Puerto Chiapas, Mexico

Aloha Everyone,

This was the most disappointing port of call. It was hot, humid yet windy. I wasn’t the only one who ran after my baseball cap rolling off towards the swimming pool on the port.

Our cabin steward Rey made us a towel art. Using towels, paper and strings, this little dog either stares out to the sea or into our cabin. He seems to have four different animals. Looking forward to receiving another towel art.

Our cabin steward takes care of twenty staterooms.  Usually in the afternoon he does turn down of beds and replacement of towels. Rey is quiet, pleasant and we are grateful that he is taking care of our daily requirements.

Aloha -- Cathi

Huatulco, Mexico

Aloha Everyone,

Our Lady of Guadalupe church is currently undergoing renovations. Through the open doors, I took photos for friends who might benefit from her grace.

The walk to get into the city center seemed far. We hired a motorized coach. 200 pesos for the two of us was well worth it.  

Met a couple from our dinner group. While J.J. and the couple chatted, I walked around to take photos of the surrounding areas.

Aloha -- Cathi

Ivan from Guatemala

Aloha Everyone,

Staff on the Crown Princess, especially those who come in direct contact with passengers, are friendly, hardworking and respectful. Therefore when you meet an outstanding person, you take a notice. Ivan from Guatemala is always happy who offers a truly extraordinary service. With his infectious enthusiasm and broad smile, people who meet him feel good. You might say Ivan is a goodwill ambassador.

My request for Gluten free bread resulted in having a specialist who offers special gluten free meals to passengers. My soup order was rescinded to green vegetables, my pasta was replaced by Gluten free pasta with sauce. I know that he meant well but that didn’t make me happy. It lacked taste.

Went to watch the sunset. Too hazy to see the green flash.

Aloha -- Cathi

Princess Theater Entertainment - Yaniv Zarif, Music Beyond Languages

Aloha Everyone,

Yaniv Zarif is Israeli born and he grew up in Miami, Florida.  Good voice and definitely an intelligent entertainer, he tried to incorporate 37 different languages in 45 minutes.

Some highlights including songs from Fiddler on the Roof, Everybody Loves Somebody Sometimes, and Lion King.

Yaniv bombed with Japanese, a long introduction but poorly executed song. J.J. and I mostly enjoyed ourselves and even joined the audience sing along.

We are looking forward to seeing Yaniv’s new performances in a couple of days.  This time it will be not so much about his ability to speak languages but about Broadway musicals. Overall, we give Yaniv high marks for a very enjoyable evening.

Our shipboard time has been changed. We are now 4 hours ahead of Honolulu.

Aloha -- Cathi

Port of Call, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Aloha Everyone,

Our first port of call means shopping for provisions at Walmart.

We purchased anti diarrhea medication and baby wipes. It took us about 25 minutes to walk one way and another 20 minutes to walk back. Apparently there is a new shopping mall with high ends brand names stores nearby, but we are happy to have accomplished our first port of call day without any mishaps.

Witnessing a woman who is walking with her portable oxygen tank, a man who walks on his artificial leg and has his alternate leg in a leather casing and walks with his canes, but always cheerful and smiling. Admirable.

Aloha -- Cathi

People We Met so Far on Board

Aloha Everyone,

A couple from Ontario, Canada. He is a retired attorney. After 25 years representing mostly private clients, he worked as a judge for another 27 years. He recalls details of his cases including historical events and stories related to his work. Very impressive memory.

However when it came to his life, traveling with his motor vehicle throughout eastern United States from Ottawa to Florida was sketchy.

Usually couples we meet if husband is an Alpha Male, then the wife stays quiet in the background.

Another couple from Michigan. Again the husband who is a boisterous man talked about his job as the grave digger which led to owning a funeral home. Wife was quiet but it’s she who runs their business.

The last man was a widower who lost his wife recently. This was a cruise they had planned to take together.

We talked about the fleeting life and how we live each day is what counts. People who are passing through also have greater purposes than one might think.

Aloha -- Cathi

Settling Businesses

Aloha Everyone,

This morning, the two of us stopped at the Guest Services desk.  

Sonia Perez, Guest Services Officer from Ecuador was helpful. She assisted us with removing mandatory daily gratuity. We prefer to give our monetary appreciation to those individuals who gave us exceptional services.

One major change is that our future cruise credits value have been reduced.  For example, we have $200 future cruise credits. Now they are worth $150. The incentive today is based on cabin category. Ownerships of Carnival shares are also reduced in value.

Pistachios chocolate dome is green with red decorative flag on top. The taste is so so but very photographable dessert.

Aloha -- Cathi

Embarkation Day

Aloha Everyone,

Our Lyft driver was jovial and wanted to carry a conversation with us. Born in Mexico, Juan was lamenting how he cannot go anywhere out of California. He is afraid of being stopped by immigration officials and sent back home. Juan said that he lost all his rights even though he pays income taxes. His employer is taking advantage of current global political and social climates.  

Once at the port, we had to get into lines to get our bag tags then another line to pick up our new medallions. It actually took us two hours to complete the check-in process but felt a lot longer.

Our cabin steward, Rey from the Philippines warmly welcomed the two of us handing us his name card with contact information.

Our lunch at Bordeaux Dining Room, we sat next to a travel agent from Michigan. She has traveled to many countries but not to Caribbean.  She’s looking forward to this trip.

For dinner, we shared a large table with sprightly 98 years old father and his 70 something son from Sacramento. CA. Two close friends, from North of NY started their cruising after they became widows.

The third couple were from Ohio State. Learned about how the wife’s pension from her teacher’s is far better than his pension from state transportation department. 

Aloha -- Cathi

Busy Day Before Our Cruise

Aloha Everyone,

This morning all things worked well for our pre-departure day. J.J. was able to use the hotel trolly to move our boxes and kitchen items to our car.

Once at the storage locker, a car pulled behind us just as we secured their push cart. Crudely made but it is functional and this saves us time to move out things from the car to our storage unit. The gentleman informed us he will wait for us to finish using the cart.

Sufficient time to stop by our room to take a break before J.J. and I left to return the vehicle to Enterprise Car Rental.  Irene was right behind us to give us a ride.

Her invitation to lunch at Olive Gardens was our final activity for the day before continuing our packing.

Portions at Olive Gardens are large. Calamari for appetizers followed by minestrone soup was filling.  I had most of my shrimps scampi boxed.

Aloha -- Cathi

Bathtub Nonslip Mat

Aloha Everyone,

We purchased it in Guadalajara, Mexico. Their bathtub was slippery and we wanted to have a secured shower. Since then it has traveled with us half way around the world including to Boracay and our 4 months stay in the Philippines.

After we finished our packing, J.J. noticed the bathtub nonslip mat was still in the tub. Too late to take it to our storage lockers. I guess we need a replacement upon our return.

Aloha -- Cathi

Lavandería, Storage Locker, Housekeeping

Aloha Everyone,

Our 3 bundles of laundry cost $27. Once we are onboard our cruise ship, we should be getting free laundry service. From there we stopped by at our storage locker to drop off excess clothes and ice chests where we store extra medicine and my cosmetics.

We try to reduce our personal effects but so far not much has changed.

Miller knocked on our room door as we were finishing our lunch, He asked if we would like to have our room cleaned. Enthusiastically we invited him to change our bedding, replace bathroom and kitchen towels.  

Never mind sweeping the floors. We could overlook such minor details.

Such is our current lifestyle at Extended Stay America. Our requirements have been adjusted from the luxurious Makati Diamond Residences to ESA.

Aloha -- Cathi

Coral Princess News

Aloha Everyone,

There are numerous websites offering free information on Coral Princess including the latest news and updates about the itinerary.

One of the more interesting sites supposedly written and posted by third party giving you unbiased views. 

Our departure date to go on the back-to-back cruises through the Panama Canal is only a couple of days away. AI is not only tracking how often we visited the Coral Princess site but also information on our subsequent cruise to Puerto Rico. 

It seems there were outbreaks of some sort of viral infections. J.J. cautioned me that we might have to wear masks and required to wash our hands before going to the dining room.

Aloha -- Cathi

Catching Up with Our Friends

Aloha Everyone,

Wonderful phone visit with my dear friend JF in Hawaii. We talked about multiple topics including our upcoming health checkups.

I am gratified to hear that JF loves my travel blogs especially because of the current state of world affairs, it might be a while before we can visit some of these places again. 

Food is another blog posts JF enjoys although since we’ve been back in California, our meals have been mostly takeout box meals of Japanese or Chinese cuisine.

Aloha -- Cathi

Empress Szechuan Seafood Restaurant

Aloha Everyone,

The restaurant opens at 11:30 am. By the time we arrived, cars were already occupying the spacious parking lot.  Chinese restaurants typically focus on serving good food but no frills. My sister parked her car adjacent to where J.J. parked. When we walked inside, we got one of the last booths.

J.J. is connoisseur of Chinese dim sum. Menu isn’t necessary. He checked items off the order list including custard and buci filled with dark brown beans paste.

Aloha -- Cathi

Appointment at Wells Fargo Bank

Aloha Everyone,

For our 9:30 am appointment at WFB, we were 20 minutes early. The bank officer was delayed with her previous meeting. J.J. utilized the time to get small bills for porters and luggage handlers.

Our meeting lasted about two hours. By the time we stepped out of the bank, it was already lunchtime. We stopped by at Mitsuwa to purchase our takeout food for the next 6 meals.

Aloha -- Cathi

Visiting Our Family in La Jolla

Aloha Everyone,

It was absolutely wonderful seeing our family. We all appreciated delicious and healthy tofu, veggies with ground turkey curry. Lots of fresh salads, fruits and dark chocolate.

Three hours passed quickly. Exchange of hugs and more souvenir photos. Feeling happy and blessed, the unexpected traffic congestion caused by an accident and Sunday afternoon traffic jams on the freeway didn’t bother us.

Aloha -- Cathi

National Park Passes for Seniors

Aloha Everyone,

This is the best government program ever for seniors. We first applied when we started to travel with Honu. The cost was $10 for each of us and the magic word is that it would be good for our lifetime. 

Since then, the price has been raised.

Our passes are grandfathered. However, we have to have them upgraded to include our current information. 

With AI technology our data will become increasingly accessible.

Aloha -- Cathi