Blogs from Mexico, North America - page 6

Well no more ports of call left now on the Carnival Panorama and after 3 days of having to be on time to get to port we can get up anytime we choose as it’s a sea day. I was looking through the wardrobe for something I have not worn and decided to wear my new adidas blue t-shirt that I bought from Macy’s in Portland which still had the $4.97 price tag which is amazing as it’s a genuine authentic product. Actually as far as clothes go I will make an effort to try and wear the couple of nice shirts that have not been used but one item that has not been worn and is not going to be worn is a pair of blue dressy shorts and it might be a while before ... read more

As we have a scheduled shore tour booked for 9.30 we set the alarms early to ensure we are ready to go. Unlike yesterday the ship is docked today so we can just walk off the ship and we had to meet our tour at 9.15 which is called Salsa and Salsa. This tour costs $149.98 for both of us. The ship is docked in a working container ship terminal and there are lots of cars and vans here that have been unloaded so it’s not the prettiest view from our balcony compared with yesterday. For breakfast I tried something different at the Blue Iguana Cantina and had this mexican dish called a Huevos Rancheros at the recommendation of the guy from Arizona who was in front of me in the line. It’s a tortilla with ... read more

We were up around 8.00am and feeling good. The ambience around the ship is awesome and it is great to have a cruise on Carnival again as the last cruise to Alaska on Holland America was undoubtedly the wrong brand for us. It was cloudy and a bit stormy when we left Long Beach yesterday but woke up today to find a beautiful sunny day with calm seas and much warmer as well so summer has arrived ! A short climb up the stairs from Deck 8 to Deck 10 for the breakfast at the Lido Marketplace where I had a disciplined portion of scrambled eggs, baked beans, small potatoes and bacon. The OJ is like drinking cordial straight so will only have small portions if absolutely necessary and had a coffee outside near the main ... read more

Books are a culture’s memory blanket. Not only do they entertain and delight, they also carry fingerprints of the past and roadmaps for the future. So, the value a reader derives from those written words is indeterminable. UNESCO’s World Book Capital program acknowledges the role of books in the development of a culture, a city, and a country. Every year, a World Book Capital is chosen to encourage the culture of reading. There is no financial prize with this title, but the World Book Capital receives massive recognition. Readers should take a note of the city that gets crowned because all through the year, the winner organizes activities to promote reading and books. The nomination process demands that cities map out the activities and their plans for the year (including how they will secure funding), so ... read more

Wham, Bam, Ek' Balam Rob writes We arrived back in Cancun and picked up our bags. The next stop was to collect the hire car. My booking confirmation advised that the car rental company had a stand opposite the baggage claim among all the other car hire companies, so it should be easy to find. It was, only our car hire company was the only one who's stand was closed and instead presented us with a mobile number to call in place of a representative. 'Call the phone number and our representative with advise you further'. I waited on hold for about fifteen minutes before giving up and we decided to leave the airport to see what the crack was outside. Fortunately for us, in the distance, beyond the small army of taxi drivers and across ... read more