bionicman97 Posted May 5, 2011 Author #351 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Day 5 - Dinner After the welcome back party, we headed for dinner Started with the bread The Caesar Salad The strawberry bisque The garlic tiger shrimp I don't complain about food too much. I can eat about anything and if its average, I wouldn't even complain about that. But up to this point in my cruising career, this is the worst dish I have ever been served. It was cold, like it came out of the frigerator five minutes ago. It was stringy and seemed to be about half cooked. I don't care how good it has been in the past, I can no longer order this dish. After we started eating the main dish, the wife's morning sickness started to kick in, which was a major bummer for me because they were serving the warm chocolate cake tonight, which is my absolute favorite dessert on the ship. But we stopped midway through dinner and headed back to the room. After about 30 minutes, the wife was feeling better, so we decided to try the Love & Marriage Game Show. We stayed for about 5 minutes, but we weren't really feeling it at this point and we have a big day tomorrow in Panama, so we called it an evening. Coming up next time - Colon, Panama - Train Ride - The Canal - Panama City - & More. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionicman97 Posted May 5, 2011 Author #352 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Day 6 - The Big Day - Panama - Early Morning I got up around 6:30am and headed for the gym I got back to the room and got ready for the day. We watched the ship arrive for a little while from the Balcony Here are some of the ships exiting and waiting to enter the canal Some of the smaller boats at port More of the ships waiting to enter The port area Up next - Bus ride to the train - The City of Colon. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionicman97 Posted May 5, 2011 Author #353 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Day 6 - Bus Ride through Colon Here is where you get on/get off the ship Here is the bus. Every bus we rode during the cruise had A/C These are some pics of the nicer area's of town Up next - More of Colon. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionicman97 Posted May 5, 2011 Author #354 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Day 5 - The Drive Through Colon Most of what we drove by looked like this I always like to get pics of the locals in real life Up next - last few pics of the ride through Colon. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionicman97 Posted May 5, 2011 Author #355 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Day 5 - Last few pics of the ride through Colon Up next time - we've arrived at the train station. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionicman97 Posted May 5, 2011 Author #356 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Day 6 - Panama - Train Station After driving through town for 20 minutes, we arrived at the "station" No actual buildings at the station, but it works Loading area Engine The wife Up next - The inside of the train. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionicman97 Posted May 6, 2011 Author #357 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Day 5 - Panama - Inside of Train & Heading Out I forgot to mention that the Excursion we had planned was a 6 hour that includes a train ride beside the canal, bus ride to Mira Flores locks, bus ride around Panama City and back to the ship. It runs out we got to ride in the train both ways, which was an added bonus Here are some shots of the inside of the train. It was air conditioned also They sold drinks and snacks on the train. They were reasonable, coke for a dollar, beer for a dollar, gatorade 2 or 3 dollars, bag of chips a dollar, etc Here are some shots of the area as we headed out Off we go!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionicman97 Posted May 6, 2011 Author #358 Share Posted May 6, 2011 I forgot to mention that coffee was free on the train I also forgot to mention that I highly recommend reading "The Path Between the Seas" by David McCollough if you ever plan on visiting the Panama Canal. I really enjoyed the background information and it made going to Panama a lot more exciting. Here are some of the sites from the train ride Cemetery dating back to the time the canal was built It was a good sized train More of the train ride coming soon. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionicman97 Posted May 6, 2011 Author #359 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Day 6 - Panama - Train Ride If you weren't aware (I wasn't), they are expanding the Panama Canal to handle larger ships and more traffic They had nice open platforms where you could stand and take pictures during the train ride Up next - Train Ride over Gatun Lake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionicman97 Posted May 6, 2011 Author #360 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Day 6 - Panama - Train Ride Passed some buildings on the way Workers clearing the area For those of you that didn't know, the Panama canal is over 50 miles long. Part of the canal is actually a lake (Gatun). So its not a narrow canal the whole way. There are 3 sets of locks, 2 on the Pacific end and one on the Atlantic side. Here we are crossing the lake We kind of crossed the lake on a causeway with water on each side More of the train ride - coming soon. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionicman97 Posted May 6, 2011 Author #361 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Day 6 - Train Ride - Continued Here is the other side of the causeway Most of the time you could see a ship somewhere Every once in a while we would take a break and go back inside the train Sometimes the canal did get narrow Trying to prevent the landslides. Landslides were a big problem during the original construction of the canal Saw a lot of jungle and swamps as we went More train ride - coming soon. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionicman97 Posted May 6, 2011 Author #362 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Day 6 - Train Ride - Continued At one point, we had to pull over to a side track to let cargo pass. They still move a lot of cargo from one side to the other by train Some heavy equipment I don't remember the story, but our guide told us Panama some how got this piece of equipment for free Here is another ship passing by This looked pretty cool Had to go through a tunnel also Up next - time to get off the train. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim4 Posted May 6, 2011 #363 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Cruise Critic better not undergo their maintenance before I see the rest of the Panama pictures!! :) I'm LOVING these pictures -- you've put this on my list of things that I'd like to see!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionicman97 Posted May 6, 2011 Author #364 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Day 6 - End of the train ride Here are the Mira Flores locks, which was our next stop Here is the Bridge of the Americas This is where we got off the train. Alltogether, the train ride lasted one hour and fifteen minutes and we spent 20 of those minutes pulled over to let the cargo train go by. Inside of the terminal Mom to be at the terminal They gave us a sandwich as we got on the bus. The excursion didn't mention food, so this was a surprise. They were homemade by someone or some shop. They also gave us a bottle of water. Up next - a quick bus ride to Mira Flores. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionicman97 Posted May 6, 2011 Author #365 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Cruise Critic better not undergo their maintenance before I see the rest of the Panama pictures!! :) I'm LOVING these pictures -- you've put this on my list of things that I'd like to see!! Thanks :) I'm working fast & furious to get up as many as I can tonight :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionicman97 Posted May 6, 2011 Author #366 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Day 6 - Short bus ride to Mira Flores This was one of the nicest houses we saw on the way Some businesses Some building? Welcome to the Panama Canal They produce electricity with some excess water Entry area into the Mira Flores Observation Center Sorry about the quality on some of these pictures. Remember, 90% of these are shot while we are on a moving train/bus. Up next - A set of locks in operation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionicman97 Posted May 6, 2011 Author #367 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Day 6 - Panama - Mira Flores Observation Center This was the first thing we saw at the Locks - very cool One of the control areas Observation area A ship in the other side of the locks Part of the locks Our timing was absolutely perfect as a ship was just arriving Up next - the locks in action. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionicman97 Posted May 6, 2011 Author #368 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Day 6 - Panama - Mira Flores Observation Center Here comes the ship Another of the ship The ships don't go through the canal under there own power. There were four of these pulling the ship through Now you can see a couple of them Here is one of the rear ones You can see how they can control the speed Up next - going up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionicman97 Posted May 6, 2011 Author #369 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Day 6 - Panama - Mira Flores Observation Center You can see they closed the back gate Now they open this one to raise the water level of both areas to the same height See how high the water was before? And now how low it is Now the ship is raised to the same level and can pass through Now you can see a tug is also being used to move the ship into the next lock After reading "The Path Between the Seas", I can't describe what it actually felt like to watch the canal in action - a great experience. Up next - Time to leave Mira Flores. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionicman97 Posted May 6, 2011 Author #370 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Day 6 - Panama - Mira Flores Observation Center Now you can see how much the water was raised in the first lock Here's the wife at the observation center And one of me And one of my uncle taking a picture of my wife taking a picture of me Inside the observation center Well, that's it for the observation center and for me posting new review material tonight. Coming tomorrow - A bus ride by Panama City - another train ride - back on the ship & more. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishfish Posted May 6, 2011 #371 Share Posted May 6, 2011 What a fabulous trip so far! I love the pics of all the artwork, the cathedral and even the torture I mean inquisition chamber. Your review really makes me want to go there. Your favorite picture of the cruise made me laugh out loud. That is just too cute! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bionicman97 Posted May 6, 2011 Author #372 Share Posted May 6, 2011 What a fabulous trip so far! I love the pics of all the artwork, the cathedral and even the torture I mean inquisition chamber. Your review really makes me want to go there. Your favorite picture of the cruise made me laugh out loud. That is just too cute! Thanks :) I am enjoying your review of the Voyager also. That ship will always be special to me because we took our Med cruise on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proudpatriot07 Posted May 6, 2011 #373 Share Posted May 6, 2011 I love all the Panama Canal pictures! I really want to visit it one day now that I've seen them. Plus the train ride looks cool too. Hubby's never been on a train so I think he'd really like that excursion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliegirlac Posted May 6, 2011 #374 Share Posted May 6, 2011 STILL loving your review!! You are doing a brilliant job - thanks for taking the time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jo Posted May 6, 2011 #375 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Sorry about the quality on some of these pictures. Remember, 90% of these are shot while we are on a moving train/bus. Your very worst photos would probably outshine my very best by miles. What a terrific review! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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