My Turn

 October 9, 2026

Most of you know the constant conversation at 233 about the thermostat. Bonnie is always hot. I am always cold. Well, Carnival Miracle has worn her down. We've asked 4 times for them to raise the temperature in 1181 (the little knob on the wall doesn't work). And she is officially cold. I sleep in a sweatshirt over my pajamas. Perhaps on Monday Galveston will be hot.

Tonight was elegant night with instructions that no shorts or jeans be worn to the dining room. To have kept count, after I filled up my 10 fingers, I would have had to taken off my shoes and socks to have continued to count. As I remarked to my dinner companion, "Bon, it is like red lights in Augusta, Only a suggestion.

Speaking of red, tomorrow is my last talk for this cruise: "Red--The Color of Desire."

And I conclude with the red 1959 2-door Chevrolet Brookwood.

TTFN

Leaving Columbia Behind

 Good evening Mr. and Mrs. American and all ships at sea!

That was Edward R. Murrow, wasn't it.  Well, I haven't borrowed that for a long time.

Ok, I am working on next Sunday's sermon for Crawfordville, so here's Bonnie!

Well, yesterday we didn't do much. We had breakfast, lunch and nap. But had a special supper. A portion of the dining room staff invite about 60 of the evening diners to a special supper up on deck under the stars. We were two of such invited guests by written invitation only. I t was a beautiful night under the stars. A nice breeze was blowing. We sat with a couple from Texas. They pastored  a non denominational church there. We had an evening of enjoyable conversation, great food and entertainment provided by the workers. We felt honored to be included and had a good time. 

After supper we went to the phantom theater for the "soul music" concert. It started with "Sittin on the dock of the bay". It was good. Afterwards it was off to the cabin and sleep.

We got into Cartegena about 9 am. I woke about 7 and he was up about 7:30. We showered and headed to the dining room for breakfast. It isn't as quick as the Lido but the food is hotter. They started letting guests off the ship about 9 from deck A forward. That is one level below our Deck 1. We had walked to the Lido deck to get ice for our cups after breakfast and take a look outside. 

We were in the container port. There were hundreds of containers on ships around us. There was a walk along the dock , probably 20 minutes for us, to a small shopping area that leads out of the dock area and into the city.

We didn't want to walk so he called the guest services desk to ask if there was a shuttle service to the small shopping building. And there was a free shuttle to and from. So we got our traveling hats, sunglasses, cards, photo ids and  some money, and headed down the steps to deck A. We got out and onto the shuttle, one of the first. Rode to the area and I immediately remembered it from our other visits here. 

There were flamingos, parrots, birds and vegetation of all kinds. It was a path that circled the building. There were places to buy drinks and snacks and sit down and relax. There was also a large building in which there was every large variety of souveniers. They had quite a few hand made crocheted items that were beautiful. I saw a Snoopy, Pooh, Turtle, flamingos, and even a Stitch. However, they were very high priced. Extremmely so. The Snoopy was $64. I didn't price the Snitch because he was much larger. The minature flamingos were $24. They may have had three yards of yarn. Everything was very well made. They even had  very nice crocheted bags and I did splurge on one of those. Everything in the large shop was made in Cartegena and not from China. There were some very beautiful Things. We did some Christmas shopping!

We remembered that one time when we were here that when we were walking through the area where the animals were, a parrot came over and bit your Dad on the ankle. Broke the skin and caused it to bleed. We had to put antiseptic on it and it was sore for a good while after. It was not pretty. The animals all roam free and there are no cages. The flamingos are in a large area with a small fence enclosure. But the parrots roam free and jump on people's shoulders, etc. People were holding them in their hands and feeding them today. But that day one attacked Dad for no apparent reason.

We were only out about 1 hour. After riding the shuttle back, we put our purchases in the room and headed to the Lido deck with our one remaining coke. It was just after 11. We ordered one pepperoni pizza, got two glasses of ice and had lunch. It was a good pizza. We played some cards and then had some ice cream before heading to the room for a nap. He napped and I didn't. 

I wanted to watch back on board at 4:30 and sail away. So about 4 we headed up to deck 3 outside our dining room and then had to walk to the other end of the ship to watch.

 I got to see back on board but one passenger didn't get back until 4:50! He was late. So we had to go inside for supper. The ship was pulled in and would have to back out and turn around to leave! Sadness. It was 5:30 before the ship started to leave.

Now, supper! I ordered "baked brie" , what I got was a vanilla like pudding, definitely not baked brie which I have had on other cruises. Next I had a "vegetarian shepherd' pie"  The dish it was served in was a round dish less than one inch high and about 5 inches in diameter. It had very nice browned mashed potatoes on top and contained 4 small pieces of brocolli, 2 small pieces of cauliflower, one pea, 10 or so pieces of carrot, and a nice cream sauce. It was miniscule! Then, dessert was a banana foster bread pudding with a caramel sauce. There was no sauce and it was cold and very dry! So my supper was a big bust!

There is no show tonight that we wanted to see. The big show was the love and marriage game and only 18 years and older were allowed to attend. That means it wasn't for us. So we played some cards and then back to the room to read and he is studying. Free day tomorrow and supper is "elegant" attire. 

Well, as he says are you writing "War and Peace" my tale is through.

Hope you all are well. Love you.

Mom, Granny and Bonnie

P.S. Karen tell Sasha to leave the snakes alone!

Boobies

 October 6, 2026

This morning we went to a talk advertised as the history of the Panama Canal.  Instead it was mostly a talk about boobies: white boobies, brown boobies, black boobies, pink boobies, and green boobies.  The talk was by the naturalist on board who is a bird expert and he spent most of the time talking about boobies and terns and kingfishers and sea gulls.  The Phantom Theater was packed and I wonder if the rest of the guests were as disappointed as your favorite cruisers.  Having read David McCullough's great book on the canal, I just shook my head. Oh well.

This morning, Angelyn, our favorite dining room team member, invited us to a special Al Fresco dinner on Deck 9 tomorrow night.  It is by reservation only and we were honored for the invite.  You will no doubt be filled in tomorrow night on all of the details.

We sailed into a rain storm just before dinner tonight and I asked the JAMM Kids if it was raining in Georgia because the song says, if it is, it is raining all over the world.  It was not.  Another myth shattered.

In the ongoing cruise card game the bride of my youth is up 5 games to 2, but I lead game 8 by 100,  Time will tell.

And now. Coming to the keyboard, here's Tina Turner herself!

TTFN

I cannot believe how little, almost nothing, about our trip through the Panama Canal  is being provided by the ship.  It is the whole purpose of the cruise. Most people on board took the cruise so they could go through the canal. The talk this morning was interesting if you wanted to know about birds. But next to nothing about the canal was told. Some slight historical notes, with errors, but that was all.

I thought when I got the Fun Times paper for tomorrow when we got to our room tonight that there would be more. There is a very small blurb about our day. It will start about 5 in the morning and end after 4 pm. They tell us the name of the locks and the lake. They don't say whether we are going through the old or new locks. The Naturalist this morning assumed since we were a small ship we would go through the old locks. 

Now according to the blurb a specially trained canal pilot will come on board and take control. They don't tell us if there will be a person on board to tell the history as we go through. As has happened on our other transits. BUT the Naturalist will do a "leisurely stroll on open decks to learn about the local wildlife and see what nature has to offer" at 9 am starting at Sam's piano Bar on deck 3 forward!

And of course on the Lido deck midship will be "a great selection of Panama t-shirts, key rings, magnets, and much more. Take home a great souvenir from your Panama Canal transit".

This is nothing like the transits we have done in the pass. 

Oh, well. We will see what tomorrow has to bring. Maybe I will be surprised.

We had a nice day. Played some cards, had tomato soup and ice cream for lunch and of course a nap. After naptime we visited the shops before supper and made a few purchases. They have put a new puzzle on the table outside dining room deck 3. Dad took pictures. It is of Alaska and is a small one. 

For supper dessert was good. No comments on the rest. 

The show was the variety show featuring some of the guests as singers and dancers with members of the crew. The music was from the 50's and was very good. The show was a big hit and a lot of fun. 

We are in the room where I am reading some of my Dirk Pitt book and having a drink, orange water. I will take my pills in a little while and then head off to bed. They have finally gotten the temperature in our room under control and it is comfortable, sssh.

Well, nothing else to say. Hope everyone has had a good day. I do miss you all. Dad has gotten our airplane tickets all updated for our later return and arranged a limo to get us to the airport on time. Wheelchairs will be awaiting us in Houston to get us to the first gate and in Atlanta to get us from one flight to the next! so all is well.

Love you all. Mom, Granny and Bonnie

Bonnie's Turn

 Ok. She wasn't asleep.

I was doing puzzles. We got up and went to the Lido for breakfast because he had a talk at 10:30. He went back to the room to study and I went to the Red Frog Pub where there was to be coloring sheets to do. No one showed so I read and then went to the Phathom for his talk. After the talk we played cards and he won. Now it is 4 to 2. We could see land out of the windows on Deck 2 where we were sitting and cargo ships on the water. It was after 11:30 so we knew we were getting close to the dock. We were to dock at 2. 

So we went to the Lido and Guy's burger place and got a burger. We sat outside on the deck and ate. It was extremely HOT! I really got overheated so we got our ice cream cone and went inside the Lido and watched while the ship docked and put out the ramp for getting off. It was off Deck 2 midship.

We watched people start getting off just after 2. Those on tours were the first. This dock is very skinny and watching some of the people on their riding machines coming down the ramp was scary. If they went to fast they would go right into the water because there was nothing to stop them. Then, the regular guests started coming off. We watched for a while then went to the room and got our stuff and headed to get in line on Deck 2.

As we got off you could see in the distance a storm brewing. As we walked down the pier the lightning was flashing off to the right of the pier. It was maybe a couple of miles from us but it was dark , black and angry looking clouds. The lightning was scary too. Well, we made it down the pier and into the "town" very old, and extremely poor looking. I wanted to get some can cokes but all they had were bottles. I felt very uneasy. So we headed back to the security set up at the end of the dock by the Costa Rica sercurity. Of course I set it off and had to be wanded. 

The storm was getting closer to us. We waited for a free trolley that ran from the ship to the end of the dock and rode back. When we got to the ramp there was a line to get on. There was only one ramp so we had to stand and wait as people were getting off and the storm got closer. We waited for about 15 minutes to be able to get back on to the ship. Through ships security and yes I set it off, out comes the wand! 

We found our way back to our room and by this time it was 4 pm. We were both exhausted so we took a short nap and at 5 the dining room said our table was ready. The table was ready for Melvin and "TT", me Tina Turner. Early in the day we had been at guest relations because he needed to ask a question and I told them I was "Tina Turner" because the dining room still called me TT and if they were going to do that I was just going to be "Tina Turner". Big laugh.

Supper was good. They have run out of lettuce because the salad I ordered had some tomatoes, some specialty "lettuce" and 4 big pieces of cucumber, yuck! The rib eye was okay nothing like our rib eyes at home. 

After supper we went to a show touted a one night only show with the band from the Red Frog Pub. It was very LOUD! and we recognized I think one of the songs. The musicians were indeed very good but we understood almost none of the words sung by the male or female vocalists. Most everybody else seem to know what they were saying Oh well, we are old.

So now we are in our room. Everybody should be back soon. Then off we go. We are to get to the Panama Canal on Wednesday. We still don't know what time. 

He doesn't have a talk for 4 days so we are just cruisers for a few days. 

Well, almost bedtime so I will say goodnight to all.

Love you! Mom, Granny, Bonnie

P.S Jennifer what does Maggie want for her birthday?

P.S Michael ditto for IVY?

P.S Karen what about Shannon for her birthday.

P.S I was extremely uncomfortable in the town.

Been There

October 5, 2026

We got into Pantarenas 5 hours later than originally planned because we dodged Hurricane Rachel. All aboard is in 30 minutes (9:30) with sail away 30 minutes later (10:00).

Your favorite cruisers went ashore for less than one hour. We walked to the end of the pier, looked into 3 stores searching for cans of Coke.  Found none.  Only bottles and you can't bring bottles on board.

So we turned around and with thunder and lightening behind us and the sky growing ever darker, we hopped onto a shuttle and came in . The rain was about an hour behind us, but we did not care.

Back to the room. Then a nap. Then supper. Entries of baked ribeyes. One of the hostesses with whom we visit stopped to tell us about her trip outside, quicker than ours.

Jennifer had gone about 30 minutes down the pier when she saw a guest, an older lady, standing alone and looking like she was going to pass out.  Jennifer excitedly, and with satisfaction, gave us the details of how she got security to get the guest back on the ship and in good health. She said it was a blessing from God that she was able to help and thanked him for putting her in a position of service.

Well, we are turning the clocks ahead one hour and my cruise buddy's eyes are getting heavy so I will say TTFN for now.

TTFN

P.S. Rachel Bryn, they did not start a new puzzle today. We will check tomorrow.

That's A Broaderick Crawford

 Happy October 4, or as we used to say on our CB radios, "10-4 Good Buddy."

In case you haven't heard, because we had to detour several hundred miles around Hurricane Rachel, we are getting into Costa Rica tomorrow at 2:30 instead of 8 o'clock. Our excursion was canceled because it was 5 hours long and sailaway is 10 p.m.

To give the guests something to do in the morning, my "Spice" talk has been moved up from Tuesday, I haven't done this one in a while, so I need a little more rehearsal. And with that I shall observe the dictum of short and sweet and turn the keyboard over to Mom to tell you about my dinner companion tonight,

TTFN

And here she is ...Well, I took a pain pill before supper because I was hurting so I was a little more dopey then usual.

Tonight Dad's dinner companion was Tina Turner! They still do not have me in the system in the dining room so his dinner and cabin companion is TT. I call her Tina Turner!

I slept a good part of the afternoon while he worked. The Captain's party was tonight but we did not go. We did dress for elegant night . The menu was some huptido stuff. I opted for cream of brocolii soup, shrimp cocktail, beef wellington and melting chocolate cake. He too had the shrimp cocktail, and then baked oysters Rockefeller, lobster and shrimp and a chocolate pave for dessert. Most of the people dining around us got 2 entrees of lobster tail. If you have a third it cost something extra. 

He needed extra study time so we came back to the room after supper. I read, did puzzles and played scrabble on my phone. That is all my phone is good for except my morning reading.

Tomorrow since we get to Costa Rica late and he has a talk we will go to the Lido for a little breakfast. Then, while he does his last bit of studying I am going to the Red Frog pub and doing a coloring activity celebrating Hispanic Heritage month. All supplies supplied! Then I will be off to his talk.

If there is something close to the dock we may get off and shop and see if we can get a few can cokes to bring back on board. 

Since we are leaving so late it will be interesting to see what they have to offer for supper. There is a show tomorrow night and we may go to that since he has no talk the next day. We also turn our clocks up another hour tomorrow night so we will only be 1 hour behind you.

I am taking pictures of the towel animals our cabin steward is making for us and that are sitting around our cabin. They are the usual stuff but cute nonetheless.

Well, nothing really exciting happening here so I will say goodnight to all.

Love Mom, Granny, Bonnie

Sunset 2