Depart'n Day1

Departure 'n Day 1 At Sea

Port San Pedro Sail Away

October 13, 2006. Yes Friday the 13th. The limo arrived at 4:30 am to pick us up. We arrived at the airport at 5ish and were able to use curbside checkin. The lines were short for security when we joined but were long shortly after. The plane was not full and we were able to move to the more spacious seats in the exit row. The flight south was quick and relatively calm. Fortunately all 4 of our bags arrived with us. Yes 4 - with formal wear (3 nights worth) it is hard to pack light.

They gathered all of us "early" arrivals at the Sheraton Gateway (LAX) and took our bags straight off in the truck. As we sat, we met people and noshed on continental breakfast. The gods were kind and the hotel had a Starbucks so I could get a soy latte. Around noon they packed us in buses for the ride to San Pedro. More lines, but they moved quickly. We arrived in our room around 2 but only 2 of our bags had arrived when we went to dinner at 6 pm. The other 2 arrived post dinner.

Our dinner companions - L to R Prajeep, Colleen, Gail, Robin, Will and "Dash"

Looking formal as champagne arrives

Day 2 - Saturday Oct 14, 2006 was a day at sea. Good day to get acclimated to the cruising experience and begin to wind down. Food is always the priority and tends to drive the timing. We are first seating which is 6 pm. Since it was also formal night with the Captain's welcome aboard party first, much of my day was spent primping. Will did the gym thing.

They have been showing the David McCullough Nova special on the making of the Panama Canal on the ship's TV channel. Will also bought the book - The Path Between the Seas.

Our waiters Vlad (from Romania) and Lucasz (from Hungary)

Celebrating our anniversary

They let you celebrate special events. Since this was sort of our anniversary cruise, we put in for the first formal night to celebrate. We bought champagne for the table. Then for dessert they brought a special "cake" - complete with singing.

Our waiters are looking after us quite well. I'm being kept on my diet (sigh). Fortunately the fish on board is quite excellent.

Show after dinner - salute to Broadway. Nicely done. The "girl" singer was quite good. Off to bed as we had lost an hour the night before.

Back to Panama Trip introduction page

Rights to all pictures and text reserved by Robin Berry and Will Ringer Oct 2006.