Feb 26, 2026

Today is our last port stop for this cruise. Last night we celebrated the  Orange party on the boat. This is a throwback to the Dutch Heritage of the HAL cruise line. This is often accompanied by Dutch food at dinner like Nasi and Bami Goreng, tom poesen, bosche bollen and apple pie for dessert and followed by snacks at night like bitter ballen and olie bollen. People usually dress in orange for the night.

Today we arrived in Ensenada early in the morning. I didn’t know much about this City before today. It’s located about 2hr drive south of the US border on the Pacific Ocean, with a population of approximately 360k.

For Today we booked a wine tour to the wine region called the Guadeloupe valley. The winery we were going to visit was about an  hour’s drive outside the City. On our drive we saw numerous wineries in the valley. Apparently there are nearly 200 wineries in the valley. The winery we were about to visit is called La Cetto winery. It is the largest wine producer in Mexico. They grow grapes over 1200 hectares they own, producing approximately 16 million liters per year. They export about 40% to 22 different countries. Upon entry we were given a brief tour of the production area, followed by the tasting of 4 different wines. The quality was actually very good. After we spent a little over an hour here, we boarded the bus to our second stop, La Casa de Dona Lupe. Shortly after arrival we were all given a flight with 4 small cups of wine. To my liking, they were all quite sweet. We were all given a small plate with bread and olive oils. After spending a little over an hour  here we were once again boarding the bus for our trip back to the City.

Cheers

Cor&Carol

Feb 22.2026

After yesterdays epic day trip to the Copper Canyon, we were given some extra downtime because we were not supposed to arrive in Mazatlan till 11:00 Am.

We didn’t have any tours booked for the Mazatlan stop as we had been here before in the past. Before we even docked, the captain came on the intercom and notified us of the attacks in Puerto Vallarta. At this point he already decided to cancel our stop for tomorrow in PV. He also told us, if we were planning to go out today in Mazatlan to be extra aware of our surroundings. After we heard all this we decided to not wander too far away from the port area. We basically did some shopping and consumed a few margaritas before going back on board.

Because of tomorrow’s cancellation we were having an extra sea day.

Cheers

Cor&Carol

Feb 21, 2026

Overnight we anchored in the port city of Topolabampo in the state of Sinaloa.

We had our clocks set for a 3:00 AM. wake up call. We all assembled at 4:00 AM in the theater waiting for our bus. The bus was at the port at 4:30 to take us to the city of Los Mochis. This was a 2hr bus ride. We were in a Convoy of 4 buses. For the first hour we had a police car escorting us. In the City of Los Mochis we met up with our train. The train was surprisingly in very good condition, apparently special for tourists, it’s called El Chepe. For the local people they use a different train, not as luxury. When we were all seated in the train, we were served coffee and a boxed breakfast. The train ride was a whole 6 hours through mountain  terrain following a river valley and on occasion passing by remote villages. the scenery was quite beautiful. We did have a bar car on the train, where we could purchase a drink or an additional snack. By 12:30 we arrived at the Copper Canyon. From here we were taken for a short  bus ride to hotel El Mirador. We had 2 hours to have lunch and take in the spectacular views of the canyon. The Copper Canyon is apparently deeper than the Grand Canyon. Even though it was sunny outside, you could feel the cool air. We had risen from sea level to 6000ft at the hotel. After the Mexican lunch we had a chance to walk along the canyon rim for a mile or so  and meet up with our bus again. The bus took us for a short ride back to our train for the 6 hr train ride back. On the ride back we were served a boxed dinner and we had the opportunity to purchase additional drinks in the bar wagon. I managed to have a few naps on the way back. A little after 8:00 we met up with our bus again. The bus took us back to the ship, where we arrived around 10:30. Wow this was a very long day. Outside the ship we were greeted by all the ships officers. HAL had prepared A special late night  dinner completed with mimosas for all 145 gasts from the Canyon trip. After dinner it was time to hit the sack. Carol managed remarkably well after her cold yesterday.

Overall, this was a great opportunity to see this remarkable canyon and train ride in a single day.

Cheers

Cor&Carol

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Feb 20, 2026

Good morning, overnight we crossed over to the Eastside of the Sea of Cortez to the City of Guyamas. The City is located in the state of Senora. The location is approximately 250 miles south of the USA border. The population is approximately 180k.

Carol had developed a nasty cold overnight and decided to stay put on the ship. By the time I went down the gangplank, there was such a large line up for the shuttle bus to the center of town, that made me decide to stay in the port area. Our departure time was an early one, scheduled for 1:30pm. Instead I ended up shooting a few pictures and went back on board. Since we are further north, you could notice the cooler daytime temperatures look. Let’s hope Carol is feeling better in the morning because it will be an early one.

Cheers

Cor&Carol

Feb 19,2026

Another day, Another Port.

Today’s port is Loreto, located approximately 225 miles north of yesterday’s location of La Paz. Loreto is an historic old city dating back to the 17th century. It is situated on the sea of Cortez.

I visited Loreto in 1997 on a kayak trip. The waters around this area are very popular with kayakers and boaters, being protected by the offshore islands from the winds.

I was very excited to visit again after nearly three decades. The first thing you notice when you get to shore is the historic Mission hotel. I was fortunate to have stayed there in my previous visit. Things look quite different today in the town. The old dirt roads are slowly replaced by newly constructed cobble stone streets with sidewalks. The main street towards downtown is pedestrian only. It is lined with little stores and cafes. The main Street leads towards the downtown square with its century old cathedral. We truly enjoyed sitting down at one of the numerous cafes and listening to some local musicians. After our coffee break we ventured out some more before we returned back to the pier.

Loreto is definitely a great place to visit if you don’t like the hustle and bustle of the tourist centers.

Cheers

Cor&Carol

Feb 18. 2026

This morning we arrived in Pichilinque, which is the port for La Paz. La Paz is a city of 250k and is the capital of Baha de California Sur. Ferry boats leave from here to service Mazatlan and Topolabampo on the mainland.

After breakfast we took the shuttle to downtown LA Paz ,which took the better part of the half hour. On the ride into town, we noticed that the boulevard was still lined with music stages and foodtrucks which went on for a mile or more. These attractions were the leftovers from the Carnival (Mardi Gras) which ended last night. The sad part was that it blocked the view to the beach and ocean. Our shuttle dropped us off in the downtown area. We made visits to the historic church and a large gallery museum. After these visits we circled the downtown area and worked our way back to the beach , where we had lunch and a cold cerveza. After lunch we explored some of the seaside stores and eventually found our ride back to the boat.

Cheers

Cor&Carol

Feb 17, 2026

On Sunday when we boarded the ship and we were having lunch at the buffet, we were surprised by running into our friends Rocky and Joan from Qualicum Beach on the Island. We cruised with Rocky and Joan on the 2023 world cruise.

Our first stop is Cabo, located on the southern tip of the Baha. We were scheduled to arrive at 11:00 and pull anchor at 6:00pm.

For today we had arranged to meet up with our friends Craig and Mary Anne from Port Alberni. They have made Cabo their home for the winter months. We met up with them at the harbor where they showed us their fishing boats. After that we stopped for a nice lunch at the waterfront before we went on to their home. Their place was a little ways away from the hustle and bustle of the downtown area into the hills overlooking the ocean. After having a cold drink poolside we said goodbye to Mary Anne. Craig drove us down some unpaved back roads back to Cabo to board the tender back to the ship.

This was a very nice day of visiting and some sightseeing.

Cheers

Cor and Carol

Feb 15, 2026

Hello again from my desk on the cruise ship. We are about to start on another cruise, this time only 12 days. The destination is the Mexican Riviera and the Sea of Cortez.

Before we boarded the ship we had a chance to spend a day in San Diego. Our goal was to visit the Midway. This is a US aircraft carrier. It was put into service in 1945, just after the Second World War. The ship was in service till 1992. Currently it is a museum in San Diego docket on the waterfront surrounded by a 10 acre park. The ship’s flight deck is nearly 1000ft long and 230ft wide. The flight deck covers an area of approximately 4 acres. It can hold over 100 planes and is home to 4500 service men and women.

The waterfront is covered by several high end seafood eateries. We were fortunate that we were assigned a room in our hotel overlooking the harbor.

After a nice Valentine’s dinner we were looking forward to boarding the ship tomorrow morning. The cruise ship happened to be the same one we spent 4 months on last spring cruising the world.

Cheers

May 11, 2025

We completed our last two Sea days yesterday morning, from Puerto Rico to Fort Lauderdale. Over the last two days we were treated by several shows, first of all a guest talent show. Some guests interpretation of talent might be a little different than from the audience watching the show. The crew talent show was excellent. On the last day we were treated to an overall farewell show by all the staff. This show is always difficult, saying goodbye to all the staff, who looked after us as we were part of their family. The last day and night we said goodbye to friends and crew we got to know over the last 125 days. One last beer at our favorite pub, one last song from our favorite music venue. Writing a few Thank you notes to the special ones and at last filling my  suitcase.

Yesterday morning we had an early breakfast, so we could walk off the ship for the final time but not before we had to give a few final hugs to some of the staff which had lined the gang plank when we departed. All that was remaining was our flights home. After a planned stop in Mesa Arizona, we should be back on Vancouver Island by Monday night.

Looking back onto the trip of visiting 45 ports and having sailed close to 40,000 miles, I have to say it was epic. Taking in consideration the fact that we had to deal with Carol’s surgery in Tahiti, dealing with my cough which seems to go on for ever and which caused Carol many sleepless nights.

I look forward to taking some time off for a while from writing these blogs.

Thanks to all of you who read and commented on my blogs I wrote over the last 4 months.

We are wondering if Gary our dog still knows us when we get back. A big thank you to Meghan who looked after him and our house.

The good thing is, no more “Spam” in your inbox for a while

Well for the last time Cheers.

Cor and Carol

 

May 6, 2025

After a six day Atlantic crossing we were able to put our feet on land again today. We arrived in Puerto Rico an unincorporated territory of the USA. The population is approximately 3.2 million. We had a late arrival (12:00 Noon) today, followed by a mandatory US customs clearance, as this is our entry into the USA. All went well with our customs check. We were docked too far away from the old town, because of this shuttle buses were provided to get us there. After a 10 min ride we got dropped off at Plaza Colon. From here we set off on foot to explore the City. I was very surprised, as I have not been here before, of the colorful buildings and cobblestone streets making it a lot like the streets in Spain and Portugal where we just visited. Carol wanted to visit the cathedral where Juan Ponce De Leon was buried inside the church. Juan was a Spanish Explorer who later became Governor of Puerto Rico. After our church visit,we roamed the streets some more, till we sat down at a streetside patio for Salsa, Chips and a local beer. Blues music was being played inside the Cafe. we proceeded with our self designed walking tour till we ended up at the bus pickup. From here we ended up back at the port.

Our visit here was great, definitely a place to explore a little more in the future.

Cheers

Cor and Carol