Panama Cruise 2025 Day 5 & 6 November 1 & 2 Sea Day & Huatulco

Sea Day

So breakfast in the Buffet to start us off and then a cup of tea in a nice comfy couch looking out over the water.  After we finished our tea we headed to an enrichment talk on the sun.  It was very interesting. Did you know that the Northern lights are caused by the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and charged particles from the sun's atmosphere that enter the earth's atmosphere. A solar flare (energetic particles from the sun) floats through space on the solar wind, eventually penetrating the Earth's magnetic field. The more the sun flares the more northern lights.

We decided to spend our afternoon up on the deck,  I have been rereading the Jack Reacher books that they have made into the TV series and the movie. We did get out of the sun a bit and went to check out the progressive trivia game in the wheelhouse bar. The wheelhouse bar is right by the theatre and it has a bunch of couches and chairs that allow you to find a nice quite corner to read or take a nap. We discovered that we are not really good at trivia.  Dinner was great as usual. It was an Italian theme and they were making fresh pasta in the dining room. They were cooking up a garlicy tomato sauce with fresh penne, you could smell the garlic throughout the restaurant.

Tonight’s theatre performance was called Blame it on the Boogie, it was a disco show with lots of great dancing and music, I didn’t get a photo as this was the only show that specifically said no pictures or recordings because of copyright.

The comedian tonight was Don Friesen. I was so funny I actually had tears I was laughing so hard. When we got back to the room the World Series was in its last innings and we watched the overtime and unfortunately the Dodgers won, but the Blue Jays had nothing to be ashamed of they played until the end.

Huatulco

This morning we had  leisurely breakfast in the buffet, then went back to the room to get ready to spend the day in Huatulco, MX.  Huatulco is  a resort area in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, known for its nine bays, numerous beaches, and focus on sustainable tourism and natural conservation. There are a number of all inclusive resorts in the area as well as a small community called La Crucecita. You can now fly direct here with West Jet from Canada.

Beach Area at the end of the dock

We headed down the dock into town and checked out a couple of shops. We had intended to just got to the beach but there were a number of taxi drivers that were offering private tours.  A 3 ½ hour tour with the ship was around $100 each on a large bus. Renaldo offered to drive us around for $50 for the two of us, so we decided to take him up on it.  Our first stop was an overlook in a residential neighbourhood that gave us a view of the ship in port and the marina.  We then went a checked out a couple of beaches and the Huatulco Sign.

Our driver Renaldo

He then took us down this narrow dirt road to a bay where there were some locals doing their weekend fishing to sell in the local market for the week. Then even had a small reefer truck to keep everything cold.  We could see a couple of the all inclusive resorts in the distance. 

 

He then took us to La Crucecita where we did get to see the local church. It was Sunday so we got to see the alter boys and girls escort the priest into the church for service. We politely stood in the back, got a few pictures and then headed out to explore the town square.  Huatulco is know for its brightly painted wooden ornaments so I was able to get a hummingbird for our Christmas tree.  

 

The town square had some shrines and displays left over from the Day of the Dead Celebrations the day before. I also managed to get a great picture of a very large iguana that went from hiding in the grass to climbing a tree and trying to hide but I managed to get a great picture of him.

 

After our tour of the area Renaldo dropped us off back a the beach by the ship where we spent a bit of time before heading back to the ship.

We went for an early supper tonight and as we got to the MDR there was an announcement from the Captain to prepare for strong winds up to 90 MPH for about 2 hours as we travelled to the next port in Guatemala. As we were sitting down to eat you could see the swells outside the  windows. I was going to go back to the room and get a sea sickness pill but one of the fellows at our table and some that he carried with him, so he popped one out for me and I was good for the rest of the night.

Tonight’s show in the theatre was a juggler name Thom Wall.  He had been doing juggling since he was a kid and he performed with one of Cirque du Soleil’s travelling shows for over 10 years.  Needless to say his juggling act was more difficult for him because of the motion of the ship. At one point he put a bowling ball on the stage and it rolled al the way over to the other end before he could grab it.  He did do an excellent job though.

 He is balancing a bowling ball on top of a wine bottle while juggling knives

After the show it was back to the Universal Lounge for Comedian Don Friesen. He did a new show and he was just as funny the second time.