“April in Paris”is a common enticing invitation. April in Provence hopefully will be as enticing as that is where we are headed today. It all began with a call in 2023 from long-time Wisconsin friends (John and Jane Seifert, who live in Florida these days) asking if we would be interested in a river cruise in Europe sometime in 2024. Not one to pass up an opportunity to travel with friends I quickly agreed, and when asked what might I suggest I suggested a river cruise in southern France, an area we had not explored before. When I found a cruise that also offered a three day extension to Barcelona, Spain, John and Jane quickly agreed as they have never been to Barcelona, which is one of those magical cities in Europe. Although we have been to Barcelona several times this trip would offer us the opportunity to visit the beautiful Benedictine Monastery at Montserrat, located in the mountains outside of Barcelona, something we have never managed to do while in Barcelona. And I added an extra day so we can visit the country of Andorra, located about three hours from Barcelona. Doing so will add country #104 to my list of UN countries visited.
We enjoy river cruising, having done most of the rivers in Europe as well as rivers in Egypt, China and the US in the past twenty years. This river cruise will be our 11th. We like them because the ships are smaller (~130-150 passengers) and you sail through idyllic vistas, stopping in small towns and villages along the way. When in port excursions are made to nearby points of interest. It is a more laid back mode of travel and is very different than cruising on ocean vessels, which seem to be getting larger and larger over time.
This trip (Colors of Provence) will be with AmaWaterways on the Rhône River in southern France. We have sailed with AmaWaterways before. Surprisingly our previous trip with them was with John and Jane in April, 2007, when we explored Holland and its tulip fields. You can see the specifics of this trip on:
We fly today from Seattle to Lyon, via Frankfurt. It turns out this was much cheaper than flying into Paris and taking a train to Lyon where we will board our ship. We are doing our usual itinerary: fly in a day early so we can readjust our time zone clock and hopefully avoid any issues with travel interruptions. We will meet John and Jane at our Lyon hotel and do a bit of sightseeing before boarding our ship on Thursday, April 11. You are welcome to follow us on our latest venture.
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.
January 31, 2024: The Lovely Town of Willemstad, Curaçao.
I think our ship simply idled off shore last night as the distance from Bonaire to Curaçao is only 72 km! But when we awoke we were docked in the capital city of Curaçao, Willemstad, population 163,951. Population of the whole island is 192,645. Curaçao is quite a bit different than Bonaire! It is the largest of the ABC islands, with 121 square miles of land. It is noted for its colorful buildings and beaches. Curaçao is autonomous but part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as are the other two ABC islands.
Docked in Willemstad harbor. Look at those long mooring lines!
View of Willemstad from our ship.
Modern hotel and casino right at the port.
Welcome to Curaçao!
Colorful native dresses.
Plaza where we met our tour guide.
The original Rif Fort ( built in 1829) has now been converted to trendy shops and restaurants.
Description of the local area.
I again relied on Viator and booked a two hour morning walking tour of Willemstad that turned out to be delightful. There were only 4 of us on the tour, including two ladies from Amsterdam, one of whom had a grandfather who had lived in Willemstad. Fun fact: I have always been confused whether the proper name for their country was Holland or is it The Netherlands. The ladies from Holland said both were correct and the terms are used interchangeably. So now you also know.
The area near the waterfront is simply lovely! Our tour guide lady was delightful . She led us through the local streets where we saw the many murals painted on the walls of buildings and homes. They proudly encourage it. We saw homes that have been restored to their former beauty and learned a bit about their history and life style. It was a marvelous tour.
Our energetic local tour guide (Xiomara?) was one of the best we have ever had.
The first of MANY beautiful murals that occupy building walls around the city.
This is the “Ortobanda” area of Willemstad.These buildings were rebuilt after a fire destroyed the original ones.
Some of the 30 pontoons supporting the Queen Emma Bridge that spans St. Anna Bay. The bridge opens up to 30 times a day.
Painting showing the rotating bridge that spans St. Anna Bay.
It is a brewery named after the floating bridge here in Willemstad.
Looking across at Punda, an older area of Willemstad.
Wonder who owns that huge sail boat?
These are really works of art, not simply graffiti.
A door in Curaçao.
Old mansion that will be restored.
Another door in Curaçao.
Neighborhood people often gather in spots like this to visit.
Artistic stairs and a lovely couple!
I was surprised to see another cruise ship dock INSIDE the fairly narrow bay. And look at the private yacht across the bay.
Not a real person. A sculpture highlighting the togetherness of the neighborhood.
A whole house mural. The artist lives in it.
One of several quiet streets we walked to see these well maintained homes, some with art painted on them.
Love the use of vibrant paint on buildings.
A popular local restaurant.
Even abandoned buildings often get a mural.
Xiomara and another mural.
More art.
Definitely an owl!
Novel use of old oil barrels.
This lady makes and sells unique ice cream made of fresh local ingredients. I tried her pina colada.
A newly renovated area that now houses small shops and boutique hotels.
Mural of their history.
Lovely plaza I. The middle of the small residential area.
Yvonne returned to the ship after the tour and I wandered over the Queen Emma bridge that spans the St. Anna Bay to take pictures of the buildings on that side and looked for mementoes to bring home.
The Queen Emma Bridge in its closed position.
The bridge walkway.
Walking across the bridge.
Buildings on the Punda side of the bay.
These are hundreds of “locks of love” mounted on heart shaped structures.
Whimsical art.
Local produce market.
Crafts market in the Punda area.
Even Punda has fabulous murals.
Another view of Punda buildings. This is the famous picture you see on ads for Curaçao.
Looking back at the Ortobanda area, the Rif Fort and our ship.
Crossing back to the Ortobanda area.
A busker. The only one I saw.
The 19th century Rif Fort which is now a trendy mall.
Loved the name of this bar!
Bottom line: I really like Curaçao and wish we had more time to explore the city and its surroundings.
The afternoon was spent in the usual manner: late light lunch, a shower, more book reading, perhaps a short nap, pre-dinner music and drink (still free!), and more card playing. Tough life but someone has to do it!
Tonight’s entertainment was two fold. The show in the theater featured a US singer (Amy Jo Slater) whose show was entitled “A Night with Adele”, which was spectacular because if you closed your eyes you would swear you were listening to Adele herself! The second surprise of the evening was we wandered over to the atrium after the show to see if the scheduled dance contest was worth watching. It definitely was! Most couples were from the Spanish speaking countries but there was one young couple from California who put on quite a show and made the finals. Another couple who made the finals had only met right before the competition. It was a fun filled event. BYW, the California couple was voted #2 but we thought they were the best of the lot!
Sunset!
The seating in the Broadway Melodies Theater, as it is called.
The guy who makes the sound and lighting work.
Instructions on what to do when during the performance.
Amy Jo Slater performing Adele songs. She was outstanding!
Her web site if you want more info about her.
About 12 couples signed up for the dance contest.
The judges for the dance competition. The lady on left is a featured dancer in the production staff and the near one is our cruise director.
Onlookers watching and rooting for their favorite dance couple.
The final three couples! A couple from Panama won.
Today’s activity announcement also said there would be a “White attire dance party” on the pool deck after the dance competition. We had not known about it before arriving on the cruise so we had little/no white clothing in our suitcase. We were very surprised how many of the other passengers came dressed all in white for the evening! They obviously knew about it ahead of time. Needless to say, we did not go to the dance party!
History lesson for the day: Bonaire is an island as part of the Leeward Antilles, along with its sister islands – Curaçao and the more well known, Aruba. The three islands are commonly known as the “ABC islands” and are controlled by the Netherlands. The islands are 80 km off the coast of Venezuela. Bonaire is probably the least known island and is noted for its snorkeling and scuba diving. There are only 24,090 inhabitants living on the island. It is small- 24 miles long and 3-5 miles wide.
Approaching Kralendijk, Bonaire.
Docking next to a ship that beat us here.
The Spanish, led by Alonso de Ojeda and the more well known Amerigo Vespucci, arrived in 1499. They decided the islands were useless because they found no metal deposits, but they did maintain control because of its salt deposits. The Dutch ventured into the area because they needed a source of salt for their herring industry. They took over by 1636 and the islands remain in their control to this day. End of lesson.
I again booked a Viator tour that would show us the highlights of the island, which we soon learned were not much! There were only 8 of us on the tour which made it for easy traveling. Our 20 passenger van unfortunately has in the need of repair of its air conditioning but with open windows and a nice ocean breeze the trip worked out just fine.
The main industry on the island is the production of salt, gleaned from the sea. The salt is mined from ponds which are first flooded with sea water, dammed up and allowed to evaporate to dryness. It is then collected and shipped to theUS where it is used for commercial purposes, like salting roads. It is not the salt we use for cooking. Centuries ago it was back-breaking manual work for the slaves who mined it; thankfully today it is highly mechanized. We drove to the mining area and viewed the small “slave huts” that slaves occupied while mining the salt.
Modern condos for sale near town.
Typical shoreline on Bonaire. It is popular with scuba divers since you can enter the sea directly from the beach.
Salt ponds occupy most of the north shore of the island.
The story of the slave huts located near the salt ponds.
The slave huts on Bonaire.
The slave huts located on a beautiful shore. Ironic!
What the inside of the slave hut looked like. Slaves lived here during the week while they worked.
Pile of mined salt ready for transport.
Explanation of mining salt from the sea.
Equipment used to load the salt onto ships.
The conveyor system used to load ships.
Rock salt after harvesting.
This is salt foam! Never saw it before.
The slave master’s hut made from pieces of coral that litter the beach.
The Ricinus plant, where castor oil comes from.
Castor oil seeds.
We saw many of the repurposed school buses (without windows) used as tour buses. Ours was a more modern van.
From there we drove to the south part of the island to see the few other tourist attractions the island offers- the 1000 steps, a large inland salt lake and the local distillery where we got to sample some of the local liquor. Oh, we did get to see some of the wild donkeys that still inhabit the island! Returning to the ship there is a small shopping area near the cruise port but nothing unique caught my attention or dollars.
Cactus is used extensively for fencing on Bonaire. Looks pretty effective to me!
Crystal clear water that drops off quickly near shore. Good for scuba diving.
A stone arch that is popular with new brides as a photographic site.
Caves that ancient people lived in.
The beach near 1000 steps.
The stairs called “1000 steps”. Although it is only 87 steps to the beach scuba divers with gear say it feels like 1000 steps when you are carrying your gear back up from the beach.
We looked but did not bother walking down to the beach!
Lake Goto, a salt inland lake.
Agave plant ready to be made into tequila.
Lake Goto is home and breeding ground for flamingos.
Bonaire uses colored signs to denote different types of signage.
Home of Cadushy distillery.
Marketing sign for Bonaire.
The various liquors made from cactus here. The green one is made with lime and is the traditional drink on Bonaire. The other liquors have been made for other islands in the region.
They also make gin, vodka and other alcoholic beverages.
Sadly, some truth to this!
These seed pods grow on the bark of the Calabas tree! The pods are often used as cups or painted ornaments.
Description of local products.
Explaining how catcus is used as fencing in Bonaire.
The working part of the distillery.
A local church on Bonaire.
A three foot iquana sunning itself on the road. He quickly left as we approached.
Lots of wild cactus growing along the road.
One of the approximate 1100 wild donkeys that roam the island.
This is a gumbo-limbo tree, but called the “tourist tree” because its red peeling bark resembles tourists who have been out in the sun too long.
Seru Largu, a monument on the highest hill on Bonaire was installed after the year 2000 passed without the major disruption that had been projected.
Our local guide for our Bonaire tour.
Nice views from the top.
The cruise ships in the harbor.
Homes with the Indian chief logo indicate the occupations are descendants of the original tribes..
Note donkey warning sign on the side of the road.
Lovely mural at the local AM radio station.
Fairly large cemetery outside of town.
A flowering tree called the royal poinciana. Locally it is called the flamboyan tree.
Iguana on the downtown street.
Colorful buildings in the rather small downtown area.
A door in Kralendijk.
Nice shot of the ship docked in Kralendijk.
View of the downtown area from our ship.
When we visited this area in 1992 we visited 2 of the 3 islands in the group and I could not remember which one we did not visit. I know now. It was obviously Bonaire, as there was no real reason to do so unless you are an avid snorkeler or scuba diver.
Another relaxing afternoon on the ship followed by pre-dinner music, drink ( still free!) and card playing ( Yvonne winning most of the rummy game, but I prevailed when playing kings on the corner) followed by dinner in the main dining room.
Minestrone soup.
Buratta caprese salad.
Yvonne chose the Branzino fish dish. I chose pasta bolognese which was a disappointment.
Tonight’s main theater entertainment was by the ship’s production staff and called “Piano Man” which featured much of the music of Billy Joel. It was entertaining!
A day to sleep in as we will be at sea all day long.The ship was abuzz with various activities to keep the passengers busy and happy. Looking at the pictures I took this day there was not much activity on our part. Needless to say the pool area was pretty loaded with sun bathers. We lounged around. In the afternoon I sat in the chaise lounge chair on our deck and read my book ….until I fell asleep!
Watching the wake from our deck.
Today’s activities on the ship. Something for everyone.
A morning stretch class.
I worked on my balance. I did release my hold on the chair.
Passengers playing games in the lounge.
We altered having breakfast in the main dining room (sit down and order off the menu) and the buffet line. Lunch was usually at the buffet where a large salad bar proved attractive, although I did have a hot dog with fries today! There was a soft serve ice cream machine that called out to us most every day after lunch; the cones were quite small so we did not feel guilty.
Before dinner we all gathered in the atrium where the captain welcomed us and introduced his main staff members.
Gathering in the atrium to meet the captain.
The captain of the ship.
Dinner was back in the main dining room which was pretty good today, as evidenced by the number of pictures I took of the food we ate!
Escargot as an appetizer.
Surprisingly a very good French onion soup with LOTS of melted cheese!
Argentinian stew with rice. Only wished the meat was more tender.
Yvonne had a good pasta with shrimp and scallops.
The evening show featured a group of singers and dancers from Argentina who put on a very good show, highlighting their music and dancing skills.
Our lovely cruise director all dolled up for the evening.
Singing and playing guitars.
Dance steps similar to Irish step dancing.
Swing bolos.
Tomorrow we will be at one of the “ABC” countries- Bonaire.
We were last in Cartagena in 1992 on a cruise with our two sons. I imagined it would be changed a bit since then! One of the major changes is that Columbia has become a popular tourist destination. The presence of the drug cartels have diminished significantly and it is safe once again to travel the country. AMA Waterways has even started a river boat tour of the country.
Entering the port of Cartagena, Columbia.
Another modern looking city!
Rather than booking a land tour with RCCL (as their brochure warned that since most passengers were Spanish speaking it might be difficult getting an English speaking tour guide on their tours), I went to an old standby, Viator, where I found a private 4 hour tour that would cover the major highlights of the city.
First a bit of history: Cartagena is a major seaport on the northern coast of the Caribbean and served as a vital link in the route to the West Indies. It was founded in 1533 by the Spanish, who used it to ship gold back to Spain and slaves to this region of the world. It remained under Spanish rule for 275 years. The present day population of Cartagena is 915,000 and but that makes it only the 5th largest city in Columbia.
We were scheduled to meet our guide at 10 AM at the cruise port which happened to be very nice. To exit it you pass through a series of gardens and aviaries that housed various species of birds. We saw dozens of noisy parrots, some peacocks and even a monkey as we walked to the exit area. It was a bit confusing and I finally resorted to calling the number given to us (thank goodness we had T Mobile service) to talk to our guide and ultimately find our way to him. It was just the two of us, Luis, our guide, and a driver. It was nice not being in a large group. We spent the next 3 plus hours visiting the major highlights in the city.
Colorful birds greet us as we leave the cruise port.
Dozens of parrots were free to fly around the area. They seemed to like just sitting on this fence.
Lovely botanical garden with all sorts of birds at the cruise port in Cartagena.
Peacocks run free. This one happens to like being in a tree.
We have never seen a pure white peacock!
Our first stop was at the Convento La Popa, located on the tallest hill in the city. Although it is called a convent it was really a monastery, founded by the Augustine Fathers in 1607. People still walk up the steep street to attend mass in the church. Needless to say there are marvelous views of the city from this church.
Stacks of sugar cane line the street. Pilgrims on the way to the convent chew on them for energy.
One of the stations of the cross that occupy the road leading up to La Popa.
Vendors near the convent selling goods and water.
Overlooking the city from La Popa.
Drop dead views from the convent.
View from La Popa in the other direction. You can see our ship in the distance.
Inside the church. It was Sunday so a mass was underway.
La Virgen de la Candelaria, the patroness of the city
Dresses used on the statue during the procession celebrating the feast of their saint.
Ancient bells from the church.
A mural painted on the surface of a large satellite dish.
Art on a piece of leather.
Luis, our guide for the day.
The courtyard inside La Popa.
From there we traveled to the largest fortress ever built by the Spaniards in their colonies, Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas. It is immense! Construction started in 1536 and expanded from 1639 and 1667. African slaves built it under the supervision of the Spaniards. It was further enlarged in 1762. It has a complex series of narrow tunnels that severely hindered any invaders because of their construction. It had become quite warm by this time and Yvonne chose to keep the driver company in the air conditioned vehicle while Luis and I trudged our way to the top. Yvonne said she would look at my pictures! It is an amazing structure and reminded me a bit of the fort in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but this one is much, much bigger.
Driving up to the fortress
The entrance to the fort.
Walking up the steep entry to the fort.
A guard house.
Fort was manned by 200 soldiers.
The original name of the fort.
The flag of Columbia.
Narrow passage ways with small coves where soldiers could hide.
Looking down to where we came from. The red circle shows our car/driver location!
View of the old town area of Cartagena, across the water.
View of the fort from the sea. Picture taken by By Bernard Gagnon – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99945972
We next drove into the old town section of Cartagena where we stopped at the Las Bovedas, a series of craft shops where I managed to find a trip memento (or two) before we continued on with a driving tour in the streets of Old Cartagena. This area would definitely be one to explore in a more leisurely manner if we ever returned. We were offered a walking tour of the area but because of the heat & humidity we chose to simply enjoy the views as we drove through the area, stopping occasionally for me to grab a picture or two. By this time it was almost 1:30 and we chose to return to the ship. The tour of the city was very nice. There is a lot of history here and they have done well preserving its cultural heritage.
The shops in Las Bovedas. There were about a dozen but a lot of repetition in their goods.
Lovely small park in old town.
One of many colorful streets in old town.
Another narrow streeet in old town.
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Catherine of Alexandria in old town.
Inside the cathedral of St Catherine.
The main altar in the church.
A lot of street vendors sell hats.
A local in native dress selling items on the street corner in old town.
A door in old town.
Another door in old town
A decorated street in old town. Obviously a popular photo stop for tourists.
Statue of an indigenous native.
Colorful home in old town.
Another example of an umbrella street. We have seen these all over the world.
One of several expensive enclaves we passed. Most were heavily hidden from the road and all were gated.
By this time it was near 2 PM and we were ready to get back to the ship for a late lunch, a shower and brief nap before going to the atrium for some pre-dinner music, a drink and some card playing before going to dinner..
Returning to our ship after the tour of Cartagena.
Our cabin is highlighted by the circle.
There was a large video screen on the pool deck. They showed movies several nights.
A second adults only pool, located under a retractable cover.
Hector, our room attendant providing us with one of several towel art during the trip.
Appetizers in the Crown Lounge where we had access to. There was also a concierge available to assist if needed.
I had made 6:30 reservations at one of the ship’s specialty restaurants, Chops Grill, their steak house. You had to pay a $50/pp price but usually it is worth it as the quality of the food and selection is better, as is the service. Normally it is hard to get early reservations at these specialty restaurants so I had made the reservations before we boarded. When we arrived for our dinner, we found a place empty, which totally surprised me. The staff told me the Spanish prefer to eat very late. The meal was adequate but not worth the $50 price tag.
Inside Chops Grill, one of the specialty (I.e. extra cost) restaurants on the ship.
Best part of the meal- key lime pie.
Tonight was the first night for a show in the main theater, that will feature ten talented dancers and three singers that make up the ship’s production staff. The theme of the performance was dance in different forms. Needless to say they were good!
More ship artwork.
The main theater where the major entertainment took place.
Our cruise director from Columbia. She was good!
The ship’s dance company along with three singers. Tonight was a program about dance.
Tomorrow we will have a day at sea.
January 27, 2024: Boarding the Rhapsody of the Seas.
Colon, the departure port for our ship, is on the Atlantic side of Panama, a distance of about 70km, which takes about 1 hour by car. Cruise people normally stay in Panama City as that is where the major airport is located and Colon is an industrial city with not much to offer. A $60 cab ride delivered us to the cruise port in Colon, where “chaos” seemed to prevail. Even though we had a scheduled boarding window of 12:30-1:00PM there was a long line of people dragging their luggage through the port area. Luckily I had grabbed a porter to take our luggage from the cab and lead us to where we had to go. We bypassed that long line and were quickly deposited near the check-in table. It was the best $10 I spent that day! It was hot and humid in the port area (with no AC) and we were relieved to finally be able to board the ship fairly quickly.
Modern 4 lane freeway connects Panama City with Colon. Pretty boring scenery along the way.
Boarding our ship.
An aside: After booking and paying for the cruise we later learned that it catered to the Spanish speaking clientele who lived in this area. In fact, it would be likely that over 90% of the passengers on this cruise would be Spanish speaking. It should be an interesting adventure for us, gringos, who can only order margaritas in Spanish!
The ship was one of the older RCCL ships; it was built in 1997, but refurbished in 2022. It turned out it was in very good shape. After dropping off our hand luggage in our room we had a quick lunch and proceeded to do our usual tour of the ship to get a feel of its layout. I had chosen an aft facing balcony room to experience what it was like. The advantage of these rooms is you get an enormous outdoor balcony compared to normal balcony rooms. It was so big it had two chaise lounges, two chairs and a table. The possible negatives are it is a long way to anywhere else on the ship (the positive is you get more steps); there is the possibility of more engine noise and it might be more bouncy in rough seas. As it turned out only the first negative came into play; we walked a lot the week we were on board!
Our room was surprising large with more than ample storage space.
The enormous aft facing balcony in our room.
The central multi-level atrium where many activites and music was held.
The mandatory casino which was larger than I expected. Surprisingly the Spanish people did not gamble much.
The Schooner Lounge, one of several nice cocktail lounges throughout the ship.
Some of artwork on the ship.
The “Shall We Dance” lounge with a fairly large dance floor.
One of the 4 different music groups that entertained us during the crew. They all were VERY good.
Looking down at the atrium from an upper level. Before dinner music provided by the house band.
Lots more electronics to replace paper these days. It was also bilingual.
There was a special closed off area called the diamond lounge which we had access to because we had become diamond members with RCCL. It was nice.
Leaving the port of Colon.
Dinner was in the main dining room. We were slated for the 6:30 seating which was fine with us as the 2nd seating was not until 8:45PM, way too late for us. As it turned out the Spanish people do like to eat late! Probably because the ship knew we were English speaking they did not attempt to put us at a larger table; we had a nice table for two. The staff mostly spoke English but I did notice there were many staff members who were obviously bi-lingual. Because this particulr cruise runs at least 6 months my guess is RCCL specifically hired bilingual speakers to be part of the staff for this series of cruises. Menus were in both languages as was major signage. Food was OK, but RCCL has obviously downgraded the quality and selection since we last traveled with them in 2004. Yvonne did remind me we have become spoiled by our trips on Regent 7 Seas ships.
Two level main dining room. Our table as near the staircase so we got to watch people entering the entry point.
Tonight’s main dining room menu.
One of many dance lessons offered during the week. This one was on salsa dancing and it was packed!
We went to see karaoke for awhile, but surprisingly they were not all that good!
Night view from our balcony. It has a calming effect.
End of day 1: Walked 6718 steps today, not bad for having done nothing!
