Friday, April 13. 2012, Las Vegas, Nevada

Friday, April 13. 2012, Las Vegas, Nevada

Sometime after supper and early this morning I started coming down with a cold.  I got worse and I was no help with disembarkation or anything else.  I slept every time we sat and waited for anything.

Curtis picked us up when we arrived at McCarran and we were home at about 4:30.  I went straight to bed and remained there most of Saturday and Sunday.  By Monday I will probably be well enough to start my rounds of doctor appointments.

Thursday, April 12, 2012, Aboard the Star Princess at Sea, N36°13.09 W122°37.28

Thursday, April 12, 2012, Aboard the Star Princess at Sea, N36°13.09 W122°37.28

Our last day at sea, we arrive in San Francisco early tomorrow. The sky is mostly cloudy and the sea gray with long swells and a few white caps.

We spent most of the day with final preparation to disembark in the morning. Picking up photos and filling out paperwork.

Gerri and Neva went to breakfast and I stayed in the stateroom and read. I did go down to the International Grill and got a bowl of chowder and a tuna sandwich.

We packed and put out most of our suitcases and then Gerri and Neva went to afternoon tea. Later they went to see another show by Bernie Fields, the harmonica player before dinner.

I did get sunset photos from our balcony. There were no striking colors, but I did get a couple of pictures of the sun as it set into the marine layer.

Our last supper with our table mates attended by Bernardo and Oksana was the best yet. Although gratuities are added to our bill we gave more to both our table staff and room steward for taking such good care of us this week.

After dinner we went back to the room to finish most of the packing and put the last bag out.

Almost a sunset

We are supposed to be out of the stateroom at 8 AM.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012, Aboard the Star Princess at Sea, N32°21.74 W118°31.67

Wednesday, April 11, 2012, Aboard the Star Princess at Sea, N32°21.74 W118°31.67

Gerri started rattling around before daylight. Our coffee came at 8. On our arrival in San Diego it was overcast and rain was predicted. Our mooring is just to the right of Anthony's Sea Food, we can also see the Star of India and other sailing ships. We were just north of the carrier Midway, but that was on our starboard side so not visible from our balcony.

Montyne picked us up. We stopped in the lot by the Midway to get pictures of the ship and some of the statuary there. I found a cache by the Bob Hope Memorial.

We met John at the Del for lunch. After lunch, John went back to work and the rest of us went back to John and Montyne's boat at Coronado Cays.

We got back to the ship a little before 5. Gerri and Neva went aboard and I stayed behind to look for a cache near the terminal. I didn't find it. We sailed at about 6 We stayed on deck sixteen for pictures as we left San Diego harbor, until it got too cold. With the clouds to the west, there was a chance of a great sunset. There probably was a great sunset but not for us the clouds were to heavy so it just got dark.

After supper we went to the International Crew Talent Show.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012, Aboard the Star Princess at Sea, N30°32.4130' W116°43.5647'

We woke up to a cloudy morning and rain is forecast in San Diego.

The ship's stores were having another sale today. Gerri went out and brought me back coffee before she and Neva went shopping. We planned and did go for breakfast today at the Horizon Court.

We put a deposit on a cruise next September that leaves Barcelona, Spain and ends 30 days later in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. It is actually two cruises and are part of the maiden voyage of the Royal Princess.

We made it to afternoon tea for the first time today. After that it was relaxing in our state room until time to get dressed, this was our second and last formal night. We had another couple sets of professional photos made.

At 7:30 we went to a Captains Circle party. We met the Captain and after the speeches we had our picture taken with him.

Tonight lobster tails were on the menu. Several of us had that and some others had the beef wellington.

Our waiter, Bernardo, out did himself tonight. Extra portions all around. Both the beef and lobster tails.

After supper we went to the Vista Lounge and saw a show featuring Bernie Fields. It was a very good show. Bernie Fields is a harmonica virtuoso and played classical music.

Gerri and Neva went to the party in the atrium. I went back to the room.

Monday, April 9, 2012, Aboard the Star Princess, At Sea, N23°40.0716' N111°04.6778

Monday, April 9, 2012, Aboard the Star Princess, At Sea, N23°40.0716' N111°04.6778

We decided to have what to us is a typical day in Cabo. Sitting around the pool reading and looking at the ocean. Reading and visiting was the order of the day.

We ate our lunch at the pizza and grill on deck 14.

We come to Cabo every year for as much as a month. The resorts we stay at are 6 and 20 miles north of Cabo San Lucas. Even though we often come to town and even eat at Soloman's Landing on the water front, we never really got a full view of how busy the harbor is. From the decks of the ship we saw a great deal of activity, jet-skis, para-sails and a great many sightseeing vessels. From the resorts we only see the ones that go between San Jose and Cab San Lucas. That number is not nearly as great as the ones here in the harbor.

We sailed away from Cabo at a little past 5:30.

Once out in the Pacific we turned north and the wind was blowing from the north. With us moving north at 20 knots and the wind blowing at 15 knots, it was quite windy on the balcony and decks. The ride was pretty smooth in spite of the wind.

Sunday, April 8, 2012, Cabo San Lucas, BCS, MX

Easter Sunday. Up at nine and ordered our coffee and juice prior to arriving in Cabo San Lucas. From our balcony we could see the arch as we entered the harbor. The Celebrity ship we saw yesterday in Puerto Vallarta was already anchored when we arrived. The arch was very plain to see with few or no boats there or along lovers beach.

We took the tender to town. I walked to a cache while Gerri and Neva walked through a curio shop. Gerri and Neva went to a jewelery store and then we had lunch at Soloman's Landing. We then walked to another cache by the Cabo Wabo. We also went past Salvatore's Italian Restaurant to see what time they opened for lunch.

We were back on board by 4:30. We rested up, showered and got ready for dinner. Bernardo and Oksana are very good to us. We sat around the table until the place pretty well cleared out. We then went to the Atrium area and took pictures.

Friday, April 6, 2010, Aboard the Star Princess At Sea, N21°24.7034 W107°18.1091

Another sea day before arriving at Puerto Vallarta. We woke up to a cloudy morning, much warmer than yesterday. After coffee and fruit in the room Gerri and Neva were off to an 80% off sale You know the prices were high when they can afford to take off that much.

We had lunch from the grill by the pool and an ice cream cone. Gerri and Neva sat in the sun while I read.

After dinner we went to a ventriloquist show in the Vista Lounge, Dan Horn.

Saturday, April 7, 2012, Aboard the Star Princess At Sea, N20°59.0633 W106°23.9221

We were up at 8 AM even after losing an hour last night. We had coffee in our room and arrived in Puerto Vallarta at about 10. It was getting warm by the time we got ashore. I looked for a cache near the cruse ship terminal without any luck. The last couple of cachers also didn't find it. I think is missing. We looked around few shops. Then we headed along the main street for awhile but we were getting hot. Gerri and Neva decided to go back to the ship. I walked a little further and hailed a taxi to take me to the El Faro, a cache less than a mile away as the crow flies but quite a distance as the road goes. I did find this cache after some searching. I then caught a taxi back to the ship.

When I first got off the ship there was another nearby cache, but somehow I had erased it. Back in the stateroom I went on line and looked it up. Even though it hadn't been found by the last two cachers, I went for it. No luck, there was a obvious place to hide it but no container was there.

By this time I was hot, tired and hungry, so I went back to the ship and got a hamburger. I took a turn around the ship taking pictures of the harbor from all angles. We also took more pictures as we sailed away. The sky looked as though there might be a good sunset. But sunset wasn't until after our dinner seating.

We regain an hour tonight on the way back north west to Cabo San Lucas.

Thursday, April 5, 2012, Aboard the Star Princess, At Sea, N25°53.0644 W113°45.1609

We slept very late this morning. The morning was almost gone. We had coffee in the room and then went to the Horizon Terrace for lunch. Gerri spotted a whale spouting in the distance, maybe a ½ mile. We all saw it a little later.

I sat outside near the stern and read while the ladies went to the atrium area shopping. It got quite chilly after awhile and I headed back to the room, Gerri and Neva came back just a little later. They hadn't bought enough to melt the credit card. Gerri picked up some daily Sudoku games from the library. We only had one pencil. I did my game in what I thought was pretty good time. Gerri solved hers in a shorter time. But, I didn't interrupt her a dozen times to ask, or state, “aren't you finished yet?”

This is a formal night and the Captain's Welcome Party. We were dressed in time to have pictures taken before the party and dinner.

We had an excellent dinner and after coffee and conversation we returned to our state room for the evening.

Wednesday, April, 4, 2012

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Wednesday April 4, 2011 Aboard the Star Princess At Sea N32°11.4622 W117°42.0096

Gerri turned the Wake Show on at 8:30. This broadcast isn't as funny as the one aboard the Sea Princes, informational but not funny.

The ride smoothed out during the night. This morning there were long swells and white caps but the ride was smooth.

Gerri's camera was sent back to Canon last week to repair a scratch on the lens. I brought my Nikon, but found I didn't have a mini USB cord to connect to a computer. The Nikon is an older on and uses a Compact Flash card. Neither of our computers has a slot for CF cards.

By 10 there was land visible from our stateroom. At 1050 we met a container ship headed roughly NE, we were 450 miles from Catalina.

We were at anchor off Avalon by 1:30. The sun was out and very little breeze, so it was quite comfortable. Pictures from the ship were hard because of the sun being over the island in our face.

Since we weren't going on any tours we ate lunch on board. We went up to the Skywalk lounge to se the

We went ashore and split up. I went caching and Gerri and Neva went downtown shopping. I found two caches. I tried another but was five feet away on the wrong side of a fence with the gate of the business closed.

If anyone remembers my blogs from Great Falls, MT., you may remember our hunt for painted buffalos. Well, two must have escaped and made their way to Santa Catalina, CA.

It was getting dark by the time we left Avalon, but the water front wasn't lit up enough for a good pictures, and we weren't south of the island in time to see the sunset.

After dinner we went to the Vista lounge and saw George Casey, an Irish comedian that we also saw on our last cruise.

Tonight we set the clocks forward for Mexican time. Gerri went to sleep right away. Neva and I read for awhile before lights were ou

Tuesday April 3, 2012

Tuesday April 3, 2012 Aboard the Star Princess At Sea. N37°47.6584' W122°24.5754

We got up about 8 AM and had coffee in the room. Since we didn't have to check out until noon and the bus was scheduled to pick us up at 12:45, we took our time getting ready to go.

I did go back down to the NW corner of the block to try again for the cache I didn't find yesterday. Same result today.

The bus was late in picking us up to go to the ship. We were told that because of spring break traffic was heavier than usual. We were on the Star Princess by about 2:30. After dropping some things in the room we went to the buffet in the Horizon Terrace.

We tried to stay out on deck for the sail away but it was much too cold. Neva and Gerri did go on deck when were went under the Golden Gate Bridge. I took pictures from our balcony.

Our luggage was delivered to our room one suitcase at a time. It was 6:30 before it was all there. Our dinner seating was 8:00. Our table was just inside the dinning room doors, very handy Our table party was us; Sue and her sister Caroline and her husband Michael; and Ann and Bob. Ann and Bob are from Saratoga, CA. Ann is from San Francisco and her sister and husband live in Redmond, OR. I think we lucked out again with table mates, conversation flowed well. The dinner was excellent. We lingered at the table after dinner over coffee and desert. We didn't make it to the showroom.

Incidentally our suite is D708, near the rear of the ship. Very handy to the dining room, only down 3 floors. However we are at the opposite end from the Princess Theater..

Leaving San Francisco was cold and until dinner the sea was rougher than we are used to, not really bad but we have been spoiled on our prior cruises. When I went out on the balcony for a position reading it was calmer and much warmer than earlier in the day.

Neva and Gerri at Muster Station

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San Francisco, 04/02/2012

April 2, 2012 San Francisco, CA The Mark Hopkins Intercontinental Hotel.

Gerri got most of our things packed by Sunday evening for our ten day Cruise down the west coast to Puerto Vallarta.

She set the alarm for 5:00 AM to make sure we had every thing ready before her mother, Neva, arrived at 7:30 AM. Our flight to San Francisco was scheduled for 10:25. Neva is going with us on the cruise. Gerri's sister Montyne, is staying at the house with my mother.

Montyne dropped us off at the airport at about 8:10. We arranged a wheel chair for Neva and the trip through security was pretty quick. Of course we had to go through barefooted without belts and with empty pockets and redress on the other side. Our flight departed on time and we arrived in San Francisco a little earlier than scheduled.

We picked up our luggage and looked around for a Princess Cruise Line Rep that was supposed to meet us and get us on the way to our hotel. Gerri was looking for a number for the Intercontinental when a Cruise Rep came by and saw Neva's name on her luggage. We were on her list as unknown mode of arrival. It seems Gerri didn't tell Princess how we we re getting to San Francisco. Of course the Rep worked it out and with some confusion about the taxi, we were on our way.

We checked into the hotel and got a recommendation of a restaurant on Pier 47. We took a taxi to the restaurant, Scoma's. The food was excellent with great service. We took some photos in the area. It was cold and breezy so we grabbed a taxi back to the hotel.

I went out to grab some caches. I found a virtual cache, a traditional cache and didn't find one. This is a hard area to cache in. You can only leave the Intercontinental in one direction without going down steep hills, of course the 3 downhill were where the caches were.

After some computer and TV time we called it a night.

Our bus is scheduled to take us to the ship tomorrow at noon. I may try for my DNF again in the morning.