Flash: Larry has contracted the Norovirus. Quarunteened to cabin until it passes. No problem, I needed the rest.
Manzanillo, Mexico
Manzanillo is new to cruise ships but has a old maritime history. Cortes first found the harbor in 1522 and chose the bay as a site for a shipyard. Today, Manzanillo is the largest commercial port on Mexico’s Pacific Coast. Our ship arrived in this working port early morning Sunday, January 27 and found ourselves along side an industrial dock loaded with containers from around the world. We were the only cruise ship in port. For those of you who remember the movie starring Dudley Moore titled “10”, this is where the movie was filmed.
Manzanillo is old Mexico. There is little commercial tourist industry here. Many small shops catering to the local people and a few nice resorts up in the hills outside of the downtown area. The people are helpful, friendly and eager to please.
After a walk through town, and a few little purchases, we took a taxi out of town to one of the local beaches, Miramar Beach. We enjoyed a wonderful fresh seafood lunch, octopus, deep fried whole fish (looked like an oversized sun fish), shrimp in a chili sauce (too hot for Ruthanne to eat), sautéed fish filet with beer. It was served al fresco with a beautiful beach setting. On our taxi ride back to the ship, our driver showed us some of the local wildlife. We saw iguana in the trees the size of large full grown cats. They were very colorful, orange, yellow and black.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Viva Mexico
Viva Mexico
We arrive in Acapulco on Saturday, Jan 26. Short day in town, great weather. About 2 million people habitate the general area. We learned a bit about Mexico’s history from an on board lecture. Much was said about the Aztec civilization including the source of words we still use today: tortilla, avocado, chili and guacamole for example. The town, (Acapulco means broken bamboo) is built on a narrow strip of low land, scarcely half a mile wide, between the shoreline and the lofty mountains that encircle the bay. The city has had it’s star-spangled times, prompting “old blue eyes” Frank Sinatra to give the place a mention in his all time classic, come fly with me.
For our part, we watched the famous cliff divers, had lunch at Senor Frogs, did some shopping and took a van tour around the downtown area. The shop owners were quite a bit more aggressive than what we’ve found in other ports and few bargains were to be found.
The city still looks beautiful and romantic from a distance, but up close, she is showing her age and decline. Buildings are not well kept and many of the resorts and shop buildings are in need of repair. The city had a major boom in the 1940-50’s and again a brief boom in an area in the hills outside of town in the 1970’s which the city dwellers call the “new town”. With such wonderful natural beauty surrounding the bay and the hills overlooking the city, one would hope a revitalization would come quickly to spruce up ol’ Acapulco.
We arrive in Acapulco on Saturday, Jan 26. Short day in town, great weather. About 2 million people habitate the general area. We learned a bit about Mexico’s history from an on board lecture. Much was said about the Aztec civilization including the source of words we still use today: tortilla, avocado, chili and guacamole for example. The town, (Acapulco means broken bamboo) is built on a narrow strip of low land, scarcely half a mile wide, between the shoreline and the lofty mountains that encircle the bay. The city has had it’s star-spangled times, prompting “old blue eyes” Frank Sinatra to give the place a mention in his all time classic, come fly with me.
For our part, we watched the famous cliff divers, had lunch at Senor Frogs, did some shopping and took a van tour around the downtown area. The shop owners were quite a bit more aggressive than what we’ve found in other ports and few bargains were to be found.
The city still looks beautiful and romantic from a distance, but up close, she is showing her age and decline. Buildings are not well kept and many of the resorts and shop buildings are in need of repair. The city had a major boom in the 1940-50’s and again a brief boom in an area in the hills outside of town in the 1970’s which the city dwellers call the “new town”. With such wonderful natural beauty surrounding the bay and the hills overlooking the city, one would hope a revitalization would come quickly to spruce up ol’ Acapulco.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Whoope!
PUNTARENAS, COSTA RICA
Puntarenas, which means Sand Point in Spanish, is the capital of the costal province and largest city on the costal shores of Costa Rica. About 100,000 people live in the city.
The Costa Rican nation offers public education through high school and provides socialized medical services. There is a 93% literacy rate and an average life span of 78. There is no Army or military force of any kind. With a total area of 20,000 square miles, it is the second smallest Central American nation (after El Salvador). The country is very conservation conscientious and protective of its natural tropical rain forests. Coffee, tourism and computer chip manufacture tops the economy.
Our visit was taken up by a new experience for Ruthanne and Larry, ZIP-LINING. You’re placed in a harness and attached to a cable, and then off you go high into the forest canopy, over rivers and gorges, quite a thrill. All in all we traveled through and over the tropical jungle of Costa Rica through 7 zip-lines and platforms. To reach the various platforms, we walked over cable strung suspension bridges that would swing and bounce with each step as we climbed above the jungle into the trees. After our hearts settled down and a good Costa Rican lunch, we were taken to see Sloth’s, Crocodiles and Iguanas, which are all prevalent. It was a fun and exhilarating day! We returned to our cabin happy to be out of the heat of the tropical climate…hot, hot, hot, and HUMID!
Puntarenas, which means Sand Point in Spanish, is the capital of the costal province and largest city on the costal shores of Costa Rica. About 100,000 people live in the city.
The Costa Rican nation offers public education through high school and provides socialized medical services. There is a 93% literacy rate and an average life span of 78. There is no Army or military force of any kind. With a total area of 20,000 square miles, it is the second smallest Central American nation (after El Salvador). The country is very conservation conscientious and protective of its natural tropical rain forests. Coffee, tourism and computer chip manufacture tops the economy.
Our visit was taken up by a new experience for Ruthanne and Larry, ZIP-LINING. You’re placed in a harness and attached to a cable, and then off you go high into the forest canopy, over rivers and gorges, quite a thrill. All in all we traveled through and over the tropical jungle of Costa Rica through 7 zip-lines and platforms. To reach the various platforms, we walked over cable strung suspension bridges that would swing and bounce with each step as we climbed above the jungle into the trees. After our hearts settled down and a good Costa Rican lunch, we were taken to see Sloth’s, Crocodiles and Iguanas, which are all prevalent. It was a fun and exhilarating day! We returned to our cabin happy to be out of the heat of the tropical climate…hot, hot, hot, and HUMID!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Panama Canal
Gustafson’s confront technical difficulties…..
Before our next summary of the Panama Canal, Larry wanted to explain a few technical problems. To begin with, apparently the picture size we had selected were too large for timely transmission at $0.50 a minute. Unfortunately, even the small pictures are having trouble transmitting from sea, therefore, until we sort it out, or arrive in a port like LA where we can utilize a land based internet café, a narrative log will have to suffice.
PANAMA CANAL
We enjoyed a terrific experience participating in the inaugural transit of the Panama Canal aboard the Queen Victoria. The Panama Canal is a lock-type canal, not dissimilar to the Ballard Locks in Seattle, WA. Approximately eighty kilometers long that unites the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The canal was built at one of the narrowest points of both the isthmus of Panama and the American continent. The canal opened its doors to trade in August of 1914 and since then, close to a million vessels have used the waterway.
The canals three sets of locks, each having two lanes, that serve as water lifts elevating ships 26 meters above sea level to Gatun Lake. Here they cross the continental divide to then be lowered back to sea on the opposite side of the isthmus. The vessels use their own propulsion for the greater part of their transit. Only when passing through the locks are ships powered by small locomotives using cables attached to the ships. These locomotives, affectionately called “Mules” ( from the Erie Canal) and work in pairs to minimize the risk of damaging the canal’s structure. Finally, with terrific vision, two dams were constructed to help supply the approximately two hundred million liters of fresh water for each lock. The water is ultimately flushed into the sea.
Finished in 1913, under the leadership of Teddy Roosevelt, the canal supports a high volume of commerce at a combined cost of $639 million and it took over thirty years to construct. Over thirty thousand lives were lost during construction as a result of accidents, malaria, yellow fever and bubonic plague.
The cost for the Queen Victoria to transit the canal was approximately $230,000. The smallest amount ever paid for a canal transit was in 1928 when a swimmer paid $0.36 in tolls to swim the canal. It took him ten days to complete the trip from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
While initially operated and constructed by the USA, on Dec. 31, 1999, Panama assumed total responsibility for the administration, operation, and maintenance of the canal.
Larry has some extensive video of our transit. Our canal crossing started at 6AM and we completed our transit by 7PM that same evening. The Panama Canal is located in a tropical rain forest, but we had wonderful good luck, a dry sunny day, although very hot and humid, greeted us on our day of transit.
Before our next summary of the Panama Canal, Larry wanted to explain a few technical problems. To begin with, apparently the picture size we had selected were too large for timely transmission at $0.50 a minute. Unfortunately, even the small pictures are having trouble transmitting from sea, therefore, until we sort it out, or arrive in a port like LA where we can utilize a land based internet café, a narrative log will have to suffice.
PANAMA CANAL
We enjoyed a terrific experience participating in the inaugural transit of the Panama Canal aboard the Queen Victoria. The Panama Canal is a lock-type canal, not dissimilar to the Ballard Locks in Seattle, WA. Approximately eighty kilometers long that unites the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The canal was built at one of the narrowest points of both the isthmus of Panama and the American continent. The canal opened its doors to trade in August of 1914 and since then, close to a million vessels have used the waterway.
The canals three sets of locks, each having two lanes, that serve as water lifts elevating ships 26 meters above sea level to Gatun Lake. Here they cross the continental divide to then be lowered back to sea on the opposite side of the isthmus. The vessels use their own propulsion for the greater part of their transit. Only when passing through the locks are ships powered by small locomotives using cables attached to the ships. These locomotives, affectionately called “Mules” ( from the Erie Canal) and work in pairs to minimize the risk of damaging the canal’s structure. Finally, with terrific vision, two dams were constructed to help supply the approximately two hundred million liters of fresh water for each lock. The water is ultimately flushed into the sea.
Finished in 1913, under the leadership of Teddy Roosevelt, the canal supports a high volume of commerce at a combined cost of $639 million and it took over thirty years to construct. Over thirty thousand lives were lost during construction as a result of accidents, malaria, yellow fever and bubonic plague.
The cost for the Queen Victoria to transit the canal was approximately $230,000. The smallest amount ever paid for a canal transit was in 1928 when a swimmer paid $0.36 in tolls to swim the canal. It took him ten days to complete the trip from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
While initially operated and constructed by the USA, on Dec. 31, 1999, Panama assumed total responsibility for the administration, operation, and maintenance of the canal.
Larry has some extensive video of our transit. Our canal crossing started at 6AM and we completed our transit by 7PM that same evening. The Panama Canal is located in a tropical rain forest, but we had wonderful good luck, a dry sunny day, although very hot and humid, greeted us on our day of transit.
Monday, January 21, 2008
One Happy Island
Jan 19th, Oranjestad, Aruba. We arrived in Aruba without much fanfare, early in the morning of 1/19. Aruba was part of the Netherlands Antilles until it’s independence in 1986. It is an Island of contrasts; the Islands interior is dotted with cactus and wind swept divi-divi trees, while secluded coves and sandy beaches form its blue water coasts. The still Dutch-like Island has a population of about 100,000 people and lies about 35 miles north of Venezuela, Larry,s old homesake. Aruba is one of the three “ABC” islands of the Dutch West Indies and you can see a great deal of the local architecture reflecting this Dutch influence.
Upon arrival, we raced for the internet café, sent our message on the blog site then off to the shops for souvenirs and seeing the town of Oranjestad. Wonderful place and the locals are proud of their motto written on the local license plate, “ONE HAPPY ISLAND”. We returned to the ship, had lunch then off on a local bus to take us to Eagle beach forswimming and sunbathing. The sand at the beach looked and felt like sugar.
Upon arrival, we raced for the internet café, sent our message on the blog site then off to the shops for souvenirs and seeing the town of Oranjestad. Wonderful place and the locals are proud of their motto written on the local license plate, “ONE HAPPY ISLAND”. We returned to the ship, had lunch then off on a local bus to take us to Eagle beach forswimming and sunbathing. The sand at the beach looked and felt like sugar.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Ft Lauderdale
On Wednesday, Jan 16, we arrived in fort Lauderdale with “list” in hand to cover our shopping needs before being off USA soil. The list had items like, suction cup hooks to help with storage challenges, travel alarm, water color painting supplies, bathroom storage shelf, baggies for lunches away from ship, hangers, a precious commodity on ship, batteries, replacement for Larry’s broken watchband, cocktail hour beverages, and snorkel and goggles for the South Pacific. But before our shopping trip could begin, we had a must stop at Starbucks to begin our blogging session (see picture). Our departure from Ft Lauderdale was notable with fireboats and Queen Elizabeth 2 docked in the next berth, horns blaring from ships sending their welcome to the new Queen Victoria, and then people in the apartments and along the beach waving flags from world wide countries saying their goodbyes as we left for the open sea. A wonderful send off as we began the next leg of our journey and our two days at sea toward Aruba.
During our days at sea we have now settled into a routine…continental breakfast in our cabin as a wake up call, thirty minute walk on deck, morning activity of lecture, watercolor lessons, ball room dance lessons…so far the Cha- Cha, waltz and Rumba. The dance lessons are fast and furious with many participants. Larry complained after the third lesson of the Rumba, that he forgot the first lesson of the Cha-Cha. After dancing we meet our traveling companions for lunch and then begin the afternoon activities. Larry off to bridge, and Ruthanne with the watercolor lessons. RA’s first attempt at painting is included in the pictures below. We meet up again at four for a quick afternoon walk and then it is time to get polished and shined for dinner at 6. The food has been plentiful (as expected) and excellent.
After dinner we take in the evening entertainment which has included singing, dancing, comedy show and the like.
We love the blog messages back and hope you are all doing well.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
First days at sea
To begin with, our ability to update our blog site will be constrained since the ship is experiencing difficulties connecting to the internet. Moreover, we are not able to use our computer in our cabin as we originally were told. This requires us to visit the ship’s computer center and wait our turn. Finally, Larry no longer has the necessary technical support supplied by Dennis Fennessey. This will naturally slow things down a bit as well.
Nevertheless, on Sunday the 13th, we boarded the Queen Victoria at pier 92 in Manhattan. The unloading of our heavy luggage and the boarding of the ship went much more smoothly than we could possibly have anticipated. Once on the ship, we found our cabin and began the process of unpacking and storing our clothing for the next three months and as we put things away, the cabin although tiny, appears big enough to meet all our needs. Storage is a challenge.
The ship is beautiful. If you remember how the Titanic looked in the Decaprio movie, the Queen Victoria looks the same: Beautiful woods and marble, tremendous stairways, Chandeliers and the like.
The best feature of our cabin is our balcony. We’re on the starboard side of the ship (right side going forward). Being able to stand on our private balcony and seeing the sights and sounds is terrific. We departed the pier at 7:30 pm and witnessed a fantastic historical event. For the first and only time, three of Cunard lines ships (Queen Elizabeth2, Queen Mary2 and the Queen Victoria) left their respective piers together and made their way down the Hudson River to the Statute of Liberty for an awesome fireworks and music display. Our pictures are a little fuzzy but the video we took is great and we’ll share this upon our return. It was also fun to watch the Queen Elizabeth2 follow us down the east coast for the first two days of the cruise.
We are having our dinners at the late seating and after our first dinner, we took a leisurely walk around the ship marveling at the facility. On our first day at sea, Don Kredel and Larry played in their first duplicate bridge tournament while Ruthanne did the laundry at the shipboard laundry mat. Next stop, Ft. Lauderdale. :-)
Saturday, January 12, 2008
start spreading the news...
We took an aiport shuttle to LAX, had a brief delay and uneventful flight to JFK. Our good friends from New Jersey, Jane and Dennis Fennessey, picked us up at the airport and delivered us to their home in Chatham. We joined more friends and companion world cruisers, Don and Marilyn Kredel from Phoenix and Dan and Barbara Christy from California. We had a wonderful evening of conversation, good food, and wine. Don, Dennis and Larry all worked together in the early days (1971...) and have remained close friends ever since.
The next morning we left Chatham, NJ by train for the big city...New York. Saturday was spent shopping on 5th avenue, eating pastrami at a deli and catching the broadway musical The Jersey Boys. The following pictures reflect the activities of our day including a billboard of the Jersey Boys, Penn station and Times Square. After the musical, we found our way to the Scaletta Restaurant on 77thst, an Italian restaurant for dinner where we were joined by Mike and Natalie De Maar.
The next morning we left Chatham, NJ by train for the big city...New York. Saturday was spent shopping on 5th avenue, eating pastrami at a deli and catching the broadway musical The Jersey Boys. The following pictures reflect the activities of our day including a billboard of the Jersey Boys, Penn station and Times Square. After the musical, we found our way to the Scaletta Restaurant on 77thst, an Italian restaurant for dinner where we were joined by Mike and Natalie De Maar.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
arrived safely at LAX airport
Picking up the rental car and driving to LAX wasn't exactly a piece of cake. The drive was OK but negotiating LAX traffic, finding a gas station, returning the car and getting back to the hotel was a little difficult. But Ruthanne kissed Larry when we arrived along with a big "GOOD JOB!"
Our plane to JFK leaves at 9:30am where we'll shuttle to the Newark airport where the Fennessey's will pick us up for a two night stay before we board the Queen Victoria (QV)on Sunday afternoon. Sweet dreams!
Our plane to JFK leaves at 9:30am where we'll shuttle to the Newark airport where the Fennessey's will pick us up for a two night stay before we board the Queen Victoria (QV)on Sunday afternoon. Sweet dreams!
Gustafson's depart La Quinta
It's 4:15 pm on Jan 10 and we're about ready to depart for the LAX Courtyard Marriott. The rental car has been picked up, Tucker delivered to dog sitter and groceries to be given to Fowlers are in the bag. We expect a 2 1/2 hour drive to LAX and are ready for the heavy traffic. Ruthanne's sister Beth has agreed to take care of the mail and Tucker for the bulk of our trip. What an Angel she is, such a worry off our minds. Love to all, Larry and Ruthanne
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Friday, January 4, 2008
welcome to laranne
Hi everyone
This is the first posting on the laranne blog documenting our world cruise. We will attemt to post information daily including pictures and videos. Of courtse, Larry is new at this and it will take a few tecnical misfires to get it right, but, let us hear from you as you follow our progress
This is the first posting on the laranne blog documenting our world cruise. We will attemt to post information daily including pictures and videos. Of courtse, Larry is new at this and it will take a few tecnical misfires to get it right, but, let us hear from you as you follow our progress
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