All Things EARTH... part 2

[MJC]

I agree that a full transit is best. One of the challenges for us was finding one that fit within the time we can take off, because most of them are 10 days or longer. And, since the PC is only one day out of the cruise, I wanted the rest of the itinerary to be interesting to us. Frankly I was not very interested in having several stops in Mexico.

 

It turns out that you are much more likely to have a day transit on a larger ship. I wish we had had a normal day transit where you start in the morning and finish in the evening.

[awhfy]

We may look at booking while we're onboard Solstice if we can find a PC that fits into the rest of what we're doing. We're both retired & really only do the longer cruises now (helps justify the insane airfare from Colorado too). Melody

[Sailor_Sally]

We are a week and a half from a four day cruise and between all the things going on with my Mom and a flu that will not leave I have done zero planning . Hopefully this week I will be able to shop my closet and pull outfits together plus one shopping trip to Beall's should take care of the rest .We are going strictly casual this trip .

[awhfy]

Sally, hope you're better soon! We leave in 11 days for 5 days in Hawaii & 10 night cruise & 1 day in Seattle. I know what I'm bringing, but haven't got a thing in cases yet (not like me!). Melody

[Sailor_Sally]

Sally, hope you're better soon! We leave in 11 days for 5 days in Hawaii & 10 night cruise & 1 day in Seattle. I know what I'm bringing, but haven't got a thing in cases yet (not like me!). Melody

Thanks , I am finally starting to feel better . Luckily I live in Florida so I have a closet full of summer clothes .I am usually so much more organized .

[MJC]

Sally, I hope you are 100% for your trip. It sounds like a cruise is just what you need right now. :)

[MJC]

We disembarked at 8:00am. We had hired a guide for the day to pick us up at Colon. There is a cruise dock with a small terminal, but it was occupied so we docked at the commercial dock. No souvenir shopping for us. Windstar had a shuttle to take us to the port entrance gate where our private guide was waiting for us in an air conditioned van.

 

Our original plan was to hike in Soberania National Park, and then go to a resort for the day. But with the heat of the two previous days’ excursions and sleeping through the Gatun Locks, we decided to make some changes. Our guide Elvis and his sidekick Juliet were game for the change in plans, so we headed off to the Gatun Locks visitor center to watch the big ships come in before going to the resort.

 

Juliet had an eagle eye, and before you know it we were by the side of the road watching a giant sloth in a tree. It was much closer that the ones we had previously seen with the spotting scope, and it was on the move so we got to see its face a few times:

 

 

Then we drove through the construction of the new locks, which was amazingly huge and very interesting to see. They are scheduled to open in June, but there is a lot of talk that they may not be ready.

 

When we got to Gatun, there was a large tanker getting ready to enter the locks. It takes about an hour for each set of locks, and believe it or not it was fascinating to see. We had seen it from our ship when we went through Miraflores, but we were excited and interested to see it from land after learning about all the pieces that make it happen. You realize how little clearance the ships have, and apparently the fine for hitting the sides of the Canal is huge:

 

 

 

It was funny that we were taking pictures of the crew while they were taking pictures of us. Everyone was waving and it was lots of fun. We had had a similar experience the night before with the ship that passed us in the opposite lock at Miraflores. Everyone was excited by the experience and being friendly.

 

The ships are actually under their own power, and the little locomotive “mules” are there to keep them centered and away from the walls.

 

 

Since we hoped to spend the afternoon in the pool, I wore long sleeves and long pants for the morning for sun protection. Behind me and to the left behind the gate is the ship we watched through the locks, and behind the ship is the Caribbean Sea:

 

 

From here we had about a 40 minute drive to the resort. It is in the middle of Soberania National Forest, on the Chagres River. Here is a photo from their website:

 

Edited April 10, 2016 by MJC

[MJC]

We started with cocktails on the terrace overlooking the Chagres River:

 

 

My drink of the day was a Sparkling Cosmo:

 

 

After lunch we went down these lobby stairs which had a waterfall and headed to the pool:

 

 

 

And so ended our last day in Panama, with much relaxation and peace. We had an uneventful drive to the airport, an easy overnight flight that I slept through, and then we were home.

Edited April 11, 2016 by MJC

[Member123]

Margaret, Your trip report was absolutely beautiful. You have incredible style. You managed to look appropriately casual and stunningly gorgeous at the same time! There were several pictures of you that I just loved, especially the one with the bad boo-boo on your elbow. Hope that feels better by now!

 

The Panama Canal cruises, I think, require quite a bit of research to find the one that best suits your cruising personality and interests. The Windstar transit and the Celebrity Eclipse transit are extremely different in their approach to the Canal, itself. On our transit day (long, long transit) it began early, early (before coffee) in the morning, with a Canal authority representative on board who was broadcasting throughout the day. All the sights along the way were discussed; the history of the Canal... discussed; the current situation of the Canal... discussed; the future of the Canal... discussed; the pricing of the Canal transit for the Eclipse... discussed. The video of the History of the Making of the Canal was broadcast on the stateroom TV. That day was all about The Canal and Nothing But The Canal.

 

I couldn't believe that people wanted to go through the Canal... AGAIN... the next day! But, there was a shore excursion where you could get up in the wee hours of the morning and be driven BACK to the beginning of the Canal and go through it on a smaller boat. I suppose there are some engineering types who are extremely fascinated by the "marvel that is The Canal," so... off they went.

 

Point being. If you really want to experience the Canal, then research about the transit is definitely necessary. For me, I would love to go back to what I would consider to be better ports. I loved seeing your Panama City and more picturesque areas of Central America than what we saw on our transit cruise. We didn't stop in the best area of Costa Rica, for example. And we just blew right by Panama City and ended up in Colon, instead. What was up with that?!?

 

Anyway, thank you for sharing! A fun, fun read....

[Joby]

Enjoyed your report, Margaret :) WindStar looks like a really interesting line to go on. You looked great.

 

About 8 years ago in January, my Mom, sister and I did a full transit through the canal. We LOVED it (especially me) and found it so interesting. We left from L.A. and ended in Ft. Lauderdale. We loved our ports. It was the longest cruise we've ever done at 2 full weeks. It was on Celebrity and we had a balcony. Really a great time. It was also the last cruise that we had with Mom as she passed in May of that year. So lots of different memories associated with that cruise.

[Joby]

Melody and Sally--have great cruises :)

[laurspag]

Margaret, I loved seeing your pictodiary. I think you made a good choice to cool off at the end. I remember going to Bermuda in August, two years in a row. It was so hot and humid. Since we don't live in that type of climate, it can get the better of us.

 

Melody and Sally, I can't wait to hear about your trips. I hope we see some pictures too!

 

I'm getting really excited about my June cruise. It's not that far away, just a month and a half. It will be here before I know it. I think it would be fine to start finalizing my outfits a bit. I should say planning. I never really finalize until later, but what I usually start out with ends up being what I bring with a few exceptions. I am going to try on complete outfits this time, including the shirts with the shorts and so on. There shouldn't be too much changing around, as June in Labadee, San Juan and St. Maarten should be nice and toasty!

 

It has not been toasty here. But it is going to be warming up over the next few days, and is supposed to be 70 by Sunday! I'll take that. Hopefully, my daughter will be up to enjoying it a little. She is having some surgery on Thursday where they are going to try and fix the drainage of her sinuses a bit and remove some polyps. It is in and out surgery, and they expect her to be back to work in about a week. They will know more after the actual surgery, since the MRI left some questions regarding how many polyps there were.

[Sailor_Sally]

Gary & I are still very ill so as much as I did not want to I cancelled our cruise . There is no way we could board a ship next week and enjoy it . This flu has left us so weak that even small chores take forever .

[aoknkentucky]

Oh, Sally! I'm so sorry that you felt weak enough that you needed to cancel your cruise. That's disappointing. I hope you regain your strength soon. Take care.

 

Melody, hope you have a great time. I'd love to hear all about it when you return. Please?

 

Margaret, I have been offline and really enjoyed catching up. Hearing about your cruise helped me realize that living vicariously through your pictodiary is the only way I'll ever travel by smaller ship. You looked happy, relaxed and lovely in your EARTHy colors.

 

Laurie, It's so much fun to plan and June will be here before you know it. I hope your daughter's surgery goes well and she's feeling better soon.

[Sailor_Sally]

Luckily it was just a quick week end cruise and not a major trip so we can always do it another time .

[awhfy]

Sally, hope you're feeling better. Better to cancel & go another time when you're better

 

Laurie. I've had sinus surgery twice (20 years apart). Hope DD knows she'll likely get 2 black eyes (they didn't tell me the first time!). It is not comfortable surgery, but it helps SO much

 

My new camera arrived today (love free stuff). A Canon point & shoot with a 30 zoom that fits in my hand & weighs 8 oz. I'm having fun playing with it. I'll find out if my lousy pictures are me or the camera[emoji6]

 

Deb. I'll bore you nuts with pictures now!

 

Single digit midget today! Leave next week. Melody

[Member123]

Sally, so sorry that you both are feeling under the weather.

 

Once Anita said to me, "Even if you're feeling bad, a ship is a great place to be!"

 

Uh.... Not. So. Much.

 

After being a bit sick on one ship, I can confidently say that I'd much rather be home. Glad that this was a quick getaway for you and that there can be another around the corner.

 

In the meantime, sending healing thoughts your way. Take care.

[Sailor_Sally]

Thanks everybody ! We are healing it is just going so slowly .We live an hour from Tampa so we can go anytime .

[laurspag]

I'm so sorry, Sally. It seems like the flu is making the rounds late this yesr. I hope you get well quick.

 

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

[laurspag]

As I wait on the waiting room, I've come across this. Considering our discussions, I thought it was pretty funny.

[laurspag]

I came across this in the waiting room and had to share.

[laurspag]

[awhfy]

Laurie, I howled when I read that...I think I'll turn it into a calligraphy poster. Hope your daughter does ok. Melody

[MJC]

[attach]382749[/attach]

 

LOL. Earlier this week I was reading an article about decluttering, and the author said that after she read Marie Kondo's book the first thing she decluttered was the book. :) Kondo has a second book out now, apparently.

 

 

Sally, I'm sorry you missed your cruise but even more sorry that you both are feeling so poorly. Getting over the flu always takes so much longer than we want it to, doesn't it?

 

Laurie, good luck to your daughter with her surgery and recovery. Since our cruise didn't have any sea days, I was really happy that we had bookended it with two days of relaxation. I have to keep reminding myself that we're not 30 anymore. :)

 

Getting the first week of classes and orientations under my belt is exhausting. I'm looking forward to our first weekend at the lake for 2016! It's supposed to be almost 70 degrees!

[Sailor_Sally]

Laurie, Best Wishes for a fast recovery for your daughter .