Southern Caribbean Cruise

03/03/11 - 03/13/11

Just Cruises - Holland America's Zuiderdam

Clay & Pat Stahl

Bahamas

Aruba

Bonaire

Panamá

Costa Rica

Following is a summary of our 10-day cruise of the Southern Caribbean with 275 photos. Day-by-day links are shown on the right, they are all on this page, so you can also just scroll your browser to view them all. The page is best viewed with Internet Explorer 7 at 1024 x 768 x 32 bit color in full screen mode, or better over a broadband connection!

03/03 Travel to Port Everglades & Boarding. 03/04 Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. 03/05 Caribbean Sea. 03/06 Oranjestad, Aruba. 03/07 Kralendijk, Bonaire. 03/08 Caribbean Sea. 03/09 Panamá. 03/10 Costa Rica. 03/11 Caribbean Sea. 03/12 Caribbean Sea. 03/13 Ft. Lauderdale Disembarkation & Drive Home.

Thursday 03/03 Travel to Port Everglades, Ship Boarding & Caribbean Sea

This year, we stayed in a Ft. Lauderdale hotel where the parking (for up to 14 days) was included, and the van to (and only to) the cruise terminal was also included. There were four or so parties going to the terminal, one for a Carnival cruise, the rest for the Zuiderdam, as were we.

It didn't seem like the 8-passenger van could take everyone and all the luggage, and we were lightweights in that regard! But everyone was signed up for the 11:00 departure, so we figured that the hotel knew what they were doing, and the driver did squeeze everything and everybody in. It was a short drive to the terminal and with the usual check-in hassle, we were on the ship at 12:15 or so.

This year for the first time, Holland America instituted a "Mariner Society (two or more HAL cuuises) Embarkation Lunch" in the dining room, a lot better that squeezing into the buffet for lunch as we have done on every other cruise. We were going directly to the dining room for that but an announcement was made that all rooms were ready, so we dropped off all of our stuff in our room and went to the dining room for the served lunch with a somewhat tardily ariving bottle of wine.

As in past Holland America cruises, we put the stuff from the minibar on the desk, and replaced them with a bottle of champagne and a bottle of white wine. Holland America allows that, although we still spent our share for wine at the meals and drinks at the music venues.

In December, we noticed that our stateroom assignment was on the 5th deck, the lowest of the verandah decks. We have a standing request to get the highest deck possible, and a call to Karen, our travel agent about this only got us an offer for a suite on the 6th deck for an additional small charge. We jumped at it, getting only a deck higher, but a lot more room! We have a shower and a bathtub (with jets yet!), and two sinks. Big whoops!

Our Verandah Suite, the Most Room We've Ever Had, But We Would Probably Be Just As Happy With a Regular Verandah.

Stall Shower, And a (Hot) Tub That Was Unused	His and Hers: Never Used At the Same Time!	Good Sized Balcony At The Widening Point

It seems to be standard, at least on Holland America now to attend the "Mandatory Passenger Safety Briefing" at your lifeboat station without wearing the life vests, for safety reasons, they say. Maybe too many people fell over the vest's dangling straps. And they just yell out each stateroom number and you answer "here , or if you are from Philadelphia, "yo"! But they only need one reply for each stateroom.

Not a Big Ship, Pool With Retractable Roof	Small Atrium Spanning Only 3 Decks	Usual Mandatory Muster Drill, Sans Vests

The ship was about 20 minutes late in leaving because, as the captain said, we have to wait for our "neighbor" Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas docked just in front of us and it had some kind of priority!

A Little Channel Traffic While We Were Waiting For Royal Caribbean's Navigator Of The Seas		Navigator Finally Moves.   We are ½ Hour Late

Even This Container Ship Had Priority Over Us!	Finally, We are On Our Way, Heading Pretty Much Due East, Into the Bahamas

We caught a few numbers by Guitarist Shelly Page before attending a Wine Sampling With Filipino Cellar Master Alvin Pormicelle. Before dinner, we listened to the Adagio Strings, a young quartet playing classical. There was a similarly named string quartet on last year's Noordam cruise with the same instruments, First Violin, Second Violin, Viola, and Cello, but none of the four musicians were the same! We saw them in an elevator, and although they are also Ukrainian, they confirmed that whatever string quartet HAL books is named "The Adagio Strings!", although only for the last HAL cruise and this one so far!

Our Own Sail-Away Party On Our Verandah	Cellar Master Alvin With the Wine Sampling	We Went to Jimmy Mac's Piano Bar a Few Times

NAVIGATOR WINE SAMPLING
California Chardonnay Toasted Head	Argentina Malbec Diseno	Italy Remole Frescobaldi

We attended the Navigator "Wine Sampling" with Cellar Master Alvin pouring three wines from the two available packages offered. We weren't going to get the packages this year as we did the last, as it restricts your wine choices to those in the package. However, we signed up for two 3-bottle packages allowing us to use the regular list some. Last year, they waived the fee if you bought a package, but not this time!

We are at a table (for 10) with 3 other couples, one from Delaware, one from State College, Pennsylvania (He's a Penn State administrator), and the other from just outside of Atlanta, Georgia

We stopped in at the crowded Piano Bar with Jimmy Mac, for a few numbers before calling it a day.

Friday 03/04 Half Moon Cay, Bahamas     See our 2008 and 2010 visits here

We had breakfast in the buffet every day, initially with "Full Service" meaning that the staff serves the food, to prevent the spread of gastro-intestinal diseases. This will be done for the first two days, and was no problem for us as we are usually early, but it seems like it will be slow later. On Panamá Canal early transit day, Pat just had a continental, and Clay was too busy snapping photos and skipped breakfast altogether!

We met in the Piano Bar for our early "Eco Lagoon Cruise" shore excursion, but there was a long wait mostly because we left Ft. Lauderdale late. An older gentleman tells his wife that he doesn't have his cruise card, and the wife goes to their stateroom to get it. As soon as she is gone, he finds it, and after stewing for a while, he takes off after her, ignoring the ship's staff recommendation to stay put. Of course, she comes back and now he's gone! Finally he comes back to a round of applause, but it didn't cost any time as we are still waiting. Poor guy!

Having a shore excursion, we didn't have to obtain a tender ticket and arrived at shore promptly. After wandering around and looking for our guide, we found out that everyone on a shore excursion has to sign in at a booth and surrender their shore excursion voucher. That was confusing, as no one told us we had to do that, and we never had to do it on previous trips here. We figure its either because of security, or the fact that HAL's Eurodam is also here and adding to the volume.

We just made the tram, and they didn't have our ticket at the boat, because they took it at the aforementioned booth and we were probably too late to have it transferred, but it was no problem. This is our 3rd time here, and before, there were the tour guides with signs indicating the tour. When we were unloading the tram, the people running the tour announced that it will be a choppy ride, we will get wet, and a full refund is available! Only 9 out of 28 went, but it wasn't too bad, a little cool, a little wet, but mostly when the boat was backing away from the dock!

It Didn't Seem Too Choppy, Got Warmer At End	Plenty Of Power For This Slow-Paced Ride	Female Driver & Guide With a Conch Shell
Pipe Organ Cacti	Plenty Of Mangroves	An Egret, Looking Out For Her Baby
Only Seaweed Through the Glass Bottom	Arawak Indian Village Recreated For This Tour.	Pirates?   Nope, Just the Aqua Trax Adventure

Crowded Beach With 2 "Dam" Ships At Anchor	Our Zuiderdam, and ...	... and HAL's (a Little Bigger) Eurodam

After the boat ride, it wasn't real hot, we walked around and lay in beach chairs for an hour or so. It still was only mid-morning, so rather than having the usual private island lunch, we tendered back to the ship. The dining room was closed, but still the buffet was much superior to the usual private island cafeteria-line fare, and we had a nice bottle of wine. Dinner mates Dwight & Pat sat right next to us.

There was a bottle of Manischewitz Cream Concord in our room when we boarded yesterday with a note that it is a gift (the note said Kosher Chardonnay!) for Frances Stahl but with no sender's name! Our travel agent Karen usually sends us a bottle of wine, but neither of the above would have come from her! We talked to a wine-challenged clerk at the main desk and he tried to talk us out of our problem. We said that we don't want the Cream Concord under any circumstances, gave the bottle to him, and said that we would take the cheapest wine that they had, white or red! He said that he would talk to the bar manager. Today, we found a bottle of Chilean Merlot when we got back to our room after lunch with no explanation. All's well that ends well, and we think that the problem was that the previous people assigned to our stateroom before Karen got us the upgrade were Jewish and the original gift was for them.

We were just going to watch the "Trivia Challenge" in the Crow's Nest, but two couples invited us to join their team. They were from Buffalo, NY, and named our team the "nor'easters". We tied for second place (a cocktail napkin prize), with us contributing a few answers. We waited around for the 4:00 Happy Hour 2 for 1 + 1 drinks, also in the Crow's Nest. Last year, it was a straight 2 for 1, here it is an extra buck for the second drink. But it's still a good deal, and we succumbed to this piracy recession on the high seas!

2 for 1 + 1 Drinks (Only 6.75 Or Less!)	Guitarist Shelly Page In the Crow's Nest

We listened to Shelly Page again and again in the same Crow's Nest, before returning to our stateroom to get dressed for dinner and stopping by the Adagio Strings for 2 numbers, before they were done with that set!

After dinner, we took glasses of wine from our room to the show. There were 2 shows most evenings, and we heard that the first was packed and that some of the people should go to the second (our) show, but the theater was less than half full, and all subsequent second shows were not well attended, great for us! We don't see many stand-ups, probably only on cruise ships, but Lee Bayless did as good a job as we can remember, with many cruise ship-related gags.

Saturday 03/05 Caribbean Sea

We took glasses of wine and had a light lunch at the buffet. We are passing between Cuba and (it seemed) pretty close to Haiti about 12 Noon. The weather was clear and there was a very good view.

Western Coast of Haiti!   We Were Near Here in 2008 on the Way Back From the ABC Islands, But Were Farther Away and It Was Overcast

As We Passed By, There Were a Lot of Small Fishing Boats.   Fishing, We Guess.   Some Waved

Cellar Master Alvin hosted the Navigator (inexpensive and well attended) Wine Tasting. It started promptly with 120 people packed in the sizeable Culinary Arts Center/Queen's Lounge. There were four discussed wines with an uncommented-on glass of Mousseaux upon entry:

Shortly after the wine tasting, we're back in the Culinary Arts Center for "That's Souper", a fast-paced demonstration preparing two cold (and quickly-prepared) soups.

"That's Souper", a Demonstration Preparing Two Cold and quick soups: a Chilled Raspberry and a Mangospacho(!)

Shortly, Pat was back in the same Queen's Lounge for Saturday Night Mass!

The first formal dinner, and the Captain's reception was tonight, so it was time for couples photos (and the ship's photographer taking everyone individually).

Larry & Joan From Near Atlanta, GA	Dwight & Pat From State College, PA
Sabatino & Joyce From Lewes, DE	Clay & Pat From Levittown, PA (!)

The Captain's Reception In the Theater:   "Champagne".   The Captain.   The Traditional Big Confetti-spewing Champagne Bottle

Sunday 03/06 Oranjestad, Aruba     See our 2008 and 2010 visits here

We arrived in Aruba on schedule at 1:00 PM. This is the first port on any cruise, including this one, that we did not have a shore excursion scheduled. We were here twice before and the shore excursions that interested us all included quite a few sights that we had already seen.

Aruba High-Rise Hotels, Resorts, and Beach Northwest Of Where We Will Tie-Up
Container Ships Are All Over the Caribbean	Truck Helps in Tieing-Up the Ship	We Will Be Heading To This Part of Town

We went into town and walked around quite a bit looking for an open restaurant and found out that it is Aruba's version of Carnival, the pre-lenten festival, so all shops and most restaurants and bars(!) were closed. There were barricades on the main street for the parade and many people had already taken viewing positions, some pretty elaborate with cars and pickups and plenty of food (and libations), along the route. The parade was a couple of hours old already, but the route is so long and still wouldn't reach us for about 3 hours or so. There were many families, and the party had been going on for quite some time based on the number of empties strewn about.

We went to one of the only 2 bar/restaurants open and waited a long while for a table. Doug and Suzi Hoculi from Columbus, OH were just in front of us and we finally got a table to share.

We also waited a long time to order, a long time to be served, and a long time for the check, but that was good as we got a chance to spend the time talking, and will still have to wait outside for the parade anyway. We just had soups as we don't want to get too full for dinner back on the ship! Pat had Tomato, Clay a fish chowder which seemed to be the same tomato soup with a few pieces of fish!

Lunch Here After a Long Wait.	Our Ship From the Restaurant.	Doug & Susi Hochuli From Columbus Ohio.

Same Name As Our Grandson's	We Passed Time Here With Others Waiting	But, We Still Had a Long Wait!

We found a place in the shade to perch and waited and waited. Finally, the street vendors were scurrying about and the first float arrived at 5:15, quite a bit later than we were told. However, it is the Caribbean, and the biggest party day of the year, and the parade is big.

Aruba's Carnival: Floats, Organized Groups, Individuals (Some With Drinks in Both Hands).   It Reminded Us Of Philadelphia's Mummers Parade

It was worth the wait, and we watched for about an hour and a half, and left with it still far from over. We later met many people that watched it long range from the ship.

We went to see the Adagio strings, expecting them to break for their dinner as usual, giving us time to change for our dinner. This one time, they didn't break, and we had to leave between numbers!

Happy Indeed.   Especially Today!	Aft Pool.   Only Have 2 Pools On the Ship	Adagio Strings.   Our Favorite.   This Version Was Great

Larry & Joan got back late, and didn't have dinner with us. As we are not leaving until 11PM, There was no show, so we went to the Piano Bar, and were shanghaied into a "Name That Tune" with Tom. He was better than us at it and we finished out of the money in second place, i.e., no prize!

Monday 03/07 Kralendijk, Bonaire     See our 2010 visit here

We were off the ship about 10, and walked around the vendors and shops, stopping in a couple of cafes before heading back to the pier for our 4x4 Island Adventure shore excursion. We cut it pretty close as there was a lady in the last cafe's restroom taking forever, so Clay had to find another and when we got to the pier, the guide was looking for us and two others.

Bonaire is now a "special municipality" of the Netherlands proper after dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010. Aruba had separated in 1986 and is a "constituent" country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands!

We still needed the two more people, and the guide waited an extra 5 minutes but no one showed, and we assume they missed it. We walked to a parking lot and boarded one of the 2 twelve-seat open 4x4s. We were the last to board and had our choice as the vehicles left with two unfilled seats. Both proceeded along the South coast to an area where there was a good view of Klein (small) Bonaire, a small uninhabited island nearby with superior beaches, and of course many dive sights, as there are on Bonaire itself.

We then proceeded to the saltpans, and the guides gave a brief talk of the production process. It is still a large industry and most of it becomes Cargill Water Softener.

There Were 2 Vehicles, Our Guide On the Left	Dive Sites All Around the Island	10 People in Ours On the Left, 12 In the Other
The Tide Fills the Pond, and It Takes About 6 Weeks For the Evaporation		Mechanized Transporter Loads the Boats

The original salt production was done by slaves, first local Arawak Indians and later Blacks imported from Africa. Bonaire was a hub for the American slave trade also.

Obelisks For Each Group Of Slaves		Sponge & Brain Coral, Picked Up by Our Guide.   Can't Remove Anything		Trash (From Venezuela!)

Original Slave Huts (Except for the Roofs). Slept two or Three in Each!   They Are Even Smaller Than They look!

We continued along the Southern shore of Bonaire, with rocky beaches, great views, good for scuba diving but not swimming. The guide told us about the law that prohibits taking things from the beach, and he picked up a few objects to pass around before replacing them.

Few Sandy Beaches On Bonaire.   Mostly These Rocky Coral Stones.   Many Markers Like This On the Right Indicates Good Driftwood Sites (!?)
Old Style Windmills Power the Salt Operation...	...With a Modern Wind Turbine	Good Luck Rock Piles Like in Aruba
Flamingos Like Salty Water, Shrimp, (& Flies!)		Donkeys All Over the Island
A Sheltered Bay & a (Rare) Sandy Beach	Pee Break (And a Venezuelan Beer) Here	Nature Provides the Perfect Fence Material
Last Stop: Boka Washikemba, a Rocky Wind-Swept Area Covered With Coral and a Tidal Inlet
It Produces a "Whooshing" Sound, Although We Didn't Hear It While We Were Here		The Ride Back Was "Off Road" Bumpy

A recommendation was made at the last stop that everyone use the restrooms, and you could see why as we took a rough off-road shortcut back to Kralendijk, this being the 4x4 part of the Island Adventure.

We sat at the bar for the 2 for 1 + 1 in the Crows Nest while the Trivia Contest played to its conclusion, and then at a table to hear the first set of Guitarist Shelly Page. When she broke after her first set, we shifted to the Explorer's Lounge for the rest of the Adagio Strings set before their break.

We had a reservation at the Canaletto Restaurant, a small corner of the Lido Buffet being transformed each evening. There is personal service with no surcharge. Real Italian and a great deal, probably not quite the attention that comes with the surcharged Pinnacle Grill, but a very nice experience! All day long, just outside the restaurant area is a menu and a wine list with great Italian selections at great prices. A wine list request at dinner brought the regular list used in the main dining room. We discussed between us how there was a Nero d'Avola/Merlot on that list and when we asked for the wine list posted outside, the waiter produced a bottle of the Nero d'Avola, obviously overhearing our conversation. It was great and we bought another bottle to take to lunch the next day! The couple from Alden dining next to us also got the same bottle!

We had a few minutes, but the Piano Bar was full, so we went directly to the theater to see the Island Steel Band playing classical music all on lots of steel drums!

Tuesday 03/08 Caribbean Sea

We sat in on an hour long presentation of the history of the Panamá Canal construction, similar to the television programs that we've seen in the past, but there was no discussion pertaining to the next day's shore excursion. However, there was just such a presentation at 2PM, but we had a wine tasting scheduled then. We were able to see that show on TV later.

We brought the extra bottle of the Nero d'Avola/Merlot that we bought last night at Canaletto to lunch, and it seemed like the wine steward was confused, but another (probably more experienced) Wine Steward came and opened it with no comment. Geeze, we did buy it on the ship! Later, we attended a Premium Wine Tasting. There were 5 wines:

Wednesday 03/09 Panamá Canal, Lake Gatun, & Colon     See our 2004 visit here

We were scheduled to arrive at the Canal well before daybreak and were afraid that it would be difficult to see anything. Not to worry as it takes a long time to make the approach and to enter the first Gatun Lock chamber and by then it was quite light.

Normally, the deck 4 bow is not accessible to passengers, but for the canal entry, the "crew only" area was open for us. The announced time for this access was 6:00 AM and we proceeded there about 5:45. Not only was the door open, they were 2 deep at the bow railing! But we squeezed in, and the couple next to us left when there was a few drops of rain.

Another set of locks are being built, one will parallel the Gatun locks, a single set of locks will replace the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks, and both will be 65% larger. Bigger ships (but not all, presently we have a few Aircraft Carriers that are too large) will be accommodated. Two big changes are that tugboats instead of mules will be used for centering the ships in the chambers, and recycling basins will be created that will reduce the 52 million gallons of fresh water lost to the oceans each day. Started in 2007, it is expected to be completed in 2015. If you take a cruise then, will you know beforehand if you will be going through the new or old locks?

Normally, the Deck 4 Bow Is Not Accessible, But Today It Was Open, Well Before We Got There		The Gatun Locks, Still Dark For ½ Hour Or So
Channel For New Locks On Left.   We Go Right	Plenty Of People On the Other Decks Also	What Else Is In the Water?

It seemed that it took forever to get light, but it was only about 45 minutes until we were approaching the first chamber. It was about an hour and a half in the three chambers before we were at lake level. There are two sets of locks, and we assumed that they were going in opposite directions, so we would be on the right, but we went in the left. HAL's Staatendam was on the right and will be going all the way through to the Pacific. Depending on the time and traffic demand, both sets are often used in the same direction, as was the case here.

When a ship is in a chamber and the rear gates are closed, the water from the next chamber is piped into the chamber with the ship, thereby equalizing the water level in both chambers and then the front gates are opened. This is repeated three times at the Gatun Locks, once (now lowering us in our ferry) at the Pedro Miguel locks, and twice more at the Miraflores Locks. All water movement is done with gravity.

HAL's Staatendam Is In the Adjacent Lock, and Will Go All the Way Through, While Ours Will Anchor In the Lake and Return, Without Us Of Course
There Are 6 Sets Of Locks Each Having 2 Lanes.   The 3 Gatun Locks Here, Lift the Ship 85 Feet To Lake Gatun
All Water Movement Is By Gravity With About 51 Million Gallons Of Fresh Water From Lake Gatun Lost To the Ocean In Each Ship's Canal Trip
Each Lock Door Weighs Approximately 800 Tons.   The Locks Are 110 Feet Wide and We Are 106 Feet Wide, Plenty Of Room To Spare

There are locomotives on each side ensuring that the 2 feet clearance on each side stays that way. The "Mules" just keep us centered, the ships power propels us through, under command of three Panamanian pilots on board. This is the only time that our captain gives up command of his ship. A ship of our size requires 8 mules.

For Security Or Ship Alignment?   Or Both?	Feet (We Built It) To the Chamber Boundaries	Lots Of Foot Traffic When the Doors Are Closed
Gatun Locks Administrative and Control Buildings		This Will Be Flooded Shortly

We won't have much time after we exit into the lake, so Pat left to get a continental breakfast, while paparazzi Clay passed and headed back to our room for a few photos and then up on deck aft for some more photos.

From Our Verandah:   Our Lucky Lifeboat.   Camalis Maersk, the Container Ship in the Adjacent Lock.   Us Exiting Into Lake Gatun

Looking Aft Now.   Ships In Both Locks Look Far Away, But Are Probably As Close As Possible		We Were In This Viewing Area in 2004
Still Looking Aft.   We're Exiting the Last (Top) Chamber and On Our Way Into Gatun Lake

The ship anchored only a few minutes behind schedule and we went to the Vista Lounge for our "Canal Experience" shore excursion. We signed up for this in December, and talked to many people on board that also wanted to do it, but it was sold out. As usual, there was a wait in the lounge to take a tender (Our #13 lifeboat again) to shore.

Tender Ride To the Panamá Canal Yacht Club	Our Guide (Center) For the Rest Of the Way	Super Highway To Panamá City, We Will Get Off
Off the Super Highway Halfway to Panamá City	The Gaillard (Culebra) Cut Starts At Gamboa	Our Ferry Boat To Take Us To the Pacific

It takes 13 hours for a large ship to transit the 50 mile long canal, and that is why we are bussed halfway. We get back on the canal at Gamboa, the start of the Gaillard Cut, which was the toughest part of the canal to make as it cuts through the highest part of Panamá at the Continental Divide. The French originally named it the Culebra Cut, but it was renamed after Major David du Bose Gaillard, of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers when he took it to its completion.

The Steep-Sided Gaillard (Formerly Culebra) Cut.   We Thought There Were 2 Cuts!		Signs.   I Guess You Have To Know the Code!
Continuous Dredging All Along the Cut, Especially Now That There Will Be Bigger Ships		Millennium Bridge.   2nd Canal Bridge.   2002

At the Pacific Side (we go SouthEast from Colon), there are 2 sets of locks that lower us to the Pacific Ocean level, first the one-chamber Pedro Miguel locks. There were three other vessels with us, ours and the other (relatively) big one tie up to the side and the rope is played out by hand while we descend. The other two tie up to the two moored, for stability in the water movement.

The Pedro Miguel One-Chamber Locks.   Small Vessels Like Ours Are Put Through With Others.
There Is Only One Chamber Lowering Us 1/3 Of the Way		Now We Are In Lake Miraflores

Shortly we are at the Miraflores locks, but still a long way from the ocean. The lock doors are taller here as the two chambers lift (or descend in our case) amount varies due to the extremes in the Pacific tides. The Caribbean tides are very slight. There will be only one set of new locks replacing the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks.

Rear View Of The First Miraflores Chamber	The Gate At the First Miraflores Chamber	Side Of The First Miraflores Chamber
Moving Into The Second Miraflores Chamber		No Mules Required Here, Just ...
... Manually-Controlled Mooring Lines	The Last Chamber Lowers Us To Pacific Level	Still a Lengthy Channel to the Ocean However

Now we are at Pacific Ocean level with still a little way to go to get our bus back. The boat had to waste some time as our dock was being used.

Bridge of the Americas	Canal Admin. (Formerly U.S.) Headquarters	Panamá City

Ships Waiting To Go To the Caribbean ...	... Including This German Ship	Passed This Interesting Rock Twice	Canal Traffic Control

We exited the ferry and boarded a bus for the ride back to our ship docked at Colon. We are on the Eastern side of the canal, and were for the ride to the ferry also, and some references give the border between North and South America as the canal. If so, we would have been in South America. But other references give the border as the Panamá-Columbian border, and that makes the most sense, so South America is still on our bucket list!

From the Bus On The Way Back to Our Ship:   Still Close To the Canal.   The Railroad Paralleling the Canal.   Panamá's EZ-Pass.

We're back in Colon with plenty of time to spare. It was announced on the ferry that former U. S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop was on board and as we later noticed, he was also on our bus. While he is most well known for his campaign against smoking while Ronald Regan's Surgeon General, he spent much of his earlier career as surgeon-in-chief at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

We walked across a field to a tourist area, sat a while at a cafe, and looked around the few shops before going back to the ship.

Back In Colon	Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop	Colorful Tourist Strip Near the Ship
A Drink and a Little Wandering Before Reboarding		Back On the Ship
Here Is Colon From the Ship After a Busy Day

We listened to a set of the Adagio Strings before dinner. Sabitino and Joyce were at Canaletto this evening. Jeff Peterson and "Indy" The Magic Dog put on a pretty good show with comedy and magic.

Monday 03/10 Puerto Limon, Costa Rica     See our 2004 visit here

The ship arrived a little early as they often do. This is the only time that we docked on our (starboard) side, but the dock is perpendicular to the shore, so it really doesn't make much difference here.

Fluffy Clouds Just Before Docking	Island Adjacent To the Pier	Puerto Limon (or Just Limon To the Locals)

This Is the Only Time the Pier Is On Our Side.   Puerto Limon Is the Main Banana Port

Our "Off Road Adventure" shore excursion met at 6:50, so we had a light breakfast in the buffet before heading to the theater. There was the usual brief wait before we were led off the ship and onto our vehicle. We have about 20 people of all ambulatory capabilities in a custom made enclosed and air-conditioned 6x6 truck, with big windows and low seat backs for great visibility. We went through Puerto Limon and through the countryside's small towns. There was an early restroom stop (the only one, pointed out our guide Eric). Eric and José, are the owners and although Eric said they trade places as driver and guide, Eric was in his element with many one-liners and a captive audience.

Initially, Just Poorly-Maintained Rural Roads	Many Coconut Trees In Yards	An Above-Ground Cemetery
Plantain Plants Look Just Like Banana Plants	A Touristy Horse Ranch Restroom Break	The Custom-Made 6x6 "X-Terra". Gets 8 MPG!

We weren't exactly Off-road yet, but soon we were on narrow gravel roads, going slowly uphill, until stopping on the side and we all got out. We then had to walk a short distance on that uneven road surface, and it was tough going for some people, although the shore excursion description mentioned a "gentle stroll". We were never off the road, and had to dodge a few motor cycles and small trucks, but no automobiles. It was interesting, but we didn't feel as if we were "immersed in the rain forest" as the shore excursion description stated.

We saw a Few Monkeys Here	A Poison-Dart Frog	Spider, Probably Has a Name	This Butterfly Must Be Disabled

Eric Showing Off The Frog	Bamboo Bushes	A Balsa Tree
Our Included Snack	The Cacique Guaro (From Sugar Cane)	A Lime Outside, An Orange Inside

Included in the shore excursion was a snack of watermelon, pineapple, and biscocho(!) with lizano(!!) sauce. Not included were the cocktails that Eric made with Cacique Guaro (from sugar cane), and fruit juices, and a Costa Rican beer. Not surprisingly, Pat had the cocktail, and Clay had the beer. Back in the vehicle, we went down some "roads" that don't see much traffic with the bushes on each side brushing against the vehicle. We went all around an enormous banana plantation and it soon became apparent that we weren't stopping and the plantation circumnavigation was our visit and we continued on back to the ship. A lot of the people asked where they could get the lizano sauce, and the driver mentioned that he just happened to have a few bottles for sale and you could pick them up on your way out. We didn't get any sauce but included our drinks and tip in the exiting payment.

Bananas.   The Plastic Bags Keep Out Bugs and Keep In Heat		A Fresh Planting of Plantains
No Bridge Here, We Are Fording This Stream	Narrow.   Eric Called It the "Oh S__t" Bridge!	We Saw a Few Rope Speed Bumps Like This

We were back at 11:15 and walked around the town thinking about lunch, but we weren't comfortable with any of the options. Pat got ibuprofen in a drug store, we looked in a market for popcorn with no luck, so we headed back to the ship for lunch. The dining room was not open probably because we are in port, so we went to the buffet, which is fine, except that it takes forever to get a bottle of wine. It is understandable, as we seldom see anyone else have anything alcoholic with lunch, much less a bottle!

Puerto Limon!   It Wasn't That Touristy and We Decided Not To Stop Here For Lunch!		Looked For Popcorn In Here With No Luck
Milk, Ice Cream, Yogurts, Cheeses, etc.	Next Door, Only German Clientele on Aida	Our Three Direction Balcony

The scheduled time to be on board was 3:30 with a sail time of 4:00. We would be extremely upset to miss the 3:30 time, but here there were people that quickened their pace on the pier to walk on at 4:05! We had always heard that if a shore excursion is late, they will wait, but if you are on your own, fugetaboutit. The proof was here, with a bus depositing its load at 4:07. The gangplank was pulled up at 4:10, and we sailed at 4:15.

Last Individual On Board at 4:05	The Bus Arrived at 4:07	I hope Everyone Made It!
Never Heard Of This One Next To Us. German Is the Language, and Naturally The Clientele Is Also. Typically European, Bicycles Are Available!

Leaving Puerto Limon, Just 2 Days At Sea Left	Caribbean Sunset From the Crow's Nest

Pat attended the Travel Trivia in the Crow's Nest and Clay joined her a little later for the 2 for 1 + 1 drinks that segued into guitarist Shelly Page who included the Irish song "Whiskey In the Jar" but sung in a slow non-Irish manner i.e., clapping didn't seem appropriate! Again, we went to the Adagio Strings for their first set before dinner.

The show featured famous(!?) Jeff Trachta, Vegas Singer, Television Soap and Stage star(!?). He was just Ok with songs, impersonations and comedy.

Tuesday 03/11 Caribbean Sea

As 2 Star Mariners (the majority of the passengers are also, needing this to only be a second cruise), we attended the final Mariner Society Brunch. With so may eligible, they had them often, at least three days on this cruise! It was probably no better than going to the regular dining room for lunch, but this included some short speeches and complimentary glasses of wine! On exit, Dr. Koop was just ahead of us and we rode the same elevator to our deck (we'd like to see his accommodations!) The other elevator riders were commenting on one lady's tee shirt, and he mentioned that he couldn't read it because he is legally blind. He is on our deck, and when we got off the elevator, Pat asked him if he ever expected the anti-smoking cause to ever come to the state that exists today. He said he was very gratified in the way that it turned out, and appreciated Pat's comment. He also mentioned that he got a whiff of cigar smoke from another verandah, and would have liked to throw the smoker overboard! He's 93 years old and still very sharp!

The last wine related activity was the Cellar Master's Chocolate Wine Tasting, again hosted by Cellar Master Alvin, with four red wines each paired with a small chocolate dessert.

We hosted an afternoon get-together in our stateroom for our dinner tablemates, with only Dwight's Pat missing because she was not feeling well.

We listened to the Adagio Strings for a set, and had the usual Surf & Turf dinner before going to the Piano Bar for a (sort of) Country night.

Tuesday 03/12 Caribbean Sea

The last day at sea turned out to be a rest day with little activity scheduled or wanted!

We had lunch in the dining room with a couple from Ontario that stays on the West coast with friends before their cruise. We were going to watch Secretariat, which would have been the first movie we've ever been to on a cruise, but even though we were a few minutes early, the room was completely full, not one empty seat! Pat Went to Trivia again.

We again did the Crow's Nest 2 for 1 + 1 and again stayed for Shelly Long's first set, and after a brief pause back in our room listened to the Adagio Strings first set.

The final dinner started a quarter hour early, with the Napkin Ballet, the Salad Shuffle and (non-flaming) Baked Alaska.

The final show was surprisingly good with repeat performers Jeff and his dog Indy, and Jeff Trachta with some good gags and a minimum of singing.

The Adagio Strings were still performing and we sat for their last couple of numbers before finishing our big suitcase packing and put it outside our room about 11:30 and this cruise is about done.

Saturday 03/13 Ft. Lauderdale Disembarkation & Drive Home

We arrived back at Port Everglades pretty much on schedule. Our Stateroom was made up while we were at the crowded buffet, so we were going to hang there until our luggage number was called. The very polite minibar checker knocked and replaced the stuff that we had taken out on boarding to make room for our wine. We passed the time reading and watching luggage unloading directly under our verandah.

Last year, we just got off at our scheduled time, so we weren't sure that were back to the old method of having your baggage tag color and number called, so we went down and made sure that we did have to wait. We finally got off a little after our scheduled time of 8:15 - 8:30.

We told the taxi driver that we are at the Hampton Inn Downtown, and he asked if we knew the address. We didn't, but gave him some general directions, and he went directly there. We wondered if we didn't know where it was, he maybe wouldn't have gone the fastest way! We got the car with no problem, and took I95 through the congested part of South Florida to RT1 at Malabar and had a light lunch in Palm Bay, a break at the Kings Head British Pub in St. Augustine and stopped overnight in Kingsland, Georgia for the evening, same as the last two years.

With a lunch near Charleston, SC we made it to Jacksonville, NC for the final night. There was the usual traffic around Norfolk, and after a break at TGI Friday's in New Castle, we had a surprisingly easy ride up I95 around Philadelphia and arrived home early evening.

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ClaytStahl @aol.com

Created: 03/20/11 Changed: 12/31/11

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