Panama Canal Cruise - Fort Lauderdale to Vancouver

23rd April

Lots of calling various people to sort out camera and insurance. Pretty much didn’t win with any of our calls so extremely, unbelievably frustrated. Decided to get out of the hotel room and headed for the main centre where we can catch a water taxi which shows the main parts of the city. It was great to get out and do some walking. We made it to shooters where we had a drink while waiting for the water taxi to arrive. It is a 3 hr taxi ride past all the mansions on the river and ends in downtown. The best part is the ticket buys you all day use, so we just stayed on and headed back towards where we got on. We jumped off near to the mall in search of some shoes for Sandy and some general retail therapy. Chris found a real comfy chair and almost got to sleep until Sandy finished her shopping. We grabbed a taxi ride back to shooters for dinner – huge baby back ribs! Then we walked back to the hotel stopping at a shop to get some supplies for our trip tomorrow.

24th April
8am wake up to go to the Everglades. Arrive in the everglades holiday park and wait for our airboat number to be called. Once onboard the fans are turned on and away we go – our only disappointment with this trip is that the airboat is covered and you can fit almost 30 people onboard. Not quite what we thought it would be like. Anyway we had a one hour trip on the airboat, and we got to see a couple of baby alligators, one big alligator, lots of birds and a couple of iguana sitting in a tree. Surprising we saw anything with the amount of noise these things make. Back on dock and we went to see an alligator show where a guide explains a bit about them and does some crazy stunts like holding the alligators mouth open with his chin and no hands. Got our transfer back to the hotel. Spoke to a few people and found a place to get a camera, jumped online to find a store that actually had what we wanted in store. Quite late but the stores are open late so got a taxi and headed over to purchase the D300. Spoke to the sales manager for a while – quite interesting she had used Canon for over 20 years, had all the gear and just sold all of it to switch to Nikon just because she thought Canon’s new line was crap. Anyway hopefully the D300 is a good choice, the D200 is showing signs of being a bit faulty too with non DX lenses. The 80-400 will only work with the aperature set to one stop higher than the maximum, so not sure what is going on. The photos come out over exposed, and this is fixed by adjusting the exposure compensation by -1 stop. A few more calls to Nikon support but Grrr, not having much success while overseas. Lots of playing with the D300 by Chris don’t think I am going to be able to pull them apart for a while J

25th
Have a lazy morning and catch up on a few things, repack our bags and finish sending the emails etc. Check out at 12 and have a drink at the bar while we wait until 1pm to go to the port. Shuttle gets us there in 15mins where we drop off our bags and proceed through check in. Our room is on level 8, port –aft. Well, not too far back.

26th
First day at sea – getting acquainted with the coral princess.

27th
Second day at sea – we decided to try our hand at pottery. Met a couple called Bonnie and Omar that are teaching pottery on board. Chris did really well with the pottery and managed to make a vase including a number of bowls. I just managed a couple of bowls but had lots of fun.

28th
Arrived in the Dutch island, Aruba this morning. We were originally going to go snorkelling here but changed it a couple of days ago to diving. A quick drive to the beach from the cruise ship to our dive boat. After sorting out all our gear a quick motor to our first dive site about 10 minutes from the shore. Both dives today are on wrecks but both are relatively shallow. The first is a huge cargo ship probably about 400ft long and 60ft high, the deepest part of our dive is 60ft so not too bad, and part of the ship is still out of the water! Chris is getting really good at his buoyancy and hovering around upside down at times J Anyway the cargo ship was bombed in the middle and sits on the sand in two pieces with lots of marine life. Loads of moray eels around and fish. About a forty minute dive and still had a bit of air to go. A bit of a surface interval as we changed tanks and headed for the next spot. A shallow dive of 25ft, and another 40 minutes before surfacing. This time the dive is also on a ship but one that sunk in really shallow water and then was used as target practice from the shore so in lots of pieces all over the place. Quite an interesting dive, with so many fish and marine life and very clear water. Back to the port to be driven back to our ship. We still had 30 minutes before we depart so went off for a quick walk up the main street. Not too much to see so headed back for some lunch onboard. Our departure from Aruba was an hour late as one of the catamaran excursions had engine trouble. So we had to wait while the coast guard was called and they were rescued. As we departed we stood watching the view of this little island – really gorgeous with beautiful blue sea and green strips of land.

29th
Colombia today – arrive around 7:30. Our tour today is the “best of Cartagena” as we look outside there are a ton of buses lined up for the tours today and loads of people getting of the ship – lots of chaos. Our first stop is the monastery located on one of the hills in Cartagena. A really good view of this city and you can see the fortress and our ship clearly. Our next stop is the fortress of cartagena which is really the most interesting thing in this city – the fort has a number of tunnels within it and we are taken through a shorter one. The weather is really hot and we keep trying to find shelter – which there isn’t much off in the fort. A quick wander around and we are back on the bus to a little market near the seaside. Had a look but a lot of the same stuff we have become accustomed to in South America. Although quite nice to see the local women with colourful clothes and different types of fruit they are trying to sell. You can buy 50 mango’s here for $1! Next we stop in the town plaza which has lots of really cool statues of people, a quick walk around the main church before going to a cultural show. Lots of booty shaking J The pain with these trips is they are designed for people to spend a lot of money so we were next taken to an emerald market – I don’t wear jewellery so this makes it easy for us to walk off and find a coffee and internet shop for the 30 minutes we have to kill. Back to ship at 2pm, all aboard was 2:30 so went and had lunch before watching us leave port.
Chris went to watch a magic show, and I joined him for the dance tribute show, a bit of line dancing then a movie. Bed around 12pm.

30th
Today is the long awaited Panama Canal crossing. We arrived at the breakwaters around 5:30am but as there is not much going on other than slowly advancing to the locks, we had a relaxing start with breakfast before going outside to watch. We arrived to the firs lock at 7:15 where the locomotives are attached. The ship requires 8 locomotives, or mules as they are called. The initial ropes are collected from all ships using a dingy and oars, no outboard or technology here as it has proved to be too unreliable in the past. It is strange seeing this tiny boat row out to meet each of the huge ships! Once the mules are attached we move into the 1st lock area, and at surprising speed. Once inside, the lock gates are closed and a colossal amount of water is let in; so much so that you can feel the ship lift when the water starts entering. There are 3 locks to go through which takes around 2 hours to clear and we leave the final lock at 9:20. Each lock lifts the ship between 15 and 25 feet. Once inside the lake and well above sea level we start out sailing towards the Pacific ocean. Half way through we pass the Coral Princess’ sister ship, the Island Princess. These are identical ships so was great to see and of course there was a lot of horn blowing and cheering from both ships. We go to see the dredging barges, the drilling barges for setting explosives, even an explosive detonation (From a distance) and other engineering works currently underway on the expansion of the canal. They are in the process of building an extra set of locks at either end to facilitate the use of larger ships than the current Panamax standard of 110feet wide by 1000feet long. The Coral Princes was designed specifically to fit through the canal so there is only about 30-50cm on either side of the ship while in the locks. We pass under a modern suspension bridge before starting our decent back to sea level through the Pacific locks. These locks contain the largest gates of the lock system due to the higher tide variations present on the Pacific side. There are a number of cool facts regarding the canal, however this info can be found on websites so will not include it here. There is an observation building for tourists on shore and it was packed for last crossing of the cruise ship. We left the locks around 5:30pm so well done for the planning of the journey as we got to see everything during the day. From here it is a day sailing up to Puntarenas in Costa Rica so with all seen and done, it was time for dinner and entertainment to pass the night away.

1st
At Sea – usual stuff like sleeping, reading, socializing…. A hard life!

2nd

We docked in Puntarenas, Costa Rica early today. We have two excursions booked today so a rather busy one. We were one of the first groups off the ship and headed out to go zip lining again. We are not expecting as much fun today as our adventures in Monteverde, but we will see. Our bus guide on the way to the adventure park is very informative and we continually stop to see any wildlife that shows itself, along with fruits and flowers that are within reaching distance from the windows, or occasionally the other side of the road. It was the first time we had seen a cashew nut and fruit. Not many people eat these here as they are apparently way too much work to get out of their shell and into a non toxic form to eat! The zip line was professionally run, but not as much fun as our last one. Chris even turned upside down for a laugh on one of the runs. It was apparently one of the first zip line tours in Costa Rica and I must say that it was more comfortable and quiet than the others. There were 2 cables, each with their own pulley connected onto your harness. The cables were coated in plastic so they were very quiet when zipping along. It was also a lot easier to stop, although perhaps harder to control the amount of breaking force – a little more digital in the response! After the zip line we headed back to the ship where we had time for lunch before our Macaw sanctuary visit. This place is fantastic! Birds are sent here from boarder posts etc where people are caught trafficking the birds. They are rehabilitated and if possible, released into the area. There are many birds that are free to go anywhere, but due to the feeding and shelter provided they stay within the park grounds. We had a field day taking photos due to the number and tameness of the birds – almost too tame as one started chewing on Chris’s sandals while he wasn’t looking. The birds are very intelligent and full of nonsense. They were fascinated with plastic water bottles and can really do some damage to the lids when given a chance. Along with the Macaws there were also a number of Sloth’s and some monkeys. We were fed some fresh fruit including Mango – Chris is happy! We drove back via some farm lands and saw a lot of sugar cane plantations and a few other crops. Back at the port we had a quick search for some chocolate before giving up and checking the email quickly. We still had some time so walked through the markets before they all packed up and stopped for some Pork rind in a coleslaw salad – apparently a very popular cultural dish. We were hoping for just the pork rind, but lacking the necessary Spanish we got what we were given and enjoyed in all the same. Back onboard for another day before reaching our first stop in Mexico.

3rd
At Sea

4th
Today is our first day in Mexico and neither of us know what to expect. The port we are at is named Huatulco and we have decided to go to a bird park for a walk and some nature. Unfortunately we have arrived mid morning so our tour ends up taking place during the middle of the day and it is HOT. Our bus takes us about 20 minutes out of town to a small park by the sea. It is not really a bird park, more of a natural reserve where birds are known to live. Our tickets had indicated to wear long pants, presumably for mosquitoes, however as there were none many people were just hot and a little irritated. The guide pointed out what things we saw, but on the whole not much going on. The walk finished at a lookout over the ocean where local people were fishing with the nets they threw into the water. Back to the bus for a much needed drink and fruit, before heading back into town. With an hour left we had a wander around market where we caught up with Bonnie and Omar before heading back on board.

5th
Yay, 2 days at port in a row! We arrive in Acapulco where we are going to swim with the Dolphins! This tour is amazing. We are given a briefing on the do’s and don’ts before we get into our togs and life jackets. The group of 20 is divided in half and each group gets time with 2 dolphins before swapping. We are quickly in the water with the dolphins and get to gently stroke their skin and tickle their tummies. We have no idea what else we are doing. Next we are told to get in a line and link arms in the middle of the pool. The dolphins then swim up from under us and jump over us! These dolphins are as tall as us and weigh around 150kgs, so when they launch themselves without warning out of the water within a meter of your face it gives you quite a start. They did this a few times and you could actually feel the pressure wave of them as the came past on their jumps. The next thing was the highlight. We got to lie in the water with our feet apart, the 2 dolphins swim up behind you and each one pushes a foot. The result is you get to fly across the pool at a great speed standing on the noses of the dolphins! They are so gentle, yet very powerful and agile. After this we swapped dolphins with the other group and did a few more behavioural tricks such as singing and responding to hand signals. This concluded our hour with the dolphins so after purchasing additional photos not included in the free ones (surprise, surprise) we were given our VCR (yes they do still exist! – not sure what we can do with it yet) and had 30 mins to chill in the water park surrounding the dolphin enclosure. After 1 run down the slides with a group of people, on of our group members was yelling at us that the bus was leaving and that we were late. Grr, guide says one thing then you find out she meant something else, so us not being mind readers did as we had been told and got in trouble for it. Oh well, almost all the bus was not there so she couldn’t do anything but accept the situation that she had stuffed up. Back to the pier where we found a local driver to show us some city sites and most importantly the Cliff Divers. When we arrived at the viewing area we could see why these people were well respected. The cliff is very tall and the water very narrow. Also we are told they have to time the waves so there is enough water in the inlet when they land so as not to smash into the sea bed! Ok fine, but judging this from goodness knows how high up is not going to be easy! After a 30 minute wait in a ridiculously hot sun we got to see these men jump and summersault into the water. No one died today either, so much applause and disbelief at what we had just witnessed. From here we visited the Casablanca hotel now abandoned, yet open for historical viewing and an excellent photo opportunity from the top. Another stop at a café overlooking the bay where we met a group from the ship, so enjoyed a talk over a margarita before continuing. We saw some amazing 3D mosaics on the wall of a house and then headed back to a drive along the water front. This was boring as we had been there in the morning, but oh well. The trip finished at a silver store – ah the joys of kickbacks to the drivers, no wonder he was adamant we stopped and at least looked, despite our insistence that we would not be buying anything. We had by now started to have enough of this so concluded our tour. We had arranged the price at the start, and he had emphasized that tip was not included numerous times during the drive – WE HATE TIPPING – but nonetheless, when in America, do as Americans, so we calculated what we thought was a generous tip which was received with utter disgust. I am past caring so simply said thank you and kept walking, but still this did really irritate me! Enough time for Sandy to get a water jet massage as her back is sore again and a quick internet check before back on the ship with a few minutes to spare.

6th
At Sea

7th
Arrived in Cabo San Lucas. Anchored in the bay so we had to deal with the tender services today. We didn’t have any hassles and were onshore to meet our dive boat in plenty of time. We needed all our gear, so after 30 minutes getting everyone sorted we finally walked back to the dive boat. The dive boat crew set up all the gear so we had nothing to do but enjoy the morning. The dive site was only 5 – 10 minutes from the harbour. It’s a gorgeous day but reality sets in when we jump into the water – we are getting further away from the equator and the water is colder. First dive is around the point at Cabo san Lucas and we get to see a sealion swimming around plus a wreck. Really cold and lots of shivering hopefully warm up between dives. The second dive is only a short motor away from the other site to Pelican point. Lots of birds around and we jump in and dive around the point. I am still really cold but loads of fish, eels and massive groupers. One of the dive masters runs out of air about 10 minutes into our dive turns out he forgot to change tanks J So our group expands and we get a whole lot of goobers. Anyway the dive is a good one and we surface to some warm weather however it takes me 2 hours to warm up. Back to the dock and we find a place for lunch and some drinks. Then had a look through the markets and found a store called del sol which has clothes that change colour in the sun – very cool! Also found a store that sells funny t-shirts before walking back to the dock. Another hour to go before we have to board so we stop for a margherita – super strong and we are feeling the effects on the way back to the boat in the tender J A shower and some water to get rid of the alcohol and we head for the bow. Stand and watch our departure from the front of the boat as we head towards San Francisco. It takes only about another 100 miles and the weather changes dramatically – temperature is dropping really quickly.

8th
At Sea

9th
At Sea

10th
Arrived in San Francisco this morning and disembarked at about 10am. Walked along to Pier 39 and found a camera place. Got a camera bag for Sandy and a tripod. Also got a good deal on some 16Gb memory cards. Caught a cab to a dancewear store to buy a pair of shoes after the number of times I have burnt my feet from spinning on the wooden floors barefoot, thought it may be best to invest in some dance shoes for both of us. Next we walked to the Westfield mall which has the only spiral escalator in the world – really quite cool. Tried to find some black pants for Chris and finally asked someone where the cheapest place was – only a block away so we walked there and got Chris a pair for $12! Needed black pants for the formal nights. Wondered around the shops before catching a taxi back to the pier. Walked around pier39 and bought some postcards and then had to find a post office. Not too bad there was a post office about 2 blocks from the pier. A quick walk there and back to send them off and then back on board. A lot of people have gotten off the ship and more are on board but only for the 2 day trip to Vancouver! So a much younger ship for two days before we head for Alaska. Joined the sail-a-way party while we sailed under the golden gate bridge. Dinner with Rosemarie and Mike and another couple before heading to see a comedy show. Really tired so off to bed earlier than usual.

11th
Day at sea. Late wake up then caught up with Bonnie and Omar for a few beers. Packed bags to change rooms. Formal night and Rosemarie and Mike’s anniversary. Booked at Bayou Café for dinner at 9pm. Went to hypnotist show at 8pm. A bit of a dance after dinner in the explorers lounge before going to bed at about 1am.