Caribbean Cruise 2007 -- GTS Constellation

3/11/2007-Albuquerque to Ft. Lauderdale

Here is Allen looking so thrilled that he has a "B" boading pass in the Southwest Airlines queue. Fortunately, our flight was not full so the two of us got to take up three seats. The trip was uneventful, other than a really cranky cabbie at Ft. Lauderdale airport, and we were checked in to the Hyatt on Pier 66 by 7PM. We were very disappointed to find out that the rotating bar on the top floor was closed permanently and converted to banquet space. We were really looking forward to a drink while watching the ships come in. Oh well. Regardless, we had an incredible dinner at the Grille 66: Terry had the surf & turf while I ate light and had the Porterhouse.

3/12/2007 - Embarkation

I know that this photo has nothing to do with Embarkation, but I don't have an appropriate shot. However, we did find out this morning that we will be getting Casey and Chloe from the breeder. This is Chloe at seven weeks. They will be coming the weekend after we get back. Meanwhile, we are very excited to be back aboard the Constellation. We had a great time meeting Terry's on-line buddies in the Martini Lounge, and the bartender even remembered us from our Baltic cruise last year.

3/13/2007 - At Sea

First Day at Sea! A nice relaxing day. This a shot off our balcony. We are currently off the west tip of Cuba. The temperature is 81F. Allen won $85 in Bingo and is up about $50 in the casino. Then he promptly lost his prescription RayBan sunglasses. Karma sucks. Terry is investigating new and exciting drink combinations. Tonight is formal night, which should be a lot of fun. Tomorrow is Grand Cayman!

3/14/2007 - Grand Cayman

Grand Cayman is the first stop of the cruise.  It also happened to be a stop for every other ship in the Caribbean. Eight different cruise ships made a stop today on this sandbar of an island. There is no deep water harbor here, so all the ships had to tender passengers ashore 150 people at a time. Fortunately, each ship was running 4+ tenders.  To avoid this crowd, once we got ashore we took a taxi to the Hyatt, where the Controller set us up with a day-use room and access to their private beach. It sure pays to "network". All in all, a great day.

3/15/2007 - At Sea

Another easy day at sea. We were invited to a tour of the bridge by the Captain. (Just like the kid in The Posiedon Adventure.  So if the ship turns over, I can be the know-it-all brat.) Since we were going counter-current across the Caribbean, the seas were a little choppy and the ship was rocking most of the day.  Although, with a steady supply of Pina Coladas, it doesn't matter.  In the evening we ate dinner in the specialty restaurant, which was spectacular.

3/16/2007 - Aruba

This is the "hut" we had on the beach at the Hyatt Regency Aruba.  The resort is gorgeous: multi-level pools, coral sand beach, exotic birds, marble open-air lobby. I think we may come back here and stay a week.  Back on the ship, after dinner, a special fruit and sorbet buffet was presented that featured dozens of carved watermelons.  They called it "Melons on Parade" (Insert your own joke here.)

3/17/2007 - At Sea

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We impressed everyone on board with our silly green attire. Tonight is our second formal night, so time to get ready.  Tomorrow is Panama.

3/18/2007 - Cristobal, Panama

What an incredible day! Our van left the port in Cristobal enroute to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, located on Barro Colorado in Lake Gatun. Thankfully, our tour group was small, only twelve people. Due to a road closure, we ended up in Panama City on the Pacific side of the country and took a back road that ran along the Panama Canal. This turned out to be a good thing as it was interesting to see the canal from a differnet point of view than we had previously experienced. Once in Gamboa, we boarded a small boat. After dodging several freighters in the canal, we eventually arrived on the island where we were treated to a guided tour through a portion of the institute.  

Our guide then took us on a short hike into the preserve where we saw spider monkeys, bats, and all manner of insects.  We even took with us a couple of ticks.  Fortunately, Central American ticks do not carry Lyme disease and are no more severe than getting a mosquito bite. Still kind of gross.  This photo is of some Leaf Cutter Ants doing their thing.

3/19/2007 - Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

Another amazing day.  We visited the Sloth Sanctuary.  A couple who owned land south of Puerto Limon built a bed and breakfast after the 1991 Costa Rica earthquake. One day, someone left an injured sloth on their doorstep, and that started their venture into sloth rescue. This picture is of one of their orphans that they care for. This is Zoe who is six weeks old.  

Besides the sanctuary, they own wetlands that we canoed through and saw some amazing plants and animals.

3/20/2007 - At Sea

After two exilerating yet exhausting port days, it is nice to relax at sea.  However, tonight is the last formal night, so I guess we'll have to drag ourselves away from our rum-filled drinks in order to get ready.  What a hectic life.

3/21/2007 - Cozumel, Mexico

We arrived early in Cozumel and prepared for our journey to the ruins at Tulum, one of the few remaining Mayan sites located next to the sea.  Since Cozumel is on an island, we first had to endure a rather rough channel crossing on the ferry.  Terry & I actually fared quite well. Unfortunately that could not be said about most of the other passengers.  There was an attendant on board whose sole task was to hand out the barf bags

After an hour long bus ride we arrived at the ruins.  Our guide was very knowledgable and we had a great time exploring.  We were disappointed to learn that we had actually missed a major event earlier in the day.  Today was the Spring equinox.  The building shown at left in the ruins was built with specially aligned windows that only allow the sunlight during the sunrise on the equinox to pass through both openings.  We heard that over 6000 people were here to witness it.   On second thought, maybe it was a good thing we missed it.

Here is Terry at the ruins in Tulum.  After the ruins, we spent some down time relaxing at Xel'Ha, which is a water amusement park here on the Yucatan pennisula.

3/22/2007 - At Sea

The last sea day was quite eventful.  A medical emergency necessitated an airlift evacuation of a fellow passenger.  At the time we located between Florida and Cuba, so the Captain changed our heading north to meet a Coast Guard helicopter that was dispatched from Key West.  This afforded us the opportunity to witness an at-sea landing of the helicopter onto the heliport located at the bow.

This evening we enjoyed the company of our table mates whom we had gotten to know quite well.  Here we are all together: Allen & Terry, Richelle & Brad, Peter, and Per. 

3/23/2007 - Ft. Lauderdale - Disembarkation

I know this isn't a shot of the ship in Ft. Lauderdale.  But once you are in the process of disembarkation, there is not a lot of time for photos.  You get the idea.

For the second time in two years we say good-bye to the "Connie".  However, it is nice to know that we are booked to sail on her again next year.