We are sitting at the port outside La Paz, Mexico as I write this probably penultimate note for the blog. The port is some ten miles or so away from the city. There is a little marketplace set up by the terminal and a free shuttle ($1 tip suggested) to the city itself that runs about every 20 minutes or so.
[Read more…] about La PazHuatulco, Mexico
We arrived in Huatulco this morning on time even though the Captain told us yesterday we would be late because we left San Juan del Sur later than planned. He was concerned because there is usually a very heavy wind and sea just off the Mexican coast south of Huatulco. [Added: Tehuantepecer, or Tehuano wind] This is caused by a Bernoulli effect squeezing the winds that come down Mexico to the ocean. That appeared to be what we encountered last night. About 11:30pm I heard them start up outside and when I had to get up briefly at 3:00am they were really roaring. I was told by someone else they started to abate about 4:30am (people on the ship get up at many different times; some get up at 4:30 on purpose to swim or walk the deck for exercise). One thing that had changed, probably due to the winds, was that by morning we no longer had the 50+ birds flying around the ship. After leaving the Panama Canal we had two Gannets and by yesterday there were over 50 flying around the ship. The windows to the deck 10 lounge were covered with leavings. Those got cleaned off while we were in port today.
[Read more…] about Huatulco, MexicoSan Juan del Sur and Plans
We arrived at San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua as the sun was rising. This was a tender port so we anchored off-shore and took the ship’s tenders to get to the marina and our bus for the excursion I picked. The excursion was an all-day affair; the active part of it being some five hours while the remaining three were on the bus getting to and from the location where our activities were to take place. In summary, we drove to Lake Nicaragua through Granada and cruised the lake in smaller boats for about an hour before returning to Granada for a walking tour, shopping, and lunch. After lunch we returned to San Juan del Sur and the ship. We got back about 15 minutes late but as it was a Princess excursion the ship’s tender was waiting for us.
[Read more…] about San Juan del Sur and PlansPanama Canal Transit
We are now in the Pacific Ocean heading north after a 12 hour transit of the Panama Canal. I even have a certificate to prove it. 🙂
[Read more…] about Panama Canal TransitPanama Canal Schedule
OK, we have the schedule for our Panama Canal transit. Please keep in mind that the Panama Canal traffic control can change any of these times as circumstances dictate. For the most part, since cruise ships have priority over cargo ships, these are probably accurate…
[Read more…] about Panama Canal SchedulePanama Canal Webcams
Just a note to say that if you have nothing better to do you can watch the Pacific Princess transit the Panama Canal live via various webcams tomorrow. Go to…
…to have links to the various cameras.
[Read more…] about Panama Canal Webcams