OUR FUN CRUISE

On Saturday evening we sailed away from Ft. Lauderdale. We spent the next two days on the ship enjoying all the amenities of ship life, such as eating and getting some sunshine. The ship was fairly new and was very nice. We had a nice room even though we were on the bottom again. This time we had an outside room so we had a window to the outside.

We arrived in Colon, Panama on Tuesday morning. We had decided to take the Ocean to Ocean trip by rail. It turned out to be a good decision. It is the only place in the world where you can go from the Caribean Sea to the Pacific Ocean a little over an hour. The train went along the side the canal and the huge lake that supplies the water to the canal. We ended up in Panama City and viewed the locks on the Pacific Ocean side. It is quite a wonder how they were able to build the canal back when they didn't have the technology and equipment we have now. They are actually building another canal by the side of the current one which will be larger to accommodate the larger ships they have now.

Another item I found interesting as we took a bus ride around the city was the all the buildings, homes, etc. that were built by the Americans. There were many American bases all over Panemawith all the buildings and grounds that entails. This was all turned over to Panama. It must have been worth many millions if not billions. Americans are so nice. We gave it all away.

Enjoying the deck and a day at sea.

As you can see, a beautiful sunset. We had great weather. It was sunny and between 70 and 80 every day.

We had some interesting company at dinner. Unfortunately, we had two very annoying people to share dinner with. The guy in the yellow shirt was an expert in all things dealing with sports. Brian found him somewhat interesting, but he got a little tiresome.

The lady in the blue dress was a talkaholic! She knew about everything. She talked loud and long about every subject. There wasn't anything she hadn't done, seen or been to. We did enjoy our meals but it would have been so much better with some nicer company.

This is Brian enjoying our train ride. The whole trip was about 4 hours. WE got to see the canal and some of Panama City which was much, much nicer than Colon.

Riding along by the canal.

A view of the canal

As you can see there is not much clearance for these big ships in the canal. It takes 8 hours for a ship to pass from one side to the other side.

On Wednesday we docked in Limon, Costa Rica. Brian and I didn't schedule an excursion there. I did wish we would have now as I look back. It would have been nice to learn more about the area. We did get off the ship and shopped in their market.

In the market they had people giving rather cheap manicures, pedicures, etc. So we both got a pedicure. We paid $15.00 each. On the ships the spa pedicures were $120.00. Course, they would have given us quite a bit more pampering.

Our beautiful ship, Carnival Freedom. Docked next to us was a Royal Carribbean ship which was much bigger than ours.

We had another day at sea and then on Friday we docked at Cozumel, Mexico, which is an island. It was really very beautiful there. It is famous for the diving and snorkeling. They have one the largest and most beautiful coral reefs in the world. We didn't do any of that, however, Brian didn't want to do an excursion so I took one by myself.

Another look at the beautiful city.

My excursion took me to some Mayan ruins and then I got to spend some time on the beach.

The Mayans had quite a city here. It was actually a religious center where important events like marriages (and human sacrifices) took place. Their main Gods were the sun and the moon represented here by the round pillars.

This arch was the entrance to the city. They are doing much more excavating in the area so in the future there will be a much larger area to see.

After my beach experience, it was back to the ship and sailing back to Florida.

Now we just have to lose some pounds after all the eating we did. We did enjoy ourselves and only wish we could have shared it with some family or friends.