Cabo San Lucas

El Arco, the famous arch of Cabo San Lucas as we entered the harbor.












The harbor of Cabo San Lucas and our ship from a viewpoint on our shore excursion.













With no pier to dock at in Cabo, we used "tender" boats to get to shore and back.













Cactus garden visited on shore excursion in Cabo.















Pelicans and seagulls followed us out of the harbor at Cabo.












At dinner, waiters paraded through the dining room with a flaming (small flame) baked Alaska for dessert.














My favorite traveling companions in the stateroom.

Huatulco and Acapulco

Two ships in Huatulco, Mexico--ours is the Mercury on the left. Both are bigger than the town itself.

Spinning wool at a "carpet" museum/store in La Crusecita, Huatulco

Fortress across from the ship at the dock in Acapulco, Mexico

Our daily pillow/towel decoration in the stateroom

Our ship, docked at Huatulco

4 cliff divers in Acapulco. See if you can find them all.

A single cliff diver doing a somersault in Acapulco.

Acapulco Bay, at least part of it.

Panama Canal & Costa Rica

Leaving a set of locks on Panama Canal













Towel decorations in stateroom-with Mary's pajamas















This is what morning glory is supposed to look like--flowers big and beautiful in the Costa Rica rain forest











Arial tram in the rain forest-Costa Rica















Another stateroom creation by our stateroom attendant














Leaving Gatun Locks in Panama Canal with another cruise ship and a cargo ship. These locks are the first set (of 3) as we enter the canal from the Caribbean Sea. It cost our ship $254,000 to pass through the canal--how about that for a toll!?











Panama City Temple from our ship













Panama City skyline from our ship as we leave the canal for the Pacific Ocean. It took about 9 hours to get through the canal.











Us in the dining room with our waiter, Kartono on the left-from the island of Bali in Indonesia and our assistant waiter Sanchen from India
















Rain forest in Costa Rica from the tram













Beautiful hawk near a Costa Rican waterway














Blue iguana in Costa Rica








Sunset from the ship as we are about to depart from Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Days 3-5, Panama Canal cruise 2009

Church of St. Peter Claver, Cartagena, Columbia
















Us with Captain Nikos Frantzis at on board anniversary party.


















Entrance to old city Cartagena

17th Century architecture in old city Cartegena

Torture devices in Inquisition Palace, Cartagena

Just hanging around at the Inquisition Palace.

Fortress guarding old city Cartagena. We hiked to the top!

Sunset over modern Cartagena from our ship, now leaving the harbor.

Day 2, Monday, April 13 – In the morning, we believe that 95% of the guests at the hotel were in the lobby waiting for buses to the ship terminals. There were people and luggage everywhere.
We only met one couple going on the same cruise as we were, although most all were going on some cruise to the Panama Canal or had just returned. Most were only going half way and returning back to where they started.

In this huge room where you checked in. They check your Passport just to get in this room. They have a table in the middle of the room with lemonade, fruit punch and water and a plate of cookies. You check in by deck number and we were on deck 9, the Vista Deck. There, you turn in your paperwork, passport, and sign up for the “on ship charge system” by giving them your credit card. You then each receive your “Sea Pass” card which is you room key and to charge anything you buy on the ship. It is good at the shops, Bingo, extra services and drinks. The only place on board ship that uses cash is the casino.

Then you go upstairs and they check your Passport again and take your picture which goes on file with your “Sea Pass” card number. After that, you walk up the ramp pictured below to board the ship.
I think that when you use your card to buy anything it brings up your picture on their computers so that they know that the card belongs to you and not someone else. We boarded around 11:00 and were able to get right in our outside stateroom. We have a nice big window (about 4’ x 6’) to see out of about 50-60 feet above the water. We walked up 2 decks to 11 for a nice lunch at the sumptuous buffet. The ship is big on sanitation, and every time you walk into the buffet or dining room, someone is there to give you a squirt of waterless hand cleaner.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around on different decks and getting familiar with the ship. Here are a few pictures of our exploration.

We set sail at 5:00 p.m. and our luggage arrived at our Suite about 6:00. Here is a picture taken on our departure from Ft. Lauderdale.
We’re on the “second seating” for dinner and get to eat our dinner at 8:30 in the evening. The dining room is a formal, high class restaurant and each table has a waiter and assistant waiter. There is a 4 or 5 course dinner every night with a different menu each night. The food is great and fortunately, they give you portions that are just the right size, not too much. That way, you still have room for dessert after finishing everything else. After dinner, we listened to some of the music in different clubs and danced a little in one of them before turning in for the night.

Our bed is turned down every night for us when we get back to the stateroom.

Cruise Vacation – Panama
Day 1, Sunday, April 12 – We left our home at 5:00 a.m. from the Salt Lake City Airport and flew from there to Minneapolis, Minnesota for lunch and a change of planes, then proceeded to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for dinner and a night at the Ramada Inn. The hotel was nothing to write home about, but just a place to sleep and to be picked up in the morning.

Retirement Reception February 26, 2009

Gift Table


Tori, Craig, and Chris

Chris






Mary and Dona





Eric, our "last" boss






Ralph, our first boss, who hired us both back in the last century.





Debie, Craig, Tori, Gina, Chris

Pam

Jonathan, the artist and creator of the most interesting farewell card.

Kathy, MaryEtta

Some of the Evans clan

Debie in the UTC shop coat, Marilee

Marilee and the family gift