Tag Archives: singers

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Costa Rica to Mexico – Sea Day 2

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April 20, 2023 – Thursday – Costa Rica to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – day 2 at sea 17 nmi offshore from Oaxaca, Mexico

2023 Panama Canal Cruise

This is my first day of not wearing a mask. Previously, I wore a mask when walking the hallways and venues, using elevators, and especially when I expected crowds during performances at Main Stage or B.B. Kings. I wouldn’t wear a mask in my stateroom or when outside. I’ve decided to accept the risk and go maskless everywhere for the rest of the voyage.

It’s great to have another sea day, where I don’t have to get up early for an excursion, so I sleep in until 8am. I go down to the Main Dining Room around 8:30am for breakfast at a shared table with two couples, one from Nanaimo and the other from the Napa Valley in California who I have had breakfast with before. Spinner dolphins appear off the stern of the ship, so I jump up to take some mediocre video through the windows with my iPhone.

Spinner dolphins off the ship's bow

After returning to my stateroom, my laundry is delivered – such a luxury! I spend the next hour out on my verandah spotting more Spinner dolphins and Sea turtles. I’m using my 100-500 zoom lens, so take some pretty good photos!

Beef sliders, coleslaw, sharp cheese

I go for a swim in the Sea View pool , and then return to my stateroom to keep checking for more turtles, but they seem to be behind us now. I wait until 1:30pm before going to the Lido Market for lunch. The beef sliders speak to me, so I have two along with some coleslaw and two kinds of sharp white cheese, finishing off with a slice of chocolate caramel cake for dessert.

After not spotting any turtles from my verandah, I go up to the Explorations Cafe for a cappuccino and find a quiet spot in the Crow’s Nest to work on my photos and journal, while I enjoy my cappuccino. At dinner this evening in the Main Dining Room, I learn from someone at the table that the ship has 1,899 total passengers aboard, with 894 Canadians and 839 Americans.

I attend the late show of Boy Band Evolution in Main Stage, which I enjoy a lot. The four young singers all have their harmonies perfected, and the nostalgia factor of their songs is appreciated by this mainly Baby Boomer audience. Before returning to my stateroom, I go to the Ocean Bar for a nightcap martini, where the server always makes a point of charging me $2 extra for the Tanqueray 10 premium gin I always specify. The surcharge never appears on my bill.

Boy Band Evolution
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Fuerte Amador, near Panama City

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2011 Incan Empires Cruise

Tuesday, November 29, 2011 – Day 9 – Fuerte Amador, near Panama City, Panama

Rotterdam is anchored for the day in Panama Bay, however I have no shore excursions scheduled, so I can take it easy today aboard ship. This ends up being a wise decision since it pours rain most of the day. I go ashore for about a half hour to have a look around the local community of Fuerte Amador, however there is nothing of interest to me there…just tour and taxi stands, souvenir shops, and a few restaurants. There are also some very expensive-looking boats moored in the local marinas.

I spend a quiet afternoon working on my notebook computer annotating the 160 photos and videos I took of our Panama Canal transit from yesterday. I also enter place name location data for each photo to supplement the GPS position tagging. I find doing this as I travel rather than after I return home makes it much easier to cope with all the photos I take on my travels. I can turn out regular blog entries while I travel, and I can update my JoeTourist website much more quickly after the trip ends.

The Matinee Idols perform in the show lounge this evening, singing classic songs from the stage and screen from the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s. I find it kind of funny that the songs three young men (Nicholas Rodriguez, Austin Miller and Connor O’Brien) are performing were hits when these guys weren’t even born! The tenor has the strongest voice, but the other two are good singers as well. I enjoy their show. Two of them had roles on soap operas (daytime drama TV shows), hence their group’s name. I saw them hanging out on the deck earlier today. They stood out since they are young and good-looking, as compared with most of the rest of the men on this ship, who are generally old and not-so-good looking!

Panama City
Panama City
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