Friday, May 14, 2010

Monday, May 3, 2010 – Cartagena de Indias, Colombia – 82F – humid - cloudy

Didn’t quite get that hour extra sleep.

I was able to watch the tricky approach to the Cartagena Harbor

 Approach Cartagena (Small) 

Fortification – about 30 minutes away 

Cartagena Inner Bay (Small)

Cartagena Inner Harbor – The Old City is visible

Virgin Carmen (Small)

The Virgin Carmen still protecting the city

I was in the buffet about 7:30 AM along with about 700 of my closest passengers.  Most of the tours are early this morning due to the short stay in Cartagena so everyone is eating breakfast at the same time.  Ellen joined me at about 8:00 AM. 

The Island Princess is docked at the only non-commercial pier

Island Princess Cartagena (Small)

Island Princess Docked

Me and the I Princess (Small)

We are in the Tourist Center now using their WIFI and starting to get wet.  We purchased three 15 minute segments for $1 each.  The WIFI is fast so we can get a lot done in 15 minutes including uploading earlier blogs.  It’s threatening rain but the humidity is over the top – everything in the area looks mildewed.  We hesitated sitting on any fabric chairs due to the moldy look of them.  It is really wet here.

H and E Cartagena Visitors Center (Small)

The Dynamic Sweaty Duo at the Visitor’s Center

After using up just one of our WIFI tickets, we went back and head lunch in the Provencal Dining Room for a quiet lunch.  

By now the sun was out and the temperature was in the 80s.  We went back to the Visitors Center to check on any e-mail responses.  All caught up with those, we went back to the ship.  Another early departure – 3:00 PM.  The ship left a bit early – everybody must have gotten back early due to the heat. 

The sail away from Cartagena was very scenic

Sail away Cartagena (Small)

You can see La Popa on the hill in the center of the picture.  On our way out of the harbor and into the open Caribbean, the same fort we saw on the way in was visible on the starboard side

Fort Cartagena Sailaway 1 (Small)

Sail Away – Cartagena –Fortress

We couldn’t go out on the deck until the ship started moving and we got a breeze.  We had about an hour until we had to get dinner so that we could catch Tom Franek – our frenetic lounge singer – in his first of the cruise headliner act.  Dinner was in the Horizon Court – Salmon Caesar Salad again – still pretty good.  What made it even better was the guacamole and salsa plus chips.  Cannot resist the guacamole, which looks fresh due to the chunks of avocado present.

Tom’s show in the Universe Lounge was not as kooky as his lounge act and he did a good job with some tough songs.  Overall, a good show and as he would say, “You Betcha”.

The Princess Singers and Dancers put on their second production show, “Piano Man” in the Theater.  The production showcased tunes by Elton John, Neil Sedaka (how about that), Liberace (yes), Billy Joel, and Barry Manilow.  The dancers were great and the show was very well done – costumes and production values were excellent.  I especially liked the energy of the dancers, who really go all out.

Piano Man Show (Small)

Piano Man in the Princess Theater

After the show, we went to see Pat Milino in the Wheelhouse Bar.  He is a really good singer but the venue is for dancing so there is singing and then long instrumental bridges.  We danced one song that went about 10 minutes.  We had hoped for more vocals from Pat – maybe he will have another one-man show later in the cruise.

Both of us are tired so back to our cabin for some reading and then lights out early…

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