World Cruise Miami to San Diego

               2017 World Cruise 

We've begun our 128 day odyssey!  Travel to Miami was uneventful and we arrived at The Biltmore Hotel in plenty of time for the Gala for 301 World Cruisers that evening.  Almost the first people we met were 2 couples from San Antonio:  Charlene and Richard Thum and Lana and Dick Breakie.  We sat at a table with some of the 'younger' crowd who turned out to be lots of fun and we have spent time with them since.  

Next day we settled into Suite 601 up front on the starboard side,  Plenty of space and a really big deck.  The Navigator looks really fresh and beautiful from its recent refurbishment, shades of silvery taupes, frosty golds, china blues, and some darker tans and browns with bright pops of color in the new(thank goodness) artwork all around the ship.  Very snazzy but elegant and contemporary. 

The first day was at sea and we cruised very close to Cuba for much of the day.  Wish we could have made a stop there but guess it opened up too late for it to be included in this trip.   

Grand Cayman has beautiful beaches on one side and a rocky coastline on the other.  We chose to see some of the, well, scenic would be an exaggeration,  but other coast, so that included a visit to a pretty garden with numerous examples of tropical plants, flowers, trees, etc. etc. and one charcoal grey iguana and its baby.  Afterward we visited to a very unusual plantation/castle from the early days of Grand Cayman's history as well as the birthplace of democracy there  All the woodwork and furniture were carved out of beautiful deep brown mahogany.  It was quite impressive actually and there can be no doubt that it was the best place anywhere on the island.  The only wildlife there was a moth-eaten donkey that I thought was statue until it moved - barely.  All part of the atmosphere of early plantation life I guess.  

Castle San Pedro

We had a rough day at sea after that and little sleep that night but were rewarded with Cartagena,

Columbia the next day.  There is an enormous impressive Spanish fort that guards the city and the colonial old town is wonderful.  Eleven miles of really high thick walls surround it, which on their own are quite something.  Inside, all the buildings are preserved and kept beautifully and the whole area is quite large, including some expansive plazas and large churches.  There's lots of bright and colorful bougainvilleas cascading off balconies and window boxes on every window with flowers in them.  We had a drive from the old colonial area along the coast of the 2 bays on which Cartagena has developed.  They're lined with high rise hotels and condos and an embarkadero that all look out onto the ocean  - wonderful!  We liked it  very much.  

Fuerte Felipe (and Al!)

Colonial Cartagena

Modern  Cartagena

We've now been to all the South American countries except for Bolivia and Guyana (well, we did go to French Guyana so we might count that).  There are no plans - ever - to go to Bolivia so that wraps up South America!

Transiting the Panama Canal was just as fascinating this time as before, and we were able to see the entrances to the new canal on each end of Atun Lake which lies between all the locks.  For some reason traffic was only one-way through the original locks this time, but we had boats in front and back of us to watch.  At the final lock before entering the Pacific Ocean, the new canal was right beside us separated by a huge earthen dike which kept its water 50 feet higher than in our channel. There was a huge  container ship entering it behind us but we didn't get to see it actually go through. Those ships only go through one lock at that end whereas we went through 2 final ones.  We were waving like crazy from the top deck at everyone who was watching the live video camera, but the image is evidently very blurry as the ship gets closer.  But I'm sure the red speck they saw was me in my red top!  Damon did take a picture of his computer screen of the Navigator entering that last lock so we have that as proof of our passage.  Of course the ship gives everyone a certificate for doing it - as if we did something to earn it!  Well, maybe in a way we did!

One of the locomotives (there is one on each side)that keeps ships aligned correctly in a lock

                                     

Gaillard Cut 

Canal Walls from our suite

Our ship in a lock

Captain and Panamanian Pilot (along with anybody and everybody) taking us through the canal

So Golfito was such a waste we won't go into it all.  Must have been the only place to break up the trip between Panama and Costa Rica,  Don't really want to talk about it!!!!

Punta Arenas, Costa Rica, on the other hand, was worth the visit.   We hiked through a rainforest with all kinds of specimens of local flora and fauna, stopped at a bridge overlooking a river with dozens of big creepy crocs lounging on the banks, and visited a beautiful garden with spectacular high altitude vistas across the forest out to the ocean.  The garden and restaurant there are owned by a couple from Dallas, TX of all places!  We saw some toucans in the trees there which was pretty neat.  In the rainforest we saw an endless stream of leaf cutter ants all hauling the same size piece of the same kind of leaf back to the nest, where ever that was., but I think it was pretty far!

Fig Tree roots

Leaf Cutter Ants

At a party that night we got official recognition of our status as Titanium level travelers with Regent Seven Seas which means we are entitled to the maximum benefits offered by the cruise line.  I don't know, maybe I'll have to celebrate by buying some of the Tahitian pearls that just showed up in the ship's boutique. Hmm - that probably won't go over very well with you know who!


Ok, today in Corinto,Nicaragua we hiked the Cerro Negro volcano.  Difficulty level according Regent's ratings showed 3 little walkers, the maximum.  The rain forest hike in Costa Rica also showed 3 little walkers,and that was easy, probably should be just 1 walker, so, what the heck, let's hike the volcano, right?  Well.  Hiking this volcano needs to be rated at least 6 walkers.  Walking across a level lava field is very treacherous,so now imagine slanting that lava field to a 45 degree angle, add in a 50 mph wind, 90 degree temperature, no shade, and no handrails.   It was crazy dangerous!  Definitely the scariest adventure we've ever had.  But our guide kept telling us it would be so much easier going down the other side - so  much easier!  There were many times we thought we might actually get blown off the trail. People lost hats and sunglasses - we lost the lens cover off our camera, somehow blown right off the lens.   Al wrenched his already bad knee and we didn't think he would make it to the top, but going back down on that same trail was just too terrifying, so he kept going up and up....and of course it was going to be so much easier going down.  Well.  We eventually made it to the top, looked around for about a minute because we thought we might get blown off the top, looked at the 'trail' going down and nearly went into shock.  It was even steeper but it was through lava gravel and sand and the method was to let your heels sink into the gravel and step forward with the other foot letting that one sink into the gravel and so on and so on... and so on and so on,  for what seemed like forever - and downward at ever-increasing steepness.  It felt like we would tip forward, tumble head over heels all the way down and maybe die. Volcano 'surfers' were going down on special sleds just to the right of where we were descending, and if I had had my wallet with me I would have paid almost anything for one. It was definitely not  easier going down!  I repeat, we have never done anything this dangerous before.

Cerro Negro

Going up

Going down....

and down!

After surviving our adventure, we stopped for lunch in Leon and only had time for a quick walk to see a big church on main plaza and then we hurried back to the bus.  The drive to Corinto and back to the port  was very unscenic because Nicaragua has cut down all of the rainforest there and not replanted it like Costa Rica has.

Back at the ship we emptied our shoes out on the deck and had a pile of black sand and gravel.  Al had lava gravel in his pockets and even underwear from falling a few time. He threw away his socks. I had lava gravel  between  the mesh layer and the inner lining of my shoes that I had to punch back through since it wouldn't shake out.  There was lava sand all over the skin of my feet and toes that sifted all the  way through my shoes and socks.

Ewww

From Al's socks and shoes and pockets and underwear!

The drive from the port to Antigua, Guatemala was much more scenic today than in Nicaragua yesterday. There were volcanoes all around us, one even erupting every few minutes with big puffs of white smoke and ash.  Antigua itself is worth the drive.  We were surprised because we figured it would be similar to so many other colonial towns in Latin and South America we've seen.  But it's setting with volcanoes all around, cobblestone streets with no car traffic, monasteries, convents, churches and old mansions of the Spanish nobles all made it unique.  It was totally abandoned for over 150 years because of so much earthquake destruction, but a few years ago the government decided to restore it and it's quite beautiful. It used to be the capitol city when all of Central America was under one rule, but the capitol  moved to Guatemala City when Antigua was abandoned.   We could still see some of the quake damaged structures but a lots the buildings have been rebuilt with the ruins as part of them.  Very interesting place.  Also much cooler here, too, than down on the coast.
On the drive back to port we passed coffee plantations on both sides almost the whole way.  The guide's narration of the coffee growing/drying/sorting  process was quite interesting.  The hillsides of the volcanoes are covered with coffee bushes and every bush has an Australian tree (gravilia?) planted next to it to provide shade.  Coffee is like wine, evidently, in that the flavor of  the beans varies from region to region.  Here the soil is volcanic so this influences the flavor of these plants.   This was a very good day!  Not dangerous at all!

Quake ruins

We weren't really expecting too much at Acapulco and actually thought the stop there might be canceled because of recent gang violence.  What a pleasant surprise!  It has a beautiful setting around 2 different bays, lots of pretty high rise hotels and condos, as well as nice stretches of beach.  We drove all around the area enjoying lovely views from the high hills behind the town. I was gratified to see the hotels where I sent so many people in my Maritz Travel days when it was the primo place to go in Mexico.  They were still looking good even all this time later.  And to us, the whole area has a nicer look to it than Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and Puerto Vallarta.  Of course, we didn't go where they were cutting people's heads off, so can't say what those areas are like! 

Also, we went to see the cliff divers, which everybody goes to see, but they were really good and the cliffs where they dive are beautiful!  

The main point of interest in Cabo San Lucas is Land's End, and it is beautiful.  A boat ride took us out there and it is a photogenic spot indeed.  High craggy rock cliffs at the very tip of Baja jut up out of the water and divide the Sea of Cortez from the Pacific Ocean.  There are several separate outcroppings in the water around the tip  and a rock arch as well.  Sea lions lounge around on various parts of the formations.  There is one opening in the cliffs with a sandy beach that fronts both the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean.  I actually saw a tuna jumping out of the water - big! After this we drove along the coast (views, etc.) to a community called San Jose where there is an old-but-fixed-up mission, some colonial style government buildings and a very large plaza.  Pleasant enough but not much to it.  

We also stopped at a glass-blowing place (weird, right?) for some demonstrations, and while there was nothing whatsoever we wanted to buy, the building itself had some pretty impressive glass designs incorporated into it. 

Entrance Archway 

Floor

Domed Ceiling

When we returned to the harbor, floating at anchor near the Navigator was the newest ship in the Regent line, the Explorer.  Bigger than Navigator and looking very shiny and new, we all enjoyed seeing it.  At the sail away, the Navigator crew had painted a huge sign which they hung on the railing of the jogging track:  Navigate the World 2017 .  It was so great!  Everyone was up top, music blasting away and international flags waving,  beverages being passed,  etc. etc.  Navigator raised  anchor and circled the Explorer waving and cheering and the Captain blew the horn several times and Explorer answered back.  Still can't decide if it was sisterly affection or sibling rivalry!  But we can be sure of one thing: they might have the ship, but boy do we have the itinerary!  It was lots and lots of fun, for sure. 

Navigator

Explorer

Bad weather in San Diego (hard rain, cold, foggy) but we went out in it anyway for a harbor cruise and brief city highlights.  Couldn't see much of the navy ships during the cruise and in fact it was raining so hard and the wind was so strong that all the other harbor trips  for the rest of the afternoon.were canceled.   Oh well.  We did it once a long time ago so we'll just have to remember it from that earlier trip.

City tour took us past the USS Midway Museum, through Balboa Park and all those beautiful museums, around Old Town, and through the Gaslamp district of old Victorian buildings.  Still raining pretty hard at the end of it.  We were soaked from getting on and off the harbor cruise ship and on and off the bus.

We were docked overnight in San Diego, so Whitney and Zac drove down from LA to spend the day with us.  We decided to spend  the day together rat the zoo.  The weather was better but we still got rained on periodically until about 10:30, but after that the weather was fine and even better than that was that it wasn,t very crowded there.  It's a great zoo, but it's an equally great arboretum.  Very pleasant.

Awwww

Double Awww

Guess he'll try later to get all the way over the wall

Cailfornia Condors

Camel love?  or hate?

Capybara

Two lions, not one contortionist lion

Good to know

Home of the Padres

 We enjoyed a late lunch in the Gaslamp Quarter, and Whitney and Zac brought us back to the pier and went on.  Good to see them!  It will be a while until we see them next.

We left SD a little late because of provisioning for the 5 day crossing of the Pacific to Honolulu.  As soon as we left SD the seas turned very rough...and loud!  We heard really loud booms all over the ship day and night for the next 3 days.  Not sure what the noise signified unless it was the ship coming down on the swells (17 - 21 feet).  We're finally on day 4 of the crossing, and just learned we will be arriving late in Honolulu because of diverting from our route by 250 miles to avoid the worst of the storm.  Thank heaven we didn't go right into it! People are finally out on deck again and we can walk fairly normally around the ship again.  Quite different from the flat calm seas we had for 8 days in 2009

The food has been amazing, and overall, the guests seem to be a pretty nice group.  Entertainment and speakers have been pretty good, except for one speaker.   We just received a directory of all the World Cruisers, and there are 14 people from San Antonio!  We met a columnist for a weekly publication in Louisville, KY who is aboard for the whole trip, sending home weekly columns about it  -- guess who's going to be in her next article!

Hope everyone is well!  Please let us hear from you ... we do get homesick!