Today is our last day so I figured I would highlight the Emerald Princess and the amazing staff that we fell in love with. First I have to say the captain was amazing. I’ve never even given the captain a second thought before. But we found ourselves looking forward to his addresses each day at noon. He always told us a little bit about life on the sea and left us with a funny anecdotes.

The Emerald Princess is a Crown-class cruise ship for Princess Cruises that entered service in April 2007. Her sister ships include Ruby Princess and Crown Princess. Emerald Princess launched from the Italian shipyard of Fincantieri Monfalcone on 1 June 2006. She was then handed over to Princess Cruises on 24 March 2007.

I’m a Princess convert. I can’t get over how beautiful the different lounges are and everything on this ship. I can definitely tell the difference between a luxury class ship in a non-luxury class ship. Lol

Wish you were here.

Our last and final stop on this amazing trip is Georgetown in Grand Cayman. Georgetown, the capital of Grand Cayman, has a captivating history that spans centuries. It began as a small fishing village and developed into a port town named in honor of King George III. Throughout the centuries, Georgetown has endured economic prosperity, the intrigue of pirate lore, and the resilience of its community in the face of adversity. Today, the city stands as a testament to the spirit of Grand Cayman, blending its rich cultural heritage with modern amenities and welcoming visitors with to explore its historic landmarks, bustling markets, and picturesque waterfront. I have to say I did enjoy walking the streets and not being hassled by vendors.

Less than 70 yards from shore in 30 feet of crystal clear water lies the Wreck of the Cali. The Cali was a four-mast schooner and was 220 feet long It sunk in 1944 after experiencing severe weather conditions. Since it was declared a hazard to navigation, she was blown up shortly after her sinking. The ship’s ribs are now exposed and scattered along the ocean floor along with winches, boilers, hull plates all nicely encrusted with sponges and corals. The wreck is also home to a diversity of other marine life including many species of tropical fish and a resident population of silver Tarpon.

We took a water shuttle from the ship to the shore where we got to see a little bit of the town. We were walked through the main street to a dock where we got on a small boat and got to snorkel both the reef and the shipwreck of the Cali. I got to use my new face mask and I absolutely loved it. It was pretty cool getting to snorkel and breathe out your nose.
After we got back on the ship we got some lunch got a yummy snack and took a dip in the pool and I got some great pictures of the pool and the DJ.

Wish you were here

Sea is for cookie and that’s good enough for me… But the steak house wasn’t. Last night we went to the steakhouse. The venue was absolutely gorgeous I loved all the extra touches. But the service wasn’t so great and the food was average at best. I actually prefer the food in the main dining room.

Today was a sea day and we did a lot of relaxing. We finished our puzzle!! The seas were very calm and beautiful.  We thought about going swimming but since we’re snorkeling tomorrow we decided to wait. We sat in one of the bars and watched the Astros on the iPad. They lost.

I got a few more pictures from around the ship. Somehow we seem to have missed that there are videos of fish in the elevators so I had to get a video of that. Tonight was formal night and I love having the waiters all dressed up. They look so nice. I got a picture of our favorite waiter Gus. The lobster again was super yummy as was everything in the main dining room. We saw a big protection show called Magic to do. Super super super weird show. But extremely entertaining.

Wish you were here

On this cruise we had five stops and today was stop four of five. Cartagena Colombia.

Founded in 1533, Cartagena de Indias gained fame after the mid-16th century when great fleets stopped annually to take on gold and other products of northern South America for convoy to Spain. The city became a centre for the Inquisition and a major slave market.

Cartagena is a port city on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. By the sea is the walled Old Town, founded in the 16th century, with squares, cobblestone streets and colorful colonial buildings. With a tropical climate, the city is also a popular beach destination. Reachable by boat are Isla de Barú, with white-sand beaches and palm trees, and the Islas del Rosario, known for their coral reefs.

Today we took the hop on hop off tour to explore the city.   Except we didn’t do the hop off part. Lol. Too hot! We rode the bus all the way around the city and saw the sights. There’s lots of poverty and lots of street vendors. The street vendors are super pushy. They even came up to the bus to try to sell. We were sitting on the top level so we kind of got out of the line of fire. There was a flood in the city last year so there is still quite a bit of destruction.

After the tour they dropped us off in the parking lot and we had to go through a bird aviary to get to the shuttle to get back to the ship. We saw a sloth, peacocks, parrots, macaws, an iguana and an anteater. All in all, it was a great day! I highly recommend getting out and seeing the sights when you cruise to a new port 

Wish you were here

Today was the day. This is what is was all about! THE. PANAMA. CANAL! and it didn’t disappoint 😁

We were up at 5:00 a.m. to snag the perfect spot. We got a spot towards the back because we were told it was a great place to see the first set of locks. We got to see us go under the Bridge of the Americas. I got a great picture of it over us with the ship in the foreground. We got to see the skyline of Panama City. The sunrise and we got to see a bunch of super famous sites in Panama before we even made it into the locks.

Going into the first set of logs was super exciting. We had a commentation from the naturalist on board through the whole process explaining what we were seeing. It took us until about 10:00 a.m. to go through the first set of 3 locks. We were in the newlt built set of locks which allows a ship to go through its own power. These locks were finished in 2016.

After we emerge from the first set of locks in the series of three we relocated to this side of the ship on deck seven (in the shade). There they had cameramen on the shore taking pictures of the guest on board. I wore my MVP shirt that you could see MVP represent!

After we clear the first three set of locks we watched a little bit longer as we made it through the man-made area and I got some beautiful pictures of the cutouts on the side where they used explosives to dig the connection from the Pacific to the lake.

We took a break for about 3 hours in our cabin and watch the “Front of the Ship Show”. Once we could see that we were cleared for entrance then went back outside to see us go through the second set of locks on the Atlantic side. The Pacific side raised us from sea level to lake level then we traversed the lake and it took about 4 hours to get from lock to lock. Then the atlantic side has locks that lowered us to sea level. All in all it was an amazing and something everybody needs to experience.

As we’re leaving the final set of blocks a gentleman came running down the deck and pointed out to us did you see the crocodile. I looked on the side and short enough it was a crocodile and I got a picture. Unfortunately he went too far forward and didn’t get a picture

Wish you were here!

Soooo today was a lazy day… Someone (not me) slept until late today. Soooo we didn’t do much but relax. We visited the library yesterday and found a puzzle that had never been opened. We have been working on it here and there. Super nice to do something mind numbing 🤪

We did watch a few lectures on TV getting ready for tomorrow…THE. PANAMA. CANAL. we are super excited!! Like planning on getting up at 5 AM excited. Getting ready to mark another thing of that bucket list!!

For dinner we had some yummy dishes and desserts. I got a picture of the Emerald princess birthday cake. And then we went to a cute show called Blame it on the Boogie. It was a disco theme show and that’s why I wore my disco shirt and my disco shoes.

Wish you were here!!

Well the good news is…the Volcano didn’t erupt today 🙂 Costa Rica didn’t disappoint.

I started all the day super duper early to get some breakfast before we had to meet for 7:15 AM in the dining room. We were group pink 12. First time ever a port listen to me lol well not really but they drove those buses all the way up to the gangway. We literally didn’t have to walk hardly at all Loved it!

They loaded us all up on buses to take us to our excursions. Ours just happened to be a volcano that was about two and a half hours away from the port. Due to traffic it took us closer to four hours to get there. We had a few people complaining on the bus because of the ride length and because the bus was cold. Personally Becky and I absolutely loved the cold temperature and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the countryside. The twist and turns and stops and goes we’re tough at some points. However, all in all the ride was great with great views. One thing I thought is interesting is in Costa Rica, all of the bridges we went over were single bridges so you had to wait your turn to cross. It’s amazing how fast everybody goes on these super narrow roads yet we did not see any incidences the whole day.

We had a super cute little tour guide that told us all kinds of interesting facts about Costa Rica. Approximately 4 hours worth of interesting facts about Costa Rica. Like did you know the largest export from Costa Rica to the rest of the world is medical supplies?? Or how about the fact that there are seven providences? We learned all about their money, history and geography.

Once we made it to the volcano our tour guide apologize profusely due to the fact that we had a lot of cloud cover at the top and it was super hard to see the volcano. I did include a picture where you could see the smoke coming off of the top mixed with the cloud cover. Not far from the base of the volcano was the really nice resort that we went to for the hot springs.

We got lockers and towels and got changed and headed off for the hot springs. We were a little behind the group and got caught in a rainstorm and decided to wait out the rain in this little lean to that we found. I’m pretty sure it was the turkey’s house that we saw along the way. The turkey kept yelling at Becky and she kept yelling back but we stood our ground. After the rain lit up just a little bit we went in search of the hot springs and we found them just about 5 ft away from our turkey habitat that we were squatting in.

The Hot springs were a series of pools coming down the side of the mountain. You actually had to go up steps to get to the highest point. The temperature started at 105° at the highest pools and dropped a few degrees for every new pool you went into moving down away from the falls. It was a super neat experience and I’m glad I got to mark it off my bucket list.

On the way back to the ship we stopped at a souvenir shop that had really nice handmade souvenirs. I took a few pictures of what I saw. We were cutting it close due to traffic getting back in time. I wasn’t super concerned because this was a princess sanctioned excursion so they would have waited if we had been late. We’re supposed to be back on the ship for 6:30 and we pulled up about 6:15. We were just in time for sunset and I got a few pictures of that.

We ate in the main dining room with our favorite waiter Gus and his sidekick Austin. I asked for fettuccine alfredo with shrimp and the dining staff went nutso and put around 24 shrimp on my Alfredo. Becky asked for some lemon for her fish and got equally around 24 wedges of lemon lol. No we did not make lemonade 🤣

We ended the night at the stargazing lecture where we got to see the Southern Cross along with lots of other stars. You have to be south close to the equator in order to see the southern cross I think. They turned off some of the lights on the uppermost deck so that we could see stars. I was able to get a picture of the Southern Cross and a few other stars around it.

Wish you were here!