Miami Cruise Terminal, one of the largest cruise ship terminals in the world, is home port for the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line company. This is where we headed to board our ship, Jewel of the Seas, which became our home away from home for 16 nights, along with 2500 fellow passengers, and 800 delightfully friendly crew members. The final destination for this cruise was San Diego but the highlight would undoubtedly be the passage through the amazing Panama Canal, famous as one of the world’s greatest feats of modern maritime engineering, allowing ease of passage between the northern and southern hemispheres.We bid farewell to Florida as we sailed past Miami’s famous South Beach, heading to our first destination, Cartagena, Colombia. The first part of the cruise was completely devoted to relaxation. As we had discovered on previous cruises it wasn’t hard to take full advantage of the indulgent leisure facilities on the ship.
GAY DETOUR THROUGH COSTA RICA
The eagerly anticipated day to meet our Detours Travel gay adventure group had finally arrived. This time we were setting off to discover a tiny rugged Central American country with rich rainforests, bordered by Pacific and Caribbean coastlines, notorious for balmy beaches and vivid sunsets, active volcanoes and stunning biodiversity. Costa Rica has been high on our list of leading destinations for some time and of course San José, the capital, would be our starting point. Detours has been guiding gay tours through Costa Rica for the past six years. Our party of twelve eager wanderers met at the Balmoral Hotel in central San José where Dan, our highly experienced guide, naturalist and entertainment planner, welcomed and introduced us and provided a brief overview of the program for our 11 day tour of this fascinating and diverse little gem of a nation.