Antigua, Guatemala December 26, 2017 We had been to Guatemala only once. That occasion was 14 years ago, on a Thanksgiving cruise from Tampa during which we were pleasantly surprised to be joined by Julie and Steve Lux, as well as Julie’s parents and kids. The highlight of that visit was a river cruise Steve […]
m/s Amsterdam, off Oaxaca, Mexico December 25, 2017 Our string of consecutive years spending Christmas in Tampa was dead. Dead as a doornail. Of that there was no doubt. We must instead carry the chains of shore excursions, happy hours, and dessert buffets we have recently forged in life. This year, with some initial reluctance, […]
Offshore between Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco December 24, 2017 The day began and ended with a Mass, the first for the fourth Sunday of Advent and the second, at Midnight, to celebrate Christmas. In between was a relaxed, enjoyable Christmas Eve. My first accomplishment after the morning Mass was to recruit a couple of Battle […]
Cabo San Lucas, Baja California December 22, 2017 Perched invitingly at the far end of Baja California, Cabo San Lucas, like a lone woman settled at the corner of a Bourbon Street bar, tends to look better from a distance. Approaching Cabo San Lucas Plate tectonics and the Pacific did their part […]
Off Baja California December 21, 2017 The Amsterdam is much as we remembered her from our Alaska voyage 18 months ago, and (acknowledging we have not traveled the Prisendam) my preferred size and design among Holland America ships: well proportioned and apportioned, with Queens Lounge and Crow’s Nest Forward, La Fontaine dining room Aft, and […]
San Diego, CADecember 20, 2017 We arrived last night, tired but without incident, wearied from a year during which the ground often felt unsteady beneath our feet and eager for two weeks of uninterrupted relaxation on a surface where undulation is expected. Rising with the sun, and after an hour walk through […]