PANAMA CANAL CRUISE  
Seattle, WA to Ft. Lauderdale, FL
October 1 - 22, 2002

Seattle, WA, Tuesday, October 1, 2002

     Angela and I boarded the M/S AMSTERDAM in Seattle, WA  about 1pm on October 1.  We had flown to Seattle the previous day and spent the night there, and we looked at a boat for sale on Tuesday morning.  We were very excited about the cruise, which was Angela's first, and my first in twenty years.  We were surprised to find we had been upgraded to a larger stateroom, and that was one of many pleasant surprises over the course of the cruise.

     We had lunch and left a phone message for Don and Ann Thomson, our friends from Houston who were also on that cruise.  In fact, they had suggested to us, and other members of TMCA, that we go on this cruise with them.  My cousin, Donnie, had also suggested a cruise for us; and we jumped at the chance to see the Panama Canal on a cruise with some other people we knew.  In addition to Don and Ann, we shared a table for ten each night with Ed and Dorothy Hearon, Jim and Dianna Ellsworth, and Ray and Carolyn Cook.  All were members of TMCA except Jim and Diana, whom we had met on the Year 2000 Cruise around the Great Loop.  They lived in FL and had visited Don and Ann at least a couple of times in Houston.  Don and Ann and Ed and Dorothy also were upgraded to larger staterooms, which were adjoining via their outside verandahs. 

     

     We had a drill at 4:30pm to acquaint us with our life preservers, which were in our stateroom, our lifeboat station, and the general procedures to use in an emergency.  We were impressed with Holland America and their attention to details including safety.   



     Five o'clock was cast off and departure time, and there was a party on the back of the ship on the Lido deck to celebrate the beginning of the cruise.  It was about 59 degrees F and sunny; Seattle was very pretty.  We saw 14,410-foot-tall Mt. Rainier at a distance through the clear air.  

   

                 

     Dinner was at 6pm for half the passengers choosing the early sitting, and it was a leisurely affair each night.  We had a choice of appetizers, soups, salads, and main courses.  Later we were shown another menu for our desert choices.  At 8:30pm we were seated in the Queen's Lounge for "Showtime", featuring the entertainment for the evening.  After that we usually listened to a trio featuring a violinist backed up by a pianist and a bass fiddle player.

     The ship left Seattle at 5pm and sailed all night to Vancouver, BC.  We arrived there at 7am.  The distance between ports was 171 miles, and our average speed was 14.7 knots.  See Cruise Statistics Page 1 for details on the distances and speeds on each leg of our cruise, and see Cruise Statistics Page 2 for a Daily Log summary of the major events in the cruise..

Vancouver, BC, Canada, Wednesday, October 2, 2002

     Don and Ann knew a couple in Vancouver who had offered to take all of us on a harbor cruise while we were in Vancouver.  That was a great opportunity for us to see more of the area.  We ate breakfast and went ashore to meet Noreen and Norm Shirley, and they hosted us to a great trip aboard their boat.  Vancouver has a beautiful harbor and downtown area, although the weather was overcast and cool.  It was about 58 degrees F, and we had a little rain throughout the day.  

                      

     
 

     The ship was docked at the Cruise Terminal, which was part of Canada Place, a beautiful building with a combination of uses.     Norm motored his boat outbound in Burrard Inlet and under the Lions Gate Bridge.  We went around the peninsula to False Creek, and we explored the navigable length of the creek.  Then we stopped at Granville Island for lunch and some shopping. 

     

     We ate a good lunch and spent our time shopping in a great nautical bookshop called the Quarterdeck.  We wanted to have plenty of books to read on the cruise, and I think we brought home a number of books that we did not read. 

     There were a number of beautiful, tall buildings in that area.  We were not accustomed to seeing so many high-rise condos, but the office buildings and special purpose buildings were very pretty as well.  We saw some live-aboard boats that surely never move; they were uniquely painted and decorative.
 
     Again we left the port at 5pm.  Our group met in the Crow's Nest, a lounge on the 9th deck, or Sports Deck, at the front of the ship.  We watched the cruise liner go under the Lions Gate Bridge and through the First Narrows channel towards Vancouver Island.  That waterway was called the Straits of Georgia, and the City of Victoria was at the south end of the island.  From that day forward we almost always met at 5pm in the Crow's Nest for drinks prior to dinner.  There was a small band there, a dance floor, and some snacks to go with the drinks.

     Our dining table was on the upper level, Deck 5, mid-way between port and starboard, and two tables forward of the transom, which consisted at that level of large windows looking aft at our wake.  Depending on our time zone, we often saw wonderful sunsets while dining, and we rotated our positions at the table so everyone could get to see in each direction.

     By written invitation left under our stateroom door, we were invited to meet the Captain at 7:30pm in the Neptune Lounge on the 7th floor.  Our upgrade put us in a suite on that floor, and the Neptune Lounge was right across the hall from our stateroom.  Being in a suite brought us many benefits in addition to a larger room, and the Captain invited their suite guests to several nice functions.  Those functions always included drinks and snacks including champagne.

     The Neptune Lounge contained snacks, coffee and tea, some deserts, etc., large-screen television, newspapers, books and videos we could check out, comfortable chairs, and a few games.  Our concierge, Snooky, and her assistant, Jennifer, were available to us for Front Office arrangements such as reservations.  They were very courteous and helpful. Photos of our stateroom follow.

      

                 

     The entertainment for that evening was a magic show.  After the show we strolled along the fifth deck and checked out the various flavors of music and entertainment available to us.  At the Ocean Bar there was a small band playing dancing music with vocals on the order of a "club" in Houston.  Further aft was a piano bar with a singer who took requests.  After that was the Explorer's Lounge, and we stopped there.  A violinist from Montreal was playing some classical music, themes from movies, and old favorites.  He was backed up by a pianist, and later in the cruise, also by a bass fiddle player.

At Sea, Thursday, October 3, 2002

     During 21 days on the ship we were at sea for 7 days and in port for 14 days.  There were 4 formal nights, 5 informal, and 12 casual dress nights.  The formal nights tended to be on those days we were "at sea".  On this, our first formal night, Ed and Don  wore their tuxedos, while Jim and I wore suits and ties.  The ladies dressed up for the occasion, and I know Angela enjoyed the opportunity to dress up for the evening.  We appreciated the ability to do all the activities of a fancy evening, including cocktails and dancing, dinner, entertainment, and after-dinner drinks and entertainment, without having to go outside, or park a car, or worry about our safety in any way.

     At 10:30am we attended a tour of the ship's Galley, which was very interesting.  We were given a brochure explaining the different areas of the galley and how they functioned.  It said the Kitchen Staff consisted of 98 persons, and the Dining Room Staff consisted of 103 persons.  Some weekly consumption figures: meat and meat products, 8500 lbs; poultry, 4000 lbs; fish, 2000 lbs; seafood, 2500 lbs; sugar, 700 lbs; ice cream, 200 gallons; etc.  The ship treated all of its sewage, made all our drinking water from seawater, generated all our electricity, and had a complete laundry and dry cleaning plant on board.  They also had quite a printing plant, as we received daily a menu for the evening meal, a newspaper, a Daily Program, a detailed description of each port of call, and a shore excursion description for the next port, among other things. 


     It was cool and foggy during our transits to Vancouver and to San Francisco.  During the morning one of the passengers needed to be airlifted off the ship.  The U.S. Coast Guard brought a helicopter out to the ship, and we watched while the uplifting procedure was carried out.  The ship came to a complete stop, and the helicopter dropped a man onto the deck at the bow (it could not land on the ship).  We understood the passenger was carried off the ship but passed away later on shore.  It was good to know we could have access to such a service if it were needed.  The average age of people on the cruise was about 70, so it was inevitable some health problems would occur.

     We had lunch in the Lido Restaurant, which offered three hot meals daily in a casual setting regardless of the day's dress code.  Our cell phones still worked, so I called my office.  Then, we took a short nap, after which we dressed up for dinner.


     Don Thomson had reserved tables for us in the Odyssey Restaurant shortly after he boarded.  It was a fancy Italian restaurant which was available to us by advance reservation only.  The eight of us had dinner there, and it was very good.  All the food on the ship was available to us at no additional charge, except the nuts and other wrapped packages and drinks in the mini bar in our room, which were charged to the room if you used them.  Coffee and tea were free, but colas, beer, wine, and mixed drinks were charged.  My cousin, Donnie, had advised me to buy a ticket at the beginning of the cruise for unlimited fountain drinks, which I did for $73.50.  From then on I could get a Diet Coke (fountain only, the cans still cost $1.75 each) for no additional charge at any bar or in the restaurants.  

     The entertainment for the evening was a concert by three tenor singers, which was not to my liking.  We left early and went to see the trio in the Explorer's Lounge.


     The ship blew its fog horn during the night, and I worried about it for a short while.  The ship did move from side to side as we moved through the swells, but it was not unpleasant.  I doubt anyone was made seasick by those occasional small movements.  What I did not expect was a vibration, similar to that we experience when we have a bent prop; and the vibration was worse at higher speeds.  We were going almost as fast on our way to San Francisco as on any other leg of our cruise, and we felt the vibration the most that night.  We believe it did relate to a below-water maintenance need, and that they would repair it as soon as it could be done.  The vibration was not felt everywhere, and some people were not very much aware of it.

San Francisco, CA, Friday, October 4, 2002

     We were expected to tie up at the dock in San Francisco at 8am.  In order to see the Golden Gate Bridge, we woke early and went on deck with our cameras.  We brought a video camera, Angela's single lens reflex 35mm camera, and a borrowed digital camera.  We were able to get some great shots of the ship going under the bridge and our approach into San Francisco Bay.  We had been told, on an earlier visit, that early sailors did not see the entrance to the bay until after many other natural harbors had been explored.  It is necessary to leave the sea, approach the shore, and then turn right to see the opening to what is surely one of the more beautiful of the world's great natural harbors. 

     

     

     My two daughters lived at that time in Sacramento, CA, just an hour and a half away by car.  We arranged for them to come and visit us on the ship, after which they would stay in town with friends.  We ate breakfast in the King's Room, where suite guests could eat breakfast and lunch; and we then went ashore to browse the shops at nearby Pier 39.  We bought some souvenirs and watched the sea lions.  It was sunny and about 70 degrees F. 

     

     When Darby and Debra arrived we cleared them through Security and went aboard the ship.  We ate lunch in the Lido and showed them around all the decks.  We took pictures of each other in front of the ship, Alcatraz, the City, etc.  We had dinner with them at our table for ten at 6pm.  (Ray and Carolyn joined us in Los Angeles, so we had two empty seats at the table until then.  The charge for dinner for the young ladies was $35 per person.)  Then we went to our stateroom to talk and catch up on each other's activities.  My birthday was coming up, so they both brought a birthday card and a book for me.  We missed the entertainment that night, a ventriloquist, but saw the girls off the ship about 9:30.  Then we went to the Explorer's Lounge.

     

 

At Sea, Saturday, October 5, 2002

     We ate breakfast in the King's Room again, and I went to met the backgammon players.  The Daily Program said there was to be a Backgammon Get Together at 9:45am in the Explorer's Lounge.  I saw a new board there, in a box; but no players or staff person showed up.  There were others around, usually reading; so I set the board up and reread the rules.  At 10:45 Heather came to pick up the board.  She said nothing formal had been planned; they just put the board out and left it to us to find each other and play.

     It was foggy in the early morning but clearing by 2pm.  Air temperature was a cool 55F.  We were 40 - 50 miles offshore, and our depth was 4,000 feet.  The water was a deep blue.  Late in the afternoon we saw whales from our verandah and then from the Crow's Nest Lounge.  The day's dress code was Informal, requiring us men to wear a jacket but not a tie.

     After another fine dinner we saw "the world's fastest banjo player".  He was fast, and he was good.  He had a few good jokes, too.  We ended our evening at the Explorer's Lounge with the violinist and his trio.

Los Angeles, CA, Sunday, October 6, 2002

     We were up at 6am for our arrival in San Pedro, the port for Los Angeles.  We took some photos of the port, and we ate breakfast in the King's Room.  (Our fellow boaters ate breakfast much earlier than we did.)  We met my cousin, Donnie, at 9:30am.  She wanted to have brunch at a favorite restaurant of hers, so we went to Newport Beach and ate at the Cheesecake Factory.  It was good, and it was in a nice mall with some pretty stores.

     I had made arrangements to see a boat there, so after lunch we drove a few blocks to the Newport Beach office of the boat dealer.  He met us and showed us the boat, which I liked.  Then we went to Donnie's condo in Huntington Beach.  We looked at each others photos and talked about trips we'd been on.  Donnie had been on 24 cruises; she liked cruising.  We were very pleased with Holland America, and she liked that line a lot.  We made it back to the ship about 4pm, and departure time was 5pm.  Donnie passed on the chance to tour the ship.  It was sunny and in the high 70's for the temperature. 

     We changed and met our companions in the Crow's Nest and watched us move away from the port.  There was a strike going on of the longshoremen who unload the cargo ships, and the harbor was littered with full ships awaiting the end of the strike.  A few days later the President ordered them back to work so some military shipments would not be delayed.

     Entertainment for the evening was a comedy act, which we enjoyed.  The evening's dress was casual.  The theme for that evening's dinner was American Night, and the staff all wore bright red, white, and blue outfits. 
 We set our clocks ahead one hour, which changed us from West Coast to Mountain daylight savings time.

At Sea, Monday, October 7, 2002

     We slept late, and I got some breakfast meat, cheese, and rolls for us from the Neptune Lounge.  Later I checked out a backgammon board from the library, and Don Thomson and I played a few games.  Neither of us had played for more than a few years, and we were pretty evenly matched.  Angela and I played later, and our favorite violinist happened to see us.  He introduced himself as Daniel and said he would like to play backgammon, so I agreed to meet him the next day.

     Our crew were from The Philippines (cooks, bar staff, and waiters and waitresses) and Indonesia (cabin stewards and some of the kitchen staff).  The food specials on that day were from Indonesia.  We met Don Thomson and others on the dining room for the special meal, which we enjoyed.

     Don and Jim asked Angela and I to try our hand at bridge, and we met them at 2pm in the Half Moon Room for cards.  There was a bridge lesson going on there, and the duplicate bridge players were hard at work.  There were about 15 tables of bridge going on at the time.  Angela and I did not give Jim and Don very much competition, and we remembered how little we knew about the game.  But we enjoyed their company and the chance to try the game again.

     October 7 was my birthday and a Formal night, so I booked all ten of us into the Odyssey Restaurant for dinner.  We started out in the Crow's Nest, as usual, and got a group photo there.  The Odyssey was nice, but the service was slow for two of our ladies' dinners.  We went to the entertainment for the evening, which was the first show performed by the cast of the AMSTERDAM - one of those Las Vegas spectaculars they advertise for cruises.  It was good, and loud, and colorful.

     At our Happy Hour in the Crow's Nest, Don presented me with a Christmas card they had purchased in Los Angeles and marked up to make it a birthday card.  It was touching; I will treasure it always. 

     The high for the day was 85F.  We passed the US/Mexico border at 5:30pm.  We were so surprised at the calm water in the Pacific Ocean.  We never had a rough day.

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Tuesday, October 8, 2002

     We were up to see the arrival and anchoring of the ship at Cabo San Lucas.  We rounded the tip of the peninsula and viewed the famous rocks and the rock arch in the sea that have been featured in so many ads and articles.  Another cruise ship anchored just behind us.  It was from the Royal Caribbean cruise line.  Both ships used tenders to get the passengers ashore. 

 

     We had lunch on the Lido deck near the midships pool.  The sliding roof was open, and there was a nice breeze.  Otherwise, it was hot - about 90 degrees F, and humid.  We were not yet inclined to study and take advantage of the ship's Shore Excursion program.  Since we did not book an excursion for Cabo San Lucas, we went ashore on our own.  It was our first time to use the ship's tender, and our first time at Cabo San Lucas.  At the tender dock, Holland America had a stand with a large umbrella and cold drinks, along with several people to assist the passengers onto or off the tenders.  We shopped at a market adjacent to the tender dock and took some photos of our ship, the town, and the bay.  It was an attractive place.  

     

     Dress was casual, and we met in the Crow's Nest as usual at 5pm.  The last tender left the dock at 5:30, and we weighed anchor at 6pm.  We got to see some more great scenery as the big ship turned and headed south, including the famous rocks and arch. 

     The Captain invited the suite guests for cocktails and dinner that evening, and we attended the festivities.  We began in the Rembrandt Lounge, where the piano bar was located, and moved from there to the Odyssey Restaurant.  Even though the day's dress code was casual, as it was most of the days we were in port, a jacket and tie were required for the Captain's dinner.  It was a very nice affair with nametags at our table and decorative presentations of the food.  We met some more of the people who shared the seventh floor with us.

     Dinner was at 7:15, so we rushed to see the 8:30 show, which was different.  A solo musician entertained us with music played on his "Xylosynth" with backup from the AMSTERDAM orchestra.  He was quite talented.

     We had traveled 2,225 nautical miles from Seattle to Cabo San Lucas, in six days, basically; so the ship really did move fast.  We had moved from Seattle north to Vancouver and then south across the entire western US coast, then the length of the Baja, in six days.  And we were in port all day in Vancouver, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.  On our boat that trip would have taken 26 days (23 days at 100 miles per day and three days in port), and many of our boater friends think we go too fast.  

     We moved our clocks ahead again, which gave us the same time as Houston - Central Daylight Savings Time.  Acapulco probably was on Eastern Standard Time, as was Cozumel when we were there in August.  Our cell phones ceased to work after we left Los Angeles, so we communicated by email through the ship's Internet Cafe.  Cost was 75 cents per minute unless you bought a package.  One hundred minutes were available for 55 cents a minute; 250 minutes cost 40 cents a minute.  

     Each time we got off and back on the ship there was a ship's photographer taking pictures, which they hoped you would buy as a souvenir of the trip.  They also took photos during the evening, especially on formal nights; and these were staged in front of a backdrop or a special portion of the ship.  These photos were on display in the Photo Shop on the fourth floor, and passengers were asked to look at their own pictures and accept or reject them.  A video was made of our cruise, and I signed up for one of those on the first day of the cruise.  We met the video photographer, who was a nice young man from Chile named Marco.

     We were given a key to our room when we boarded, and it was scanned whenever we left or reboarded the ship.  Charges to our onboard account were easily accomplished with the scan card, and it facilitated our boarding the tender after being ashore.  It was almost 700 n. miles from Cabo San Lucas to Acapulco.

At Sea, Wednesday, October 9, 2002

     We slept late and ate breakfast in our stateroom.  We attended the lecture on the Panama Canal at 11:15am by Willie Friar.  She was employed by the Panama Canal Commission for 28 years in the Office of Public Affairs, and had retired in 1998.  She was in charge of all public relations activities including publications, audio-visual programs, handling the local and international press; and she served as the Canal's liaison with the cruise industry.  That was the first of three lectures she gave, which were very good.

     We had lunch in the King's Room, and then I checked our email.  Then I did a little sunbathing at the midships pool, while Angela stayed out of the sun.  The dress code was Informal, so I wore a silk shirt and a sports coat, which was typical for the men.  Diana was sick with a head cold, we think. 


      

     Our chief steward was I Putu Mahendra, and he was a friendly fellow throughout our cruise.  He was from Bali; and he told us a lot about himself, his family, and his life.  The next photograph shows him talking to Don and Ann, as he stopped at our table every night to see how we were doing. 

     

     The entertainment that evening was The Pacific Horns, who were good.  We finished off the evening at the Explorer's Lounge, as usual.  Our waitress there was Myra, and our waiter was Danny. We got to know them very well and traded email addresses for communication after the cruise.  Danny was married to Haydee, our cocktail waitress in the Crow's Nest; they were a sweet couple.

Acapulco, Mexico, Thursday, October 10, 2002

     We decided to not go ashore in Acapulco; otherwise we went ashore in each port of the cruise.  We slept late and ate breakfast foods from the Neptune Lounge.

     I was wakened by all the slamming of doors going on by people who were up before us.  Both the cabin door and the door to our verandah would close forcefully and make a pretty loud noise, especially loud if you're trying to sleep.  So, when I went out on the verandah to video the harbor and surrounding city of Acapulco, I tried to minimize the noise of the closing of the door behind me.  I was coming back into the room, and Angela was still asleep.  I reached behind me to catch the door, and I caught my index finger in between the door and the door jamb.  It closed quicker than I thought it would.  It was not a deep wound, but I went to the Infirmary anyway and got it cleaned and bandaged.  The nurse gave me some supplies to re-bandage it over the next few days, and then it was well again.  It gave me a chance to see the Infirmary, which was extensive, and meet the nurse.  There was a doctor on board, but I did not meet him.

     We went to lunch on the Lido deck by the midships pool.  A mariachi band was playing Mexican music inside The Lido Restaurant and outside in the pool area.  We had hamburgers, hot dogs, tacos, etc. at the poolside restaurant, the Terrace Grill.  

           

     After lunch we walked to the back of the ship and watched some new yachts being unloaded from a cargo ship.  They looked to be Italian cruisers, and the one we watched for the longest time was about 65 feet in length.  It was interesting to see the process of moving the yacht from the deck of the cargo ship to the waters of the bay.  The yacht moved under its own power to a mooring in the bay with two other similar yachts.  

     

     The ship left the dock at 5pm, and we were in the Crow's Nest to see the departure from that beautiful bay.  Nearby were some other pretty bays with beautiful and expensive homes on the hillsides.  Acapulco had been a destination for the rich and famous for many years, and some of the famous owners of large homes were identified to tourists as they toured the area. 

          

     The Daily Program said "World travelers say that Acapulco has one of the five most beautiful harbors in the world, ranking with Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong, San Francisco, and New York."  I thought Vancouver's harbor was spectacular; and Seattle seemed to have a great harbor, too.  Both of them were not right on the coast, so maybe that had something to do with it.  

     Dinner that evening had a Mexican theme; and the food was excellent, as usual.  Entertainment for the evening was the ship's orchestra playing Big Band music for dancing and listening.  Diana was too sick to attend the dinner, and Angela began that night or the next day to get a cold herself.  Ann Thomson and Jim Ellsworth eventually became ill as well, but we think it was a bad cold in all cases.

          

Santa Cruz de Huatulco, Mexico, Friday, October 11, 2002

     It was 244 n. miles from Acapulco to Huatulco, and our schedule called for us to anchor there in 14 hours.  The ship, therefore, averaged 22 knots overnight, and we did feel the vibration.  But we pulled into the anchorage on time, and it was pretty.  That coast was generally rocky, high cliffs, with jungle somewhere inland from the coast.  After anchoring and launching the tenders, the ship was moved to another spot to minimize the effect of the swell on the tenders.  

     We could not see the little town until the tender took us around a corner and into a shallow channel.  Likewise, there was extensive development at that port that was not visible until we started driving around.  By that time we had figured out how to use the shore excursion program, and we booked a river rafting trip on the Copalita River.

     Ray and Carolyn had also booked that trip, and we had breakfast together in the dining room.  Then we went ashore and to the river. The main harbor was small and colorful.  We had a truck and a van to take us out to the river.  There were about 5 rafts with 8 - 10 people on each raft, plus a guide.  Our guide spoke very little English, and once he found out Angela spoke Spanish and English he generally spoke to her.  She translated to the rest of us.  Then we had one wise guy in the front who disagreed with the guide's directions, so he was always fighting the guide's efforts and trying to get others to help him.  It was interesting.

     The river ended in the surf, and the water became quite shallow there.  We walked a ways along a rocky shore to a rest stop where our bus would pick us up.  The rocks were very interesting because they were highly fractured and their colors changed from black to white abruptly. The scenery looking back upstream on the river was spectacular, with mountain peaks of 6,000 feet or so clearly visible in the distance.  We were not used to mountains so close to the coast. 

     We had a drink and loaded up to go back to the ship.  The streets were new blacktop, and the white-painted curbs and newly-planted palm trees suggested a high level of new construction and development.  There were more than a dozen resorts, and we saw some fabulous homes as well.  That part of Mexico was difficult to reach from Acapulco by land, and it was just being developed for tourists arriving by air and water.  It was hot and sunny.  

     Back on board we ate lunch in The Lido with Jim and Diana and Ray and Carolyn.  Diana was getting better, and Jim was getting sick.  During the afternoon we read, swam in the pool, and rested.  At 5pm we met in the Crow's Nest Lounge and looked at the spume from whales.  The television said the waves were 4 - 7.5 feet high, but they didn't seem that high to us.  There were whitecaps, though. 

     We departed at 3:30pm, and we saw evidence of whales from our verandah.  We had 339 miles to go to reach our next stop in Guatemala.  The day's dress was Informal, requiring jackets for the men.  Jim was too ill to attend the dinner, and Angela was getting sick.  

     We began to hear rumors of a virus on board, and we received a Health Notice in our cabin.  It advised us of a gastrointestinal virus characterized by nausea, abdominal cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea.  They called it NLV, or Norwalk Like Virus.  We were asked to wash our hands with soap and water frequently, and to report to the Infirmary if we developed those symptoms, which were expected to go away in 24 - 48 hours.  We believe none of our crowd got the virus, because none of us had those severe symptoms.

     The evening's entertainment was a singer from New York City named Jeff Harnar.  We actually met him when he first boarded the ship.  He was good, and he stayed on board for several days.  He made two performances for us.  

     At 11:15pm we were presented with a musical show by our Filipino crew.  We had gotten to know several of those in the show, so we stayed up late to see them perform.  It was quite good, and we enjoyed the show very much.  We turned back our clocks one hour at 2am, so that gave us a little more time to sleep.

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala, Saturday, October 12, 2002

     In Guatemala we tied up to a dock in a port named Puerto Quetzal, at 7am.  We did not choose a Shore Excursion but went ashore anyway to do some shopping.  We were pleasantly surprised to find a small market set up right behind the ship with tables and stands full of native crafts.  We enjoyed shopping with the natives, and we bought some jewelry and some wooden animal figures that came apart like puzzles.  The wood was so pretty, and the puzzles were so interesting, we bought several of the wooden figures.

     Angela was sick, but she started on a course of antibiotics right away.  We always carry a prescription for each of us just in case we get sick.  The antibiotics prevent us from getting something worse than a cold.  She was able to go ashore and back, and to eat, so we had lunch in The Lido about 1pm.

     After lunch we went back to the shopping area and bought a few more things for gifts.  We had a hard rain for about ten minutes; then the sun came back out and it was hot again.  We took a taxi to town and bought some blank video tapes.  The taxi driver was very nice and helpful.

     Ed Hearon came up with an idea that I decided to follow through on.  We had a VCR in our room.  The television had a channel, 24, that monitored a closed circuit video camera on the bridge and pointed forward.  We could always turn to channel 24 and see what was ahead of the ship.  Ed's idea was to video tape the transit of the Panama Canal, and that's what I did.

     The little town there was poor and muddy, but Guatemala was considered by some to be one of the world's most beautiful countries.  It had beaches, mountains, volcanoes, mountain lakes, colonial cities, and a coastline on both the Caribbean and the Pacific Oceans.  It was a great center of Mayan culture.  We enjoyed the people.

     We met in the Crow's Nest Lounge at 5pm.  The dress code was casual.  We had dinner in the La Fontaine dining room, and I believe everyone was present for that meal.  The ship left the dock at 7pm, so we saw the departure from our dining table.  The entertainment for the evening was a couple who danced Flamenco and Tango, with a history of the tango dance.  The next day the couple gave tango lessons to those who were interested.

     We received another Health Notice in our cabin.  This one advised passengers with NLV symptoms to remain in their cabins after notifying the ship's Infirmary of their condition.  After symptoms disappear, stay in the cabin for 72 hours, was the message.  Hand washing was again stressed, and the ship's staff was going to be cleaning more frequently and using more chlorine to help prevent the spread of the virus.  I think that was when they stopped self-service in the buffet lines and provided instead staff members wearing gloves who handled all the serving utensils and put the food on your plate.

At Sea, Sunday, October 13, 2002

     First light was early, and sunset was at 5:30pm.  The time changes were keeping our heads spinning.  I just changed my watch, while Angela tried to remember how much to subtract from her watch set on Houston time.

     Willie Friar gave another lecture, but it seemed to be mainly about some tapestries she planned to sell, so we left early.  We got out lunch in The Lido and took it outdoors by the pool on the aft deck.  It was warm but pleasant under an umbrella by the pool.  At 2pm the temperature was in the high 80s, and our depth was 16,500 feet

     We had the ship's VCR technician come help us with the VCR.  It needed some repair, and they took care of it that same day.  We napped and dressed formally for the evening, meeting in the Crow's Nest as usual at 5pm.  We saw the sunset there with drinks and snacks and good company.  

     The evening's entertainment was the second performance by the Amsterdam cast called "Romance on Broadway".  Broadway has been called "The Great White Way".  The costumes were designed by Bob Mackie, and they surely could change them quickly.  We stayed at the Explorer's Lounge until 10:30pm, and then we went to The Lido Restaurant.  That evening the chefs presented a Dessert Extravaganza, which was a fest for the eyes as well as the palate.  One half of the restaurant was filled with several rows of desserts of all kinds and descriptions.  We sampled a couple before retiring for the night. 

     

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, Monday, October 14, 2002

     We anchored off San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua at 7am; and I was impressed by the height of the shoreline there.  Homes built on the ocean had to be built into the side of cliffs; I'm sure they had a great view of the ocean.  At 8am it was 80F, but there was a nice breeze when you could feel it. 

     

     The television also told us, on Channel 30, what the weather was like and the mileage to the next port, etc.  Our barometer was almost always 29.9, or 30.0, or 29.8; and it was almost always Steady.  We did have great weather most of the time.  The Humidity was always shown as 83%, every day; so I think they ignored that setting rather than keeping it up to date.  The Sea State was usually 1.5 - 4 feet, but sometimes it was slightly higher or lower.  We saw it read 7 feet once, but I thought it was a mistake.  The waves did not look that high, and there was no problem with the motion of the boat.

     Prior to our cruise I read the book The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough.  It was excellent, surprisingly easy to read, and full of interesting information.  One tidbit included the potential route for the Canal through Nicaragua, which was favored by the USA experts prior to the actual decision to continue the French effort at the present location.  Another was the fact that Panama was a part of Colombia when the French began the canal.  It became an independent country through a bloodless coup prior to signing an agreement with the USA (and with the assistance of the USA).

     We took the tender ashore and shopped in the market close to the tender dock.  We found some wooden salad bowls we liked, and I bought some CDs of the local music to take home with us.  I would have done that more often, but I rarely saw music for sale where we shopped.  The town looked poor; the people were nice.  The children were all begging for a "dollar".   

                

     Other activities available on board were ping pong; exercise (aerobics, stretch, walk, kick boxing, and others); a Daily Quiz; Ring Toss, Uno, and Scattergories games, plus bridge, backgammon, and poker; shuffleboard and paddle tennis; volley ball; Bingo; religious services and Friends of Bill W. meetings; movies on TV or in their theatre; complete spa services; presentations about jewelry and gemstones; lectures on the ports we would be visiting; a nice library; a puzzle room with a 2,000 piece puzzle about half finished; casino; an art gallery and art auction; football toss; Taboo game; pet lovers' get together; golf chipping; yoga; and on and on.  The Daily Program listed all the activities for that day with the time and location of each.  We received our Daily Program in the evening after dinner. 

     The dress code was casual, and we met in the Crow's Nest at 5pm.  The ship weighed anchor at 6pm, and we set sail for the Panama Canal.  We all had dinner together in the dining room.  (Anyone could choose to eat in the Lido for any meal, and it was always casual dress there.)

     The evening's entertainment was the Marimba Mamas, two ladies who were much older than they looked.  They entertained us for about an hour, and then we went to the Explorer's Lounge.  Our boating friends, from TX and FL, tended to rise and to retire sooner than we did.  We moved our clocks ahead one hour at 2am, now back to Houston time.  We had a clock on the wall in our stateroom, and it changed time without us having to do anything to it.

At Sea, Tuesday, October 15, 2002

     The Daily Program gave a little history of Holland America.  The cruise line dates back to 1871, so it is 132 years old.  We received brochures in our cabin on the other cruises they offer, and Don Thomson attended a meeting of their Mariners Society (club for frequent cruise guests).  He said they were offering nice discounts for cruises coming up in the near future.

     It was a rainy, overcast day, with a temperature of 76F.  Our depth was 2,300 meters/6,900 feet.  I met Daniel and played backgammon with him for about an hour; our scores were tied.  Willie Friar gave her lecture on the country of Panama; it was very interesting.  We had lunch in The Lido.

     There was another Health Update left in our rooms.  This one stated several measures they were taking to prevent the spread of the virus, such as: suspending the dance host program, closing the Jacuzzis, serving only individual snacks in the bars rather than having nuts in bowls, etc., discontinuing the loaning of magazines and paperback books, taking salt and pepper shakers and drink menus off the tables, and offering plastic gloves for anyone who wished them in the casino.  They also asked passengers who had the NLV symptoms to stay in their cabins until 72 hours after the disappearance of their symptoms.  The use of chlorine to clean the cabins and public areas was evident from the smell of the chlorine.

     In the afternoon we stayed in our stateroom. we read, played backgammon, and watched a movie on the television.  It was called "The Shipping News".  We had read the book a few years ago and enjoyed seeing the movie.

     The dress code was Informal, meaning dress or blouse and slacks for the ladies.  We spent Happy Hour at the usual bar, and we had dinner in the La Fontaine dining room.  Dinner included main courses of Pan Roasted Snapper Filet, Roast Duck Breast, Veal Piccata, Vegetarian Curry "Madras", New York Sirloin Steak, or Swordfish Steak.  I just picked that night at random; every night's menu was equally inviting.  We usually had 4 - 5 choices for an appetizer, three choices for a soup, two hot and one cold, two salad choices, and about ten alternatives for dessert.

     The evening's entertainment was the very best juggler I had ever seen.  He won a gold medal at the 2000 Olympics in Montreal.  His hair stuck out at odd angles, a deliberate style we think is associated with some of the young people today.  His attitude was "in your face", but he was fabulous.  Mike Price was his name.

Panama Canal, Panama, Wednesday, October 16, 2002

     The big day finally arrived, and we were to go through the Panama Canal.  It was the "reason" for the cruise, and the cruise was named the Panama Canal Cruise, as is this report.  Of course it was much more, but this was a special day.  The weather started out to be overcast and humid, but it improved to a pretty nice, warm day.

     We were up at 6am, and I started our video tape on Channel 24 about that time.  What we could see on the television was the Bridge of the Americas, which was the only bridge we would go under in our transit of the Canal.  We were told you could get on that bridge and go north to Alaska, but not really very far to the south.  I was surprised at how far we traveled with land on both sides of us before we came to the locks (and I had that same impression on the other end of the canal).  The city of Panama City was on our right, but not very close to us.  There were ships anchored all around us as we made our approach to the channel and the bridge.

     After we got dressed we went forward and got photos of the ship going under the bridge, the channel itself (looking much like a canal channel anywhere else we had been, although with plenty of green and red markers), and eventually the Miraflores Locks.  There were three locks on each end of the canal, but on the Pacific end there were two called the Miraflores Locks and one called the Pedro Miguel Lock.  The total lift of all three was 85 feet.  The ship served coffee, orange juice, and Panama Rolls on each of the viewing areas. 

     The lift in those locks was not all that impressive, since we have been lifted higher by single locks on the Tenn-Tom Waterway and the Tennessee River; but its traffic was impressive since so many long-range ships use the canal.  Likewise, the lock dimensions (1,000 feet long and 110 feet wide) were not all that impressive, as we have been in larger locks.  But those locks were built in 1914, and they still work very well today.  The overall accomplishment of the Panama Canal, including the jungle, the disease, the earth movement, the dams and locks, and it's significance to world trade is monumental.  Willie Friar said there were jungles nearby that have yet to be penetrated by modern man, and their was no travel route through them.  Over 850,000 ships have passed through the Canal carrying more than 6 billion tons of cargo.

     Our schedule said we would go through the locks commencing at 7am, and we approached the first gate right at 7.  Holland America was indeed impressive in adhering to their schedule.  Between the two lock bays there was an orange arrow with a green tip that pointed to the lock the ship was supposed to use. In the photograph the small rowboat used to make the first connection of cable to ship can be seen.  

     Angela and I spent some time of the front of Deck 6, where we were high enough to see the "mules" (electric locomotives) connected to the sides of the ship.  These mules did not pull the ship forward; as I understand it the ship moved forward under its own power.  (Maybe the ship just provided the initial start to the movement and the mules took over after that.)  The mules also did not keep the ship in the middle of the lock, although they may have helped in that regard.  (Our ship was 780 feet long and 105.8, call it 106, feet wide; and it did rub against the lock walls from time to time.  It weighed 61,000 tons.)

     One of the strangest things about the operations of the locks concerned the initial connecting of lines between the "mules" and the ship.  As we approached the lock, a rowboat with two people in it approached the bow.  (Why a rowboat, why not a powerboat?  Or why not throw the line from the lock wall, or have some more mechanized way to make the first connection?)  As I understand it the men on the ship throw a line to one of the two men in the rowboat, using a knot at the end of the line called a "monkey-fist".  The man in the rowboat ties that line to a heavier line which the two men pulled with them from the dock.  That line is pulled aboard the ship, followed by the cable ends from the mule, two per mule, which are then attached to the ship.  (One of the video tapes we bought said they had tried different methods, and that one seemed to work the best.)   

     Four mules were alongside the ship on each side, I believe.  There were hired line handlers from the Canal on each vessel to do this work, and the vessel was required to have them and to pay for them.  That same arrangement was true for pilots on all vessels transiting the canal.  

     We were told the fee for our ship to transit the Canal was $158,000.  For recreational vessels, it was $500 for under 50 feet in length, $750 for boats 50 to 80 feet, $1,000 for boats 80 to 100 feet, and $1,500 for 100-foot boats.  After that it was $1.43 per displacement ton through $2.57 per Panama Canal Net Ton. 

     We saw the control building in between the locks, with the name "Miraflores Locks", and the date "1913".   Off to our right we could see the dam that contained the water in Miraflores Lake and provided a way to discharge that water around the locks.  

     

     After going through the two locks at Miraflores, the ship moved one mile to the Pedro Miguel Lock and was raised into the main channel or lake, called Gatun Lake.  The total length of the canal transit was about 50 miles, and most of that was on that lake.  We then went through the Gaillard (or Culebra) Cut, where the most excavation had to be made.  That is where the canal was the most narrow and the side walls were the highest.  The problem with the side walls there is they continue to want to slide into the water.  So improvements since the canal opened have been necessary and are ongoing to prevent and repair the damage from landslides.  Southbound ships actually waited for us to clear the Cut before they proceeded in order to allow us and them enough room to pass each other.  (We were northbound, strange as it seems - actually our direction was a little west of north.)  

   

     There was a large lake (Alhajuela Lake) and dam (Madden Dam) off to our right, up in the mountains, built to hold rainwater and discharge it to Gatun Lake and keep the water level up for the benefit of transiting ships.  (The Canal would accept ships with up to 39.5 feet of draft.)  That water entered the canal through the channel of the Chagres River, which used to go all the way to the Atlantic Ocean before the canal flooded it under the lake.  So all of the water in the entire length of the canal was fresh water, and 26 million gallons were lost to the sea whenever a ship went up or down through a set of the locks.

     

     We walked around the ship and took a photo with one of our faithful waiters, Dennis.  He was a star in the Filipino Crew Show.  We took a photo of Angela on the aft deck, with some freighters in the background.  Gatun Lake was huge; it was the largest man-made lake in the world when it was built.

     We went to the bow of the ship and took some photographs.  We waved at the closed circuit television camera mounted on the bridge, which showed up on our video tape.  We changed our video tape, had lunch, and then watched the passing scenery some more.  We saw Marco, the video cameraman, and talked to him about his video.

     Eventually we came to the other end of the canal, and we saw the top, at least, of the Gatun Dam.  When it was built it was the largest earthen dam in the world, and much of the excavation from the Cut went into creating the dam.  It allowed the overflow from the Chagres River to proceed to the ocean, and because it was a hydroelectric dam it produced electricity used in operating the locks. 

     We entered Gatun Locks with a tanker on our left and a container ship ahead of us.   Both of them barely fit into the locks.  The container ship was really loaded with containers stacked high on the decks.  

     The three locks at Gatun are all in flight, and there was a low bridge at the lower end of the flight.  The bridge was in several sections, and the two sections directly in front of either of the locks had to be moved out of the way to let a ship out of the lock.  Vehicles proceeding from east to west in front of us used a tunnel under the concrete abutment for the lock we were in.  Another short tunnel section was under the center section of the concrete lock structure.  The only bridge crossing the Panama Canal was the Bridge of the Americas at the Pacific end of the canal.  

       


       

     We were through the system at 4pm, ahead of schedule.  Again I was impressed at how far we traveled in a canal after we exited the lock.  We saw an old lighthouse on the east bank, followed by an alligator sunning himself on our right.  We went to the rear of the ship and took photos of the set of three locks at Gatun. 

       

     At the Pacific end of the Canal we saw the high-rise buildings of the City of Panama, which were very modern looking and impressive, al least from the distance.  On the Atlantic, or Caribbean side, we saw the Port of Cristobal and the City of Colon, which looked nice as well.  We did not stop but headed for Cartegena, Colombia.

     The day's dress was casual, but we celebrated Jim's birthday in the Odyssey Restaurant in jackets but no ties.  Again the food was good, but the service was slow for a few of the plates.  They offered two lobster tails as an entree, which Ed and several of us ordered.  While we were waiting for one of the ladies' plates to be served, Ed ordered another pair of lobster tails.  Then he ordered two more, so in all he ate six lobster tails!  Because of the delays we had to skip the dessert to get to the Queen's Lounge for the 8:30 curtain on the evening's entertainment.  Jeff Harnar sang again and gave a nice performance.  We spent a little time at the Explorer's Lounge (we needed to get our chocolates!) and left there at 10pm.

Cartagena, Colombia, Thursday, October 17, 2002

     We arrived in the Cartegena area around 6am, and I was up to see us gliding past multiples islands and forts.  We were docked at 8am, and as soon as we were cleared to go ashore, our tour of the city began.  There were about 30 buses, generally smaller than the typical busses we see in the USA, transporting 20 people each on a tour of the city and surrounding area.  It was the first of three city tours that we booked; we finally understood the value of the Shore Excursion Program.

     Our tour guide was the best of the three we had, and he was very friendly and excited to welcome us to Colombia.  He said he knew all we heard about Colombia was about drug lords and violence, but he wanted to assure us that most of his countrymen were loving and hard-working, honest people.  He took us first to the 135-foot high fortress of Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas, just outside the city walls.  We spent a while there, and it was so steep climbing up there that some people stayed on the street or in the bus.  Apparently Cartegena has been a battleground for centuries, and its history is full of stories of attacks and defensive ideas and plans.

     The City itself is on an island connected to the mainland by a bridge.  In order to protect itself, the City had built a wall around itself and also erected forts on the outlying islands we passed on our way in.  One or more of the entrances to the port via water had been blocked by placing obstructions under the surface, and they had used a large chain across the main channel to stop intruding boats.  (The country is very mountainous, and attack from the sea was the most likely threat.)  The main city reminded me of what I had seen of Panama City from a distance -  a low-lying city of high-rises on a thin peninsula or island with water all around.

     It was the hottest day of our cruise, but our bus was well air-conditioned.  The street vendors were very aggressive, but they were not physical or threatening.  Each one wore a nametag with a photograph, indicating their license from the city to be a street vendor.  The shopping area where we stopped specialized in the sale of emeralds and other jewelry.  We bought a few small items on the street but stayed out of the big stores.

     We saw various neighborhoods which merited special attention.  In the older part of town the streets were very small, and two were picturesque enough to warrant photographs.  (Photo 130)  (Photo 131) The streets were very clean.  We went up a very steep hill to a former convent, where the view of the City was fantastic.  (Photo 132)  (Photo 133)  (Photo 134) 

     

     

     We left the dock at 1:30pm, and on the way out we passed several more of the forts that had been built to protect the city from attack from the sea.  The afternoon passed quickly.  I played backgammon with Daniel, the violinist from Montreal.  We got on well. 

     We dressed for dinner - Informal - and met our friends in the Crow's Nest at 5pm as usual.  We had dinner in the La Fontaine dining room, and for some reason several of the deserts appealed to me.  So, I ordered about four of them. Then my "friends" started passing me their desserts, just to make me look bad in this picture.  

     After dinner we saw a magic act by The Diamonds at 8:30pm. The principal magician was really funny, too.  After that we finished our evening at the Explorer's Lounge.

Williamstad, Curacao, Friday, October 18, 2002

     We turned our clocks ahead one hour during the night, so we were then on Ft. Lauderdale time.  We slept late to make up for that hour of lost sleep. The ship docked In Curacao at 12 noon, and we had lunch in The Lido.  Our guided tour was at 1:30pm.

     Williamstad was a most unusual city with a canal from the sea leading into a harbor in the middle of the island. The harbor was very large, and it could not be seen from the sea.  They had refineries and tankers there, and we saw them by going over a high bridge.  Those tankers had to pass under the bridge to get to the harbor, so you can imagine how high it was.  The tourist area was a few blocks away from the cruise ship dock, and the major portion of the town was across the canal.  To get people across the canal, there was a foot bridge that was pulled out of the way whenever a ship needed to pass through the canal. They also had ferries moving people back and forth.  

     There was a "Floating Market" across the canal, so named because boats from Venezuela tied up there and sold fresh food and produce right from the decks of their boats.  The annual rainfall in Curacao was only 30 inches, so fresh crops from Venezuela were very important to the townspeople.

     The city was settled by the Dutch, and many of the residents that we encountered spoke that language.  The island was still a part of Holland, but Aruba had become an independent country.  We saw an outdoor aquarium that was very interesting.  Our tour guide was a lady from the area.  She was not hard to understand, but her loudspeaker system was too loud.  It was hot, and our bus was not well air-conditioned.  We shopped for a few minutes at the little shops near the cruise ship.

     

     There were six islands there that used to be Dutch.  The three largest were called the ABC islands, with Aruba as the westernmost, Curacao next, and Bonaire last.  All the activity on those islands was on the south side, the side closest to Venezuela.  The north side was too windy and too salty, and the waves were too rough.  Our cruise ship dock was just off the island and not in the harbor.  We saw a manta ray swimming in the water, and others reported turtles at several of our stops.

     We showered and changed for the evening; the dress was casual.  We took advantage of the opportunity to eat bar-be-que around the midships pool on the Lido Deck at 6:30pm.  The cooks were cooking outside, the sliding roof was open, a band was playing, and two of the kitchen staff carved large ice sculptures while we watched.  It was a different kind of evening and very enjoyable.

     At 8pm we watched a movie in the Queen's Lounge, "The Sum of All Fears", a Tom Clancy novel.  It lasted two hours and was good.  At 10pm there was a fireworks display for us from the shore as we pulled away from the dock.  We appreciated the significance of a Holland America ship in that Dutch territory.

     We went to the Explorer's Lounge for a little while, but the Indonesian crew put on a show at 11pm.  We went to that and were glad we did.  For those who missed it, the show was taped and shown on the television repeatedly for the next twelve hours or so.  The same was true of the Filipino crew show, the various lectures, and the shopping and port tour advisories.  In that way they tried to accommodate those who preferred to retire early or missed for some other reason.

Oranjestad, Aruba, Saturday, October 19, 2002

     The distance from Curacao to Aruba was only 72 miles, so we were there and well tied up at 7am.  Our city tour began at 8:15am, so we were up and fed early.  Our tour guide also drove the bus, which was a first for us.  On the two preceding city tours those functions were performed by two different people.  Where Curacao got 30 inches of rain per year, Aruba got only 15 inches.  During the few months of rainy season, it rained for 15 minutes per day on a few days of the week.  So all their drinking water was made from the sea; and the desalinization plant was a large employer, as was their national beer company, located conveniently right next to the water plant.  Average monthly water bill was reportedly $100.

     We went to the north shore to see a "natural bridge".  It was a place where the surf had undermined the rocky coast and come inland under the rock.  There were about 15 or so of those "natural bridges".  There used to be a gold mine near there on the north shore.  Otherwise, it was so windy and salty that not even grass would grow.  The volcanic rock was everywhere in small and large stones.  We visited one place where the rocks were all piled up, naturally somehow; and a park had been made there.  We climbed up to the top of the rocks, and Marco took some video footage of us for the ship's video.  The island was about six miles wide; we could see both coasts and our cruise ship from there.  

     

     The downtown area of Aruba was the nicest of any of our ports of call, I think.  The buildings were very ornate and brightly painted.  There was a fancy casino in the middle of all the shopping.  We met Danny and his wife, Haydee, both of them were servers to us in different places, as they returned to the ship from an afternoon ashore.  

     

     There was a nice marina there, and construction had begun on a new hotel complex next to the cruise dock.  It was a pretty place. There was a large, attractive sailboat docked right in front of us, in very pretty water. 

     It was hot, too.  The big hotels and resorts were located on the south side of the island to the west of our cruise ship dock.  We passed by a number of them on our city tour.  There was one very nice beach, but I suspect it was manmade.  Generally the land was desert-like, and the sand was coarse and rough.

     The ship pulled out at 2pm.  We had lunch in The Lido and began to pack the two suitcases we had in our stateroom.  We wanted to get a start on wrapping our purchases for the trip home.  We rested, read, checked internet email, and checked out the Art Gallery to see if there was anything of interest to us.

     At 5:30 we met our friends in the Crow's Nest.  The dress code was casual.  The Daily Program for Saturday said "We kindly, but firmly, ask all passengers who become ill (as well as the person who shares the cabin) to isolate themselves in their cabins and to remain there for 72 hours after you feel well again (i.e. after the symptoms have disappeared).  The virus can only be eradicated if cross contamination is stopped."

     The evening's meal was a celebration of the Dutch heritage of the cruise line. At each table there was a white Dutch hat for each of the ladies and a black billed cap for the men.  We wore them during the meal, as did our servers.  Just prior to going to the dining room, our bar waiters and waitresses in the Crow's Nest presented us with special white hats for each of our ladies.  Each one was colorfully hand painted with both of our names and each of their names, the name of the ship, and the dates of the voyage.  Our ladies wore them proudly into the dining room and throughout the meal.  All the other ladies' hats looked plain by comparison.  Which proves something about the value of going to the same bar every night, I think.  

       

    Ed Hearon liked hot dogs with chili, and he made a point of telling our chief steward, I Putu Mahendra, they didn't have any good chili on board the ship.  One day they mentioned chili in a menu item, but Ed was disappointed when he ordered it.  There were a few strips of "chilies", slices of peppers, not the chili with beans Ed was looking for.  So Ed looked for and bought a can of chili on his shore excursion in Aruba. When I Putu came by to check on us, Ed presented the can to him, to show him what real chili was like. 

     The evening's entertainment was a comedian named Tom Drake.  He was from New Jersey and played that up a lot in his jokes.  He had some good lines.  We went to the Explorer's Lounge for a short while, and then we went to the Rockin' Rolldies Show in the Queen's Lounge.  It was a spoof of a 50's-music party broadcast on a radio station, followed by a twist contest and dancing to oldies music.

At Sea, Sunday, October 20, 2002

     It was hard to imagine we could leave Aruba at 2pm and be at the island in the Bahamas, almost 900 miles away, one and a half days later; but that's about what we did.  We cruised at a fast clip, averaging over 21 knots during that leg of the cruise.

     At 9am it was 82F, 83% humidity, and the barometer was 29.9 and rising, according to Channel 30.  We attended the Disembarkation Talk in the Queen's Lounge by Chris Jurasas, our Cruise Director, followed by a crew farewell that was touching and very nice.  It was well attended and crowded in that theatre.  

     The Captain invited the suite Guests to a lunch in the Crow's Nest, so we attended; and it was very good. We sat with a couple from Seattle, WA.  They had been on many cruises, it seemed, and had traveled all over the world.  He was retired from Boeing and was quite a talker - an interesting person to visit with.  The food and service were excellent.

     At 2pm we toured the Bridge, due to the special request and diligence of Don Thomson, who wrote a letter to the captain.  The First Officer showed the ten of us around the bridge, and he gave us a sheet with many facts about the M/S AMSTERDAM.  We found out the ship carried over 900,000 gallons of diesel fuel and had not filled up since leaving Seattle.  It used about 100 gallons per mile. 

     We passed between Cuba on our left and Haiti on our right, about the time we were on the bridge.  It was very interesting to see their charts and radar, and to hear that all their waypoints had been programmed into their GPS before they left Seattle.  On our cruise one of the crew was putting in all the waypoints for the 108-day World Cruise, which was due to depart in January.

     We resumed our packing and reading, and that evening we had our last Formal Night.  We had not liked some of our formal clothes pictures, so we tried again to get photos made that we might like to buy and take home for souvenirs.  We met our friends as usual and dined in the dining room as usual.  That night sticks out in my memory because I ordered four of the five choices for appetizers.  They included caviar, prawn and other seafood cocktail, goose liver pate, and hot escargots.  I think I also ordered a few deserts, but I'm not sure about that.  There were, I admit, one or two nights that I had more than one desert.  But I only gained a couple of pounds on the cruise, so I was pleased about that.  Angela didn't gain any weight.

     The evening's entertainment was the final production from the Amsterdam cast, called Jazz-ma-tazz.  It was loud, colorful, and good.  We finished our evening in the usual way in the Explorer's Lounge. We were presented with some little favors by our usual bar waiters and waitresses.  They were handmade and very cute.  They expressed a warmth of feeling between us that probably encouraged us to tip more, but we appreciated Holland America's policy in that area.  No tipping was required, although tipping was certainly allowed.  Some other cruise lines calculate a tip and add it to the passenger's bill, so there would be little financial incentive for better service.  We may have spent more this way, but we received excellent service throughout the cruise.  The crew were constantly going out of their way to make our cruise more pleasant.   

           


                      

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas, Monday, October 21, 2002

       The ship anchored at Half Moon Cay (also known as Little San Salvador) about 8am, and tender service ashore commenced soon afterwards.  We ate some breakfast in our room and went ashore about 11am.  The tenders entered a cut through the coral and mangrove to a small marina with floating docks and a few other boats.  The island was great, with soft white sand, beautiful clear water, and lunch prepared by the crew from the ship.  We got wet (it was hot), sunbathed, read, had lunch, took photos, got wet (Angela loved the water), and returned to the ship about 2pm.  See the Half Moon Cay brochure, Page 1 and Page 2, for the layout and activities available on the island.

     

     We showered and changed and resumed packing.  I returned a backgammon game I had checked out; Angela returned a book.  I checked email and used up my package of minutes.  We went to see our photographs and bought more than we planned, but they were much better than earlier photos.  The ship pulled up the anchor and departed at 4pm. From our television it seemed our path took us along the eastern coast of Eleuthera with Cat Island to the east of us.   We wore casual dress to the Crow's Nest at 5pm.

     Dinner that evening was special because it was our last dinner and the dessert was Baked Alaska.  The waiters brought a plate of Baked Alaska up from the kitchen, one plate per table, all at one time in a procession.  The room lights were turned off, and a sparkler was burning in the top of each dessert.  It was impressive.  Then the cooks all came up and took a bow for the food on the cruise.  Everyone was feeling good about the successful cruise that was just about to end.

     The evening's entertainment was some more of the Marimba Mamas followed by the comedy of Tom Drake.  After that we went to the Explorer's Lounge.  That evening was the logical time to pass out tips to some of our favorites in the crew.

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA, Tuesday, October 22, 2002

     We were scheduled to arrive in Ft. Lauderdale at 8am, but at the Disembarkation talk Chris said we would be there by about 5:30am.  They wanted us to leave our suitcases outside our rooms the night before, except for a carry-on, and be fully out of our rooms by 7:30am.  So we did that and ate breakfast in The Lido, as did most everyone else.  It was an exciting, busy time.

     As we were suite guests, we could disembark whenever we wanted, so we left shortly after 8am.  Clearing Customs and Immigration was easy.  We got a ride from a yacht broker who showed us a couple of boats.  Then he took us to the Ft. Lauderdale airport for our 11:25am flight.

     It was a Great Cruise!