January 17, 2007

Letter from Carisa's Mom

As employees, we are thrilled when one of our family members is able to experience our cruises.  Last fall, Carisa Carnes, our Reservations Manager was able to travel with her mother to Costa Rica.  When Carisa's mom, Anita, learned that we were featuring our Costa Rica cruises, she sent me this letter.  Thanks, Anita!  We all love getting compliments and they are especially meaningful when they come from our mothers!

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I would like to thank Cruise West for my recent trip to Panama and Costa Rica. There were many highlights to my visit, but visiting the Embera village was the most exciting. It was quite amazing to realize that people can live quite simply and be so content with their surroundings. The people were obviously very proud and live their lives to the fullest without all the trimmings the rest of us seem to need or want. It makes you wonder have we really progressed or regressed in all that we have accomplished.

I truly miss rising in the morning and looking out at the jungle. The scenery was so lush and green it almost seemed surreal. The trip was a true learning experience, besides, of course, all the fun. Daniel, Steven, Eric and Rudy, the Exploration Leaders, were great educators about both Panama and Costa Rica. Their enthusiasm for the subjects they discussed was catching. I know much more about sharks, turtles, monkeys and the land masses in these two exotic places. The evening presentations were very professional. I felt like I was watching the Discovery Channel, since the information was so thorough.

Everyone on board was friendly and outgoing. Cappy, the ship’s captain interacted with the passengers and made us all feel like part of his ‘on board’ family. The staff was definitely one of the important factors of a wonderful week. Jonathon, the bartender had us try a variety of new local concoctions and had us all very relaxed before the dinner hour. The dinners were all varied and we had plenty of choices each evening. All were delicious and beautifully presented. The pastry chef, Juan, was outstanding and a great dancer. We found that out the night of the fiesta. Cappy picked up a live band in one of the villages and we partied for several hours one evening. It was fun and I learned to salsa with our zodiac driver, Oldemar.

The Panama Canal, the Botanical Garden, the Rehabilitation Center, Manual Antonio were all great destinations with each a different type of beauty and interest. During the snorkeling trip, I saw my first shark, Moray eel and puffer fishes. The island was something out of a dream. I spent about an hour watching cutter ants do their thing in Manual Antonio Park. They could definitely teach us something about living in harmony, working as a team and developing a determination beyond compare. We had a family of monkeys visit us one afternoon while we were lazily lying in our hammocks. They preened and performed antics for us for about a half hour. The nature hikes revealed Scarlet Macaws, a wide variety of other birds, a Jesus Christ lizard, crabs, bats, spiders, iguanas and two varieties of monkeys. We ended the afternoon sitting under a waterfall in the river. Paradise does not describe those experiences.

Once again, I cannot thank you enough for my time on your beautiful ship and for your wonderful hospitality.

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Posted by Leigh on January 17, 2007 3:20 PM

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