January 26, 2015        Post Panama Canal + Manta + Monticristi, Ecuador

Yesterday was another sea day, but it was also a Parisian Celebration on the ship.  So for our Granddaughter, Emily I am including pictures from the decorations around the ship.  We also crossed the equator at 2am this morning, so we celebrated with Neptune and a Mermaid.

Having crossed the equator, we are now in the Southern Hemisphere.  An interesting “fact” is we were told that now the water in our toilet boil with swirl the other direction….who knew?????  Today’s quiz for the grandkids is:  Can you find on your globes how many countries have the equator passing thru them and how many countries in each continent? Let us know what your answers are.

Today we arrived in Manta, Ecuador, and visited the village of Monticristi which is the home of the Panama Hat. Surprise! The Panama Hat is actually made, by hand, in Ecuador. Woven from the straw “paja”and made by hand, these hats were introduced into the US just before the start of the 19^th century. Prospectors who either did or didn’t make their fortunes in the California gold mines often traveled via the Isthmus of Panama back to their home states of the eastern US.  They saw the hats and took them home.  Legions of other men followed to work on the Panama Canal, did the same, and the rest is history.  Yet it was Teddy Roosevelt who sealed this hat’s fashion fate by sporting a “Panama” following his journey to oversee the building of the Panama Canal. ** This 1906 trip was the first time an American president traveled outside the US.  My, how times have changed!

On our way back to the ship, we passed a boat yard that was right along the street, on the beach. There were boats being repaired and built.  All wooden and constructed by hand labor.  It was amazing.

When we tied up at the port in Manta, Rick noticed we were across from a large commercial fishing boat that was beginning to unload their holding tanks.  As it turned out, they were unloading a large amount of tuna of all sizes! We wondered if we were eating what we saw being unloaded for dinner tonight!!

We leave for Machu Picchu tomorrow and will meet up with the ship in Lima on the 30^th.  So…I will add to the blog after our return during our 4 sea days making our way to Easter Island.  Rick and I will celebrate our 43^rd Anniversary on the 29^th in Machu Picchu…pretty cool!

Cheers!

Salute to Paris Day on the Ship

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Panama Hat market in Monticristo

Hats everywhere

Beautiful church on the square

A shipyard in Manta....right along the road, on the beach!!

Wooden contruction. Amazing.  These men work 8hrs/day, 5 days/wk
and earn $400/mo.  They can work Sat. & Sun and nearly double that
with overtime pay.

Tuna fishing boat tied up across from our ship

They unloaded tuna for over 5 hours from this boat!

Celebrating crossing the equator with Neptune!

         

                                                  

January 25, 2015  The Panama Canal

We spent yesterday traveling through the Panama Canal, from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean.  There are three sets of locks throughout the length of the Canal. The tri-level Gatun Locks are on the Caribbean side, with the single Pedro Miguel and two-step Miraflores Locks on the Pacific side of Panama’s Continental Divide.  On each side of the Divide, ships are raised and lowered 85 feet in a series of three lock steps.  Each lock is 1,000 feet long and 110 feet wide.  The lock doors, made of riveted steel, are 65 feet wide, 7 feet thick and range from 47 to 82 feet high, depending on their position in the Canal. The gate locks are hollow, so they virtually float and their balance is such that it takes only a 40 horsepower motor to move them. No pumps are used to fill or empty the locks.  Instead, water is moved by the force of gravity, flowing from one level to another.  When the water level in one lock step equals that in the forward lock, the gates between the steps are opened and the ship is towed forward.  When approaching a lock, the ship is under its own power, but guided by tug boats. When it reaches the mouth of the lock a person in a row boat (no kidding!) paddles out to retrieve the ships’ bow lines and returns them to shore where they are attached to locomotives on either side of the lock.  The locomotives are called Electronic Mules.  They work to tow the ship into the lock and four more “mules” attach lines from the ship, mid ship and stern, to keep it stabilized in the lock as the water rises, or lowers.  It is quite an awesome sight and took approximately 9 hours to complete the 50 mile canal transit. All ships are charged a toll for use of the Canal. The largest toll ever paid was over $200,000. The smallest was 36 cents, paid by a man who swam the canal in 1928.  OK kids….Google to see who that man was!!  Our ship’s toll was about $115,000.

This time we were able to see the progress being made on the construction of the new canal which will be able to accommodate larger ships than can't currently pass through the Canal.  You will be able to see from one of our pictures, why larger locks and wider and deeper canals are necessary as the size of both cruise ships, freighters and military ships continue to increase in size. A container ship in a lock next to us looked like it could barely squeeze inside the walls. Unfortunately, the completion of the new locks is running behind schedule, and is now projected to be completed in 2016. I guess that means we may have to make one more trip to see the project completed!

Interesting Facts:

During Canal construction days, over 200 million cubic meters of material were removed.  Were this material to b placed on railroad flatcars, it would circle the globe 4 times!

On August 15, 1914, the SS Ancon officially inaugurated the Panama Canal.

The Canal initiated round-the-clock operations on May 12, 1963, with the installation of new fluorescent lighting in Culebra Cut and the three locks.

The new Panama Canal locks will be 427 meters long and 55 meters wide, the size of four football fields.

During construction of the Canal, 25,000 workers died. Of these, over 5,600 lives were lost during after the Americans took over the construction after the French failure; there would have been more had it not been for the efforts in eliminating the threat of malaria and yellow fever by the American doctor, William Gorgas.

Cheers!  Rick & Paula

View of the 3 steps of the Gatun Locks

Electronic Mule used to tow ships through the locks

A perfect example of why there is a need for bigger locks.

The container ship leaving the second step
of the Gatun Locks

Approaching suspension bridge over the Canal

Passing under the suspension bridge

Entering the left lock of the Pedro Miguel Lock The arrow shows which lock to use.

New canal constructions

New lock construction

Bridge of the Americas. The Pan-Am Hiway that runs from Alaska to the tip of Argentina 

Balboa in the front with Panama City in the background

January 24, 2015

It’s official….we are relaxed.  In fact, we are to the point that we have to refer to the daily newsletter, or the calendar to know what day it is! Today we entered the Panama Canal from the Caribbean Sea at 7am. We rose 85ft. through the 3 locks that make up the Gatun Locks and are now cruising through the Gatun Lake which is the summit of the mountains between the 3 sets of locks to reach the Atlantic.  It will take most of the day.

Yesterday was Cartagena, Columbia.  We had a lovely excursion through the Old City where the streets are one car width, and some are maybe 2 people width.  The Spanish architecture was beautiful. Cartagena is famous for their emeralds & gold which made them a target for pirates and invasions from other countries seeking to steal their riches. The Old City is surrounded by a ring of massive fortress walls built by the Spanish starting about 1585.  The walls took over 200 years to construct by slave labor and has been rebuilt and repaired many times since. The Colombian flag flies from the top of the wall. The yellow represents Gold, the blue represents the sea and sky and the red is for the blood of their heroes in battle.  The excursion ended with a wonderful lunch at the Sofitel Legend Santa Clara Hotel which is in a restored convent.  The luncheon was held in the former Chapel complete with Monks serving wine and Folklore dancing.  It was quite entertaining and I hope the pictures are clear enough for you to see, especially from the Chapel.

Cartagena has a wonderful port tourist center with a beautiful aviary that you can walk through and view a variety of island birds and iguanas. They also have some great shops which made postcard shopping for the grandkids easy.  They even had the stamps and mailed them for us!  So for the kiddos I have some photos they will enjoy.

Cheers! 

Rick & Paula 

                                                                      The Fortress Wall around Old City                                                           

The Colombian Flag on the wall

                                                                      The streets of the Old City                                                                        

A beautiful balcony garden

                          “The Chapel” of the Sofitel Legends Santa Clara Hotel                          

                                         Monks performing a synchronized wine decanting                                    

Folklore dancing

   

January 19, 2015

Hi there!  We are once again on a sea day, so I have some time to send a few pictures. 

We spent yesterday at Santo Domingo, which boasts the landing of Christopher Columbus.  This is the first time Crystal has stopped there, so we were the guinea pigs for the excursions.  Ours was a catamaran ride to a beautiful island beach.  What wasn't so great about it was the 2 hours we spent getting there and the same returning in a bus!  As a courtesy, Crystal reimbursed each participant 25% of the cost of the excursion, which was nice.  Hope our other excursions go a little better. Tomorrow we arrive at Santa Marta.

Meanwhile, here are a few pics from the last couple days.  

Cheers!

Rick & Paula

View of the living area of our cabin from the doorway.

Another view showing the separate bedroom area which gives us a little more room

Rick jumping in from the catamaran for some snorkeling off Santo Domingo

Having a great time!

January 15, 2015

We boarded Crystal Serenity yesterday in Miami and immediately found ourselves climbing over suitcases to get in our cabin.  It took all afternoon to unpack and find space to put everything away!
I was hoping to post some pictures with this, but the internet is so slow with all the passengers signing up for internet programs, that I don't know if I will get them posted today.

We've learned that of the 1000 passengers on board, 608 are staying on for the entire World Cruise.  That is the largest number Crystal has had for any other World Cruise.  The Gala last evening was spectacular with music, dancing and a balloon drop with confetti to kick it off.  Hopefully I will be able to post a couple of pictures of the festivities soon.

We depart Miami tonight and will be at sea for two days before arriving at our first port of call, Santa Domingo, so check back in a day or two.

Cheers!
Paula and Rick