Those of you who are paying close attention may remember my comment about infrequently visited 'little' cities in the 20 December posting. ...... Then again, you may not. I had to look it up.
Puerto Quetzel, Guatemala; Corinto, Nicaragua; and Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica are working commercial ports. Containers pile high everywhere. Freighters arrive empty and leave full all day long. Ditto eighteen wheelers. Men in hard hats swarm purposefully everywhere.
Sometimes tourists can walk into the local, tiny market (staying always between carefully ropes, rails, or drawn lines). Sometimes the ship or the city provides a free back-and-forth shuttle. All of the excursions travel to other, sometimes well-known, sometimes bigger cities, farms, places of interest.
Average daytime was about 95F with high humidity.
As easily predicted, I visited the local markets. Handmade arts, crafts, and clothing (especially the fabrics items) were gorgeous, well made, and reasonably priced. The sellers wanted to make sales but, IMO, were pleasant while strongly making that point. The markets were shaded by spreading trees and cooled by ocean breezes. I enjoyed each of them.
Most of the ship passengers went on excursions. The scenery (think river deltas, jungle-covered mountains, volcanoes smoldering or otherwise) is truly awe-inspiring. Most of the people I spoke to had a wonderful time. ...... Many of them noticed it was hot.
I consider these days highly successful.
The best part of this trip is rapidly evolving into a separate posting. Be patient. I'll get there.
Tuesday, December 25, 2018
Friday, December 21, 2018
20 December 2018, Recap Last Five Days, Give Or Take
Let me begin by saying anyone reading this expecting zip lines over the jungle, rock climbing over the ocean, intense Bingo competitions, elaborate evening tangos, and 'today I walked around the deck thirty two laps in 90 degree temperatures' is going to be sorely disappointed.
I did manage 1.5 miles on the treadmill one day (and have been on it - and actually in motion - every day. But walking outside under a Central American sun? Ain't gonna happen.
IMO yet apropos, the opposite of the 'wind chill factor' is the 'tropical sun' factor. 85F is pleasantly warm, right? Not so much in these here parts. The temp the body perceives, and sweats to, is about 97F. Add near 100% humidity. It. Is. Hot.
Of course any- and every-one taking this cruise is not looking for crisp, chilly weather. Most of them get plenty of that at home.
Which leads me to Repositioning Cruises.
(Maybe this is not an intuitive leap ....but the transition makes sense to me and I am the one doing the typing.)
Fair Warning. Someday I may research this. For now, I am merely speculating based on what I saw happening over the last 15ish years.
Most cruise ships spend a season in a general location (think, Alaska or Iceland in U.S. Summer; Caribbean or Central America in U.S. Winter).
Which leads to the problem of repositioning the ships from there to here.
This used to be a real, expensive, necessary activity for the cruise lines. Some of them sold a few staterooms to a few hearty souls. Some of them sailed empty. Sailing long distances empty is NOT an example of a successful profit plan.
Someone realized, 'Hey, this is not a necessary activity! This is a problem!'
Let me insert here, trans-ocean cruises tend to sell out completely and fast: There are many travelers who want to hang out in a floating resort for days.
Someone thought, 'Gosh, maybe there are passengers who would pay to sail from there to here. Let's advertise a repositioning cruise at extremely reduced rates and see what happens.'
It was so arranged.
Floating resort type travelers screamed with joy and filled the ships.
So, costly repositioning cruises began to show a profit.
Rates began creeping up and - I'm guessing here - profits hit a limit and stayed there.
Someone got smarter. 'Hey guys! If we lengthen the transit-time, throw in a few rarely-visited ports we're going to pass anyway, and maybe we can expand our customer base beyond trans-ocean resort-dwellers.'
I hope whoever thought of that got a nice promotion.
Repositioning cruises (going from the summer route to the winter route or doing the visa versa) wind their way via less well visited ports and lots of sea days. Rates are no longer reduced, some are even increased. But the itineraries are always varied, frequently one of a kind.
Profit center, up and running, check.
Now let's recap my adventures 12/16 - 12/20.
Anyway.......
12/16. sea day, painting class, geography lecture, rare gemstone lecture (which gem? Danged if I remember), read, eat, talk, eat, walk, eat, nap, eat. (If you suspect there is a pattern here, you ain't too far from right.) The painting teacher gave us example turtles which we "interpreted" and painted. Not surprisingly, my turtle took on a cartoonish quality (hey, it's my gift) and I didn't actually finish painting it.
Tah-Dah! ............ No tah-dah .......... once I figure out how to save and link photos, this entry will be illustrated. For now, I just want to push 'publish' on something. (Dang, the method that used to work appears to have ceased to exist.)
12/17. Cabo San Lucas, resort town, parasailing, swimming, sunbathing, Jamaica style music. John and I could have boarded a bus and traveled an hour or so to see an almost-identical town but we rose above temptation. We tendered into port, wandered around the tourist area briefly then returned to the ship.
12/18, 19, 20. Sea days. Interesting lectures. Hilarious crowd trivia games. More painting. Dancing under the stars. Avoiding the evening shows. Met a lot of interesting fellow-passengers. The BEST (to me) part of the last three days (beyond the sheer stay-busy but accomplish very little aspect of sea days) will be covered in the next stirring chapter of this epic.
OH BTW and PS, a comment on less frequently visited ports.
AKA exotic,
AKA frequently totally not prepared to deal with an influx of tourists,
AKA actually very interesting in a non-glam, real-world way,
AKA frequently commercial ports with convoluted access to anything but containers and container ships.....
I love 'em. They have such enthusiasm. They appreciate tourists and do their very best to ensure all tourists have a good (and fiscally profitable) time.
Before we sail, I study them carefully. Sometimes I decide to admire them from afar. But then, I regularly declare I am having a sea day while the ship is in port. But that may just be me.
I did manage 1.5 miles on the treadmill one day (and have been on it - and actually in motion - every day. But walking outside under a Central American sun? Ain't gonna happen.
IMO yet apropos, the opposite of the 'wind chill factor' is the 'tropical sun' factor. 85F is pleasantly warm, right? Not so much in these here parts. The temp the body perceives, and sweats to, is about 97F. Add near 100% humidity. It. Is. Hot.
Of course any- and every-one taking this cruise is not looking for crisp, chilly weather. Most of them get plenty of that at home.
Which leads me to Repositioning Cruises.
(Maybe this is not an intuitive leap ....but the transition makes sense to me and I am the one doing the typing.)
Fair Warning. Someday I may research this. For now, I am merely speculating based on what I saw happening over the last 15ish years.
Most cruise ships spend a season in a general location (think, Alaska or Iceland in U.S. Summer; Caribbean or Central America in U.S. Winter).
Which leads to the problem of repositioning the ships from there to here.
This used to be a real, expensive, necessary activity for the cruise lines. Some of them sold a few staterooms to a few hearty souls. Some of them sailed empty. Sailing long distances empty is NOT an example of a successful profit plan.
Someone realized, 'Hey, this is not a necessary activity! This is a problem!'
Let me insert here, trans-ocean cruises tend to sell out completely and fast: There are many travelers who want to hang out in a floating resort for days.
Someone thought, 'Gosh, maybe there are passengers who would pay to sail from there to here. Let's advertise a repositioning cruise at extremely reduced rates and see what happens.'
It was so arranged.
Floating resort type travelers screamed with joy and filled the ships.
So, costly repositioning cruises began to show a profit.
Rates began creeping up and - I'm guessing here - profits hit a limit and stayed there.
Someone got smarter. 'Hey guys! If we lengthen the transit-time, throw in a few rarely-visited ports we're going to pass anyway, and maybe we can expand our customer base beyond trans-ocean resort-dwellers.'
I hope whoever thought of that got a nice promotion.
Repositioning cruises (going from the summer route to the winter route or doing the visa versa) wind their way via less well visited ports and lots of sea days. Rates are no longer reduced, some are even increased. But the itineraries are always varied, frequently one of a kind.
Profit center, up and running, check.
Now let's recap my adventures 12/16 - 12/20.
Anyway.......
12/16. sea day, painting class, geography lecture, rare gemstone lecture (which gem? Danged if I remember), read, eat, talk, eat, walk, eat, nap, eat. (If you suspect there is a pattern here, you ain't too far from right.) The painting teacher gave us example turtles which we "interpreted" and painted. Not surprisingly, my turtle took on a cartoonish quality (hey, it's my gift) and I didn't actually finish painting it.
Tah-Dah! ............ No tah-dah .......... once I figure out how to save and link photos, this entry will be illustrated. For now, I just want to push 'publish' on something. (Dang, the method that used to work appears to have ceased to exist.)
12/17. Cabo San Lucas, resort town, parasailing, swimming, sunbathing, Jamaica style music. John and I could have boarded a bus and traveled an hour or so to see an almost-identical town but we rose above temptation. We tendered into port, wandered around the tourist area briefly then returned to the ship.
12/18, 19, 20. Sea days. Interesting lectures. Hilarious crowd trivia games. More painting. Dancing under the stars. Avoiding the evening shows. Met a lot of interesting fellow-passengers. The BEST (to me) part of the last three days (beyond the sheer stay-busy but accomplish very little aspect of sea days) will be covered in the next stirring chapter of this epic.
OH BTW and PS, a comment on less frequently visited ports.
AKA exotic,
AKA frequently totally not prepared to deal with an influx of tourists,
AKA actually very interesting in a non-glam, real-world way,
AKA frequently commercial ports with convoluted access to anything but containers and container ships.....
I love 'em. They have such enthusiasm. They appreciate tourists and do their very best to ensure all tourists have a good (and fiscally profitable) time.
Before we sail, I study them carefully. Sometimes I decide to admire them from afar. But then, I regularly declare I am having a sea day while the ship is in port. But that may just be me.
Sunday, December 16, 2018
16 December, 2018: yesterday's sea day
Yesterday I attended a lecture on the geopolitical impact of plate tectonics on the squiggly little bit of land that connects the North and South Americas. AKA: where we're going.
The emphasis was heavy on volcanoes, earthquakes, and the plastic way the land masses of earth play a sort of slo-mo slip-n-slide (with a few spoiler alerts about future political lectures about why the Panama Canal is in Panama)...............(No, it isn't just because calling something 'Panama Canal' and locating it in Nicaragua would have been just too weird.)
I didn't learn anything I didn't already know. But the speaker gave a good, solid, informative, amusing lecture (with lots of slides) so, I had a good time.
It definitely reminded me how much I missed well planned and presented lectures on the last few trips.
From that I went to watercolor painting class (this was inaugural: the first time Viking offered this kind of activity). 20 of us found our way to the back of a restaurant, dressed up in cheap, easily torn aprons, listened to a brief lecture/demo, then, with examples in front of us, started painting. 30ish people gathered around to watch......most of them got bored and vanished.
A few people took this very seriously, explained they already knew how to create great art (looking at the end-results, one of those souls was accurate and the rest were, perhaps, overly optimistic). A whole lot of people were scared but determined to try (and sadly intimidated by the show off big mouths).
I threw myself into the adventure with no-skin-in-this-game abandon and created a very satisfactory chaotic blob. (Photo to be inserted later today). The not at all subtle differences between watercolor about acrylic painting = not one of my painting instincts is valid. That was fun.
Today we are going to draw and paint a turtle.
That covers the highlights of a pleasant day.
I hope all of you had/are having great days!
The emphasis was heavy on volcanoes, earthquakes, and the plastic way the land masses of earth play a sort of slo-mo slip-n-slide (with a few spoiler alerts about future political lectures about why the Panama Canal is in Panama)...............(No, it isn't just because calling something 'Panama Canal' and locating it in Nicaragua would have been just too weird.)
I didn't learn anything I didn't already know. But the speaker gave a good, solid, informative, amusing lecture (with lots of slides) so, I had a good time.
It definitely reminded me how much I missed well planned and presented lectures on the last few trips.
From that I went to watercolor painting class (this was inaugural: the first time Viking offered this kind of activity). 20 of us found our way to the back of a restaurant, dressed up in cheap, easily torn aprons, listened to a brief lecture/demo, then, with examples in front of us, started painting. 30ish people gathered around to watch......most of them got bored and vanished.
A few people took this very seriously, explained they already knew how to create great art (looking at the end-results, one of those souls was accurate and the rest were, perhaps, overly optimistic). A whole lot of people were scared but determined to try (and sadly intimidated by the show off big mouths).
I threw myself into the adventure with no-skin-in-this-game abandon and created a very satisfactory chaotic blob. (Photo to be inserted later today). The not at all subtle differences between watercolor about acrylic painting = not one of my painting instincts is valid. That was fun.
Today we are going to draw and paint a turtle.
That covers the highlights of a pleasant day.
I hope all of you had/are having great days!
Saturday, December 15, 2018
15 December, 2018 Review Yesterday's Adventures In San Diego
Yesterday's adventurous were, to misquote Mark Twain, of a mild sort.
I was jet lagged as heck and so declared a sea day. Meaning I stayed onboard, explored the ship (nothing significant - or noticeable - has changed in the intervening year), met people, read, and generally lived the low activity life.
John went on the three hour drive around, see the city excursion we had booked. He had a great time (kept texting 'I saw a blah-blah you would have loved'). Reminded me I attended a great work convention here decades ago. Always meant to come back on vaycay. That action has now returned to my to-do list.
Today and tomorrow are sea days as we charge steadily Southward in search of warm weather and exotic locations (next stop, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico). At 11:00 every sea day I am signed up to attend a watercolor painting class (last time I tried watercolor the results and expectations were hilariously out of sync).
I met a lot of lecturers yesterday. (Happy Dance, the last few trips lacked interesting speakers.) Once I review the Day's Activities schedule, I am looking forward to listening and learning many new things. There are places to set up the old laptop and work on finishing that short story that is going to make me rich and famous.......okay, that is going to be a lot of fun to finish crafting. And then, there's always the treadmill.
Today and tomorrow won't be hyper. But they will be fun.
I was jet lagged as heck and so declared a sea day. Meaning I stayed onboard, explored the ship (nothing significant - or noticeable - has changed in the intervening year), met people, read, and generally lived the low activity life.
John went on the three hour drive around, see the city excursion we had booked. He had a great time (kept texting 'I saw a blah-blah you would have loved'). Reminded me I attended a great work convention here decades ago. Always meant to come back on vaycay. That action has now returned to my to-do list.
Today and tomorrow are sea days as we charge steadily Southward in search of warm weather and exotic locations (next stop, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico). At 11:00 every sea day I am signed up to attend a watercolor painting class (last time I tried watercolor the results and expectations were hilariously out of sync).
I met a lot of lecturers yesterday. (Happy Dance, the last few trips lacked interesting speakers.) Once I review the Day's Activities schedule, I am looking forward to listening and learning many new things. There are places to set up the old laptop and work on finishing that short story that is going to make me rich and famous.......okay, that is going to be a lot of fun to finish crafting. And then, there's always the treadmill.
Today and tomorrow won't be hyper. But they will be fun.
Friday, December 14, 2018
14 December 2018: Another Trip Has Launched
Yesterday was travel day. In this case, fly across a country-wide North-South storm system from Atlanta to Los Vegas. Considering we were surfing against the waves (as a pretty lame metaphor), the flight was relatively calm. Pressure changes in my ears told me the plane was rushing up and down like a roller coaster. The pilot's announcements (we're up to 40,000 feet trying to get over it, down at 30,000 feet now trying to sneak under it........) reinforced my ears and left me quite sympathetic with them.
Having said the trip was not nearly as bumpy and rough as it could have been, let me add it was one of the most adrenaline-fraught trips to date.
It started in the Delta Sky Lounge where a gentleman seated at nearby table had some kind of 'Call 911' attack. Others sprang to his service so we stayed out of the way and sent healing thoughts.
Then, when the plane had landed and the fasten seat belts sign had gone dark, suddenly an announcement rang out: Everyone return to your seats, clear the aisle immediately, there is a medical emergency at the back of the plane, all connecting flights are being notified there is a delay, clear the aisle! Okay. Keep talking to the new friends seated around us.
THEN, after we retrieved our checked luggage and trusted it to the 'it will appear in your stateroom in a few hours' gods, we joined the group waiting for transfer to ship. And waiting. And standing around waiting. One gent was pushing his wheelchair bound wife. Not unusual given the average age of Viking Cruise Line clientele. Except she was in the wheelchair because she just fell down the escalator. And hit her head. Because they didn't want to be late for or miss the cruise, they opted for a wheelchair. Because she was conscious and somewhat able to speak, the airport let them do it. As we waited, she kept slumping and having intermittent trouble understanding words (I was neither spying nor helping, I was stuck en queue listening). Somehow, I expect to hear more about her on the grapevine today.
Anyway, We're back on the Viking Star. Same ship as last year's holiday cruise. I suspect we're in the same cabin, but it is unlikely I'll take the trouble to verify that. The nice part is seeing several old friends among the staff. Ship personnel cycle frequently, but I have found old friends among Guest Relations, serving and cleaning staff.
Dinner was with Terri and John, the Wisconsin couple we met on last year's cruise. Last minute, and subsequent to a phenomenal offer from Viking, they decided to join us this year. They are delightful.
At 05:30 a few of us early risers watched the pilot from San Diego come onboard. At noon we are scheduled for a simple drive-around sightseeing tour ( a three hour tour). This gives the late-riser, whose name starts with John) time to regain consciousness.
It looks like a great day to finish unpacking (and find my hairbrush).
Having said the trip was not nearly as bumpy and rough as it could have been, let me add it was one of the most adrenaline-fraught trips to date.
It started in the Delta Sky Lounge where a gentleman seated at nearby table had some kind of 'Call 911' attack. Others sprang to his service so we stayed out of the way and sent healing thoughts.
Then, when the plane had landed and the fasten seat belts sign had gone dark, suddenly an announcement rang out: Everyone return to your seats, clear the aisle immediately, there is a medical emergency at the back of the plane, all connecting flights are being notified there is a delay, clear the aisle! Okay. Keep talking to the new friends seated around us.
THEN, after we retrieved our checked luggage and trusted it to the 'it will appear in your stateroom in a few hours' gods, we joined the group waiting for transfer to ship. And waiting. And standing around waiting. One gent was pushing his wheelchair bound wife. Not unusual given the average age of Viking Cruise Line clientele. Except she was in the wheelchair because she just fell down the escalator. And hit her head. Because they didn't want to be late for or miss the cruise, they opted for a wheelchair. Because she was conscious and somewhat able to speak, the airport let them do it. As we waited, she kept slumping and having intermittent trouble understanding words (I was neither spying nor helping, I was stuck en queue listening). Somehow, I expect to hear more about her on the grapevine today.
Anyway, We're back on the Viking Star. Same ship as last year's holiday cruise. I suspect we're in the same cabin, but it is unlikely I'll take the trouble to verify that. The nice part is seeing several old friends among the staff. Ship personnel cycle frequently, but I have found old friends among Guest Relations, serving and cleaning staff.
Dinner was with Terri and John, the Wisconsin couple we met on last year's cruise. Last minute, and subsequent to a phenomenal offer from Viking, they decided to join us this year. They are delightful.
At 05:30 a few of us early risers watched the pilot from San Diego come onboard. At noon we are scheduled for a simple drive-around sightseeing tour ( a three hour tour). This gives the late-riser, whose name starts with John) time to regain consciousness.
It looks like a great day to finish unpacking (and find my hairbrush).
Monday, June 11, 2018
6/11 Home Again
Night before last we spent in the Portland Airport Embassy Suites. The non-stop flight leaving at 13:00 we originally booked morphed into leave at 09:30, brief layover in Salt Lake City (the outgoing plane began boarding before the incoming plane arrived ...... it only worked because (a) most of the passengers on the outgoing had also lost their original booking, and (b) the gates were separated by the time it takes to ask, 'Now, where's gate C7?'
Anyway, the hotel took me back to Dan's Celebration. I kept trying to get off the elevator on the wrong floor.
Portland airport is low-key and pleasant. Not the best place I have ever killed a morning, but definitely not the worst.
The flights were fine. Pilots managed to circumvent some bad weather. We stumbled into home about 20:45.
So, it's time for a nap!
Night before last we spent in the Portland Airport Embassy Suites. The non-stop flight leaving at 13:00 we originally booked morphed into leave at 09:30, brief layover in Salt Lake City (the outgoing plane began boarding before the incoming plane arrived ...... it only worked because (a) most of the passengers on the outgoing had also lost their original booking, and (b) the gates were separated by the time it takes to ask, 'Now, where's gate C7?'
Anyway, the hotel took me back to Dan's Celebration. I kept trying to get off the elevator on the wrong floor.
Portland airport is low-key and pleasant. Not the best place I have ever killed a morning, but definitely not the worst.
 |
| Great Children's Play Area |
 |
| Made Me Wish I Was A Child |
The flights were fine. Pilots managed to circumvent some bad weather. We stumbled into home about 20:45.
 |
| Decorative Undersea Life |
Saturday, June 9, 2018
6/6 - 6/8 Mama, I got them old Willamette Valley blues
Actually, no blues except music drifting out of the occasional restaurant/bar. Wednesday we walked to McMinnville, explored a lot, shopped a little. Did some wine tasting at The Naked Winery just to prove we are in wine country.
Because our lovely rental doesn't have cable, John bought a Roku stick. Entertainment freedom!
Wednesday evening we drove to Dundee to meet Kathy's and Ben at the Dundee Bistro. To celebrate Ben's birthday and all four of us being on the same continent and in the same state. Which don't happen often.
Nice scenery on the way. Beautiful Spring day. Wine tasting when we arrived early, of course. After awhile I texted our location to Kathy. She replied, that's nice.....but we are meeting tomorrow. Her language skills expanded as she tried to figure out what my reply, ROFLMAO, meant.
Thursday was very laid back. Walked and explored some. John watched a big game. Nancy worked on the next community presentation (the one that may get our house egged). I went shopping and found a great cold-weather dress at Goodwill.
Dinner with K&B was delightful.
Friday, cold rain. More laid backedness.
Saturday, quiet morning. Pleasant drive to the airport hotel from which, tomorrow morning, we make the long trek home.
Dinner time. CYA later!
Actually, no blues except music drifting out of the occasional restaurant/bar. Wednesday we walked to McMinnville, explored a lot, shopped a little. Did some wine tasting at The Naked Winery just to prove we are in wine country.
Because our lovely rental doesn't have cable, John bought a Roku stick. Entertainment freedom!
Wednesday evening we drove to Dundee to meet Kathy's and Ben at the Dundee Bistro. To celebrate Ben's birthday and all four of us being on the same continent and in the same state. Which don't happen often.
Nice scenery on the way. Beautiful Spring day. Wine tasting when we arrived early, of course. After awhile I texted our location to Kathy. She replied, that's nice.....but we are meeting tomorrow. Her language skills expanded as she tried to figure out what my reply, ROFLMAO, meant.
Thursday was very laid back. Walked and explored some. John watched a big game. Nancy worked on the next community presentation (the one that may get our house egged). I went shopping and found a great cold-weather dress at Goodwill.
Dinner with K&B was delightful.
Friday, cold rain. More laid backedness.
Saturday, quiet morning. Pleasant drive to the airport hotel from which, tomorrow morning, we make the long trek home.
Dinner time. CYA later!
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