Home

Thankfully the flights on the homeward journey went like clockwork and in no time at all we were out of the airport at Glasgow and in to the fresh autumn air of a Scottish morning. Hard to think that only a few hours before we had been in the heat and humidity of Florida - sometimes the world seems like a very small place - but we've added seeing quite a bit more of it to our memories.

Until the next time.........

Fort Lauderdale/Miami

Well, last day and we had one more excursion to do before we headed to the airport and our flight home. After breakfast we boarded our coach for our guided tour of downtown Fort Lauderdale. Obviously nothing very old but it was interesting to see the trading post/bank which had been one of the first proper buildings in the town and hear a bit of the history of the town.  As we drove along the road parallel with the beach, our guide pointed out the beautiful ornate faux Victorian street lamps and then asked us if we knew why they were covered with black bags. Turned out that the beach is a turtle nesting site so in order not to confuse the newly hatched turtles (who use the moon to navigate their way to the sea), the lamps are covered up during the season.  Drivers are also asked to use dipped headlights.

As we drove along, we kept getting glimpses of the many waterways which make up a lot of the town - and the beautiful houses and boats which line these canals. The next part of our trip was on a sightseeing boat which would take us along some of these canals for a closer look at how the other half live.  And what houses!! Every building style imaginable and a lot with the boat to go with the house.  We sailed out as far as the docks and then turned and came back in along the main waterway with an on-going commentary about who owned which house and which boat. Not being American, a lot of the names meant nothing to us, but it was fun to hear all the comments.

Back at the boat dock we re-boarded our bus and headed for Miami and the airport. After nearly a month of travelling we were headed home.  We'd travelled across the Atlantic, gaped at the excess that is Las Vegas, gone down the entire west coast of the US from Alaska to California, swam in the Pacific, transited the Panama Canal, sailed across the Caribbean and ended up in Florida.  We'd driven 4 x 4s in Alaska, canoed in Alaska and Mexico, been on board the aircraft carrier from where the order to start the first Gulf War had been given, driven dune buggies in the Mexican heat and seen how coffee is produced in Costa Rica. We'd gone from the glitz and bustle of Vegas to the vast, quiet emptiness of Alaska. From frosty mornings to the heat and humidity of Central America. Seen turtles, flying fish, porpoises, pelicans and even a small whale. Drunk coffee in Seattle and Corona beer in Mexico. Walked in the rain in British Columbia and luxuriated in the after dark heat of the tropics. And now it was over and time to go back to Scotland.

Catagena

Cartagena in Colombia was the final port of call on our trip but we had already decided that there was nothing that we really wanted to see or do ashore so we would just spend the day on board ship. The ship docked in the container port so there was plenty to watch as the non-stop process of loading and unloading the container ships went on around us. Because of where we were docked, we couldn't see much of the old city apart from the fort/castle which was on a slight hill in the distance. What we could see looked fairly prosperous and there was a lot of high rise built all along one "arm" of the port which looked beautiful later on as darkness fell and the lights went on and we sailed away.

At sea
So, last 2 days at sea before we reach Fort Lauderdale on Sunday.. With everyone being on board, loungers were at a premium but we found a couple on the boat deck and read and dozed - and visited the buffet a couple of times. Dinner was the final formal night and the one where they have all the relevant departmental heads, chefs, maitre'd etc come out and be introduced to the diners.  On Celebrity they also have a Baked Alaska Parade where the lights are dimmed and all the waiters parade out with baked alaskas held high. Auld Lang Syne was sung (after a fashion) and then, after the stage show, it was time to head up to the Constellation Lounge for the Gala Dessert Buffet - just in case you still needed a little something to keep your appetite at bay till breakfast! There were big ice sculptures and plates and plates of "patisserie" laid out on beautifully lit tables. We resisted and went for a walk round the deck instead - a very windy walk it must be said, but still warm and humid.
Last day
Managed to get out of bed at a reasonable time today as we wanted to go and see the Crew Talent Show in the theatre.  It was actually quite good and everyone had a good laugh. Then the Cruise Director brought a small selection of every branch of the crew up on stage for the "farewell wave" - lots of cheering and clapping and a few words from the Captain.

Following this we watched a cookery competition between two of the chefs and 2 passengers,with a lot of witty banter and some audience questions, and then we went back to our stateroom and packed the majority of our stuff.  The rest of the day will be spent trying to finish the library books so that we can return them before we dock tomorrow, a bit of eating (of course) and just general relaxing.  The weather is overcast but warm which suits us just fine.
Casual dress for dinner tonight, final photos and exchanges of e-mail adresses, luggage outside the stateroom door by 11pm and it will almost all be over.  However we still have a shore excursion tomorrow before our flight so there's  a few more hours of vacation to squeeze out of the trip!

Panama Canal

we woke up this morning at the southernmost point on our trip - the entrance to the Panama Canal.  In a few hours time we would have crossed Central America from the Pacific to the Caribbean via a channel which is almost 100 years old.

We had picked up the pilot and the narrator at 5.30am but we weren't on deck until about 7am just as we  reached the first set of locks - the Milifiore Locks. The perimeter of the decks were lined with passengers all hoping to get the best spot from which to watch our transit. Even the indoor spaces which had a view out were utilised but we found a spot on the port side which would do for the moment - we knew the numbers would thin out as the call of breakfast became too strong to resist!

The canal, our narrator informed us, was inaugurated in August 1914 and this month they would see the millionth vessel pass through.  An average of 38 vessels pass through daily - heading one way in the morning and the other direction in the afternoon. Each set of locks is actually two locks side by side and there is a lot of construction work going on at the moment  making a third set which will be able  to accomodate larger and larger ships.  They hope to have that open by the centenary in 2014 and at the moment they are ahead of schedule.

With inches to spare both lenghtways and widthways, our ship entered the first lock of 1000ft by 100ft wide and the huge gates closed behind us.  We were hitched up to the "mules" (little electric trains which keep the ship dead centre in the lock and help guide her in and out). They're called mules because originally it was actual mules who did  this job.  Because of the size of our ship, we needed 8 mules to help us through - 4 at each side. The locks  fill (or empty) in only 8 minutes thats 3 million litre of water so we were soon in to the second one.  And then we were out in to the canal itself which looks more like a river as it meanders along rather than being straight sided as we had imagined.  Like most canals, it was planned so that it would link up existing lakes or rivers with man-made portions. With Panama being such a rainy country, there is no danger of there never being enough water to keep the canal functioning.

By this time, the crowd had thinned out considerably so we were able to get 2 loungers on the boat deck and watch the scenery as we continued our progress. Dense forest stretches out in all directions with a few buildings here and there for the canal authority.  We saw a couple of alligators but hardly any birds or butterflies unlike all the other areas we've been to.

The canal suddenly widens out as it reaches Gatun Lake which was created by flooding the area so there are "islands" which are really the tops of hills which poke out above the surface. This is where some ships have to anchor to wait their turn to transit, or in our case, to allow the tenders to be lowered to transport people ashore who were taking an excursion. We would collect them later in the day as we exited the canal at Colon (pronounced cologne).

The final set of locks are the Gatun Locks and this is a set of 3 so we took the opportunity to have some lunch as we transited through the first 2 of these and then went back outside as we negotitated the third one, and that was us out in to the Caribbean.  There were lots of ships her waiting their turn - everything from huge bulk carriers to the original "banana"  boats, proper freighters like you would see in a movie. Unfortunately the sky wasn't very Caribbean so the sea still looked grey/brown - not the sparkling turquoise of the brochures!

All in all, from picking up the pilot to arriving in the Carribean had been about 10 hours.Sunrise to sunset. We docked at Colon and a few people went ashore but primarily this stop was to collect the passengers who had been on shore excursions.

Once they were all back on board, we set sail again for our last port of call  - Cartagena in Columbia.  After that, its 2 sea days and then we'll be at Fort Lauderdale and it will all be over.

Costa Rica

After another day at sea sailing ever more southwards, we arrived early morning in Costa Rica next to our sister ship again.  After a quick breakfast our tour bus picked us up right on the dock and off we went on our excursion to see a coffee plantation.

October is part of the rainy season so  it was overcast most of the day but still warm and humid.  The coach wound its way through villages and countryside all the while climbing in to the mountains.  Unfortunately due to recent rain, part of the road had been washed away and a temporary Bailley bridge had been put in place but it was only allowing one way traffic so one direction went for 20 minutes and then the other for 20 minutes. An hour and a half later, we finally got out of the jam and not long after we were at the plantation.  

We were given samples of coffee to try - dark roast, medium roast, light roast - all very strong as they were issued black, and then we set off on the tour.  Our guide explained how the coffee bushes are raised from seed, planted out and pruned every 3 years.  The coffee harvest begins at the end of October and all the "cherries" are picked by hand.  Machines can't do it because there may be ripe and unripe on the same bush. About 600 pickers are employed during the harvest.

We saw how the cofee cherries are processed to get rid of the outer husk and then dried.  Some are exported at this point as they keep better.  We then moved on to see how the roasting process works and it is at this point that the difference is made - dark roast (27 mins), medium roast (25 mins) and light roast (23 mins).  The coffee is then bagged and sold.

After a quick vist to the gift shop, we returned to the bus and continued on for our lunch stop and a bit more shopping time, before returning to the ship - on a different road thankfully from the one we had taken before.  This was actually a bonus because it allowed us to see more of this small country.

A country which seems very new to tourism and is totally un-comercialised - although we were told that over on its other coast, the Caribbean side, its very different. A country where very poor people live right next to obviously much more wealthy neighbours.  A country which seems relatively unorganised with people living in little more than shacks in some areas and yet which generates 80% of its energy from hydro-electric with more from solar panels and wind generators. Even the countryside was confusing - at the same time being utterly familiar with rolling hills and deciduous trees and the next minute looking totally exotic as palms and bananas took over! Even the people were conflicting.  Unlike Mexico where the majority of the population look Mexican with dark eyes, dark skin and black hair, Costa Ricans have no such immediately identifying features because they have mixed with many other races.  As we drove through  the towns we saw people who were dark skinned, light skinned, blonde, dark, tall, short - all variations.

We set sail just after 7pm but being so near to the equator, it had been dark since about 5.30pm so there wasn't much to see after we had left the pier.  Strange to think that the next time we set foot on dry land will be the end of the cruise at Fort Lauderdale in a few days time. We've still to pass through the Panama Canal and after that our last port of call is Cartagena in Columbia but we haven't arranged an excursion for there so until we dock in Florida we're at sea really.  

Huetalco

Another early start for our excursion here - it was only just getting light as we headed up for breakfast.  This area of Mexico started to be developed by the government in 1983 specifically as a holiday resort so again we weren't sure what to expect but it was lovely.  No high rise developement has preserved the look of the coastline and the port itself is built around a lovely little harbour.
Our sister ship, Celebrity Milleneum, was already docked as we pulled in so suddenly there was a potential 4,000 people ready to hit the road.  We met up with our small group of 13 who were all going kayaking down the Codolita river.
Our "bus" transport looked like an old San Francisco tram - all wood and stained glass but i think it only had 2 gears and struggled a bit on the hills.  However we made it safely to the river and our starting point.  Being the rainy season, the river was a bit higher than depicted in the picture of this particular excursion on the website, but off we set and once on the river it wasn't as bad as it had looked at first site.
We did get soaked though, just as well we had our swimsuits on underneath.  We exited the river just before it entered the ocean - soggy but in one piece. We then had a short scramble though the jungle before we walked back to the road through a new archaelogical park whch isn't open to the general public until December.
Back on the "bus" we headed for a small beach where we could have a beer and watch the waves or have a swim. 
Getting out of our wet clothes was a priority once we had been dropped back at the ship but we headed out again for a quick stroll around the pretty harbour area to take some photos.  "Milleneum" left before us and there were cries of "See you in a couple of days" from one ship across to the other as they pulled out - we had been berthed alongside each other with just the width of the jetty in between. We were slightly delayed in leaving because of another "nearly missed the boat" couple but they were dropped off by a a security truck at the last minute, again to cheers and clapping from those on deck.

Another formal dinner and then the show which was the Celebrity singers and dancers in a disco themed 70s show - really good.  A midnight stroll round the deck in the warm night air and that was goodby to Mexico.
Overnight and tomorrow we sail down past Guatemala, Equador and Honduras before our next port of call - Costa Rica where we're going on an excursion to a coffee plantation. 

Acapulco

Famous for its daring cliff divers and made popular in the sixties by Hollywood's glamour set, we weren't quite sure what to expect from this port of call.  Although there are quite a lot of high rise hotels, the bay itself curves in and out and softens the effect a bit.  Also, becuase we're here in the rainy season, its very lush and green. Apparently in the dry season its very brown and tinderbox dry.
Our excursion today was booked on board as we hadn't planned anything for this stop and was described as "Tropical Aviary and Botanical Gardens" which sounds a bit boring but it turned out to be anything but.
Our bus took us along the beachfront with our guide ezplaining how the resort had developed and just pointing out various things as we saw them - why there were so many VW Beetles as taxis (the main factory is only 60 miles away), why the first couple of feet of the palm trees are painted white (it contains something which kills the ants which in turn would kill the tree) and so on.
Soon we were climbing the hills high above the sweep of the bay and we had a couple of very brief stops for a "photo opportunity".  Down the other side and we went through the area where they are building a lot of new condominiums, conference centres,shopping malls and golf courses - the recession doesn't seem to have affected this too much.
Then we were out in to the real Mexico - small breeze block built houses surrounded by junk filled yards and open fronted shops along dusty roads.  Our bus eventually arrived at a lagoon where we boarded small shaded boats - this was to be the aviary part of our trip.
Pedro soon had the outboard started and off we set past fishermen in small boats, children playing at the water's edge and a few fish restaurants which looked like they had seen better days.  As we motored along, Pedro pointed out all the different birds - heron, egret, woodpecker, kingfisher, cormorant and as we pulled right in under the mangrove trees, crabs waved their claws at us. We chugged along channels among the trees until we emerged in to another lagoon where we saw lots of baby birds in the trees and saw how the fishermen marked their pots for shrimp fishing - with empty plastic Coke bottles tied to twigs.
Whizzing back to the jetty with the birds flying along with us we were soon back at the first lagoon quite near to the sandbar which separated the ocean from the fresh water. Here the water was teaming with small fish  - there would be no hungry birds in this part of Mexico.

Back on the bus, we re-traced our steps and then made an unexpected stop at a turtle protection site on Long Beach.  Here, protected by armed guards 24/7, a charity protects turtle nest sites by going along the beach every evening and digging up the newly laid eggs and re-burying them nearer their HQ where they monitor them and eventually release the baby turtles in to the ocean when they are about 2 days old.  We saw baskets of babies who were going to be released that night, but who seemed to be frantic to get going then and there.  In about 20 years time, any who have survived will return to this same beach to lay their own eggs. Punishment for stealing turtle eggs is 12 years in jail - hence the armed police presence.
We all had a cold drink and then it was the last part of the excursion - the gardens.  They were only started 8 years ago but obviously with the climate look like they've been established a lot longer.  Not many flowers, but our guide exlpained all about the diferent palms and cacti and medicinal plants they were growing.
The journey back to the ship took ages - it was the rush hour.  Not the one at the end of the day but the lunchtime one between 2pm and 4pm when everyone goes home for lunch. However we eventually were delivered back to ths dock in time for our own late lunch.
Our first "nearly missed the boat" couple of the entire trip  was today and a cheer went up as they ran the last few yards along the quayside. Gangway up and off we sailed - next stop Huetalco

Cabo San Lucas

After another day at sea we arrived at Cabo san Lucas which is in Mexico, right at the tip of the Baja penninsula straight down from California. It had been hot in San Diego but now it was hot AND humid. Our shore excursion wasn't leaving until 11.45 so we used the tender to get ashore and had a wander round the harbourside, running the gauntlet of all the locals who wanted you to come on their glass-bottomed boat, ot their water taxi to a local beach, or to go fishing, or to have lunch in their restaurant or simply to buy a hat.  However the harbour was well regulated by security staff and it was spotlessly clean - even the restrooms.

We met our tour guide, signed our lives away on the waiver form and our small group was divided up in to 2 dune buggies - 3 in one and four in the other, with a guide in a buggy at the front an another in the rear.  We shared with a couple from New Jersey and after a quick spin round the car park to check that Rich could work the stick shift, off we set.

The first part of the drive was out along the main strip of shops etc of Cabo and, while it was busy, it was lovely to get a breeze going and we were soon cooler. Our small convoy of brightly coloured buggies attracted waves from quite a few people as we headed out of town. Quite a lot of building work going on and more and more "Americanisation".

We turned off the main road and went down on to the first of the 3 beaches we would be visiting that day.  This was really just a 10 minute photo opportunity stop and then we were off again.  Down a dusty trail and we were at our second stop for more photos.  This beach had a few rocky outcrops which made for some nice pictures as the waves broke over them. Much as we would all have liked to just have jumped in to the sea then and there, we had some more driving to do before we could get our swim.  Graham took over from Rich and then we did  some off road driving along a dried up river bed and out a little bit in to the desert.  The guide explained that there had been a few inches of rain recently and that was why there was some greenery around but he said that as they got further in to the rainy season, the desert would really begin to bloom.  We parked up in the shade of a huge fig tree for a quick stop to have water and some fruit, swap drivers again and then we were off to the final beach and our much anticipated swim.

The guides set us up with beach brollies to provide some shade and then it was in to the Sea of Cortez.  Bliss!!  We were surounded by lots of little fish as we swam and bobbed in the sea and they in turn attracted the pelicans who dived all around us.  We had an hour there which was just about long enough and then it was back to the buggies for the 10  minute drive back in to Cabo.

With hair full of sea salt, sand and dust we headed straight for the shower back on board and then some lunch. From the table we watched jet skis, parascenders and all the other small craft coming and going.  Apparently, Cabo is a very safe resort with little crime mainly because of its situation.  Being right at the end of the penninsula, its very easy for the police to seal of the road heading north and the only other way out is by ferry, so again easy for the authorities to deal with.

The show in the evening was a ventriloquist so we saw that and then went for dinner.  We have an eclectic mix at our table this time. Two retired ladies from Florida, one of whom is also taking the watercolor painting classes on board and sounds like she has led a fascinating life; a retired couple from Connecticut who are in the process of moving to Florida and their friend and a retired couple from Kent who love Scotland and visit as often as they can. He's retired from the Met and she was also in the police force but then moved to the NHS and is now involved in Industrial Tribunal work and he's a school governor. At least its a full table most nights, although we have missed one night so far.

After dinner we sat out at the bar which is at the stern and had coffee under the stars. Being so far south, its now really warm and humid at night, great to sit out.

Another sea day tomorrow and then Acapulco.....

Lazy Sea Days and San Diego

Two very lazy days – got up late, had some breakfast, slept a bit more, had a drink, slept a bit more again, had another drink and a bite to eat, snoozed, got changed for dinner, watched the entertainment, had dinner and a drink and then went to bed. And slept and then repeated it all the next day.  Tough life!!

San Diego

Managed to get up in time to see us dock on the edge of downtown San Diego.  Not the cityscape we had been expecting – much more modern and high-rise with the airport almost in the centre of the town.  The old quarter is called the gaslamp district so we thought we would explore that a bit and then spends the rest of the afternoon on the USS Midway, which is permanently docked as a floating museum.

Off we set and it was hot, hot, hot.  We overheard someone say that it was one of the hottest days of the year.  The streets were wide and clean and we walked on the shady side as much as we could until we reached the gaslamp quarter.  Although the buildings were older than the glass and steel ones we’d just passed, they were mostly bars and restaurants and it would probably have had more atmosphere in the evening once it was dark and the old lamps were lit and there was a bit more going on.

We then walked back through a park to the USS Midway.  Commissioned in 1945 and de-commissioned in 1991 it has been restored by volunteers and now carries on its working life as a museum. On the flight deck it has a collection of aircraft from helicopters to fighters and we then explored below decks to see the crew quarters, sickbay, galley, ready rooms etc.  We also had a guided tour of the bridge, negotiating some VERY steep ladders in the process.

Although the ship saw the bulk of its action in Vietnam, it was from its bridge that Operation Desert Storm was launched in January 1991. 

We finished our day by wandering along the harbour side park before returning to the ship.  We set sail at 5pm and were escorted out past the enormous navy base by the US Coastguard who also kept smaller craft away from the ship – more as a Homeland Security measure I think than through any concern for their safety.

Farwell To Seattle

Farewell to Seattle (again!)
What a great day we had today.  Had a light breakfast of melon and cereal by the pool and then, after clearing immigration, we disembarked for a wander round Seatlle.  We headed for the Space Needle along broad tree-lined streets past some of Seattle's many coffee shops.  The trip on the external elevators took just seconds and then we had a 360 degree view of the city and the harbour from 520 feet up in the air.  The needle had been built in 1962 as part of Seattle's hosting of the World's Fair and remains as a tourist attraction just like the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Back at ground level we meandered back down to the waterfront and visited Pikes Place Market - a wonderful concoction of stalls and shops selling mainly fresh seafood, fresh fruit and veg, flowers and souvenirs.

We had a coffee and then headed back to the ship where we flashed our "in transit" passes and bypassed everyone else waiting to board.  A lunch was available for those passengers who, like us, were doing back to back cruises so we went up to the Trellis Restaurant and were served a delicious 3 course meal along with the dozen or so others who had stayed with the ship.  Made us feel like VIPs for an hour or so.
And shortly after that we set sail, leaving Seattle behind for the 2nd time in as many weeks - this sail away was in better weather though and we could see the huge Mount Rainier lying behind the skyline of the city as we cruised in to the Puget Sound.  Due to the way the land lies we had to sail North for a bit before eventually changing course and at last heading for the South and the second part of our trip.

Victoria BC

Strange stop  - 5 hours in port but most of it in darkness as we didn't dock till about 7pm.  We hadn't booked a shore excursion as there hadn't been a great deal of choice due to the aforementioned darkness, so when we disembarked we took the marked walkway that followed the harbour edge round to the front of the Parliament building and the Empress Hotel, a typical Victorian pile of a hotel.   It was all very pretty with the buildings lit up - the Parliament building especially was tastefully outlined in white lights and ended up looking like a cross between the Taj Mahal and Harrods at Christmas!

The rain had started to come on as we headed back to the ship so we just sat our under the awning at the stern and had a drink and watched the lights around the harbour and the rain falling steadily.
Our fellow passengers were busy packing and putting their bags out ready for collection prior to disembarkation the following morning in Seattle - but not us.  It was a good feeling on which to fall asleep.

Heading to Victoria BC

My turn to do the blog, Fiona is a bit under the weather. The sea has been a bit lumpy and Fi has had a touch of Mal De Mer so slept a bit more today leaving me free to loose money in the Casino and read my book. The weather has also gone down hill. Everywhere we went the first 4 days the locals were telling us how unseasonally sunny it was. No clouds for 4 days bright blue skies. However now we are heading back south the clouds have closed in with rain at times. As I write this we are going down the coast of Vancouver Island and it looks a bit like Scotland on a Winters day, with low cloud and mist on the hills.
Tonight we get into Victoria in BC at about 7.15pm but leave again at 11.59pm, so a short stay. Probably just enough time for a bit of a walk down town and back to the ship. Also gets dark at 7.45pm
Of course everybody is coming to the end of their cruise and it is odd that we are staying on board and waving them off in the morning. We will probably agian have a walk around downtown Seattle while the ship is being restocked and cleaned, maybe take a bus tour too.

Farewell to Alaska

The ship left Skagway at 8.30pm last night and it looked a lonely place at night - Vegas it certainly wasn't.  Today is an at sea day so we had a lie-in - the first really since we started the trip.  There was a buffet brunch in the formal dining room - what a spread.  I think two of our table companions thought they had to try at least one of everything on offer. I don't think there's many people who could contemplate eating 12 chocolate dipped strawberries at 11 in the morning!!
So today will just be a lazy day - reading books, snoozing, maybe a turn around the deck - before getting ready for the second formal evening of the cruise.  Maybe more people will dress up tonight as they've had all day to work up to it. 
Weather is still calm but a bit more cloudy and, although its blowy out on deck, its not the sharp crisp cold of the last few days.

Skagway

Another beautiful sunny day and we've arrived in Skagway - our northernmost point of our trip. Our shore excursion today had another 8am start and we were soon off the ship and on the bus ready to go to Klondike goldrush country. Our informative guide/bus driver indicated various points of interest as we went along but mostly just left us to enjoy the spectacular scenery - high mountains (some with snow on top), glacier blue lakes and the autumn colours of the trees and bushes. Our passports were inspected at the Canadian border and then we were in real Yukon territory.
Thousands of prospectors arrived in this area in the late 1890s to search for gold and stake their claim but as communications were so poor, many of them arrived almost too late and the rush was over.
Although it was a beautiful sunny day again, it was really cold and we could only imagine how these men(and some women) managed to survive in ordinary clothes living in tents and with very little idea of what lay ahead.
After a few quick stops for photos we arrived at the Yukon Suspension Bridge which is strung across a deep gorge with a gushing river cutting its way through the rocks below. There were a lot of old photographs on display along with the story of the goldrush and we came away knowing a lot more than before.
There had been a bit of frost on the ground when we first arrived but the sun started to warm us up a bit by the time we re-boarded the bus.

Back down through the mountains towards Skagway where we stopped at an attraction where we all got a chance to pan for gold (in warm water troughs!). Surprisingly we all got some gold flakes in our pans - unfortunately not enough to pay for the cruise! There was a lot of old artefacts on display including a huge dredge which is basically a machine which pans for gold and a lot of these were in use up until the 1930s.
Back to Skagway on the bus and a walk around the town. Skagway only has a population of about 600 but it swells in the summer with all the seasonal workers and obviously most days when there is a ship (or ships) in town its a lot busier. The season ends in about a week on the 29th September and they're expecting the first snow this Friday. Looking down on the town from on board, it looks very pretty today with the blue sky and the mountains and the bustle of the people, the old railroad working away and the helicopters flying in and out taking people sightseeing, but in the winter I guesss it looks a whole lot different. That's when they must really feel like they're at the end of the line.

Tracey Arm Fjord

Early start again as we were cruising up a fjord today to see the glacier at the head of the inlet. Out on deck was really, really cold. The kind that seeps in to you and freezes from the inside out. Luckily we had timed it right and only had to wait about half an hour until we rounded the last curve and there was the glacier. The sun was almost over the top of the steep sides of the fjord but the waiters were still doing a good trade in hot chocolate! At the head of the fjord the ship slowly turned round and began to head back out to sea. There were large chunks of ice all along the surface of the water and as the sun got higher and higher they looked like they were illuminated from within and glowed blue inside. We saw several seals too. It took about 2 hours to get back out to the sea all the time surrounded by "icebergs" and steep cliffs.
Once out in the open sea, we were in the Inside Passage which runs parallel to the coast of Alaska but is protected by a chain of islands which makes for more interesting views rather than just sea.

We arrived in Juneau in the early afternoon and went for a wander round the town. Again, around the dock was very touristy with lots of shops so we walked up to see St Nicholas Church which is a wooden Russian Orthodox church and one of the oldest buildings in the town. We contributed to the local economy by buying 2 postcards and stamps and mailing them from the friendly Post Office - hope they make it home!

Back down at the harbour we watched the float planes coming and going before going back on board. We ate early, skipped the show and headed for bed.

Ketchican

First port of call after a full day at sea.We had spent yesterday exploring the ship and getting our bearings - even so, I still turn the wrong way getting out of the lift! Dinner last night was one of the formal evenings but it ws disappointing to see that so few people had made the effort to get dressed up - there were still a few jeans and casual shirts in the didning room. The show in the theatre was a tribute to Braodway with the singers and dancers running through a large selection of songs from several decades of shows.
Our shore excursion was booked for 8am so after an early breakfast we transferred to the quayside for our short bus ride to Backcountry Jeep Safaris. Our trip was about 4 hours long and it was to consist of off roading in a Jeep Wrangler and then paddling a canoe across a lake for a snack and a short nature walk before canoeing back for a bit more off-roading.

After signing the waiver(!) we were asigned to our Jeep and headed off in our small convoy along the the road and in to the forest. The views were wonderful as we headed higher on up to the lake. The Jeeps were all equipped with CB radios so that we could keep in touch with our guide and there was some good banter as we went along. At the lake we were given a paddle and a life vest and then we all got in to a large canoe (there were only about 16 of us) and we paddled across to a decked area where we had smoked salmon, coffee, clam chowder and rolls and then we had a short walk through the woods where various plants, trees etc were pointed out to us. Our guide - or handsome guide as he liked to be known - was really funny and everone had a great time. Back across the lake and back in to the Jeeps for some real off-roading along some disused logging routes. Our guide was a chiropractor in the winter and I think he was just drumming up some business - we were well rattled and shaken about by the time we got back on to the proper highway! A great day and a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the ship.
Back in Ketchican we had a wander round the town, which didn't take too long. Around the harbour area is obviously a tourist spot with lots of stores mostly selling jewellery but a little further back is the famous Creek Street which is very pretty now but in the old days was a bit infamous. Its made up of wooden houses built out over the creek and was known as where salmon and men came up river to spawn. Not much sign o the men, but the creek was full of Pacific salmon many of whom were dead as they had already spawned.
Back down at the dock we had a quick coffee and sat in the sun before going back on board. Dinner over, we went to see the show again and this time it was a comedian who had the audience in stitches - especially wih his observational humour about how tiring cruising is.

Seattle or Bust

Vegas to Seattle

Up early again – will our bodies ever get back in to a routine?  Check-in and flight went smoothly and we arrived at Seattle Airport.  The flight over the desert was incredible – miles and miles and more miles of nothing.  How did the early wagon train pioneers ever make it across to the West coast?

We managed to get on to the Celebrity transfer bus and off we set to join the ship which was to be our home for the next few weeks.

Seattle seemed to grow out of the sea with skyscrapers forming a backdrop to the original piers and warehouses of the old town.  We’ll have a chance to explore it when we return at the end of the first portion of our cruise.

Lunch was served shortly after boarding and then we went to explore while we waited for our luggage to be left outside our cabin.

First impressions?  Not as luxurious a ship as any of the previous 3 from Royal Caribbean that we’ve been on but still a very comfortable way to spend a holiday. Inside areas very comfortable and plenty of places to sit and have a coffee, read a book or just nod off.  Outside areas are a bit austere with more of a feeling of it being a ship and not a floating hotel, 

Luggage arrived so we quickly unpacked (lots of storage space in our stateroom) and then we went up on deck to watch as we sailed away from Seattle.

Dinner was a t 8.30pm, attire smart/casual.  We were at a table for eight and the first night is always a bit nerve-wracking until you see who will be sharing your table.  One other couple showed up – Anthony and Kate – who had got married back in April but this was a belated honeymoon for them, but the other seats remained empty.  Maybe they were too tired after a long journey and will show up tomorrow.

So at the end of a long day we retired for the night hoping that the darkness of the cabin, the thrum of the engines and the comfortable bed would let us get a proper night’s sleep for the first time in 3 days.

Las Vegas

So we eventually arrived in Vegas – much, much later than expected.  We had hoped to be able to check in and then go out for a bit but as it was the wee small hours we just went to bed.  However we didn’t sleep for as long as we had thought we would, so by about 8am we were up, breakfasted and out on the Strip. Not before we had to ask one of the hotel security staff how to exit the hotel – it really was that big and of course they don’t really want you to get out; they want you to stay indoors and gamble and eat and drink with them. 

                       

However we managed to escape and started our exploration of The Strip. Even at that early hour the temperature must have been in the low 80s but we walked along the sidewalk, in and out of the different hotels (or resorts as they like to call them now) and in and out of the shopping malls. Names from films and TV shows -  The Bellagio, Caesar’s Palace, the Venetian, Paris Las Vegas among others.  We knew they would all have casinos but we were not prepared for the size of them!!  They just went on and on and on and on – miles and miles of slot machines and tables.  Dimly lit cavernous halls with no windows, no clocks, no sense of time – just flashing lights on the machines.  Even the money isn’t what it used to be – you put real money in, but the winnings are paid out on a bar coded ticket that you can either cash in or use in another machine.  Some people are even connected to their machine by an umbilical cord which keeps charging their card as they play.  If slots and tables aren’t your thing, then there are other areas dedicated to betting on any sport you care to name – vast walls displaying the odds for all the sports and then you can sit at a monitor and watch the action as it happens.

Then there is the shopping – lots and lots of shopping.  Themed areas within the hotels and beautiful malls selling almost anything you can think of plus designer shopping – Tiffany, Fendi, Vuitton, Prada etc etc.  And out on the street all sorts of other things for sale not available in any shop…….

By 10pm we were flagging so headed for bed – only to be awake again very early, so off we headed to explore the bits of The Strip we hadn’t seen the day before.  However we used the Monorail system as we wanted to head out to the far end of The Strip and visit the Stratosphere to get a bird’s eye view of Las Vegas.  That was spectacular – the high rise part which is the bit everyone knows as Vegas and then the low rise of the rest of the City stretching away in to the distance all surrounded by mountains. By the time we got back out on the street, the heat was intense – like standing in front of an open oven door.  We headed back to the Monorail and hopped on and off a few times to see the hotels we’d missed out on the way along. By now it was dark and the Strip was looking every bit as glitzy as you would imagine. We finished our day by watching the dancing, illuminated fountains outside the Bellagio and then headed for bed as we had an early start for our flight to Seattle the next morning.

The Journey

And what a journey it was. Started off well taxi turned up on time, no traffic jams on route to the airport and check in went smoothly and then the trouble started. After loading us on to the plane on time the pilot came on the announce that due to weather conditions at Heathrow our flight would be delayed by 1.45 mins. This meant that by the time we arrived at Heathrow we literally had 25 minutes to RUN the length of terminal 5 and get the monorail to 5B to catch our flight to Las Vegas. After half killing ourselves doing this we actually caught the flight with minutes to spare. Problem solved……………well no. The pilot of the new plane announced that there was a small technical hitch and we would probably be delayed by 10 minutes while they sorted it out.

5 hours later and a switch of aircraft having spent 3.5 of them sitting on the plane we finally got under way. Long story short we arrived in Vegas at 2am local time instead of 7.30pm. Good old British Airways.

The last 2 days have been a bit odd, trying to catnap and stay wake enough to see the sights. Even though we have only been away a little over 2 days it seems like about 5 having been to bed and slept 4 times. As I write this we are on the plane to Seattle now at 7.35 in the morning. Will post more details of Vegas soon.

Sabotaged By A Slug

Picture the scene, Sunday night, 2 days before departure. Having a nice family meal, shooting the breeze. Monday was to be a leisurely day with Barbara ( my staff ) doing the postage and stuff  with me just in the background doing bits and pieces before departing on Tuesday morning. 

Suddenly all the lights and electrics go out. Must be a power cut ? No all the lights are on next door. Went to the mains switch  board to find it had tripped. While we could get the lights back on the power to all the sockets is OFF. Disaster one day to go, no power = no computer = postage and business cannot be attended to. Yikes!!!

Monday morning phoned my electrician who shot round straight away. Must be a short, could be an appliance causing it, need to unplug EVERYTHING, kitchen just about dismantled to get at the plugs for the fridge, dishwasher, cooker, microwave, etc.................................... sometime later, no its not any of that. What about the external socket on the back wall which powers the pump in the pond? Well its dry inside but will open it right up to check, THERE IT WAS. A large piratically fried slug. Somehow it had got in and slithered over the neg and positive of the ring mains and Pow. 

So £80 later and a couple of hours putting the kitchen back together we have lift off and everything working again apart from Barbara's and my own nerves.

So having postponed everything we were going to do on Sunday night to Monday night ( to give us something to do) we are now running about like mad things to get it all done. Never put off to tomorrow what you can do today.

2 days to go.......

The last couple of weeks have just flown in - we've both been very busy with work ensuring that everything is (hopefully) going to run smoothly in our absence and that those left behind have all the instructions they need.  Tomorrow we'll be packing for real and re-weighing the cases as, despite what I said in the last post, the clothes buying wasn't finished after all.  Decided another long dress for the formal evenings wouldn't go amiss but its light and floaty so hopefully it won't make too much of a difference to the weight - can't say the same for the extra six t-shirts, the other pair of shoes and the items of clothing that we weren't going to take but probably will anyway, just in case!

Just checked the 10 day weather forecast for Las Vegas - and its looking good. Sunshine all the way and temperatures in the high 30s  - I think we'll be glad of the air con!. Our hotel, the Luxor, has a pool so I can see us making good use of that at the end of the day,  Seattle on the other hand, where we board the ship, is only about 11 degrees so that's even cooler than it is here at home.  Good job the ship has an indoor pool.

Three and a half weeks to go....not that we're counting

Okay, we've now officially stopped buying clothes etc to take with us so we thought it would be a good idea to see if 1. it all fitted in the suitcases and 2. that each suitcase was below BA's baggage allowance of 23kgs. We've flown quite a lot with Ryanair and are used to their allowance of 15kgs so 23kgs seems like an extravagance, but as you can see from the picture, we seem to have quite a bit of stuff.  Well it is quite a long trip....

A few minutes later and the cases are shut ready for the weigh-in.  One is bang on 23kgs and the other is 15kgs so we've got no decisions to make about leaving stuff behind.as, even allowing for toiletries, there's still a few kilos of spare case space.  Plus with BA you can take a handbag as well as a piece of hand luggage each so it all looks like our luggage is sorted.  Might even be room for that extra pair of shoes......

Preparations

So what to take? Some quick "googling" seems to suggest that for the Alaskan section we should take clothes which we can layer plus obviously waterproof jackets. The adverts for Alaskan cruises make much of the fact that you can sunbathe while gliding past a glacier, but we're under no illusions that we are at the tail end of the cruise season for that area of the world so I think that if its dry weather we'll consider it a bonus! Don't expect any swimwear pics to appear on our blog that week!  Which is a pity because that's when we'll be at our slimmest before we've had too many cruise ship meals and snacks........

For the second leg, it will gradually get warmer as we head south so we'll need to shed layers but the waterproof jackets may still come in to their own as the rainfall graphs for Mexico show an enormous spike in September so we may well find out why the rainforests got their name!  

As it looks like cruising is becoming a favourite way to holiday, a tux has now been purchased to replace the lounge suit along with a new evening dress which is reasonably uncrushable and, more imprtantly, lightweight.  Some time in the next couple of weeks we'll have a trial paking session so that we can add, or more likely, remove clothes and shoes to get us below the weight allowance.








 

5 weeks to go

Approaching 50 years on the planet FAST we have decided that working hard should pay some rewards and so we have booked a 4 week back to back cruise starting in Las Vegas. I know some of you will be thinking that Las Vegas is no where near the ocean, but we are starting with 3 days there then flying to Seatlle to catch the BIG boat. Heading from there to Canada & Alaska and then south down the Californian coast to Mexico, Costa Rica and then east through the Panama Canal before finally ending up in Florida and flying home from Miami.

 Although we've cruised several times, we've never cruised with this particular line (Celebrity Cruises), nor have we been away for so long before. With only a 23kg baggage allowance its going to be difficult deciding what to take especially as we'll be going from what will probably be quite chilly weather in an Alaskan autumn to hot and humid when we reach Central America. Tough decisions to make before we even leave home!

Its gonna be a tough job but someone has to do it, swabbing the decks