat!

 

the views are stunning

 

 

 

 

[jaycruising]

Can you spot my sunbathing friend?

 

 

They open their mouths to regulate their temperature 

 

 

 

Can you spot the eyes?

 

More eyes

 

 

More crocs

 

 

Our boat driver coaxed this guy out of the water!

 

 

[jaycruising]

 

Enjoyed more of our cruise down the river, total time was about 1.5 hours

 

 

Teak trees

 

Sunbathing 

 

 

 

 

[jaycruising]

After our river cruise we headed up a pretty terrible mountain road for lunch, the views were worth it 

 

 

 

We had a traditional Costa Rican lunch, I really enjoyed it

 

 

After lunch we headed back down the mountain but came to a stop part of the way down as this truck had broken down in the middle of the road. 

 

We watched a few cars drive around the, it was terrifying to watch as I’m sure they were on 3 wheels.  Turns out he didn’t have much diesel fuel in the tank and as he was going up hill it went back not feeding the engine and since he also had no power he couldn’t go into neutral as his air brakes wouldn’t work since he had no power to the engine.  It took about 45 minutes for someone to get him more diesel and to get it running. 
 

We were still within the timeframe of our tour and we decided to skip the last shopping stop in favour of just heading back to town. Once we got back they drove us around for a bit to show us the town, but we were back in town. 
 

No photos right now as my phone completely died. 
 

They dropped us off right on time at 3:30, we wandered the local market and then made our way back to the ship

 

 

[jaycruising]

Once back on board we quickly changed and headed back to the lotus pool to cool off, it’s nice and quiet back there. 
 

Back to the cabin for showers and to get ready for dinner. 

 

 

 

 

 

For my appetizer I had the shrimp and scallops, but forgot to snap a photo

 

For my main I had the San Francisco-style cioppino, it was very good. 

 

I skipped dessert tonight. 
 

DM was tired and decided to go back to the cabin to relax. I went to the casino for a bit, I didn’t do bad and I didn’t do great. 

 

Then called it a night!

[jaycruising]

April 27, sea day

 

 

Started our day out with our usual routine at the gym. I got a few photos of the area

 

 

 

 

It was raining quite heavy while we were in there, but as usual it didn’t last very long

 

We enjoyed our breakfast in the buffet and visiting with friends, catching up on our recent excursions. 
 

After going back to our cabins to get ready we headed down to the international cafe area to play some cards and enjoy a few cocktails 

 

I tried a dark & stormy, turns out I’m not a fan

 

but that’s the beauty of having a drink package I was able to have them take it back and try something else. 
 

I went with a Dirty Banana this time, and what’s not to love about that. 

 

Then our friends joined us and taught us a new dice game, it was a great afternoon 

 

Next thing we knew it was after 4pm and we had formal night tonight. 

[jaycruising]

We have been amazed with how calm our seas have been. 

 

It looked like we would get a spectacular sunset tonight, but the clouds at the horizon were too thick to give us any afterglow, but we did get this. 

 

Tonight’s menu 

 

 

 

I was enjoying our dinner conversation tonight and forgot to take photos of my meal, but around the table everyone either had the lobster or the châteaubriand. Everyone enjoyed their meals. 
 

For dessert I had the soufflé, so good!

 

One of our table mates had the banana split, and I had to get a picture of that!

 

After dinner we went up to deck 15 to play card, however it was pretty windy and our cards were blowing away, so instead we moved over to the MUTS chairs and watched Bohemian Rhapsody 

 

After the movie was over and back on our balcony we couldn’t believe how warm it was and again how calm the waters are!

 

So ends another great day at sea!

[nini]

On our PC full transit (LA to Ft. Lauderdale), the Pacific was smooth and the seas after the canal to Ft. Lauderdale were not smooth.

[jaycruising]

6 hours ago, nini said:

On our PC full transit (LA to Ft. Lauderdale), the Pacific was smooth and the seas after the canal to Ft. Lauderdale were not smooth.

So far it has been really calm the whole way!

[jaycruising]

April 28 , Sea Day

 

 

 

Starting to look a bit like Groundhog Day around here… DM’s alarm goes off at 8, wakes me up, she doesn’t hear it because she is sleeping with her noise canceling headphones on, which may or may not have something to do with my deep breathing 😉

 

We then get ready and go to the gym for our workouts, so far we have gone all but one sea day!  Then on to the buffet for breakfast. 
 

back to the cabin for a quick change and down to Crown Grill for arts & crafts. If you are wanting to participate make sure you arrive early as there is limited space and supplies. This is one I really wanted to do, so we were almost 30 minutes early. Today we were quilling!

 

mine and DM’s creations

 

this was from another lady at our table. 

 

We really enjoyed chatting with the sisters and spent an extra hour in there chatting. 

[jaycruising]

Then time for a quick change back in the cabin and back up to the sanctuary for the afternoon!  I really have enjoyed our time up there, they really do treat you like gold!

 

I had the tasty shrimp and white bean salad up there

 

then did a combination of laying in the sun (a bit), going in the pool, editing photos and trying to catch up on this live. 
 

Right around 3 it was time for tea service. Here are a few of my favourites from up in the sanctuary 

 

 

 

and my tea time

 

All too soon it was 5pm and time to leave and head back to the cabin. Which we just nicely got back to when DM realized she left her hat up there, so I said I would run back up and try and find it for her since I am faster. And when I got up there Rickie had already found it and put it in the cabinet  for us, so back to the cabin I went. 

[jaycruising]

After we got ready for dinner we headed down to deck 7 to see if we could spot any of the wildlife people had been reporting. And we saw 4 or 5 turtles, just chilling in the water (we go by too fast to get pictures) and then we saw a line dolphin bounding through the waves. He was a little tricky to catch on camera, but was fun to watch. 

 

Down to Da Vinci dining room for dinner again, we were sat at a table for 8, one couple we had ate with before… it was another interesting table. 

 

 

 

I started with the seafood appetizer and the chicken satay, it was tasty and had a bit of a kick

 

 

None of the mains were really appealing so I went with the old standby of fettuccine Alfredo 

 

For dessert I got wild and crazy with vanilla ice cream with strawberries and pineapple 

 

Once we finished dinner we headed to Explorer’s lounge and watched the Can You Survive Game. It was pretty fun, they pick 9 people and create 3 teams of 3, they then have to answer multiple choice questions to get advantages in the challenges. And the challenges included stacking red solo cups in a pyramid, shaking coconuts out of a box, etc. it was pretty fun to watch. 

 

 

 

We actually spent most of the evening in there as we then played cards and one hit wonder trivia, we did ok. Then sat in there for a bit while karaoke happened

 

DM then headed back up to the cabin and I went down to the casino and spent $20 in about 5 seconds!  So back to the cabin for me too. 
 

I have spent the last little bit enjoying the warm air and sound of water off of the ship while I write today’s update. 

Time for bed as we will be in Huatulco tomorrow!

 

Edited April 29, 2023 by jaycruising

[jaycruising]

April 29, Huatulco, Mexico

 

 

We didn’t have anything booked for Huatulco for today so we decided to start our day by getting our laundry done. On Caribe we have 4 washing machines but only 2 or 3 dryers are working so on sea days it can be tough to get one. I took care of it all this morning and ours was done in an hour. They do have soap and dryer sheets you can buy for $1.50 each, but I like to bring mine from home.   Here is the Caribe laundry room

 

 

One hint I thought I would share for those unaware the cabin walls are magnetic so I brought some hooks along and they are so helpful, here are my hats hung up and out of the way. 

 

Here are some views from our balcony before we made our way ashore

 

 

 

[jaycruising]

We made our way down the pier with the intent of hiring a taxi to take us into the town to look around. 
 

 

Enjoying the views as we made our way. 

 

 

 

But it just kept getting hotter and hotter so we just decided to find a restaurant, grab a seat and get something to drink!  We walked towards the end of the shops area and beach and found a great spot beachfront and started with a coke!

 

The water was lovely and we had views of the ship right in front of us.