It's great to be back on the Mariner, it feels like home! There's lots of familiar crew onboard--Captain Felice, Davor, Goren, Francesco (our favorite bartender who we haven't seen in years) and Seth, the waiter (now a head waiter) with the fabulous voice, plus lots of others. Terry Breen is here to keep us fascinated with South America, and better yet, we'll be celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary onboard. So far the internet is fast, the weather is good, and the food is great -- what more could you need? We've had two sea days and will reach land in Curacao tomorrow around noon--I'm looking forward to seeing the swinging bridge again.

Congrats on that milestone anniversary! Looking forwrd to the seamail
-------------------------
Helen

So happy to hear Seth is now a head waiter. He definitely deserved the promotion. Tell him I said hello please.
And Happy Anniversary to you and Jerry .

Happy 50th Peggy and Jerry! What a great way to celebrate such a wonderful event!

Peggy and Jerry....congratulations on your 50th wedding anniversary!

Couldn't think of a better way to celebrate than on a cruise surrounded by good friends. Wish we were there too. Have a wonderful time.

Have a wonderful 50th! We'll be there with you in spirit!

Doug & Andi

Happy Anniversary Love Birds......and many more!

Peggy and Jerry, just a couple of years ago it was just your 12th anniversary; have a great time on the Mariner celebrating - your 12 and a half anniversary!

Seth is one of my favorites as well. So glad to hear he has been promoted to head waiter. It is much deserved.

Thanks for the seamail.

I wish all the best Peggy and Jerry, happy 50th anniversary may god be with you always.

FINALLY. I have time to sit down and post here from the Mariner. Well I really did have time but I have been VERY lazy and sleeping in and then the day has been full. Been a busy couple of weeks with the office move I think I have been catching up on my rest.

Love having Captain Felice and Davor the GM onboard. We have been sailing with them a lot recently and most of the people in our group know them. So that makes it very nice. At our cocktail party last night Davor arrived sporting all of his collected pins. That was great everyone enjoyed seeing those and figuring out what cruises they had been on with Davor. We have pictures that Ken will post soon. It was a very noisy party with a lot of laughs and people stayed over past 7.30 pm. It took us 15 minutes to get our dinner dates out of the party.

We arrived in the dining room to find only two 6 top tables left. We selected one of the small side areas of the dining room against the middle wall. It worked out well it was pretty quiet there and no one was around us. You did get the glare from the kitchen but I think the benefits of that table outweighed that glare from the kitchen for the ones facing the kitchen. Might do that again.

This time we are in cabin 730. I always considered this a bad cabin. It is right next to the casino and next to the casino toilets. I could imagine "ding ding" all night from the slot machines and the "flush" of the bathroom next door. Never booked anyone in this cabin unless absolutely necessary. Well I am pleased to report that the storage closet between our cabin and those bathrooms blocks all sound. We hear absolutely nothing and this is a very convenient location right off the public area on deck 7. So what I was thinking was a bad assignment turned out very nicely and I am pleased I now know this is a good cabin after all.

Weather been pretty smooth and sunny. 80 degrees each day. The cruise started off with two days at sea. Lovely way to start. PBS and the Artful Traveler are onboard. So there were lectures at 10.00 am and 2.00 pm each day mostly on the NOVA channel productions and of course politics. This program is offered n a few select cruises and feature lectures and cocktail parties. It is free to all guests and to get details you sign up ahead of time on your booking. If you did not sign up ahead of time you can sign up onboard and be part of everything. This is a nice program and very well received. Plus Terry Breen gave two lectures so it has been a very busy schedule.

We played one game of hearts - three ladies one man. The man lost and the ladies all tied for first place. Maybe I should stop there? Cannot get much better than that from the female point of view.

Today we have a port call but we do not arrive until noon and our tour is at 2.00 pm. For me so far this is a perfect cruise, just what I needed. No early mornings, good friends, great staff and good food. As all my tee shirts say LIFE IS GOOD.

Be back later.

Sounds like a vacation which is what we all need at this time of the year rather than a trip. Smooth sea and cloudless seas for you all. You all ready have good food and good friends.

Nice day in Curacao. Pretty windy but nice temperature. Those that went snorkeling said it was fantastic. Out of the wind and a lot of fish.

I liked the town more than I remembered. We were here many years ago and rented a car on that trip. All the colors of the buildings are so bright and pretty and it was very clean. Same tourist stores you always see in a Caribbean island. Lots of jewelry and lots of watches.

There is a moving pedestrian bridge that goes from one side of the water to the other. The bridge is pulled in against the dock if a ship needs to exit the harbor. If the bridge is not available to walk then you can take a ferry. That was interesting. I heard it
opens and closes about 30 times a day.

We are now in Aruba and another sunny day but windy again. Stayed in this morning to catch up on some issues but will wander into town later.

Nice dinner at Setti Mare last night. I am on a seafood binge right now and the fish has been terrific at every meal.

In fact off to lunch right now!

I have always enjoyed Curacao, as a port stop. Glad you are all having a nice cruise Ngaire.

Just arrived in Cartagena. Sun is shining a lovely day at sea pretty calm all day. About 85 degrees. They are doing a deck BBQ tonight as we are docked overnight with tours tomorrow.

This is the first time we have been here so looking forward to our tour tomorrow. Lots of tall white buildings on shore looks at a distance quite modern but hard to tell until you get close.

The ship is showing the SUPER BOWL on Sunday with food served to those watching the game. Should be fun not quite the atmosphere of the stadium but will certainly be a big and excited crowd.

Off to trivia, we are having pretty poor showing this trip not even close to a win. We need to redeem ourselves with at least ONE win.

Photos From SANDALS:



BK Cocktail Party - Maddy, Ngaire, Captain Felice, Davor, Sue, Susan and Linda



Davor and Jennifer - Davors Pin Collection - SANDALS, SPLASH, MARINER, GRAN PRIX, DRAGON, COSSACK, LLAMA



Paul and Susan with Captain Felice. They are on their free cruise drawn in October by Captain Felice.



Curacao colored houses



Curacao Liquor in many flavors we liked the chocolate and coffee the best.



The Curacao Harbor and the Mariner



The floating pedestrian bridge

What a happy looking group! Wish we could be with you! Loving the seamail and the photos. Tomorrow must be your Panama Canal passage....one of my favorite days ever! Enjoy!

Sounds and looks like a perfect cruise !! Keep enjoying... that trivia win is lurking....you'll win soon I bet.

Had a nice day in Cartagena today.

An 8.00 am tour SO early after all our lazy mornings. We went to La Popa Monastery and had a great view of Cartagena, the harbor and bays. Then we visited the San Felipe Fortress and this fort was one of the most impressive that we have seen. Then we did a walking tour in Old Town. The area is undergoing redevelopment and was quite charming.Balconies on the buildings with flowering plants.

We had never been here before and really enjoyed the tour and seeing a new port of call. Nice weather again, not as much wind and just a little on the warm side towards the end of the tour.

So after a yummy lunch where I indulged in TWO bowls of pasta we left Cartagena headed for the transit of the Panama Canal.

The senior staff and crew on board this trip seem to be especially good this trip. Smiling faces everywhere it is really nice.

Need help
If anyone has time to see if the shop is still carrying a line of costume jewelry that has a Mayan theme and is gold color. the earring run about 25.00 One of my favorite pair of earring came from this line and would love to know the name of the line since I lost one and hope to track another pair down on line. I know they still have it on Oceania which we just were on the middle of Jan. Glad everyone is having a good time. It's hard not to with our fearless leader Ngaire.

I will check for you Pam. Do you want another set of earrings? Happy to get them for you if they are here. Or do you just want the name of the line.

Just the name. Thank you.

Paul & Maddy's Photos from Aruba and Cartagena:


Riding in Aruba.


Friendly Macaw.

Love those pictures. I missed the area in Cartagena where there birds and monkeys were located. It was right near the dock. Love the horse back riding shot as well.

PAMMY - they do not have that jewelry here and I asked two people in the shop ---SORRY.

Thank you

Just catching up on this seamail as we are back from our Oceania cruise. Really enjoying reliving our cruise from two years ago. Ngaire, we did that same tour in Cartagena and really enjoyed it. Then the next morning, we went out on our own with a crazy taxi driver. Lots of fun!a

Will post some more details tomorrow and see if Ken can get some pictures posted. It is amazing how busy we have been.

Continued nice weather and calm seas. Today in Guayaquil the temperature was perfect. The overcast skies made the day so pleasant.

I just finished a HUGE dinner in Prime 7 and have to hit the sack. Crab cake, King Crab Claws and Dover Sole and great company LIFE IS GOOD.

Okay catch up time.

THE SUPER BOWL. Regent had the game in the theatre and it was packed. They had a buffet of hot dogs, burgers, fried chicken fingers, twice baked cheesy potatoes, chili and pizza. As we all know the game was not that exciting if you were from Denver, but Paul and Susan are from Seattle. Never seen Paul so happy! I got excited at the entire event and over indulged in the buffet and had some ill effects from all that greasy food.

So the next day I stayed on the ship and did not do the tour but Ken went and shared the experience with me. It was a nice sunny day in Manta, Ecuador when we arrived.

Most people including Ken did the transfer to Montecristi on the party bus. Interpreted that means,loud music with a band on the top of the bus, colorful buses, wooden seats and "air cooled" meaning a breeze through the open windows.

It was a short tour and they were able to wander the town independently. This town is the birthplace of the PANAMA HATS and MANY people bought hats in town. Last night as the Titanium, Platinum and Gold event and a high percentage of the guests were sporting Panama Hats. It was really neat to see all those hats.

Of course KEN has a panama hat at home but I do not, no gift of a panama hat for me from Montecrisiti. So I used that excuse to play the "poor me card" That did not work so well Ken saw right through that little exercise - I hate hats and wear them only when absolutely necessary.

By evening I was well over the effects of the greasy over indulgence and went to Signatures. I did not order that fantastic rich mushroom or lobster soup as a penance for my lack of discipline the night before. Nor did I want a repeat performance so I went the sensible way and ate light.

GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR

Just wrote this up and I was kicked off before it posted. The internet is very good now and quite fast. But after 45 minutes you get a warning and you have 5% left and in about 2 minutes you disconnect. I do understand that policy it is stopping people just leaving on their computer and increasing the speed for us all but I must learn to instantly save when I see that notice. Just a warning for those who follow. SAVE the instant that notice comes up on your screen.

When we arrived in Guayaquil it was an overcast day and rain was threatening. It was very calm with no wind. This turned out to be a blessing as the temperature was perfect and the rain never came.

We did the highlights of Quayaquil. Ken and I had been here before on the way to the Galapagos. What we remembered the most was the waterfront.

Driving in there is obvious a fairly low standard of living but once you hit the downtown area there is a distinct difference. They are in the process of burying all the wiring and the downtown is very clean with some stunning buildings.

We did spend about an hour walking the waterfront but I wish we had more time to stroll independently. The waterfront is extremely well done and a really delightful area to investigate. The guide kept us together and stopped at many of the monuments with the history of the town. At this point in my travels I think I am guided out and my mind wanders very quickly unless the guide is full of personality and has a way of presenting facts with comedy and vigor.

Several things the guide mentioned I did find very interesting. Everyone must vote. When you vote you get a voting certificate and without that certificate you cannot get a passport or a drivers license. Enforced democracy. Since Ecuador adopted the US $ as its currency the government cannot print money and that has forced a balanced budget!

Another stop was an Iguana park with lots of Iguanas. This was a completely independent time of 45 minutes. We really enjoyed that stop. Ken probably got some good shots. It was necessary to be careful as many of the Iguanas were in the trees and being underneath a tree was a dangerous situation unless you wanted a "blessing" from the iguanas. I came to realize many of the puddles were not from previous rain! There was also a very nice church across the road that we visited and the we wandered the surrounding streets.

I love to check pricing of goods when in a foreign country and we found the pricing was about the same as the US just slightly lower. The minimum wage here is $400 a month and we were told a high percentage of the population makes this amount so it is pretty tough. There is no public subsidy for the poor from the government everyone must work. It surprised me how non-aggressive the vendors were, they asked but did not push or hassle the tourists. Kind of made me want to buy from them. When in the bus everyone waves and smiles, a pleasant change.

We had dinner at Prime 7. I really love that restaurant. Tonight a small person (smaller than me) announced she was very hungry. She ate me under the table. The menu, crab cake and portabella mushroom appetizers, dover sole, king crab, four side dishes and a dessert. I was impressed and she ate EVERYTHING. We had such a good time, fabulous food, great waiter, and great company.

Today is a day at sea, sun is shining and the water is very calm. I am sitting here in my jammies, with speedy internet, had some nice fresh plums and peaches in the room and Ken just bought me a cup of tea. Life is good.

One of the officers said "this is the best day of his life" we asked why. He said I woke up and I was alive I had a job, I am richer than yesterday morning because I worked yesterday, and I have a woman who loves me even more as I have more money! I thought that was really classic. The way we should start each day.

Ngaire, so you can't leave us hanging.... who is this very small person who is smaller than you who can eat you under the table ? (you're so tiny...hard to imagine)

Thanks for the heads up about the computer warning. That is a good idea to speed up the internet.

It sounds like you all are having a fabulous time.

After Prime 7 the "smaller" person may no longer be smaller!
That can happen to all of us.

More Photos From Sandals:


Cartagena, Columbia from La Popa monestary.


San Felipe Fortress in Cartagena.


Old Town Cartagena.


These are the new gates for the new portion of the Panama Canal due to open later this year.


Going through the canal, notice Captain Felice on the bridge extension.


Montecristi, Ecuador.


Colorful bus in Montecristi.


Monecristi, Ecuador is where the Panama Hat was first made, not in Panama.


An overview of the market area in Montecristi.


The beautiful cathedral in Montecristi

Photos From Guayaquil, Ecuador:


Iguanas were all over the trees, they were warming up in the limbs of the trees.


More Iguanas then birds in the trees.


The Rotundra Monument.


Jerry and Peggy taking a break from the guide.


The Melecon or waterfront.


Las Penas in the distant hill, the oldest part of Guayaquil and very colorful.

Love these pictures. How long are those iguanas? They look huge (and slimy) . What a wonderful pix of Peggy and Jerry.

I love seeing these great photos! Betty's right....wonderful happy pic of Peggy and Jerry!
Keep having fun you'll!!!

Love the pics! Bring back good memories, and George is very impressed with the canal gates.

Betty, iguanas are not slimy at all. If anything, they are rather dry. We had a pet iguana named Iggy for years when the boys were growing up. My housekeeper refused to go in the room where he lived.

Great to see such fun photos! Thanks Ken! Please give our very best regards to Capt. Felice for Alice and me! I wish I had paid better attention and been able to stalk your canal transit.

Ngaire - Fun to read your post about the Prime 7 dinners.

Has anyone met Gilly, the British lady who has the blog, "An Elegant Sufficiency?" I'm guessing she and her husband are quite interesting; gives great reports on their Regent cruises.

Now in Salaverry another beautiful day. A huge group of pelicans welcomed us into port and the sun was glistening on the water. Such a nice welcome.

How quickly this trip has passed. We fly home tomorrow, one day early, so tonight is our last night on board. So sad. This has been a wonderful group. Smaller than usual because so many took the bumps and they were definitely missed. Somehow the crew and senior staff seem to be the best ever. A wonderful warm service from everyone.

About to leave for our last tour be back later.

Betty, these Iguanas come in all sizes depending on their age, the young ones are green and the older ones are brownish. The adult below is about 6 feet long. Ken