Introducing...

I know it's been a while since this blog was updated but we've been very busy in our personal lives and haven't had the time to work on posts.

We'd also like to share the news that Matthew Alexander Korbel was born on October 2nd, weighing 6lbs 14.5oz and was 19 inches long. We look forward to him sharing our travels with us!

We'll try and update when we can, but right now sleep has been a little more of a priority! To see more pictures of the little one, visit our family photo albums!

Aventura Spa Palace, Mexico

People kept suggesting to us that we try an all inclusive resort, so this year we thought we'd go to one instead of taking a cruise. We did a little research, and chose Aventura Spa Palace, in the Mayan Riviera of Mexico. We picked this resort because it got great reviews, had seven a la carte restaurants and no maximum number of reservations (at many resorts, you are only permitted to dine at an a la carte restaurant once or twice and must eat at the buffet the rest of the time), and most importantly, was adults only. We wanted to start a family (and were excited to discover that I was pregnant right before we left!) and figured that this would be one of our last childfree vacations. Aventura also had several little perks like free included excursions, including swimming with the dolphins, exchange privileges with other Palace resorts in the area if we wanted to take day trips, free room service, and free internet and long distance calls to Canada and the USA.

The resort was beautiful, and huge! There was actually a shuttle bus to take you from the North side of the resort to the South side. The North side was quieter and more relaxed, while there were always activities and music playing at the South side. The pools were awesome and there was always a waiter around to take your drink order.





We spent most of our time just relaxing by the pool or on our veranda. This was definitely a more laid back vacation that cruising.



We did take advantage of some of the free excursions, though. I was suffering from the typical exhaustion and morning sickness of early pregnancy, so we tried to avoid the ones that would take all day.

Our favourite excursion was swimming with the dolphins. It was such a neat experience! I wasn't allowed to swim with them because of my pregnancy, but Dan got to be towed by them and lots of neat things. It was a lot of fun! They did allow me to get a kiss from a dolphin, though.



We did take one all day trip to Chichen Itza because we couldn't miss that! I had been on a field trip in middle school, but Dan had never seen the ruins. It always takes my breath away to see the massive pyramids in person.



We thought the acoustics on this playing field were absolutely incredible. How could the Mayans have known how to make sound carry so well that despite the distance and all the noise of the gameplayers, that people sitting at the opposite goal ends of the field could actually hear each other speaking? We tried it out ourselves and it was amazing!



We had a nice relaxing vacation, and it was definitely nice not to get a bill shoved under your door on the last night! Whatever price you paid for the trip, that was all you had to pay. We will probably stick to cruising in the future, though. The food, although plentiful, was not as good as Celebrity's, and Dan missed the wine list. He tried a glass of Mexican wine and it was unbelievably bad. We also missed being able to go to the casino after dinner, which is one of our favourite activities onboard a ship. Unfortunately, casinos are illegal in Mexico.

If you're just looking for a place to relax and decompress without kids running around, and enjoy having a few drinks without reaching into your pocket every time, then I'd definitely recommend Aventura Spa Palace. To view the rest of our photos, visit our photo album.

Christmas in Kansas

We left on Christmas Day to go to the bridge tournament in Overland Park, Kansas. We have been to the tournament before but the location was new this year. I must confess that we greatly preferred the Westin Crowne Center since there was shopping and food in the complex which made things very convenient for the players. At this tournament, if you didn't rent a car, you were pretty much out of luck as far as finding dinner!

Before we went, I went on Restaurant.com to find some local restaurants to try. We bought gift certificates to a few different places, and were pleasantly surprised at some of them.

Dan always enjoys trying different beers when we travel. Here he is with a beer flight at Barley's Brewhaus:



Our favourite restaurant by far was Tatsu's. The food and service were wonderful and if we return to Overland Park it will be number one on my list. I had salmon in champagne sauce in puff pastry and not only was it delicious but it looked like this:



Dan had veal which was also delicious. For dessert, we had their signature Grand Marnier souffle which we both enjoyed.



Prices were reasonable and with our gift certificate the meal was a bargain. I would highly recommend this restaurant if you enjoy French cuisine and you're in the area and looking for a good meal.

For New Year's, we went to J. Gilbert's steakhouse, which was fairly good but nothing special. Then we rang in the New Year playing the Party Pairs bridge game, which was a lot of fun. There was free champagne, silly hats, and noisemakers. Here we are with our teammates, Martin Hunter and Jonathan Steinberg.



Happy 2009!

Red Rock Canyon / Hoover Dam

I travelled to Las Vegas for two weeks in July 2008 because a major bridge tournament was being held at the Las Vegas Hilton. Unfortunately, Susie was otherwise occupied and was unable to join me. My first bridge game was with Robert Lebi, a superstar player from Toronto. Unfortunately, our game was canceled because one of the players on our team couldn't make it at the last minute.

After our bridge game was canceled, Robert and his recent bride, Judith, invited me to join them sightseeing in Nevada. I was happy to join them on what promised to be an eventful day; unfortunately, we picked a real scorcher.

Red Rock Canyon was quite spectacular; each scenic stopping area offered a unique view of the rock and land formations, often different enough from each other that you wouldn't be sure you were in the same canyon!

Red Rock Canyon is just west of Las Vegas, perhaps 30 minutes from the strip. You may have heard of the Red Rock Casino (or seen it on TV as it hosts a primetime poker show) which is reputed to have a splendid buffet.

Here is a picture of some of the rock:



Here is a picture of me and Judith:




Then it was on to Hoover Dam. I must say this place was spectacular, as much for the view as for being a reminder of what the human race can accomplish. Similar to when we were at the Panama Canal, it is easy to be awestruck by the scale of the dam. Enough concrete was used in the construction of the dam to create a freeway across the USA!

Elmira Pancake Festival

Although it's not as far afield as we usually go, today was the Elmira Pancake Festival, the world's largest one day maple syrup festival. We had a great time and the weather was beautiful.



Maybe TOO beautiful... the crowds swelled far past the anticipated count, and the pancakes which were supposed to be served until 3pm sold out not long after noon, with lines over 30 minutes long still waiting just to buy tickets to get in line for pancakes!



There were so many people there that it was difficult to walk. But it was a fun day. There was everything possible there that you could think of to eat at a fair, and some things that you couldn't! Choices ranged from Turkish food to Greek to maple sausages on buns to dill pickles on a stick to cotton candy, funnel cakes, and apple fritters with maple syrup. There were also lots of stalls selling lovely handmade crafts.

I bought some delicious homemade bread and cheese rolls from the Mennonites, and a hand woven door decoration that is supposed to bring us love and happiness. And of course, you can't resist that sweet maple syrup! Now I'll have to make some pancakes at home for dinner instead.

A good time was had by all who attended!

Constellation Cruise, Day Thirteen- Fort Lauderdale

Since we had an evening flight with Air Canada, we had a leisurely disembarkation. We were able to stay in our room until 9am, sleeping in and enjoying a last few minutes on our balcony.

Since we didn't have to go to the Celebrity Theater until 10am, we decided to go to the Cova Cafe for cappuccino. Unfortunately they don't serve pastries on the last morning but their drinks are still delicious.

Disembarkation was very smooth. They called our colour, Light Blue 2, right at 10am when they said they would. We proceeded down the gangway and found our luggage right where it should be. We had no difficulty getting a porter to assist us through Customs and to the rental car area, so we could spend the day exploring Fort Lauderdale.

We decided to go to the Galleria Mall to have lunch and do some shopping. This mall was full of designer stores so it wasn't very appealing to us, but it did have a Macy's. I have to comment that I've never had customer service in a department store that was as good as the service we received at Macy's. Any time we were carrying items, a store associate offered to take our items and hold them at the register so we didn't have to carry them with us. When I was looking at the store directory to see what departments they had, an associate offered to help direct me. Now that's service! Macy's also offers an 11% discount for visitors from out of town, which is nice!

After some shopping, we just drove around for a while until we passed an ice cream parlour. We decided to stop and realized we'd accidentally landed at a Florida landmark!



Jaxson's is Zagat rated and it definitely deserves it! The inside of the restaurant is covered with old license plates and memorabilia. It is famous for the Kitchen Sink, an enormous dessert designed to be shared by four or more people, and served in an actual kitchen sink!

However, their regular desserts are still huge and delicious! Dan and I shared the Monster Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundae, and couldn't finish it.



They had some fun plywood cutouts in front of the restaurant.





After our ice cream, it was unfortunately time to get to the airport and go back to reality. Our flight was delayed 30 minutes, but we had a fairly smooth trip home and all our luggage made it with us.

The biggest irritant about the return flight is the way that Fort Lauderdale airport is set up. The rental car drop off point is in a completely different area of the airport than the shuttle to the Air Canada terminal. Since we had a lot of luggage, we rented a little cart for $3 US to take us to the shuttle. When we arrived, we were not permitted to take the cart on the shuttle, and had to pay another rental fee when we arrived at the terminal. I know it's only three dollars, but it's the principle. Most airports actually let people use the carts for free- very few actually charge and when they do, it's usually only $2.

We came home to piles of snow and freezing cold. Oh well... it was wonderful while it lasted!

If you're interested in seeing the rest of our photos, please visit our photo album.

Constellation Cruise, Day Twelve- At Sea

All good things must come to an end! Today was our last day at sea, and we were determined to make the most of it.

We had one last lunch on our balcony.



One last game of basketball on the Sports Deck.



One last game of bingo. They hadn't been able to give away the jackpot during the cruise, so the final game was worth over $2000! Unfortunately, we didn't win.

We also attending the ice carving demonstration. The staff who create these sculptures are very talented! He turned this 300lb lump of ice:





... into this!



Before dinner, we met Annie and Ian up at the Bar at the Edge of the Earth for drinks and Billy Joel hour. Annie had her first frozen drink on the last day of the trip!



We were looking forward to our dinner at Ocean Liners tonight. The restaurant was not very busy since most people prefer to eat in the dining room on the last evening. Again, the dress code was casual, but we preferred to dress semi formally to suit the ambiance of the dining room.

Our dinner was excellent, and Katharina ordered a special dessert for us to be prepared tableside- Crepes Suzette.





They were absolutely delicious when served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I am really going to miss the food and service at Ocean Liners!

Constellation Cruise, Day Eleven- Cozumel

Today, we visited Cozumel. We had originally booked a tour through the ship to visit the ruins of Tulum, but when we realized that this involved more than three hours of transportation on a bus and a ferry, we decided we'd just go and explore Cozumel on our own.

We slept in and had lunch onboard (the pizza in the Seaview Cafe is excellent, and so are the hamburgers at the Seaside Grill) before disembarking in Cozumel. Like in Grand Cayman, there were lots of ships in port today.

The casino staff had told us about a mini golf course in Cozumel and they told us it was a lot of fun. We decided to visit it since we enjoy mini golf. We took a short taxi ride from the pier for $6. In Cozumel, taxi rates are preset and not metered.

The course was a lot of fun, with everything from real roughs to water hazards to lizards!





I won by eleven strokes after scoring a hole in one! It was a fun course and it was nice to be able to order drinks on the course. Their sangria was very good and drinks were cheap at $2 each.

After mini golf, we decided just to walk around Cozumel a little. We found a churro stand where the vendors were selling them freshly made- the aroma was irresistible and they were delicious!

The city was packed with all the ships in port and most prices were sky high. Dan bought a bottle of tequila from a shop that had over 200 varieties in stock, and he bought me a beautiful set of silver and fire opal jewelry.

Of course, we had to stop at a McDonalds when we saw one!



Tonight's dress code was casual, so we were able to get back to the ship a little later before going to dinner. We had a reservation for Ocean Liners tomorrow for the last night of the cruise, so tonight was our last night in the dining room. The maitre d' brought me a special pasta dish with four cheese sauce for dinner, and it was delicious.

Gratuities are normally given on the final night, but even though ours were prepaid on this cruise, we gave thank you cards to our dining room staff this evening to let them know we'd appreciated their service. Here is our waiter, Marshall.



After dinner, we went to the casino. It was very disappointing that we were never able to get a cash game going at any point in this cruise. We aren't sure if this is attributable to the guests on this cruise or if they simply didn't like the electronic table. We think it was probably the table, since a friendly dealer can always get players to their table. We did have some fun with blackjack and craps, but it would have been more enjoyable to have a live poker game like we did on Galaxy.

Constellation Cruise, Day Ten- At Sea

Today we relaxed and enjoyed another day at sea. Or tried to- the ship was rocking all night and when we woke up, they announced a storm warning.



It didn't really look all that bad, and the waves settled down within a few hours.

This afternoon, Dan and I were invited to a food and wine pairing seminar by Emilia, our sommelier. We decided to attend and found it an enjoyable experience. It was really interesting to see how the flavours of the food changed when we tried different wines with each bite.



Tonight was the final formal night, where we met all the kitchen staff, and the dining room staff performed the Baked Alaska parade. I always regret this night a little because it signals that the end of the cruise is approaching. Thankfully, due to our itinerary, we still had two more nights onboard!



It was also lobster night, my favourite meal in the main dining room.



After the Baked Alaska parade, the dining room musicians played the traditional Auld Lang Syne while dessert was being served.



Tonight was also Le Grande Buffet, where the chefs spend days preparing food and ice sculptures for our culinary delight.





For more photos, visit our photo albums.

Constellation Cruise, Day Nine- Panama

Today we got our first look at the Panama Canal. It was very exciting!

Again, we booked our tour through Celebrity- CO 11- "Eco Cruises on the Gatun Lake". The tour guide was very knowledgeable and taught us a great deal about the history of Panama and the local ecology.

Our first stop was the Gatun Locks, where we were able to see a ship moving through the locks. It was pretty cool to see them filling the locks to raise the level of the water. Our tour guide explained that they had to raise the ships over 80 feet to pass through the canal.





Since the canal is very narrow considering the sides of the ship (there are only two feet of space on each side!), the ship is towed through the lock by canal staff.



When it reached the front of the lock, they started to raise the water level so that the ship could proceed to the next lock.



After that interesting experience, we proceeded to Gatun Lake, a manmade freshwater lake. Unfortunately, due to the upcoming expansion of the Panama Canal, the new drainage will eventually turn Gatun Lake into saltwater.





We saw several species of birds, monkeys, and a sloth while on the cruise. This was our favourite excursion of the trip and we definitely recommend it.

Tonight was another casual night back on the ship, and we decided to have another series of Lifestyles photos taken. The photographers are very talented!



After dinner, we went to the Cova Cafe to listen to the a capella group Oceans Four. They were very good and easy to listen to.