There are several cruise lines currently making a
full Canal transit, Princess Lines being one of them. So in May of 2014, we
booked a cabin on the October 26-Nov 11 sailing from Ft
Lauderdale (Port Everglades) to Los Angeles (Port San Pedro).
We were offered a free drink as we entered the Lounge. What
a great welcome we thought, and this being only our second cruise ever. Then
another crew member informed us that there was a flood (a water leak) on our
deck near our cabin and that we would be delayed entry to it. Well, we had not
left port and already the ship was leaking. Not a very good sign we thought.
We had just started our 'free' drink (we had bought an
unlimited drink package so all of our drinks were prepaid and thus the 'free drink' was kind of superfluous)
when another crewman appeared at our table to inform us our cabin was now
ready. The flood (a leaking pipe) had actually happened about three doors down
the corridor from us so nothing was wrong with our cabin. One of our three bags
was waiting for us and we started to unpack. The other two bags appeared
shortly after, as did our cabin steward who introduced himself and outlined
some of the cabin amenities.
The benefit (or detriment, depending upon whether or not you
are an extrovert or an introvert) to anytime dining is that you can choose to
dine with other people by sharing a table (usually of 4 couples), or wait for a
table for two. We chose to share every night of the cruise. We met a lot of
interesting (and some not so interesting) people this way. For example, the
first night, we had a US Navy WWII veteran at our table, a 92 year old who had been on
a destroyer in the Pacific.
The veteran and others at the table noticed that we were wearing poppies. With the
shooting incident at the Cenotaph and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier still very
fresh, we had picked up Poppies at the Orleans Legion the day before we headed
out on our trip and were probably among the first people wearing them on the ship. So we had
to explain to crew and to people not from the Commonwealth what they
represented almost every day of the cruise (a veteran from Canada actually
brought a box of poppies on board which was set up near the Passenger Services
counter and slowly as the cruise progressed, more and more poppies were worn by
folks aboard).
Over the next 2 days, our ship cruised due south through the Old Bahama Channel, past Cuba and across the Caribbean to our
first Port of Call, Oranjestad, Aruba, which is located in the Lesser
Antilles, close to the coast of South America. We were quite busy on board with
lots of events, many of which did not involve shopping (cruise ships are always
trying to sell you something), orgetting our picture taken by a member of the
crew in hopes we would buy the photo later. Marie set up her account at the
Casino, I did a lot of reading and lecture attending, we checked out the art
offerings (and won a print in the raffle) and attended some of the shows (comedians,
singers, production members etc.). And we tried the various lounges on board; we
quickly settled on the Explorers’ Lounge as our favourite because of the
variety of music and the friendly wait staff.
Our second night at sea was the first of the three formal
nights. We actually sought out the ship’s photographers this night to get a
formal photo taken. We sat for three different poses with different backdrops.
The photograph we eventually chose as our onboard memento was taken by a young
woman from Kingston, Ontario. She posed us in front of the fountain in the
ship’s atrium which to us provided a better backdrop than the fake ones used by
the other photographers.
After dinner we attended a show by a really good comic. He
poked good natured fun at cruising, pretending to fall in the shower
(impossible since it is so small), the nationality of the crew (many from the
Philippines), the number of photographs being taken by the crew, and the age of
the passengers (stating that a cattle prod would be a good gift to the younger
passengers to keep the older ones moving in the corridors). After the show, we
stopped in the Explorer’s Lounge for a cocktail and to listen to the first of
several karaoke events as passengers (usually the same 3 or 4 every night) vied to
be included in the ultimate championship on the last night. Then it was back to
the cabin for the night where we were surprised to find a bottle of wine,
compliments of the ship for the delay in getting to our cabin on the first day.
Nice touch, Princess.
Princess offered many sponsored as well as local excursions on
Aruba and many passengers take advantage of them, but since we are not beach
people (variations on which were the main sponsored excursions for Aruba) but are more interested in the
culture of places we visit, exploring the town of Oranjestad (Orange Town,
named after King Willem of Orange-Nassau) on foot was what we wanted to do.
We spent two beers at the bar, using the free WiFi to do
some more updating of emails and then decided to head back to the ship. Once
aboard, it was straight to the showers before heading up to the Lido deck for a
late lunch and to relax and chill out. I attended the first of the Panama Canal
lectures in the late afternoon while Marie went to the Casino. With all
passengers aboard by 5 p.m., the ship set sail for our next destination and we
went to dinner and then to catch the first of the excellent shows put on by the
ship’s entertainers. Then we had a quick nightcap before calling it a night.
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| Knock Knock |
We were led up and down various
streets as our guide pointed out important buildings or building features, such
as door knockers which were invariably different animals, some indigenous and
some from Europe and Africa. Many of the doors were painted different colours. Most doors were huge to let air circulate to the courtyards behind. These doors were often inset with a smaller door that would have been used in inclement weather (and today because of airconditioning in some of the buildings).
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| San Pedro Claver |
We stopped in front of San Pedro Claver church as
mass was letting out. This must be the church for the navy because many of the
exiting parishioners were in navy dress uniforms. We popped into the church to have a look around. It had a whitewashed interior with a domed ceiling in back with the name inscribed below three stained glass windows.
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| Who is Winning? |
In front of the church, San Pedro
Claver square contains many interesting and some whimsical sculptures. The ongoing game
of dominoes was particularly interesting. Across the square, the Museum of Art showcases Columbian artists. We stopped in for a few minutes which was more enjoyable for me for the air conditioning than for the art (however, I did like some of the sculptures in the main room).
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| Cartagena Street |
Back out on the street we continued our tour. Needless to say, I stopped several times to take photos of the architecture and sometimes of the people of Cartagena (when they were not looking). Apparently someone on the tour noticed me taking photos and asked Marie if I was a member of the ship's photographers or a professional photographer. Marie told them no, I was just a dedicated amateur. Marie told me later this person for the rest of the tour stood wherever I did to take a similar shot. I guess this is an example of 'imitation being the sincerest form of flattery'. (I hope they got some good shots!).
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| Palace of the Inquisition |
We passed by the Palacio de la Inquisicion (Palace of the Inquisition) which faces the Plaza Bolivar and its small Parque Bolivar (Bolivar Park). The Inquisition was set up to investigate heretics (primarily Jews and African slaves) but interestingly, the Inquisition in Cartegena spent most of its time investing disputes among the Inquisitors themselves as the two main Catholic religious factions ( Franciscans, Augustinians, Mercedarios, and Jesuits on one side and the Dominicans and the Bishop on the other) did not get along particularly well. Unfortunately, however, many African slaves and several Jewish merchants, usually Portuguese, were investigated, tortured and many ultimately killed by the Spanish Inquisition.
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| Simon Bolivar |
The Palace faces Bolivar Park which has as its centrepiece a huge statue of Simon Jose Anonio de la Santisima Trinidad Boliver y Palacios Ponte y Blanco himself
(he is commonly known as Simon Bolivar for obvious reasons - thank goodness no one had business cards back then). Bolivar was the leader of the struggle of South Americans to break away from Spain in the early 1800s. He was president of the newly formed Gran Columbia (today's Ecuador, Columbia, Panama, Venezuela, northern Peru, north west Brazil and western Guyana from 1819 to 1830). You do not have to go Columbia or any other South American city to see a statue to Bolivar, there is one in downtown Ottawa on Besserer Street.
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| Catedral |
On the other side of Bolivar Park, we paused outside of the
Catedral Basilica Metropolitana de Santa Catalina de Alejandria (Saint Catherine of Alexandria) while our guide expounded on the cathedral's history. The building of the cathedral started in 1577 but was severly delayed when Sir Francis Drake pretty much destroyed it when he sacked and ransomed the city, so it was not completed until 1612. The tower was added in the French style in the early twentieth century when the Cathedral was remodelled. There are apparently several good restaurants around the surrounding square. I do not think this is the reason for the circling buzzards in the photo on the left, though. More likely the heat and humidity did in some of the
Nord Americano turistas.
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| Reclining Woman |
Being a former Spanish settlement, the Catholic religion played and still plays a major role in Columbian life. There are several churches inside the walled city. Not far from the Cathedral, we walked by the restored
Iglesias de Santo Domingo and stopped at the large sculpture in front of the Church. Donated by Columbian artist Botero, his
Mujer Inclinada (Reclining Woman, or as many locals call her,
La Gorda) seems a strange piece of art to plunk in front of a church, but the locals apparently love her. A large bronze statue, one of her feet (she IS in front of a Church, people) seems to have been rubbed many times, probably for luck. Then it was on to the University of Cartagena, the Plaza de San Diego where people were selling local art,
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| Shopping at the Dungeons |
The tour culminated (as most do) with a 15 minute 'shopping opportunity'. The guide made a beeline to one of the several 'artisan' shops that make up Las Bovedas (The Dungeons). Aptly named both in the past when they were dungeons, and for today, they are basically set up to trap tourists with many of the objects for sale made in the Spanish Colony of China. We did not partake of the shopping experience; instead I wandered a bit around the area while Marie went to the air conditioned bus which was waiting to take us back to the port.
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| Lagoon and City Walls |
The bus negotiated its way back through part of the Inner City before exiting at a gate that faced the sea. The drive back to the port was by way of a different route than the one we had taken to get to the Inner City. We drove along the walls of the Inner city for some time, past lots of school kids and others playing soccer,then along some lagoons before heading behind the Castillo and into 'modern' Cartegena. We passed by shops and several large and imposing homes which were once owned by the rich and famous of Columbia (many of these are now apartments) as the rich have moved elsewhere.
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| A friendly visitor |
When we got back to the port, the driver dropped us off next to the ship. Marie and I walked back about half a kilometre to the port entrance to make use of the Internet offered there. We were graciously offered seats (via sign language) at a table occupied by several Columbians who were waiting to board one of the cruise ships in port. While seated at the table, we were visited by a very friendly parrot who came to see what we were doing online (or perhaps to see what kind of beer we were drinking that we purchased from the nearby refreshment stand). Then after checking in with the kids back home, it was back to the ship which sailed late that afternoon, headed for Panama and the Canal. As we left Bocachica and entered the Caribbean Sea, the sun was going down, the sunset providing a glow to a very enjoyable day in Columbia.
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| West to Panama |
This is an opportune time to mention that if you want to see a country or city while on a Cruise, you are only going to ever get the 'Coles notes' version, even when the ship stays in port overnight or for a full day. However, going ashore may provide you with the incentive to revisit a country or city based on what you see on a short excursion. Cartagena de Indias is such a place that would be worth a return visit (when they turn the humidity off).
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| Dawn Breaks in Panama |
The next morning, we woke up really early as we had heard and read from previous Cruise Ship passengers that if one wanted to get a good view of the Canal from the limited open space up forward on the ship (not through windows in the Horizon Court) that is available on decks 9, 10 and 11, one had to get to this area early. So we ate breakfast at 5:45 a.m. and then I grabbed my cameras and we went out on the 11th deck forward (we had scoped it out the night before when we had watched a spectacular lightning storm off in the distance). Well, imagine our suprise when we were two of the first three people out on the deck as dawn started to light the sky. Being early did provide me with the opportunity of claiming prime real estate, on the rail in the centre of the ship.
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| Waitng ships in rain squall |
As we approached the Atlantic entrance to the Canal, we could see lots of ships at anchor waiting their turns to enter the Canal. Off to both sides of us, rain squalls darkened the horizon (we got hit by one, but it lasted just a few moments). The Cruise Ships and many others carrying valuable or time sensitive cargo pay a premium to go through the Canal at a specific time so they do not wait. Others like those at anchor that have not paid the premium are called unscheduled ships; they may have to wait up to eighteen hours before beginning a transit. Our ship did not slow down but headed straight in to the breakwater that we could see in the distance.
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| Here come the Pilots |
As we approached the breakwater, we were met by two small boats which brought out the Company's Agent and the Panama Canal Authority Pilots (apparently they wish to remain anonymous - look closely at the photo) who take command of the ship for the transit. Just after they all came aboard (done while all ships were moving), we sailed past the manmade breakwater into Limon Bay and the approach for the Gatun Locks. To our port (left) side, the City of Colon and Cristobel Port was busy with ships offloading and loading containers.
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| Best Vantage Point On Ship |
As we passed the breakwater, the first of the onboard announcements came over the ship's speakers, telling us about how the breakwaters were built. Throughout the passage, periodic announcements were made to explain what was happening in the locks or outlining activities along the Canal or in the areas where construction is underway to build the new locks which will allow much larger ships (up to three times bigger in carrying capacity) to make the transit.
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| Lock wall from ship. Feet markings. |
As the successful Canal was built by the Unites States, it was built to US measurements (feet). Until the new locks open in 2016, the largest ships that can make the transit must be no longer than 965 ft (294.13 metres), no wider than 106 ft (32.32 metres) and have a draft of no more than 39.5 ft (12.04 metres). The ship we were on is a Panamax size ship (built to the above dimensions) and when in a lock, our ship had a clearance a little over a half metre (less than 2 feet) on each side. All the largest Panamax ships (ships that are the maximum size that fit in the locks, such as the one we were on) go through the locks (both sets are used) at the same time in a kind of convoy so that they do not meet the same size ships sailing east in the narrowest part of the Canal (Calebra Cut - or as the Americans call it - Gaillard Cut). With the canal operating 24/7, ships go through day and night.
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| Celebrating 100 years |
I do not have the time, nor the blog space, to provide you with all the fascinating facts associated with the Panama Canal, but
here are a few key facts. The total length of the Canal is 77.1 kilometres. Twenty-seven thousand five hundred workers died building the Canal - 22,000 of them during the French attempt in the 1880s and 1890s. The French spent $260,000,000 US (in 1900 dollars) on the Canal, all of it raised on the French Stock Market. After the French attempt went bankrupt, the US bought the rights and property for $40,000,000. The US spent another $342,000,000 to complete the Canal - all of it paid for by the Government. In addition to the material excavated by the French, the US removed an additional 177,376,730 cubic metres of rock and dirt to complete the Canal. If you want more information on how it came to be, I recommend you read David McCulloch's excellent book
The Path Between the Seas which also provides the historical context for the canal's construction and operation. Meanwhile, as I write this blog, I will provide relevant details or observations that I hope will not bore, but add to the recounting of our transit.
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| Sign on Bow of Ship (flipped vertically) |
Most people think that the Canal provides an east-west crossing between the two oceans. Actually, as we were going from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, we were actually sailing south even through the Atlantic entrance is 37 kilometres west of the Pacific entrance (Panama is the only place in the world where the sun rises over the Pacific and sets over the Atlantic). In addition, some people, including one of the Americans standing beside me on the deck, think the Canal is owned by the USA - ownership was transferred to the Panamanians at the end of December, 1999.
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| Bringing the Lines to the Ship |
Ships are under their own power throughout the Canal transit, even while in the locks. The 'mules', electric locomotives that travel along the locks, are used to keep ships from hitting the walls in the locks (or the lock gates). Our ship always had four mules at each lock, two on each side fore and aft. To get the lines from the mules to the ship, the Panama Canal Authority still uses the same technology as was used when the canal first opened 100 years ago. A small rowboat with one guy on the oars and the other holding the lines comes out to the ship entering a lock and the two men throw the lines to ship personnel. These are then fastened to the cables extending from the mules and as the ship enters a lock, the mules travel alongside the ship, keeping the cables taut so the ship does not strike the side of the locks. (Video below shows mule working).
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| Gatun Locks |
We were following a large Liquid Petroleum Gas tanker and as the ship channel made the slight turn to starboard to line up with the lock basins (the approaches to the locks in both the Atlantic and Pacific entrances have a slight turn in them, supposedly to prevent torpedoes being fired at the lock gates by an approaching submarine or ship) we could see the
Clipper Victory ahead of us already rising in the second of the three locks. We eventually passed the Clipper Victory in Gatun Lake, as well as one of the container ships that was in the first set of locks with us.
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| New Locks |
To the left of the lock entrance, the massive construction works of the new locks were dominated by building cranes and heavy equipment, as well as the new lock gates. The new lock gates will work much the same way that a pocket door works, rolling out from within an enclosure on the side of the lock. When the new locks and entrance channels open to shipping, sometime in early 2016, the Panama Canal Authority will have spent around $5.5 Billion. The French and American expenditures to build the original Canal, in today's dollars, would equate to around $15 Billion. The new, improved Canal will use both the old and new locks to double current capacity.
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| French Entrance (Abandoned) |
To the right of the lock entrance, even with sea level, we could see a remnant of the original French attempt to build a sea level canal. The bridge that crosses the narrow French excavation is part of a road that crosses immediately in front of the first set of locks. Whenever a ship enters or exits the lowest set of locks, the road folds into the sides of the lock entrance. Not much else is left from the French construction, although the US did take advantage of the Calebra Cut excavations and the Pacific approaches which were dredged by the French. As well, some of the equipment, housing, hospitals and other infrastructure that was abandoned by the French was useable.
We started into the first of the Gatun Locks at 7:50 a.m. (according to the ship's log). It took about forty-five minutes to go through each of the three locks (Gatun Locks) on the Atlantic side. I have to admit I found that timeline somewhat amazing, but in retrospect, it is kind of the same as going through the Rideau Canal or the Trent Canal locks with a four metre long boat only with the scale significantly ramped up. And with 13,000 to 14,000 ships going through the canal each year, the Panama Canal Authority has it down to a well orchestrated procedure.
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| Entering Gatun Lake |
Once we cleared the first set of locks, we entered Gatun Lake, a man made lake that at the time it was created was the largest in the world. We immediately passed Gatun Dam (made from the rock and dirt excavated from the Calebra Cut and other diggings) on our starboard side behind and headed south towards the Pacific. Marie and I retreated to our cabin to get out of the hot sun and to watch the jungle pass by. We brought some cheeses, meats, fruit and other snacks with us from the Horizon Court and we also opened the bottle of champagne that we had brought aboard to toast the completion of another travel item on our bucket list. (I won't tell you what time we were toasting this accomplishment, but let's just say it
may have been close to noon in Ottawa).
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| Barro Colorado |
After finishing the champagne and food, I sat out on our balcony (starboard side) and if something caught my fancy as we passed it, I snapped a photo. I also confess that with the passing jungle a constant lush green, and with the oppresive heat and humidity, I caught forty winks in the deck chair, becoming more alert whenever the periodic announcements came from the loudspeaker above my head. In this way, we passed the morning as we cruised down the lake. After a couple of hours or so, we passed by the first bit of civilization that I had seen since leaving the Gatun Locks. I took a couple of photos, but it was not until I got home that I found out that I had photographed the
Barro Colorado, an island in Gatun Lake that is home to a nature monument and research station. It can be visited (by boat only from Gamboa) and offers nature walks and interpretative information. The research station houses scientists who come to study the flora and fauna of the Panama jungle.
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| Tourists in Small Boats |
From time to time, we were passed by speeding motorboats of tourists who were presumably coming from Gamboa, located where the Chagres River feeds Gatun Lake, not far from the western end of the lake. Gamboa is one of the few towns left along the Canal route - many of the others that existed during the Canal's construction are now underwater. It is the site of the Dredging Division of the Canal Authority and is also the location of the Five Star Gamboa Rainforest Resort.
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| Dredge at Work |
About an hour after passing Barro Colorado (around 12:30 p.m.), we sailed into the narrower part of the Canal, the former Chagres River (it still has this name although for all practical purposes, it is an extension of Gatun Lake). We slowly passed a couple of places where the Canal was being dredged and widened in preparation for the larger ships. We passed by huge dredges working on the sides of the channel. More earth and rock was being cut back as well from the steep hills that bordered the Canal along the Cut. The goal, and it is nearly complete, is to make the Calebra Cut large enough that future ships can pass each other in the Cut rather than just the single line traffic of today.The water turned from the blue/green of Gatun Lake to brown as a result of the dredging. It stayed brown for the rest of our voyage to the Pacific Entrance.
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| Gold Hill |
As it was now around two in the afternoon, we went back outside to the front of the ship as we approached the Calebra Cut and Gold Hill (where there was no gold - just lots of rock that had to be excavated). Gold Hill (on our Port Side) and Contractors' Hill (so named because its removal was let to hundreds of small contracting firms). The Calebra Cut, which is a 13 kilometre long excavation through the Continental Divide was started by the French and they removed quite a bit of material. It was a difficult excavation as the amazing amounts of rain that falls in Panama each year continually erodes and saturates the walls of the cut. This required the French and the Americans after them to keep cutting the rock and earth back quite a distance in a huge V shape. To this day, landslides still happen every year, requiring a lot of excavation and other construction in an attempt to minimize the material falling into the canal.
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| Calebra (Gaillard) Cut |
As we approached the Centennial Bridge, carrying a new spur of the Panama Highway that bypasses downtown Panama City, over the Canal, a helicopter hired by the ship to film our passage passed overhead. At the same time, a rain cloud also passed overhead. The cool drizzle was welcome and unlike in the morning when I found a place to hide under the ship's rail, I decided to stay out in the rain. Regrettably, the shower only lasted about five minutes. It did produce a really beautiful rainbow, however, a good omen as we were getting near the end of our transit.
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| Somewhere Over the Rainbow |
As we were now approaching the Pedro Miguel Lock and the entrance into the smaller Lake Miraflores, Marie and I decided to go to the Promenade Deck (7th) to get a different perspective of going through a lock. We stayed on the port side (the shady side) of the ship as the tropical sun was now beating down with a vengeance on our cabin balcony and the starboard side of the ship.
As the ship slowly descended with the receding water in the Pedro Miguel lock, our deck eventually became level with the ground. If we were so inclined, we could have stepped across the narrow gap between the ship and the lock wall into Panama. Security guards were stationed here and there, I suspect to prevent the exchange of any materials from a ship to someone in Panama or vice versa.
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| Miraflores Lock, Construction |
After we sailed out into Lake Miraflores, we walked to the other side of the ship (starboard) to check out the excavations for the new part of the Canal. This new channel will bypass the Pedro Miguel lock, Lake Miraflores and the Miraflores Locks as all three of the new larger Pacific locks will be located together. We moved back to the port side as we started through the first of the Miraflores Locks, the last sets of our transit (or the first for ships coming the other way). To our left, we started to see the tops of the skyscrapers in Panama City peeking through the valleys of the hills. As well, we were passed really close to the Miraflores Dam which creates Lake Miraflores.
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| Hola Panama |
We then decided to get one more perspective of our transit and went aft on the 8th deck to the open space at the back of the ship. As we entered the second of the Miraflores Locks, we passed by the Museum/Visitors' Centre on our Port side. It was crowded with people who lined the rails to watch our ship go through the locks. Some of these people were shyly waving at us and as we passed them by, Marie, in her best hockey cheering voice, yelled "Hola Panama" to them. Well, did they ever erupt into cheers and waves when she did this.
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| Biomuseo and Panama City |
We remained on the aft deck as we exited the Miraflores Locks complex and headed out and into the long Pacific Approach that leads out into the Pacific Ocean. We sailed under the Bridge of the Americas around 5:30 p.m. We had transited the Panama Canal in about 10 hours. The area from the Miraflores Locks to the end of the extremely long Fort Amador Causeway on the port side had to be excavated also, as the tides on the Pacific side of the Canal are much higher than on the Atlantic side. The Pacific Channel also passes by the Port and town of Balbao and off in the distance on our Port side, the impressive skyline of the architectually modern Panama City can be admired. About half way down the breakwater, the colourful new (it took 10 years to build but had opened only in October 2014)
Biomuseo was lit up by the setting sun. It is a Frank Gehry designed museum, so a little bit of Canada sits on the Causeway in Panaman City.
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| Goodbye Panama |
As we bid the Panama Canal goodbye, we looked back at the Bridge of the Americas and as it happens in the tropics when the sun sets, it quickly became dark. We went back to our cabin and watched as we passed the lit up ships waiting to go through the Canal from the Pacific side while we changed for dinner. It had been a most excellent and interesting day, but now it was on to further adventures.
Overnight, the ship continued to sail south westerly to clear the Gulf of Panama. As we did, we were just a bit south of 7 degrees North Latitude, or about 780 kilometres north of the equator. This was our most southerly point on this cruise. We also set our clocks back an hour again overnight.
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| A Sea Day |
The next day was spent at sea. By now we had gotten into a sort of a routine for sea days. After breakfast, this time in the dining room where I talked at length with an elderly former US Naval Commander about his adventures, we set out to follow our chosen activities as outlined in the ship's progamming. Marie headed off to art shows or the Casino (where over the course of the cruise she won enough to cover the cost of the art she bought) and I went to listen to the port lecture on Costa Rica and Puntarenas, our next stop.
We had also been going to the twice a day (Marie made most of them, I usually went in the afternoon) trivia sessions. Marie and I had been asked to join three Americans as they had noticed the first couple of times that we could answer many of the questions about non-US subjects (and even some of those). Another Canadian gentleman (I never did get his name) joined us, but we always seemed to come second to a group of Australians who were winning most of them. Marie's morning group did manage to beat them on one occasion - her prize, a Princess Cruise's water bottle and bragging rights for half the day.
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| Puntarenas Main Street |
The next day we woke up and we were no longer moving - well, we were moving, but the ship was not. We had docked in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. This port is where we had our second ship sponsored excursion of the voyage, but before we embarked on it, we went ashore to check out the town and to find Internet access so we could report back home. The port lecturer had said the welcome centre in the office at the end of the quay had Internet; they did, but it was notoriously hard to get a connection and once we did, pretty slow. So leaving Marie to check things out online, I walked into the town to look around. I passed by a local church as I headed to the commercial area, then seeing a supermarket, went in to buy something for us to drink and some snacks as we did not plan to go back to the ship before our excursion.
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| Craft Maker |
When I got back to the port office, Marie left me the computer while she went off to check out the local craft market nearby. I quickly gave up on the Internet and went out to see what she was doing. We wandered up and down the kiosks, buying some stocking stuffers for the grandkids before starting back down the quay to meet our excursion bus.
Our bus and guide took us out of town (Puntarenas is a fishing village, but is also developing some resort areas and the built up part of town follows the single road for some distance). We drove for about 40 minutes while our guide gave us an overview of Costa Rica. His best comment and probably most accurate was when he was describing the fact that Costa Rica is primarily covered with rain forest. He informed us that the Pacific side of the country was known as the rainy side. And that the Atlantic side was known as the rainier side. So he said we were lucky and that it was only expected to rain a little bit and it would not do so until 4 p.m., the time it always did. He was accurate on both accounts.
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| Who is watching whom? |
We soon turned off the highway unto a smaller road that took us through the small village of Tarcoles to the shores of the River of the same name. We boarded a large pontoon boat of the Eco-Jungle River Boat company (a bit optimistic on both fronts as the River, we were told was pretty polluted and there was very little jungle where we were). However, the short cruise to the estuary (Guacalillo Estuary) of the river and into the mangroves of the shore area did provide us with an opportunity to see some interesting wildlife.
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| Boat Billed Heron |
Birds were the prevalent fauna we saw during our two hour cruise, mixed with lots of crocodiles and according to some people on the other side of the boat, one monkey high up in a large tree. Scarlet Macaws sometimes frequent the area, but we did not see any on the afternoon we were there. We did see some Roseate Spoonbills in the trees, Black Hawks, Comorants and several different kinds of Herons, including the nocturnal Boat Billed Heron and lots of Ibises along the river bank and in the trees.
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| We're out of here |
After we had spent some time near a group of basking crocodiles, who, fed up with the papparazi in our boat, finally got up and left the scene, we went up a small branch of the river past a tree full of comorants. We also passed by Green Herons and other wading birds, and past a racoon in a tree (who was very camera shy and hid behind the trunk). We pulled into a cut in the mangrove trees where we 'parked' and enjoyed some fresh pineapple and glasses of the local beer.
While parked munching on the juicy pineapple and enjoying the very cold beer, we watched minature crabs as they climbed the thin trunks of the mangrove trees.
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| A Crabby Costa Rican |
We then motored back to the 'dock' and got back in the bus for the journey to the obligitory stop at a tourist shop to go shopping. Marie and walked into the shop and spent about 5 minutes looking at stuff that was twice as expensive as the stuff we saw at the craft kiosks in Puntarenas. While others shopped, Marie got back on the bus and I wandered around the parking lot, checked out an 'artist' painting on wood and chatted with other non-shopping cruise colleagues.
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| Me and my shadow |
We arrived back on board just as it was getting dark and the ship sailed as we headed to dinner. We had a good group for the most part for our dinner this evening. A couple of Aussies, two Czechs (via South Africa and now in the US), a couple from England, two from the US (Texas and we soon discovered Tea Drinkers) and us Canadians made up our table. The Texans left abruptly after eating (they did not even stay for desert) as the discussion around the table had apparently been too 'liberal' for them. The rest of us stayed on and chatted for some time after dinner over wine and liqueurs until around 9:30 p.m., we agreed that we would meet again the following night for dinner and we started to leave.
As we got to the door of the dining room, the Maitre D' (whom I had been calling 'Cherries Jubilee' whenever I said hello because he had been promising this dessert since the first night) stopped us and asked us if we would help him play a trick on one of his waiters who was celebrating his birthday. We agreed and he told us what he wanted. So the waiter's wife led us back to an empty table and we all sat down.
Ramon, the unsuspecting waiter, started his spiel by welcoming us and asking us if we wanted anything to drink. At this point, the Maitre D' interrupted to say he was bringing us our drinks as he knew what we wanted and to just take our food orders. So Ramon started with Marie who promptly ordered just about everything on the menu. Ramon twice asked if she was sure she wanted two appetizers and two salads and two entrees and Marie assured him that she was pretty hungry. Then it was on to the next lady at the table who repeated Marie's order and so on until all 6 of us had ordered a humongeous amount of food. Ramon's eyes meanwhile had been getting larger and larger as he noted down our orders and they just about came out of his head when Marie asked him to bring double the bread for the table. At this point, I told Ramon that we wanted to make the 10 p.m. show (it now being 9:35 p.m.) so if he could speed things up, we would greatly appreciate it. Ramon immediately went to huddle with his colleagues and the Maitre D' explaining what we had ordered and the speed we wanted it and that he did not think he could do what we wanted. The Maitre D' told him to come back to the table to tell us and when he did, we promptly broke into a round of Happy Birthday, told him he had been set up and while the other wait staff had a good laugh, we got up and left. On the way out for real this time, the Maitre D' promised we would get extra special Cherries Jubilee the next night for being such good sports.
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| San Juan del Sur |
The next morning we were awakened by the sound of the tenders below our cabin being lowered into the water. Which signalled that we were in the Port of San Juan del Sur, Nicaraugua. Marie and I had read up on the excursions being offered in Nicaraugua and decided that we did not want to spend 4 to 6 hours on a bus for a one hour tour of Managua or Granada, nor go on a special shopping trip nor see a volcano, so we eventually tendered to shore to walk around the town of San Juan del Sur.
Nicaragua was the only country other than the US to check cruise passengers for signs of the Ebola virus. As we got off the ship, we were met by Nicaraguan health care workers who scanned our foreheads for fever. Perhaps the Nicaraguans, who live in the second poorest country after Haiti in the Americas, were nervous of the drain on their health care system if Ebola became established there, but I though it was a bit of overkill. However, good travellers always follow the axiom 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do' so we got our foreheads scanned.
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| Hostels Galore |
Once this was completed, we walked past the usual crowd of private tour operators (again, all polite) and started our walk into San Juan del Sur. Originally a fishing village, the town is located on a beautiful crescent bay with a sand beach running the length of the crescent. While fishing is still a major part of the economy here, tourism is certainly picking up with the arrival of cruise ships and to a certain extent, San Juan's reputation as a laid-back destination has always been a draw - many hippies from the 1960s came here and some never went home as evidenced by the 70 year old 'dancer' from the US, dressed in her leopardskin bikini, shilling for dollars on the malecon. Hostels and 'rooms for rent' signs can be found throughout the town and lots of gringos from the US, obviously semi-permanent residents, can be seen in the streets and local shops. Some even come from places closer to home.
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| From La Belle Province |
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| Church Plaza |
We wandered the town, being approached quite often by Nicaraguans selling crafts, tshirts, pottery and other articles. They were extremely polite and a shake of the head or a 'no, gracias' would send them on their way to try their luck with other cruise ship tourists. We were even stopped by an older man who obviously was American and who was hired by one of the local restaurants to hand out 'discount' cards. I suspect he worked on a commission basis or perhaps got food for his efforts.
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| House Near the Church |
We checked out the simple church that sits on one end of a square while at the other end, a play structure for kids sits outside the local school. Walking in the town is an adventure in itself. There are no 'sidewalks' per se. In front of every shop, restaurant and other buildings, there is often a small place to step up to and off the street. None of these are really connected to each other and all are at different heights as they follow the contours of the slopes up from the beach. Every once in a while an uncovered manhole or utility vault adds to the fun of navigating up and down the streets.
We eventually found ourselves down by the waterfront where several restaurants offer $1 beer, cheap food and more importantly for cruise ship and other tourists, free wifi. We wandered into one and ordered some cervezas and a couple of snacks; chicken wings and local deepfried shrimp. The local beer (
Tona) was excellent and while the wings may have come from pigeons (come to think of it, I did not see any on any of the statues about town) based on their size, they, and the shrimp were delicious and inexpensive.
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| Moon over San Juan Bay |
After catching up with the world at large (it took a
couple of ice cold cervezas each), we slowly meandered back down the malecon to the small kiosks near the embarkation area to get back on a tender for the ship. Local folks were selling some pretty decent crafts and other items at these kiosks. We bought some local coffee and a really pretty handmade Christmas ornament. Thus with our contribution to the local economy, we caught a tender back to the ship.
That night at dinner we ate with the same people who had played the joke on Ramon. And we had Ramon as our head waiter. As he started to take our orders, he asked Marie if she wanted to order everything on the menu again. Later, the Maitre D' came through with the Cherries Jubilee - indeed, our table got double the amount of cherries than the table beside us.
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| Second formal evening |
The next two days were 'at sea' days. Another clock change and the second of the formal nights seemed like they were going to be the highlights for a relaxing cruise up the coast towards the Baja Peninsula. Suddenly, however, the cruise turned dramatic when at 2:30 a.m. on the second day, we were awakened by a broadcast on our cabin speakers that a medical team was required in a cabin on the Emerald Deck. We went back to sleep and when I got up to at around 5:30 a.m., I heard an announcement coming from the corridor outside the cabin that the ship was going to make an unscheduled stop at the Port of Manzanillo, Mexico to conduct a medical evacuation.
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| Rescue at Sea |
So as the sun began to lighten the sky behind the mountains of Mexico, we sailed into Manzanillo harbour through a group of frolicking dolphins and dropped anchor as a Mexican Sea Rescue boat sped out to meet us. The crew rigged up the gangplank that is used for the tenders and soon after the ill passenger was carried out on a stretcher and placed aboard the Rescue boat. Her husband and their luggage also were offloaded and the ship's doctors and a nurse left with the patient. We expected to be at anchor for an hour or so, but because the patient needed to be airlifted out, presumably to the US, the ship's medical staff did not return until almost noon.
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| Raising Anchor in Manzanillo |
As soon as they were back onboard, we raised anchor and the Captain immediately put the pedal to the metal (or whatever ship driver's do) as the engines vibrated and we immediately steamed at full speed. He made an announcement telling us that he still expected to arrive at Cabo San Lucas, our last Port of Call on time the next morning. And he did.
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| Sunrise in Cabo |
The next morning I was up really early (we had set our watches back four times, including the night before, so 'early' was relative). I went out on the balcony while Marie was still asleep and was treated to a tremendous sunrise as the ship sailed into the bay at Cabo San Lucas.
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| This is Mexico? |
Now for those who have been to Cabo San Lucas (or as many call it just Cabo), please do not feel slighted when I say it is not Mexico. Technically, yes. Culturally, no. At least the part we saw is not Mexico. The first few streets including the waterfront is comprised of hotels, condos, the same restaurants you see in Miami or any other US beach city, very tacky souvenir stands, lots of 'Pharmacies' that carry only about ten prescription drugs that are sold over the counter in Mexico and therefore of great interest to people from the US as all of the signs in front of the Pharmacies are in English.
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| Cabo Church Bell |
We did walk back off the main tourist streets and found an Internet provider. The sign pointed up what appeared to be a fire escape ladder. It was fun climbing up; I only hit my head two or three times. The young woman that was in charge of the place did not speak English and I do not speak Spanish, but together we communicated enough to find out the rate was 1 US dollar an hour to use a computer. We did not stay for a full hour, and when I paid her, she actually gave me some pesos in change. This may have been the only honest place in town.
We checked out the Church as we looped back around towards the harbour. It being Sunday, there was a Mass just starting (I suspect the second or third of the day as it was now around 10 a.m.). The church is not that old, the original ones having been destroyed first in a fire and then a tsunami (modern day version of fire and brimstone?), but the original bell from 1746 is preserved in the church courtyard.
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| Cabo makes your head spin |
We did not stay long in Cabo. We saw some residual damage, mostly where the Mexicans live and do their own business, from the recent hurricane, but the resort part of town had been largely cleaned up and repaired. Walking back towards the ship, I noticed that a few of my fellow cruise passengers had gotten so fed up with the tackiness of Cabo that they had literally climbed a pole.
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| El Arco |
As we sailed shortly after lunch (a great Mexican lunch held up on the Lido Deck), I sat out on our balcony to get a shot of the Arch (El Arco) that costs $45 to see on a tour. I probably got better photographs from our balcony than the passengers who paid to go by it in a smaller boat - at least I had a mostly stable platform to shoot from.As Cabo slowly disappeared from sight, we headed in to enjoy the rest of the afternoon and evening. The crew put on a really nice Remembrance Day memorial late that afternoon in the Theatre. Each senior crew member from a different country read a well known excerpt from each country's Remembrance Day ceremony (e.g. Flanders Fields).
The next day, our last full day at sea, was also the last of the formal nights. It turned out somewhat comical. The last night of a cruise is when the Parade of the Baked Alaska is conducted by the wait staff. The last time this happened for us 12 years ago, the Baked Alaskas carried by the wait staff each had lit sparklers on top. With the change in safety rules, this time the Baked Alaska had little battery driven tea lights on top. They kind of ruined the effect, but the Baked Alaska was still pretty good.
After dinner, we headed to our favourite lounge to say goodbye to Anastasia and Ping who were both there serving drinks. They brought us our favourite beverages while we enjoyed the band and as the final Karoake competition was held. We called it a night at round 11 p.m. and headed to our cabin for our last night at sea.
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| Where did everybody go? |
We arrived the next morning in Los Angeles (Port Pedro) at 6 a.m. and disembarkation began shortly afterwards. Marie and I were not scheduled to leave the ship until 10:30 a.m. as our flight out of LAX was not scheduled until late in the afternoon (it had been bumped from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.). So we went out on the Promenade Deck to watch as the luggage was offloaded and a ton of food was put into the ship. I noticed the ship in the next berth over was the
Golden Princess, the first cruise ship we had sailed on a dozen years ago. Coincidence? I think not. I am sure Princess arranged it just for us.
We had arranged to take the sponsored shuttle bus to the airport as it is at least a $75 dollar taxi ride depending upon traffic, so when it dropped us off at our Terminal, our cruise officially came to an end.
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| Early morning coffee in Vancouver |
We were not quite done with our travels, however, because instead of going home, we flew up to Vancouver to spend a couple of days with our friends. We had a good time with them, and on the second evening, after a great dinner, we bid them farewell (they were leaving the airport at an ungodly hour the next morning to catch a cruise in Fort Lauderdale and we were flying home to Ottawa). We had both come down with what turned out to be the flu and unfortunately for Marie, it hit on our last day in Vancouver.
So armed with lots of photos, great memories, and viruses on their own cruise along the bloodstreams of our bodies, we concluded a most excellent adventure, going from sea to sea across Central America.
