Day 55--Day at Sea

after starting off the day with a very windy non-sunrise it  turned into a beautiful sunny calm day with the temperature rising to 80*... a quiet day sitting out on the Navigation Deck-aft..some games by the pool.. ring toss today.... tonite was the last formal nite in the dining room.. then it was off to a Captain's cocktail party followed by Mega Trivia in the Crows Nest--which we won ...  afterwards we went down to the Lido where the Dessert Extravaganza was set up...  only one more day to go.. hard to believe..

Sunset

Day 54--Cartegena

after a 'bumpy 'ride overnite we arrived in our next port--Categena, Colombia--at 9am.. it is a short port call leaving at 2pm..  one of the prettiest entrances in the Bay with the statue of Mary and Jesus standing alone in the middle of the bay...  since the stop was only half a day we decided to walk over to the cruise terminal and shops..  the birds were still there  with some improvements to the overall area since we were here last... very well done...  the Macaws ...Toucans Parrots and of course Thumper the Bunny were now free to roam around the grounds along with newcomers the Pink Flamingos.. we did a little shopping then had a local beer before heading back to the ship at 2pm.. a very nice day with temps in the mid-80's with clear sunny skies

Day 53--Panama Canal

we approached the Canal entrance about 530am... cloudy skies kept the temps down to 83* thruout the day with a few sprinkles mixed in.. it was the coolest we've done in this our 5th roundtrip transit of the Canal...it's still one of our favorite cruises and places to visit..  the morning I stayed up on the outside Navigation Deck-aft... just before noon  the sun came out and cleared the skies...  we got to the Atlantic side about 230pm ..earlier than expected... a couple of Crocodiles welcomed us as we exited the last of the three Gatun locks on the banks in their regular places..  our next stop is in Categena Colombia tomorrow morning..  this is the second time on this cruise that we transited the Canal.. passage from Atlantic to pacific was back on January 23

Day 52--Fuerte Amador

another pretty sunny hot day...arrived in Panama City at Fuerte Amador  at 5pm..tour to the Old Colonial City that we finished about a half hour ago..in an Italyun Gelato joint with free wifi right now..we start the transit of the Canal about 6am tomorrow morning

Day 51--day at sea

windy conditions early just after sunrise.. calmed down to a pretty warm day in the mid 80's with plenty of sun ...a short morning as we went to the Mariner's luncheon at 11am.. got the '700'..  back up to the Navigation Deck-aft by the pool the rest of the day.. tonite was yet another formal nite in the dining room.. only one more to go.. it was off to the showroom with a Las Vegas lounge style comedian-singer..passable ...  no trivia tonite .. we are scheduled to arrive in Fuerte Amador--Panama City-- late tomorrow afternoon about 530pm

Day 50--Puerto Quetzal

an early morning 5am arrival in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala mainly because of the early departure of all day tours to Antigua ... for us it was just hanging around the port complex as we've been here four times before .. it's really a nice area.. shops... vendors .. some small beach bars... a  colorful 'fashion'  show put on by the locals.. I also walked next door to the Marina Pez Vela--SailFish Marina-- where I had taken a Sailfish Charter while here a few years ago... unfortunately our ship was leaving at 230pm today so there was no chance of doing it again..  it's the best of the best Sailfishing.. oh well...  we departed the port on schedule enroute to our next destination--Fuerto Amador-- the port for Panama City.. arrival late Sunday afternoon.. after dinner in the dining room it was up to the Crows Nest for a Captain's cocktail party... followed by Name That Tune trivia..we didn't go to the show tonite.. it was another comedian.. after the last two we passed on this one..  overnite tonite we go forward one hour onto EST