Alaska artist Gail Niebrugge and husband Bob ended the Christmas 2012 cruise in Ft. Lauderdale. Florida.  Disembarking the Coral Princess the couple spent the day exploring the Everglades with the assistance of a personal chauffeur and guide.  A one hour air boat tour through the Everglades revealed many tropical birds and snakes, and the ever […]

The tiny island of Aruba bills itself as “One Happy Island”.  19 miles long and 5 miles wide, Aruba is a prosperous, clean, tourist destination with pristine white sand beaches, first class hotels and friendly people.  The Niebrugges spent the half-day on shore on a whirlwind tour of the island including three stops at points […]

The fourteen day itinerary of the Niebrugges Christmas cruise allowed only half-day in Cartagena.  The ship arrived on Christmas day when most businesses were closed.  The artist and her husband joined 20 other passengers, several who spoke fluent Spanish, to hire a guide with a van to take them on a personal tour of Old […]

After several Lectures on board about the history, construction, and operation of the Panama Canal, Bob and Gail Niebrugge were thoroughly informed of the technical and mechanical aspects of the 9-hour journey.  The Coral Princess is the largest ship that the 110′ wide canal can accommodate.  The ship has 9″ of clearance on each side […]

The next stop on the 2012 Christmas Cruise was Puerto Amador for the modern city of Panama, where the bustling downtown sports the newest architecture including the tall curved behemoth Trump Tower.  With many tour options, the artist and her husband chose to spend the day on the historic Panama Canal Railway.  Built in 1855 […]

With husband Bob happily entertained on board ship in the port of Puntarenas, Costa Rica, Alaska artist Gail Niebrugge took an all-day tour that included an open air gondola ride in the aerial tram through a lush rain forest full of tropical birds and iguanas, and a jungle safari on the Rio Grande Tarcoles River […]

The Niebrugges spent two weeks at Christmas 2012 on board the Coral Princess cruising from Los Angeles, California to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida via the Panama Canal.  The weather was perfect, sunshine and calm seas all the way.  It seemed a bit strange for these Alaskan’s to spend Christmas in tropical climates, but they quickly adapted […]

Taking a break from painting, artist Gail Niebrugge and her husband spent 14 days at sea on the Coral Princess during the holidays; the shows, costumes, Christmas decorations, food, and entertainment were spectacular, not to mention warm, sunny weather all the way.  Niebrugge will be back at work at the beginning of the new year […]

My cousin Pauline Lodolini, her daughter Ann and granddaughter Cheyenne paid us a very brief visit last week, during their stay the weather turned cold and rainy.  With little time to explore Alaska we crammed as much into their visit as possible.  The Happy Trails Kennels, home of Iditarod champion Martin Buser, has a first-class […]

Jeremy, our fishing guide with Alaska Drift Away Fishing, holding our guests King Salmon.  Moments later it was released.  We fished the last day of the catch and release King Salmon on the Kasilof River, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, the next day the season closed almost two weeks early.  Very scary what is happening to our […]

I’m really enjoying the galleries in Scottsdale, the abundance of sculpture everywhere, and to my enjoyment the wonderful recycled sculpture of a horse in Fountain Hills.  Today was a full day of visiting art galleries and sites.  Awesome stuff, and so different from Alaska art.  Here we have hotly colored abstract art reminiscent of the […]

It is no secret that Bob and I love Mexican food, and Arizona is jam-packed with good Mexican restaurants!  We’ve had tacos, burritos, enchiladas, guacamole and chips, salsa, and refried beans almost every day during our stay in Tucson and Scottsdale.  By far the best food so far was at the Carlsbad Taverns in Scottsdale!  […]

We are having entirely too much fun playing hookey from work and snowbound Alaska, today we basked in mid 70 temperatures from premium seats behind home plate and watched the San Francisco Giants win a game against the Cincinnati Reds.  Great fun.  Beer, peanuts and hot dogs.  Life is good.  We are enjoying our time […]

Here is our friend Cookie Hales standing on Main Street in Jerome, Arizona, wearing a pair of shorts in a blizzard.  I’m taking the photo wearing shorts as well.  It was freezing up there at 5,000 ft. elevation.  We enjoyed staying at the former hospital, the Jerome Grand Hotel, that is said to be haunted […]

I’m always overwhelmed at the beauty of the red rocks and towering limestone spires in Sedona, Arizona.  It has been quite a few years since our last visit, and I’m not disappointed.  The town has grown carefully, with thoughtful planning to incorporate buildings and infrastructure that will blend into the natural environment.  We are spending […]

A shot of some of the beautiful grounds at the Omni Tucson Resort, Arizona, that served as a base camp during our three day visit.  Large independent casitas are sprinkled throughout the property, with pickle ball and tennis courts and a gorgeous pool to complete the picture.  It was a nice place to unwind after […]

I love the days that our ship is at sea, on this trip we will have a total of nine days.  Most days are calm and sunny with many hours spent by the pool reading, or playing games with the other passengers, or watching first run movies and excellent lectures.  But our last day we […]

Our last stop in the Hawaiian Islands was Lahina, Maui, we had to use a tender to get ashore the dock is too small for a big ship.  Friends, Russ and Nancy Kanady, met us and drove us along the narrow road north, with breathtaking scenery of cliffs, coves, small villages, and twisting one-way hairpin […]

We had a wonderful, whirlwind day with LeEllen and Ed Baker on their beautiful island of Kaua’i.  They met us at the ship and drove us to all their favorite spots, this photo shows Ed (swallowing coffee) LeEllen, and Bob strolling through the coffee plantation.  The photo below is LeEllen’s favorite spot to watch the […]