Thoughts, impressions, and observations for the World Cruise.

[CSHS1979]

10 minutes ago, crzndeb said:

Is there a separate “Cheers” lunch for the 340+ days cruisers, or do they combine? Or does it just depend on the numbers? Thanks Patricia.

 

Yes, I think it's the 6th

[island lady]

1 hour ago, njkruzer said:

It was good. Took it in October on the Canal transit cruise.  Find that most of the countries in tge areas, whether on Pacific side or Caribbean side show great poverty.  Pretty depressing. 

 

We have had very good tours in areas that indeed had the sad poverty...as I agree there is a lot of that here...and on the Atlantic side.  And of course much of that in the islands in the Carib.  

 

The bad thing was how mismanaged this tour was, which was a ship's tour.  It was not listed correctly and the guide was out of her element doing that tour.  

 

And sure it's a Pacific beach town, but way too far up in the natural harbor.  The water is not fresh and has dirt beaches, which is common in bays that don't have the fresh water influence.  A lot of natural run off creates the dust, mud, and dirt.  Birds like Frigates liked it though...shallow water bays...easier fishing.  😉 

[island lady]

44 minutes ago, crzndeb said:

Is there a separate “Cheers” lunch for the 340+ days cruisers, or do they combine? Or does it just depend on the numbers? Thanks Patricia.

 

Yes, the 340 plus members are in two days (our next sea day).  

[island lady]

1 hour ago, pstone1 said:

Wish I talked to you before we went!  LOL!  We enjoyed the folkloric show - that 3 yr old was adorable - but the drive and gift shop were a joke.  We’ve taken some surprisingly good Royal tours over the years, but this was not one of them!

 

Totally agree.  Win some lose some.  Most of our tours have been great...this just was not one of them.  

[Hoopster95]

48 minutes ago, CSHS1979 said:

Had a great time in Puntarenas

 

Great photos! I was looking forward to seeing what some of the tours were.

Happy to hear you enjoyed the day

 

2 minutes ago, island lady said:

Most of our tours have been great...this just was not one of them.  

 

This is too bad. Costa Rica is fantastic.

 

Like Peru, if I were to do a review/blog of my travels through Costa Rica with photos and video, I'd bet I'd sell a few land tours to many here reading through this thread. If anyone ever is ever looking for something different then Mexico/Caribbean all-inclusives, very very seriously consider Costa Rica... and not just sitting at a resort. Book a land tour (Arenal, Monteverde, Cano Negro, Guanacaste)... amazing/beautiful site seeing.

[patattack]

56 minutes ago, CruiszBug said:

Fantastic pictures of your tour!

This is the tour we took on the Radiance Oct 2023 Panama Canal when several were stuck because of the mud slides.  We enjoyed the tour and actually had the same Captain.  We were back to the ship on time.  

[DragonOfTheSeas]

We stopped at PA in Costa Rica on a Panama Canal cruise.  It was several years ago.  Since it was Easter week, we were told that many families take off work that week. The beaches were busy and the roads were jam packed.  Our buses were late picking us up to start our excursion [almost 2 hrs].  It was a ship tour, and we were told we might be late getting back and not to worry--and we were late.

 

It was a very unusual tour that took us to the rainforest and to see the crocodiles. In the park we traveled on aerial trams. 

 

 

 

We were seated on the tram and it was attached above the ground on what looked like a zip line. 

 

 

 

Each tram had an operator/tour guide that narrated the tour and pointed out the things to see. They could speed it up or stop.

 

Sometimes we were in the canopy and other times pretty close to the ground.  We walked through some exhibits first and then took this tour.  

 

 

Afterwards we went to the river.  We saw lots of animals. They fed the crocodiles chicken to make them come closer.  

 

Sorry--I could not find the name of the tour.  However, if anyone sees a tour that includes these features it was excellent.  It was hot, but did not require lots of walking in the heat.  Also, on the trams we got a little bit of a "breeze" from our movement.

 

Edited February 4 by DragonOfTheSeas

[island lady]

Had a wonderful Pinnie lunch with good friends from our county in Florida (Brevard) @pstone1 who invited us to share their "four top".  What a wonderful time...thanks you two!  🥰  They still live where we did for 20 years on Merritt Island (two miles from Port Canaveral) before we moved "out to the swamp" when we downsized.  Good memories were shared.  

 

Bucky ended up chickening out and ordered the pasta...I had one of the best Salmon dishes of the whole cruise.  Yumms!  Should have taken my phone and posted pictures.  😋 

[A&L_Ont]

6 hours ago, island lady said:

Current position on our way to Guatemala.  

 

 

Wow, it feels like you just left the Antarctic the other day. 

[LadyZolt]

Like Dragon Of The Seas posted, we did a tour yesterday that included the aerial trams.  We did have an air conditioned bus and the only slowdown was a traffic jam as we had to cross a bridge over the Tarcoles River and everyone was stopping to look at the crocodiles that were sitting there.  I was glad that we weren't slowed down on the way back at the same spot -- and actually surprised we weren't as there were still crocodiles there.  LOL!  But we enjoyed seeing the plants at the "Rainforest Adventure" area, and the butterfly garden (many blue morpho butterflies that did not stop long enough for me to get a good photo of them), and we saw several iguanas (and even some bats!), and there were "leaf cutter ants" that we also saw many of.  They even had a "leaf cutter ant crossing" sign at one point in the bath which I found pretty funny. While on the aerial tram, we saw several capuchin monkeys and also a pair of toucans, and lots of other kinds of birds, too.  We enjoyed a pretty good lunch at the restaurant there at Rainforest Adventures as well.  Even though it was hot, we enjoyed our day and I think the rest of our tour group did as well.   

Edited February 4 by LadyZolt

[LadyZolt]

By the way -- many of the offered tours included seeing crocodiles.  It would be pretty hard to miss seeing a crocodile in my opinion.  When we visited Costa Rica before (around 2011, I think), we did a tour that included crocodiles, so this time, I chose one that didn't as a lot of the tour guides on the crocodile ones actually hold out stuff for the crocs to leap up and eat so the tourists can see that, and I just do not want to be there when one of those poor guides loses a hand (or worse!) 

[LadyZolt]

And since we're discussing crocodiles -- do you know how to tell the difference between an alligator and a crocodile?

 

(pause for effect)

 

One will see you later, and the other will see you after a while.  

 

😉 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

13 minutes ago, LadyZolt said:

Like Dragon Of The Sea posted, we did a tour yesterday that included the aerial trams. 

 

But we enjoyed seeing the plants at the "Rainforest Adventure" area, and the butterfly garden (many blue morpho butterflies that did not stop long enough for me to get a good photo of them), 

 

We enjoyed a pretty good lunch at the restaurant there at Rainforest Adventures as well.  Even though it was hot, we enjoyed our day and I think the rest of our tour group did as well.   

 

I am sure that is the same tour we had.  I am glad they still offer it.  Here is my not very clear picture of the butterfly.

 

 

[LadyZolt]

13 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

I am sure that is the same tour we had.  I am glad they still offer it.

Except this one didn't stop to see crocodiles, but they may offer a version that does.  And you got a better photo than I did of a butterfly!  They just don't like to hold still.  LOL!  I did get some video, but no still shots.  

[taznremmy]

10 minutes ago, LadyZolt said:

Except this one didn't stop to see crocodiles, but they may offer a version that does.  And you got a better photo than I did of a butterfly!    They just don't like to hold still.  LOL!  I did get some video, but no still shots.  

Same with the monkeys. By the time I had it in focus, it was off and swinging again!😹

[taznremmy]

7 hours ago, island lady said:

Did see one Sloth in a tree...but not a very good picture.  Of course doing what Sloths do best...sleep.  😉 

 

 

Patricia, I know we were on different tours, but your photo looks just like mine. 😹. They definitely don’t move much.

[Merion_Mom]

"It's illegal to feed crocs in Costa Rica however, over the years, the Government has turned a blind eye to the feeding on these tours as it is not seen as detrimental as it is, to some extent, controlled."

[island lady]

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

Wow, it feels like you just left the Antarctic the other day. 

 

Me too...except for the extreme temperature difference.  😉 

[pstone1]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

Had a wonderful Pinnie lunch with good friends from our county in Florida (Brevard) @pstone1 who invited us to share their "four top".  What a wonderful time...thanks you two!  🥰  They still live where we did for 20 years on Merritt Island (two miles from Port Canaveral) before we moved "out to the swamp" when we downsized.  Good memories were shared.  

 

Bucky ended up chickening out and ordered the pasta...I had one of the best Salmon dishes of the whole cruise.  Yumms!  Should have taken my phone and posted pictures.  😋 

We also enjoyed our lunch with you and Bucky!  Great food, great company!

[island lady]

There are a lot of different tours tomorrow, but seems most of them end up in the old town of Antiqua inland in Guatemala.  Ours is another "foodie tour" which meets early at 7:30 am...though others are even earlier.  Looks like a trip up to the WJ for a quick bite before we leave.  7.5 hour tour.  

 

Happily the weather forecast is a bit cooler at 85 degrees, versus the 97 we had inland yesterday.  Ahhh...nice and "cool".  😉 

[CSHS1979]

4 hours ago, patattack said:

This is the tour we took on the Radiance Oct 2023 Panama Canal when several were stuck because of the mud slides.  We enjoyed the tour and actually had the same Captain.  We were back to the ship on time.  

 

They've been there 30 years. 

Of course Captain Hook has been there 75 they think. 14' long and 1,500 pounds or so according to Adrian 

[CSHS1979]

2 hours ago, island lady said:

Had a wonderful Pinnie lunch with good friends from our county in Florida (Brevard) @pstone1 who invited us to share their "four top".  What a wonderful time...thanks you two!  🥰  They still live where we did for 20 years on Merritt Island (two miles from Port Canaveral) before we moved "out to the swamp" when we downsized.  Good memories were shared.  

 

Bucky ended up chickening out and ordered the pasta...I had one of the best Salmon dishes of the whole cruise.  Yumms!  Should have taken my phone and posted pictures.  😋 

 

The filet was divine. Easily as good as Chops

 

John had the salmon, it was dry but the sauce saved it. 

Edited February 4 by CSHS1979

[CSHS1979]

2 hours ago, LadyZolt said:

Like Dragon Of The Seas posted, we did a tour yesterday that included the aerial trams.  We did have an air conditioned bus and the only slowdown was a traffic jam as we had to cross a bridge over the Tarcoles River and everyone was stopping to look at the crocodiles that were sitting there.  I was glad that we weren't slowed down on the way back at the same spot -- and actually surprised we weren't as there were still crocodiles there.  LOL!  But we enjoyed seeing the plants at the "Rainforest Adventure" area, and the butterfly garden (many blue morpho butterflies that did not stop long enough for me to get a good photo of them), and we saw several iguanas (and even some bats!), and there were "leaf cutter ants" that we also saw many of.  They even had a "leaf cutter ant crossing" sign at one point in the bath which I found pretty funny. While on the aerial tram, we saw several capuchin monkeys and also a pair of toucans, and lots of other kinds of birds, too.  We enjoyed a pretty good lunch at the restaurant there at Rainforest Adventures as well.  Even though it was hot, we enjoyed our day and I think the rest of our tour group did as well.   

 

We hit same traffic. Not bad heading back

[CSHS1979]

1 hour ago, Merion_Mom said:

"It's illegal to feed crocs in Costa Rica however, over the years, the Government has turned a blind eye to the feeding on these tours as it is not seen as detrimental as it is, to some extent, controlled."

 

Yea, no feeding on our tour. They did, however, slap the water to wake up Captain Hook. 😉

 

He stayed up a few minutes to pose then disappeared back into the Tarcoles

[doghog]

11 hours ago, island lady said:

Bucky loves "Gigantis Bamboo".  He saw a lot of that in Vietnam...as Dave can attest to. 

Speaking of huge, ask Bucky about the ants. No caution signs.