Are 'ya gonna miss me?

[OkeeDon]

Tomorrow (Friday) morning a shuttle van will pick us up at the house and drop us off in a McDonald's parking lot about 15 miles away. There, a cruise line passenger bus will pick us up and take us about 120 miles south to Miami. There, we will board the Costa Allegra and leave Miami tomorrow night for an 11 night cruise to Mexico, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Panama and Costa Rica. We'll be back on the 21st in the afternoon. The ship has internet access, but I'm too cheap to pay their rates.

It should be an interesting cruise. Costa, although owned by Carnival, maintains it's roots as an Italian cruise line. The Allegra is their smallest ship, and may be one of the smallest ships still sailing for a major cruise line. It has only 410 staterooms, thus 820 passengers with double occupancy. This ship is favored by Europeans, the currency on board is the Euro, dinners are later than on American-oriented ships, and announcements are in 5 languages.

Alas, this will be the next-to-the-last cruise for this ship; in March, it's being sold to Asian interests and will be converted to a gambling ship. The smaller ships like this just can't compete in today's mega-ship line up. I just heard and announcement of a new ship that will have over 7,000 passengers. I'm glad I'm getting this opportunity to sail on a smaller ship before they're gone.

So, unless I get a chance to check in tomorrow morning before we leave, you'll can pretend you miss me for the next 12 days or so.

Don

 

[Dargo]

Oh, oh, oh! Give me your password while you're gone. You'll be a fine upstanding conservative by the time you return.

 

[Dargo]

In all seriousness, enjoy your cruise. I need one more cruise to make an even dozen for me. Obviously I really enjoy cruises. I've only been on one bad one. That was on a 5 masted clipper ship. The ship was beautiful. The accomodations were pathetic. You had to eat with the crew. If the crew jumped in line in front of you and wiped out all of the good stuff, you were SOL! On the 2nd to last day of the cruise I did finally blow up and had a bit of an altercation with a bartender there who jumped line in front of me and cleaned out all of the shrimp, leaving me with none. Although I didn't get them, I assure you he ate no shrimp that evening. I think the name of that ship was the Star Flyer or something like that. I wasn't paying, but it did cost around $4500 per person. What a rip!!!

 

[nixon]

Here's hoping that Your cruise is everything and more than You expect it to be .
John

 

[Doc]

Have a good cruise Don.
I don't see how you can miss. Sounds like a great time.
Hope to see some pics when you get back!

 

[Spiffy1]

Have fun!

 

[REDDOGTWO]

Enjoy yourselves. We have been on four of them, two of them with the kids. All were good. One of these days we will go again, would like to see the canal.

 

[REDDOGTWO]

By the way, you will be missed.

When you get back, .

 

[OkeeDon]

Aw, geez, guys, now you're gonna make me weepy. But, thanks for the bon voyage. We love cruises but have only been on 3 before this, and the last one was almost 10 years ago.

I had time for a quick log-on tonight after going to a musical at the community college (Bye Bye Birdie; they did a fantastic job); now it's off to beddy-bye so I'll be bright-eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow.

Taking two cameras, each with a gigabyte memory card. Room for a couple of thousand pictures. I'm gonna get them turned into slides so I can break out my slide projector and screen if ya'll come over.

 

[Melensdad]

Don have a safe time, we'll be here to argue with you when you come back!

 

[messickfarmequ]

I've done two of the mega ship cruises with 4500 passangers, about 6000 total with crew. I can't see how a small ship could compare. There is so much stuff to do that it takes a good 3-4 days before you start going back to the same places. As I recall the place had 13 different bars, 2 restraunts in addition to the main dining room, two clubs, the casino, etc,etc. It was really alot of fun - we are doing our 3rd this fall.

 

[thcri]

Tomorrow (Friday) morning a shuttle van will pick us up at the house and drop us off in a McDonald's parking lot about 15 miles away.

Don

Don,

I am sure your gone by now but is this the vehicle picking you up??


Sorry Don, I saw that pic and could not help but to think of you in the Sunshine State.

murph

 

[OkeeDon]

Well, you've probably noticed that I'm back. We had a great time. The itinerary was:
Day 0 (sailed at 9 PM) Miami
1 -At Sea
2 - Progresso, Mexico ('cause Cozumel apparently still has damage)
3 - At Sea
4 - Montego Bay, Jamaica
5 - At Sea
6 - Colon, Panama
7 - Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
8 - At Sea
9 - Grand Cayman
10 - At Sea
11 - Miami (docked at 8 AM)

The first day was smooth. When we got to Mexico, there was a storm and the water was so rough, the port officers would not let us dock. The little ship tossed and bounced pretty bad. We turned and ran for Grand Cayman. So, we were At Sea on days 1 & 2 and in Grand Cayman on day 3, for a shortened period. This was OK with me, as I had been to GC before. We got back on schedule in Jamaica on Day 4. They added a stop at Roatan Island in Honduras on day 9 to make up for the missed stop in Mexico.

In Panama, the ship did not enter the canal (this was a very inexpensive cruise, and my understanding is that the canal toll adds a consderable amount to every ticket). We took our only organized tour at this stop, traveling by bus to Panama City with a stop at Gatun Locks. In Panama City, they took us on a guided walking tour of some of the city streets, including a walk through the guarded street in front of the Presidential residence.

At the rest of the stops, we generally found a taxi that took us on self-directed rides to some of the highlights. In Jamaica, for example, our driver took us to a native market, found an excellent local restaurant for us (where Betsy had fish cooked whole; a new experience for her) and took us to a supermarket so I could stock up on Diet Pepsi (I started with a case in my carry-on bag and bought some 6-packs in various markets on the trip. The room had a mini-fridge). In Costa Rica, the town was so small and so close to the ship, we walked around rather than get a taxi.

The seas never really calmed much until the last day, back in the Florida Straits, but we got our sea legs and got used to it. There were 700 or so passengers; about 250 were English-speaking; most of the rest were Italian, with a scattering of French, German and Spanish. No one complained about the bouncing. The general attitude was that we knew what we were getting into, and the low price more than made up for it (the actual cost for this 11 night cruise was $757 per person including all taxes, only about $69 per night; less than a motel room).

We absolutely loved the intimacy of the small ship. We quickly got to recognize almost everyone and talked to most of the English-speaking passengers at one point or another. There was plenty to do for us old farts; we never even put a nickle in the casino.

This ship is due to be transferred to Singapore where Costa (owned by Carnival) is going to set up a new itinerary to capture the Asian market. Even though we will never likely sail in it again, we will look for the smallest ship we can find for our next cruise. There were no crowds, no long waits for the elevators, no long lines to get off at ports, always a seat on the pool deck or any of the lounges, etc.

In a few days, I'll have pictures up in my web site gallery, but here's a couple for now:

The first is the ship, the Costa Allegra, in Spotts Bay, Grand Cayman. The second is Betsy and I at lunch in Jamaica; Betsy showing off her tourist bargains. The third is the Presidential residence in Panama City; I have another shot of the SWAT team among the guards.

 

[Big Dog]

Well, you've probably noticed that I'm back. We had a great time. The itinerary was:
Day 0 (sailed at 9 PM) Miami
1 -At Sea
2 - Progresso, Mexico ('cause Cozumel apparently still has damage)
3 - At Sea
4 - Montego Bay, Jamaica
5 - At Sea
6 - Colon, Panama
7 - Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
8 - At Sea
9 - Grand Cayman
10 - At Sea
11 - Miami (docked at 8 AM)

The first day was smooth. When we got to Mexico, there was a storm and the water was so rough, the port officers would not let us dock. The little ship tossed and bounced pretty bad. We turned and ran for Grand Cayman. So, we were At Sea on days 1 & 2 and in Grand Cayman on day 3, for a shortened period. This was OK with me, as I had been to GC before. We got back on schedule in Jamaica on Day 4. They added a stop at Roatan Island in Honduras on day 9 to make up for the missed stop in Mexico.

In Panama, the ship did not enter the canal (this was a very inexpensive cruise, and my understanding is that the canal toll adds a consderable amount to every ticket). We took our only organized tour at this stop, traveling by bus to Panama City with a stop at Gatun Locks. In Panama City, they took us on a guided walking tour of some of the city streets, including a walk through the guarded street in front of the Presidential residence.

At the rest of the stops, we generally found a taxi that took us on self-directed rides to some of the highlights. In Jamaica, for example, our driver took us to a native market, found an excellent local restaurant for us (where Betsy had fish cooked whole; a new experience for her) and took us to a supermarket so I could stock up on Diet Pepsi (I started with a case in my carry-on bag and bought some 6-packs in various markets on the trip. The room had a mini-fridge). In Costa Rica, the town was so small and so close to the ship, we walked around rather than get a taxi.

The seas never really calmed much until the last day, back in the Florida Straits, but we got our sea legs and got used to it. There were 700 or so passengers; about 250 were English-speaking; most of the rest were Italian, with a scattering of French, German and Spanish. No one complained about the bouncing. The general attitude was that we knew what we were getting into, and the low price more than made up for it (the actual cost for this 11 night cruise was $757 per person including all taxes, only about $69 per night; less than a motel room).

We absolutely loved the intimacy of the small ship. We quickly got to recognize almost everyone and talked to most of the English-speaking passengers at one point or another. There was plenty to do for us old farts; we never even put a nickle in the casino.

This ship is due to be transferred to Singapore where Costa (owned by Carnival) is going to set up a new itinerary to capture the Asian market. Even though we will never likely sail in it again, we will look for the smallest ship we can find for our next cruise. There were no crowds, no long waits for the elevators, no long lines to get off at ports, always a seat on the pool deck or any of the lounges, etc.

In a few days, I'll have pictures up in my web site gallery, but here's a couple for now:

The first is the ship, the Costa Allegra, in Spotts Bay, Grand Cayman. The second is Betsy and I at lunch in Jamaica; Betsy showing off her tourist bargains. The third is the Presidential residence in Panama City; I have another shot of the SWAT team among the guards.

Glad you had a good time...................

Welcome home!

 

[bczoom]

Don,

Sounds like a fun trip. Glad you enjoyed it.

What kind of temperatures did you see? I see you and Betsy are wearing sweatshirts/jackets in Jamaica.

 

[Hutchman]

Glad you had a good time! I see you did the drink carry-on deal too. My folks live in Florida and cruise quite a bit. They smuggle Pop's beer onto the boat and they have a cooler that looks like a suitcase that they pay a steward to keep filled with ice if they get a room without a fridge. On the only cruise my wife and I ever took we smuggled on a couple cases of Cokes. When we got our luggage at the room most of the Cokes had popped open and we had a mess. We spent a big part of our first day at sea in the laundry room. Mom has always gone into the shops at ports along the way and bought wine and taken it back to the ship. They took it away from her the last cruise and made her buy the ship's wine. One thing my Pop always wanted to do was go through the canal so they took a canal cruise a couple years ago. I guess you lock through about halfway, then turn around and go back out. I'd like to take that cruise myself one day. Hutch

 

[OkeeDon]

Temperatures ranged widely due to outside influences. We were in Jamaica the day that Miami woke up to 37 degree weather. It was raining lightly. I didn't need the jacket, but I didn't know that when we left the ship, and it was easier to wear than carry -- and cool enough not to mind it. After the cold front moved out, the rest of the trip was hot. Almost unbearably hot in Costa Rica.

I started carrying my own soda partly because I'm frugal, but mostly because the ships don't offer Diet Pepsi, and I can't imagine 10 days of Diet Coke. Yuck.

There is one sort-of funny story about alchohol. This trip was even less expensive than I noted, because it included $100 per person ship-board credit. I don't drink, but Betsy enjoys a liqueur after dinner. We tried to buy it on the ship using our credit, but their policy was to hold the alcohol purchases until the end of the cruise. So, at our first stop in Grand Cayman, we bought a bottle of Amaretto, but the store's policy was to deliever it "to our room". However, the ship held the delivery until the end of the cruise. Foiled again.

So, when our driver took us to the supermarket in Montego Bay, we bought a bottle of mocha liqueur, rolled it in newspaper and brought it on board directly to our room. The security only cared if it was a bomb, so they didn't stop us. Success!

Obviously, at almost $5/bottle for a Corona, the one thing we weren't going to do was buy it on board by the drink, even if we were using their money. We spent the $200 (181 Euros) on board for clothing items, etc, in the ship's store. We went $5 over, so that was the total out-of-pocket cost for a dress, scarves, tee-shirts, sweat shirts and more.

 

[BigAl]

If you ever get a chance to go to the Panama Canal ,do it . We live part time in Panama and I did the Mira Flores Locks tour this past year . Incredible to watch those huge ships go through . The Panama Hotel does a 5 star buffet on the 4th floor of the lock museum at $16.50 a person , But the $10 admission price to the museum is included in the 16.50 price . So it ends of costing $6.50 for one of the best meals you will ever have . Few Americans even know about this .The food is incredible and so is the view .

Big Al

 

[OkeeDon]

Our bus did take us to the Gatun locks, where we watched several ships go through. I'd like to go through the entire canal on a ship, but that will wait until we can take one of the east coast/west coast trips.

We had a lot of conversations on board about living in the different areas we visited, incuding Panama, Costa Rica and Roatan. Prices were much higher in Roatan, reflecting Florida or Calif prices. But, according to our tour commentator, prices in Panama are quite reasonable. My only question is if it's practical to live there year-round, as the rainy season would seem to be pretty unbearable.

 

[thcri]

In Panama, the ship did not enter the canal (this was a very inexpensive cruise, and my understanding is that the canal toll adds a consderable amount to every ticket).

My dad was down there a year or so ago and I remember him telling me that the charge to go through was awful expensive. I wish I could remember the number but it was a couple hundred thousand or so.

murph

 

[OkeeDon]

According to our guide, the highest toll was $200,00 for a large cruise ship, and the smallest toll was in 1928 when a swimmer paid $.36 to swim through the canal. The tolls are based on the tonnage of the ships; I got the impression that the average toll might be over $100,000. The tolls must be paid in American dollars, in cash. There are no credit arrangements.

The amazing thing to me is that the max capacity of the canal is 38 ships per 24 hour day. They're working to increase it to 43 ships per day.