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Back In Miami
Back in Miami I had some personal diversions and problems with my U.S. Cell phone that took some time and effort to resolve and distracted me. But I did have a chance to see a bit more of Miami – at least the part close to my hotel. And had some interesting moments and equally interesting observations (interesting at least to me).
For starters, I finally got my steak! There was a fantastic steak house a block from my hotel – although a long block. Great food and service - and 'icing on the cake' – a piano bar with a fantastic artist on the key board – my other Achilles Heel. It turns out he had played there 6 nights a week for 15 years. I went back a second night!
I also observed something that was unique (to me). When you have been around as long as I have and been a lot of places you think you have 'seen it all'. Well - I was having lunch in the seafood restaurant across the street from the hotel and a fellow came in by himself, sat down a bar stool away and order a pitcher of beer. When the young lady tending bar asked whether he wanted a regular or a large pitcher, he responded “large”. I thought, 'Wow, this guy is by himself?” When she showed up with his pitcher it was LARGE – she struggled to carry it with both hands. Then she poured him a mug, handed it to him but did not sit the pitcher up on the bar, and walked off. In a minute she returned with a clear plastic zip-lock bag with a fist-full of ice in it and dropped it in the pitcher before handing it across the bar to him. I had never seen that done before. And it is such an obvious solution for the beer getting warm before you can drink it all. OK, my informal survey since that discovery indicates that some of you have seen that trick and are thinking, “What planet does this guy live on?”. But I suspect a lot of you would have gazed in amazement right along with me.
On To The Grandeur Of The Seas
As is normal, based on my experiences with Royal Caribbean, the loading process was fast and flawless. It was more like a 'just walk on' than a boarding processing. This was the Grandeur's first sailing coming out of a major renovation. I am not certain what all the renovation entailed, but I do know they added some glass elevators in the center-ship atrium (the atrium runs the full height of the ships 10 decks). And, even more important, they added three specialty restaurants – Steakhouse, Italian and French. I was in hog heaven – but only momentarily.
I fully intended to sample all three of the new dining venues, but they were all full. What? I found out that in an effort to fill the ship up, Royal Caribbean had invited 150 travel agents on the cruise. And some bright member of the group had booked 50 people into each restaurant every night. Yikes
However, I did manage to weasel my way into the Italian Restaurant on the last night of the cruise. Sad story – Crown and Anchor member – have taken all the previous re-positioning cruises – wa, wa..wa – and surely you have room for a single?
It was worth the whimpering! Oh my was it amazing. This should make your mouth water;
Appetizer: Almond Crusted Scallops with Red Bell Pepper Pesto
Main Course: Maryland Crab Ravioli with Sweet Corn and Crab Sauce
Dessert: Chocolate Cheese Cake with Fresh Strawberries injected with Courvoisier Cognac
After Dinner: Grand Marnier and Coffee
As it turned out, even with Royal Caribbean offering fire-sale pricing and comping at least 250 people I know of, the Grandeur had only about 1,000 guests on board – which is about half the capacity. The ship's crew exceeded the number of passengers. Which at first blush sounds OK, no crowding. But that also meant for the most part the ship was dead- like a morgue. In my previous trips the piano bar would be full and rocking past midnight nightly. This time around there might be no more than a dozen people. And Karaoke Night in one of the big theaters was a big deal. On the first night I went to check it out and there were maybe a dozen people spread around this huge auditorium.
Another interesting occurrence – On the first night the pretty little cocktail waitress serving during Happy Hour in the piano bar looked familiar. I was certain I knew her from a previous cruise and she responded like she remembered me. A few minutes later I heard someone call my name and when I turned around it was Kevin my former bartender at TGI Fridays in David who went with Royal Caribbean about two years ago – partly due to my urging. The cocktail waitress (Kevin's girlfriend) had gone to get him from behind the bar in the VIP lounge to come and say hello. Turns out I knew her from Fridays as well – right face, wrong place. Had a nice visit, albeit short. However, they are both from David and when the ship reached Colon they both were taking a five week vacation, so we plan to get together some evening for dinner.
The disembarking in Colon was flawless primarily due to the way Royal Caribbean does things in cooperation with the Panamanian government. When you board the ship in Miami you give them your passport (in exchange for a receipt). That gives the Panamanian Immigration officers on board three days to sit on the ship and process everyone into Panama. So there are no long slow lines, no forms to fill out, and no stamping of passport – it has all been taken care of. By the way, I talked to one of the immigration officers on board one afternoon. Let's just say he likes his present assignment.
Back In Colon
We arrived in Colon Sunday morning and it was a gray overcast day. We then discovered that parts of Panama, including Colon had experienced heavy rains for several days. Parts of the city had been flooded - and some low-lying areas still were. Many people had been evacuated had events (including schools) had been canceled. The damage and destruction was enough to require in national government to mobilize federal emergency agencies - and in the following days, relief agencies.
[Don Winner on Panama Guide tried to explained to visitors and the 'un-initiated'
expats what 'heavy rain' meant in Panama and the damage it could do. He noted that is was not like standing under a shower going full blast. Instead it is more like being shot with a fire hose. And for a
couple of days straight. You can also imagine the effect on rivers and streams. One man credited the fact that he was alive to the fact that he was awake when the water encroached on his house in the middle of the night. He saw water leaking under his front door into his house. Within five minutes the water was up to the ceiling in his house. The guy is convinced he would not have known what hit him if he had been asleep.]
Our taxi cab driver was late, but call me to say he was on his way, but had 'some
problems' with the highway coming from Panama City. As it turned out the trip over to Panama City was an adventure. Turns out the problem the driver had was that the heavy rains had caused a huge mud slide that closed the highway to/from Colon. The position of the Canal (it runs from Colon past the edge of Panama City) serves to limit the route alternatives - to practically nothing. But thank goodness, a couple of months ago they opened a new toll road between Colon and the capitol, that doesn't get much business because of the $$$s. But they waived the tolls, and we navigated our way to the toll road, and finally made it to Panama City.
We had decided in advance to spend the day in Panama City and have an 'NFL Sunday' in the Veneto, the big Wyndham Grand Hotel and Casino in downtown Panama City. The sports book is in a big room in the back of their huge casino and it comes complete with not only lots of TVs turned to different NFL games. However, what my friend Michael like even better is that the sports book includes a Vegas-style betting desk that uses Vegas odds and spreads.
The Veneto has become somewhat of a 'required stop' when travels take me to and
through Tocumen Airport. As I said earlier, I try to take the 'pressure' out of travel and it is much less stressful to just plan to overnight in Panama City than to worry about whether some glitch (late regional flight from David down to Panama City, traffic jam between airports, etc.) will cause you to miss your flight out of the country. As many of you know, it expensive to have to re-book a flight ($150-200). And the Las Vegas Suites Hotel is our preferred lodging choice.
The Las Vegas is very clean, comfortable and quiet. And it is practically sitting in the
Veneto parking area (this photo is looking at the Las Vegas from the front entrance of the Veneto). Among other goodies it offers free high speed internet. It has a bar and restaurant downstairs, with seating on the front patio (street-side) and and open-air restaurant seating in a courtyard in the center of the hotel. There is also an Italian restaurant that you enter by going outside the hotel to a side entrance. And I like their security procedures. Not only is it unlikely that an un-authorized person would get by the front desk, a security person is guarding the elevator. And You have to swipe your room key card to operate the elevator. It is also about half the price of the 'big' hotels in the area.
We did not break the bank on Sunday and our trip back to David was marred only by some bad flying weather. We boarded our flight in the rain and then held at the end of the runway on take-off as a thunderstorm moved through (complete with thunder and lightening). But we made it back to David in one piece and in time to see the Monday
night NFL game (priorities!).
And now I am getting settled back in. Learning to enjoy again the beautiful evenings in this part of the country, the noisy chatter of the several 100 small parrots that have taken up residency in the park and the view of the park from my balcony.
Life is Good. Till Next Time.
Pura Vida
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