A log about those Silly Folks and their Escapades
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Posts from — February 2014

Panama Canal Cruise

by Larry

Saturday morning we headed off on the start of our 15 night Panama Canal cruise aboard the Holland America ship The Veendam.

Dean, Judy, Brenda and I decided the night before to catch the early shuttle to the Cruise Port thinking that it would be good arrive before the larger crowd that would arrive closer to embarkation time.image

Well, it got pretty exciting once we arrived. There was a problem with our ship, they had a Gastrointestinal Illness (Norwalk) outbreak onboard on the ship from the previous cruise. So, embarkation was delayed while the crew did a complete sanitization of the entire vessel. Folks from the CDC (Centre for Disease Control) were onboard supervising the cleaning and it was the CDC that would decide when they ship was declared fit to sail.
So, to us it was a small blip in our travel plans; however to some of the travellers it was like the world was coming to an end. Some people are a funny lot. Holland America was doing absolutely everything in their power to make the ship safe and ready to sail as fast as possible; and it’s not like they had ordered up the case of G.I.
The waiting area was crowded, however Holland America offered free shuttle rides to a shopping centre about 10 minutes away, plus they handed out bottled water and granola bars for those that wished to wait at the cruise port.
In the end we were probably delayed about 2 hrs and can easily make up that time at sea.
Once onboard we had a bit more of a wait for our cabin and we received a very detailed public briefing by the Captain regarding the current situation, correct hand cleaning measures and other G.I. precautionary measures. In addition at every elevator area and at entrance to restaurants, lobby ere as, etc they have automated alcohol cleaning stations. In addition, at the Lido Restaurant they have an automated hand sanitizing machine where you stick both hands in up to your elbows and water jets swirl around your hands and wrists and then tells you when it is finished and to dry your hands.
Anyway, enough about this little bit of excitement.image
Since we were still adjusting to shipboard life we decided to have a smaller relaxed dinner at the Lido Restaurant. We then toured the ship to get our bearings and from there headed to the Crow’s Nest for an evening nightcap.

February 25, 2014   No Comments

Key West – It’s Party Time :)

by Larry

Wow! What can you say but it’s wild here. Somewhere between George Street in St. John’s Newfoundland and New Orleans LA. 🙂

Duval Street is the main strip where the real action goes all day long, but it really heats up once the sun goes down. It’s pretty much Pub, Bar, Restaurant, Tee Shirt Shop, Pub, Bar, Restaurant, Tee Shirt Shop, repeat as necessary and as many times as you can imagine. Alcohol is abundant at anytime of the day and clearly many visitors have enjoyed themselves a bit too much 😉

However just off the main strip are some pretty historic sites. Like the home of Ernest Hemmingway (and his 6 toed cats), Harry S. Truman’s “Little Whitehouse”, the Southern most Point in the Continental United States to name a few.imageimageimageimageimageimage

The weather has been fantastic, lots of sun and cool breezes off the ocean.

We have done a ton of walking which is a great vacation style for us and in addition to many other sites ; we have seen a Sunset at “Mallory Square”, 60 – 70 pound Tarpon in the Harbour and a very large and mature Manatee.imageimageimageimage

Tomorrow we are headed off early back to Fort Lauderdale and then we start our 15 night Panama Canal Cruise. Updates will be sporadic as we understand that Internet service aboard a cruiseship is not that great:)

 

February 20, 2014   1 Comment

Our Next Big Adventure :)

by Larry

Last Saturday morning we headed off on our next big adventure. A trip of a lifetime to Florida and then a 15 night cruise to through the Panama Canal to San Diego CA.

We ended up taking the Trans- Canada highway though the Fraser Canyon as the Coquihalla was closed for avalanche control. The drive was a little over an hour longer but we made it safe and sound.

The next morning we were up to catch a very early flight to Houston then on to Fort Lauderdale. After a couple days in Fort Lauderdale we headed off to Key West. On the way there we stopped at an Everglades Tour.

What a fun way to see the Florida Everglades………. on an Airboat. imageimage

The guide was very informative about the Everglades; the challenge of water levels (average water depth is only 12″), the alligators and other wildlife.image imageimageimage

From here we drove down to Key West, more on that adventure in the next post….. and what an adventure it was 🙂

 

February 20, 2014   No Comments