World Cruise Miami to LA

Central American Survey

After passing through the Panama Canal, we turned north towards Los Angeles, the end of the first segment of the cruise.  Three not-so-interesting ports would finish up the Central American part of the journey.  Of course, anyplace has something of interest but none of these were on our bucket list.

The first stop was Puntarenas, Costa Rica.  The ship was once again docked in an industrial port which makes it unappealing to just walk about on our own, so we took the included excursion.  These tend to be bus trips during which your guide gives you background on the country and the scenery as you travel.  Neither Carol nor I are big fans of riding on a bus for 1-2 hours to have a 45-minute stop and then return to the ship.  Still, it beats sitting on the ship or walking amongst the shipping containers.

Our guide was engaging and spoke good English.  He encouraged us to ask questions, so I asked if Costa Rica had a national bird.  He pulled out his mobile phone and showed me a photo of the Clay Colored Thrush while imitating its call.

The scenery was pretty with bright flowers and fields of sugar cane.  We disembarked at the town square of Esparza(Sparta)
where a small market had been set up for us to browse.  A group of children dressed in bright costumes entertained us with some dances, culminating in the “Broom Dance” in which a solo dancer is given a broom which he or she must hand off to another person until the music stops, making the holder sort of an old maid.  Carol was called into the circle but fortunately wasn’t left with the broom, sparing her the extra attention that befell one of our shipmates.

After the show, we took a quick look at the goods on offer, bought some Costa Rican coffee beans and spent a few minutes in the cathedral before boarding the buses for the ship and our farewell to Costa Rica.

Nicaragua was our next stop.  After Haiti, it is the poorest country in Latin America and once again we docked in a container port.  Carol and I had signed up for the Historic Leon tour and had an uneventful two-hour bus trip through drab countryside until we reached the main square of Leon, the first capital of Nicaragua.

There is a market in the square and the Cathedral of the Assumption which is the largest in Central America.  After we visited the sanctuary, where Ruben Dario, the revolutionary poet, is buried, our guide invited us to the rooftop, where there are some interesting domes and some decent views of the city and the hills beyond.

The problems began when the guide took us up to the rooftop. Carol doesn’t like heights, so she stayed below while I scaled the roof.  I turned to take a photo and the guide had disappeared.  He also stopped broadcasting on the “squawk box” so I had no idea where he might be!   I was able to follow the path and get down and out of the cathedral but with only about ten minutes until we were to be at the bus, I couldn’t find him, and I couldn’t find Carol either.  I went racing to the bus: no Carol!  I went back inside the cathedral: no Carol!  I even searched the market though she is not a shopper, but she was nowhere to be found.  Finally, a woman asked if I were looking for my wife and told me where she was.  Still no Carol!   I finally located her standing in the shade near the stairway that led to the roof.  Whew!  We got back to the bus and eventually to the ship.  I’m never coming back to Nicaragua!

From Nicaragua, we progressed to Guatemala and Puerto Quetzal.  If you are guessing that it is an industrial container port, you are right!  Still Guatemala is above Nicaragua both in economy and in beauty.  Our trip to the coffee and macadamia plantations was quite scenic and we could see several of the country’s many volcanoes, some spitting smoke and lava.  Unfortunately, we never go a “photo op” and, rather than taking photos through the windows of a moving bus, I just enjoyed the views.  Next time perhaps they will stop and let us get out for some proper shots of these natural wonders.

At the macadamia plantation, we had an informative tour that showed us how these nuts are grown and nurtured, harvested (picked off the ground when they fall!) and then sorted, dried and packaged. 

We enjoyed some macadamia pancakes, which are made from macadamia flour but don’t have nuts inside, but they had zero nuts for sale, only some chocolates with nuts and some facial products made from the oil.  It was a bit disappointing, but the visit was still worthwhile.

The coffee plantation was a short drive away and we again had some nice views of the volcanoes.  After a walk among the coffee trees and some commentary, we were able to purchase items in the gift shop, including coffee! 

There was a small museum of Guatemalan musical instruments which we viewed before boarding the bus for the drive back to the ship and a farewell to Central America.  While this was not a bucket list item for us, it was not totally without interest and we are not sorry to have seen it.  This is one of the plus sides of a cruise: stopping at lesser ports for short stays and a bit of insight into these countries.

The first segment of our World Cruise will end in Los Angeles, after five sea days, broken up by a stop in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  After LA, the real cruise begins with seven days at sea, then the South Pacific!

Caribbean Adventure

While a sea day may be a bit boring, it does afford us the opportunity to visit the gym, explore some of the public areas of the ship, and catch up on reading, blogging or just plain rest. We have a lovely stateroom with a wraparound balcony, so we can sit out and watch the world sail by.

I have a good time interacting with the various crew members, several of whom I know from our previous Viking Ocean cruise. I am learning a few basic words in several languages and am also finding out about our crew members, their lives and families and their interests. Everyone has a different story and a different reason for working on a cruise ship.

Carol and I divide our time at sea between eating, drinking, hanging around in the cabin and attending the various forms of entertainment. On sea days, there is always a trivia contest and it is fun to compete in these good natured, low key events.

I like to spend a few minutes each day at the Guest Services desks, kibitzing with the helpful group that handles all the customer questions and complaints. I usually have a question or two and often some “suggestions” that are offered in the spirit of fun, like having a contest that I would be likely to win, such as “name that crew member.”

There is no shortage of places to get food on a ship and the Sun is no exception. There are lighter items at Mamsen’s, a Scandinavian themed counter and the Pool Grill. The main dining venues are the World Café, which is a buffet and The Restaurant which has pretty much the same food but is a full-service facility.

The two specialty restaurants are the Chef’s Table which serves themed four course tasting menus, rotating every four days and Manfredi’s, a full service Italian restaurant with a decent wine list.

Carol and I eat breakfast in the World Café, except when we want herring and go to Mamsen’s. We tend to get something light for lunch, like soup and sandwich in one of those same two venues. For dinner, we will try each of the menus in the Chef’s Table and then generally eat in the buffet as there is a variety of sushi and sashimi and we can sample small portions of whatever looks best, finishing with some excellent gelato. From time to time we will go to Manfredi’s and will likely go to The Restaurant when we feel like a more formal dinner with a nice bottle of wine.

For booking early, we received substantial on-board credits, which were originally allocated among shore excursions, shops and spa, but have now been amalgamated so that we can spend them on anything we wish so that we can have wine instead of buying overpriced good that we don’t want in the shops.

I have generally booked the morning excursions so that we aren’t getting back to the ship too late. Cocktails begin either right before dinner or soon after we have been to the gym.

Our sea day between Jamaica and Costa Rica passed quickly and we were up for a light breakfast before disembarking at an industrial pier in Puerto Limon. I was happy to have booked two excursions as the port itself was anything but inviting.

The first excursion was the included one to the Tortuguero Canal, which runs through a rainforest with dense trees and a variety of animal life. We took a small boat, that Carol didn’t like so much but it was sturdy and didn’t rock, even when our guide prompted us to stand up to view an animal on the opposite side.

Although it was difficult to get photos, we did observe quite a few animals, including both the two and three toed varieties of sloth, howler monkeys, iguanas and several water birds. We didn’t find any crocodiles or snakes which didn’t distress the ladies in the company very much.

For the afternoon excursion, I thought that since we live in (actually near) Chocolate Town, USA, it would be a disgrace not to visit the Cacao Museum and Plantation. During the trip, our guide cut open a cacao pod and we were perhaps the only two to have seen one before in Chocolate World or The Hershey Story.

At the plantation, we were greeted by some howler monkeys in the trees and then by our local guide, who took us on a walk through the cacao trees, where he pointed out the pods in various stages of ripeness, as well as other plants such as vanilla.

There was a tepee along the way that had an exhibit featuring some of the indigenous people of the area. Our guide speaks several of their languages though the few words that he tried to teach us were difficult to comprehend.

The most interesting part of the tour was chocolate making, which isn’t too like what we see in Hershey as the scale of production and quality are much different. We were told that this plantation only sells to the exclusive European chocolatiers and then treated to a demonstration and tasting of some hand-made chocolate.

We had seen and tasted raw beans and some at a couple of stages of drying and roasting, then our guide ground so fully roasted cacao and his assistant cooked it, added some sugar and other ingredients and rolled it out into a sheet. She then cut it up for us to sample, adding flavorings if we wished. I used ginger and it was spicy and flavorful.

There were whole beans and ground cacao for sale in the shop, but we didn’t feel we needed to carry the product for over four months until we return home so the sample we had will be enough.

The next port of call was Colon, Panama, another industrial port in a rough neighborhood that made us happy to have booked an excursion as spending the day in town would not have been too appealing. Rather than do the included visit to Panama City, we felt it more interesting to take the tour to Gatun Locks and the Expansion Project. When you hear “Panama” you usually think “canal” so it seemed more sensible to learn something about the reason people come to the country.

While a drive from Atlantic to Pacific in the US takes several days, in Panama it takes less than an hour. Of course, that is a big reason that Panama was selected for the canal! We visited the Gatun Locks, which are on the Atlantic, or Caribbean, side of Panama and were able to see a ship going through. The canal was dug, and a system of locks serves to raise or lower the ship to take it through the canal. Gatun Lake, a large artificial body of water was created to avoid digging a much longer channel. Ships go through locks on the side where they enter the canal, then they traverse Gatun Lake and go out through the locks on the other end. Our ship took about eight hours for the entire passage.

Fortunately, our Captain and/or Cruise Director was able to change our time of entry from 02:30 to 07:30 so it was much easier to see the whole process. As we entered from the Caribbean, we had to go uphill so we entered a lock, waited until the water level was equal to that of the next lock, then traveled through, with the gates opening and closing to facilitate our progress. Locomotives called “mules” after the animals that pulled the canal barges of old, help ships through the canal, making certain that they don’t crash into the doors or the walls. 

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 There are many vantage points on the ship, but we chose to remain on our balcony rather than brave the crowds up in the Explorer Lounge. The bridge camera view on our TV gave us view of what was going on up front while we would observe the gates closing behind us and the progress of the ship that was following us.

While not physically thrilling, the trip was an amazing experience as we had long wondered if and when we might ever cruise the Panama Canal and it was quite amazing to watch the system at work. When we finally heard the Captain’s announcement that we were entering the Pacific Ocean, we felt as if we had a worthwhile experience.

Jamaica Me Crazy

When Viking couldn’t get permission to dock in Havana
they scrambled around and wound up changing our itinerary to give us two nights and three days in Cienfuegos, Cuba, and a night in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, which meant we would no longer stop in Belize and Honduras, costing us two more countries on our list of places we have visited.

Adding Jamaica may have been the company’s best option, but we were not amused.  Carol and I were in Jamaica some 40 years ago in a beach house that my family rented.  We have not returned since which probably sums up our feelings for this island nation.  We have nothing against it, but there was nothing drawing us to return.

Since the ship was docking in Jamaica, we decided to take the included tour to Dunn’s River Falls, Coyaba Gardens and the inevitable shopping.

The falls are not spectacular, especially when compared to Niagara or Victoria Falls, but they are pleasant to view, and you can get up close to them.  If you wanted to, you could even climb the falls though the slippery rocks might make it difficult. 

We sent about an hour looking at the falls and watching the climbers and waders cool off in the water.  There was a small craft village through which the exit route was cleverly placed so that we had to be confronted by the various vendors before we found the have of the bus.

Our next stop was a small botanical garden where we wandered among the endemic plants and trees of Jamaica before going through a small non-petting zoo where some of our fellow cruisers were photographed with an iguana and a red macaw.Fortunately, our time was running short, so the shopping was kept to a fifteen-minute stop at a schlocky shopping center with a few souvenir ships.  Some people purchased the famed Blue Mountain coffee but I was not certain of the provenance and decided to give it a miss though the prices were less than expected. 

We reboarded the Viking Sun in time for a light lunch and a quick workout before we sailed towards Costa Rica, our next port on the World Cruise.

Cuba Libre

Our cruise was originally scheduled to dock in Havana, but something happened along the way and we were anchored at Cienfuegos instead.  This was known far in advance so at least Viking pacified the passengers by staying over two nights in Cuba and making all shore excursions included.  They also gave each passenger $500 in onboard credits so, while we would have preferred to be in Havana, we did get some perks to soften the blow.

Cienfuegos is several hours by bus from Havana, so we were happy to book the “Havana Sojourn” which included a night in a “5 star” hotel, meals, sightseeing and a visit to the famous Tropicana nightclub.

We are not bus tour people by any means but there was no way around this one if we wanted to see Havana.  Cuba was one of the selling points of this long cruise, so we packed a small hanging bag and my backpack and got into the bus.  The prospectus indicated that the trip would be 4.5 hours but, mercifully, it was only a bit more than three.  The bus is not a real luxury coach, so we were weary in body and mind after the ride and the constant barrage of information that our guide, Miryles, threw at us.  I realize that they have to inform us about history, geography, politics and daily life, all in a short period of time but the number of dates and people that we heard about was staggering.

The check in process at the Hotel Melia Habana was surprisingly smooth as was the money changing at the front desk.  Since CUC’s (convertible pesos) are only good in Cuba, I decided not to exchange too much as most things were already covered.  We did spend 5.25 CUCs for a Cristal beer and glass of Argentine chardonnay before our ride in a vintage American car to dinner.

Havana is full of American cars from the ‘40’s and 50’s and their owners use them as a source of income by ferrying tourists around the city.  Carol and I got to ride in a 1952 Chevy along with young “Nancy” a Chinese crew member who was along on the excursion.  Although the restaurant where we were to dine was close by, the caravan drove around for about 20 minutes to give us a chance to appreciate the feel of riding in a convertible through the streets of the Cuban capital.

The restaurant was spacious enough for all the Viking cruisers and we enjoyed a family style meal of assorted appetizers, chicken, rice and black beans, washed down with Cuban beer to the accompaniment of a band that strolled around the restaurant.

After the meal, we were driven to the Tropicana, a nightclub that has been in business since 1939 and which was once run by Meyer Lansky and his mob cronies.  They give a huge show, with dancers in elaborate costumes, a live orchestra, singers and even some amazing acrobats. 

We were at a table with others from our Viking cruise.  When we begin chatting, it is always obvious to us that nearly all of them are much closer to the 1% than we are, yet the conversations make it seem as though we are in their financial league!  We travel often, stay at some nice hotels and eat at the same or better restaurants than they do.  I guess it’s a matter of what they have left over after spending on travel.

Included with your ticket to the Tropicana show, every gets a Coke and there are bottles of Havana Club Rum placed strategically around the table together with ice buckets and tongs.  I seemed to be the divisor between the “wets” and the “drys” as nobody to my left had any rum and the bottles to my right were all empty.  I did indulge a bit but wasn’t going to make myself ill.  Our tablemates grabbed the bottles that were left, which our guide had told us was OK, but neither Carol nor I are fond of rum plus there is unlimited drinking on the ship so why stockpile it?

Our hotel, the Melia, was not luxurious but the rooms were large and comfortable enough.  Our group was scheduled to depart at 8:00 so breakfast began at 7.  The elevators ran very slowly, and some didn’t move at all, but we finally got down to the basement, where the breakfast restaurant was located.  There were lines to get seated and the staff were very slow cleaning tables so we had very little time to eat.  When we left, the lines were so long that I can’t imagine those people got to their buses on time.  We had to go up to the room to retrieve our luggage with five minutes to spare.  The phone was ringing but I didn’t answer as I knew it was our guide trying to find us.  The elevators were so slow that we walked down eight flights of stairs and were able to board the bus at 8:02!

Our first stop was at the studio of a famous female artist.  Much of her work was large sculptures made from auto parts and the like, which reminded us of the work of our friend Zoila Perry, who fashioned bumpers, steering wheels and hubcaps into quirky statues.

From there we embarked on our walking tour of Old Havana.  An MSC liner was docked at the pier, which made us wish that our ship had been able to do that as well.  We stopped at Revolucion Square where we learned a bit of Cuban history and saw the statue of Jose Marti, the poet who wrote “Guantanamera” and was one of those who headed up the war for independence from Spain.  There were buildings with likenesses of Che Guevera and Camilo Cienfuegos, a revolutionary in whom Castro trusted, though the famous quote “vas bien Fidel”(you’re doing fine!) seems to indicate that he didn’t exactly tell the unvarnished truth to his leader.

We then visited a cigar store where I bought a couple of Romeo and Juliets for my brother and me to smoke on our next family gathering.  The prices were not so high, and the provenance was better than if I shopped in Europe or Asia.  I once smoked the odd cigar but am not intending to get back into the habit so the purchase of two was just right. From there we went to a restaurant for a lunch that began with mojitos then progressed to assorted appetizers like plantain chips and small fried tidbits, followed by a plate of pork, beef and chicken in lightly spiced sauces with black beans and rice.  The setting was a small room in what was once an elegant private home and we had an enjoyable time trying various Cuban-style dishes before we hit the road for the infamous Bay of Pigs.

While we were all old enough to have lived through this crisis, most were hazy on the details.  I did know that this was probably the low point in JFK’s administration, as the US sponsored an attempt by Cuban expats to overthrow Castro.  When it failed, the so-called missile crisis regained a bit of American mojo, but it was still not a great moment for our country.

We drove a couple of hours to the scene of the coup attempt and visited the museum that commemorates it, from the Cuban point of view.  The museum exhibits are all captioned in Spanish, but we got the gist of what they were saying.

After our visit to the museum and a quick walk down to the nice hotel by the beach, we rode the bus over some tricky back roads to the pier where we boarded the tenders to return to our ship.

As the ship was anchored in Cienfuegos, the only option for our final day was to take a tour around that fair city.  We opted for the walking tour which took us to the main square of the city.  It has an attractive theatre and some buildings that are in pretty good repair.

We then visited a cigar factory and watched the (mostly) female employees sorting leaves, cutting and rolling the various cigars and putting them into curing racks.  I wouldn’t enjoy groups of tourists watching me do my work, but I don’t believe the Cubans have a lot of choice.

When we had a bit of free time in the town center, Carol found a small wooden maraca player for only $3 USD so that we had something for our shelf to commemorate our visit to Cuba.  I’m not really planning to return but I’m happy that we had the chance to visit this land of mystery that lies just 90 miles south of Florida.

Sailing

Our flight from Harrisburg left in 20 degree weather.  Our driver is a math teacher at our local high school and he got us to the airport in plenty of time and helped us bring our many bags in to check in.  They actually emptied and scanned our Miralax and vitamins, but let them all in.

The flight to Charlotte got us there in plenty of time and our connecting flight got us in to Miami at 11;30 so we arrived at the hotel before the rooms were ready.  Of course, three minutes after we started walking away, they called us to tell us that a room was ready!

After we checked in and organized ourselves, we embarked on a walk through the famed Art Deco District of South Beach.  There are a lot of lovely buildings that are mostly small hotels and cheap restaurants with Happy Hours and 2 for 1 meals that don't look particularly appealing.

The walk finally landed us at Joe's Stone Crab, a vintage restaurant that specializes in stone crab claws, a pricey, but delicious appetizer.  We had long thought that, if we found ourselves in South Beach, we would dine at this classic place.  We began with an order of the large claws, followed by fried oysters and crabcakes.  With wine, the dinner was pretty expensive but tasty and worth the visit.

We then got to the American Airlines Arena for Jewish Heritage Night and a game between the Miami Heat and Portland Trailblazers.  There were a lot of Chanukah celebrations and a back and forth game that eventually ended up with the Blazers pulling out a win.  We couldn't find an Uber but there were taxis near the arena so we got back in pretty good time. 

With the big World Cruise upcoming, I felt it would be proper to spend the day in Miami Beach retracing the "Grah Route"  where my grandmother lived between 1969 and 1977.  We eventually found her building, which was being renovated and got a few pictures before heading off to Lincoln Road Mall where we got a gelato and rambled among the various shops before finding the beach and strolling back to the hotel.

After a brief rest, we put on our bathing suits and walked down to the beach.  After dipping our toes into the rather chilly Atlantic, we observed sea birds known as skimmers and enjoyed the ambiance of the beach before returning to the hotel.

Dinner was at an oyster bar that I found on Eater.  We loved a dozen fresh oysters each then followed up with popcorn conch, grilled octopus, golden beets and red cabbage.  It was quite good though a bit pricey, especially as it had zero ambiance. 

After a night of sleep and a quick breakfast, we took a taxi to the Cruise Terminal and embarked on the Viking Sun World Cruise. Five of our six bags got the the room, a lovely Explorer Suite with wraparound balcony.  We had a quick lunch, unpacked and got the lay of the land.  It was pretty easy as the Sun has the same setup as the Star, on which we sailed last year. 

Although my bag hadn't been retrieved before we sailed, all was well as they had it in the Cruise Director's office, the tag having fallen off during loading.  So we were able to go to the Chanukah candle lighting and dinner before retiring for the night as the ship made its way towards Cuba.

With so much time before us, we managed to visit the gym for a quick treadmill session, then cleaned up for a light lunch at Mamsen's, the Scandinavian spot at the Explorers' Lounge, before trying our hand at Trivia.  While we don't expect to win by working alone, we prefer it to the team approach.  We got 11/18 while 14 won the day so we are ready to try again on the next Sea Day.

There is a female trio or flute, violin and cello that play light classical music in the Atrium so we opted to listen to them before attending the Chanukah candle ceremony and the Captain's reception where we are introduced to the ship's officers.

While there are many dining venues, we always enjoy the Chef's Table where they serve rotating tasting menus with wine pairings.  tonight's was a Mexican dinner which bore no resemblance to Taco Bell.  The menu was innovative and relatively light and a good ending to our first full day on board.

We then returned to the cabin to prepare for landing in Cienfuegos where we will disembark for our Havana Sojourn, a one and a half day trip to the capital with food, drink and entertainment.  this is the first of our ports and one of the key moments in the trip!