Sherri G
Sherri Garewal Joined: February 20th 2009
Logged in: March 20th 2010
Logged in: March 20th 2010
Travel Blog Posts
Senor Frog's Acapulco
Hi Everyone! The last few days at sea have been wonderful for seeing wildlife. I've had the honor of seeing whales breaching, coming completing out of the water twirling vertically in the air, hundreds of dolphins following alongside the ship as if happily playing with this huge vessel, stingrays, marlins, sea lions, turtles, eels, flying fish, and some odd flat looking fish that came out of the water and flipped several times in the air. Easter Sunday was spent in Acapulco and was blessed with my favorite....margaritas, tacos and chips and salsa! I decided to take a tour with a group of people I'd met on the ship and it included a wild boat ride through a lagoon where Tarzan and Creature from the Black Lagoon was filmed in addition to watching the daring cliff divers ... read more
Yellow Cortex
As I'm writing, it's Good Friday and I've just returned from visiting the small port town of San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua. This is the first time the Star Princess has stopped at this port but the towns people were well prepared for our visit with plenty of security and opportunities to buy handcrafted goods. Since it's a holiday, a lot of locals were spending the day at the beach and waiting for the annual parade. Three of us paid $5 to take a scenic ride around the town on a bicycle carriage made for two, the poor cyclist huffed and puffed while maneuvering the bike up the hills and through the traffic, but for us anyway, the ride was well worth it as we were able to find a great little restaurant over looking ... read more
tilapia lunch in banana leaves
I woke up and stepped out onto my balcony to pure beauty. We are in Panama! What a country..I really thought it was going to be another poverty stricken hell-hole with crappy souvenirs but to my sheer delight, I was happily mistaken! We took the tender into port and boarded a tour bus to the Embera IndianVillage called Parara. Nicko, our tour guide, was so informative and you could tell he was thrilled to share the history of Panama with all of us. You may or may not be aware but the United States gave up control of the Panama Canal on December 31, 1999 and moved all of the troops out of Panama. Panama now has full control over the revenue of the canal and country. The military barracks are now being converted into a ... read more
manufacturing hats
As we get closer to Central America, poverty becomes more apparent. Our last two ports were Callao, Peru (near Lima) and Manta, Ecuador. For some reason both of these ports left me depressed and homesick. I'm not sure if it was the absence of TP in the ladies restrooms in Peru or the poor crafted souvenirs foreigners were given the opportunity to purchase, but I've been a little testy lately. I would like to properly thank Trent for responding to my text messages when I was most desperate for home communication. - Thank you, Brat! I was not able to make the tour to Machu Picchu due to the cost being a small fortune ($2800) but was able to see Inca ruins at Pachacamac in Lima, Peru. Due to the fact it hardly ever rains in ... read more
Indomita Winery
Hi Everyone! It's our second day at sea with the new passengers that boarded in Valparaiso, Chile. The ocean is so calm and peaceful showing no signs that the 30-40 foot waves will return. Everyone that was here to witness the havoc, including the crew, are still talking about it. The ship even made CNN news - I guess they thought we possibly wouldn't return. LOL I can't believe how empty the ship feels now that we are missing about 800 people. There are so many vacant rooms and people are being upgraded to other parts of the ship so they can close down certain areas. There are about 1800 passengers as opposed to the maximum of 2600 that we had the last two weeks. Good news though, there are more passengers travelling solo - a ... read more
Star Princess
We are at sea and the weather has been horrific to say the least. We've had to secure anything that moves in our stateroom, they've drained all the pools and production shows were canceled for this evening due to the all the rocking. I even had a spa appointment this morning and had to cancel because I was too sick to attend...up all night with crap banging back and forth and motion sickness has gotten the best of me. Thank God for Dramamine! We've had to change course tonight due to the violent storm and this will put us a day behind getting into Valparaiso Chile. So many people are freaking out because this is their disembarkation port and will need to change flights and gaining access to civilization is not the easiest out here in ... read more
horseback at Fitz Roy Estancia
Hi Everyone! It's Friday, March 27th and for half the ships passengers, the last few days at sea before disembarking in Valparaiso, Chile. I've met a lot of new friends and most of them are getting off at this point however there are a lot of Californians and quite a few of them are heading to San Francisco as well. The last couple of days, the weather has been totally unpredictable. This part of the world can see four different seasons in one day. Mother Nature was pleasant in Punta Arenas, Chile, even though it was in the 40's, the violent wind was absent long enough for us to have a pleasant day. I did a last minute tour change and decided to head out of town and tour a family ranch, the Estancia Fitz Roy ... read more
Bluff Cove
Hi Everyone! Well I can take the Falkland Islands off my bucket list of places to see! We arrived about 6 am Monday morning into Stanley, Falkland Islands. The night had been a rough one at sea and I anticipated high winds and cold weather, so I bundled up in preparation for the chilly day in town with my new turquoise cashmere sweater and scarf that I picked up in Scotland. The Falkland Islands consists of approximately 200 islands covering 4700 sq. miles. The islands are ruled by the British government however Argentina still claims it to be theirs and call the islands Islas Malvinas. We were told, out of courtesy, not to wear any clothing resembling Argentina when we arrived. In 1982 Argentine Special Forces invaded the islands and met fierce resistance from the Royal ... read more
me at Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires
Hola! The first couple of days at sea have been busy. There is so much to do, one can never be bored. Between eating anytime you like, you can choose from a huge variety of activities including line dancing, lectures, trivia, shows, games, casino, you name it, it's here. I actually played Bingo Wednesday and won one of the four games. Thursday we arrived into Buenos Aires, otherwise know as Paris of the South, at 6:30am this morning. The water near the port was not what I was expecting, it is a mucky brown and extremely shallow. As a matter of fact, so shallow that only one ship could come through the channel at one time so we were a little late getting to port. As for me seeing any whales yet, not a chance. I've ... read more
Hi Everyone! I'm at sea now and the ship is OMG huge. I'm getting tons of exercise just walking up and down the stairs. My stateroom is on the Caribe deck of the Star Princess which is located on 10th floor and the restaurants are on 5/6 and 14 so you can imagine all the taking place :- ) I went to a solo party last night and a whopping 3 people showed up. There is another one today so I'm hoping more people will show up because tonight is a formal night and I have a new outfit just waiting for me to show it off. Internet on the ship is expensive and extremely slow and I'm not sure if images will upload so I'm hoping I will find an internet cafe in Buenos Aires ... read more
