Hey Mon....dis is Jamaica!!!

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Hey mon....now that is whateveryone here says and it gets at you so before long we are saying it too and we haveonly been ashorean hour.
Anyway a liitle on the cruise asthis may be the only chance to get onto this site for a while.
First night out was an introduction to theship which is pretty well full.Mostly Americans but also Poms in reasonable numbers.The first dinner was an example ofwhat was to come 4 courses plus coffee and that wasjust dinner.Breakfast the next morning was a huge choice and so it turned out each day.Lunch we had to try but stuck with a salad as there was still 9 days left to go !!!!
The show on the opening nite was a bit of everything that was on as the cruise progressed.So much energy.
The crew are very welcominmg and all in very good spirits and friendly.
Our stateroom is comfiortable,not sure though how some of the bigger people on board fit in theshower without spilling water.!!!
Our balcony is well appointed as it sticks out from others on our deck and wehave an uniterupted view back to the stern.
The first two days were at sea and we quickly found a team of people at thedaily trivia contest.By day four we had won a competition !! There is one group that study every day in the libraary !! Now that is going too farfor a bit of fu.Our little group is us,a couple from Kentucky and a couple from the Shendoah valley in Virginia and we all get on well together with similar interests in family etc and sit after the daily comp just talking while we have been a t sea.
Aruba port was closed due to Hurricane Omam when we arrived so we had a third day at sea andmore food without strenuos exercise !!
Cartahena,Colombia was an eyeopener with tall aprtmanet buildings atthe beach and poverty downtown !!
We walked the streets in ver 30deg heat and saw the old city and the beach and four hours later strolled back to the ship.The price for a taxi to town was $5 but back to the ship $10.....what did they think we were...stupid !!!
Anyway we survived and it was onto Panama Canal.This was an absolutely amazing experience and we will be back one day to do the whole transit.Cristobal at the end of the day was just shopping on thepier and nothing exciting.
The next day it was Limon,Costa Rica where it was raining as we left the ship to explore the little town.It soon stopped and the sun came out.A rather dirty place that didnt equalthe eco friendly image the country istrying to show off.In the afternoon we did a trip to a banana plantation and packhouse,a bit like kiwifruit going thru the system.Then into the jungle where we saw a sloth and frogs plus monkeysup in the trees.An interesting trip and well worth taking.
Then another day at sea and more in the Crooners Bar at night where there is a guy who looks like MrBean playing.He is a Pom and is full oflaughs playing mostly Frank Sinatra type music including requests.Gretchen is now his Antipodeon lady and last nite she was asked to lieon his piano !!!! like most of the other woman who frequent the bar at some time.
Another sea day and then here we are in Ocho Rios,Jamaica a very touristy town on the coast opposite Kingston.Weather hasbeen great since we got away from Omar and not sure we will find the cooler climates of Tauranga good enough for us eventually when its time to come home.
Tomorrow another sea day and berth in Ft Lauderdale on Wednesday(US time) and its off to Bahamasa at Nite from Miami.

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