So this is it, my final entry of the cruise and what a time we have had. Our last port of call.Madeira, was reached on Thursday around 0800hrs. The weather overnight had been somewhat rough and many of us were kept awake with the banging throughout the ship by the waves hitting the bough, not to mention the heavy swell. Thought after that we might be in for a rough day but in fact turned out fine. The Maderian archepelago lies in the Atlantic Ocean, west of Mexico and north of the Canary Islands. The largest of these Portuguese islands, some [View Full Entry]

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Even though we have been at sea since you last heard from me, thought I might do an additional blog giving a bit of info of the ship and what we have been up to. The ship, as most of you are no doubt aware, is the Artemis, built back in 1984 and able to carry some 12000 passengers and about 500 crew. It has four bars, two on deck nine, the Horizon and the Riviera, one on deck eight, Crystal Bar and one on deck three, Tiffany's. Makes it handy as no matter where you are, a drink is always [View Full Entry]

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So we have just spent three days at three different ports and the weather was fantastic, unlike today, Thursday, where the temperature was only 21c, the ocean was a bit choppy and the sun appears to have gone on vacation. Still cannot complain as it is the first bad day we have had and I am sure the weather will improve, he says full of confidence. So our first port of call was Key West. Before I give you a bit of information on this port, a brief detail as to what we had to go through to get off the [View Full Entry]

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Today, Thursday, we arrived at the port of Roatan in Honduras at 0800hrs local time, 1500hrs UK time. Not wanting to rub it in but the temperature on arrival was 26c but only 27c by noon. Roatan is the largest and most developed of the Bay Islands, a group of small islands off the northeast coast of Honduras in the Caribbean Sea. An island known for it's many attractions. both on land and water. It is about 33 miles long and just over 2 miles wide at its widest point. Spanish is the official language of Honduras but many people in [View Full Entry]

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Toda, Tuesday we arrived in Limon, Costa Rica, which translates to Rich Coast. Arrived at around 0700 to a temperature of 23c and expected to rise to around 27c, which it did. Costa Rica is made up of seven provinces, the capital being San Jose and is in the province of the same name. The province of Limon occupies the whole of the eastern side of Costa Rice the capital of the province being Limon City with a population of 90,000. We were told that they do in fact have a vast amount of crime there and that there is still [View Full Entry]

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Today, Monday we began our cruise through the Panama Canal. Pilot was taken on board at around 0630 in the morning and we began our approach to the canal at around 0830. Normally when a pilot is taken on board, the captain still has command of the vessel but this is the only time and place in the world where when a pilot is taken on board, the captain of the ship relinquishes full command to him. Just a few facts about the building of the canal. The Spanish began to think of the idea back in the 16th century but [View Full Entry]

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Our next port of call is Manta in Ecuador. We berthed here at 0900 on Saturday 16th Feb, 1400 where you are again, unless you are reading this in Australia. The temperature on arrival was just 22c but we prayed hard and by lunch time it had crept up to 26c. Ok a short bit about Manta. It is Ecuador's second largest port after Guayaquil and is situated on the Bah's (Bay) de Manta in the centre of the country's Pacific coastline. It Is just south of the Equator and in the province of Manab. The population here is 180,000 and [View Full Entry]

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So we got back to the ship from Machu Picchu on Wednesday morning, the ship being in port until Thursday evening and so to my relief, realized we had time to do a trip and some shopping, although not that day as we were too tired so took it easy. Woke up Thursday Morning as fresh as a daisy, well almost, to the view outside the cabin window of the port of Callao, Lima in Peru. Callao has a population of 700,000 and is the port for the city of Lima, Peru's capital, but the two cities have merged and the [View Full Entry]

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Ok where were we. Ah yes, Bobby Crush, a wonderful artist , hope you have all been on the web to download some of his music, no doubt JT already has his albums on vinyl. Sadly, we had an announcement over the ships tannoy and to quote, "Bobby Crush has now departed the vessel" Oh well there will be another time. So we arrived in Arika, Chile, on Monday, but not able to say much as to what it was like as we departed the ship ourselves to fly off to Manchu Pincchu. Just a few facts about Arica which I [View Full Entry]

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On Wednesday we arrived in Puerto Montt to a temperature of around 12c but by midday this had crept up to around mid 20's. Puerto Montt has a population of around 175,000 and is one of southern Chile's most important cities and the capital of the tenth region. It is situated on the northern shore of the Bahia de Puerto Montt, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. Just a short distance from the city are the volcanoes, lakes, forests and mountains of the Lake District, one of the country's most beautiful regions. A few facts for you; The United Kingdom is [View Full Entry]

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