You may be able to just make out the coast of Mexico.

We had a great day here yesterday.

We went on a rail and boat ride to see some of the local fauna. We saw monkeys, crocodiles, iguanas, pelicans, butterflies and more. A lovely day, very hot and sunny.

Now progressing North towards Mexico.

We transited the Canal yesterday. The Canal is about 50 miles long; first the ship goes up 3 huge locks from the Atlantic side, then it crosses an enormous lake, then a ‘cut’ and finally descends 3 locks to the Pacific Ocean. The whole process takes about 8 hours.

Here are some photos of our transit.

09.30 just starting our transit of the Panama Canal. 3 locks up and 3 locks down.

We are in the Gatun lock now and will be at the Miraflores dock in 8 hours.

Both have webcams so you may be able to see the Queen Elizabeth going through.

More, with photos, later.

Today we wre in Curaçao, famous for….er……Curaçao (liquer). It is part of the Netherlands Antilles, a group of islands just off the North Coast of Venezuela.

The town is very pretty. Here are a few photos including one of the ship’s reggae band members enjoying an ice cream, while we had a beer.

Another wonderful “sea day”. We are sailing South through the Caribbean Sea towards South America. We have spent sometime outside enjoying the sunshine but came in to see the excellent film “Philomena”. (Again – but worth a second viewing, if a bit tragic and depressing.)

Here’s two pictures to give an impression of the inside of this ship. One is of the main lobby and the other one is one of the bars.

Wonderful day in Fort Lauderdale yesterday. Temp 26c approx. We were met by Fiona (see photo) she is a friend of Patti Barclay and lives in FL. She took us to see her friend June (also see photo). Then we went out to lunch and sat outside on the Intracoastal Waterway, watching the boats and the Pelicans.

We sailed last evening are and are now off the North Coast of Cuba. 2 sea days on the way to Curaçao.

Our beautiful ship and our cabin.

We are now headed for Fort Lauderdale in Florida where we will arrive at 07.00 tomorrow (Thursday)

We left New York at 6.00 pm last night, sailing past lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty at around 7.00 pm.

Right now, 10.30 am Tuesday we are around 300 miles south of New York, bound for our first stop Fort Lauderdale in Florida.

Horrible day today you can hardly see across the river. Picture taken in the lobby of Constitution Court before went to check in for the cruise. The other picture is of the Queen Elizabeth coming up the channel at 11.00 am. You can probably hardly make it out through the rain,