Costa Rica - Panama Canal - Colombia - Aruba - Barbados - Dominica - St. Thomas - Puerto Rico

Jane - Kate - Carol - Jerry

April 2001

Breakfast in the elegant Grano del Oro Hotel in San Juan, Costa Rica.

Carol at the National Theater. Unfortunately everything was closed due to the Good Friday holiday.

We hired a minibus and left San Jose on the Pan American Highway that supposedly runs from the top of one continent to the bottom of the other. After awhile, we turned off on a narrower road heading toward the coast. Our minibus seemed like much too large a vehicle for the winding road and oncoming trucks were scary but we did make it OK.

Breakfast in our suite at Punta Leona on the Pacific Coast.

View from the pool at Punta Leona.

C & J sitting on the edge of the pool (and not far from the edge of the cliff down to the ocean).

Sunset over the Pacific

The next day was a bit rainy as we left Punta Leona and took a taxi to the Sun Princess at Puerto Caldera. A scary name but I think it was named for the heat rather than an actual volcano.

We boarded the ship at deck 5, unpacked our clothes and stowed our bags for the next 10 days. The first activity is to learn your way around. After locating our cabin, deck 10, we found the dining room, the library, the computer room, pools, hot tubs, nightclubs, etc. Elevators service up to deck 14 and a flight of stairs takes you up to the top deck.

The ship cast off about midnight and made the short trip to Puntarenas. I got up early and left the others to go on a shore excursion of the Carara Biological Reserve. If you like jungle plants and animals, click here for a separate page.

Shortly after sunset, the ship cast off headed for the Panama Canal, arriving about dawn.

This is an overview of the Miraflores Locks. There were two other groups of locks before entering the Caribbean. Total distance deep water to deep water is about 50 miles. If you want to see more details of the canal, click here for a separate page.

Night after night, we shared our dinner table with a couple from Montevideo, Uruguay plus a father & son from Vancouver Island, Canada. Talk about opposite extremes!

The ship had a nice library of bound books and books on tape. The leather chairs had the tape players built in. It was extremely pleasant to relax and watch the birds and waves go by while listening to a good book.

Kate and Jane had the adjoining cabin. Jane snapped this picture as we were getting ready to go to dinner.

The magic of a cruise is every morning you wake up in a new town. This is Oranjestad, Aruba.

Strolling around the streets.

We hired a taxi to take us to the Hyatt Hotel at Las Palmas Beach.

Carol had brought her swim mask and had some luck finding a star fish.

Towns are nice, but beaches are nicer! All too soon, we had to return to the ship and cast off for Barbados.

The top decks of the Sun Princess at sunset.

Carol enjoying the breeze at the ship's rail.

Jane stayed near the ship in Barbados while Kate, Carol & I hired a taxi to see the sights.

St. James Church

The diaper heads prepare to tour the cave.

This is Harrison's Cave on Barbados. The tour totaled about a mile. We were told that caves this large in the Caribbean Islands were rare.

The town of Roseau in Dominica and the mist behind. Dominica is mountainous, some are volcanoes. The snorkeling tour of Champagne Reef was sold out so we missed seeing the bubbles rising from a submerged volcano. (Hence the champagne name).

Cruise ships lined up in the port of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. Sun Princess is on the left. I did a bit of shopping in the duty free stores, replacing an electric shaver stolen at the beginning of the trip and got a bottle of Kahlua & Myers's Rum.

Walking down a narrow passageway among the shops in Charlotte Amalie.

Our last day of the cruise. We enjoyed the deck loungers as we watched the ship pull out of Charlotte Amalie. St. Thomas was the first port where Carol had cellular service and she is busy checking in with family members. This had been a nice cruise. Hope you enjoyed sharing our pictures. Jerry

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