Panama Canal Transit - April 30th

Locomotive

Visitor's Center

Low-tech signage

Since its opening in 1914, more than one million ships from all over the world have transited the Canal.  The historic millionth mark was reached on September 4, 2010 with the transit of the bulk carrier, Fortune Plum.

The waterway uses a system of locks with two lanes that operates as water elevators and raises the ships from sea level to the level of Gatun Lake, 85 feet above sea level, to allow the crossing through the Continental Divide, and then lowers the ships to sea level on the other side of the Isthmus. 

In honor of our transit and thanks to my cousin, Marco, who reminded me of the significance of the Panama Canal in the movie, Arsenic and OId Lace, we watched the movie Friday night – just one of 200 movies Michael has on his cell phone and easily accessible on the stateroom’s television through one of the many cables he brought onboard.

Arrivals and departures on a cruise ship are always estimates because there are so many variables.  Not wanting to be up at the crack of dawn, or even earlier, we decided to leave the tv on all night on the channel which shows the live webcam.  As soon as we were lined-up for the day’s transit, the narration would begin and we’d wake up.  This worked out perfectly for us.  By the way, I chronicled the entire transit on Facebook. 

It’s my understanding that cruise ships have priority – probably because they pay a small fortune for going through – and we were first in line on Saturday morning.  Awakening with the voice of our navigator, Antonio Grenald, from the Panama Canal Commission, he provided commentary throughout the day from the ship’s navigational bridge. 

From our balcony, in our bathrobes, we were able to watch as the ship approached the Gatun Locks and lifted the ship up in two steps to reach Gatun Lake.   Probably one of the most interesting things about the transit was the system used to guide the ship through the actual locks.  In order to pull the ship through the Canal locks, a steel cable must be attached from the locomotives on the locks to the ship.  This “high tech connection” begins with a small rowboat, one man rowing, one man holding the cables, who tosses the cables to the ship, they’re caught by a crew member, the cables are pulled taut, the rowboat returns to the locks and the locomotive slowly pulls the ship through the locks.  This same row boat repeats the procedure at the back of the ship so that we are connected in the forward and aft to the locomotives.  Once the ship is through the locks, it will disconnect the cables and they’re pulled onto the locks. 

Once through the Gatun locks, we were told that until around noon, we would be anchored in Gatun Lake so our 10:00 a.m. cycling class didn’t interfere with our enjoyment of the passage.  I was so hot and sweaty from cycling class that I didn’t feel the outside heat and humidity as I sat on our balcony enjoying the views. 

We continued to enjoy the transit with lunch in our room as we proceeded below the Centenario Bridge to the Pedro Miguel Locks and finally to the Miraflores Locks. 

The Miraflores Locks area were especially wonderful because across the way was a Visitors’ Center where hundreds of people arrived – many by bus – to wave and welcome us to their country.  It was amazing to see all those people standing on three levels of the building to watch as this cruise ship slowly moved through the locks.  We were encouraged to prepare posters and signs either for the benefit of those welcoming faces or for our own photos taken by the ship’s photographer and videographer who were actually standing on the locks.  If we decide to go through the Panama Canal again, we are going to prepare a really huge sign printed on a bedsheet and hang it over our balcony. 

This was the fastest transit our cruise director ever experienced and we arrived in the Pacific Ocean soon afterwards after transiting below the Bridge of Americas, on our way to Puerto Quepos, Costa Rica. 

Michael’s Observations:   In order to save money, cargo ships, which are either empty or have a light load, will wait for days outside the Gatun locks because it’s cheaper for them.  Our ship was the first to go through and I recall ten years ago the cost to Princess was about $100K to transit the Canal.  I spoke to our port lecturer who indicated it’s probably closer to $200K now – what a ride! 

Cartagena, Colombia - April 29th

As we’ve passed the 100 day mark on the Pacific Princess, I’m finding it more and more difficult to write about the ports because we’re just not doing a whole lot of sightseeing.  At this point, I’m not too interested in old ruins, old churches, old museums, old stuff.  But, nevertheless, Michael and I had a good time here anyway.

Cartagena, Colombia (not to be confused with Cartagena, Spain we visited a few weeks ago) is located in the northwestern area of South America.  Cartagena sits on the northern coast of Colombia and shares its borders with Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Panama. 

The “Old City” with its Museum of Archeology, Museum of Cartagena, Cathedral, etc. was not very far away but we chose to stay close to the terminal and visited a one of the best souvenir shops we’ve come across in our travels. 

What made this one unique is that it was surrounded by lovely grounds, a café and coffee shop.  The grounds were inhabited by all sorts of wildlife, including, an iguana sunning himself on the rocks, flamingos, black swans, very handsome peacocks, peahens who were being wooed by the handsome peacocks, dozens and dozens of colorful parrots, a rabbit (yes, one rabbit), howler monkeys, deer, vultures and a macaw.  

We spent a lot of time with the animals - snapping loads of pictures.  As you all know, Michael has the patience of a saint and he was actually able to photograph one of the monkeys with a baby sitting in the nearby trees.  The peacocks were on full display and we loved watching how the males, dressed in what I call their colorful silk shirts, would shake their tail feathers to catch the eye of one of the peahens.  As with humans, all the male has to do is sit there and look good --  the female has all the power and choice:  select the most attractive male. 

In the gift shop, we bought our magnet and a few extra last minute gifts (not that we really needed any more) but Michael enjoyed himself looking at emeralds.  Ninety-five percent of the world’s emeralds come from Colombia.  Those set in silver were not particularly good quality and those that were set in yellow or white gold were way overpriced.  I’m sure they count on tourists to over pay for something they know very little about.  Michael has seen gorgeous emeralds while visiting the Tucson Gem Show over the years and knows a good emerald when he sees it.  I, myself, could even tell that some of the emeralds were not set properly or were not of a rich green color.  But we had fun. 

Transit of the Panama Canal the following day. 

Michael’s Observations:   A lovely port with a free bus from the ship to the shopping area.  I had fun scrutinizing emerald prices – gemology has been my hobby for the last 20 years, and, like opals in Australia, prices are high because tourists naturally want to purchase opals in Australia and emeralds in Colombia.  Word to the wise:  Find a good jeweler and trust his expertise.  I came across only one emerald that really was of a high quality, slightly more than half a carat – they were asking $2,000.  Definitely overpriced and I didn’t buy but I had a lot of fun. 

Curaçao – April 27th

We’re heading home and losing energy and a whole lot of interest in some of these ports, even though our port guides show there’s lots to do.  Michael has been wanting to go home since the beginning of April and I’m pretty much of the same mind since leaving Fort Lauderdale.  Many of the people we’ve been with for the past 100 days left us and a whole new group of people have joined the ship.  It’s not that I want to actually leave the ship because I love cruising but the feeling and environment has changed quite a bit – it’s a lot noisier with a different type of people.  But everything changes….

Before we arrived in Curaçao, I asked Michael if we’d ever been here before.  Neither of us could remember.  I looked at our list of “countries visited” and, sure enough, Curaçao was listed but we had no independent recollection of it.  I even asked our good friend, Clay, to check our magnet wall at the house to see if we have a magnet and, so graciously, he took a photo of the magnet we already had and sent it to me.  Now we have a double confirmation that we’d been here but still no independent recollection of it.

The port shops were all closed because it was the King’s birthday and lots of stores were not open.  But as I looked at the dock from our balcony, a memory started to appear.  I remember walking along the harbor and sitting on the sea wall for Michael to take a picture of me with the ship in the background.  Well, I sat down, alright, on the sea wall not realizing that it was wet from a recent rainfall and the back of my pants were soaking wet.  I remember getting upset with myself for not looking and heading back to the ship to change pants.  I asked Michael if he remembered and he wasn’t sure.  I said, “Once we get off the ship, I’ll know right away if that was the sea wall.”  Yes, it was!  We had been here! 

Curaçao is one of the three Dutch ABC Islands off the coast of Venezuela – the other two being Aruba and Bonaire.  As I mentioned, it was the President’s birthday the day we were there and we were told to expect lots of celebrations and dancing in the streets.  It was no lie.  People were out and about celebrating, and, with orange being the King’s favorite color, hundreds of people were dressed in this bright color.  I was willing to wear orange but my blouse had short sleeves and I wasn’t about to venture out in something that was going to be so hot.  I chose the lightest white t-shirt I owned but Michael joined the festivities – at least by wearing the appropriate colored shirt and shorts.  School spirit!

The capital, Willemstad, where we docked consists of two sections, the Punda and Otrobanda districts, separated by the bay and each reachable by the “Swinging Old Lady,” the Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge which swings open to allow ships to access the bay.

Each side of the waterway is lined with numerous pastel-colored buildings which are evidence of the island’s diverse history and culture – its traditional Dutch architecture combined with the wonderful color of the Caribbean.  Absolutely lovely.  

An easy walk from our dock, we crossed the bridge, stopping for a trinket that I got for $5.  The first gal selling the item wanted $10 and I offered $5.  She refused and went down to $7.  Taking advice from Mr. Trump about negotiating, I was willing to walk and so I did.  The next gal selling the same item wanted $10 and, again, I offered $5.  She first refused and wanted $7.  I smiled and said “thank you,”and, once again, moved on.  She then said, “okay, $5.  I paid her $5, thanked her, smiled and walked away happy with package in hand. 

Both sides of the bridge were bustling with people and we managed to visit a couple of shops but headed back to ship earlier than we’d planned because of the heat and humidity.  We were in this port until after 9 p.m., and I was told it was quite lovely in the evening by some of the crew staff.  We were content to be back on board by mid-afternoon.   

Michael’s Observations:    I also have noticed a dramatic change in the 400+ new passengers that joined us in Fort Lauderdale.  Rumors are that Princess offered this segment for around $499 per person in order to fill the ship.   And fill it they did.  It’s a younger crowd filled with lots of noise and lots of drinking.  Nothing like the passengers who paid premium prices to do the World Cruise but we’re nearly home and it’s just another experience memory I’ll tuck away for future reference. 

I had a blast in Curaçao after my memory banks kicked in and realized I’d been here before.  You could really feel the positive energy generated for the King’s birthday – just lots of fun, lots of shopping and excitement.  Yes, it was very hot but that never bothers me.  This is definitely a fun place to visit.

Leona’s Reply:   When Michael says it’s a “younger” crowd onboard now, I’d like to elaborate on that.  While the World Cruisers probably averaged about 75 years of age, the new cruisers are probably in the 60s – they’re not all that young, and I know that these are the current passengers’ ages because the music they request comes out of the 60s and 70s.  The World Cruisers request music from the 40s and 50s.