Here We Go Again - More to Sea

January 31, 2024   Well, some of you may have seen some headlines concerning cruise ships, the Red Sea, the Houthis and of course Gaza, the West Bank and Israel.   The long and short of it is that the Houthis in Yemen are attacking ships in the Red Sea to protest the problems going on in Gaza and Israel.   Several ships have been hit by missiles just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.    The U.S. has retaliated in force but the threat is still there and it is real. So here we are way over in the Pacific Ocean minding our own business and enjoying our stops along the way.   We are not supposed to be in the Red Sea area for about 2 months from now. But… things just cannot go along as planned when there is so much uncertainty headed our way.    Short story long, we are being diverted before we get to that particular area.   Along with every other cruise ship, cargo ships, etc.    At least 14 other cruise sh...

  Tuesday January 30, 2024   Great day today!  Great place! Today we arrived at the resort city of Puerto Vallarta.   You could almost hear Ricardo Montalbán say the words we all remember from Fantasy Island.   This is a beautiful resort destination and offers everything you would think of as such.   We get our big boat parked up to the dock just ahead of a sister ship from Carnival.   Two big cruise ships hitting the place at the same time.    As you might expect, the port city loves it.   The workers, maybe not so much.   Our berth is barely 100 yards away from a major 6 lane road.   And what is on the other side of the road but a Super Walmart and a Sam’s Club.   As you might expect, the lines were long.   Ship employees live for this kind of stop so they can hurriedly jump off the ship, go grab whatever supplies they need and then hurry back to the boat.    Ironically, so do the ship’s guests. ...

  Monday, January 29 th , 2024   Here we are in the Pacific Ocean again.   It seems like only yesterday we were in the Atlantic.   Oh yeah, we were.    Just like magic (or a canal) we scooted from one to the other.   After leaving Costa Rica we pointed the ship north and came up the Mexican coastline to Manzanillo.   Saw my first soldiers today complete with some wicked looking weaponry looking sternly at us as we departed what was obviously our spy boat.    I am sure they were there for our protection rather than looking for guilty privateers amongst us. Manzan, as we in the biz like to call it, is the largest commercial port on the western coast of Mexico.    It is also touted as the most secure, hence the guards.    It seems that the cartels are real things and that ports are ripe for cartels because all the goods come in via ships.      I felt no threat in any place we went today so I will ass...

 January 26, 2024   Ok, LeRoy is going to admit something that is only going to make me look like an idiot. I know, I know. Easily done… I don’t know why but I always thought Costa Rica was an island just lying off the Mexican shore.  Not sure why but that is what I thought.  It is in fact a country, in Central America, on its own with a most fortunate placement.   The beautiful Caribbean Sea on the east border and the beautiful Pacific Ocean on the west border.  Panama is to the south and Nicaragua to the north.  Costa Rica is known for its beaches and its rugged rain forests that contain a multitude of animal habitats where various types of monkeys, sloths and birds make their homes.   Especially birds.  We even saw crocodiles in their own environments from the safety of a very small and creaking boat that they use to take victims… I mean people down the river to see what they can see.  Costa Rica is about the same size...