Leaving Heathrow on 13 May for Los Angeles in a "pod" on a British Airways 777. Once over the Atlantic, the food starts to arrive. Santa Monica Farmers' Market - a twice-weekly market, one of the biggest in California, specialising in locally-grown produce. Santa Monica Farmers' Market - a twice-weekly market, one of the biggest in California, specialising in locally-grown produce. Santa Monica Farmers' Market - a twice-weekly market, one of the biggest in California, specialising in locally-grown produce. Santa Monica Farmers' Market - a twice-weekly market, one of the biggest in California, specialising in locally-grown produce. The mushrooms are notable for their size Santa Monica has a large squirrel population living in burrows in the outcrop above the shore Posing for the camera appears to be routine The signs say not to feed them, but its obvious that these instructions are widely ignored Just keeping an eye on the proceedings Santa Monica pier is the end of the historic Route 66, which starts in Chicago and was established around 100 years ago. Its total length is nearly 2,500 miles. Santa Monica beach and pier The view from our hotel window, just a few hundred yards from the pier and very handy for public transport Santa Monica's only microbrewery Downtown LA, which will host the Olympics in 2028 following the announcement of its successful bid in 2024 The Angels Flight funicular was established in 1901 to climb Bunker Hill. Dismantled in the 1970s and 80s, it reopened in the 1990s and was most recently refurbished in 2017. Grand Central Market has existed in various forms for over 100 years. Grand Central Market is now a bustling selection of food vendors and other stalls, and was an early stop on our Downtown LA food tour, after croissants at the meeting point, Pitchoun Bakery. Our market stop was at Sticky Rice for Thai pork and chicken satay, plus the eponymous rice Candies at Grand Central Market The Bradbury building was constructed in the late 19th century and is designated a National Historic Landmark. The Bradbury building is most noted for its atrium with ornate ironwork. The food tour continued to Maccheroni Republic for ravioli with pumpkin and white truffle Across the courtyard at Maccheroni Republic stands their in-house pasta factory The tour continues at Guisados for tacos Last stop on the tour provided dessert Just a part of Donut Friends' selection At Donut Friends, the wacky names extend to the ice cream flavours Our food tour guide, who also works as an actress in Spanish-language TV A busy evening on Santa Monica pier Street entertainment on Santa Monica pier Onboard the Island Princess and preparing to leave Los Angeles Departed from our berth at San Pedro cruise port Heading down the channel through the port of Los Angeles Passing the museum battleship USS Iowa Prize winner at the "Welcome to Princess" event for those travelling with the line for the first time Island Princess was the last cruise ship heading south at the end of the season, so the only other passenger ship we saw was heading back to LA Hazy sun rise as we headed into Puerto Vallarta in Mexico Arriving in Puerto Vallarta early morning Berthing at Puerto Vallarta Plenty of seabirds (frigatebirds) around the ship as we docked Plenty of seabirds (frigatebirds) around the ship as we docked In the town itself pelicans could be seen perched on rooftops or fishing just off the beach Other animals in Puerto Vallarta were claimed to be less friendly A look-out was also needed on the beach Sculptures are a feature along the Malecon (boardwalk) in Puerto Vallarta Public square with extensive mosaic work and commemorative plaques The church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Puerto Vallarta dates from the 1930s A shady spot in Plaza de Armas - the main square in Puerto Vallarta "Boy on the Seahorse", another of the sculptures on the Malecon, together with the almost obligatory "instagrammable" town name As an alternative to Sol and Corona lagers, Bohemia Oscura (dark) claims to be a malty beer in the Vienna style. Brewed by the local Heineken subsidiary. The Island Princess in Puerto Vallarta's port Puerto Vallarta port isn't very Mexican: there's a shopping mall, Walmart and Sam's Club Dropping the pilot on leaving Puerto Vallarta A Beatles trivia quiz provided easy pickings, although it did come down to a tie-breaker with a German lady, who didn't expect to lose. The berth at Huatulco, Mexico is about as close to the beach as you can get a 92,000 ton ship Obligatory town name sign Golden Shower trees added colour to a national park near Huatulco The Parque Eco-Arqueológico Copalita, near Huatulco is the site of a series of "pyramids" and other remains dating back to 500BC Our guide combined biological sciences and archaeology The port at Huatulco Leaving Huatulco If it's Sunday, it must be Costa Rica On our way to visit the rainforest a stop at the bridge over the Tarcoles River offers the first crocodile sighting The crocodile seemed to be a permanent fixture here. Cynics might suggest that the locals fed it in order to provide a tourist attraction and provide trade for the adjacent souvenir stalls. Crocodile in motion An iguana in the trees provided a diversion from the crocodiles A rainforest trail on the estate of a hotel provided a sample of jungle. The minibus took us up to the top of the trail, so the walk was almost wholly downhill. The rainforest is situated above the river estuary Everyone on the walk was issued with a stick, although the terrain proved to be fairly easy. The main features of the walk were the rope bridges suspended in the forest canopy The main features of the walk were the rope bridges suspended in the forest canopy The meeting of forest, river and Pacific ocean There wasn't a lot of wildlife to see, but butterflies were plentiful There were two major rope bridges on the route Wildlife was more evident in the courtyard of the hotel at the end of the trail Trails of ants could be seen everywhere. In this case, carrying coloured petals. A further stop at a group of trees known for parrots: Scarlet Macaw Frigate birds were frequently seen overhead, although mainly the white-chested females, rather than the more brightly coloured males Onto a boat on the Tarcoles River for more crocodile and bird spotting Great Egret Snowy Egret Some of the crocodiles were on the move, not lured to photo opportunities yet another egret same egret, but close up Little Blue Heron White Ibis Black Vulture Great Blue Heron Roseate Spoonbill This part of the river was busy with craft, all radioing bird and crocodile sightings to each other Island Princess alongside at Puntarenas Local entertainment as we returned to the ship An early meeting with our tug as we headed into Panama City An early meeting with our tug as we headed into Panama City Tug in position for our early morning arrival into the Fuerte Amador cruise port in Panama Land-based vsit to the Miraflores locks Land-based vsit to the Miraflores locks Land-based vsit to the Miraflores locks The old city, Panama Hats in Panama. (But not Panama hats, which come from Ecuador.) Our visit coincided with the start of the rainy season The monument in the old city commemorates the (unsuccessful) French effort to build the canal and the 22,000 workers who died. The Biomuseum in Panama, designed by Frank Gehry Island princess at the new Fuerte Amador cruise terminal, which is set at the end of a causeway linking several small islands The new Panama City - a major banking and finance centre Laughing Gull (who wasn't at the time) Bunkering tanker at Panama cruise port After picking up the pilots at 0515 we made an early start under the Bridge of the Americas at the southern end of the canal. Heading towards Miraflores locks we catch up with a container ship being manoeuvred into a berth Passing the MSC Sofia Paz which is under tug control As we head towards the bottom of Miraflores locks on the old line of the canal, it is possible to see One Grus, a 364m length container ship, ascending the new locks at Cocoli on the Panama Canal Expansion. Coming to the bottom of Miraflores locks with the container ship Spirit of Auckland already in the second (upper) chamber of the left-hand (west) set of locks. Coming into the bottom of the right-hand (east) locks. The "mules", electric railway engines, are waiting to pick up the tow on the port side The tow is passed to the mules using old technology in the form of two men in a rowing boat With the tow now secure on the port side, the starboard side mules are ready Continuing into the lower chamber, now controlled by eight mules The mules have rack and pinion traction to ascend the "switchback" between lock chambers Coming up to the control building in the centre of the two pairs of locks Clearances are limited: Island Princess has a beam of 37m over the bridge wings (32m waterline); the lock chambers are 33.5m wide. *Very* tight clearance Looking back at the centre gates once we have passed into the upper chamber The mule holding the stern on the port side A temporary viewing platform allows visitors to watch lock operations whilst the main visitor centre (behind) is undergoing reconstruction. One Grus continues along the new lock line whilst we pass Miraflores Island Princes stern Leaving the top of Miraflores locks The parallel locks at Miraflores from the top One Grus is now at the Gatun lake level on the new channel, whilst we have one further lock to pass Pedro Miguel locks are a single rise taking the old canal to the Gatun lake level. The left (west) chamber was undergoing maintenance. Once through the Pedro Miguel lock, we pass under the Centennial Bridge, opened in 2004 to relieve traffic on the Bridge of Americas. These two bridges form part of the Pan-American Highway linking North and South America We were the last ship for the day up the locks at the southern end, but then met traffic heading in the opposite direction, which passes down the locks in the afternoon. Large vessels are escorted by tugs through the canal. The tugs can also pass through the new locks to provide manoeuvring assistance, instead of the mules used on the old locks. Meeting traffic on Gatun Lake Heading into the top of the Gatun locks which descend to the Atlantic in two steps Spirit of Auckland is now ahead of us in the lower chamber of the right (east) locks whilst another vessel ascend the left-hand locks. The top and bottom gates in the locks are duplicated for safety and maintenance purposes Spirit of Auckland has just left the lower chamber as we arrive in the top Mules bring the ascending vessel through the western pair of locks A total of four ships are in the locks at the same time: two passing up, two going down A bulk carrier comes into the bottom chamber One of the mules goes down the "switchback" We leave the bottom of Gatun locks Passing under the Atlantic Bridge, the third to be built across the canal, completed in 2019 Arrived in Oranjestad, Aruba, a Caribbean island part of the Netherlands The Aruba cruise port provides a significant part of the island's income Some of the tour buses are a little out of the ordinary A free tram connects the port to the rest of the town, running along the main street Aruba's shopping is mostly geared towards tourists: duty-free jewellery and perfumes seem to be the main business Aruba does have a local brewery, not connected with the multinationals, but producing a fairly generic lager Island Princess at the Aruba cruise berth We discovered that hiding ducks on board cruise ships for other passengers to find is "a thing". Early again, at about sunrise but on a grey morning, heading under the Verrazzano Narrows bridge towards New York The Statue of Liberty looms out of the greyness The lower Manhattan skyline as we approach Brooklyn Cruise Port NYPD launch passes us The Staten Island ferry passes in front of the Statue of Liberty Almost on our berth at Red Hook, Brooklyn, looking across to Governors Island and Manhattan Looking up the east river from the cruise berth, towards the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges It took quite a bit of sideways pushing from a tug to finally get us onto the berth Almost as soon as we had stopped, the bunkering tanker was coming alongside, ready for the ships departure later in the day Hello Philadelphia ...and nuts to you too Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia Market Street, Philadelphia Sound advice in Philadelphia The Liberty Bell It would have been rude to leave Philadelphia without sampling the local delicacy A Philly cheese steak! Philadelphia's rather grand railway station Brief diversion into a Brooklyn taproom Tasting selection. (A key was written under the glasses.) The selection included the blueberry pancake imperial stout. Iconic view of the Manhattan Bridge in DUMBO, Brooklyn DUMBO: Directly Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass DUMBO: Directly Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass Brooklyn Bridge Brooklyn Bridge At DUMBO Lawn?? Chelsea Market pancakes (small portion) The High Line, near Chelsea Market Demonstration outside the Tesla showroom The High Line The Edge, Hudson Yards Art on the High Line Empire State Building from the High Line Midtown from the High Line Canal Street Manhattan Bridge portal Manhattan Bridge portal Brooklyn Bridge The East River with Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges Financial district Book and pickle shop, Lower East Side May 2025 – USA and Central America Please Share This Share this content Opens in a new window Opens in a new window Opens in a new window Opens in a new window Opens in a new window Opens in a new window Opens in a new window Opens in a new window Opens in a new window Opens in a new window
