Sail-Away From San Diego

Here is a view of our push back and sail-away from San Diego.

San Diego, California, USA

On Saturday, January 28th, the Pacific Princess arrived in San Diego, California.  The weather could not have been better---clear sky and the temperature climbed to76 degrees.

The ship disembarked approximately 300 passengers this morning and of course about the same number will be are joining the ship for the 2nd Segment of the World Cruise to Sydney, Australia.  All-in-all the ship was very calm this morning.  Everyone cleared Immigration in the Cabaret Lounge and the Pacific Lounge in just minutes.  Everything was very well organized.

We met our friends Ruth and Nancy who had come on board to visit.  It was good to see them both.

Cindy and I went for a provisioning shopping spree today, stocking up on all the little essentials we may need as we head across the Pacific Ocean.  It was good to take a long walk and really stretch our legs since we had just finished 5 days at sea and have 5 more ahead of us.

  We are departing San Diego Harbor this afternoon at around 5:00pm.  Then out to San Diego Bay and on to the Pacific Ocean.  This should be a very nice sail away. Our next port of call will be Honolulu, Hawaii on February 3rd

San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

At 8:00am on Sunday, January 22^nd, the Pacific Princess dropped anchor in the bay at San Juan Del Sur.  This is a very beautiful location with both fishing and hotels for tourist from all over the world.  San Juan Del Sur has long been known as the gateway to Nicaragua’s natural and historic wonders.

Again today, we elected for a full day of touring in Nicaragua.  We boarded our bus for a 2 hour ride across the countryside heading to the Masaya Market.  The terrain varied along the route.  We passed plantations with bananas, papaya, cashews, and palm oil production.  Also, to our surprise we saw plenty of rice fields with flags of China, Korea, and Indonesia flying around them.  We can only assume that these are the countries assisting them in rice production.  En route to Masaya, we made a stop at Lake Nicaragua.  Across the lake was Mombacho Volcano which is one of many active volcanoes in the country. 

Carrying Her Groceries From The Store

Local Tricycle Taxis

Lake Nicaragua With Volcano In Background

We arrived in the magical city of Masaya and spent some time shopping in the Masaya Market.  Just outside the market we ran into a girl selling roasted cashews.  Of course we had to buy and bag of them---really tasty!  Cindy picked up some wooden items which Nicaragua is noted for producing. 

Masaya Market

After some shopping, we continued our journey to Masaya Volcano National Park.  It is the home of two towering volcanoes.  The crater in the Masaya Volcano is steaming and emitting gases.  You are able to climb a high hill overlooking the crater and look down into the bottom of the volcano. 

Then it was on to lunch at the El Filete Steak House.  We were able to have traditional Nicaraguan food which included chicken medallions, sea bass, rice, beans papaya, plantains, and mango. 

El Filete Steak House

To top the day off, we then drove to the picturesque colonial city of Granada.  It is located in the shadow of the towering Mombacho Volcano.  We strolled through the Parque Central and watched local musicians and dancers perform.  Continuing our walk through the city, we had a guided tour of the Convent of San Francisco which is now a museum housing a collection of pre-Columbian statues unearthed on local volcanic islands. 

We ended the day with a 1 ½ hour drive through many small villages on our way back to the ship.  Back on board by 5:30pm, the Pacific Princess sailed out of the bay heading for San Diego, California.

Puerto Quepos, Costa Rica

By 7:00am on January 21^st, we were anchored off the coast of Puerto Quepos, Costa Rica.  This was the first time that a Princess Cruises ship has visited this port.  On a tropical inlet midway down Costa Rica’s Pacific coast Puerto Quepos; a quaint little town is situated where the rainforest meets the sea.  It was named for the fierce Quepoa Indians who once inhabited the land.

We departed on the ship’s tenders before 7:30am headed for a fun filled day in the rainforest and on the Tarcoles River.  We boarded our bus for the 1 ½ hour ride to the Pacific Rainforest Aerial Tram.  This gave us the opportunity to see lots of the countryside along the way.  Once at the aerial tram we broke into groups of seven people and one tour guide.  On board the tram, our tour guide pointed out monkeys, birds, various trees, exotic plants and all the unique features of this very unusual ecosystem.  We were literally flying through the dense jungle canopy in our open-air gondola suspended from steel cables.  The gondola went up many hundreds of feet on the densely wooded mountain.  Then, it was back down the mountain and prepare for a guided nature walk through the jungle. 

The jungle walk gave us the opportunity to get up close to many of the animals and plants.  In fact, we were surprised to see that bats spend the day on the underside of palm fronds.  Everywhere we looked we could see bromeliads growing in the trees.  The jungle walk was well worth it and we were please to see so many new things. 

We then proceeded to the main building in the rainforest and had a wonderful lunch of vegetables, beans, rice, and chicken.  The best part of lunch was the very sweet pineapple that is grown locally.

After lunch, we were off again on our bus for a short 30 minute drive to the Tarcoles River.  At the river we met our guide at the Jungle Crocodile Safari who would narrate our trip along the river.  We boarded our flat-bottom boat and headed out past lush jungle and mangroves.  We saw many more birds than we had expected.   During this safari we saw up close about 32 species of birds and many crocodiles.  This river has one of the largest crocodile populations in the America’s.  One very large croc actually swam out and was ready to attack our boat.  After more than 2 hours out viewing all the animals, we returned to the main building at the Jungle Crocodile Safari and enjoyed pineapple, bananas, papaya, juices, water, and excellent Costa Rican coffee.  Then it was off again for our return trip to the ship.  By 5:30pm we were back on board and heading out to sea for our next stop, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.

Black-Necked Stilt

Little Blue Heron

Boat-Billed Heron

Internet Problem

Since our last Posting, we have been without a connection to the Internet.  This has been a real issue to some on board who were attempting to change flights home from this 1^st World Cruise Segment.  Hopefully, the ship has resolved this issue and we will be able to continue posting to the blog more promptly.