It's Day 5 onboard the Westerdam, Wednesday, April 15th so only 15 days to go until we hit Vancouver. With all the news reports of crime and wide-swept drug issues, our tour of Cartagena was actually a welcome surprise. It’s a city of about 1.4 million people in a country that tops out at about 48 million. We found Cartagena to be very well kept – the streets were clean and smooth (this is important when walking – just one turned ankle today) bu...

CROSSING THE LINE SEA DAY - Day 14 is another sea day with overcast skies and about 81 degrees F. We have another 280 nautical miles traveling at an average speed of 13 knots before we reach Manta, Ecuador tomorrow. But today is also the day that we "cross the line" as they say onboard. It's the first time for both of us as we have not been this far south before. The ship celebrates this event by holding the King Neptune Ceremony on the aft sun view pool deck....