2018 Crystal World Cruise as seen by a 4-Star Mariner

Panama Canal schedule

Captain Willheim presented a preliminary timetable for our passage through the canal. This is just a rough guide, I will not be surprised to see quite large deviations from the plan:

7:00AM: Pick up pilot

8:45AM: Enter Miraflores Locks

10:15AM: Enter Pedro Miguel Lock

2:00PM: Enter Gatun Locks

4:00PM: Exit the canal

I anticipate we will likely pass the Alaska bound Nieuw Amsterdam sometime around noon on Gatun Lake. I believe the Zuiderdam is doing a partial transit and will likely exit the canal before our arrival at Gatun. We are stopping at Colon and will probably be in port there with the Zuiderdam while she picks up passengers who do the tour from Lake Gatun.

Roy

Glad you had a chance to go back into town and see the Iguana's in the Park as well as several other places.

Great report and as always -- love your pictures.

Panama Canal schedule

 

Captain Willheim presented a preliminary timetable for our passage through the canal. This is just a rough guide, I will not be surprised to see quite large deviations from the plan:

 

7:00AM: Pick up pilot

8:45AM: Enter Miraflores Locks

10:15AM: Enter Pedro Miguel Lock

2:00PM: Enter Gatun Locks

4:00PM: Exit the canal

 

I anticipate we will likely pass the Alaska bound Nieuw Amsterdam sometime around noon on Gatun Lake. I believe the Zuiderdam is doing a partial transit and will likely exit the canal before our arrival at Gatun. We are stopping at Colon and will probably be in port there with the Zuiderdam while she picks up passengers who do the tour from Lake Gatun.

 

Roy

Nearly every time HAL gives us a schedule of the Panama canal, it is usually changed. Something always causes us to have a delay somewhere along the canal.

Thank you Krazy Kruizers.

Day Symphony61, Tuesday, April 17, 2018, At Sea, Crystal Symphony

The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Mumbai(8762 miles away) to Muscat(7941). The sun rose at 6:19 and set at 6:27. The moon rose at 7:42 and set at 8:09. The weather was partly cloudy and 28/82.

We actually crossed the equator about 4AM. I had a toilet call a little after that and at the time we were VERY close.

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I finished my 5-mile walk before breakfast and the morning show. The sun actually appeared over the starboard gangway just a few minutes after the expected time.

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As we sailed along the Colombia coast it was a sea day on steroids. There were the usual 3 presentations starting with Bob Aalbert’s talk at 10 on the Panama Canal. I had to watch that later in rerun because I was at a talk “IPAD tips and techniques” in the Hollywood Theater. The 11 O’clock presentation was Bob Donaldson on the Challenge of China.

Captain Willheim’s noon update was primarily our tentative Panama Canal schedule and was followed by the highlight of the day, the Equator Crossing ceremony with Special Events Coordinator Jonathan Hawkins as the Master of Ceremonies.

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King Neptune and his Queen were portrayed by the lead singers and the rest of the Ensemble had smaller parts. Captain Willheim called the event to order.

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Pollywogs were escorted in as a group.

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In little groups of about 8-10, charged with a crime, and sentenced. The first phase was kissing the fish.

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Next they were covered in slime.

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The final step was being tossed into the pool.

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While most people were processed in groups there were a couple of exceptions. The very first victim was an important pollywog, Front Office Manager Max. He was inducted solo.

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At the end Captain Willheim complained about the ceremony as a violation of the “Crystal Clean” policy and promptly dispatched to the fish and the pool.

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Trivia was delayed until 12:30 to accommodate the ceremony.

2. How many planets have just 1 moon?

3. What is the collective term for a group of moles?

5. What is Luisa May Alcott’s most famous book?

9. What is the Czech word for drudgery?

12. What does the Olympic slogan Citius, Altius, Fortius mean?

There were just 4 people at the shared table. I decided on the oxtail essence, 4-cheese macaroni, and berry upside down cake.

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There was an entertainment double bill. The prime event was Christine Andreas with her husband/musical director Martin Silvestri. I am not a fan and she seems to me to spend far too much time babbling on and not enough singing and pushing a little too extensively on her CD’s.

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The late show was the Crystal debut of Ventriloquist Kieran Powell. His name sounded familiar and it should have; he was on my Prinsendam transatlantic just 6 month ago. I think at that time I was still recovering from flying from Hong Kong to Rome and was very drowsy the night he performed. Last night was almost the same but I seem to have gotten a second wind when I started moving to go down to the Starlite. It was still too late for me though and I left a little after 11. (I did see him in the Trident at Wednesday Lunch and he said he is on until Aruba so I’ll have another chance. Overall, I think he was very good.

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As a parting shot, there is a voice missing on this voyage. Almost all of my Panama Canal cruises have benefitted from the knowledge of former Canal Commission Director Richard Morgan, I believe he was supposed to be a lecturer on this cruise but was not here. I hope there is nothing seriously wrong.

Trivia Answers”

2. Only the earth has just 1 moon.(missed it)

3. A group of moles is a labor of moles(missed it)

5. Luisa May Alcott is famous for Little Women (got it)

9. Czech word for drudgery is robot or robot (didn’t know it but it makes sense)

12. Olympic slogan is higher, stronger, and faster. I got stronger and faster but missed higher.

I got the musical selection “This Guy’s In Love With You” but not the writer, Burt Bacharach. The winners had 15 of 17 while no other team had more than 12.

Roy

Love the King Neptune ceremony whenever we cross the equator. They are a lot of fun to watch.

Great pictures.

I got 4 of the trivia questions.

The Captain was a good sport to be thrown in the pool during the Equator crossing ceremony.

Thank you Krazy Kruizers and erewhon.

Day Symphony62, Wednesday, April 18, 2018, Transit Panama Canal

This post will be completely different from the one I did on the Crystal forum.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=55879442&postcount=832

While I’ve watched the occasional webcam sailaway I haven’t actually laid eyes on a HAL ship in about 3 months. That changed yesterday when the Crystal Symphony, Nieuw Amsterdam, and Zuiderdam all spent time in the Panama Canal.

I didn’t actually see the Zuiderdam in the canal but will consider it my first HAL sighting. I THINK when the Zuiderdam does a partial transit one of the tours is a boat that goes through the Miraflores and Miguel locks and then returns passengers to the ship in Colon. I think this was the boat on that tour.

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The eastbound Symphony (technically northwest) passed the westbound (southeast) Nieuw Amsterdam and I spotted it just after I finished lunch. .

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She was pretty easy to spot in the distance but approached quickly.

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As she passed I could see a number of people out on the bow.

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I was quickly starting to get a view from behind rather than forward.

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Soon she was starting to fade from view. The whole encounter was about 2 minutes.

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While I didn’t actually see the Zuiderdam while we were in the canal I got my first fleeting glimpses of the stacks soon after passing under the Atlantic bridge. There was not enough of a view for a picture but it became my reference point for our destination.

As we approached the port we were looking at the starboard side from the bow.

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Colon’s 2 terminals are almost in line but offset a little bit. Both ships were facing the port exit with the Zuiderdam behind us and offset a little to our starboard side. From the aft port corner of my ship I could get a decent view of Zuiderdam’s port side.

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It was about the time for sunset when we finished docking and it soon turned dark. The Zuiderdam looked lovely about 7 with all her lights on.

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She pulled away into the night about 8.

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Roy

Great pictures of the Nieuw Amsterdam and Zuiderdam.

Thanks for posting the photos of the HAL ships.

Great shots and fabulous pics, Roy.

Thanks so much :)

Did you go ashore in Colon? We were a bit taken aback.

Did you go ashore in Colon? We were a bit taken aback.

Thank You Krazy Kruizers, kazu, erewhon and bennybear. Until I saw this post I wasn't planning to repeat mine on the HAL forum but you changed my mind.(and more about that in my next post). I'll also mention what I was planning to post since I said I would talk about Crystal Culture.

I hadn't thought about it until I saw the Bon Voyage thread for Host Walt but Panama Canal rolls are not a big thing on Crystal; in fact I still have no idea what they look like. (I'll find out in January). What is kind of big on Crystal is Portugese tarts from the Bistro. I've never actually had one on these on Crystal but did sample a couple in Lisbon on the Prinsendam. I liked them but still didn't quite get the hype.

Now back to our regularly scheduled thread:

Day Symphony63, Thursday, April 19, 2018, Turnaround Day, Colon

The Crystal Serenity is completing an overnight call in Muscat, 7676 miles away. The sun rose at 6:08 and set at 6:29. The moon rose at 9:16 and set at 10:12. The weather was a mix of sun and clouds, 87/31 and humid.

I started my final onboard turnaround day with a load of laundry and a 6-lap walk before it t too hot. Colon has 2 cruise terminals. We came into terminal 1 which is primarily designed for turnaround calls but also has some shopping services. Terminal 2 was a quarter mile behind us and closer to shopping but with no obvious facilities for luggage or resupply. Something is being built between the terminals but right now it’s just a bare concrete sidewalk with fences on both sides.

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With a tour scheduled for Friday my plans for the day were not very ambitious, but I did want to finish updating my laptops. My IPAD map app (Maps.me) indicated a coffee shop and bakery near terminal 2 that looked promising. I left the ship about 8:30, walked around the shopping area and found that Kaffeine Coffee & Bakery Shop was out of business but Café Maritanos seemed to be a possibility. It took a while to get the wifi to work but once I did it worked pretty well. I got both laptops fully up to date and was back on the ship about 10:30. The shopping center had several restaurants plus a grocery store but I didn’t linger long.

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I found safe around the center but saw little reason to venture further into the city. As I returned to the ship the terminal was just a not very attractive buildings with a few shops and a rather ragged looking parking lot.

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The Lido Café (Marketplace) is normally closed on turnaround day. I usually get a simple salad to go with my Trident Ham and Cheese but without that possibility the offerings in Waterside looked pretty attractive. I went for the salad, pasta and a Raspberry ice cream soda.

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It’s hard to account for my afternoon; it was pretty much down time. There were 2 people at the shared table who had just boarded along with about 4 regulars. I opted for the consume double, ½ sirloin steak and berry compote.

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The featured entertainment was singer Lou Gazzara. I thought he was quite good.

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During the show we repositioned back to terminal 1 as another ship was due Friday for a turnaround call. Across the bay from the cruise terminals sits a busy cargo port that is very busy all night.

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While it was cloudy much of the day the mon was shining quite brilliantly even though it was just a little sliver.

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Parting shot, where has over 100 days gone–far too quickly.

Roy

We have only been to Colon twice and both times we did not have enough time to get off the ship and look around.

We had arrived late from the turn around in Gatun Lake and the lines for people to get back onto the ship from the excursions was unbelievable. As soon as the last people got on board, away we sailed.

I liked it better when we stopped at Cristobal where we could get off and walk through all the vendors and watch the dancers.

Great report with great pictures.

Thank you Krazy Kruizers. I'm not sure Cristobal is still an active cruise port

Day Symphony64, Friday, April 20, 2018, Leave Colon

The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Muscat (7676 miles away) to Manamah, Bahrain (7224 miles). The sun rose at 6:07 and set at 6:29. The moon rose at 10:13 and set at 11:12. Almost like a broken record the weather was hot (86/30), humid, and partly cloudy.

There was a bit of a sunrise through the clouds as I concluded my 6-lap morning walk.

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I did take a late lap just before my tour and the Pulmantur Monarch (nee Monarch of the Seas) was solidly docked in the space we had vacated overnight.

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Our final day in port was a short one and my tour left quite early, 7AM. Just 9 of us spread out over a 49-passenger bus and we had 2 of the best guides I’ve seen on the World Cruise. As we drove through Colon things looked pretty dismal. Jorge talked about Colon’s history. It was once a thriving city but went through a period of decline largely due to the influence of drug cartels. The government is making a concerted effort to restore it and the derelict buildings we passed will be replaced or restored but it will be a long process.

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Once we left the city Jorge turned his attention to the economy. In one way or another the canal is a big factor, not just tolls but also commerce as a free trade zone and distribution center. A surprising economic factor was ships registry with more ships registered in Panama than any other country. Like Equador (but a little more logical) Panama’s official currency is the US Dollar (since the canal’s early days) but they still mint their own Balboa coins. Jorge passed a few around.

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Our destination was a resort near Gamboa on the midpoint of the canal but the highway route took us pretty much all the way to Panama City and then along the canal. Near Panama City we passed a baseball stadium named for former star Rod Carew.

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While on the Symphony I had noticed that a new highway bridge was under construction across the Chagres. I got a better look at and was also reminded about the need for it as the existing bridge is only 1 lane. We had waits for traffic at each end.

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At our resort we had several exhibits, starting with a large orchid nursery. As we walked from that one to a butterfly garden Jorge pointed out a plant that rapidly closed up when touched. Not like a venus flytrap, this plant reacts strictly defensively, with stingers on the outside once closed.

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Finally, we visited a butterfly nursery. Butterflies have a short life cycle and, like bees’ help pollinate other plants. They lay their eggs on host plants. One of the more interesting plants was dubbed hot lips with bright red pedals and little buds that looked almost like blueberries.

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The highlight of the tour was a tram up to an observation point high above the canal.

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We split into 2 groups for the 15-minute tram ride with a guide suppled by the resort with sweeping views just from the tram.

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At the summit we climbed a tower for another 100 feet using a ramp that wound 10 times around the outside. As I reached the summit a freighter was passing below us on the canal.

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Before we started back down the resort guide offered to take a photo from the top of the tower.

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We had one final stop at the resort. They have a sloth sanctuary. Sloths are pretty elusive creatures in the wild but the sanctuary cares for a number of the animals that have been orphaned.

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We returned to the ship by the same roundabout route as on our arrival. At the main highway bridge the Chagres is still pretty wide both upstream and downstream from the highway, several miles upstream from the outlet to Lake Gatun. We were back at the ship about 20 minutes ahead of the all aboard time.

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It seems that on the Symphony once you have done 1 muster drill there is little or no need to repeat it on future segments. I have been to all 5 and this was the first one where the staff did not need to call out any room numbers. With the Vice Captain looking on Captain Willheim took the Symphony out to begin the final world cruise segment with Louis singing at 1:55. As we sailed past the Monarch her muster drill was in progress.

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Bob Aalberts started off the Crystal Visions series for the segment with his talk on Cartagena and Santa Marta. The passenger count on this segment is low but the dining room is still opening at 6. There were a couple of new faces at the shared table. I opted for the beef consume, (½) New York Sirloin, and ice cream.

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The penultimate Black Tie Optional night was also the Captain’s Welcome Party with the introduction of the senior staff. The featured entertainment was The Crystal Ensemble of Singers and Neil Lockwood with Rocket Man. The only change in the performer lineup is a new trumpet player.

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My parting shot will be a wish for success for Colombia in revitalizing Colon. I think they are doing the right things but it will not be an easy task.

Roy

Eurodam in Panama Canal

I was walking past the bow of the Eurodam just as the Captain's sailaway message came. Rough times for the Panama Canal transit tomorrow:

8:45 AM: Enter Gatun Locks

12:00 noon: Pass Gamboa, midpoint of canal

2:00PM: Enter Miguel lock

4:00PM: Clear Miraflores locks

Roy

We would have loved to do a tour in Colon like you did.

Cristobal where we docked is no longer. Much of it was torn down to be used for parts of the new canal.

Great report and wonderful pictures.

Roy,

We ran into Island Princess here in Costa Rica.. Cruise timetables says she is in Puntarenas and Zaandam in Puerto Calderas - but we are across the pier from each other [:D]. We will not meet again.

We will miss Corinto, Nicaragua because of the political unrest in that country.

Carole

Puntarenas and Puerto Caldera are within sight of each other. Not sure why Princess would have moved; could it have been something like wind conditions.

Sorry about the missed port but it sounds like HAL is watching out for your safety.

Also a bit sad to see the laundry room go. Not as big a deal now that I'm 4-star but I used it once on my last cruise on the last sea day when I wasn't comfortable sending a load out to the ship's laundry.

Roy

Puntarenas and Puerto Caldera are within sight of each other. Not sure why Princess would have moved; could it have been something like wind conditions.

 

Sorry about the missed port but it sounds like HAL is watching out for your safety.

 

Also a bit sad to see the laundry room go. Not as big a deal now that I'm 4-star but I used it once on my last cruise on the last sea day when I wasn't comfortable sending a load out to the ship's laundry.

 

Ro

The ships are moving quite a bit here at the dock, plus they changed the location of the gangway from A to Deck 1 [one]. Maybe the other pier has even more movement in the area.

Nice tour in Colon.

Is that red ice cream? What flavour?

Nice tour in Colon.

Is that red ice cream? What flavour?

Vanilla ice cream with raspberry sauce.

Roy

Thanks for the background on Colon. We wondered about the derelict buildings.

Thank you bennybear. It may be just as well that most of HAL's calls there (I think) are just "service calls" where people who take excursions from Lake Gatun are returned to the ship.

Day Symphony65, Saturday, April 21, 2018. Cartagena, Colombia

This post will have a bit of a different emphasis from the one on the Crystal forum.

When I went back on deck just after the 6AM moring show the Eurodam was just pulling into the berth next to us on the dock closer to the terminal.

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As she approached I could see through the ship where the promenade deck passage goes across the bow.

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At breakfast I noticed that the Symphony’s green hull stripe was reflected nicely on the Eurodam’s verandah doors.

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I had booked a segway tour for this visit but not enough people signed up and it was cancelled. Instead of booking a replacement (I’ve been here several times) I did not venture much past the port terminal. There are shuttle buses to the port gate but it is not a long walk.

On the way I walked up close to the Eurodam’s gangway. Does anyone recognize this EXC guide?

The terminal has shops, wifi, and an interesting collection of birds including a large peacock that opened it’s wings right in front of me.

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Most ships have large displays of plaques given by various ports around the world as on their inaugural calls. I knew that this was part of a plaque exchange, but rarely see the plaques presented to the port. There was a display of some of those in the hall opposite the toilet in the Cartagena terminal. 4 that caught my eye were the Eurodam (0 days on her), Asuka II (nee Crystal Harmony, 28 days), Zaandam (50 days), and Symphony (275 days).

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I walked out after lunch for a photo of the 4 bows all lined up.

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A little after that the Eurodam headed off on the way to her Alaska season. I also took the opportunity for a shot of the Cartagena skyline.

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Of course this sailaway addict wanted to be on deck for all the day’s sailaways. The Symphony was the first ship to arrive in Cartagena and the last to leave, with the 2 remaining ships leaving about 7PM. The sun did not really set as the evening got very cloudy with occasional lightning bolts as I waited for the ships to leave.

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I skipped both but did get up to the top deck for sailaway. Louis did not sing because of the late hour but if he did it would have been at 9:45.

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As this World Cruise winds down my parting shot will be a rambling look ahead to early 2020. I looked first at the World Cruise offerings of Crystal, Cunard, and Holland America. Crystal’s is very attractive but I was not thrilled with the idea of flying home from Rome. Holland America had perhaps my favorite itinerary but I found it far too long; I doubt that I’ll ever be away more than 100 days at a time again. Cunard’s circling of Africa and Australia was too long and not very attractive. My final decision will involve a bit of history. In 2003 I set up a plan to circle the globe on the surface using a combination of a freighter, trans-Siberian and trans-Canada railroads, and the Crystal Harmony across the Pacific. All was going according to plan until SARS broke out, resulting in the cancelling of my Harmony voyage and the need to fly home. I have since circled the globe on the surface in pieces but never all at once. In 2020 the Crystal Serenity visits Sydney March 3 after a 40-day crossing from Los Angeles, and Queen Mary 2 calls 3 days later and takes 50 days to go around Cape of Good Hope and on to New York. With a train across the US, I can complete the circumnavigation in less than 100 days and that is what I plan to do.

Roy

So, 100 days is too much to be away Roy?

Are you anxious to get off or will you still be sorry to be packing all too soon.

So, 100 days is too much to be away Roy?

 

Are you anxious to get off or will you still be sorry to be packing all too soon.

A little of each. Sorry to be leaving but getting that ill at ease feeling that things are getting left undone at home.

Among other things I have 3 Doctors' appointments my first week at home and should probably have a couple more.

Roy