Association Forum - Hasta la vista-We're back and photos added!

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Hasta la vista-We're back and photos added!

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

JimB517
Past Commodore

Member Avatar

USA
3285 Posts

Initially Posted - 02/17/2008 : 19:15:30

Karen and I leave on our long awaited 25th anniversary cruise on Carnival Spirit San Diego to Acapulco, Ixtapa, and Manzanillo tomorrow, Monday Feb 18. It will be the 9-day honeymoon we never had. The kids are staying home (18 and 16 years old). We were supposed to go on our actual anniversary, Oct. 30, but San Diego was on fire that week. Carnival was nice enough to let us cancel at the absolute last minute and give us a voucher for travel at another time.

I'm taking my GPS and plan to set waypoints for Cedros Island, Turtle Bay, Bahia Magdalena, Cabo, and of course all the ports on the mainland for when I sail down in a few years.

We're back and click here for the photos:

http://www.starrstuff.com/jim/cruise08.html

I wish I was sailing my own Catalina 42 but this will be a nice mid-winter vacation for us.

See you in a week or so and I'll have many photos and a big update to the web page when I get back.

My greatest wish? That they would let me on the bridge for a few minutes.

Indiscipline 1978 FK SR #398

Edited by - JimB517 on 02/26/2008 22:58:33

Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 02/17/2008 : 19:20:19

Party at Jim's house!

Edited by - on

cat1951
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
636 Posts

Response Posted - 02/17/2008 : 19:56:54

Congratulations on 25 years! We had our 30th in September and were in the middle of selling our house and moving to a newer and smaller one. So we were too tied up to do anything special. We are headed for the Napa valley in March. We have a balloon flight and champagne brunch booked as part of the celebration. It won't be on the water, but we sure are looking forward to it.

Have a GREAT cruise Jim!

Edited by - cat1951 on 02/17/2008 19:58:00

dave holtgrave
Captain

Members Avatar

USA
427 Posts

Response Posted - 02/17/2008 : 20:32:38

hey jim

done that trip several times and it is fun.
have a good time and don't worry about the teenagers at home.

your a lucky man to celebrate your 25 years.
allot of us haven't been as lucky

dave holtgrave
hard dry and windy
in southern illinois near carlyle lake

Edited by - on

dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 02/17/2008 : 21:40:42

Many congratulations on your 25th anniversary. Sounds like a great trip ahead. just don't let Nautiduck house-sit for you.

Edited by - dmpilc on 02/17/2008 21:41:07

sweetcraft
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
816 Posts

Response Posted - 02/17/2008 : 22:19:20

Good going. We met on your dock when my Granddaughter was with me and she is 18 now. Enjoy your time together. Don't get seasick.

Edited by - on

zeil
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Canada
1314 Posts

Response Posted - 02/17/2008 : 23:54:02

Congratulations Jim & Karen... enjoy the trip... kids will be fine... explore an opportunity to be invited to the bridge captain Jim!!

Edited by - on

redviking
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1771 Posts

Response Posted - 02/18/2008 : 07:40:24

My best guess would be that you could present yourself as a captain who wanted to see the bridge such that you could see what they see when encountering a sailing vessel such as the one you are in command of. (Don't say C-25) talk about radar returns and radar reflectors and AIS. They will let you in Captain. You know enough. Congrats and good luck "getting in."

Sten

DPO C25 #3220 "Zephyr", SR, FK
SV Lysistrata - C&C 39 - St. Augustine FL, heading south to the islands in a week after the canvas guy finishes! Yippee!

Edited by - on

redviking
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1771 Posts

Response Posted - 02/18/2008 : 07:41:50

Tell them you always leave your radio on and on one-six.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

sten

Edited by - on

DanM
Captain

Members Avatar

USA
256 Posts

Response Posted - 02/18/2008 : 08:19:36

Give you joy! Bahia de Zihuatanejo at Ixtapa is beautiful. If you have a chance, do the catamaran/snorkle dive on "Picante".
We are Crusing to Barbados on Princess Line soon to celebrate the admiral's ___ birthday. Going on the bridge would be a treat. Thank's for the idea!

Edited by - on

stampeder
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

1608 Posts

Response Posted - 02/18/2008 : 11:35:24

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">My greatest wish? That they would let me on the bridge for a few minutes.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

They will let you on the bridge.

Have fun.

Edited by - on

tinob
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1883 Posts

Response Posted - 02/20/2008 : 13:40:36

This past summer we cruised the med and a retired USN admiral requested permission to enter the bridge and was courteously refused permission citing some-such company security regulations.
I don't want to sail on any ship that would allow visits to the bridge, unless they were considering me

I spent most of my time one deck below the bridge deck where there were two compasses and my Walter Mitty ego took over. Entering and exiting ports made the trip livable.

Val on the hard DAGNABIT, # 3936, Patchogue, N.Y.

Edited by - on

JimB517
Past Commodore

Members Avatar

USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 02/26/2008 : 23:19:34

Well we are back and you can click below to see the photos of our trip of a lifetime.

http://www.starrstuff.com/jim/cruise08.html

It was really wonderful but I am not sure we would do it again soon. If we do, we'll take the girls.

The ship, the Carnival Spirit, was 86,000 tons, 960 feet long, 105 feet wide, and 190 feet from keel to the highest point. She was powered by 6, 9 cylinder diesel generators. These feed electrical power to two Azipods - which are basically electrical motor driven sail drives hanging below the hull. The Spirit could cruise at 22 knots and top speed was 24. We did 22 to 23 all the way down and 20 to 15 on the way back. The Azipods eliminate the need for stern thrusters since they can be steered though 360 degrees. There are big bow thrusters. There are no propeller shafts, no tranmissions.

This was like taking a Las Vegas hotel, laying it on its side, and cruising it down to Mexico.

On the last day at sea, from Isla Cedros to San Diego we had 35 knot NW winds (at times down to 20 - 25) and 10 foot + seas. San Diego was being torn up by 20 foot surf. There was over 50 knots of wind over the deck. Still the ride was surprisingly smooth. I'm not sure they ever put on the stabilizers because, with the winds and seas on the nose, it was mostly pitching. But the entire ship was groaning when pushing thousands of tons of water aside when it hit a big sea.

What I didn't like was the relentless but subtle pressure to sell you things you didn't need (photos, jewerly, gambling, videos, gifts, etc.) I also did not like the fact that we only had 7 to 12 hours in a port and that the cruise ship culture so disrupts the people - there were no bargins in the seaside markets. Also there are a lot of guests that do nothing but really heavy drinking the whole time. Mexican people must think we are all loud, rude, fat, pale white, rich, and drunk all the time.

What I loved was the non stop entertainment, the wonderful people on board (both crew and guests) all the games, the fun, being 100 miles out to sea. I loved watching every detail of the professional crew handle this massive ship. I really enjoyed the tours, especially the last one where we went about 100 miles inland and got away mostly from the people catering to the tourist culture.

We both really enjoyed the Las Vegas style shows every night and the fanstatic meal service. We did two behind the scenes tours (the theater and the kitchen). The bridge and engine room had video tours which I watched. In another life I would welcome the experience of being a professional bridge officer on a big ship.

Edited by - JimB517 on 02/26/2008 23:23:21

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
3462 Posts

Response Posted - 02/27/2008 : 05:24:13

Congratulations on your 25th Wedding Anniversary ! A cruise is a great way to celebrate - Going to places afar and at same time living it up in luxury as you transit.

Every 5 years we get together with two other couples we have known since the beginning of time and celebrate our anniversaries. This past summer, we celebrated our 30th Wedding Anniversaries. We also took a cruise. We were onboard the 12 day Celebrity Millenium Meditteranean Cruise to various ports in Italy & Greece with a stop also in Croatia. It started in Barcelona (we were there three days early) and then went on a one way trip ending in Venice.

Edited by - OLarryR on 02/27/2008 05:24:44

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

3072 Posts

Response Posted - 02/27/2008 : 08:58:12

"the cruise ship culture so disrupts the people... "

Unfortunately true. There is massive disruption to the communities. The people like the revenue, but a huge collective sigh of relief goes up when the ship leaves so life can go back to normal for a few days (or hours).

"...nothing but really heavy drinking the whole time. Mexican people must think we are all loud, rude, fat, pale white, rich, and drunk all the time."

Sadly, I've observed that is also the image projected by a lot of Americans living in the 'gated retirement communities' that are springing up in Mexico and Central America. :>( There are lots of exceptions, of course... but the negative experiences tend to stick in people's minds.

Edited by - on

tinob
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1883 Posts

Response Posted - 02/27/2008 : 09:14:31

WELCOME HOME KAREN AND BILL, THANKS FOR THE PHOTO-OP, ALMOST AS GOOD AS BEING THERE. I'LL SHOW THE ADMIRAL. BET IT GOES ON HER LIST OF CRUISES TO DO'S...

VAL ON THE HARD, DAGNABIT, # 3936, PATCHOGUE, N.Y.

Edited by - on

JohnP
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

1520 Posts

Response Posted - 02/27/2008 : 11:03:19

Jim,

Thanks for the nice pix. Looks like you had a great time.

Who is the interesting red-head you met on the cruise?
I can't imagine what that's supposed to be!!!

We're having light snow showers here in the DC area today.

Edited by - JohnP on 02/27/2008 11:04:12

JohnP
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

1520 Posts

Response Posted - 02/27/2008 : 11:05:04

A hammerhead shark?

Edited by - on

stampeder
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

1608 Posts

Response Posted - 02/27/2008 : 11:20:46

Carny, the Carnival Cruise Mascot.

Edited by - on

Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 02/27/2008 : 14:15:04

Thanks for sharing your posts! I perused your web site. I also work in IT. How many of us geeks are there on the forum??

Edited by - on

Captain Ballast
1st Mate

Members Avatar

USA
38 Posts

Response Posted - 02/27/2008 : 14:28:36

I am not a geek but I manage a few sites and know a trick or two. I wish I knew as much about boats as I do computers!

A friend of mine is planning his 1st cruise and this thread is a perfect review of what to expect, good job!

Edited by - Captain Ballast on 02/27/2008 14:30:10

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

3072 Posts

Response Posted - 02/27/2008 : 19:37:42

IT, but not a true geek... I came over from the 'production' side of the business.

Edited by - on

JohnP
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

1520 Posts

Response Posted - 02/27/2008 : 20:14:28

I'm into biotech not computers per se. Is marlinspike seamanship for geeks? I think not!

I bet it's work with "systems" in general that make sailing a fun hobby for people with a technical bent, but not only computers. Then again, others just grew up on boats.

Edited by - JohnP on 02/28/2008 10:49:01

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.