Cruise 5 - Captain's Log

PANAMA!

By Michael Prior
December 3 - 13, 2004

This was our 5th cruise and our first cruise on Royal Caribbean. We liked it. The “Brilliance of the Seas” was the biggest ship we have ever been on. Our room was a good size and the staff took very good care of us. We booked a lot of excursions and had a lot of fun.

Aruba was a fun place to go. The water was beautiful. We didn't have enough time to see all of Aruba. We thought we had two days in Aruba, but we only had one. We would like to go back and see more of Aruba.

The Panama Canal was very interesting. We got there at 7 am and it took about an hour and a half to reach Gatun Lake. It was a real tight fit. We went through one set of locks, turned around and came back through.

Panama wasn't that great. We took a really long bus ride to an arial tram and went up the side of a mountain. We saw a lot of pretty flowers and vegitation, but we really didn't see very many animals.

Costa Rica was one of the best stops. We saw the most animals at the Sloth Santuary and Canoe ride. “We better see some monkeys! The whole reason we are going on this cruise is to monkeys. I heard that you can hear them from the boat in Costa Rica.” said Kimmy. We only saw a couple that were far up in the trees.

Stingray City in Grand Cayman is an awesome place to go. This time we went early in the morning and the stingrays were extra hungry. It was an unbelievable experience even though this was our third time feeding stingrays. Make sure you watch the movie.

I added a food section this time. The food is always really good on cruises and I took a picture of a lot of the foods that I ate. If I didn't take a picure of dinner the waiter thought I didn't like the food. The food is one of my favorite parts of a cruise. We love all you can eat and free room service.

This web site took me a little over a month to make. I used a Olympus digital camera to take 98% of the pictures and all the movies. I also used a disposable underwater camera. The web site was created using: Adobe Photoshop and Premeire, Macromedia Dreamweaver and Flash, and Apple iTunes and Quicktime. There are over 362 photos, 3 secret pages, and a hidden triva question. Make sure you check out the movies.

I am currently looking for new creative outlets and opportunities. If you know anyone that needs a web site, graphics, or a new look, please refer them to me or my web site.

Music used:
Panama by Van Halen (edited by Kyle Eady)
Coconut Tree by Barefoot Man (edited by Adam Croes)
Badfish by Sublime
Moving in Stereo by The Cars
Stir It Up by Bob Marley
James Bond 007 Theme
Beyond the Sea by Robbie Williams
Jungle Love by Steve Miller
Yakity Yak by The Coasters

For more information on the Panama Canal check out
www.PanamaCanal.com and click on Operation.