The Honeymoon's Over............or IS it?

For our 1 year anniversary we went on the Sun Princess Panama Canal Cruise from Princess Cruises. We booked the cruise in September so that we would have something to look forward to for our special day!

Our vacation started on Thursday March 14, 2002 in Fort Lauderdale. We spent two nights at the beautiful Hyatt Pier 66. Both Thursday and Friday we went shopping at the boutiques, lounged at the pools and spent our evenings in the bar! The top floor of the hotel is a revolving bar, complete with a band and waitresses with REALLY good balance! The day before the cruise Brenda decided she wanted her hair cut and had a great time with her stylist Guy; you simply *must* see him at the Pier 66 Salon. If you were ever wondering what a $70 hair cut looks like check out Brenda's hair in the following pictures!

Day 1 - Saturday March 16, 2002

The stateroom was not as small as we had expected. There was a king size bed, night stand, desk, refrigerator, 2 closets, a bathroom and our very own private balcony. Sweet!

Day 2 - Sunday March 17, 2002

Happy 1 Year Anniversary to us!!! We woke up at 10:00am and were served a champagne breakfast on our balcony. On this day we were at sea and had no schedule to keep to. After breakfast, we went to the Lotus Spa for the back massages that came with our anniversary package. The remainder of the day was spent playing ping-pong, sipping Berried Treasures and Pina Coladas and hanging out by the pool! They couldn't have planned the itenorary any better, as this night was one of the Captain's Dinners and the dress was formal. We reserved a table at Sterling Steakhouse for dinner and brought along our wedding cake top. The waitor did his best to take pictures as we cut our cake and fed it to each other. The cake really didn't taste that bad considering it had been in the freezer for a year!

Day - 3 Monday March 18, 2002

At Sea

Day - 4 Tuesday March 19, 2002

Our first port of call was Cartagena, Columbia. We took the "Scenes of Cartagena" tour. The first stop of this 4 hour tour was what they call the Old City. We walked through the city and visited La Popa Monastery and the Naval Museum. From there we took a bus through the New City to Forteleza de San Felipe and our final stop the Church of San Pedro Claver. This church was built in 1603 on the highest point in Cartagena. When the tour ended we went shopping at Pierino Gallo. This is where we met the man with the sloth! The guy wanted $5... we talked him down to $4. Aren't we smooth! Everyone in Columbia wanted our money. From the time we left the ship, people constantly harrassed us to buy crap. Some of them Andrew would talk to, like the man selling drawings of the historic buildings. Andrew gave the young man pointers on how to use line-weight to increase the 'depth' in his picture. Andrew also told him that in order for the tourists to take him seriously he should ask for more money. He then refused to pay the higher price and got on the bus.

Day - 5 Wednesday March 20, 2002

The ship entered Gatun Locks of the Panama Canal at 8:24am and exited into Gatun Lake at 9:52am. Once the ship was anchored in the lake we took a tender to shore and began our tour, "Grand Tour of Panama" at the lock observation deck. From here we were able to watch our cruise ship pass back through the locks on its way to dock in Cristobal. We got some great video of the rising waters and locomotives that move the ships along through the locks. From the observation deck we took a bus into the rainforest and boarded boats. The boats took us to an island in Gatun Lake where the Embora Indians reside. Unfortunately it poured so we were not able to complete the tour of the village, but we were able to see some traditional tribal dances and purchase some of their handicrafts.

Day - 6 Thursday March 21, 2002

Limon, Costa Rica was the port of call. Our tour for the day was the "Rain Forest Aerial Tram". This was one of the most breath-taking tours of the entire trip. We boarded a tram that was much like the cable cars at Disney World. The tram took us up, up, up into the rain forest canopy. We were able to see several different birds, butterflies and flowers, and the view of the inactive volcanoes and forest line was spectacular! Pictures and video could not capture the feeling of floating through the rain forest. After our 1 hour tram ride through the canopy we took a 45 minute hike through the rain forest. We saw more butterflies along with leaf cutter ants and some interesting bright orange and white bugs! The most fascinating thing we saw on the hike were bullet ants. These ants are the same size as your finger, from the tip to your knuckle. They are very poisinous. From the hike we got back on the bus and drove to Restaurante Danta, by the Rio Danta, for our typical Belizian, uh, Costa Rican lunch of chicken, beans and rice and yuca.

Day - 7 Friday March 22, 2002 (Brenda's Birthday!)

Another day at sea! By this time we were beyond burnt and Brenda was becoming a pretty good ping-pong player! This night was the second Captain's Dinner requiring formal dress.

Day - 8 Saturday March 23, 2002

We both agree that this was the best port of call. Grand Cayman Islands! We arrived early in the morning, before any of the stores in the market square had opened. We decided to take advantage of the early morning light and picture perfect setting of rocks, water and our ship! Our "Grand Cayman Highlights" tour began at 10:00am. We piled on another bus and went straight to Hell! Hell is geological formation, and a popular spot to mail postcards from. We mailed 23! (Along the way we stopped at the Tortuga Rum store where Andrew ate lots of free rum cake samples!) From Hell we went to the Turtle Farm where we saw newly hatched turtles all the way up to 600 pound adult turtles! At the touch tanks we were allowed to feed and pick up the turtles. The tour ended back at the market square, where Andrew headed back to the Tortuga Rum store for more free samples and bottles of rum. It was here in Grand Cayman where Brenda purchased Andrew's anniversary gift, a Tamron lens for his Nikon F5.

Day - 9 Sunday March 24, 2002

Last stop on our awesome adventure, Cozumel, Mexico! Tour for the day, "Tulum: Lost Civilization of the Mayans". Our first stop was a Mexican shop along the highway, selling terra cotta crafts and hand woven rugs. Brenda wanted a statue of one of the Mayan Gods, but we were not sure which God was which. She picked out one that had many colors, a big head dress and a sun on his stomach. Andrew insisted that it was the Sun God. After haggling with the vender and buying the statue, for $8 instead of $15, we went back to the bus to ask the tour guide about our Sun God. Much to our surprise we found out that we had purchased the God of Fertility! The ruins are amazing, not as high as the ones in Belize but the complex was larger. The view of the water was beyond beautiful.

Day - 10 Monday March 25, 2002

Our last full day at sea was spent baking in the sun with alcoholic beverages! The perfect end to a perfect vacation, anniversary and birthday! (Notice how white Brenda is even though she is sunburnt!!)

Day - 11 Tuesday March 26, 2002

The ship arrived in Port Everglades at 6:00am and we disembarked at 8:30am. We drove straight to Merritt Island where we put our photos in 1 hr. developing and then took them to show Brenda's parents!