Our Panama Canal Cruise

I took over 400 photos on our recent Panama Canal cruise! I selected some of my favorites and put together a video. Watch it here:

Training Update 12-6-12

My training to prepare for the Disney Royal Family 5k continues! While I was on the cruise I actually accomplished a first for me -- I completed a 5k! Yep, right there on the deck of the cruise ship. Holland America sponsors a Susan G Komen benefit 5k with every long voyage, and invite cruisers to participate. I admit I was a bit intimidated, but I signed up - and I did it! My time was just over 15 minutes per mile, which isn't too bad since it's only been 4 months since my ankle surgery. Man, was I WHIPPED! I sat around for a couple of days with my ankle in ice water, but that's okay.
My "training" has been a little haphazard since then, I admit. I've done some walking and some swimming, but not consistently. This morning, however, I decided to see if I could do it again, and maybe even improve on my time a bit. I completed 3.25 miles in 47.37 minutes, which is an average of 14.39 minutes per mile! Mostly I'm maintaining a fast walk, because I've never been a runner, and because running puts more stress on my ankle. But every so often I do break into a run for half a block or so.
I have proved one thing to myself: I can do it! I will finish the entire 5k within the official time limit, and I will NOT be picked up by the Shuttle of Shame. My goal iis to be able to do it and still have an abundance of energy left so I can enjoy myself at Epcot the rest of the day. (Though I might have to take an ankle-icing break or two.)
Countdown to Disney: 78 days!

Panama Canal Cruise - The Last Two Days

During the final two days of our 2-week cruise, we couldn't believe the vacation was almost over. We spent the days getting the maximum enjoyment out of our vacation. We relaxed on the Oasis deck for hours. Funny, but only a handful of people seemed to find the Oasis during the entire cruise. We were always able to go there and be alone. I think one reason may be that there was no elevator access. You had to climb a couple of sets of stairs, and that deterred some of the passengers. We absolutely loved it.


One of the things we truly enjoyed about our cruise was meeting new people. We absolutely love dinner time on a cruise, because you get to know the people at your table, and you become involved in their lives and their vacation. We met Sallie and Joel, and Duane and Sharlia. Lovely people, and by the end of the cruise we felt like they were long-time friends. During the final dinner, the dining room staff put on a show for us, dancing and singing, and we all joined in by swinging our napkins in the air and singing along.


Besides that, we met tons of people in other venues during the cruise. Every evening after dinner we went up to the Crow's Nest lounge, and the same crowd gathered nightly, so we got to know them. One man was actually from my home town of Danville, Kentucky! What are the odds?


I think that's what makes the cruise worthwhile - the people we meet. As a writer, I really enjoy observing people, and studying their personalitites and lifestyles. (Sorry, new cruise friends! You might show up in a book someday, but hopefully you won't recognize yourself!!!) That, and of course the time Ted and I spent with each other. We went through 14 whole days without a single disagreement! In fact, we ended the cruise even closer to each other than we started. That makes me want to go on another long cruise SOON. (Like, maybe, a scuba diving cruise in the Western Caribbean in March. Oh, yeah! We ARE doing that!!! Woo hoo!)



I hope you've enjoyed sharing my memories of our incredible Panama Canal cruise aboard Holland America's Statendam. If you ever get the chance to do this trip yourself, I hope you'll return the favor!

Panema Canal - Towels and Napkins

On every cruise we've ever taken, we are treated to a variety of towel creatures by the cabin stewards. This cruise was no different. Our stewards were Made and Mantri, and they took exceptionally good care of us. Plus, they had great towel folding skills, too. Take a look (you can click on an image to make it bigger):

The ship did offer a towel folding class, but I wasn't able to make that one. I did attend a napkin folding class, though, and I had a great time. (Again - ignore the hair and lack of makeup. I was on vacation, and wasn't worried about the paparazzi!) I've put my napkin folding skills to use during the holidays.

Towel animals are a small thing, but they're one more way of making a cruise passenger feel pampered. When we took our first cruise, we thought our steward was creating these cool animals only for us. Now we know they all do that for every passenger, but I don't care. I still looked forward to opening my stateroom door in the evening and seeing what animal Mantri left to greet us. (This picture is proof that I did, occasionally, brush my hair and put on makeup!)

Panamal Canal Cruise - Shipboard Activities

When we first booked this cruise, Ted and I were both a little nervous about spending 14 days at sea. At least half the days were spent at sea, with no land in sight. Surely we would have times where we were bored, right?


So wrong! We're cruise veterans, so we knew there would be activities to fill our time, but since we'd never cruised on Holland America before, we weren't sure if they would appeal to us. In our past cruise experience, we've seen a lot of Belly Flop Competitions and Hairy Back Contests by the pool deck. Frankly, those don't thrill us.



Holland America exceeded our expectations! First of all, there was a well-appointed fitness center with lots of new equipment. We did manage to work out several times a week (Ted more than me, I admit!). Then there was the pool deck - ahhh! How can you not relax beside a wonderfully heated pool while floating in the ocean?


Then there were the workshops. Now, that was a wonderful and educational way to pass the time. We took workshops in digital photo editing, digital camera techniques, history lectures on the various ports we visited, cooking classes, and I even took two watercolor painting classes. (Take a look at my painting versus the original. Uh... okay, not great, but since I've never painted a thing in my life, I don't think it's all that bad!)



One fun thing we did was while we were cruising through Panama. The item in the daily program said, "Swim in the Panama Canal!" The canal water was brown and thick and pretty yucky, but I admit I thought they really were going to let us swim in the canal. We showed up at the rear pool deck (there wer 2 pools), and the cruise director told us we were going to swim in the pool while cruising through the canal. We had to do an "alligator dance" before we dove in and swam to the other side of the pool. Technically, we swam while in the Panama Canal, and we have certificates to prove it. (Okay, folks, this is where I'm letting down my guard and allowing you to see me in my bathing suit, though I know this isn't a very flattering pose. But, you see, it was so much fun! Nobody worried about what we looked like. We just had fun!)



At the end of every day we enjoyed really good shows put on by a variety of entertainers. The ship's singers and dancers were among the best we've ever seen. They did one show performing 40's and 50's music that was incredible. We also had a series of special entertainers -- a John Denver performer (who sounded so much like the original we were halfway convinced!), an amazingly talented flutist (She said, "What's the difference between a floutist and a flutist? The size of the paycheck. I am a flutist.") And we saw a commedian, and a professional hammered dulcimer musician, and ... the list goes on and on. Some really thrilling performances!

Besides the workshops, there was karaoke, and trivia contests (I actually participated in a team that won one night!), and dancing lessons (Ted and I learned three different waltz steps, and Ted got to dance with one of the ship's professional dancers.)


Bored? No way. We didn't have time to be bored!

Panama Canal Cruise - Day 12 - Cartegna Colombia

Our last port of the cruise was Cartegna, Colombia. Again, neither Ted nor I had ever visited Colombia, so we were eager to see the country. From the ship's deck, it looked like a huge modern city. Our cruise director told us all those skyscrapers are condominiums.

We took a "City Highlights" tour, and spent several hot, steamy hours riding around in a bus with an overworked air conditioner, with tour guide Roberto Jr. (He gave each of us a tag with his name in case we got lost.) At the time we were in Cartegna, Kentucky and Salt Lake City were both having a huge snowstorm, but we were sweltering in the Colombian heat.


Our first visit was to the walled city of Cargetna, an old fortress that was incredibly fascinating. We learned about the defensible location, toured an intricate series of tunnels throughout the massive fortress, and enjoyed breathtaking views of the city.


After leaving the old city, we visited a shopping area located in an old jail. Ugh. Lots of touristy junk, and lots of natives trying to get us to buy it. Our tour guide was obviously getting a kick-back from one of the shops in that converted jail, and it was hard to leave there in order to visit some of the others.


Then we headed downtown and visited the cathedral. I have a thing for cathedrals, and this one was gorgeous. Built in the late 1500's and early 1600's, the walls were decorated with lovely friezes of the life of Christ, and a beautiful altar. While our group toured and looked at all the statues, I slipped into a pew and refreshed my spirit by communing with my Father in the same place where thousands have done so before.



After we left the cathedral, we fought off hundreds (or so it seemed) of local vendors trying to sell us everything from headbands to artwork as we made our way to The Cloister. Another church, this one is a monument to St. Peter Claver, who died in the mid 1600's, after saving literally thousands of slaves from the Colombian slave trade. It was really cool - St. Peter Claver's mummified body is still there!!! Do you know how cool it was to kneel with my face just inches from his, separated by the thin later of a glass coffin?


Before we went back to the ship we visited another shopping center, where our guide tried hard to get us to buy emeralds from one specific shop. We fought them off, and instead browsed the street vendors. I found a sweet little Colombian outfit for my grandson, and then we happened upon a shop with a treasure trove of charming Christmas ornaments. We bought gifts for our granddaughter, Macy, my niece, Tori, and my daughter, Christy -- and for our own Christmas tree. And we munched on chocolate covered espresso beans that set our brains buzzing!


When we got back to the ship, we were hot and sweaty, and our feet ached from all the walking. We saw some cool stuff in Cargetna and we're really glad we went. But to be honest, neither of us are eager to return.

Panama Canal Cruise - Day 11 - through the Canal!

The evening of our 10th day at sea was a pinnacle - we arrived in Panama at 7:00 p.m. Since you can't go through the locks at night, the ship anchored and we grabbed a tender (a small boat holding about 50 passengers) in to the pier at Fuerte Amador. Sad to say, we saw nothing more than a small touristy dock that night, but I did get to do a bit of shopping. I met a man who carves handcrafted woodworks, and bought a handmade jewelry box for my daughter and something for myself as well.


Going through the Panama Canal is more fascinating that I ever expected. I watched, fascinated, for hours. An eastern-bound ship leaves the Pacific Ocean, navigates through a series of locks that raise the ship from sea level to 86 feet above sea level, sails through several Panama lakes and, at the other end, goes through another series of locks to go back down to sea level on the Atlantic/Caribbean side of Panama. The canal's history goes way back to the 1800's when the French attempted to build the canal but failed. Then in 1903 the U.S. picked up the project, and finished it. Everything is done on the principal of gravity, completely without electricity.


We followed a ship through the locks, which illustrated the journey in a dramatic way. In this first picture, Ted and I were watching through windows on the top deck. You can see three different levels of the locks, and the ship in front of us in the third level. On the right side is a second passageway, where a shipload of green, blue and red trailers was going through at the same time. The locks are 110 feet wide, and the ship, like the one in front of us was 106 feet wide. Not much room for error!


We enter the first chamber of the lock, and gates close behind us. The gravity-operated pumps begin to flood the chamber with water, raising our ship to the level of the water behind the next gate. When our ship is level with the water in the next chamber, the gates open and we move forward. Those gates close behind us, and the process begins again. We learned that there's a $25,000 reservation fee, and it costs $250,000 to go through the canal. So this is not an inexpensive passageway! I snapped this picture from the back of the ship, after we had cleared the first of the three locks.


After we were inside the canal, we cruised for most of the day through Panama. The shore is beautiful - wild and tropical with a sultry atmosphere. In another post I'll tell you about a couple of fun shipboard events we did while sailing through Panama that day, before we cleared the Gatun lock on the eastern shore of Panama.

This picture is taken from the deck of our ship approaching the Gatun locks. As you can see, the gates are opening to let us into the last chamber. Ahead on the other side of the final gate you can see the ship we followed through the canal, and on the right, the other ship (the one with the cargo boxes) just exiting the last chamber.

The next picture is of us approaching the final gate. The ship in front of us is waiting for clearance to exit the lock and enter the Atlantic/Caribbean.

And this last shot is after we're in the final chamber, waiting to pass through the last gate. You can see the whirlpool as water floods from the last chamber (which our ship is in), into the ocean on the other side, which lowers our ship to sea level before those last gates are open.

All in all, one of the most fascinating things I've ever seen.

Panama Canal Cruise - Days 9 and 10

Now that Christmas and New Year's are over, I'll return to my recap of our recent Panama Canal Cruise. As the sun set over Guatemala on day 8, our ship the Statendam pointed its bow southward and set sail. Days 9 and 10 were a pair of lazy days at sea that are so restful and incredibly relaxing, but afterward neither of us could remember exactly what we did. We found a quiet place on the ship's deck and read books. (Ted read Nightshade by Ronie Kendig, and I read The Heir by Paul Robertson. Both excellent books, and highly recommended!)


One element of our cruise on Holland America we both enjoyed was the leisure workshops and classes we could attend. On day 9 we sat in on a lecture about the history and construction of the Panama Canal, which was fascinating. I took a cooking class presented by the ship's executive chef and learned how to make appetizer pizza squares. That evening we went to hear the karaoke singers, and I sat on the edge of my seat the whole time, hoping I'd get selected to sing and at the same time, hoping I wouldn't. (Oh, the pressure!!!) That was another formal night, so we dressed up and walked around the ship in our finery.


Day 10 was more of the same - a long, leisurely, relaxing day at sea. We kept our eyes fixed on the coastline, glimpsing Panama for the first time. At 7:00 that night we anchored off the coast of Panama. I'll talk more about that tomorrow.

Panama Canal Cruise - Day 8

On Day 8 of our cruise, we visited Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. This was our first time in Guatemala, and we were especially eager to visit Antigua.




On the way to the city, we stopped for a tour of a coffee plantation. We really didn't want to tour a coffee plantation, but were pleasantly surprised to find it an enjoyable, informative, and rewarding trip! Coffee production is extremely interesting, and quite an agricultural feat. Since the coffee plants don't produce for the first few years, and then have a limited lifespan, the owners have to plan carefully. We saw coffee from the seed stage all the way to the brewed final result - and believe me, that was the best coffee either of us have ever tasted. We bought some as gifts, and some to bring home for ourselves.

Three volcanos tower over that area of Guatemala, one of them active and spewing smoke most of the day. Since that's the first volcano I've ever seen, I found that sight quite amazing.





Antigua is a nasty, crumbling old city with cobblestone streets and lots of bars on the windows. The city square on front of a nice cathedral is swarming with locals selling their wares. I made the mistake of buying something from a tired little girl, and we were swarmed for the rest of the day. We got so tired of saying, "No, gracias." And when I got back home, I wasn't sure what to do with the "chicken" potholder I bought. Oh, well. I think the little girl appreciated the money.

Panama Canal Cruise - Observation About Day 7

I wanted to add a special note about our visit to Puerta Chiapas, Mexico. We saw a lot of really poor people during our trip, and we were moved every time. We drove past homes that were nothing more than 3-sided shacks, with sheets of tin laid across the top to shield the occupants from the rain. The wealthy ones had 4 concrete walls. Cooking and bathroom facilities were outside. Electricity? Nonexistent in many of those dwellings. While rafting down the Copalita River, we arrived on laundry day. We saw dozens of women and children along the banks of the river, hovering in scant shade while they scrubbed their clothing with rocks on the riverside. We saw many children without adequate (or any) clothing.

But in Puerta Chiapas I saw something that will stay with me forever. We were driving through the jungle in a tour van, over a single lane dirt road that rattled our teeth with every bump. The view outside the window was stark. Children ran out of shacks to stand beside the road and wave at us, barefoot and sometimes covered with dirt. We passed another home like those I’d become accustomed to seeing, and my heart twisted with compassion at the humble building. The words Ted and I had said to each other many times came to mind: “I’m so grateful for the blessings we have been given.”

As we drove by, I saw children playing in the dust near a cook fire. In the shade of a building, a woman sat in a chair. She was about my age, and she bounced a baby on her lap who looked to be about the age of my grandson. The look on that woman’s face as she laughed with that baby struck right through my heart. It was a look of joy. She was so delighted with that child! In a second we were past, but I couldn’t forget her laughing face.

A thought came to me then, like a voice whispering to my soul. “What makes you think you’re more blessed than she? Don’t you think she finds joy in her children and grandchildren, as much as you do? Don’t you think she delights in love as much as you? Do you really think your blessings are measured in terms of money?”

I was struck with something then – with shame. How arrogant of me to assume that woman was underprivileged and wretched, and I more blessed than she. Did she mourn not having a microwave? Did she long for the comforts of a television and DVD player, and microwave popcorn, and a self-starting coffee maker? Of course not. She got up every morning grateful for the blessings she’d been given, the blessings of a loving family and a loving God.

Yes, I’m still thankful for all the blessings I’ve been given in my life, material and otherwise. But that doesn’t give me the right to judge someone else’s happiness by my standards. I won’t be that arrogant again.

Panama Canal Cruise - Day 7

On the 7th day of our cruise through the Panama Canal, we visited Puerta Chiapas, Mexico. It's a tiny little port town created specifically for the cruise ships. We weren't so impressed with the port town -- too commercial -- but we went on a tour with a dozen other people and a guide of Mayan descent named Arturo to Chocolate City. Ahhh, there we were delighted to find an authentic little Mexican town, with a long history and friendly people.

We visited an open-air market, where I bargained in Spanish for a Christmas ornament. An interesting thing happened in that market. Arturo had been telling us on the bus ride about the traditions of the older Mayan population. One of their staple foods was iguana. Yep, iguana. But they ate so much iguana that they almost decimated the population, and the government stepped in and made killing an iguana illegal. As we wandered through that market, Arturo bought a tamale from one of the vendors, and told us, "I want you to taste this. I bought it for you." I took the first bite. It was delicious. Inside the tamale was a succulent meat that I assumed was pork. But no! After I swallowed, Arturo said, "That is iguana tamale." I exclaimed, "I thought that was illegal!" and he replied, "Yes, but these people don't care." I felt almost cursed, like I'd eaten talking stag in Harfang. (Narnia fans will know what I mean by that!)

One of the most interesting demonstrations we saw on this cruise was in this town - chocolate making. This isn't factory chocolate, though. We saw chocolate go from the cacao bean all the way to the finished product, all done by hand. In fact, I got to grind some chocolate of my own, and it was delicious. That's real chocolate!

After we left Chocolate City we traveled out into the heart of the jungle and visited an archeological Mayan site. This area dates back to 1500 BC, and has been identified as the very first Mayan settlement, the origin. An ancient carving has been unearthed, called the Tree of Life. It's a carving on a huge flat boulder, depicting creation. Amazing. Many carvings surround a gigantic Kapok tree, which is sacred to the Mayas. They believed that this huge tree was sacred, a spiritual connection, a source of life. They visited the tree to commune with it, to hug it and whisper their needs. I was reminded starkly of the movie Avatar, and wondered if the story has roots in Mayan culture.

We boarded the ship at the end of the day, having enjoyed one of the most interesting excursions we've ever taken. And just look at the sunset that night!