Traveling to the Panama Canal

After their unsuccessful attempt at visiting perhaps ancient civilization's greatest creation, the Pyramids of Egypt, Ray and Traci decided to make a voyage to another one of mankind's greatest creations – the Panama Canal. After reviewing the schedules and itineraries of cruise lines, Ray and Traci decided to take the 10 day partial transit of the canal by Princess Cruise Lines. After reviewing their travel plans, both Ray and Traci's parents decided to join the Caribbean voyage.

Travel started late Sunday night with the group boarding a non-stop "red eye" flight on Alaska Air from Seattle to Miami. While none of the travelers slept well, the uneventful flight brought the group and luggage to Miami where a van took them to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. The Island Princess ship was ready for boarding shortly before noon. Ray and Traci liked their new home and began to explore the spacious ship.

The first few days (Monday night thru Thursday morning) were spent at sea. The weather was a bit muggy (temperature in the mid 80s with high humidity) but the seas were very calm. Ray and Traci fell into their cruise ship routine – morning workouts at the gym or running along the 7^th floor promenade track, lunches in the buffet, lectures on the canal & ports in the afternoon, dinner in the main dining room and nightly entertainment. The Island Princess has a fairly well equipped gym with the typical shortage of cardio equipment between 8 and 10 am. The promenade deck actually was a fairly good place to run early in the morning, although Ray did not like running in the tropical heat. The Island Princess buffet seemed a bit small – both the seating areas as well as the food stations were crowded during peak times. Princess does a good job with a wide variety of food aiming to please a wide audience. The fruits & vegetables were fresh, and pizza from the no-cost pizza shop was excellent. A separate no fee shop provided burgers and hot dogs to the passengers. The six travelers had dinner in the Bordeaux dining room nightly, having selected "anytime" dining to accommodate a flexible schedule. The dining experience was quite good, with excellent waiters and an attempt by Princess to give the group the same table and staff despite an inconsistent dining schedule. Having studied Princess postings on cruisecritic.com, Ray and Traci mostly agreed with previous travelers' positive reviews regarding the dining experience. Princess' chefs prepared a themed menu nightly with 6 or so special entrees along with appetizers and desserts in addition to a regular menu of standards. As with most cruise ships, travelers can order multiple entrees, appetizers, salads, soups, and desserts as well as make many substitutions. Ray found many dishes quite tasty including fettuccine alfredo, prime rib, fried chicken, and lobster. His favorite dinner was the "Landfall" finale which included a delicious New York peppercorn steak followed by baked Alaska. Traci's favorite dishes included Cornish Game Hen, Crawfish Pot Pie, and roast turkey. On several occasions, Ray ordered the volcano dessert off the children's menu – basically a big banana split.

Ray purchased the Ultimate Kids Drink Package so strawberry smoothies became a nightly beverage. Traci bought a regular drink sticker for her card, so she stuck to Diet Cokes and Club Soda. Princess also had a separate ice cream stand which served complementary vanilla and chocolate soft ice cream. Ray and Traci did not avail themselves of the premium 'pay' dinner restaurants – Sabatini's (Italian) and Bayou Café (Cajun Steakhouse) but did enjoy breakfasts at Sabatini's as suite guests.

Entertainment on the Island Princess was variable – One singer, Jacqui Michaels gave an amazing show focusing on songs of legendary female performers including Carole King, Tina Turner, and Ella Fitzgerald. Ray thought she was the best singer he ever heard on a cruise ship and later learned that Barbara Streisand agreed since Jacqui was a backup singer on Streisand's farewell tour. Other shows weren't as remarkable, and in general, the Island Princess entertainment did not meet the very high expectations set by Ray and Traci's Norwegian Cruise to the Eastern Mediterranean. Some evening productions were performed twice on one night and repeated the next day which was a good idea since seats were completely full for some shows. Headline shows included an introductory show with comedian Billy Vader, Island Princess musical productions of Motown, "Piano Men" (Billy Joel/Elton John, Neil Sedaka, etc), Music of the 30s/40s/50s, a ventriloquist, and magician Lorenzo Clark. The Island Princess had an excellent band backing up musical productions but some of the singing was not quite up to par. Princess does a good job showing current movies to entertain travelers during quiet times. One cool feature that all cruise boats will probably copy is placing a large video screen above the pool deck so cruisers could watch movies and sporting events – this made the pool area very popular at night. The Island Princess was very fortunate to have Ken Williams, a very well traveled lecturer, give the introductions to the various ports as well as a great presentation on the Panama Canal. Both Ray and Traci had been reading David McCullough's great book "The Path Between the Seas" and found Ken's talk quite helpful by putting pictures to the history.

The Island Princess crew does an excellent job at maintaining a clean and comfortable ship. It has the usual amenities found on a 2,000 passenger ship – Basketball court, theater for production shows, separate auditorium for concerts, several bars with different themes, spa, and casino. The two main swimming pools are on deck 14, and have multiple hot tubs attached. For whatever reason, both pools are quite deep with the shallow end being 5'3" making them not very kid friendly. The middle pool area is climate controlled with a glass cover making it quite comfortable during the steamy Caribbean days.

Although Ray feared hot and humid conditions along with periods of heavy rain (October is part of the Caribbean's rainy season), the weather turned out to be near ideal during the voyage. Most importantly, no tropical storms/hurricanes entered the Caribbean. Other than some periods of quite heavy rain in their first stop, Aruba, conditions were dry and temperatures were in the high 80s. Cloud cover made the Caribbean stops more comfortable – until Jamaica where it was 94 and sunny. The seas were very calm, similar to the travelers' experiences in the Eastern Mediterranean.

At the first stop, a five hour stay in Aruba, Ray and Traci wandered around the capital city Oranjestad.

While they did not avail themselves of the incredible snorkeling which Aruba was famous for, the short stay and intermittent heavy rain made many of the tours miserable. Ray and Traci did visit a small beach a short distance away from the cruise dock, and watched an Aruban bird snatch lunch from the sea. Later, they intermittently hid from heavy rains by ducking into the many tourist shops located by the port.

The next day (cruise day 5), Island Princess passengers visited Cartagena, Columbia. This was Ray and Traci's first visit to South America, and proved to be a quite illuminating experience. They boarded a Princess tour bus, and visited the largest fort built during Spain's colonial days in the new world – Fort of San Felipe de Barajas.

Following the fort visit, the tour continued in Cartagena's old city including the former prison dungeons (now made into 23 tourist shops), the Inquisition Palace, and the San Pedro Claver Church. In the Inquisition Days, people could write anonymous notes and slip them to the "Inquisitor" with allegations such as the next door neighbor (or one's wife) being a witch. The Inquisitor would grab the party in question and use the palace's torture instruments to determine the truth. Naturally, the inquisitors were not the most popular people in town and had to grow their own food in their gardens and have a special route to get to church to avoid an unnatural death. Perhaps the most educational part of the tour, was the impression left by their excellent guide Wil that the Hollywood inspired vision of Columbia (refer to Johnny Depp's movie, Blow) was far from reality. Cartagena is a beautiful city with great architecture and culture in a country which is making progress against its outlaw reputation.

Day 6 (Saturday) was Panama Canal Day. The Island Princess started its transit early in the morning. In beautiful weather, the ship approached the Caribbean side locks at Gatun. The Panama Canal is actually a North – South passageway in Central America that allows ship transit from the Pacific to Atlantic Oceans, cutting a New York to San Francisco ocean voyage from 12,000 to 7,000 miles. The challenges and rich history of the canal is well documented in David McCullough great work, the Path between the Seas : The Creation of the Panama Canal. After a late 1800s attempt by the French to build a canal failed, the Americans successfully completed the canal in 1914. The Americans decided to build a dam on the Chagres River, creating the huge Gatun Lake, 84 feet above sea level. Then they built waterways from the Pacific and Atlantic sides including dual lane 3 step locks to raise boats up to the lake.

Currently, the Panama Canal can only handle ships 1000 feet by 110 feet (which is about the size of the Island Princess). A new waterway is currently under construction which will increase this to 1200 feet by 160 feet. Panama charges ships the size of the Island Princess about $400,000 to make this journey. On Ray and Traci's cruise, the Island Princess entered the Gatun Locks, was elevated in 3 steps to 84 feet and then anchored in Lake Gatun for a few hours. Multiple electric locomotives "mules" pull the ship from lock to lock as it progresses. Afterwards, the ship returned to the same water elevator and re-entered the Caribbean – the so-called partial transit itinerary. It is very hard to appreciate the incredible feat of engineering in a most hostile environment 100 years ago before the advent of equipment and technology we now take for granted. After leaving the Gatun locks, the Island Princess docked in Panama at Colon where passengers visited the many small shops selling Panamanian trinkets mostly manufactured in China.

On Sunday (day 7), the cruise ship arrived at lovely Limon, Costa Rica. Ray and Traci boarded a tour bus for Veragua Rainforest, an hour long drive including some bumpy unpaved roads ending in a nature preserve popular with tourists. At Veragua, Ray and Traci wandered around the park which included captive snakes, frogs and butterflies with the assistance of their excellent group leader, Kitty.

After the zoo exhibits, they rode an aerial tram (i.e. a modified ski lift) down into a valley with a waterfall. Some wildlife could be seen in their natural habitat such as sloths and frogs. Remarkably, no rain fell during Ray and Traci's visit during Costa Rica's rainy season. While tourists expecting a safari experience would be disappointed, Veragua provides a comfortable and educational sampling of rain forest ecology. After the return trip to the ship, Ray and Traci visited the ubiquitous tourist shopping village set up near the port.

Following a sea day, the Island Princess made its last port call at Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Unlike the previous ports, clouds did not filter the sunshine and travelers faced mid-nineties tropical heat.

Ray and Traci did not schedule any excursions although Ray was somewhat interested in the Jamaican Bobsled ride which receives excellent internet reviews. The stifling heat pretty much dissuaded him on pursing a Jamaican Bobsled experience. Ray and Traci did walk around the shops around the port and found quite inexpensive prices for T shirts. They passed a beach that charged $3 for admission as well as many taxi drivers offering their services (at least one way) for remarkably low prices-$2 for a trip "downtown" where their cousin or friend had a much better shop than the ones around the port.

Ray and Traci's voyage ended back in Fort Lauderdale, with a refreshing temperature of 66 degrees upon arrival. Their 3400 mile journey was completed in amazingly smooth waters, and the weather actually cooperated with only significant rain during part of the Aruba visit. Cloud cover actually made visits to Columbia, Panama and Costa Rica much more comfortable. Their excellent adventure on the Island Princess brought them to an incredible engineering feat at the Panama Canal along with intriguing cultures in Central and South America.

Spring Training 2011

Despite attending 50 plus home and road Mariners games yearly, Ray and Traci had never been to Spring Training. They decided to travel to the Valley of the Sun in late March to visit the Cactus League for the first time.

Leaving cold and rainy weather, Ray and Traci eagerly boarded an Alaska Air flight from Seattle to Phoenix where they picked up their rental car and checked into their hotel. Ray decided to stay at the Hilton Resort at Squaw Peak in Phoenix – the hotel ran a “Triple Play” promotion giving discounted rooms, complementary breakfast at the Rico Restaurant, and free internet. The rooms at the Hilton were actually pretty spacious – a bedroom and living room separated by the bathroom in the middle, 42” flat screen TVs, and an empty fridge. While not up to the modern styling of say the Times Square or Paris Hilton, the low rise condo-like resort was a nice place to stay. It also was centrally located with most (if not all) the cactus league ballparks 30 minutes or less away. The resort had a spa and a decent gym. Dinner was the first item on the agenda, and Traci selected a nearby Japanese Restaurant called Hana located in a strip mall. One thing you learn quickly about Phoenix is that it is either strip mall heaven or hell depending on how much you enjoy shopping. Hana was a quite busy place, the travelers started with an order of California Rolls. Ray enjoyed a tasty Teriyaki Salmon while Traci liked her bowl of ramen noodles. From Hana, the travelers decided to catch a movie (The Lincoln Lawyer), then stopped at Target for provisions to fill their fridge and finished the evening with a stop at McDonald’s – Traci for her trademark vacation vanilla cone and Ray had an M&Ms McFlurry.

The next morning, Ray and Traci started with their free breakfast at Rico’s – the restaurant served a limited but enjoyable buffet with the usual meats, eggs, pancakes and fruits along with an omelet chef. Ray enjoyed many bacon and egg sandwiches prepared by the chef during the week. After the morning buffet, the travelers went to the Hilton waterpark in the resort – with two large pools, a gentle waterslide, and a long floating river ride (which takes 15 minutes to get around) the park was quite busy. Resort guests tended to race to the park when it opened and place “dibs” on deck chairs without any discouragement by the staff. Although Ray and Traci didn’t have chairs located together or in sunny places the first day, Ray starting playing the game earlier and earlier each day and by the end of the week they had prime loungers. From the waterpark, the baseball fans traveled to the Arizona Casino at Salt River for dinner. Ray wanted to have dinner at the Willows Restaurant at this Casino near the ballpark, but the line was a bit long so they enjoyed the best $14.50 buffet dinner either had ever seen. Traci especially enjoyed the carved Turkey, and Ray was pleasantly surprised with his sirloin steak. From the casino, they traveled a short distance to the crown jewel of the Cactus league – the brand new Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.



The $100 million complex was built for the Rockies and Diamondbacks to share and it sets a new standard for spring training parks. The architecture, scoreboard, seating areas and concessions were all amazing. The Mariners played the Rockies although Ichiro, Figgins, Smoak, Guti and most of their pitchers were given the night off. The park is absolutely gorgeous and a must see Cactus League destination.

On Thursday, Ray started the day by running in the desert area near the hotel. Although the temperatures were cool (low 60s in the morning), the dry air and sunshine made the run more challenging even though he stuck to the paved path. Afterwards, Ray and Traci had their breakfast and spent much of the day at the waterpark. Traci, who was nursing a bad cold, mostly lounged poolside while Ray kept floating around the lazy river. For reasons unclear to Ray, the resort let floaters use green inner tubes for free but charged $20 per day to use the slightly larger blue tubes. Naturally, Ray didn’t see a single person use a blue tube all week. Floating around the long river was quite relaxing. Thursday’s baseball outing was another night game, this time at Scottsdale Stadium, the home of the World Series Champions Giants. Ray and Traci, aided by their trusty iPhone Tom Tom GPS application, travelled the 30 minutes to old town Scottsdale. The stadium is actually right next to old Scottsdale, so Ray and Traci found street parking and had dinner at a bar and grill called the Daily Dose. The Daily Dose had a “Happy Hour” lasting from 4-8 pm, Traci had a discounted Hummus platter and Pork Sliders while Ray had a non-discounted French Dip. Both thought the food and service was good although there weren’t many patrons even on a game night. After dinner, Ray and Traci walked to Scottsdale Stadium. When you first walk into the park, you feel like you are entering ATT Park in San Francisco with the brick construction. But when you are sitting in even “good seats” which are simple benches, or waiting in a 10 minute restroom line in the outfield, you think you are at some high school football game. Clearly, budgetary compromises were made although the park remains a very popular destination in the Cactus League. The Giants lost a one sided game to the Indians, and Ray and Traci left after the seventh inning stretch. After the game, they stopped at a quaint ice cream parlor called the Sugar Bowl. Traci had a chocolate mocha sundae while Ray had a delicious banana split.

On Friday, Ray decided to take a departure from running and hiked some of the trails in the Dreamy Draw Nature Preserve – the trails were easily identified but not explicitly marked, so the map given by the Hilton concierge was not really helpful. However, knowing you have cell phone service and can always see the interstate from the mountains made you feel that you would never be lost. No warnings about rattlesnakes were posted, although you would think they would make a home in the large desert area. Ray ended up just following trails that headed upward until he reached the top of one of the “mountain” peaks where he declared victory and took a picture.



Many different trails were listed in the park map and Ray’s hike took about 90 minutes or so. The rest of the afternoon was spent at the water park, this time in choice loungers secured by Ray at 8:05 in the morning. Friday night was the third night game for Ray and Traci, this time in the Seattle Mariners’ Spring home (shared with San Diego) in Peoria. Peoria is a nice ballpark (built for $36 million) with nice seating areas and a rich selection of concessions. Ray and Traci only had a pretzel – they planned on buying peanuts from Safeco’s famous Rick “the peanut man” but he didn’t visit their home plate seats until the 7th inning. Eric Bedard pitched a fantastic game, and a lineup with most of the Mariner regulars playing beat up on the Dodgers in a one sided affair.



Across the street from Peoria Stadium, Ray and Traci had a late dinner at the ubiquitous Cheesecake Factory – Ray enjoyed their Shrimp Scampi while Traci had a Turkey Burger. Both were very satisfied with their meal.

Ray made one more visit to the desert preserve on Saturday, with a morning run. He encountered many more people on the weekend including many mountain bikers who challenged the off road trails. After a final breakfast at Rico’s, Ray and Traci checked their flight and found out Alaska Airlines had a system wide computer crash making all of the flights hours late. With a new departure time of 5:30, Ray and Traci took advantage of this delay and made an unplanned visit to a 4th ballpark – Maryvale Stadium, the home of the Brewers which was 20 minutes away from the airport. Coincidently, the Mariners played an afternoon game against the Brewers. This game turned out to be quite a treat as young Mariner phenom Michael Pineda threw a gem against the Brewers.



A Mariner team devoid of many of its regular starters couldn’t support him with much offense, but Pineda’s wonderful game focused much optimism about his potential. Maryvale is located in a “rougher” neighborhood than the other stadiums, is much smaller (7,000 seats vs 11,000 at Salt River) but has its own charm. Ray and Traci bought $8 lawn tickets, and just wandered around the stadium often standing in choice locations behind home plate. Maryvale also has many shaded areas which are not found in the other ballparks. After the 7th inning stretch, Ray and Traci headed to the airport for their return flight, happy to visit the Cactus League and encouraged for the future of their beloved team.

Cruising to Ancient Lands part I

Ray and Traci began their 15,000 mile journey (12,000 by air / 3,000 by sea) on a rainy Friday in January. Although a few minor flight delays popped up during their journey from Seattle to Barcelona, the layovers were long enough that the delays did not matter. Unlike their counterparts in the US, Barcelona immigration agents took Ray and Traci’s passports and without saying a word stamped them and handed them back. Ray joked they should just leave the stamp at a counter so visitors could stamp their own passports. At customs, Ray and Traci walked thru a door for those with “Nothing to Declare” and emerged at the taxi entrance after getting Euro from a bank ATM. One wonders what the purpose of these agencies is if everybody is on the “honor” system. Leaving Seattle at 4:30 pm on Friday, Ray and Traci arrived at their hotel shortly before 9:00pm on Saturday (local time).

Ray and Traci spent their pre-cruise night wandering down La Ramblas, Barcelona’s “Broadway.” Saturday night attracted a wide variety of street performers, merchants, and customers along this promenade lined with restaurants and shops of all shapes and sizes. The crowded street is best explored on foot, as traffic is limited to two narrow lanes each way with a mile long pedestrian promenade in the middle. At one end stands a large Christopher Columbus statue and the other, two huge water fountains anchor Placa Catalunya, Barcelona’s version of Times Square. Exhausted, Ray and Traci retired to their very nice room at the Le Meridien hotel located on La Ramblas two blocks from the fountains.

Ray started Sunday morning with a run along the waterfront – he did not realize it was 34 degrees until passing a temperature sign well into the run. After returning, Ray and Traci boarded a double decker tour bus traveling around the city. Despite warm clothing, both travelers were freezing after the 2 hour tour. Rather than viewing more of the city, Ray and Traci headed to the hotel, warmed up, checked out and headed to their ship, the Norwegian Jade.

Check-in was quite busy, but the friendly NCL staff brought Ray and Traci to their new home and delivered their luggage. The first day was spent sampling the dining room food: Ray had a steak, Traci had the mahi-mahi special. Unfortunately Traci did not like her fish so they went to the buffet for Spanish rice and chicken curry. A good thing about cruise ships is you can keep going to different places to eat until you find something you like. The Jade offers over a dozen places to eat, however many carry a supplemental charge of $10 to $25. The night ended with a quite impressive show featuring 2 former Cirque du Solei performers doing many of the stunts you see in the troop’s Las Vegas shows: Contortions, spinning chrome cube, 2 person power lifting, and suspension from twin hanging curtains.

Monday was spent at sea. Ray started the day by running around the good sized dedicated running track (5 ½ laps = 1 mile) while Traci went to a well equipped but surprisingly empty gym. Unlike their previous experience on Holland America’s Rotterdam where outdoor running on the main deck wasn’t allowed, the Jade had a walking track on one deck and a 24 hour lighted jogging track on another. They next tried their luck at playing Bingo but were quite disappointed – and not simply because they didn’t win. After paying $39-$59 for cards in 4 different games, winners split only about $125 per game. NCL Bingo is for people who are bad at math! Lunch followed, and then Traci spent the sunny afternoon (temperature reached 60 degrees!) on the balcony while Ray watched videos of lectures by the crew about the ports to be visited and played his Nintendo Wii (Super Mario Galaxy 2). On their last Alaskan cruise, Ray spent much of the “free” time finishing the first incarnation of this amazing video game. Ray and Traci decided to have dinner at the main buffet – the selection of food is generally good although the overall quality seems a bit less than their only other cruise with Holland America. The evening ended with a nice production of a musical from England called “Shout.”

On Tuesday, much of the ship woke up early for tours into Rome. The Jade docked at Civitavecchia, a 60 minute drive from Rome. Ray previously organized a small group excursion using the company limoinrome.com, and found 5 other people to join the tour from the internet community site cruisecritics.com. A 7 person group afforded much more flexibility, and the opportunity to see many more attractions than a cruise ship program – not to mention saving over 50% in cost. Ray’s group guide picked them up at the dock and drove them to the Roman Colosseum.

The 2,000 year old immense structure once hosted 50,000 fans watching bloody combat as entertainment. While time, earthquakes, and scavenging for building materials has worn down much of the Colosseum, the surviving structure highlights the incredible building talents of the Romans. The tour continued to the Circus Maximus (where chariot races were once held), the Pantheon (A Roman house of worship with an amazing skylight), and Trevi Fountain.



Ray and Traci pitched the obligatory coins into Trevi Fountain, and the tour group stopped at an Italian restaurant near the Vatican. The owner was proud to show his American customers a pizza paddle signed by Tom Cruise. Ray had a pizza with ham and Traci ate spicy pasta. After lunch, the group went to the Vatican, starting with the museum. After admiring some of the art amassed over centuries of Vatican “antiquing foreign lands,” Ray and Traci headed to the Sistine Chappell where Michelangelo’s paintings of biblical scenes populate the ceiling. Next, the travelers entered St. Peters Square (actually shaped like an ellipse) where 300,000 of the faithful can take in a Papal Mass. The final Vatican stop was at St. Peters’ Basilica, the world’s largest church, which is covered by Michelangelo’s giant dome. Ray and Traci climbed to the top of the dome and enjoyed the amazing view of Rome.



Before the group departed for the ship, Ray and Traci purchased some genuine Italian gelato to end a long day of exploration. While some may prefer a tour with a guide accompanying guests at each stop, Ray liked the limoinrome.com service with a knowledgeable driver providing transportation and allowing the guests to make their own decisions on how to spend their time at each stop.

To end the first day in port, Ray and Traci watched the musical act, Journey South, made famous by Simon Cowell’s X-Factor talent show in the UK. They played many “sing a long” covers of very popular hits from the typical suspects – The Beatles, Billy Joel, Elton John, Michael Buble. Since Simon Cowell has always made fun of cruise ship musicians on his former show, American Idol, it was somewhat ironic that a band signed by his company is playing on a cruise ship. Afterwards, Ray and Traci enjoyed a dining room meal (Ray had prime rib, Traci had Coq au Vin) before retiring for the evening.

Wednesday started with a beautiful morning at sea – cool, crisp and clear. Traci woke up early to see the boat pass the active volcano on Stromboli Island.

During his morning run, Ray had a beautiful close up view of Sicily as the ship traversed the Messina Strait in the southern portion of Italy. Dinner on this sea day was “lobster night” and “Dress Up (or not)” night – On NCL, there are no obligate formal nights but some diners wore black tie apparel anyway while others wore jeans. Ray enjoyed his dining room steak and lobster, while Traci had a goat cheese and pear salad, an asparagus and scallops dish, and ox tail soup. Dessert was apple pie (Traci found a stem and a seed in hers). The show for the evening featured a winner from UKs version of Star Search back in the 70s – a surprisingly entertaining and very talented violinist Gary Lovini. The organizers were quite crafty and didn’t mention Gary was a violinist in the promotions; an unsuspecting crowd may have been disappointed when Gary and violin took the stage but by the end of the show he had clearly won over the audience with a wide variety of music skillfully adapted to the violin.

Thursday started with an amazing sunrise over Greece. The weather was fantastic and Ray was in awe watching the Greek Islands pass from the ship’s 13th floor running track. Ray and Traci had a delicious breakfast at Cagney’s restaurant – Belgian Waffles with bacon for Ray, French toast for Traci and then boarded the NCL bus excursion to Athens. Traffic from the port city of Piraeus to Athens was especially heavy with a labor demonstration and a funeral of one of Greece’s wealthiest people taking place, giving the guide ample time to launch a diatribe over the International Monetary Fund’s austerity being forced on Greece as well as the country’s past mistake to join the European Union. While her solution (price controls) may be off the mark, her honesty about the causes (Greece’s lack of any industry other than tourism) was refreshing. As one travels into Athens it is obvious that parking is at a severe premium – probably because street parking is free and no one has garages. Gasoline is also very expensive with unleaded going for $8.50 per gallon (Italians pay about $7.80) although many cars run on diesel which is marginally cheaper. Athens buildings almost all have merchants selling everything imaginable in street level stores instead of providing interior parking. A 45 minute drive brought the bus to the Acropolis, perched on a hill in the center of town. The Acropolis is now a small collection of buildings which first represented the whole town of Athens 2,500 years ago. The most famous building, the Parthenon, was originally built as a house of worship and suffered extensive damage when gunpowder stored inside blew up while under attack in 1687.

Scaffolding around the Parthenon reflects recent efforts for reconstruction which have been halted due to controversies about contaminating ancient ruins with modern construction. Some of the original statues in the Acropolis represent copies with the originals placed in museums (including the British Museum in London) for “safekeeping.” While the extensive damage to such a treasure was disappointing, the mere thought that Plato and Socrates once roamed these hallowed grounds was inspiring. Local dogs seemed to agree as quite a few gathered around the Acropolis and greeted tourists. After visiting the Acropolis and picking up a few souvenirs in the shops in the adjacent neighborhood, the bus made one more stop at the stadium which hosted the inaugural modern Olympics in 1896 (and represented the finish line of the 2004 Olympic marathon.)

Back on the Jade, Ray and Traci had dinner in the buffet (it had special Greek dishes in honor of the host country) before viewing a magic show by Sander & Alison. While Traci was not a big fan of the magic show, Ray watched the illusions which included small animals, snakes, and disappearing people with amazement. Those interested in watching a good illusionist were treated with a great production.
On Friday, the ship docked at Izmir, Turkey. Ray and Traci’s luck with wonderful weather ran out. After breakfast, both boarded a bus to Ephesus, one of the best preserved Roman cities anywhere. Unfortunately cool temperatures and rain affected the enjoyment of this ancient landmark but with the assistance of a very good tour guide, most of the travelers had a great visit. Ephesus is remarkable for many things including being the home the Virgin Mary, at one time hosting one of the world’s great libraries with 12,000 scrolls,

having a communal latrine with slaves used as ‘benchwarmers’ keeping the marble warm for their masters, and having a 25,000 person ancient theatre that hosted present day concerts by Elton John and Sting.

Unfortunately, the city died off when silt deposits turned the once seaport into a city 6 miles from the Aegean Sea. After the Ephesus visit, the bus made the customary tourist trap stop at a rug maker who demonstrated how silk is spun and how rugs are made by hand. Ray and Traci (along with most of the 43 on the tour) went back to the ship rugless. Back at the ship, the BBC news showed the civil unrest going on in Egypt. After the Egyptian army was mobilized to restore order in Cairo, it was no surprise that the Captain announced the ship would not be going to Egypt as planned, and instead was going to Istanbul. The hardest job on the ship fell to a guest entertainer, comedian Mike Goddard. Amusing a crowd of disappointed pyramid travelers would be difficult but Mike had a very good act, mostly clean, and appealed to a wide range of ages and cultures. Both Ray and Traci thought he was very funny, something that is hard to accomplish due to their differing tastes in comedy. After the show, Ray and Traci had dinner at the buffet and then watched some more news from Egypt including the US Government’s official warning against travel to Egypt.The new schedule put the ship in Istanbul Saturday afternoon. Ray’s biggest complaint was that the ship picked a destination farther north (colder) rather than south – even if the ship just sat in the Mediterranean, people could enjoy warm and sunny weather. In hindsight, this would have been a mistake as Istanbul is an amazing place.

Cruising to Ancient Lands part II

Sailing into Istanbul is quite an experience as the ship passes within a few hundred yards of the amazing Blue Mosque and St. Sophia, two absolutely spectacular landmarks. Ray and Traci decided to exit the ship (docked in Europe) and wander down the street toward the old section of town (in Asia) which contains most of the tourist areas. While the walk was longer than it appears on tourist maps (and more difficult with the cold, strong wind, and light rain), crossing the bridge which connects Asia and Europe was quite remarkable. Istanbul, formerly known as Constantinople, is the only city in the world to span two continents. Ray and Traci took an excessively long path along the waterfront eventually ending up at the famous Topkapi Palace.

The call to prayer which sounds five times daily could be heard in the background. Since it was getting late in the day, they decided to not go inside the palace and instead walk up the road to Istanbul’s amazing Grand Bazaar which is really one of the world’s largest shopping malls – 4,000 stores all in tiny cubicles. Ray decided to try his skill at negotiating and successfully purchased a shirt for $15 with a $25 price tag, before realizing that similar shirts wouldn’t cost $15 on sale in America. Exhausted from the long journey, Ray and Traci took a taxi back to the ship. Both had a seafood linguini for dinner and watched a musical production featuring Motown hits of years past put on by the ship’s cast.

Sunday was supposed to be a day in Cairo and 72 degree weather. Instead it was in Istanbul with temps in the 30s and cloudy. Ray and Traci joined the NCL tour of Istanbul and took a short bus ride to the Blue Mosque.

This 400 year old house of worship remains a beautiful symbol of the Muslim religion. The ceramic tiles which line the 2nd floor are hand produced works of art which reportedly have been auctioned for as much as $500,000 each. From the Blue Mosque, the group moved to the Hagia Sophia, one of the world’s most beautiful buildings.

The original church was built in 360 AD, burned down, rebuilt, burned down again, and the current one constructed in 537 AD. Used for Christian worship for hundreds of years, Hagia Sophia was converted to a mosque with the Christian mosaics covered up until the past half century or so when the structure was turned into a museum celebrating both faiths. Near the top of the dome, large black medallions with golden inscriptions representing Mohammad and Allah rest on each side of a mosaic showing the Virgin Mary and Jesus.

Next on the tour was the cistern which is a subterranean reservoir once used to hold the water supply of Istanbul. Now it represents a spooky but not very interesting place that the government uses to generate $14 from each tourist. While the Grand Bazaar is closed on Sundays, Istanbul has a smaller sibling, The Spice Market, which is next to the New Mosque and operates on Sundays. Determined not to leave Istanbul without getting a great bargain, Ray negotiated the $10 purchase of a Barcelona FC soccer jersey for Traci. While $10 seemed awfully cheap for a soccer jersey, Ray wondered why the merchant was eager to accept the lowball offer. You can buy almost anything at the Spice Market including Levis, Minnesota Timberwolf jerseys, all sorts of questionable pharmaceuticals as well as spices. Bring lots of low denominated US currency with you to Istanbul and an extra suitcase if you enjoy shopping. The group’s final stop was at a jewelry store which worked a deal with the tour company to bring all the tourists for “refreshments” before returning to the ship. Ray has no idea how good the deal was on jewelry, some produced in Turkey but also name brand Swiss watches such as Rolex. The salespeople seemed friendly and didn’t really push merchandise on anyone who wasn’t interested. The tour bus took the group back to the Jade to complete their visit to one of the world’s most interesting cities, Istanbul. Given the unplanned diversion, the Jade staff needed to scramble for entertainment – they hired a local Turkish music/dance group which and treated the audience to a sampling of Turkish culture complete with a belly dancer. For dinner, Ray had a cheese pasta dish and Traci had turkey. Sander and Alison, the magic group, gave another standing room only performance in the main bar. Ray remained very impressed by this great magic act.

The Jade remained in Istanbul for second night due to the hastily organized itinerary. Cruisers awoke Monday to 34 degree temperatures and areas of ice on the deck. Despite the cold, Ray ran laps around the track with beautiful Istanbul in the background. Traci decided to spend the morning in the well equipped and climate controlled gym. The ship left on schedule at 9AM and proceeded back to the Agean Sea, passing thru the Dardenelles in the afternoon. During passage thru this narrow channel, the famous battlefield city of Gallipoli could be seen. Ray and Traci had dinner at the buffet – Traci enjoying spicy Indian food and Ray having salad and pasta. After dinner, both enjoyed watching a performance at one of the bars by the Jade cast. They sang Broadway show tunes with only piano accompaniment. After the packed show, Ray and Traci watched a show in the main theater put on by the Duo Platchkov, two former members of the Moscow Circus. The juggling acts were entertaining with the big finale consisted of balancing on and climbing to the top rung of a two legged 8 foot ladder while juggling 5 clubs. While the feat was impressive, Ray didn’t think it was a prudent thing to do on a moving cruise ship.

Tuesday was another day at sea filled with NCL events. Despite 30 knot gusts, Ray enjoyed the warmer 50 degree temperatures on the running track. The Jade had several interesting presentations – interviews with the Captain and the Hotel Manager, and a lecture about Malta. Gary, the entertainment director gave a fascinating account of his career from a classical pianist/vocalist, to Las Vegas performer, to London’s Broadway and finally cruise ship management. Gary’s experience and talent clearly influenced the high quality of entertainment on the Jade. Day 9 of the voyage was the first time passengers felt rolling waves and noticed they were actually on the high seas. Edmondo Rahme, an energetic singer gave a performance of a variety of classic, pop, and opera selections and Ray and Traci finished the evening with dinner – Traci had a rack of lamb and Ray had grilled chicken.

On Thursday, the Jade stopped in Malta, a small island nation less than 10 miles square with 400,000 residents located just south of Sicily. Malta has been a British colony, a key naval base, and a place with a rich history for at least 6,000 years. Travelers have raved about the port’s scenic beauty and the Jade did not disappoint by navigating a narrow harbor and docking below a medieval city on a hill.

Ray and Traci left the ship, climbed the steps leading to the city and found themselves in Valletta, a walled city about 12 (small) square blocks. Valletta was quite remarkable for the eclectic mix of quaint small shops, high end boutiques, eateries including traditional pubs as well as a Burger King, and key historic attractions. Ray and Traci visited the St. John’s Co-Cathedral, the Malta Palace, and the National Museum of Archeology. St. John’s is a beautiful church built in 1577 by the Catholic Knights who protected Malta from the Ottoman Turks.

The Palace is the Malta White House and contains a museum with armor and weapons used at one time by the knights. Malta’s archeological museum is small but has some remarkable items including the sleeping lady figurine dated 3900 BC. Malta has been a frequent production site for movies including Gladiator, Troy, and Jaws. After enjoying their time in Valletta, Ray and Traci returned to the Jade for lunch. They spent the afternoon taking advantage of free wifi from shops in the port next to the ship. The show for the evening was the highlight of Jade entertainment – a production called Elements. It played to a standing room only crowd who were treated to a very well done cirque du solei style production with some spectacular magic by Sander and Alison blended in. Gary’s entertainment staff really set a high standard for cruise ship shows with the incredible stunts, choreography, and music. Buffet dinner was followed by NCL’s chocolate extravaganza – the chefs filled the Jade’s buffet with various chocolate dishes including some amazing sculptures. While Ray and Traci weren’t overly impressed with the buffet dinners, the chocolate event was great!

The final day at sea was remarkable for some rough seas and gale force winds. After spending time in the gym, Ray and Traci had one final lunch at Cagney’s – Ray, of course, had his favorite steak and Traci had the salmon pita and chicken noodle soup. The ship hit “very rough” seas with 10-18 foot swells and the remainder of the night made many people (including Ray) sick. Ray and Traci decided to experience the Pacific Dining Room (the main dining room) for their last supper – Ray poked and nibbled at a beef teriyaki creation, while Traci had a spinach salad and chicken curry. Both followed it with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce (Traci first ordered an apple puff pastry, but after a few bites opted for the ice cream). In general the quality of food and service in the main dining room was not as good as the travelers experience on Holland America’s Alaskan cruise. Also, the buffet strangely missed having typical fare such as prime rib, fried chicken, and mashed potatoes. The buffet did have a variety of ethnic foods such as a whole Indian cuisine section(which Traci frequented) and a custom stir fry station. It is hard to tell if the buffet reflected a more international audience than the Alaskan cruises. Guests in suites have the option to eat breakfast and lunch at Cagney’s and that food is quite good. The final show was a typical variety show put on by members of the crew who weren’t the professional entertainers. By this time Ray was pretty seasick and he decided to skip watching the finals of the NCL Jade’s “Idol” contest held in the top deck lounge, and just went to bed in the turbulent seas. The night was a reminder that the Jade was indeed a ship at sea despite 11 nights where you couldn’t tell.

Friday was a cool (but much warmer than two weeks prior) day in Barcelona with brilliant sunshine. Ray and Traci left their nice home of 12 days, and waited in a 30 minute taxi line for a ride to their hotel, Le Meridien Barcelona. Fortunately, their room was ready at 10AM and they put their large collection of luggage in their room, ready for a day of adventure in Barcelona.

Ray and Traci took the subway from their hotel near Placa de Catalunya to Tibidabo, which is the mountain behind Barcelona. Barcelona’s subway system is very modern, easy to navigate, and very clean – much of it was probably a byproduct of the Olympics. At Tibidabo, a streetcar is supposed to carry people to the base of Tibidabo but it was not operating. Ray and Traci started the lengthy uphill walk but caught a bus half way up the hill which is taking the streetcar’s route temporarily. At the base of Tibidabo, visitors catch a funicular which was basically an electric bus on rail tracks which brought vistors to the summit. An amusement park is found on the top of Tibidabo but it is closed during the winter. The highlight is the Temple of Sagrat Cor, a beautiful church high above Barcelona.

After leaving Tibidabo, Ray and Traci caught a taxi to Park Guell, a colorful city park created by Gaudi. Gaudi was a prolific architect who designed many of Barcelona’s leading attractions. Many people enjoyed the park’s whimsical décor on this beautiful Friday afternoon. Park Guell is not an easy walk up hill from the Lesseps metro station and both were glad they took a taxi. Walking downhill away from Park Guell is much easier, and Ray and Traci rode the metro to Sagrada Familia. This amazing unfinished church originally started by Gaudi, is unlike any other. This monumental project has been a work in progress for decades and much more planned. Blending features of traditional gothic art with Gaudi’s colorful fantasy genre, Sagrada Familia is part temple and part amusement park. Where else can you find a crucifixion scene underneath a colorful umbrella?

Before leaving Ray filled his stomach with KFC chicken, strategically located across the street. Back on the metro, Ray and Traci traveled back to La Ramblas and entered the Boqueria, a giant food market similar to Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Both Ray and Traci enjoyed fruit juices, probably made from aging unsold fruit but still delicious. Traci picked up a spinach empanada to go along with a sandwich picked up at a Starbucks. The visitors also walked to the Gothic quarter, just off La Ramblas to admire the great architecture and impressive Barcelona Cathedral. The final stop of the night was at the famous Fountains of Montjuic, a short metro ride away from Placa de Catalunya. Ray and Traci have seen the fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas many times, but they were quite impressed with the Barcelona version which blended different shapes and textures of water sprays with many different colors for a wonderful night time show. A clip from the show can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gsVM0hIpRQ

Exhausted, Ray and Traci returned to their hotel after enjoying gelato from Amorino on La Ramblas.

Their return to Seattle was complicated by a weather related delay at their Heathrow Airport connection. Originally connecting thru San Francisco, they now had to fly home via Chicago, a minor delay which was much better than most of the travelers missing their connections. Despite not reaching Cairo, Ray and Traci thoroughly enjoyed their journey to far away lands and hopefully will reach the Egyptian Pyramids another day.