Ahoy me hearties, come aboard my ship.

Avast

Arrr

Be quick with ye now lads and lassies or we'll be left on the wharf while the ship weighs anchor and sails for grand adventures without us.

A few weeks, months, surely not years ago K. and L. asked us if we'd like to go on cruise with them. Shiver me timbers, we, who have never, that's right, never, been on a cruise before agreed wholeheartedly. They have been on many cruises and being old sea dogs, regaled us with tales of the pleasures to be endured by such. I reminded them that not so long ago they had been on the cruise ship that had been hit by the forty foot wave. L. said "yup, now that was a grand adventure and the best part was the free food the cruise line offered." That's my friend L.. He doesn't see the down side to too many things. :)

They had already chosen which cruise they were planning on taking and so plans were initiated and today the plan will be put in motion. I'm excited on many fronts. First we will be exploring the isles of the Dutch West Indies searching for, among other things, pirate lore. Little did they know that this is research project I sorely need, to continue with my historical fiction novel. Next, we will spend a day (Saturday) with D.'s uncle, J.B. (only a few days older than me) who is living in Panama for the winter. He has arranged for a driver to take us to the city of Colon (no snickering! As an side; the currency of Costa Rica is the colon.) which has a reputation for being a sleazy underbelly type of city full of scallywags and such. It is from this city that our Royal Caribbean Cruise ship "Enchantment of the Seas" embarks.

The planned itinerary is as follows:
Leave Panama Sunday evening and arr. Mon.:
Cartagena, Columbia. Think; Capt. Morgan and his great Pirate Army.
Tues. we'll explore Santa Marta, Columbia beaches.
Wed. All day at Oranjestad, Aruba.
Thur. explore Willestad, Curacao.
Fri. Kralendijk, Bonaire.
Sat. All day cruise.
Sun. back in Colon, disembark ride to Panama city, stay the night at J.B.'s and fly back to Syr. on Mon.

For I dream of the skull and the crossbones
I dream of the great day to come
When I dump the mundane
For the Old Spanish Main
And trade me computer for rum
Yo Ho Yo Ho
Lets talk like a pirates.
When laptops are benches
God gave men for wenches
And a sail aint a high price to pay
When timbers are shivered
And lillies are livered
And every last buckle is swashed
We'll abandon our cars
For a shipful of ARRRS
And pound back the grog til we're sloshed!

If the buccaneers, Brethren of the Coast, deem it fair we'll be back.
"Til then, Godspeed! and fairwinds.