Our 115 day World Cruise, day10, Pisco Peru!

Another day in our exciting world cruise!

Our day started the way it always does!  we went to Starbucks for Breakfast and had our special steel cut oatmeal with blueberries and a green tea!

As you all know, the flu, is raging.  Today, our friend, Sandi did not feel well.  We were concerned the maybe she was coming down with the flu.  Sandi is suppose to go to Boston on Thursday where she will visit her grandchildren!

Poor thing, I hope she is not getting sick!

After cofee we went directly to Curves where we worked out for 30 minutes.    I'll bet you cannot guess what we did next...yes we did....off to QT we went!  I am starting to get tired now!

Off to Applebee's where we are meeting Bonnie and Diane for lunch.  I hope this lunch is  better than yesterdays...it was so bad!  The question is ....what will we eat?

                                                                  

                          

After much discussion we all decided on soup and salad.  Vicki and I had tortilla soup and southwest salad and a bread stick.  It was pretty good.

  

We had a very enjoyable visit and then all of a sudden it was time to go the dentist.  BOO!

                                                                                  

Goodbye you guys, it was fun seeing you!  Take care and stay well!

Now for our next tour....right into the dentist office.  This is not a good thing....it has been 11 years since I have had a filling, I wonder what it will cost me

                                                                               

 Well, $240 later I was out of there....off to Wallgreens to pick up a prescription which was not ready!  Fine.....a stop at the beauty shop to fix Vicki's hair....come back in 45 minutes...off to see the mother, can't stay long...back to the beauty shop...hair is fixed....now to Safeway.....now home, home, home!   Guess what is for dinner!

               Now it is a TV  dinner but it is good! Totally acceptable!

Where we did not go today.....but the Amsterdam did!
Callao Peru
                                                                       

                                                           

                                                                                                                                                  
                                                                       

                                                                 
                                                 More Callo Peru tomorrow!




                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Our 115 day World Cruise, day9, at sea!

Another sea day and then tomorrow we will be visiting Peru.

Off to Starbucks for the usual morning ritual....this morning has  a new twist! Today Irwin gets his   new blanket for which I know he will be most grateful...or at least I hope he will be grateful.  We will only e able to tell by the look on his face as he is a man of few words! lol!
                                                                                         

See I told you that he would  love it!

It is very nice here today! As I sit here it is a near 35 degrees!

     

We have so many tours again today evidently we do not know what is meant by a sea day!

Next tour " On THE bORDER",  this  is one of my grandson, Josh's, favorite places to eat!  Not one of my favorites!

                                                                              

You can tell when Nachos are cold by the way they don't shine.  

After eating these cold Nachos, I SAY.....never,never never again will I eat at that place!  If I have to go there I will have to improvise!

Finished with this tour and it is now off to the Arrowhead Mall!

                                                                       

Now don't think this is the end of it because it is not!  Wait until you see what I bought to go with my iPhone and my mini iPad!  yOU WILL LOVE IT!

                                                                   

                                        I told you .....you just love it....don't you? I am going to be hot stuff...oh so hot...oh so stuffed! lol!

Attention....I just got orders from headquarters and I need to report for duty!

                                       See you tomorrow in Peru!  Can't wait!

  

Our 115 day World cruise, day 8, at sea!

Today is a sea day!

Vicki cruised us to starbucks as i sat in the back and enjoyed the fresh salt air blowing through my hair! Since it was only 30 degrees this morning,  this was more than a treat...slow down, slow down, slow down  I am yelling...slow down, I am freezing! lol!

We arrived safely at Starbucks but I was very cold...to make matters worse..... we could not eat as we had to go and take  some tests today!  hmmm...maybe that is why I was so grouchy and was yelling at everyone!

   

This is Damian...he is another special person at Starbucks!  Damian is our morning entertainment...he sings, he dances and he makes really good samples!  Sandi and Irwin were there today and we had a very nice visit.  Irwin bought coffee for 4 Air Force , young men as a thank you for serving our country!                                                                       

Off we went and had our tests....went to Wendy's for lunch, which was not good!  No sense in taking a picture when we did not like what we ate!

Of course, we stopped at QT....now you are getting into the routine!

Upon arriving  home I started making a blanket for Irwin.  I am tired of him always complaining about how cold he is, at home and at Starbucks!  So, I slaved away all afternoon and made him a blanket that he can bring to Starbucks and play like he is an Indian!  lol!

      

Well what do you think?

I think maybe I should save it for me!  After all I have made 18 and I still don''t have one!  Oh well, I guess he is worth it!  lol!

                                                  Guess what?   Tomorrow is another sea day!

                                                  

                                                           

Our 115 day World Cruise, day 7, Manta Ecuador!

We are cruising right along. The weather is still really cool but the seas of gotten a lot calmer. Today has been relatively uneventful. Vicki and I both had a doctors appointment after which we went to Starbucks. We enjoyed having breakfast and seen our servers. We made friends with a little boy named Brian                                                
                                                           

                                                                                                              

                                          Brian was not sure about these crazy ladies! us!

We enjoyed being at coffee the two of us with our mini iPads! Irwin and Sandi were leaving as we arrived and we waved and took their parking place! lol! They had to go to a special meeting in Sun Lakes!

                                                 Vicki gets so excited when we go to Starbucks!                                                                    
                                                                               

                              This is Katie the manager and Vicki!  They take wonderful care of us!
                                                                         

          Amanda makes the best coffee in the world and we are so lucky to have her at this store!                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                   
After leaving Starbucks we did our usual tour to QT and for a small amount of time I debated about whether or not to go to the gym and exercise. It seemed to me that clunking around the ship and around the ports that we get plenty of exercise! lol!  The little voice  in my mind told me to go! go! go! go!  Don't pass go...just do it!  So onto the ship and off to Curves!  Okay I am good for 1 time around and then I am  DONE, DONE, DONE.

 It is freezing cold here and it is not fun jumping in and out of this ship to go to these different tours! We went through the drive-through at Arby's and bought a sandwich for our lunch. It was good and it met our expectations.

 Off we go to pick up Rosine to take her to the doctors....I am tired of the doctors...this is our 6th trip this week!  Enough is enough....I am over it and I am going back to my room and calling room service...YES AGAIN!  I am tired now, no more tours today!

Where we did not go today.....but the Amsterdam did  narrative  from Bill and Mary Ann's blog and  photos from the internet! 

Manta Ecuador is a tuna fishing port, a 30 minute flight from Quito. Ecuador. Ecuador has only 13 million people (most of whom seem to be street beggars.

Also important in this part of the world is the fact that since 1999, Manta has been used as a military location for the US Air Force. They have joined with Ecuador in supporting anti-narcotics military operations. Surveillance flights are flown from here to track Colombian drug trafficking cartels. Finally, Manta serves as a lookout point for the US for any warcraft heading north from the Middle East and Asia. And if we recall, that is about the time that Ecuador adopted the US dollar as their currency. Sure makes things much easier for us cruisers.

 We walked to the local hotel down the hill from the mall. It faces the ocean and a nicestretch of beach, and the staff welcomes the cruisers to visit and perhaps enjoy a beer or lunch in their bar and restaurant. We were more interested in taking pictures of the pool and gardens. As we strolled down the landscaped walkways to the pool, we heard some people saying, "Hola". Looking around, we spotted a tableful of friends who were dining on a balcony overlooking the grounds. This particular group seeks out the best places to lunch in almost every port, much the same as we do nowadays. It's really relaxing watching the world go by.
                                                                     

                                                             
                                                                         

                                                                                     

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
                                                                               

Tomorrow is a sea day!

Our 115 day World Cruise, day 6, at sea!

Today we need to look at the dates for this cruise.  I am out of sync with the actual cruise so we need to fix it!  This is an actual 115 day cruise and here is how it goes....

Day 1...board ship
Day 2 and 3 ...at sea
Day 4...Cartagena Columbia
Day 5 ...Panama Canal
Day 6...AT SEA

So s you can see we have ..have not...or wish to be ...well, we have not missed any of our ports!
I needed to get on the same schedule of the itinerary or I was going to get confused which in turn would confuse all of you...not that you are not already confused! lol!

Asea day normally means we hang around the ship, eating, drinking diet cokes and taking naps!  As you can see our busy schedule does not allow for much activity.  It is very cold here today and the water is quite rough!  No, we will not be lounging by the pool although I do see a few people in the hot tub!  They are of course are  crazy and must be from Sweden! lol!

We ate in the buffet and I forgot to take a picture of our chili.  It was a bit too hot and was not up to par.  The entertainment for the evening included, Chicago Fire, SVU and Gray's Anatomy!  It was interesting but I had a problem staying awake.  Vicki did just fine....she sat rocking in her chair, covered up with her quilt as I nodded off!  I am going to go and take a Dramamine and go to bed! hmmm something is not right about this picture!

See you in Ecuador!

                                       

Our 115 day World Cruise, day5, Panama Canal!

Here we are ! Cruising right along.

Day 5

We are up and on our way!  If you think it looks like winter here  it is because it is! We hopped into our cruise ship and off we go!

The first tour for the day is to go to Starbucks where we will have our breakfast and meet with our friends Irwin and Sandi! We met Irwin and Sandi at Starbucks in the fall of 2010.  We have had lots of laughs and  discussed many touchy subjects....no touching allowed! lol

Starbucks is our version of the International Cafe on the Ruby  Princess and is not much bigger!  Like on the Ruby the staff here takes really great  care of us.

                                                                                                                                           

                                                         Lisa, Elaine and Stephanie   

Our breakfast will vary depending  upon what the little voice in my head tells me!  Today it told me...steel cut oatmeal with blueberries and a vente iced  green tea!   I had quite a time getting our wonderful breakfast in the right light for the picture!  As usual it was done to perfection!

    

 After we ate it was tile for the second tour of the day...this traveling is exhausting!  Off we go to Curves.

               I want t o do this one first....no!!!  I want to do this one first!  Okay!  I just won't do it!!

OH!  Let's just do it and get it over with!Finished and off to the next tour.....QT!!

These will give us the fuel we need so that we don't dehydrate!  Sometimes it is a long time on a tour...oops better go potty too!  Who knows when we will  be able to go and I don't want to have to stand up over a hole and I don't want to have to pay to go to the bathroom! lol!

We are off to the forth tour of the day and I am getting tired....Arrowhead Mall here we come!  Maybe we can pick up some souvenirs while we are there! lol!
           

     Here we go....two stops and we are out of here !Right there,  see the phone covers!  On to the purses                                                                                          
                                                                               

I've got mine ...I'm out of here!

i've got it and I am out of here too!  We need to grab a bite to eat before we go on tour five....I am really

getting tired....I need to go to the suite and take a nappy! 

                                                                                                                                                         

                                                                                  

  What is this?  It doesn't look like anything I have ever seen before...what'ls with the paper napkin?  This is not meeting my expectations...I'M GOING TO THE SUITE!  Oops!  We have a sixth tour...your mom!                                                                              

Okay, she was watching the Doctors and was not expecting us!  Okay, we are out of here!   We will see you tomorrow! Back to our room!

We will order room service tonight and just have soup!

What we did not do today....We did not go today.....but the Amsterdam did!
Panama Canal,  photos from Jeff's blog!

                                 

                                                                                 

                                                                                 

                                         Join we tomorrow to share in our adventures!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Our 115 day World Cruise, day 4, Cartagena Columbia!

Yes , it is true...we are going to be on a cruise for the next 115 days!    We are following 4 blogs from 4 different cruise lines so we decided to go on our own world cruise!  It will not be as exciting  but we will add dimension to our blog by living vicariously  thru their blogs!  At the end of each days blog you will find an update stating where the Holland America Amsterdam is on that day!  There will be a short description of the port along with actual photos from the cruise!So join us as we cruise through life wishing we were really on this cruise!  This is going to be fun....Thank You for joining us!

This cruise will be round trip from Phoenix to Phoenix and we will be cruising on the Toyota Avalon.
Of course we will be staying in a master suite and the accommodations will be perfect!



Day 1 board ship
 Day 2 and 3 at sea!
Day 4

Spent the day doing last minutes things and getting settled in our suiteWe watched the entertainment this evening consisting of NCIS, NCIS LA AND Private Practice.  It was wonderful and lived up to our expectations.  We are tired now so we will go to bed  as we have many tours to take tomorrow and never fear we will be taking you all with us.  I can not give you an itinerary as it is in the making.  I do think I will have our steward bring me a glass of water so I can take my pills!

What we did not do today......but the Amsterdam did!
Cartagena Columbia
We did not see Cartagena Columbia nor did we play with the parrots or the monkeys!  This is a great city except for the armed guards outside the jewelry store!!

                                                                         

                                                                                                                                                                

                                                                               

Columbian Flag

See you in the Panama Canal!