I'm not sure why this didn't get here till today but here is DP's update from the 18th:
Hi Everyone!
Greetings from the Magic! It's Sunday, May 18th, and we're currently
sailing off the coast of Central America, heading towards Mexico. The
canal crossing was nothing short of amazing, stupendous, wonderous,
etc., etc. There are no words to describe it, but I do have pictures,
which will probably have to wait until I get home, because I took no
less than 200 just through the crossing alone. In the meantime, enjoy
the photos that I took us through our stop in Aruba.
I wanted to do
more updates and send more photos, but the internet connections are
usually very sporadic and I can only send so much via photo text
messages.
Right now, it's 2pm, and there have been quite a few sealife
encounters in the last couple days. We've seen dolphins and whales,
and also have had a large flock of birds following alongside the ship,
hunting the flying fish. It's breathtaking, and I've never experienced
so much activity on the seas before. There was even a
waterspout/"tornado" yesterday. Nature is definitely making herself
known on this voyage.
On Wednesday, we were in Aruba, which was surprisingly dry and not
tropical at all. The island is largely rock coral, and is heavily
populated with assorted cacti and iguanas. We took a semi-submersible
craft to a historic shipwreck. It was so beyond awesome! The people of
Aruba are very friendly, and largely poor. The minimum wage is $805
per month, which is also the lowest rent for a one-room apartment. A
couple of us had a great lunch at a local cafe. There were these puff
pastries filled with Dutch gouda cheese that I wish I could eat all
day long. Wolfy and I also went shopping for some tacky souvenirs. At
one shop, she asked the man for a lower price, and he obliged, saying,
"Just please promise me that you'll vote for Obama. We're tired of
this war. Tired of people dying and tired of people being poor." It
was really interesting to hear a foreign opinion firsthand. Anyway, I
ended up with a stuffed rainbow goat on a spring as my tacky prize for
that port. It's awesome! I also bought two bottles of mystery drink at
a convenience store. It is in a soda bottle with a white label that
reads "Nesbitts" with a rainbow and barcode - no ingredients or
flavors are indicated, yet the two bottles I contain two very
different colors. I asked the cashier what flavors they were, and even
he couldn't tell me. It's a little frightening, so I think I'll save
those for my husband to try first.
Our group of 14 are all seated at the same table in the dining room.
We're the rowdiest bunch onboard, and lots of fun has been had so far.
We've had a private brunch at Palo, and we have the best table
reserved for us in the main dining rooms. Our service staff love us
because we're so lively.
Passing by Guantanamo Bay was interesting - through my binoculars, I
could see a patrol boat speeding along the shoreline. The actual bay
was just on the other side of the hills, so there were no buildings or
anything that we could see. Unfortunately, it was already nightfall by
the time we passed Haiti, so I have no pics of that.
Tomorrow, we dock in Acapulco. A few of us are signed up for a hike to
some ancient petroglyphs.
So far, we've gotten some behind-the-scenes looks at the upcoming Walt
Disney Family Museum. We absolutely need a group swanking to San
Francisco next year. The museum is going to be incredible, and really
pay homage to Walt's legacy, without the company's over-marketing,
etc. It's a nice tribute to have something separate from the typical
corporate stuff.
Oh, and for some of the guys back home, there was dancing cowboy
eye-candy last night on stage at one of the clubs. Don't worry - I
made sure to take video.
Anyway, that's my more extensive update-at-sea instead of a tiny text
message today.