Day 7, Island Princess Cruise December 2009

Limon, Costa Rica


Chef's Table Tonight!

The weather in Puerto Limon is dull today, some rain with clouds and a moment of sunshine now and then. Hot and very humid. Let's stay on the ship.

I took a picture from the balcony and caught two tour buses and a van waiting for adventurers. In Cartagena the other day I stopped counting tour buses at fifty...

Word on board is that there's some sort of religious festival today and all the shops are closed. Even the tourist welcome center looks closed. The national tourism officials do have a wonderful slogan right now: it translates 'Costa Rica, No Artificial Ingredients.'


Here's a link to Costa Rica's tourism website.






There's coffee in them hills!

Tonight we eat at the Chef's Table. The menu is posted above. There are eight of us and it's non-stop eating for three hours. It costs a little bit extra but it's worth it. And wine is included. Great service, too. And Loreto Bembo, the ship's executive chef, is watching over us from the beginning to the end. When dessert finally comes you can eat the dishes.

Distance Sailed
Fort Lauderdale to Aruba
1104 nautical miles = 1270 statute miles = 1822 kilometers

Aruba to Cartagena
374 nautical miles = 430 statute miles = 617 kilometers

Cartagena to Panama
279 nautical miles = 321 statute miles = 460 kilometers

Panama to Limon
193 nautical miles = 222 statute miles = 318 kilometers

Total distance so far
1950 nautical miles = 2243 statute miles = 3218 kilometers

NOTE: 1 nautical mile = 1.15 land miles = 1.85 kilometers

Coral Princess Cruise, April 2007 -- Day 4

Thursday, Limon, Costa Rica

It is really getting hot. Of course Panama and Costa Rica are pretty close to the equator so it's to be expected. This morning we arrived in Limon with every intention of going ashore and seeing the sights in the port area. We could see colorful shops, groves of palm trees and a beautiful beach with waves breaking -- perfect for some surfing.

We walked down the pier to the parking lot and decided it was way too hot to cross it to get to the quaint shops a quarter mile away. So we took this fine photo of our ship, alongside Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas. And went back to the air conditioned comforts.

On many of the larger Princess ships the main buffet restaurant is called the Horizon Court. Often these are placed in the middle of one of the upper decks -- simply decorated, designed mostly for quick and efficient meal service. On the Coral Princess however the Horizon Court is high up in the very front. Between its port and starboard dining areas the room wraps around the top of the ship directly over the Bridge. The view is fabulous and there is a large space that can be set up for special food service with live chefs preparing meals. One day it was a sushi bar, the next a Trattoria, then a huge all-you-can-eat pastry shop -- like the biggest wedding reception you ever saw.

DISTANCES
From Fort Lauderdale to Panama Canal
1273 nautical miles, 1464 statute miles, 2355 kilometers
average speed 21.0 knots

From Panama Canal to Limon
187 nautical miles, 215 statute miles, 346 kilometers
average speed 18.2 knots

Total distance sailed
1460 nautical miles, 1679 statute miles, 2701 kilometers