Totumo Mud Volcano Bath

On May 3 2010 we were on the Island Princess and in the port of Cartagena for a few hours. We booked a shore excursion to the mud bath volcano at Totumo, about an hour's drive from the port. We arrived at Totumo and the volcano is in sight. The driver pulls over so anyone who wants to can step outside and take photos for a couple of minutes. The volcano resembles an oversized anthill.

There is a lake behind the volcano. This is where we will wash off the mud later on.

There are changing rooms for those who need them. Most of us came prepared and wore our swimsuits underneath our clothes and took our shirts and shorts off inside the bus. Bernardo tells us to leave everything in the bus and it will be locked. He tells us to leave our money in the bus and just before we leave one of the villagers will approach the bus for tips that will be shared amongst them. Anyone tipped privately will likely not share.

Wearing only my swimsuit and shoes and carrying a Princess Cruises towel from our cabins, we approach the stair to climb to the mud bath. One of the village women instructs us to remove our shoes and she places them in a sack and also takes our towels. We climb the stairs. Kerry is carrying our camera and takes some photos. We are told that one of the villagers at the top will take our camera and take photos for us while we’re in the mud.

The mud bath is packed because of our cruise ship passengers. It takes a little while before we get a turn into the mud and there are at least ten others inside plus 2 or 3 village men who help cover our bodies with mud. The mud is supposed to have healing properties. I don’t know about that because Kerry still has a scar on his arm from the surgery and its not healed yet. I float in the mud and get a lot of mud all over me and into my hair before one of the men comes over to slather mud on me. Kerry is pushed to another part of the mud and has a villager rubbing mud on him. The mud is comfortably warm and very buoyant. You can’t sink in the stuff. Its difficult to move around in it but it was a lot of fun trying to get from one end to the other.

When we emerge at the ladder another village man is there to wipe off the excess mud.

We walk down a rather steep stairway back to the road that leads to the lake where we wash off. Good thing too because I have mud in places where I never thought I would ever have mud! My shoes are nowhere in sight. Apparently the village women have taken the shoes and towels closer to the lake. Once inside the lake is an interesting experience. The village women wash the mud off. They’re really good at getting everyone clean. We go into water that is not very deep, maybe knee high and sit down and they scrub away. The water itself is murky so you can’t really see beneath the surface which is a good thing because now they want us to remove our swimsuits so we can finish washing off our mud and they will rinse out our swimsuits. Its no easy feat getting a wet swimsuit back on again underwater while trying to remain modest. Once I’m out of the water I collect my shoes and towel and go back to the bus to pull on my shirts and shorts.

We wander around the village a bit waiting for the rest of our group to finish so we can leave. I see a dog and puppies and go over to pet them. The old lady sitting nearby tells me there are fifteen puppies and two mama dogs who had the puppies between them. Very cute, a little spotted, almost like some kind of weird Dalmatian cross. I want to take one home with me! We wander back to the bus and I walked off a little bit to look at things but Kerry called me back. One of the ladies from our bus is asking one of the village men for her husband’s watch and hearing aid but he doesn’t understand English. Her husband had forgotten to remove them in the bus and at the top of the hill the villagers told him to remove them. Take them in the mud and take your chances. I speak some Spanish and asked for a watch and I haven’t the slightest idea how to say hearing aid in Spanish so I told him I didn’t know the word but it’s a thing that you put in the ear in order to hear. He pulled two watches out of one pocket and the woman pointed to the one that belonged to her husband. He reached into his other pocket and pulled out the hearing aid. Eeeww. The man who’d been taking photos with our camera came back down the hill and we were able to take some photos of the dogs before we left.

If you are a geocacher, the Totumo Mud Bath Volcano is an earth cache. Don't forget to bring your GPS and take a photo of yourself in front of the volcano. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=ceea24a4-d0ce-4e13-8d79-71312146cc12

Photos taken around Oranjestad, Aruba

One of Island Princess's ports of call on the Grand Panama Cruise is in Oranjestad, Aruba. We're in port from 7am to 1pm. It was a Sunday and the shops didn't open until 10am. With a cruise ship in town for only a few hours you'd think they'd make an exception and open up when its in town. Missed out on a few tourist dollars that day I'd think.

We started the day off at Dunkin' Donuts shortly after arrival in Oranjestad. Not that we were craving donuts because they were available for breakfast on the Island Princess but it offers free Wifi so we took in our lap top to check our email. This was our last chance to get Wifi until we visited Los Angeles. Its very sketchy to non-existent in the other ports of call. To get to Dunkin' Donuts, walk off the cruise ship, through the terminal, and down their road, about a block, to get to the main street. Turn right and walk down about a block. Dunkin' Donuts is on the second story of a building. You'll easily see it. Bring your lap top. Its only good manners to make a purchase while here. They accept US dollars but the items are rather high priced. We purchased a couple of iced coffees. Cost $4.10 total.

We caught the #10 bus which goes along the beaches. This is Palm Beach, about 15 minutes bus ride from downtown Oranjestad.

These are shots we took around Oranjestad, all within an easy walk of the cruise ship terminal.

The Island Princess in port at Oranjestad, Aruba.

Here's the dinner menu in the main dining room on Aruba day.

Geocaching in Aruba

We arrived in Aruba at 7am. The Island Princess had an all aboard at 12:30pm so there wasn't a whole lot of time to spend here. Going to the beach seemed the best option for a few hours. But we decided to try to find a couple of caches that were in the areas of Eagle Beach and Palm Beach.

Geocaching is an international game using your GPS to find caches that others have hidden and uploaded the coordinates to www.geocaching.com

A couple we met on the Island Princess, Bob and Joyce, were intrigued and joined us in the search.

We started off looking for the #10 bus that drives out to the beaches. We walked out of the cruise compound, turned to our right, and walked down the street a bit. On the left hand side of the street is a bus parking lot. We walked in and found the sign post for the #10 bus. We'd heard that it runs every 15 minutes. But we were in port on a Sunday. The #10 bus only runs once an hour. Nevertheless we only had about a 5 minute wait before a bus pulled in. They take US dollars and it costs $2.50 each for a round trip ticket. We had the GPS on and when we closed in on the coordinates for the first cache, about 10 minutes or so ride, we pushed the button and got off.

The caches we searched for and discovered were the Divi Tree Cache and then we walked down to the Flowers with Wings cache, about 10 minutes walk. Fortunately we did this fairly early in the morning, around 9am, before it became too swelteringly hot in Aruba. I managed a quick swim in the ocean and then we caught the bus back to the port area where we wandered around the shops for awhile making a couple of purchases and then returned to the Island Princess. Ahh, air conditioning! Cold drinks!

Its very easy to find both these caches and do other activities and have plenty of time to make the all aboard.

Have fun geocaching in Aruba!

The Divi Tree Cache is hidden behind this coral. A little out of place in the log.
Team Mermaidude with the Divi Tree Cache.

The contents of the Divi Tree Cache.

The Flowers With Wings cache is hidden here.

Bob watches Mr. Mermaidude search for the cache.

Mr. Mermaidude has the Flowers With Wings cache in hand.

Sanctuary on the Island Princess

On the Island Princess, Decks 14 and 15 aft, is The Sanctuary. Passengers can book the Sanctuary on embarkation day for the duration of the cruise at a cost of $15/day. Alternately passengers can show up at the Sanctuary throughout the cruise and if there is available space rent a chair for $20/day or $10 for a half day. This is the cost for a quieter space on the ship. No children allowed here. The only time I saw the Sanctuary was on Embarkation Day. The rest of the time entry is carefully guarded to ensure only passengers paying the extra fee are allowed in. So what does your money get? A plush cushioned lounge chair and a private swimming pool. Sanctuary staff bring fruit infused waters to the patrons and Evian water sprays. You can also order meals to be consumed in the sanctuary. For an extra fee massages can be booked beneath the canopies.

Photos on Island Princess

Shortly after embarking on the Island Princess April 29 2010 bound for Vancouver via the Panama Canal we were on Deck 15, overlooking the Lido Pool on Deck 14, enjoying burgers and fries from the grill.

Lifeboat drill was different prior to departure. Instead of going to our lifeboat, Princess Cruises has the passengers go to their muster stations. In our case the muster station was the wedding chapel so people were able to find seats. Here we went through a half hour safety drill and learned how to put on our life jackets. But we never did find out which life boat to board if needed.

Some scenes from the sailaway party held around the Lido Pool.

Here is the menu for the main dining room for dinner on Embarkation Day.

Some of the boats cruising around Port Everglades.

Island Princess Grand Panama Cruise embarking April 29 2010

Our hotel shuttle had us to Port Everglades around 11am on April 29 2010. Destination: Island Princess for an 18 day voyage - the Grand Panama Canal. Our bags were taken by the porters who requested tips because that would be the last chance we’d have to tip them. We walked to the building and a port staff gave us numbers on plastic cards. We received number 2. We cleared security and filled out a form basically saying we were healthy and then sat in a large holding area waiting for our numbers to be called to begin check in. When the 2 group was called we went to another room and check in was by cabin deck. Several desks were set up that said “Dolphin”, “Emerald”, “Plaza”, etc. We checked in quickly, received our room cards, and took an elevator up, had our photos taken by the ship’s photographer and proceeded across the walkway on to the Island Princess. Once aboard, a crew member swiped our card to confirm we were on the ship and took our photo for the computer’s database. We were on board around 12:05pm.

We went upstairs to the Lido Deck (14) and took a look around and wandered into the Horizon Court where lunch was being served. We went down to the Plaza Deck to see if our cabin was ready and it was, so we offloaded the laptop and went back upstairs to get a bite to eat, deciding to try the burger grill on Deck 15 above the Lido Pool. Kerry had a cheeseburger and fries and I had a veggie burger and fries. The veggie burger was thick and mushy, not really all that good. I doubt I’ll try another one. We explored the Lido Deck which also holds the swim against the current pool, the Spa, and the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is at the back of the ship and costs $20/day or $70 on Panama Canal Day. You’re guaranteed a deck chair with a very comfy mattress and a quiet place to spend the day, complete with a swimming pool only available for the Sanctuary customers. We decide to save our money on this one but took a couple of photos here knowing it would be the last time we’d be allowed back here without forking over some money.

Then we headed back to our cabin to see if our suitcases had arrived. The two big cases with our clothes were there, but not our carry on luggage, which we’d stashed four 12 packs of pop (Ginger Ale and Dr. Pepper). As we were unpacking, our cabin steward, Enrique, stopped by to introduce himself and we had a nice chat with him. We requested an egg crate mattress for our bed and he had it on for us by the time we went to bed that night. We told him two suitcases weren’t there yet but we realized they were still loading suitcases on from the port. A little odd that two got separated from the other two, but not too big a deal. Embarkation day is very busy and sometimes the suitcases take awhile to show up.

We continued our exploration of the ship and were playing a card game called Treasure Hunt where we had to go to various stations on the ship to get a stamp for our game card. At the 5pm sailaway party by the Lido Pool there’d be a draw for prizes for everyone who turned in a completed card. No, we didn’t win anything. The cruise director staff joined the singers and band trying to get everyone around the pool to get up and dance as the Island Princess left Fort Lauderdale. After the final prize was drawn at 6pm we returned to our cabin to get dressed for dinner. One of our missing bags had shown up by now so I was able to get some pop into the mini fridge in our room.

We arrived at the main dining room for dinner and were seated fairly quickly. We always choose anytime dining which means we are not seated at a specific time. Traditional dining has their choice of an early or late sitting in the Provence Dining Room on Deck 6, while anytime diners show up anytime between 5 and 10pm for dinner in the Bordeaux Dining Room right beneath on Deck 5. It’s the same menu. We never ask for a table for two because there is always a wait. We’re quite happy being seated at a larger table and having new dining companions each night. There was a small line up, tables were available, it was just a case of staff seating passengers and returning to the doorway to seat more passengers. But by 7pm the dining room was full and passengers had longer waits for a table. I had a shrimp cocktail, a chilled melon soup, and spicy Cajun crawfish vegetable crock pot. It was like a fish stew in a bowl with a crust on it. It wasn’t spicy at all and the crust was doughy. I wouldn’t order this one again. I made up for it by ordering the flourless chocolate cake for dessert and hazelnut ice cream. The chocolate cake was good but the piece was tiny. I’d need 2 or 3 pieces to make a decent dessert. The hazelnut ice cream had a bitter taste and then a very distinct hazelnut aftertaste. It was a little odd. I might try that again.

By the time we returned from dinner our last suitcase still wasn’t there. We alerted Enrique who went to search for it and returned a short time late with the missing bag.

In the Princess Theater we enjoyed a show that was split between the Island dancers and singers and a comedian.

I ended the night up at the Lido swimming pool in a hot tub. Though lukewarm to coldish tub would have been a better description because it was cool. I didn’t try the other hot tubs until the next day but those were actually of normal hot tub temperature.

Princess Cruises, Island Princess Grand Panama Canal cruise coming up

We are set to sail on April 29 2010 on a repositioning cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Vancouver. 18 days aboard the Island Princess. A trip of a lifetime through the Panama Canal.

And yes, I'm getting a little excited!

Our itinery includes a stop in Aruba. We have no plans other than being beach bums here. We're geocachers and have noted a couple of caches hidden at beaches near the cruise ship port, on Eagle Beach and Palm Beach, so we're hoping to make a couple of finds and leave some travel bugs behind.

The next stop is in Cartagena, Columbia. We've booked a shore excursion with Princess to visit the mud bath volcano at Totumo. Jumping into a vat of mud isn't everyone's idea of fun, but we're looking forward to it. I found an article and photos of it here. http://www.twobackpackers.com/1692/south-america/mud-bath-in-volcano-totumo-colombia/

Then a day's passage through the Panama Canal. I found web cams here of some of the locks. Its kind of interesting watching the boats pass through. http://www.acp.gob.pa/eng/photo/camera-java.html

Then we anchor at Fuerte Amador and tenders take us ashore. We've found a tour company called My Friend Mario and have booked a 6 hour city tour while in port.

Then on to Costa Rica where we've booked a 7 hour tour to visit monkeys in a nature reserve, a plantation where we can sample fruit, a river boat tour for crocodiles, and a local lunch at a beach where we can swim, and a stop at a market where coffee can be bought for half the price as its sold in other shops. Sounds like a great day.

The Island Princess then heads to Mexico. We'll be doing the beach bum thing again at a stop in Hualtulco. At Acapulco I've booked a city tour with some other passengers on the cruise and we'll be seeing the cliff diver's afternoon performance. On to Cabo San Lucas where again we're planning to hang out at the beach for the day.

The ship then heads to Los Angeles where passengers will be embarking and disembarking. I've been to California so many times and seen most of the tourist attractions many times that none of the shore excursions interested me. The time in LA is so short that I didn't want to venture off in my own and get stuck in a traffic jam and miss the 4pm departure, so we'll be staying in the San Pedro pier area. There are heritage trolley cars that operate for a mile and a half and take passengers up to a mall, so that's likely all we'll be doing.

Then a couple more days at sea and we'll be back in Vancouver. The Island Princess then does the Alaska cruises for the summer months.