cruise story, part one
the Flight
We flew out from Manchester airport on Christmas day, on a Thomas Cook flight chartered by the cruise company. This was the smallest plane I had done a trans-Atlantic flight on to date (note foreshadowing), but we were able to book together as a group so we didn't notice the cramped seats as much as we possibly would have in other conditions. We were served a Christmas dinner in-flight meal, complete with turkey, stuffing, and tiny mince pie. At 3pm, a flight attendant got on the intercom and did a cute send-up of the annual Christmas message from the Queen. Overall, it was an enjoyable flight.
arrival on the Ship
Upon arrival in Jamaica, we were marched through customs at a brisk pace, slowing down only to hand over various bits of archaic paperwork we'd all had to fill out on the plane. Cookieman almost had an issue with his, as the lady who stopped him for his form told him his green ink (yeah, I don't know why/how he ended up filling it in with green ink, either) wasn't acceptable, but he just marched up to the next attendant who took it without question. We didn't have to collect our luggage, as it was taken to the ship for us, to be delivered to our cabins by elves later in the day. Some forward-thinking people had brought their bathing suits with them in their carry-on luggage; I had not. I did, however, have a short-sleeved shirt with me, so I wasn't stuck in my turtleneck sweater for the remainder of the day.
Our group dispersed once we hit the ship, agreeing to meet for dinner later. It was around 5-6pm by this point, past midnight UK time, so we were dragging a bit but the excitement of being in our new surroundings kept us going. Cookieman and I found our cabin, and I was really impressed by how spacious it was. It was larger than every European hotel room I've been in, for sure, not that that says much, I suppose. The bed was two twin beds shoved together, and there was a desk and armchair as well in the main bedroom. There was a separate alcove to hang clothes in, as well as a large chest of drawers, a safe, and a little bar area with a fridge. The bathroom was wee (ah, ha, ha, just seeing if you're still awake) but the shower itself had enough floorspace for a proper bathtub, had they wished to put one in. In this space, there was a little clothesline option for hanging wet bathing suits or whatever.
I can't say I remember much about dinner. We met and ate at one of the two buffet-style restaurants on board. The food was consistently good quality, sometimes great, sometimes not, but if something wasn't good there was always something else to try. I ate a lot of fish over the duration of the trip, as I happen to like fish, and that was almost always the one thing they did really well.
the first day, At Sea
Weather: sunny and warm
Our first day was spent at sea, traveling to Colombia. The weather was perfect, warm and sunny, so the majority of the people on the ship packed themselves onto the top deck, poolside, in wall-to-wall sunloungers. As I am not prone to tanning easily, and I have had my share of experience with Caribbean sunshine, I opted out of this baste-and-roast activity.
Instead, I spent the morning in the Bayside gym, which afforded amazing views from the top front deck of the ship. I made many trips to this gym over the next two weeks, and loved it. I later heard from others who weren't using the gym that it was a waste of prime space on the ship. ie, there could be more tables there, for more sitting/eating/drinking! Yeah, okay. Or you could just shut up and use some of the other bazillion windowside chairs and tables set up for eating and drinking. And come to think of it, do you think that if there were a few chairs and tables set up in that space, that they would even be free when you tried to get a spot? no.
We spent the rest of the day eating, discovering new areas of the ship, watching a movie in the theatre (Stardust), and eating some more. We probably watched a show somewhere. Entertainment was minimal on the ship, and repetitive. There was a theatre for musical acts, and that is where we would often end up in the evenings.
Cartagena, Colombia
Weather: sunny and hot
For our first stop, Cartagena, Colombia, none of us had booked a trip via the ship, so we set off to find a taxi to take us around the main sights in and around the town. After some abysmal haggling (it should have been $15 a person but the British couple next to us piped in with "oh, $20 is fine! That's just 10 quid!" thanks, guys) we were off with our newfound guide. I have forgotten his first name, but his surname, supposedly, was Caballero, so that's stuck in my head. He told us about his family as we drove to the nearby La Popa monastery, built by the Spanish in the 17th century. This location also had a clear view over the city, and many photos were taken here.
Back in the town, we made a brief stop at the Castillo de San Felipe, built by the Spanish (but designed by a Dutchman!) for protecting their gold shipments from pirates. We then moved on to the requisite forced shopping stops, where our Caballero was saddened to discover that none of us had brought our credit cards along with us to shore. One was a short tour of an emerald-cutting factory, with a shop at the end. They did give us free drinks, though. Oh, and cookieman won a tiny emerald pendant for me in the "pick a number between one and ten" game of skill. That remains my only souvenir from the country, actually.
We walked around the Old Town, which was picturesque, albeit full of people trying to sell us stuff every few feet. We made a stop at the Gold Museum, and some other landmarks, and took loads of photos when we were able to shake free from the crapvendors.
By this point, it was mid-day or later, and the heat was making many of us tired. I was brewing a headache and quite beyond appreciating much, so when the tour wrapped up I was happy to head back to the ship for a gallon or two of water and a rest. This was the only day any of us felt this way, which is a shame because it was one of the nicest towns we stopped in during the trip. We chalked it up to it being our first day out and trying to do anything in the heat, after being used to winter for so long.
Colon, Panama
Weather: rainy and warm
Colon is a small city/ town near the Gatun Locks of the Panama canal. Many of us had done some homework beforehand and discovered that the town itself is not tourist-friendly, indeed not particularly safe overall, and houses no sights of interest, so we booked a trip in advance with an independent tour guide. We essentially took the same trip offered by the cruise ship, but at half the price or so, and it included several more stops along the way for photos with various wildlife.
Our first, and main, stop of the tour was the Gatun Locks, and I have to say this was easily one of the highlights of the whole trip. We drove there and had a great view over the canal and had a close-up view of the locks in action. If you aren't familiar with it, I'll explain why it's so interesting: the water level on one side of the canal at this point is much lower than the water level at the other side. So, there is a series of three locks which the ships have to travel through, and at each stage, the water level has to be adjusted to allow for the ship to move up (or down.) This is not very exciting to read, but it is really interesting to watch happen right in front of you.
After this, we headed into the countryside to visit the San Lorenzo fort, which was practically deserted. I believe not many tours get to this point because of the difficult road through the forest which leads up to it, but I might be mistaken. I do know that we had to travel rather slowly to minimize bumps from the uneven terrain. This did lead to us spotting many sloths in the trees along the way, as well as some toucans. We made a few stops so we could get photos.
The tour guide had also brought some small empanadas to try, with the option of plantain or meat filling. I've had other versions previously, so it was nice to try the Panamanian equivalents. He also offers us our choice of water, soft drinks, or beer, and as it was technically after noon, cookieman was up for trying some Panamanian beer. Once he made that choice, the other males on the bus soon followed suit, and all were satisfied with their choices.
We had a bit of a lazy trip back to the ship, and after leaving our guide, did a bit of shopping nearby before heading on-board. There was a craft market within the secure zone around the ship, and I went back out there before we sailed again to pass some time.
Limon, Costa Rica
Weather: rain, pouring at times
That link I've provided, I should note, comes from the "Visit Costa Rica!" site, so the description is predictably upbeat and enthusiastic. This town, similar to our stop in Panama, is often described as a gateway stop, which can be translated as "Limon, Costa Rica: You'll have to put up with us to get to the good stuff!" or perhaps just "Limon: What a Dump!" At any rate, we were happy we'd booked a tour which moved us the hell out of this shantytown and onto the gorgeous countryside surrounding it.
I knew I wanted to visit the nearby Tortuguero National Park" via canal boat, so we took a tour which combined this option with a trip on the local Blue Train which travels through the dense rainforest nearby. This option was added as an afterthought by myself, but completely turned out to be the best part of the trip that day. The railroad tracks are extremely old and the route they travel through the forest is virtually untouched. There were some groups of shacks along the way which were teeming with children and chickens, but aside from that, it was all rainforest. More sloth photos were taken, and monkeys were spotted, as well.
The canal trip was fine, but a bit of a letdown after the train ride. We did see some animals, but we were also a bit slothed-out, and decided that our previous 20 sloth photos would be sufficient evidence that we'd seen them in person. We did get some nice photos of some tiny bats lined up on a tree trunk, sleeping, along with pictures of iguanas and various birds. After this, we were fed some local fruits, which happened to be bananas.
We then visited the Del Monte plant to see banana trimming in action. I'm not sure I've got much commentary for this. Oh, wait, I do remember one bit: curved bananas are for export, while straight bananas are for domestic consumption. The rationale behind this wasn't explained, but perhaps we Westerners expect our bananas to have a bit of curve to them? I don't know. I do have a photo of me beside a sign saying "Del Monte Welcomes You To Costa Rica" or something along those lines. We passed the Dole plant on the way back to town, and my fun observation made there is that Dole has a mascot named Bobby Banana. I had no idea! Bobby dresses up like a cowboy sometimes. Please don't judge.
That's enough for now. I'll do the next few stops tomorrow. I don't think the stories will always be so long, by the way. The first few stops just happened to have a lot going on...