October 30th: Replacing the Keys Cruiser and Hollywood, Fl

We left the cruise ship and started looking for a car to replace our 2003 Toyota Corolla Keys Cruiser. Linda was getting her shoulder replaced in Miami in November and we would be making several trips up and back.  When we bought the car three years ago, we thought we'd just keep it for the winter season and sell it. It served us so well we ended up keeping it for 3 years! Now, however, a strut was going bad and we were no longer confident driving it to Miami and back. We made a reservation to stay at Hollywood Beach, Florida for the three days before Linda's first doctor's appointments. We couldn't check in until the afternoon so we started looking for a car. We were not surprised to find most dealers were not selling "Keys Cruisers" priced cars. We were looking for a Toyota or Nissan under $5,000, less than 100,000 miles, that was in good running condition.

After Linda searched on the internet she found a car that looked promising at $5,500. Went to the dealer and they said, "We don't have anything under $10,000." I showed him the add on their site and he said, "Wow, that's unusual!" He was very nice, checked it out. Turned out, out the door it would be close to $7,000.

Linda kept looking and found Discount Auto. They had several cars, proclaimed to have the lowest prices, and certifiable used cars. Might as well check it out. Called and talked to the owner, Zane. He said he'd wait for us if we were coming. (It was Sunday afternoon). We pulled up and Linda said, "I,ll wait in the car." It looked like we were in a pretty rough neighborhood, especially given the razor wire on top of the fence. I thought, "Might as well check it out".

Turned out Zane was a very nice guy. He's been selling cars from this lot for 30 years and has a 4.7-5.0 satisfaction rating. He explained the reason he can sell at a lower price than anyone else is his location is very inexpensive. (Of course he did say he never stays there at night because, "The natives can get restless at night".)

At any rate he showed us a picture of a 2011 Nissan Sentra that was just what we were looking for. The car was at a paint shop but we could pick it up Tuesday. We put a deposit down and went to our place on Hollywood Beach. Our place near the beach was great. I walked the beach and Linda relaxed.

We went to pick up the car Tuesday and were told we could take the car but had to come back Wednesday morning so the DMV could inspect it. So Tuesday turned into Wednesday for a variety of reasons. I dropped Linda off at the clinic for pre-surgery doctor appointments and spent several hours at Discount Auto and going to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Bottom line was we got the car, were very happy with it and were able to head back to Marathon to launch Yesterday's Dream.

October 23rd:Aruba and more days at sea.

After a couple enjoyable days at sea we arrived in Aruba. I had made arrangements for a kayaking trip. I waited at the pick-up area on the pier and the kayak tour van never showed up.

Fortunately I met a couple guys that were waiting to go on a sailing/snorkel trip. Their trip representative said they had room for me. He said they would take us to the catamaran sailboat and would also get us back to the ship.

The sailboat was very comfortable and there were only eight people on the trip. (The boat could easily take 30 people.) The sailing was very relaxing and the snorkeling was good. When we got back to shore we were told we could catch the bus back to the cruise ship. Catch the bus? That's your idea of we'll get you back to the ship?

The three of us headed to the main street where a wonderful local man told us, "Just flag down the bus anywhere you see one and it will stop. Really! Sure enough, a van marked "Bus" came down the street and we waved. $2.00 for the 10 minute ride back to the cruise ship. It turned out to be entertaining. The van had the front seat plus three more seats behind it. Looked like 12 people maximum. After we got on, there were 6 of us on the bus. 3 more people flagged us down and joined the group. Now there were 10 including the driver. Stopped again and picked up one more. Looked like one seat left. The driver stopped again. A family of four wanted to get on and the driver said come on in! Turns out there was a little fold down seat at the end of each row. Of course once it was down there was no aisle to exit. Interesting. Felt like we were in a clown car in a circus. Everyone was friendly and we had a good time.

Aruba fire

When I got back to the ship Linda and I were sitting on the balcony enjoying the view of the city. Fortunately, we had the shade. Could not be out there in the sun. As we were sitting there, Linda noticed some black smoke. Really bad diesel truck? Hmmm. As we watched the smoke became much thicker and more black. Clearly a fire on the main drag behind the Diamond International store. Alarms went off, very quickly the street was blocked off and fire trucks appeared. The smoke turned to steam as water was used to put out the fire. Fortunately, it appeared the fire was brought under control very quickly.

We left Aruba and headed to Miami, our last stop where we would rent a car and start looking for a new "Keys Cruiser". Our 2003 Toyota Corolla served us well but it was time to replace it. We would be driving to Miami a number of times and did not want to break down part way.

We used our final specialty dinner on the way at the Tappanyaki Japanese Restaurant. Cindy and Randy joined us and we had a delicious and entertaining meal. The chef not only cooked but performed and had a great sense of humor.The only problem was way too large of portions. We were served many shrimp, many scallops and a large portion of filet mignon. That was in addition to the soup, rice and other sides. No way were we going to finish it. Our chef said the leftovers would be fed to the fishes so I assume the fish like that!


We decided to check out the casino given the sort of long days at sea. We used to enjoy the slot machines but it seems like most places have brought in machines we don't find fun. Fortunately, we found a couple where we could bet $.25 and they were fun to play. We started with $ 10.00. I was playing and won some but lost more. Linda took over and we were ahead. We found a fun machine called Miss Kitty and Linda increased our winnings. I think we were ahead by $10. The next day we played some more and ended up down around $10 but had a lot of fun.




When we first started the cruise Linda had talked about getting room service for breakfast and eating on the balcony. There is no additional charge for room service other than the tip. We decided it was time! We ordered room service and had an enjoyable and relaxing breakfast. The balcony is completely private so Linda enjoyed eating breakfast in her pajamas.





Later in the day, Linda took advantage of a beautiful day and relaxed on the balcony. Her favorite spot on the ship.

We arrived in Miami as the sun was rising Sunday morning, ready to start looking for a car.

Miami cruise ship harbor entrance

October 20th: Puerto Quatzel, Guatemala and on to the Panama Canal

After two days at sea we arrived at Puerto Quatzel, Guatemala. Having experienced the uncomfortable ride in the small van at Mazatlan, I decided to skip the tour into Antigua. It was approximately a 2 hour ride and I really was not intrigued enough with Antigua to make the trip. Linda never even considered it but Cindy and Randy went for it. As Cindy said, " I've never been to Guatemala and will probably never come back, so I"m going." Instead I went ashore and walked through the vendor area by the pier. It was much nicer than I expected. The vendors were definitely selling, but no high pressure. The most frequent question I got was, "What size do you wear?" When I said thanks, but I'm not interested, they typically said, "Well enjoy our country." There was also a good sized pleasure boat marina I enjoyed walking around.

Cindy and Randy returned that afternoon after a longer than expected bus ride. There was construction and there was some mild concern about getting back to the ship before we set sail. The bus, as it turned out, was very comfortable and they actually enjoyed the ride and the city.

As we left the pier I noticed it was going to be a great sunset. I went to the highest deck on the ship to take some pictures. I only posted two but I took a lot because they just kept getting better.




We were now on our way to the Panama Canal transit. On the map you can see Acapulco and the green dot is Puerto Quatzel. I say, "Transit" because we were not stopping in Panama, just going through the canal.

Knowing it would be a long time at sea we made reservations to see a live performance of Footloose. It was excellent. We were amazed at the staging and quality of the performance.

Panama Canal waiting anchorage

We made our way to the holding area for the Panama Canal. Ships were anchored, lined up waiting their turns to go through. We joined the group.

Fuel barge and attending tugboat

As we were anchored, waiting to go through the canal early the next morning, there was an announcement that the ship would be taking on fuel. We looked over the railing on our balcony and sure enough there was the fuel barge and a large tug boat. They pumped fuel for a very long time.



 The next morning we headed to the pier before the first lock.There is a steady stream of ships going through the canal. There are actually two canals since a larger canal was added next to the first canal. You can read an interesting and lengthy history of the canal, including information about the additional new canal we went through, here.  Panama Canal History

Lock door opening

We waited for the large ship in front of us to exit the first lock. Then we could watch the door opening. It rolls to the side as you can see in the picture. We moved into the lock and could easily see the ship in front of us that moved into the second lock. (There are three at each end of the canal.)


It was a hot and muggy day so many people were watching from the inside, forward observation lounge. There was a nice view of the canal and locks because the observation lounge is on deck 15.


As we progressed through the locks, it was explained that much of the water used in the transfers is reused by storing it in the lakes in the pictures. Because the locks are above sea level, all the water used in the locks comes from the tremendous amount of rainfall in the area. The rainwater would eventually end up in both oceans on either side of the canal, whether it was used for lockage or not. No water needs to be pumped into the system from either ocean for the locks to operate.

It took most of the day to get through the three locks on the Pacific side, through the man made canal to the three locks on the Atlantic side, and eventually out into the Atlantic Ocean.

One nice feature of the canal is that no building is allowed along the length of the canal. The wetlands are a protected nature preserve. It was surprising and enjoyable to travel through the very lush green waterway.

There was only one more port before Miami, Aruba. However, it would be two days at sea to get to Aruba and then two more days to get to Miami.

October 17th:Two Days at Sea and Acapulco

We left Mazatlan and began a two day cruise to Acapulco. The ship was traveling close to 20 mph most of the way. Much faster than our 8 mph on Yesterday's Dream! The seas continued to be relatively calm. Each evening while we are at dinner the cabin steward comes in, cleans up the room and turns down the bed.

On other cruises we found a towel animal sculpture on the bed, perhaps an elephant, a dog, a rabbit, etc. They were creative and it was always fun to see how they were done. So far on this cruise no towel sculptures. Wednesday night, however, we finally had a towel rabbit sculpture on our bed when we returned from dinner. It actually looked better than the picture shows.


Given we had two days at sea we planned to use another one of our specialty restaurant dinners. This time we went to Cagney's Steakhouse for dinner. We ignored our diets and I ordered prime rib while Linda ordered a filet mignon. It was a great dinner but certainly not something we'd eat on a regular basis.

Acapulco harbor

I was looking forward to a snorkel trip at Acapulco, especially because the Cabo San Lucas snorkel trip was cancelled. We arrived early Thursday morning to a gloomy looking sky. I was afraid this trip would also be cancelled. By the time I went to the shore excursion desk to check it out it was raining lightly. They announced that several hiking trips were cancelled but mine was a go! The snorkel spot was well protected from the wind and waves and after all, we're in the water anyway. Of course sunshine would make visibility better but I was just happy to be able to go.


I exited the ship and noticed people in raincoats and/or carrying umbrellas. It was hardly raining but I guess they wanted to be prepared. Plus most  were not going snorkeling. I walked down the pier to where the snorkel boat was to pick us up. Interesting! Not the type of boarding spot I expected. It was definitely not meet our son-in-law Matt's safety standards.

Acapulco Snorkel Boat

There was a surge coming in and the snorkel boat, which had a flat bow, was using the motor to keep the bow against the concrete pier while we boarded. The boat was bouncing in and out as the waves came up and went down. Fortunately, there was a big rubber fender on the pier. There were two people helping us board by giving us a steadying hand and telling us when to "jump" for it. Another person on the boat insured a safe landing. Everyone made it aboard safely.

It was a short ride along the shore to get to the snorkel spot. The captain pointed out the original Acapulco harbor. It was quite small and he informed us originally used by pirates. Today there is just a small marina with small pleasure craft and fishing boats.

The snorkeling turned out to be pretty good. We were not required to wear a life jacket nor stay with a buddy which is often the case on snorkel trips. I asked the captain about the depth and he told me 25 feet. Usually when I snorkel, I like to wear 6 lbs of weight to help me easily dive to the bottom and look around. I saw some weights on the console that were used for their scuba trips and asked if I could borrow 6 pounds that I could put in my bathing suit pockets. He said, "Sure, do you want a weight belt". Perfect! A big tip was assured.

The snorkeling was against a steep rock wall that was home to many fish. I was able to see more than most of the people by diving down and looking in all the little nooks and crannies. Particularly fun were some porcupine blow fish, many Blue Tangs, (bright yellow juveniles plus bright blue adults) and some very nice trumpet fish.






In addition, there were a lot of black spiny sea urchins which I seldom see in Florida.




On the way back to the ship it started raining quite hard. We were all trying to stay under the hard top but the wind was blowing the rain right into us. We were all wet anyway but being worn out from snorkeling and slightly chilled it was not a pleasant ride back.





 The captain did take us to a small rock island so we could see the shrine to the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe. When weather is better it is a snorkel and glass bottom boat site. We were told there was another shrine under the water.

We then headed back to the pier and everyone was able to exit safely. Would have been nice to have better weather but it was still a good trip.

That afternoon the rain cleared out and we had a nice view of Acapulco and the mountains.

October 14th: Mazatlan

Harbor Entrance of Mazatlan, Mexico

Our next port was Mazatlan, Mexico. We passed a mountain at the entrance to a large bay and well protected harbor. As we approached the cruise ship terminal we could see there were many resorts along the magnificent beaches that were built among many very old city buildings.


The four of us had arranged a narrated, historical and informational city tour. It included lunch at a local restaurant. The "bus" turned out to be a 9 passenger van. Linda, Cindy and I ended up crammed into the back seat. There just was not enough leg room and it was difficult to see out the window from the middle seat! Fortunately, we got out of the van quite a few times to see the sights.




 We first rode up a big hill/small mountain to get a good view of the ocean and the city. It was a beautiful day and the sights were worth the drive up. The  in the picture mountain on the left is the same one that is in the picture above. It looked smaller from up here but still impressive.


We rounded a curve at the top and were able to get a great view of the harbor, the city and our cruise ship. As you can see, the cruise ship towered over the city buildings.

The tour then headed down into the city.

Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception

A highlight of the tour was the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.  Mazatlán Cathedral is the main religious building in the city of Mazatlan. It was designed in the  Baroque-Revival style of Sinaloa, Mexico, and home of the Catholic Diocese of Mazatlan. It is located in the historical center of the city.

The works of the temple-like cathedral began in the year of 1856, by order of the then bishop Pedro Loza and Pardavé. Later, the parish priest Miguel Lacarra took over the work and it was completed in the year of 1899. 

An interesting sight along the top of the cathedral is a row of stained glass windows that include the Jewish Star of David. Our guide explained that a group of very wealthy Jewish people came to Mazatlan in part to escape prejudice against Jews. They found they were accepted and welcomed into the society. In appreciation, they donated a large part of the money to complete the cathedral. They were adamant that they did not want recognition for the donation. The parish priest decided to include the Star of David stain glass windows as a tribute to the Jewish contributors. Our guide told us it is the only known cathedral with Star of David stained glass windows.

We got back in the van and toured a little of the city. The driver stopped at one of the many tourist shops. It was a very nice art gallery and jewelry store. The sculptures were quite varied and very nice. I liked these blown glass sculptures in particular. I told Randy and Cindy I thought they needed the giant scarab beetle sculpture on the middle shelf, but they passed it up.

Another fun area included quite a few sculptures of the characters from the movie Coco. The animated movie plot explains The Day of the Dead. A great movie with good music.

The gallery was even passing out free Margaritas and/or beer.

 
 As we drove through the city we passed the local shrimp open air market. The local women, and it is all women, sell their fresh shrimp caught locally. Our guide said they control the price of shrimp on the entire island and have been doing so for many years. The pictures show only some of the shrimp stands. They apparently sell a tremendous amount of shrimp.

Our guide then took us on a tour of a very large, gated, golf course community. It was obviously a very expensive place to live. Our guide said they get a lot of wealthy american snow birds coming here. It was like a different world, completely cut off from the city. I think he must get a commission on sales. The tour was way too long, especially in our somewhat uncomfortable van. Plus, we were all getting hungry.


 As we were driving to the lunch place, Linda spotted a McDonald's and her hopes soared! Sadly, we drove right past it.















Instead we went to a nice open air, sidewalk restaurant. It was a fun place that was not too fancy. Just good food and nice people.


 The decor of the restaurant was very colorful and of course a nautical theme.



 After lunch we got back on the bus and drove along the road by the beach that went back to the cruise ship. We stopped at one of the beaches and got a picture of the Mazatlan sign in the heart of the resort area. All in all it was a good day ashore!