Manzanilla, Mexico It's two days since we were in Mexico and the temperature has dropped dramatically. We will be in LA tomorrow. This morning we were eating breakfast when the officer of the watch announced that there was a pod of dolphins ahead. Most diners rushed to the windows to have a look. We'd just settled down again when a whale was spotted. Again we rushed and there it was, right next to the starboard side. Good stuff. Back to Manzanilla. It is an ...

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. What a great day we had here. The dock being too small to accommodate the ship we were taken ashore in tenders. As Elite passengers, we are entitled to priority tender embarkation so we didn't have to wait in line. That's just one of the advantages of travelling with Princess Cruises. Other benefits of being Elite are that laundry is done for free, your bar fridge is restocked once each segment, you can order canapés in the ca...

Puntarenas, Costa Rica. The weather was hot, as usual. Our crowd met, as usual, in the Atrium on Deck 5 and left the ship accompanied by the usual constant beeps of people's cruise cards as they were dipped into the scanner. What wasn't usual, however, was that we didn't find a minibus. We should have walked to the very end and out to the street but we settled for a small bus tour. It wasn't full so we thought it would be OK. Big mistake! When we got to the ...

Colon, Panama. First of all, the name 'Colon' was not given to describe the place by comparing it to part of the human anatomy, although it could have been. Instead, it is the local version of 'Columbus', after Christopher, of course. I'm out on deck enjoying the breeze and gradually catching up on this diary of our travels. We are heading for Manzanillo in Mexico so I'm only a little behind. Colon is an old town that was originally built on a swampy island w...

Panama Canal We were underway in the wee small hours so had already passed through the Gatun lock before we woke. The rest of the day was spent out on Deck 7 rushing from one side of the ship to the other to get the best view of what was happening. The locks were interesting as our ship is almost the maximum width although not quite the maximum length that can transit the canal. The maximum size is called the Panamax so the Dawn Princess...