Our final night on the cruise was on RCL’s private peninsula at Labadee, Haiti. Its a secluded area where cruise guests can enjoy the beach, snorkel, jet ski, Zipline, do some shopping with the island locals, or just enjoy the barbecue provided by the ship. […]
Santiago de Cuba is our second Cuba stop of the cruise. Unlike the hustle and bustle of Havana, Santiago de Cuba is a sleepy colonial town. Unfortunately for us, we arrived on January 2nd, when most of the town was still closed from celebrating too much of the […]
The “A” of the ABC Islands is Aruba. Boutiques, upscale chain stores and street vendors, as wells as casinos and a wide range of restaurants, dance clubs and bars, make the capital Oranjestad a popular destination in Aruba. Our ship arrived on New Year’s Eve, so many shops […]
Stop 2 of the ABC Islands: Bonaire Kralendijk is the chief town, known for the beaches, and diving sports like snorkeling and skin diving. It’s the sleepiest of the ABC Islands, and the main area is tiny with a few shops and restaurants. If you’re not into water […]
Following Cartagena, our next 3 stops were the “ABC” Islands… Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, but in the opposite order, starting with “C”, Curaçao, pronounced cure-a-sao. The Islands are in the Dutch Caribbean, part of the Netherlands, but are not part of the European Union. When we docked at […]
Happy 50th anniversary to my mom and dad!
After a day at sea, our port following Havana was Cartagena, Colombia. I knew very little about Cartagena, except from the 1980’s movie “Romancing the Stone” where Kathleen Turner played a novelist who had to rescue her sister from a drug cartel. Apparently, things have gotten better in […]
Merry Christmas from somewhere between Havana and Cartagena, Colombia. We spent our day just relaxing, reading, napping, and of course eating and drinking. For dinner, my sister made reservations at one of the specialty restaurants, which cost an additional $30 more per person. Tomorrow, we visit Cartagena.
Day 2 in Havana. We met up with Jimmy in front of the Museum of Rum to kick off our 2nd part of our tour. No classic cars for us to ride in today, but a taxi mini van. Fortunately this car also had air conditioning. The goal […]
Following the Hotel Nacional, Jimmy took us around the city, and then stopped at the Old Havana for lunch. We went to a touristy spot, and had lunch at the rooftop of the restaurant, before continuing a walking tour of the old part of the city. The walking […]
We made it to Havana, Cuba!! The cruise line took care of our Visa (cost $75, which was billed to our room). The “catch” in visiting Cuba was it had to be a cultural or educational visit, and there had to be a person to person interaction. My […]
Our first port was Key West, Florida. Stephen and I wandered with my parents along the Main Street, while my sister and brother in law went snorkeling or some water activity. There were two goals we had: 1) visit the Southmost point of the United States, and 2) […]
For the next 15 days, the Azamara Journey will be our home. Our ship is small compared to the typical cruise ships floating out there. Instead of housing 3000 passengers, the Journey had about 600 passengers. Our room was #7083 and we were located in the middle of […]
It’s the last night on the cruise, and tomorrow we’ll be back in Los Angeles. The week actually didn’t go by as fast as I thought it would. Perhaps the 2 days at sea helped make it seem longer? Our final dinner was an American theme, and they […]
Our last day on the cruise, as we set sail back to the Port of Los Angeles. Some cruises will give you a tour of the Bridge or the Galley (the kitchen). The Ruby Princess had a tour of the Galley, and I made sure to get to […]
After the ice carving demonstration, we got ready for formal night number 2. Stephen’s dad didn’t attend, so the 3 of us had our last formal dinner of the cruise.
The Ruby Princess left Cabo San Lucas a little after 3:00 and we decided to enjoy some sun by the pool on the Lido Deck. While we were lounging around, a crew member brought out a block of ice, to do an ice carving demonstration. If you […]
