It is already January 17, and it has been 10 days since we boarded the Crystal Cruise Serenity cruise ship. Not only is it better than ever, we have been pretty busy.  

One thing I have to mention is that Crystal put a show onstage with 3 famous songwriters: Allan Dennis Rich, Shelley Peiken and Gary Burr. You may not have heard of them, but you have definitely heard some of their songs. 

Allan, for instance is a two time Grammy nominee and has written for Whitney Houston. Shelly has had a number of hits including “What a Girl Wants”. She has written for Miley Cyrus and Christine Aguilera. Gary Burr has had 14 songs that went to #1 on Billboard and was inducted into the songwriters hall of fame. His credits include songs written for Shania Twain, Ringo Starr and Garth Brooks to name a few.  It was great to meet them and talk with them. 

We also went to an elaborate dinner party, Crystal sponsored for World Cruisers at a 16^th century colonial mansion in Cartagena named Casa 1537.

 

While in the city proper we saw the historicSan Felipe de Barajas fort the Spanish built to fight off an unsuccessful British attempt to take over Cartagena. Then we went to the Convent de Santa Cruz de la Popa where we visited the monastery and had a view overlooking the city. 

We went through an aviary on the way back to the ship where there was a tremendous collection of birds—something that Colombia is known for. Now we are on Gatun Lake on our way through the Panama Canal. 

So far we have been kept pretty busy with lectures about geopolitics, destinations and Spanish and French lessons. Next stop Panama City.

JFB