We had a fun day in Long Beach and LA yesterday — that’s Los Angeles not Long Ashton.

We saw Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Our ship was moored by the old Queen Mary (now a museum). They organised a wonderful firework display as we departed.

A quiet day today and tomorrow too. At sea enroute to Los Angeles, arriving on Thursday morning.

It’s still sunny and we’ve seen a lot of dolphins and porpoises today, but it’s getting slightly cooler as we go North.

Very much a “manufactured resort” and a bit tacky, but we had a pleasant stroll around the town and the marina. We saw seals and loads of Pelicans.

A rather dull day, but still warm. We will be in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico tomorrow (Monday).

They showed the film Capt Phillips yesterday — not entirely appropriate when we’re on the high seas !

A photo would be more sea, so no photo today.

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.