After four days crossing the Atlantic we arrived in Praia da Vitoria in the Azores. We first stopped here on our way out as an unscheduled visit due to bad weather so it’s good to see it under better circumstances.

We’ve had a wander around the town, down to the harbour and visited a beautifully ornate cathedral. Stopping for a drink of course!

Now back on board to do some more work for my PG course. Thinking I could meet deadlines on holiday with the limited internet access on board was not one of my better ideas. It’s been way to stressful!

Made Bermuda at last! After not being able to get into the island on our way out due to the high winds and rough sea we battled through it yesterday and arrived this morning. A few smashed glasses at the Captain’s cocktail party last night due to an almighty large wave! The weather is better than we thought it would be and quite warm. It is still rather windy and ‘excessive’ winds are forecast for tomorrow. Whoopee!

We went over to Hamilton on the ferry from the Royal Dock Yard. Lots of walking around sightseeing and a browse around the shops (and a typical Bermuda cocktail of course).

We’ve had an overnight stop in Charleston, South Carolina and although we’ve been here before it’s such a charming place to visit. The houses and churches downtown are very colonial in style and all very different. The first English settlers landed here in 1670 and founded Charles Town (after Charles II), hence Charleston. The first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbour on 12 April 1861. Yesterday it was lovely and sunny but today was so very different- we got soaked on our way back to the ship!

A warm but not very sunny day in Port Canaveral!

Back to Fort Lauderdale – again! Fifth time we’ve been here over the last few years so have seen and done anything worthwhile. Took the shuttle bus to the shopping mall, found a nice little cafe for coffee and cake and a Chinese restaurant for a beer. Just as well we didn’t go to the beach as it was absolutely packed with kids on their spring break.

In Costa Maya, Mexico today. Not a favourite! It has been purposely built for cruise ships and with two other ships in today it was rather crowded. It had birds in cages and a pool where you could swim with dolphins. Too contrived. Very American biased too as there weren’t many bars that took cash. Credit cards were much preferred. However, there was a lovely turquoise sea and sunshine so not all bad!

Today we are in Belize, formerly British Honduras, on the eastern side of Central America. It is quite small at 9,000 square miles. It boasts the second longest barrier reef in the world at 190 miles. The sea is too shallow to dock there because of the reef so we are at anchor and taken ashore by Belizean tenders. They are much faster than the lifeboats we usually use.

We went to Altun Ha, a Mayan trading and ceremonial site where the Maya first settled in 250BC. It is surrounded by jungle and has been heavily excavated to reveal several impressive temples and tombs.

In Jamaica today so we’ve spent it very leisurely at the beach. We had a day pass for the Hilton in Montego Bay with Barbara and Alan. Sun, sea, sand, rum and Red Stripe – not much else to say!

We are on our transit through the Panama Canal today so just adding a little background information which I’m sure everyone knows anyway……

The Panama Canal is a 48 mile ship canal connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. France began work on the canal in 1881 but had to stop due to engineering problems and high mortality due to disease. The United States took over the project in 1904 and the canal officially opened in 1914. It was built to reduce the time taken to travel between the Atlantic and the Pacific and to avoid the lengthy and hazardous Cape Horn route. It is considered to be one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken.

When we did this transit in 2015 we held a cocktail party so thought it would be good to repeat it. One of the couples Terry & Diane, who joined us today were also with us in 2015! Another two couples Ray & Leonnie and Liz & Neil from 2015, Barbara & Alan from last year and Jan & Mike and Lynn & Keith who we’ve made friends with this year. Our butler did a great job with the food and drink and we all had a really great time. I think everyone’s got back for a nap now!

After a day at sea, where we saw more dolphins in one day than we’ve seen in the last eight weeks, we arrived in Manta, Ecuador. It’s very hot and humid but mostly overcast.

Manta was inhabited at least 5000 years ago and is now very multicultural. There are mainly fishing villages here and it is the centre of the country’s tuna fishing fleet. There is also the cultural museum of Banco Central (where the elevators didn’t work and had no air conditioning). Much too hot!

Next was Montecristi, home of the Panama hat, (yes, we did buy one!). Then on to the Civic Centre and Memorial, Ciudad Alfaro. Lastly we visited the Tagua Factory. The tagua nut is rather like ivory which can be carved into jewellery and figurines.

Not the most exciting if tours but better than staying on the ship.

We have one sea day tomorrow before transiting the Panama Canal.