England-29th April 2012

Fort Lauderdale, New York, Heathrow and now Banbury...all in two days. The Cruise disembarkation process at Fort Lauderdale went rather smoothly and we arrived at the airport in plenty of time for our flight to New York. Our luggage was booked through to Heathrow, so we crossed our fingers and prayed it would be there on arrival.

Coming into New York Dan spotted the Space Shuttle on the back of a jumbo jet, that made his day. As we flew out of New York we could see the skyline of Manhatten with the Empire State Building reaching the highest.

The Space Shuttle, bottom right hand corner.

The flight to Heathrow was smooth, although we didn't get any sleep due to the air conditioning being too warm and a baby crying most of the time. Trina and Bob met us at Heathrow and it was then just an hour and half drive to Banbury. It was raining and cold on arrival and a shock to the system after the heat and humidity we'd experienced on the cruise.

We caught up with sleep last night and woke to another wet day, although as I'm writing this the sun is trying to poke through. We had lunch today at a lovely old English pub, Dan had his favorite...bangers and mash.

A bit of interesting info about our trip through the Panama Canal. It cost the Holland America Line $199,000 to pass thought the canal plus $35,000 booking fee. The Captain said that the Norwegian shipping cruise lines pay $490,000. So the Panama government is raking in some serious money, and the Americans are still regretting handing it over.

 

Flight and Ship

The flight to LA was tiring as expected. We didn't get any sleep, at least no proper sleep, just a few winks now and then. I occupied myself by finishing a book I had been reading, and Dan watched some movies. At LA we transferred to an American Eagle flight to San Diego. Dan queued for a coffee at Starbucks for 30 minutes...we definitely wouldn't do that in Aus.

By the time we arrived at our hotel in San Diego we were really sleep deprived, but in order to change the body clock we stayed awake until 8 that evening.

We transferred to the cruise ship the following morning. Since then we've been relaxing and eating our way through the days. However I must add I was sea sick the first day and became close friends with the dreaded porcelain bowl. I had to have a Phenergan to see me through the first night, it's been smooth sailing since then. I don't know when I'll be able to upload this blog as Internet connectivity on the ship is expensive and intermittent.

 

Puerto Vallarta

Today, 16th April, we visited Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Our tour consisted of a walk through the centre of the town, followed by a drive I the country to a ranch that makes tequila. We had tequila tasting, then a Mexican fiesta lunch and of course the usual sale selection of souvenirs.

There were army guys with machine guns, police and security everywhere and our guide learnt that the presidents from Canada, the US states (including President Obama)and Mexico were arriving for a conference.

Mexico is dry and arid. Their rain starts in July and it only rains for three months of the year. The poor areas were a real eye-opener, it made us realize how lucky we are to live in Australia. People who can't afford to buy land or a house can squat in the hills with no water, power or a roof over their heads for ten years and then the government will give that land to them. So in other words they have to sacrifice ten years of their life to become land owners. Our guide rents a house for $200 a month, he earns $130 a month, but he has three daughters living with him who work to help him survive...as I said, we are lucky!

Most of the streets of Puerto Vallarta were dirt, with houses we wouldn't dream of living in. There were broken down cars just left in the streets to become covered with layer upon layer of dust.

In Mexico, if you are caught with drugs, younger than 18 out after dark without an adult or doing graffiti, you are sent to jail and automatically guilty until proven otherwise. If your child is caught doing something illegal the rest of the family are guilty by association. Wow! Not the best place to live...

On a brighter note, it was Dan's birthday and after returning from the tour we had dinner at The Pinnacle restaurant on the ship. The meal, surroundings and staff were magnificent. As we were about to order dessert the staff brought out a small chocolate mousse birthday cake for Dan. The finishing touch to most delicious meal.

 

Cartegenia, Columbia.

Today is the last port before we end the cruise. It's Cartegenia in Columbia. We are not going into the main part of the city, but we've had plenty of Taxi drivers hasseling us to get a fare. Two more days and well be in Fort Lauderdale. From there we go to New York, then to London and some cooler weather. The humidity here is higher than the temperature.

Yesterday we passed through the Panama Canal which was a great experience with all the locks and watching how they work.

 

Huatulco, Mixico.

Today, 18th April, we are in another port, Huatulco. It's 10am and the temperature would be over 30 degrees already. We are going ashore for a look at the local shops and to be hounded by the shop-keepers to buy their goods.

 

This is our Itinerary.