PANAMA!
A long time ago, say 53 years ago to be specific, I was an employee of Uncle Sam. He had designated that I be sent to an tropical isthmus to perform my duties for a certain period of time. A year-and-a-half to be specific again. I performed those duties as required and enjoyed – as much as a military man could – being out of my home country and learning all I could about my present location. The assignment went quick and the next thing I remember is I was on a jet heading north and back into, what we called it then, “the world.” The location I spent my 21st and 22nd year of life was the Panama Canal Zone. I was an Air Weather Observer for the United States Air Force. And I remember a lot of that time period. So when the opportunity came to revisit the area, even if only for a short period of time, I responded with an emphatic yes and started planning. Those plans came to an abrupt end a few years ago when COVID-19 reared it’s ugly head and said NO YOU’RE NOT. So our ocean cruise to Panama was put on the shelf for a while.
After the pandemic had eased off some, I decided it was time to take that journey off the shelf and dust it off. So plans were again made and dates set. We would sail on March 22 of this year.
Hurrah!
The following, loyal reader, is a semi-lengthy description of my wife Judy and my voyage to Panama on the good ship Caribbean Princess and the adventures that occurred therein. Read on if interested, if not, adios and take care.
Planning:
We visited our travel agent and booked this cruise last fall. We had discussed it with one of my lodge brothers and his wife and they were also eager to sail with us, so they were there signing the paperwork also along with us at the travel agency. There would be four taking this voyage.
We were going again!
So let’s get cracking, eh?
Tuesday:
This would be our travel day. We left our little northeast Ohio town about 8 am and soon were munching on McDonald’s and motoring north toward Cleveland Hopkins Airport. We arrived after about the normal hour’s travel and my son returned home with our car. He promised he would retrieve us in ten days and would try not to kill our dog in the interim. We were fortunate (why?) this time through TSA screening that we did not have to remove our shoes. We flew a half-empty Southwest flight to Chicago’s MDW airport. It took about an hour. The airport was quite crowded – possibly spring breaker travelers? Dunno. Our flight to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida was full with 175 people, a couple of them being babies in full voice. We took a Lyft ride-share from the airport to our hotel for the night. (We always fly in a day early to allow for transportation problems along the way.) Please note that it is not at all obvious where you’re supposed to wait for your ride share after you’ve retrieved your luggage at FLL, just that it’s NOT where you are at the moment. It’s a bit of a walk down the way to the PROPER spot where they meet their riders. Quite a bit of a walk pushing, pulling and carrying bags. Our driver was one of the quiet ones. He said “William?” when he saw us to make sure he was picking up the right folks. We responded, “Jose?” to match what the phone app said. He then said “Super Ocho?” to verify he was driving us to the Super 8. We said yes and we were off. Quite a short ride later and we were there.
Please note that I booked this hotel for its lower price. It was only for one night and we weren’t looking for fancy. And, to be sure, it assuredly wasn’t. For the same price around home you’d get upper-middle. For Ft. Lauderdale we got a definite middle-lower. Clean, for sure, but VERY much used furniture, TV massively bolted to the dresser and old fixtures. Bed was comfortable though. No restaurant on premises, so I walked a ways down the BUSY six-lane highway to a Popeye’s chicken place and snagged some suppers for us. So we chowed down at our hard-scrabble motel and soon were off to dreamland.
Wednesday:
Morning showed us that, for our showers, there was NO soap. Just one small bottle of shampoo. We used that all over. At least I did. Judy may have had some soap packed. I stopped at the motel office to check out the advertised continental breakfast. It consisted of the following: coffee, hot water for hot chocolate mix, no decaf, a small basket of breakfast cereal bars – full stop. That was it. I took some of that majestic breakfast back to the room for Judy and we both laughed. Kinda. Then it was Lyft time again to go to the ship port. It was finally sail-away day! Our driver that day was again a Hispanic – a talkative one this time – and we were soon at the port dropping off our bags. From previous experiences, we understood and accepted the congestion and crowds of people around the terminal. There were a LOT of us fun-and-sun seekers for this trip. After some entry line hiccups, we were at last on the ship and scanning our Princess Medallions at the gangway for the first time. All was well! For those who’ve not sailed before, please note that most of these cruise ships are BIG. Ours was not the biggest on the seas, but still a mighty ship. 18 stories above the waterline, a thousand feet long, 3,000 passengers (give or take) and 1,000 crew. A big, beautiful ship just waiting to take care of us! We sat down in the lobby, had our first drinks and waited until 1 pm when we could go to our cabin and start unpacking. We’d booked an aft-facing ocean-view cabin on a very high deck – 14. Two distinctive portholes gave us views aft and great looks at our wake when at sea. We don’t suffer from seasickness, thank goodness for Bonine, so the location was fine. We knew that particular location was prone to more pronounced wave motion and it didn’t not deliver! We were rockin’ and rollin’ most of the voyage! Judy and I grew acclimated pretty quickly and got used to the floor NEVER being still or level. Our sailing companions – Blake and Cathy – had the next door cabin. They arrived later and we didn’t make connections until after supper. We ate supper in the Coral Dining room, one of three main dining rooms on the ship. Supper was fine and food was decent and abundant. The service was, as we’d seen on almost all our past cruises, impeccable. The crew were hard-working and friendly to a person. We capped our first day aboard with a show at the main theater – two comedians who were pretty funny – and stopped at one of the MANY bars on the ship for another drink. We had the drink package, so they were all “free.” The bar, like many of them, had live music, so we sat and listened for a bit. Then back to the cabin to collapse on the bed. The cabin, albeit pretty small, was nicely laid out and had many mirrors, so the size was disguised well. We’d met our cabin attendant and his name was Ishmael. Easy to remember – Moby Dick! (“Call me Ishmael”) Then off to a gently rolling sleep sailing into the blue Caribbean.
Thursday:
A sea day. I awoke after a VERY restful sleep. The motion of the sea and the fine bed linens had done their trick. The only annoying noise during the night was the sound of the empty coat hangers in the closet banging against the wall and each other. (Solution: take the empty ones off the rod and put on the floor. Voila, much quieter.) Went to breakfast with our travel companions at the buffet and made plans with them for supper and a show afterwards. We had received a complimentary meal from our travel agency (thanks Marty!) at one the the upscale restaurants aboard (Sabatini’s) and were eating there. After breakfast we wandered around the ship and checked out some of the retail shops. Most were pretty high-end. Had a drink or several (it’s ALWAYS five o’clock somewhere!) and checked out a couple lounge shows. Seemed there was always something going on around the ship. Contests, trivia, music, classes, magic, etc. Buffet for lunch and a smattering of rain on the outside decks.
Sabatini’s Restaurant for supper was great with only one real problem. TOO MUCH FOOD! It would take a real trencherman to take advantage of their meals. Quite tasty and, as I said, abundant. Afterward it was the theater show Bravo which was quite entertaining. We didn’t get to the show early enough, so we sat two and two. Then back to the room for a bit. Judy and I walked up to Skywalker’s Nightclub then, which was on deck 19 by itself almost directly above our cabin. We listened to some old-time rock n roll and had another drink. I tried a suggestion of my brother’s this time, a White Russian. Quite good! Had several during the trip. Then back to the stateroom. We set our clocks back an hour tonight. Having to reset our clocks would be a recurring theme for the voyage. Eventually there would be six time changes in ten days. Crazy.
Friday:
This was our Falmouth, Jamaica day. Got up early-ish and did a wander around the ship taking some pictures. Blake and Cathy were up early also and we chit-chatted a bit by the aft pool near our staterooms. (We called it “our” pool.) Judy was up by then and we all went to breakfast at the buffet. Later Blake and Judy and I exited the ship (Cathy wanted to lounge around the pool. Smart lady!) and checked out Jamaica’s tourist offerings on the pier-side. Quite a few souvenir places, craft work for sale and a few food offerings as well. I’m not really counting the diamond stores and the other chains that are in EVERY port in the world, seemingly. Bought some souvenirs and stopped at a food vendor’s place. Got a patty (sort of like an empanada) with a spicy chicken filling (I liked it!) and a Red Stripe beer. The beer is brewed on that island. A tasty little snack! The Jamaican people were all very friendly, but obviously were looking for sales. Not extremely pushy though. We were concerned about that before getting there, but in the enclosed port area I guess the pushy ones are kept out? It was very windy, about 80 degrees and sunny there. After our walk around and shopping visit, we returned to our staterooms and crashed for a little bit. Sail away was at 5 pm and so was our supper in the Coral Dining Room. The Caribbean Princess had three main dining rooms and the Coral was the one we ate at the most. Pretty darn good food. Service was very formal and unfortunately took most of two hours. Afterward we stopped at the Explorer’s Club – we’d stop there quite often for their shows – and watched a couple of presentations. A sports trivia contest, an 80’s music trivia contest and the marriage game show. That one pitted three couples of varying lengths of marriage against each other. Very funny. It was hosted by our Cruise Director Dan and he did a superb job. We enjoyed some drinks while watching the shenanigans – dirty banana, white Russian and Blake and I shared shots of Fireball to end the night. Ship was delayed leaving 1.5 hours by the wind.
Saturday:
This was an at-sea day. Up and breakfast with Blake and Cathy in the buffet. That would be our go-to breakfast place. Judy and I went to the main theater after eating and watched a presentation on how productions were put on on the ship. Casting, crew, lighting, equipment, etc. It was all really complicated, then you multiply that complexity for our ship by THIRTEEN other ships in their fleet. Wow! The planning, logistics and work involved were amazing. Judy and I then went to another presentation in the rear lounge put on by our busy cruise director Dan. He showed some cute bar tricks and other flim-flam to impress folks. Quite interesting. Trust me when I say there was something going on ALL THE TIME on the ship. Then back to the cabin for a little nap. Still windy at sea and the ship was moving quite a bit. Had to be careful walking. Again a two-hour dinner in the Coral. Tasty again but sadly still slow. Blake complained he was not feeling well, so they went to their cabin after supper. Judy and I went to the main theater again for the show – two comedians we’d seen the first night, but a totally new routine. Very funny. Stopped at another bar – the Wheelhouse Lounge – for drinks afterward and to watch auditions for an upcoming show, The Voice of the Sea – a takeoff of The Voice on TV. Some very talented singing passengers on our ship! Off to bed then to a gently rolling bed. Looking forward to Colombia tomorrow!
Sunday:
This was Cartagena, Columbia day. Up again and found out Blake was still not feeling well, so it’ll just be Judy and I for our booked excursion with Dora the Explorer. They stayed on the ship with only a short jaunt off in the port area. We ate early at the buffet and were off the ship at 8 am as our reservations stipulated. We found our group – Dora #1 on the pier and walked the rest of the way off, through the little zoo they had at the entrance to our little bus for the tour. Toucans, macaws, sloths, monkeys, peacocks and other beasties. Nice, actually. Our tour guide was the founder of the tour group, Dora de Zubiria. She had a driver and another helper also. There were only 8 in our group, so it was quite manageable. We first drove to the top of a great big hill, got out of the bus and climbed 14 stone steps to an ancient church. At a certain time of year they bring the statue of the Virgin down that windy mountain road and stop at 14 crosses along the way to pray the Stations of the Cross. Apparently thousands of pilgrims do this. Quite a big to-do as described. We checked out the super views of the old and new city and took some pictures along with some of the church itself. Then back in the bus and down the mountain to the next stop. Dora shared a LOT of information about her city and country during this excursion. At the next stop I climbed onto the top of the wall of the old city, now 11 kilometers long and looked around a bit. Then I walked down to a shopping area that consisted of 23 cells that were used for prisoners back in “the day” and now were little shopping areas. Then back on the bus and onward to the old city. We then parked and all of us (except Judy) went for a long, very hot, very humid walk around the city. It was around 90 degrees and there were LOTS of vendors along the way trying to sell us their goods. Water, beer, Panama hats, jewelry, all kinds of stuff and LOTS of it. And some beggars to top it off. We ended up walking through a number of churches and beautiful flowering and green courtyards. Very pretty with a lot of 15th and 16th century buildings. Loads of history was again supplied by our Dora during the walk. Highly knowledgeable and highly recommended. Judy took a different tour at that time with the bus driver through the new city. No walking. She’s not doing well in that department. We finally got through our long walk – Dora said six blocks – but if felt LOTS longer with the heat and humidity. Back again on the bus, reunited with Judy and off to drive through another part of the city called Getsemeni. Looked very artsy/craftsy and rich. Very colorful with art on the walls and the buildings all pretty and in very nice shape. We were back to the pier around noon. We grabbed some lunch on the ship and changed our dinner reservations from 5 pm to 8:40 pm. Just not hungry by 3:30 pm. Napped for a couple hours then up for more adventures! The walking app on my phone said I walked over 4 miles today. Definitely believe it. The boat left Colombia at 3:30 and headed for Panama. Went to our 8:40 dinner in the Coral after checking with our companions. Blake sicker than ever, so they’re scheduled to see the ship’s doctor the next day. Hit the casino for an hour or so then back to the cabin. Total miles for today is 4.82. Serious mileage for this ol’ dude. No word yet where we pick up our Panama tour yet for tomorrow. They’ll know as soon as they know when they’re allowed through the canal lock. Sometime tomorrow morning.
Monday:
This is Panama day. Up early and up to our pool area to watch the ship go into the first chamber of the Agua Clara Lock of the Panama Canal. This is one of the new locks built for the super tankers after 2000. You could see ships going through the old Gatuń locks through the trees to the west. Took some pictures. Went to breakfast around then and waited on the call for our tour. Finally around 10 am we got the call and took a tender over to the Colon Yacht Club. Picked up our bus and tour guide there. The bus went OVER the lock we had just gone through (there’s a roadway on top) and headed south toward Panama City. The guide was a wonderful panameño and he told us LOADS of information about all kinds of stuff pertaining to the canal and the country. We stopped at the Miraflores Locks (Pacific side of the Canal) to watch an IMAX movie about the construction of the canal and narrated by Morgan Freeman. Then left the theater to look at the lock itself. There were no ships transiting at that time, so there actually wasn’t much to see. Then back on the bus. Next stop was a duty-free store for a potty break. The bus stopped again down the road and they passed out sandwiches and water for a small lunch break. We rode into the old part of Panama City and they let us out. It looked real sketchy in that area, but the guide assured us it was totally safe. We followed him and learned more history and saw LOTS of historic buildings. He said that neighborhood was guarded by the unit that guards their president. Interesting. The massive gold alter at the first church we stopped at was a real eye-popper and there was an interesting story about it. We were getting in another walk similar to yesterday. Ouch! Finally back on the bus and back across the country to Colon on the Caribbean side when we again got on our ship. (Another 3.5 miles walking today.) On the bus ride back I traded tales with the guide about my days in the Air Force in his country. He really got a kick out of some of them. He actually worked at the base I was stationed at as a younger man until it closed in 2000. He’s a little younger than I, but he remembered most of the incidents I recalled. It was nice today to bring up old memories in the place that they were made. This little country has changed a LOT in 54 years, give or take. I heard a lot of place names that were familiar while driving around today and reminisced a lot about my younger days. We called our shipmates after returning to see how their visit to the doctor had went. Turns out that Blake tested positive for Covid, so he and Cathy are stuck in their cabin until he tests negative. They’re definitely stuck on a voyage from hell. Oh yes, some good news. We won some OBC (on board cash) in a little game that we played. $250! Hurrah! Now for a quiet night before our next excursion tomorrow in Costa Rica. The time changes again tonight. If you’re counting, that’s three times now. And so it goes.
Tuesday:
This is Limon, Costa Rica day. The tour today wasn’t until 12:15, so we slept in a little and had a later breakfast. When it was time to go, Judy bowed out. Her leg(s) were hurting and sore. So I was alone for this one. Our tour group gathered in the theater, then were escorted off the ship. The concrete of this particular pier was pretty rough and cracked. A man ahead of me pushing an elderly lady in one of those lightweight wheelchairs (with the small wheels) hit a particularly deep crack and oops… old lady on the deck! About a dozen other passengers gathered around and got her right side up and on her way again. She seemed not too worse for wear. After that incident, we got on our bus and were on our way. Once again, as the bus pulled out our new Costa Rican guide started with interesting facts about his country and stories about this and that. After about 20 minutes we pulled into the place we were to take our tour of the Tortugero Canals. So we got off the bus and onto a pontoon boat and were soon off on our jungle cruise. The river or canal we were on was smallish, brown water and slow moving. There was lots of jungle vegetation on both sides. We saw and heard LOTS of the native wildlife including: caimans, howler and spider monkeys, iguanas, sloths (3-toed variety), basilisks (like small lizards except they run on 2 legs), tons of all kinds of birds, etc. The boat driver even stopped for a few minutes, jumped into the jungle and started looking around on the ground. Soon he returned and, on a leaf he held, was a bright red tiny frog about the size of a bumble bee. He explained it was one of those poisonous one that the natives used to dip their darts and arrows in to kill prey and other natives. We asked him how he found it as it was so tiny. He said he heard it and made a hissing noise. Don’t know if he was joking or not. We heard a bird and the guide asked if we knew what it was. When we all said no, he said it was a robin. They live down there too. Funny! During the tour they fed us a locally grown banana and a bag of cassava chips – barbecue flavor! The bus ride back to the ship was uneventful and the guide gave us more information on the country. I was glad to get back into the a/c comfort of the ship. We made our dinner reservations at another dining room – The Island – for 7:20. 5 is still quite early. Talked to Blake on the phone. He’s feeling better, but Cathy is starting to cough. She’ll get checked out tomorrow. Food tonight was very much so-so. Don’t know if we’re getting jaded or it was a bit lower quality. Could hardly keep my eyes open. So tired! Found out that three excursions in three days was maybe just a bit much. So it was Tylenol and beddy-bye time. Tomorrow we can rest on our next sea day.
I’d like to say that we enjoyed our next three days of cruising. I’d like to say we had more marvelous adventures and saw more exotic locales. I’d like to say we had fun the last three days of our cruise. But I can’t. Here’s why…
Wednesday:
This was a sea day. I woke up this day not feeling too great. Bit of a headache, feverish, cough. Knowing Blake next door has/had Covid, I was concerned. I called the ship’s medical staff and one of them stopped by the cabin. Yep, my vacation pretty much ended. I got the doggone Covid. Damn. So Judy and I are quarantined until we get off the ship on Saturday. Judy goes to medical tomorrow to get tested. Didn’t do much the rest of the day. TV, read, sleep. Ordered food and drink as we liked.
Thursday:
This was Cayman Island day. Still quarantined in our cabin. My sickness feels like a bad head cold with a deeper cough. TV, room service, read my novel and sleep. Time passed slowly. I’m NOT real sick. I didn’t see any of the Cayman Islands. Bummer.
Friday:
This was a sea day heading back to Florida. Feeling quite a bit better today. Judy went for testing and is negative. (She would test positive Sunday at home.) She’s allowed anywhere on the ship. I’m assuming I’ll get retested today too. (I was wrong. No retest. “too soon” I was told.) Life seems a bit better today. We got our disembarkation instructions. Ours are different than the rest of the passengers because of the quarantine. We’ll be escorted off the ship separately. Judy went for breakfast and brought me back a go-cup of decaf and some pastry. Another long day in the cabin.
Saturday:
Disembarkation day. Up around 7 am. Finished packing. Breakfast delivered again by room service then our disembark escort arrived and we were led off the ship. We went out a crew entrance alone along with Blake and Cathy – everyone masked. Like the bad ol’ days. Rode in a provided bus to the airport and checked our bags. Through TSA OK and then waited. And waited. And some more. Flight not until 5-ish. Our one stop was Nashville. Sat around for about 2 hours there, then the 1 hour flight to Cleveland. Our son Tony picked us up in our SUV around midnight and we were off to home. Hurrah!
Thoughts:
We are SO glad we are back cruising again! The hiatus was LONG and we’re immensely glad it’s over. Being at sea again and seeing new places? Can’t beat it!
Having our cabin high up and in the rear of the ship DOES make it more bumpy, but Bonine makes it all pretty comfortable. We DO look like drunken sailors from time to time though, weaving and wobbling around.
What a damn shame Blake and Cathy got sick so soon and we couldn’t share a lot of our adventures with them. They were screwed. Days and days stuck in the cabin. NOT fun! Blake told me by phone that this was his worse vacation, bar none, and I believe him. I understand there will be some refunds or Future Cruise Certificates coming to us from Princess to make up a bit for it. We’ll see.
The old adage “you’ll always forget something” when you travel is true. You can’t bring everything, but you want to bring everything YOU’LL NEED.
We were lucky and had EXCELLENT tour guides. Dora in Cartagena was superb and the Panama guy (forgot his name, dammit) was great. Even the Costa Rica guy was very good. Saw and learned a TON about our ports.
Princess has been great, all things considered. Can’t blame them for us getting sick. They provided hand cleaning stations EVERYWHERE. The food has been, for the most part, fine. The ship shows it’s age here and there, but is clean as a whistle and she is a fine vessel. The crew is wonderful, as usual. The cabin was not that bad at all.
Travel is more difficult when you get older. Suitcases are heavier and harder to wheel around, airports are GIGANTIC and it’s ALWAYS a long way from where you’re at to where you want to be. Difficulties of all persuasions are harder to overcome.
But, when all is said and done, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. The big disappointment was Blake and Cathy getting sick, followed by me. Basically we just got unlucky this time around. But, discounting that as one must, the rest was just fine.
