Chiriquí Chatter

The seventh day was completely at sea. I only saw this one ship for the entire day.

Several times over the previous days, I looked over my balcony railing and thought that if a person fell overboard, it is easy to see why they would never be found. Every time that thought crossed my mind a shiver ran down my back.

The day was spent preparing the bags for disembarkation and leisurely enjoying the day. At one point we passed a presentation of how all of the towels were folded into the various shapes.

We revisited all of the ship’s shops. We had cappuccino and ate cookies. We talked about all of the fun we had had.

In the evening, the sunset was not nearly as spectacular as the other sunset I took photos of, but maybe that was appropriate. None the less the sun was setting on what had been a most enjoyable cruise.

There was a special presentation in the Theater of all the performers we had seen.

At the evening meal, I took photos of the evening dining friends we had made over the last few days.

This first group was from Venezuela.

What an interesting story goes along with them. If I remember right the couple on the left were having their honeymoon and lady on the right was the bride’s sister. They had purchased one of the less expensive rooms and when they got to Colon they found that their room had been given to someone else.

Because of the mix-up, they were told they would be given a replacement. They said when they walked to the room, they saw large double doors. Upon opening it they found out that they were in a $6,000 suite with two bedrooms. I saw photos of their quarters and it was pretty special. It had a grand piano, a large full bar with all drinks complimentary. They had showers and jacuzzi tubs. The showers were huge and had four shower heads. They received fresh cut flowers each day. There were chocolates and fresh fruit.

One evening we went to our dinner seating, they came in and had just been seated, when a waiter came up and told them they were supposed to be at the Captain’s table. They had come on board with only casual clothes never expecting the need for any other attire.

The young lady on the right said that she had died and gone to heaven and never wanted to leave. These were some of the people that made the most of shopping at the various ports. The fellow had bought a watch for $200+ that he said would have cost him $1,200 in Venezuela. They were a fun and very personable group.

The people in the next photo were from Panama City. Here we have Aurelio, his sister Lizzy and her boyfriend.

Felicia, Aurelio and Lizzy’s mother, had taken sick the previous evening and was not present. We really enjoyed their company and hope to see them again on either one of our trips to Panama City to their trips to Chiriquí.

The last photos of the day were taken very late in the evening.

We decided to spend some time at a piano bar on the ship.

I don’t know if the accompanists in this photo was planed or just happened. The fellow on the right was from Argentina and renowned for Tango music. He played during the Tango night in the theater. He could really make his accordion sing.

The other day, I had someone suggest that I upgrade my camera. I like my camera pretty well. It is an Olympus SP570UZ. It is more than a point and shoot, with a good lens that approaches a SLR, but is a little more compact. It does allow me to take low quality videos which a SLR would not. However, it is a little slower. Sometimes it takes a little time after pressing the shoot button until the photo is actually taken. Here is an example of what can happen. I was in the process of taking a photo of the fellow playing the accordion, and the shot did not happen fast enough. This photo would not have happened by accident with a SLR. In this case, maybe it turned out to be a better photo than the one I planned.

About now, it was time to return to the room and make sure our bags were properly tagged and placed outside our room for pickup. Only a few more hours to sleep and we would wake up in Colon.

I have one more post which will be in Colon, which will reflect on the entire trip. No se vaya.

Tags: Cruises, Tourist Related