Panama Cruise 2025, Day 15 & 16 , Nov 11 & 12 Sea Days

Today was Remembrance Day and the Cruise Director arranged a ceremony in the theatre. It started at 10:30 am and it began with a short film with images of WWII and live action of peace keeping efforts around the world by Canadian Armed Forces. It was actually a nice tribute to our military. They had four ships officers who each did a reading, including In Flanders Field as well as two minutes of silence and Reveille. It was a very well attended ceremony and very well done.

After the ceremony we went a took part in a game show in one of the lounges and in the afternoon we went to the last enrichment show about history and travelling in time.  The one thing that I really like about Princess Cruises is that they are very big on the enrichment talks. We found all the speakers to be well informed and very interesting. 

The show tonight was Jared Freiburg & the Vagabonds, they were a trio who specialized in Rock a Billie and piano music. Jared actually stared as Jerry Lee Lewis in the Million Dollar Quartet Musical. He could definitely play the piano, I am sure he had to ice his hands after his performance.

Our last day at sea started off a little bit rocky, so I took a sea sick pill and was fine for the rest of the day. It got so rocky that they closed off the outside Promenade deck, the waves crash up and the deck gets slippery.

The weather improved for the afternoon so we took in the last movie under the stars and our last chance at suntanning. Tonight was our last formal night so it was Surf & Turf and we took a picture all dressed up with our dinner mates. 

Salmon Carpaccio, Crab Salad and Shrimp Appetizer

Steak & Lobster and Double Stuffed Potato

We finished up our evening with a performance from a comedian called Gary Delena, he was absolutely hilarious.  All the comedians on board were fantastic, I am glad that we got to see more of them on this cruise.

 We docked in Ft Lauderdale on time and we were able to get off of the ship first thing because we kept our luggage and walked off with it so we got off by 8 am and we didn't have to wait for our bags. We got right through customs, caught and Uber and made it to the airport in time to check in and get to our flight two hours early. We flew United and lucky for us they were on time and they got us to Colorado only a few minutes late. The United airlines app is very good it gave us directions to hour next gate and told us how much time we had to get there, even told us that they were holding the plane for us because we had landed late. We got into Vancouver right on time. caught the sky train and took it all the way to Coquitlam Town Centre where our friend Carole and Don were waiting to take us home to Maple Ridge. We took a day in Vancouver to catch up on our sleep from our travel day, go to Costco and then on Saturday we headed home to Creston.  All in all it was an amazing trip and I would recommend taking this cruise to anyone who asks. Now were are in the process of booking our next cruise from Buenos Aries to England and then England to Norway for 36 days.

Panama Cruise 2025, Day 14, Nov ,10 Aruba

 

So we started off the day with a great breakfast as usual and then we waited for them to get secured in at the port as we had docked on the Island of Aruba.  Len's stomach was doing flip flops so he decided to stay on the ship so it was just me who went ashore. 

Aruba is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the southern Caribbean Sea 18 mi north of the Venezuelan and 50 mi northwest of Curaçao.

Aruba has an area of 69 sq mi. Aruba measures 20 mi in length and is 6 mi across at its widest point. Alongside Bonaire and Curaçao, Aruba forms part of an island group referred to as the ABC islands. In contrast to much of the Caribbean, which experiences humid tropical climates, Aruba has a dry climate with an arid xeric landscape. The relatively warm and sunny weather persists throughout the year.

With a population of 108,880, Aruba is home to about one-third of the total population of the Dutch Caribbean. As one of the four countries in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, alongside the Netherlands, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten, Aruba shares Dutch nationality with its citizens.

The economy is dominated by four main industries: tourism, aloe export, petroleum refining, and offshore banking. Aloe was introduced in 1840 but did not become a big export until 1890. Cornelius Eman founded Aruba Aloe Balm, and over time the industry became very important to the economy. At one point, two-thirds of the island was covered in aloe vera fields, and Aruba became the largest exporter of aloe in the world. The industry continues today, though on a smaller scale.

Historically, Dutch was not widely spoken on the island, but now all children are taught Dutch, Spanish, English and Papiamento.

While exploring the capital Oranjestad, I came across an art exhibition of blue horse statues. In 2015  visual artist Osaira Muyale  designed eight vibrant blue horses each unique, showcasing its own name and personality. These sculptures are part of a project titled “Paarden Baai,” which translates to “Horses Bay.” This name also refers to the bay in front of the city, near the cruise terminals.

The blue color of the statues symbolizes the ocean they crossed, representing a crucial part of Aruba’s heritage. The eight sculptures embody “Strength, Nobility, Grace, Beauty, and Freedom,” while also reflecting Aruba’s collaboration with local and international communities and its trade relationships with Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean.

These horses thrived in the ranches (ranchos) of Aruba, where they had ample space to roam and breed. By the 1800s, international horse exports had become a vital source of livelihood for Aruba, particularly in relation to the sugar-producing countries.

The blue horse statues not only honor this rich history but also serve as a symbol of Aruba’s cultural legacy and its interconnectedness with the world.

Each Statue has a plaque explaining the statues meanings, this is the beautiful mare Rosalinda, a gentle creature, able to transform difficulties into opportunities. Livestock trade and especially horses remained a source of commerce and trade for Aruba for over three centuries. 

One of the most remarkable firsthand accounts of this occurrence is relayed by the Dutch preacher, Gerard B. Bosch, whose book the Travels in West Indies is an incredible document of the early Dutch Colonial period. Through his eloquent writing we revisit Oranjestad around 1824 and learn how shiploads of horses were still being brought in, only to be flung overboard by strong seamen. Once in the bay, a strategically placed horse would incite the others to swim to shore.

Dutch Colonial architecture can be seen all over town. The buildings are very brightly coloured and stand out amongst the more modern buildings. They were just starting to decorate for Christmas as well.

I walked along the main road and found a couple of parks and numerous jewelry stores and high end shops like Gucci, Prada etc. If you want to shop for designer goods then this is the spot. This is a statue of Anne Frank, symbolizing hope, tolerance, and the fight against prejudice, featuring diary excerpts on its base. Anne Frank and her family lived in Amsterdam during the German occupation

I found the local museum which was housed in the home of a prominent business man from the area who help to build most of the capital.

While exploring the museum I took the advice of the fellow who did our enrichment talk on museums and made sure to take in my surrounding while I was exploring.

Hand laid floor tile 

 Stained Glass Windows

I did a bit more exploring around town and decided to take the local trolley bus. They offer a free trolley that takes you the length of the town and back. It was hot day so the lineup was a bit long, the advantage of being on my own I was able to jump the que as a single. The bus wasn't quite as scenic as I hoped because it takes your behind most of the buildings.

At the end of the trip the bus stops and lets people off to explore for about 20 minutes, there is a beer store and ice cream shop as well as a pharmacy. There was also a shop that sold Pastechi pastries, which are Aruba's version of an empanada

This store had over 200 brands of beer. the criteria for purchasing a beer and bringing it on the trolley was we had to take the beer bottles off when we disembarked.

One of Aruba's main industries is off shore banking

 This horse was drinking out of the fountain

This horse was in front of the museum

I finished off my day at the market getting a key chain for our Christmas tree and taking a picture of this sign. It only took me about 10 minutes to get a picture of just the sign. There was two girls, wanna be influencers taking pictures of each other posing along side the sign.  I tried to get a picture of it when I first got off the ship but there was a women who just came and sat of the sign right in front of it even though people were trying to take pictures. I have learned that some people just are oblivious to people around them.

It was a very humid day so when I got back to the ship I got rid of all my sweaty clothes and used my medallion to find Len who was up on the sun deck by the pool. I got my swim suit on and went and joined him. After a refreshing dip in the pool and a soft ice cream cone we made our way back to the room to have a shower and get ready for dinner.

The show in the theatre tonight was a collaboration of the ships band, the fiddlers and a duo who have been performing throughout the ship. They were all very talented musicians and the show was excellent.

Panama Cruise 2025 Day 13 Nov 9 Sea Day

 So after an amazing day going through the Panama Canal we finished off our day by having an amazing dinner in the MDR. We have been sitting with the same group for dinner the past 5 nights.  We started going to the dining room around the same time in the evenings and we took a bunch of couples and made our own reservation every night.  There is a couple from Newfoundland, a couple from Saskatoon, a couple from Kelowna and a former professional chef from Vancouver. It has been very enjoyable getting to know them and sharing our days with each other.  That is our waiter who has been servings us as well.  On a longer cruise I can see why people make reservations to eat at the same time every night and with the same people. On a short cruise with less sea days we found it harder to have a set time. 

After dinner we headed to the theatre for an encore performance of the country singer Ric Steele, his performance was very good though he did get into a little bit too much religion for me. 

Well after a full day of sun yesterday transiting the canal we looked forward to kicking back and enjoying our time on the ship. I attended a napkin folding class, I learned at least 6 different ways to fold a cloth napkin, some I will never remember but it was very fun.

We also attended an enrichment talk called The Night at the Museum. It was done by the same guy who gave us the talk on the Panama Canal.  One of the things that I took away from his talk was not to just look at the exhibitions but pay attention to the museum it self, look at the architecture, the walls, columns and floors. Sometimes the building itself can be an exhibit. 

Dinner was great as always, the desserts were amazing tonight. This was a pistachio dome with a pistachio macaroon

This was a sugar free lemon cream semi fredo

We finished up the evening with another performance by Yaniv Zarif, his performance was just as enjoyable as it was the other night. Turns out he was on the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, I might have to watch it again just to see him.

After the show it was off to bed as we are headed to Aruba tomorrow.

Panama Cruise 2025 Day 12 November 8, 2nd Locks in the Canal

The second half of the locks were a lot busier than the first set. This could have been just the way it was on this day but I do know that cruise ships do take a half transit of the canal from the Atlantic side. You board your ship in Florida and it sails through the Atlantic locks into Gatun Lake, from there they have excursions that take people through the locks on the Pacific side on small boats so they can experience the canal up close.  Going through the locks we noticed that there were Panama Flags and colours everywhere. Not sure if this is an everyday thing or just to show their ownership because of the overtures from the USA.  

Gatun Locks

While the canal expansion in 2016  was being completed, and considering the high operational costs of the vessels, the long queues that occur during the high season December through March (sometimes up to a seven-day delay), and the high value of some of the cargo transported through the canal, a Transit Booking System and Transit Slot Auction was created to allow a better management of the scarce capacity available and to increase the level of service offered to the shipping companies. The scheme gives users two choices:

transit by order of arrival on a first-come, first-served basis, as the canal historically has operated; or  booked service for a fee – a congestion charge.

The booked service allows two options of fees.

The Transit Booking System, available online, allowing customers who do not want to wait in queue to pay an additional 15% over the regular tolls, guaranteeing a specific day for transit and crossing the canal in 18 hours or less. They sell 24 of these daily slots up to 365 days in advance. Since 2006, there is a 25th slot made available and sold through the Transit Slot Auction to the highest bidder.

 The second choice is high priority transit such as military and hazardous goods.

 The main customers of the Transit Booking System are cruise ships, container ships, vehicle carriers, and non-containerized cargo vessels.

During droughts, shippers bid for priority, with one record in 2023 reaching $3.98 million to jump the queue for a gas tanker.

Standard Fees: Large container ships (Neopanamax) pay over $1 million for standard transit, while cruise ships can pay over $1 million depending on capacity. The bigger the ship and the more people on it costs more. It was approx. $300,000 for our ship to cross.

Historic Low: The lowest recorded fee was 36 cents, paid by adventurer Richard Halliburton when he swam the canal in 1928.

Small Vessels: For yachts under 65 feet, the fee is around $3,000, with a potential $1,000 refund if there are no delays.

I don't have much to say about this section of locks but I did take lots of pictures so here they are.

This is the ship ahead of us leaving the locks

This is a great shot of how close the canal is to the ships. There is definitely not a lot of room on the sides.

I talked about the second set of gates that they have for safety, here is a great picture of them

The ship in front of us was just leaving as we were heading in. You can also see the ships coming towards us and the Bridge of the Atlantic 

Here is a better close up

This is the viewing area for the second locks and a lighthouse

This is one of the fire stations around the locks. All along the locks were manicured lawns and everything was very clean and tidy. 

This is a ship coming towards us, they were going up while we are going down

This ship was shorter so they added two tug boats to the transit

This shows you how far down we went compared to the ship coming behind us.

This is the ship that was beside us now going into the second set of locks.

This show how busy it was, there was a ship inside each lock on the right and another ship following behind us

This is the ship that took the new locks on the right side of through the first set of locks going through the new locks on the left side of us.

The ship going through the second locks

Exiting the second set of locks. 

The gates on the new locks slide back and forth in front of the ship and there are no mules, Tug Boats keep the ships in place.  Once they are done they either take a ship back up or they come around to the old locks and go back to the lake.

This channel is all that remains from the original French construction

This is where the old canal and the new canal meet 

Bridge of the Atlantic

We successfully transited the Panama Canal

Panama Cruise 2025 Day 12 November 8, Lake

 

After the first locks we sailed through The Culebra Cut, formerly called Gaillard Cut, is an artificial valley that cuts through the Continental Divide in Panama. The cut forms part of the Panama Canal, linking Gatun Lake, and thereby the Atlantic Ocean, to the Gulf of Panama and hence the Pacific Ocean. It is 12.6 kilometres (7.8 mi) from the Pedro Miguel lock on the Pacific side to the Chagres River arm of Lake Gatun.

Culebra is the name for the mountain ridge it cuts through and was also originally applied to the cut itself. From 1915 to 2000 the cut was named Gaillard Cut after US Major David du Bose Gaillard, who had led the excavation. After the canal handover to Panama in 2000, the name was changed back to Culebra. In Spanish the cut is known as the Corte Culebra and is also called the Snake Cut.

Centennial Bridge

 

When the French worked on the canal they excavated some 18,646,000 cu yards of material from the cut and lowered the summit from 210 feet above sea level to 194 feet over a relatively narrow width.

When the US began they used multiple air compressor facilities using some 30 miles of pipe powered hundreds of compressed air drills to bore holes for 400,000 lbs of dynamite per month[ to blast and fragment the rock of the cut so that it could be excavated by steam shovels. Dozens of spoils trains took the spoil from the shovels to the landfill dumps, about 12 miles away. In a typical day, 160 trainloads of material were hauled away.  At the busiest times, there was a train going inbound or outbound almost every minute.

Six thousand men worked in the cut, drilling holes, placing explosives, controlling steam shovels, and running the dirt trains. Twice a day work stopped for blasting, and then the steam shovels were moved in to take the loose spoil (dirt and rock) away. More than 600 holes filled with dynamite were fired daily. In all, 60 million pounds of dynamite were used. .

Steam shovels broke through the Culebra Cut on May 20, 1913. The Americans had lowered the summit of the cut from 194 to 39 ft above sea level, at the same time widening it considerably, and they had excavated over 100 million cubic yards of material.

This is a picture of a number of boats that head out daily on excursions checking out the local wildlife on Monkey Island and various other jungle creatures.

Another Set Pilot Stations

Titan, better known by its former nickname Herman the German, is a large floating crane currently serving in the Panama Canal performing heavy lifts for lock maintenance. Prior to its move to Panama in 1996, the crane was based at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard from the end of World War II until the yard's closure in 1995. It was seized from the German Kriegsmarine following the end of World War II as part of war reparations. The crane served in the Baltic Sea tending German U-boats

Following the closure of the shipyard, the crane was sold to the Panama Canal Commission, and it was transported on the semi-submersible ship Sea Swan in 1996 to the Panama Canal, where it currently serves as the floating crane Titan.

Over the years, "Herman the German" performed numerous notable heavy lifts, including:

Refitting of the battleships USS Missouri and New Jersey in the 1980s

Lifting the Hughes H-4 ("Spruce Goose") from its original hangar in Long Beach when it was relocated to its geodesic dome from 1980 to 1982 for tourist display by the Wrather Corporation