At 5 AM Casco Viejo was quiet and deserted, but our driver dutifully showed up and we had a quick trip to the international airport, where it was pretty busy at this early hour. If you recall I had a problem with our trip to Panama because Copa Airlines had canceled our flight. Today we are scheduled to fly Copa to Chicago with a connecting flight to Seattle, and in the back of my mind I was concerned whether this flight might be canceled. There was also a bit of concern when we checked our luggage as the gate agent was taking a lot of time checking us in, obviously having some issue. She even asked me for our confirmation code. Oh, oh…I thought, here we go again. Luckily she resolved the issue (it had to do with making sure our luggage got transferred to the Chicago flight) and all was well. In fact, she even moved us up to the premium economy section from our previous seats in the back of the plane. We quickly went through security (had to take off our shoes!) and immigration.
I had promised Yvonne we would have some breakfast at the airport before boarding our flight. Sadly we did not find the usual eateries open. However, near our departure gate we did find a snack bar where I was able to grab some coffee and a ham & cheese croissant. As I returned to our gate with the food, I found that we would again have to go through a security check (through the scanner) at the gate (never have seen that ever in all our travels) and liquids would not be allowed, so the coffee had to go! Oh, well, at least the croissant passed safely through the check!
I am also reluctant to fly through Chicago in the winter because of possible weather delays but today was not an issue. In fact it was sunny with not a bit of snow on the ground when we landed-something rare for Chicago at this time of the year. There was enough time between flights to have a decent lunch, making up for the lack of a breakfast in Panama City.
By the way going through US immigration was a breeze. No longer filling out forms, no longer scanning your passport. No longer even getting a printout to hand in. All we did was have our picture taken at a self serve kiosk, wait for a green light and told to proceed. We never did speak to a US customs agent. I am not sure if it is because we hold Nexus cards (sort of like global entry but for use too/from Canada). Entering the US via Chicago was amazing.
The flight to Seattle was on time, the ferry schedule worked in our favor and we returned to our home on Miller Bay safe and sound.
Epilogue
1. The trip was more fun than we expected, as we had been concerned about the language issues given that most of the passengers were Spanish speaking. They are a fun loving group! Language was not an issue onboard the ship.
2. Our two favorite cruise stops were Cartagena, Columbia and Curaçao. But there is a bit of bias as I like history, culture, and old towns, rather than beaches. Bonaire was the least interesting of the three ABC islands.
3. Panamá City was a very pleasant surprise and worth a visit even if you are not on a cruise. Although we did not visit any of their beach areas I hear they are very good.
4. Royal Caribbean (Rhapsody of the Sea) was a bit of a disappointment. I agree with other people’s reviews about the food quality on board having gone downhill from earlier years. I do not know if it is only an issue on this ship or is it across the entire fleet. The ship, however, was in good physical shape.
Thought for the day: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain
We arrived safely back in Colon early this morning. I am impressed how well cruise ships reliably meet their time schedules. I was concerned about how we would get back to Panama City once we get off the ship, not knowing what the situation would be in Colon for cabs and other modes of transport. So before coming I went on-line and booked a private car/driver to take us back to Panama City where we have to spend the night because of airplane schedules.
Typical cruise disembarkation routine was in place. Luggage out by 10 PM last night, unless you want to haul it off the ship yourself. Surprisingly I saw a lot of people doing just that this morning when we left the ship. Cruise lines do a great job providing colored tags for our luggage which then gets transported to a storage area in the terminal, sorted by color. It works great. The ships also group people to get off at different times; you are by color when it your time to disembark. That eliminates huge lines at the exit. We had an opportunity a few days ago to select a time slot to get off and the ship usually does a good job meeting your request. There are multiple locations for passengers to have a quick breakfast before if departing and we are asked to vacate our cabins by 8AM so the room stewards can prepare the rooms for the next guests who will be boarding the ship in 4 hours! They have this down to a science. What is amazing is that virtually everyone is OFF the ship by 9 AM! Of course this can make for some congestion on land as we had to go through Panama immigration to be allowed back into the country. After my experience with embarkation day (when I smartly grabbed a porter to help us with our luggage) I immediately grabbed a porter as we went looking for our luggage. And again I made the right decision as we had to go quite a way to finally exit the terminal and the porter steered us to the right lines! It was another wise investment on my part.
We were docked in Colon before 7 AM.
Locals welcoming visitors in Colon cruise terminal.
The long lines waiting to pass Panama immigration.
The exit area for the cruise terminal is at a small shopping mall and I was unsure where to physically meet our driver. I was pleased that the company had already sent me information about his name, his vehicle type and color, license plate number and a phone number to reach him. I did call him and learned he was 10 minutes away. I described where we were and shortly thereafter he walked up to us and led us to his car. The trip back to Panama City took less than an hour.
Rather than staying at the same hotel we used before the cruise I wanted to stay in the old town section of the city called Casco Viejo (Spanish for Old Town), so we could experience it. I had also signed up for a walking tour of the area for later that afternoon. It turned out to be a great decision. The hotel was smack dab in the middle of old Panama City, located on a beautiful plaza with the cathedral across from it. And the hotel was marvelous-a beautiful renovation of an old hotel that had been used by visitors and workers when the Panama Canal was being built. In fact across the street was the original administrative building used by the French and Americans during the canal construction. It is now a museum dedicated to the building of the canal.
Our new modern room in the hotel.
We arrived around 10:30 at the hotel and knew our rooms would not be available until later. The staff eagerly checked our bags and suggested we go touring until our room was ready. We grabbed a quick bite and beverage at the bar and then walked around the neighborhood to see what there was to see. Besides the usual souvenir shops there were several formal hat stores that sold real Panama hats (which by the way are now all made in Ecuador). Prices varied from $40 to over $300, depending on the quality of the weave. I was impressed when the proprietor showed me how you can safely roll it up to carry in your luggage and then easily reshape it to its original form. I was hooked and decide to buy a modestly priced one ($80) as a real souvenir of my trip. I was impressed in that I was given a free hard sided carrying case so I would not have to stuff it in my already overpacked suitcase. Yvonne tried on a few feminine style hats but did not find one to her liking.
The lobby area of the hotel.
The bar area in our hotel, Hotel Central.
An empanada snack at the hotel.
Looking out the front door of the hotel. Across Independence Square is the cathedral.
Side of the central hotel. Our room was on the second floor on this side.
A restored building in Casco Viejo.
One of the many narrow streets in Casco Viejo.
My new authentic Panama.
This style of hat (wide, flat brim) is the REAL panama hat worn by the locals.
Funky car used by a local restaurant.
Looking across the downtown Panama City.
Bell tower of San Francisco de Asis Church in Plaza Bolivar
Altar in San Francisco de Asis Church with a marvelous mosaic.
A door in Casco Viejo.
Plaza Bolívar, named after the independence hero, Simon Bolivar.
Returning to the hotel we relaxed on comfortable couches in the spacious lobby for a bit but I decided to walk across the street to visit what is now the Panama Canal museum where I spent about 1.5 hours reading about the history (and problems) of the construction of the Panama Canal. Luckily most of the exhibits had both Spanish and English signs so it was enjoyable.
The Panama Canal: The Cliff Notes Version
The story actually began in 1534 when King Charles V of Spain sent surveyors to find a way to get from the Atlantic to the Pacific to ease shipping between Peru and Spain. Needless to say, nothing happened. In 1698 the King of Scotland tried to create an overland connection; it too failed. In 1788 the Americans suggested to Spain that they build a canal. Studies were made; nothing happened. Britain created plan for a canal in 1843; nothing happened. Then in 1850-1855 the US built a train route that traversed the country, which facilitated the growth of trade. However, there was always a desire for a canal. In 1881 the French finally undertook the construction of the canal, relying on their experience and success in building the Suez Canal. However, by 1889 the French admitted defeat. Their equipment, used to build the Suez Canal (which was digging sand) would not work when faced with big rocks. The humid climate rusted the equipment fairly quickly. And maybe the most damming issue was that malaria and yellow fever was rampant, resulting in high casualties (over 22,000). Oh, and a scandal about funds misappropriation did not help; people ended up in jail. In 1904 after a brief war about Panama independence, the Americans took over the construction and the canal formally opened in 1914. It should be noted that the discovery of the causes of yellow fever by Cuban physician, Dr. Carlos Finlay, in 1886 and later confirmed by the US bore a huge part in the success of the canal construction. The rest is history. We formally deeded control of the canal to Panama in 2000 and it has become a HUGE source of income for the country. I, for one, am amazed at how that original canal, built over 100 years ago, still functions. It should be noted that a second, larger canal was built in 2016, allowing the new, larger ships to also take this shortcut from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It was/is an amazing story of engineering excellence.
A museum dedicated to telling the story of the Panama Canal. It was vey good and I learned things I never knew about the canal.
Pottery from ancient inhabitants of the area.
Gold worn by the ancient Indians.
A sobering picture of how slaves were crammed into a ship to be sent here.
A picture of the infamous pirate, Henry Morgan, who sacked Panama City.
Weaponry of that era.
People starting looking for a way to traverse Panama as early as the 16th century.
Before the canal there was a railroad linking the Atlantic and Pacific.
Artifacts from the rail era.
A scandal by the French.
Stock certificates issued by the French to raise money for building the canal. They became worthless.
Some pictures of the canal construction.
The Roosevelt Medal.
The Roosevelt medal awarded to workers on the canal.
In 1979 the United States agreed to transfer the canal to Panama by 12/31/1999.
The formal signing documenting the transfer of the Panama Canal to Panama, effective 2000.
The museum was very informative and I only left because I needed to get back for our scheduled 3 PM walking tour of Casco Viejo. Yvonne stayed at the hotel until our room was ready, because it had become quite hot and humid and she did not relish walking in it. I joined several other people (from various corners of the world) at a nearby plaza where we met our local tour guide, who was born and raised in the area. He proceeded to walk us through the 10 block by 6 block area that comprised Casa Voejo, telling us about the history of the location ( it dates back to 1673), its buildings and its people. It was quite informative. The original location of Panama .city was about 8 km north, but it was destroyed by the pirate, Henry Morgan in 1671. That is when the city leaders decided to move it the city to this area because it was more defensible. As is not uncommon 20 years ago this area was dangerous. Our guide said he had to carry a knife while growing up here. Somehow, someone forced a change and Casa Viejo is now safe, vibrant and a crown jewel of the city. I really loved it!
A street of hats! I asked who donated the hats. Our guide said probably the hat shop on that street.
A door in Casco Viejo.
Church of the Mercy where a wedding was about to take place.
Elegantly dressed lady headed to a wedding.
Another wedding attendee.
A not uncommon sight. Women dressed to the nines; men not so much!
Lovely street in Casco Viejo.
Local ladies posing for pictures with tourists.
A young lady being photographed in the plaza across from the hotel.
Metropolitan Cathedral of Panama Santa Maria La Antigua, built in 1674.
Inside the main cathedral.
Main altar of the cathedral.
Beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers by the main altar.
Picturesque street after picturesque street in Casco Viejo.
Low tide. That is the “Bridge of Americas” in the background. it was built by the US in 1959-1962.
Low tide and ships waiting to enter the canal.
A private residence in the area.
The “new” Panama City as seen from the old Panama City.
Another of view St. Francis of Assisi church.
Our local tour guide.
Walking along a waterfront promenade.
The French Plaza. Their embassy is nearby.
A multi-generational family portrait being taken in a park.
My guess this is part of of a “La Quinceanera” celebration, held for 15 year old girls.
We completed our visit to Panama by having a drink in the rooftop bar at the hotel while listening to a local playing his guitar and singing songs we knew. We followed with dinner in a nearby “funky” restaurant that had old card as part of its decor. Upon returning to the hotel we were greeted by a young lady playing a violin in the lobby.
The rooftop pool at our hotel.
View of the city from the hotel rooftop bar.
An old church bell tower nearby.
One last drink for the road. Get a load of the size of my Gin & Tonic!
Entertainer in the rooftop bar.
Night time magic.
Our last dinner in Panama.
Entry door to the restaurant.
Great ambiance. Original concrete walls and old cars.
1955 Thunderbird on display.
An old touring car. This couple looks like they could care less about
it being there.
Carne asada tacos
A well made cuban sandwich.
The cathedral at night.
Another building lit up. Note the wet pavement. It rained a bit while we were in the restaurant. That is the only rain we saw all week.
Our hotel at night.
The violinist playing in the hotel lobby when we returned.
View from the 2nd floor.
We have a very early (7:15AM) flight in the morning which means we need to leave here by 5 AM. When I had mentioned that to the driver who brought us from Colon he offered to take us at a realistic price so I agreed. Sure makes my life earlier than trying to corral a cab that early in this quiet section of town.
This is the last day of our seven day cruise and we awoke to another day of sunshine. We did not see a drop of rain the entire time we have been on this trip (so far). Our only complaint is that the temperature/humidity was often more than we are used to (and like), but that was to be expected, given where we are.
There are a ton of activities once again, as is the case whenever you spend a day at sea.We participated in a few and watched many others, like the men’s belly flop competition!
The pool was busy today. People waiting for the belly flop competition.
Coming in for a landing. About 6 men participated in the belly flop competition.
We tried our hand at Bingo and even learned to count in Spanish as a result! Note: we were close on the cover-all winner take all, but did not win. I tried to enter the blackjack tournament but there was no interest from the other passengers so it was cancelled.
The other highlight of the day was to watch the egg drop competition. The goal was to drop an egg from the 8th floor to the “hard” landing area on the 4th floor without it cracking. And you could not encapsulate the egg in something. It had to be at least partially visible. Teams had several days to gather up whatever supplies they needed to make their entry. Only a dozen teams showed up today for the competition. Most relied on some sort of a parachute to gentle allow the egg to drop. Surprisingly more eggs survived than I would have expected (estimate 75%). There were a couple real disasters which people seemed to enjoy, including one where the egg landed, dangling on the edge of the 6th floor overhang. It was a fun event and well received by the passengers.
The event drew a big crowd of spectators.
One of the simpler designs.
Colorful parachute.
One of the more elaborate designs.
Hoping a large plastic bag will work as a parachute.
Coming in for a gentle landing.
Checking to see if the egg survived. Most did.
Oops! Call for cleanup.
The winner was selected by the viewers.
It was the last day for the trivia competition and our joint USA/Australia team prevailed, winning for the first time this week. There were only two coveted RCCL keychains awarded so we graciously gave them to our new Aussi friends. We are going home as happy campers!
Sometimes cruise line crews will put on a crew talent show. RCCL did something different, something we have never seen on any of the previous cruises we have been on. It was a flag ceremony where various staff members paraded into the atrium as a group, carrying their countries flag. Each country and the number of staff members from that country was announced as they entered the area with representative music of the country playing. There are something like 60+ countries represented on this ship. It was a joyous celebration and one I would enjoy seeing on other cruise ships.
The main theater entertainment was an aerial husband /wife team called “Duo ArtMotion” who hail from the Ukraine. They put on a nice show.
Duo Art Motion in action.
We are due back in Colon in the morning and working our way back to Panama City.
Carrying our flag.
The parade of flags carried by staff members from their respective country.
People in front are dancing to music of their country when their country was announced.
It was a colorful, well received event. Needless to say the biggest response was from passengers from their country being announced.
One lone gentleman from Croatia, the land of our ancestors.
Aruba is the 2nd largest of the ABC islands, with 69 square miles of land. Surprisingly it has a more dry, arid climate compared to the other islands. Its population is about 107,000 with the capital, Oranjestad, having a population of about 28,000.
The cruise Port in Oranjestad, Aruba.
Another ship followed us into port this morning.
The view of the downtown Oranjestad from our ship.
Our family was in Aruba briefly in 1992 and I recall it was sandy and windy! I doubt that has changed much. Again, because we are past the “beach” phase of our life we looked for a cultural tour rather than one that offered, swimming, snorkeling or diving which is a common reason why people visit Aruba and it is the focus of most of the tours offered here and in the other ABC islands. I did not find anything of interest on Viator but the ship was offering a downtown walking tour that sounded interesting. As I mentioned earlier there is a postscript on each of the ship offered tours saying that tours would be offered in Spanish, HOWEVER, if you needed an English speaking tour guide you should check with the on board staff to see if it could be arranged. OK, I did that and the excursion desk said that we would have an English spoken tour, so I did not cancel the previous reservation made before we joined the ship. Due to the 90 degree heat and humidity Yvonne decided not to go so I went alone and found myself with 13 other members who only spoke Spanish and so our tour guide spent the next 2.5 hours speaking Spanish as we walked through the town with an occasional English translation for me. Needless to say, I was peeved and complained to the ship excursion staff. Eventually the RCCL corporate offices did the right thing and refunded my money.
Our local tour guide. He speaks Engrlish but gave this tour mostly in Spanish.
There are 7 blue horse statues throughout the downtown area, honoring some famous horses on Aruba. They are colored blue to denote the sea as when delivered by the Spaniards they were forced to swim from the ship to land. This is the mare Rosalinda.
Sign explains who this horse statue is for.
Originally a mall in downtown Oranjestad. Now almost empty and rumor has it that it will be made into a hotel. The downtown area was rather depressing these days because of all the closures.
Local walk up coffee and snack shop. We stopped to try to pastechi, a cheese filled empanada.
The menu at the walk up food stand. All the islands deal in US dollars.
Sampling the pastechi, a slightly sweet cheese empanada, popular as a morning snack.
A cute swing (one of several) in a small plaza downtown.
Aruba also has some colorful buildings.
A cute shopping street but many store are closed. There were many empty buildings throughout the walking area.
Former housing complex but now a museum.
Another of the famous Aruba horses. This is stallion Ambrosio, the immortal hero of the herd.
Artwork highlighting the use of solar in the adjacent buildings.
A new government agency building.
One of the restored homes in town.
Fort Zoutman is the oldest structure in Aruba. The fort was built in 1798 and the tower added in 1868. It is now a historical museum.
The only building in Aruba made from coral.
This building is slated for restoration and will be used as a museum or public building.
A door in Aruba.
A home originally built by a doctor as a wedding present has been restored and is now used as a wedding venue.
A gecko in the plant.
Wilhelmina Park, named after Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. Note there are no benches as it was decided they did not want people to loiter in the park!
Statue of Queen Wilhelmina given to Aruba in 1955.
Statue of Anne Frank.
The small trolley that ran through the downtown area.
The walls of this funky bar are lined with real paper money.
Artwork at the entrance to the marina.
Besides our normal afternoon activities we started going to the trivia contest held in the Schooner Lounge at 5 PM a few days ago. The first couple of times we tried doing it ourselves as most of the other contestants worked as a two person team. The rules, however, said you could have a four person team and we all know, four heads are better than two! And we saw that the four person teams were having a better win rate. We had causally talked to another two person team who happened to be a mother/daughter team from Australia. They also were not having any luck winning. So today we suggested we team up to see if we could finally win! Well we had a good time talking to them but our combined four heads still put us in second place for today’s competition. We vowed to get together tomorrow to see if we can final reach the winner’s podium.
Wine prices were not all that bad.
Yvonne opted for the $16 maine lobster tail tonight.
The main entertainment tonight was the production staff putting on a show that had a country theme. After their show we wandered over to the atrium because there was going to be a “Name That Tune” contest. We were not going to compete but we did see our newly made Australian friends (Suzanne and daughter Ambrosia) planning to compete so we stayed and watched. They were super competitive, knowing a lot of the mostly US songs. The staff would play a few bars of a song and you had to race to the microphone and yell out the answer. Later in the competition you not only needed the song name/singer, you had to sing part of the song. What amazed us was how many of the songs were known (and could be sung) by the Spanish speaking passengers. Even the youngsters knew the songs! We later talked to some people who said that these people really do know and love to sing these songs. It was a fun competition to watch.
The main theater show had a country theme.
Suzanne and her daughter, Ambrosia playing Name That Tune. They were quite good.
Suzanne singing some of the verses to the song being played during the Name That Tune contest.
Tomorrow is last day of the cruise and it will again is be spent at sea.
