After a full day at sea and enjoying the entertainment on the ship we arrive in Labadee, Haiti. This is the Cruise lines private island. Last night the winds had been high so the captain changed route a bit and took us through the inside of the Bahamas Islands instead of the outside. We knew there was movement of the ship but nothing that bothered us at all. The weather is great today and we were able to just relax at the beach and had a great BBQ. Did a bit...

Today we left on our 1st cruise on Freedom Of The Seas for the Western Caribbean. The ship is currently the 4th largest cruise ship with a capacity of 4375 passengers and 1360 crew. 1112 ft long and 185 ft wide. Built in Finland in 2006. We were truly in awe of the size and beauty of this ship. We had an ocean view stateroom with a large window and we felt very comfortable and not cramped. The staff are extremely accommodating and there to meet all needs.

We arrived in Melbourne and were greeted by Jo & Barry. We were able to spend 5 days at their beautiful home (BRS). " Bruce Resort South ". We stayed in the Buboltz Suite #1. We had a great time and had great weather. Spent a lot of time enjoying their beautiful garden patio.

We left the Mawamba Lodge this morning for the trek back to San Jose. We encountered a blockage in the canal by a fallen tree so the boat was held up a bit until they could get it cut and removed. It was a long day of travel but the visit to Tortuguero was worth it. This ends our time in Costa Rica. Our flight leaves early tomorrow. "Pura Vida" (Pure Life)

It rained quite hard during the night but we had blue skies again today. We had a full day of checking out the National Park. We started with an early morning 2 hour boat cruise then after breakfast a 2 1/2 hour hike and back for another 2 hour boat ride in the afternoon in search of birds, animals, flowers, etc. We saw many things here in nature that amazed us. We saw 3 species of monkeys. Howler, Spider, and Whitefaced. They pulled the boat close to the e...