Photos from the Island Princess Cruise, December 2009

At the Panama Canal our Island Princess photographers take balcony photos of passengers at the Gatun Locks

• Cartagena, Colombia, The Fort, December 4, 2009


• Cartagena, Colombia, Old Town, December 4, 2009


• Cartagena, Colombia, Harbor Views, December 4, 2009


• Panama Photo Set 1, December 5, 2009


• Panama Photo Set 2, December 5, 2009


• At sea on the Island Princess, December 7, 2009


• Ocho Rios, Jamaica,, December 8, 2009


• Island Princess Bridge Visit, December 9, 2009

Day 9, Island Princess Cruise December 2009

Ocho Rios, Jamaica


Navigator of the Seas at the dock in Ocho Rios

The only other ship in Ocho Rios today was the Navigator of the Seas. It was a gray, dull day as you can see from the photo above. The original plan was for us to stop in Montego Bay today, but early in the cruise we were told that Day 9 would be in Ocho Rios.

There are two docking facilities here. One is next to where the Navigator of the Seas tied up. That dock can accommodate four ships and leads to a modern welcome center and downtown is immediately across the street. We docked a mile away by an ugly warehouse. It's a long walk to shops and restaurants along a busy highway.


Hamilton, Bermuda is the Port of Registry for the Island Princess. So it is no surprise to see a large Bermuda Red Ensign flying off the back of the ship.

Lovely dinner tonight in the Bordeaux Dining Room. Our head waiter, the attentive Nelson, treated us to a starter of very nice escargots and a wonderful pasta dish with our main course. Before we were finished eating we realized we had miscalculated the time and needed to hurry over to the Universe lounge for tonight's show.

We explained our problem to our waiters but as we left Nelson and others worried "that something was wrong." Even offering to send the rest of our meal to the the cabin to have after the show. It was our fault for not planning better and getting to dinner 30 minutes earlier. As it was there were few seats left in the lounge. In fact, we may have gotten the last two.

What we were rushing to the Universe Lounge to see was, "Adrian Zmed...In Concert." He was backed by the Island Princess singers, dancers and band. Every 10 days Zmed performs the show for two nights on the Island Princess and then two nights on the Coral Princess -- three shows on each ship. Both ships have the complete sets, costumes and performers, the only thing they don't have two of is Mr. Zmed. It was a fine show. Excellent music and the singing was terrific.

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

Limon to Ocho Rios
670 nautical miles = 771 statute miles = 1106 kilometers

Total distance so far
2620 nautical miles = 3012 statute miles = 4323 kilometers

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

Grand Princess Cruise, December 2007 -- Day 2

Monday, Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Above is a photo looking west past the end of the cruise ship dock in Ocho Rios. This was taken from our balcony on the starboard side of the Grand Princess. Our cabin was on the Dolphin Deck, Deck 9.

We had no serious plans to leave the ship during the stop in Ocho Rios. Possibly we might have taken a taxi to Dunn's River Falls but the weather was rainy and very hot so we stayed on the ship and had a fine time. In the afternoon the sun came out and the temperature got hotter so we were glad to be where we were.

Below is a picture of the harbor (or harbour, as they spell it) with the town of Ocho Rios in the background.



On a Princess Cruise nearly everything you need is included in the price of a cabin -- meals, some of the non-alcoholic beverages, all the shows and the gym. You have to pay extra for beer, cocktails, wine with dinner and soft drinks. There are also two special restaurants -- Sterling's Steakhouse and Sabatini's Italian Restaurant -- that charge an extra "cover charge." For Sabatini's it's $20 per person for their upscale service and food choices.

We had eaten at the steakhouses on other Princess ships, but this was the first time we visited Sabatini's. We had a very good meal there and the service was excellent. (This was not our experience at the steakhouses.)

The meal consists of many small courses of classic Italian dishes followed by your choice of entrée and dessert. A meal at Sabatini's takes quite a while, nearly two hours, and it is great fun watching the wait staff present all that food in the stylish dining room.

SUMMARY OF THE CRUISE SO FAR
From Fort Lauderdale to Ocho Rios, Jamaica
754 nautical miles, 867 statute miles, 1395 kilometers
average speed 20.4 knots

Coral Princess Cruise, April 2007 -- Day 6

Saturday, Ocho Rios, Jamaica

According to Captain Manfuso's Log of the Cruise, "We were all fast alongside by 0800." Soon after that we went ashore to the terminal building. It was very hot and humid. The Coral Princess was the only ship in port here today.

For years we read about Firefly, Noel Coward's vacation retreat in Jamaica high above Blue Harbour and the town of Santa Maria.

Before we went to Montego Bay last December on the Golden Princess we looked into making the trip over to Firefly. However we couldn't find any official package tours, and it was too far for a day trip on our own.

On this cruise we would stop for a day in Ocho Rios and Firefly is just about 18 miles east of the port. Again there were no organized tours offering what we wanted, but through the Internet we found Marva Shaw who operates a tour service, KnowJamaica.com, and she was most helpful. Her company's slogan is, "Feel free to customize your own itinerary." Thank you, Marva, One Love from Pensacola!

Through Marva we set up exactly the tour we wanted -- a drive to Firefly and back with a nice visit there including a guided tour. The toast we made at Sir Noel's grave site we provided ourselves -- with a thermos of icy martinis we brought from the Coral Princess.

Firefly was rescued and restored by Chris Blackwell of Island Records. The estate is now operated and maintained by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust. For more information about Firefly and Chris Blackwell's other Jamaican interests click here.

On Flickr there are more photos from our visit to Firefly, just click here to see them.

And now for a few words of warning...
Outside the very heart of the tourist area of Ocho Rios the streets and roads are bad. Very bad. Do not think about renting a car and driving into the countryside yourself.

Our driver, Maroon, heroically avoided the worst of the potholes, often having to drive in the ditch. There are also long stretches of rough surfaces that cannot be avoided and I am talking about the main highways. To get to Firefly we needed to take some back roads and the conditions on these were terrible. We were both elated when we saw the sign for Firefly.

If you suffer from any kind of back or joint problems, tend to get motion sickness or have problems with long periods of violent shaking do not attempt the trip to Firefly. The round trip of less than 40 miles sounds easy but when much of it is taken at a speed of 5 to 10 miles an hour it makes for a long day.

We loved seeing Firefly, toasting Sir Noel and walking through the house. Inside Firefly there are lots of photos of his guests over the years. They were icons of the 20th Century -- Vivien Leigh, Lynn Fontanne & Alfred Lunt, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, the Queen Mother, Ian Fleming and many, many more...

It was worth the trip, despite the bumps.


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

From Limon to Ocho Rios
650 nautical miles, 748 statute miles, 1203 kilometers
average speed 18.1 knots

Total distance sailed
2110 nautical miles, 2427 statute miles, 3904 kilometers