Costa Rica, Day One: August 15, 2014
We got up at 3:30 am for our trip and to walk Mimi. She didn’t seem to mind at all that it was still dark out. My stomach felt queasy so I didn’t have anything to eat – or any coffee. Oh no! Without coffee, there may be a headache later today.
Our taxi arrived on schedule at 4:30 – things are going well…so far.
Our flight was only 37 minutes which was a good thing because our second flight was 3 terminals away, another security check and only 2 hours. The plane was very small so we had to give them our “carryon” luggage to pick up later on the tarmac.
For such a short flight, it was pretty smooth. We landed at JFK, picked up our luggage, literally on the tarmac and weaved our way through makeshift canvas walkways to try to find the Delta terminal. Very crowded. Finally left security there, went outside to try to find the AirTrain. Lots of stairs so the rollabout suitcases had to be carried. The signage wasn’t that great, either so we had to ask for help – several times. We finally made it to the JetBlue terminal with a bit of time to spare.
The next flight was smooth, too. HOORAY! I’m not good with turbulence to say the least. If someone is screaming, it’s always me. The row of young women in front of us and behind us thought that the flight was an airborne bar. They had been drinking before the flight and continued during the flight. The steward even ran them a tab, something I’ve never heard of on a plane before. The ones ahead of us were watching a show calledPaternity Court on TV and it was quite hilarious, apparently.
At some point, as we were landing, they were looking at the map and thought that we were 4147 miles above sea level, rather than feet. Apparently we were coming in from outer space.
On the jetway, heading to the terminal, one revealed that she had been smoking vapor cigarettes in the bathroom.
I hope they have a wonderful 10 days here – if they remember any of it!
The airport went smoothly, very similar to Barbados with Customs and Immigration. Lots of people offering to help (for tips, of course) but we knew where we were going and were able to weave our way thgouth the crowd.
We found the van for Avis. As soon as I got in, the headache struck, big-time. A combo of no coffee all day and the air freshener in the van. It was so strong, even I could smell it.
Our trip to Avis went well. I got several Extra-Strength Tylenol in me. Our car is a black Nissan sedan. We’d requested manual but they didn’t have any. That turned out to be a good thing later.
The rental agent, Douglas, set up our GPS unit to take us to our condo and we were off. We found Coco Bay Estates and got through the security gate which consisted of a guard, an orange cone and a stop sign (arrete in Spanish)
Check-in went well, the people friendly and helpful. We followed their van up to our place for the next 2 weeks. I say “up” because our place is carved out of the side of a small mountain. The road has several hairpin turns. The final one to our place involves a hill and at the top, you can’t see the road or anything coming below. AARRGGHH
Here’s a PDF of our site_map. Our parking spot is on the 4th level of “Segovia”. We had to take an elevator down to our place on one – 102. There was a sign in the elevator that said if the power goes out, it will reset itself. Uh-oh.
The van driver showed us into our place and around, although some of the stuff turned out later to be untrue. One the surface, it’s very nice here with 2 big bedrooms, each with it’s owh bathroom. There were only 3 hangers for the 2 bedrooms so we could have 4 people here, sharing the 3. There are no drawers for storing clothes so I stacked up my clothes on open shelves in a walk-in closet.
A nice living-room area with comfy sofa, washer-dryer, nice patio with glass doors in every room. The A/C works well. Hooray!
I fell asleep for a nap almost immediately.
We decided it was time to go get something to eat. Turns out, the restaurant here closed at 3pm. <sigh> We would have had to drive there, anyway. The roads look unsafe to walk on, even without the hill. So, we decided to go into town to a grocery store. It was about 5pm local time (7 at home) and dusk. We retraced our steps from earlier and saw a grocery store. This was a very local store, everything written in Spanish, which was to be expected, but we had trouble finding things – we never found peanut butter. We did get hangers, though so we now have 13.
When we got out, it was completely dark. People walking in the narrow streets, and riding bikes…and we got lost. We must have missed a street or 2 and our GPS wasn’t recoginzing any of the items I tried typing into it, in English OR Spanish. Our place wasn’t listed under lodgings. At one point, had we continued on the street we were on, we would have driven into the Pacific Ocean.
We were both getting very testy. I had a little headache still, was hungry from not eating all day (that earlier stomach queasyness) and exhausted. It was 10 pm (midnight our time) when we stopped at a small pizza place. Our waitress spoke Italian so she couldn’t help us with directions at all but pointing at the menu got us a pizza. From my long-ago Italian college class, I was able to dredge up enough to get Tom an orange juice. I just went with agua. She was able to find another patron who knew enough English to give us directions.
We changed our order and got the pizza to go. Back to our place, gathered up some of the groceries – the ice cream was melted of course. Into the elevator (no AC) and it wouldn’t move. It took a few minutes but we finally got that going. Into our place and Tom went back for the rest…and called me from the elevator. It was stuck so I went out in my barefeet to push the elevator button from the outside to make it move.
When he went back for the rest, he walked up and down the 4 flights of stairs to avoid the elevator.
Finally, about 11:00 (1 am, our time), after putting the groceries away, we had cold pizza for dinner.
I entered the info for WiFi do finish up my “church work”. The computer showed a strong WiFi signal. Excellent. Except it didn’t actually connect to the Internet.
Luckily, I have a data plan on my iPad and I’d added some Global Minutes. I used that as a hotspot to connect my computer to the internet and finish that work.
Off to bed and dreams of my mother scolding me for sleeping too late.
Tuesday, March 4 ~ Panama Canal Cruise
What a day! I spent most of the first part being nervous that we would miss the ship. There were phone calls from employees that weren’t sure what to do while we were gone, emails…
At 11:00 we were supposed to check out and housekeeping came by to check on us and I told her “soon”.
My sandal broke, the part next to the heel separated from the sole. <sigh>
Finally, we checked out at noon and set off to find the place to return the rental car that we never really used. A wrong turn or 2 and we finally got there about 1:00. Tom called for a taxi. We waited and waited. Tom called again. Finally, the driver got there and we reloaded our luggage.
Fortunately, the port was only about a mile a way but there was a lot of traffic to the port and all cars had to stop and everyone had to show IDs. That slowed everything up.
Dropped off our luggage and finally got in the terminal building. It was nearly 2:00. Tom had been thinking we had until 4:00 to get onboard – I reminded him that this ship sailed at 4:00. We had to be on by 3:00.
Fort Port Lauderdale Embarkation
Weather Forecast: Sunny High 77 / Low 69
Sunrise 6:41 am / Sunset 6:23 pm
From the Navigator: As soon as all the passengers and crew are onboard and all pre-departure checks have been completed, the Captain will give the order to let go our mooring lines. Once clear from the berth, Coral Princess will make her way out of the harbor before disembarking our pilot and altering our course to starboard. We will then set southwesterly courses through the Straits of Florida toward the Old Bahama Channel, as we make our way towards Aruba.
A hustling, bustling port – not just cruise ships. As far as I could tell, we were the only cruise ship there.
A lot of people got there about when we did but the lines moved fairly quickly…until it was time to actually board the ship. That’s when you swipe your new card and they add your picture to the record for to be sure you’re who you say you are when you come back from port.
We got on the actual ship and were directed to the left. We followed lots of other folks and ended up at an elevator. Up to our cabin and our first 2 pieces of luggage were already there. The third was only a few minutes later. Very speedy!
I like this ship – Coral Princess!
The cabin is (or seems) bigger than the one on Norwegian (NCL). There is a desk instead of a couch (NCL). The couch wasn’t very practical – the desk really is.
We have a walk-in closet which is really nice. We haven’t even filled it halfway up (yet). It’s at a right angle to the sleeping area which makes it seem like a separate room.
The bathroom is small. I think the shower is smaller than NCL’s but I don’t spend that much time in there.
The end tables by the bed have actual drawers instead of open shelves.
The chairs on the balcony recline. They’re fixed on NCL.
No coffeemaker, though. NCL had one in the cabin.
We have a TV guide telling us what is on for the whole trip. The new Hobbit movie will be on later. Glad we didn’t see it in the movies.
Pool/Beach towels are in the closet. We return them to the cabin and the steward brings us new ones. We didn’t have to check them out and return them to the pool each day. Hooray!
This ship has a self-service laundry on each deck. I’ve never seen that on another ship.
We went off for muster Here, we had to take our lifejackets and put them on at one point. NCL, we didn’t take them. They showed us how to jump off the side, if necessary. Um, no.
I noted for future reference that many women on here wear white long pants. Not likely!
Tom went off to a meeting, I did some church work – uploading Sunday’s sermons.
I took a little video of the sail away and some regular pictures.
The sheriff’s boat, acting as pilot
Tom came back and wrote some emails. I think I napped. I didn’t feel like getting dressed for dinner so we went to the buffet. It seemed smaller than NCL but then I realized that they didn’t have the pizza and burgers mixed in. The buffet was all real food. Among other things, I had prime rib. Yummy!!! We got to sit right ”up front” in the center of the stern. Very impressive!
We walked around a bit, trying to get our bearings. This ship has a lot of wood on it, more “real” than the mostly metal ones I usually see. Teak tables, wooden doors.
I understand that this ship line used to be P&O from England before they became Princess. There are British hints all over, from the afternoon Tea Time, to the huge selection of teas at dinner. There are also pictures from the P&O line on the walls and 2 grenadiers guarding the casino. Tom thinks that P&O might have stood for Pacific and Orient – I’ll look that up when we get home. (Note – it is Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company)
I had wanted to go to the 7:45 Welcome Aboard show but there was some email to be sent. I think I rested my eyes.
Then, we went out and walked around some more – by Movies Under the Stars (MUTS) which seems to mostly be showing a variety of things. There are 2 movies later this week that I’d like to see. They put cushions on the deck chairs and give out blankets, popcorn, cookies and milk. It’s also right by the ice cream, pizza and grill so not too much chance of hunger.
We walked all around a couple of decks. It seems like we’re nearly alone on this cruise. Except for embarking, we’ve seen very few other people.
At 9:30, we did see the show. I thought that they would do snippets from upcoming shows but the singers/dancers did a “welcome to Princess” type song and dance and the comedian told some jokes. The cruise director, Susan Rawlings, told us a bit about what was coming up.
Walking around some more. We decided to get some pizza but they were just closing up. Back to the buffet – Horizon Court – and I had some fruit (and another egg roll)
There was a note on our bed after dinner that they would be happy to deliver whatever fruit we wanted to our cabin. Nice touch. Also, a Princess tote bag.
We had chocolates on our pillow!
Just a bit of church work, should have taken about 2 minutes, tops, but it took 11, thanks to this s-l-o-w internet connection.
I think I fell asleep almost immediately. If anything, I read one paragraph in my book.