A couple days in Fort Lauderdale and then we're Cartagena bound!

We decided to spend this Christmas and New Year's at sea and check off an item on my bucket list...going through the Panama Canal.  To avoid pre-Christmas travelers and any potential flight delays, we headed to Fort Lauderdale a few days early before setting sail on our Panama Canal cruise.  The added advantage to flying down early is we got to get in some relaxation before we boarded the Emerald Princess with no worries.  Our travel trio was complete when we  met up with Julie in Atlanta.  We toasted our meet up with champagne and our arrival in Fort Lauderdale with rum runners...a sign of things to come!

One of the perks of my job is I am able to get crazy discounts on hotels.  We got super lucky to get the planner rate at the Marriott Fort Lauderdale Harbor Beach Resort during Christmas break!  As a former revenue director, I'm not sure I would have had it open during season but sure am glad it was!

There we were minding our own business
when this guy sauntered by us!

Little friendly corn hole competition.  Can you guess who won?!

We could see our ship from our balcony!

Obligatory ship boarding photo. 
Yes, I screenshot the proof from the Princess app!

While we were waiting to leave port, another Princess ship left and as you can guess, they played the theme from The Love Boat!

Our home for the next 15 days.  While we weren't able to get connecting cabins with Julie, we could at least connect our balconies so we could go between cabins easily.

We definitely plan to take full advantage of our drink package!

We signed up for the gingerbread house contest.  While we had some construction challenges, we adapted and changed our theme but most importantly had fun!  Once one of the sides collapsed, we decided to change the design to incorporate indoor/outdoor living and created a gum drop firepit.  We even had marshmallow smoke coming out the chimney (no we didn't elect a new pope...#catholichumor). See if you can spot the reindeer "accident" and the snowman that had too many cocktails thanks to the drink package!  Apparently our house wasn't up to code as it didn't pass inspection so no CO for us...perhaps it was because it collapsed after Julie and I let go!  We later found out the contest was rigged as "they wanted to have kids win" according to one of the judges.  I smell a pay-off!

Never one to pass up a chance to play a slot machine, LuLu headed to the casino. Let's just say she had fun...but will be going home with a little less money than she brought onboard.

Christmas Day was spent at sea and was quite relaxing.  After enjoying breakfast in our cabin, we exchanged gifts...we all three received something we can use while traveling of course!  We had a lovely dinner complete with gingerbread soufflé. 

After enjoying the Christmas Spectacular in the theatre, 

I discovered the Princess standard for a French 75 

is to make with brandy versus gin (the original way).  

After two days at sea, we finally make our first port of call...Cartagena, Colombia.  We could definitely tell we were 700 miles from the equator as it was HOT!  While we knew it would be warmer than home and not ones to enjoy the heat, we signed up for the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus excursion.  Unbeknownst to us, the excursion started with a two hour walking tour of the Old Walled City...at least we started at 8:30am! To be honest, I was coming in and out of consciousness from the heat that I really didn't pay much attention to our guide so can't really say much about the photos I took...some of these were taken by Julie.  When the walking tour was over, all three of us agreed that we would rather go back to the ship than spend another two hours on the open-aired bus...no one needs to be a travel martyr!

Okay, so I do remember something!  In the Walled City, you can tell what era a building is from based upon the balcony.  The balcony on the right was from Colonial Times as it is wooden and the  balcony on the left is from the Republic as it is made of cement.

How can we be on the cruise line from 

The Love Boat and not watch reruns?!

Tomorrow, December 27, we cross the Isthmus of Panama via the Panama Canal!  

Delta mileage special + Marriott planner rate + PTO to burn = trip to Cincinnati

For my birthday this year, we decided to head up to Cincinnati.  I know Cincinnati is not really a hot spot especially in December but the stars lined up so off we went.  A good friend moved back home to the area so we wanted to go visit him (he's another one of LuLu's adopted kids), The Ark Encounter was nearby (the commercials always make it seem interesting), Delta was running a mileage special, I had PTO to burn (no way am I going to lose my hard earned PTO) and Marriott had their planner rate available at Residence Inn Downtown / The Phelps Residence Inn Cincinnati / The Phelps.  The service at this hotel was by far some of the best we have ever had!  The servers in the breakfast room were absolutely phenomenal.

In the park across from the hotel, there is a
sculpture of the USMC globe and anchor.  There was a
photo in our living room.  JB sending us a sign he is with us.

On Saturday, we headed up to Loveland where my friend lives.  It is such a cute little town and looks like a set in a Hallmark movie especially with all the Christmas decorations!  They were having their annual Christmas Tree Lighting and Festival while we were in town.  The view from his apartment looks directly into the festivities so we could watch the lighting from the warmth of the indoors.

 

Mark's sister & brother-in-law met up
with us for drinks. The bar has these
cool igloos to keep you warm.

We spent Sunday walking around Findlay Market (for a short time because it was freezing!) and then did a driving tour of the area before going to evening mass at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption.

Turns out there's a casino around the corner
from the hotel.  LuLu can't pass up chance to play slots.  

Another sign from JB he is with us.

 

For several years, we've seen the commercials for The Ark Encounter in northern Kentucky.  It was only an hour or so away from Cincinnati so we took a day trip.  The Ark is massive and does fit the image the Bible story conjures up so that part was good but that is pretty much where it ended for us. Not sure we were the target audience for the attraction.  It did feel a little like Disneyland for God as on every floor of the ark there is a gift shop though I will say they totally missed the mark by not offering animal crackers in any of the snack shops!  The first two decks were a bit hell, fire & brimstone for us and it wasn't until the third deck did they address the grace, benevolence and love of God.  If you do go, prepare to pay a pretty hefty entry fee of $59.99 per person plus an additional $15 for parking.

Birthday lunch @ Skyline Chili...a Cincinnati institution
Chili 3-Way
Spaghetti, chili and cheese

Was excited to discover they had the Candlelight Concert Series in Cincinnati!  The night's quarter played selections from Taylor Swift at the Bell Event Centre. It was the perfect way to celebrate my birthday and end our trip!