DAY 5 — January 8, 2017 — Cruising the Caribbean to the Panama Canal

In this day of instant communications, the idea of taking a long sea voyage could give some people high anxiety because satellite Internet access on the high seas can be spotty, slow, and EXPENSIVE.  How can we live without that instant access to Facebook, Twitter, MGoBlue page, or whatever it is that makes us feel connected to the people and things we love?

Cruise lines are gradually making some much needed changes to help keep their customers happy.  Some are testing the viability of giving unlimited free satellite Internet access to social media sites like Facebook.  Some are even starting to offer free Internet access across the board.  HAL is not giving anything free yet.  But I do have to say, the Internet service for which I am paying 25 cents/minute is easier to sign on to and off of and a lot faster than it used to be.  In addition, HAL has developed a free shipboard WiFi app, called Navigator, that allows you to see what is happening on board each day, plan your day’s activities, schedule spa appointments, make dinner reservations, look at menus, book shore excursions, and monitor your shipboard account all from your smartphone or tablet.  It is also the portal from which you can easily jump into to your paid satellite Internet account.  And, because HAL partners with the New York Times, we also have complimentary access to a variety of NYT articles and features.  So now we have a reason to keep looking at the electronic device we are carrying around because it is also our CAMERA.  I’m not sure that's a good thing but the app has turned out to be quite useful.  

DAY 6 — January 9, 2017 — The PANAMA CANAL

Ah, the Panama Canal!  Where the sun seems to rise in the west and set in the east.   Where the impossible became possible.  How American engineering and Yankee can-do-it-ness made all the difference.  This is our third visit to the Panama Canal but passing through will never get old.  The Panama Canal story is an amazing saga of how human ingenuity, courage, and nature were merged together over a 400 year period. David McCullough’s masterpiece, The Path Between the Seas, has long enthralled us with the story of the long, arduous early French efforts (1841-1894) to replicate the canal that had been so easy for them to construct in the sand at Suez.  Then the Americans stepped in and knocked out the project within 10 years by systematically and methodically solving a series of seemingly insurmountable issues.  How?

1) Support a revolution.  Don’t have rights to use the land?  Simple.  Send in US warships to block Colombian troop ships that are en route to stop a Panamanian rebellion.  Independence is declared within two days.  The US recognizes the new country immediately and three days later is granted rights to use the land for a canal indefinitely.

2) Make it a safer place to live and work.  Yellow Fever, Malaria, and accidents killed 20,000 workers on the French project.   How to prevent that?  The US sends in a sanitation officer who, aware of the mosquito-disease connection made by Walter Reed, spends an intensive two years improving sanitation, fumigating buildings, spraying with larval insecticides, installing mosquito netting and screens, and eliminating stagnant water.  Not everyone thought the efforts were necessary but within the two years, the mosquito-spread diseases were nearly eliminated.  Better housing, infrastructure, cafeterias , and hospitals were built improving the overall living conditions.

3) Choose a design that works.  Over the years, a sea-level canal had been favored by every group of engineers that had studied the project.  But those who actually experienced the area during high floods knew that new thinking was needed.  A lock-dam-reservoir system was proposed and Theodore Roosevelt finally bought into the design in 1906.  All the French plans and equipment were thrown out and newer and more powerfully built American-made equipment was brought in to do the work better and faster.  For seven more years the engineering and excavation work continued until October 10, 2013 when the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans were finally joined. 

The canal officially opened August 15, 1914, 401 years after Vasco Núñez de Balboa first crossed the isthmus of Panama.  It cost $375 million, which would be about $8.6 billion in today’s dollars.  This is a fantastic story of failures and successes, good ideas and really bad ones, and the triumph of American know-how in the end.  This is the kind of thing some may be thinking of when they say they want America to be great again.   But then, I would have to refer them to another favorite book of mine, The Good Old Days: They Were Terrible because, in terms of overall human conditions, we definitely do not want those days back.

This is a large cargo ship traveling next to us through the NEW locks of the Panama Canal, which opened in 2016.  Ships pay their passage through the canal based on vessel type, size, and type of cargo.  Cruise ships pay by the number of beds occupied and un-occupied.   Our captain reported our cost of passage to be about $300,000.  In 1928, Richard Halliburton swam through the canal for 36 cents.

The Panama Canal Optical Illusion.  The water levels indicated by the red arrows are at the same level.  The water in the lock indicated by the yellow arrow is 27 feet higher than the water in the canal on the left and the water behind the lock’s gate.

DAY 7 — January 10, 2017 — Cruising the North Pacific Ocean

Sea days give us the time to explore activities we might not otherwise seek out.  On the second day of the voyage, I went to see a demonstration of how the Amsterdam horticultural staff puts together its beautiful floral centerpieces found around the ship.  I was impressed by the ease with which they can put together such stunning displays.  It turns out that most of the displays are very pot dependent.  In other words, it is the container that makes the work effortless.  And, of course, we, too, could be amazing floral arrangers if we had the right pots.  And, voila!  Here is an opportunity to purchase one of only 100 that were specially designed for the Holland America line with only 7 of them available to us here on the ms Amsterdam.    Everything becomes a revenue opportunity.  I bought one, of course.

Today, Ron and I and decided to take a dance lesson in Single Step Jive/Swing.  It’s the kind of step that we can use to dance to most of the music we like to listen to, so why not?  More women than men come to the dance classes. Big surprise.  All the women form a big circle around a small circle of men who had to work pretty hard to give everyone a chance to try out the steps they were learning.  It was a lot of laughs and not too strenuous.  You did have to hold hands with a lot of people you might not have otherwise.  No one sold anything, making Ron very happy.

DAY 8—January 11, 2017—Puntarenas,  COSTA RICA

Well, that was fast.  Ron spent all last night in the bathroom, stopped by the Medical Center for advice and within minutes he was given medication but was QUARANTINED to his cabin for a minimum of 24 hours.  The quarantine does not apply to other people in the cabin (not yet, anyway) so I happily waved goodbye and set off on a shore excursion that we had planned with four other couples.  I thought we probably would have a few weeks before either of us got sick, but, wow.  Holland America does not mess around.  They want all illnesses contained immediately. While I was out, a safety officer came into the cabin in haz-mat gear and disinfected the entire cabin.  They checked on him often and had food and drinks delivered.  He got a chance to stay in bed, recover from this hectic cruise ship schedule, finish a book, and visit his pillow port (that’s “take a nap” in cruise ship talk, I have learned).  Heh.  By the time I got back at 4:30pm, the meds had kicked in and he was feeling a lot better.  By the next morning, Ron was good enough to be cleared and I haven’t gotten anything . . . yet.  He obviously didn’t have the dreaded Norovirus because that takes a few days and a lot of personal agony before recovery is complete, so that may still be in our future.  In thinking back on the previous 24 hours, he did hold hands with a lot of women.  Hmmm.

I had a great day in Costa Rica, though.  I researched and booked a small group shore excursion with a nice little tour group called Thumbs Up Tours.  Great people.  I can highly recommend them.  Costa Rica always offers beautiful experiences because the country is committed to preserving its natural resources and its tourism industry has become pretty sophisticated.  We had a number of gorgeous scenic stops to appreciate the country’s natural beauty and abundant wildlife, we all tried our hand at triple pressing the juice out of sugar cane,  had a wonderful countryside lunch, and took an exciting boat ride down the crocodile-infested Tarcoles River.   This was our third visit to Costa Rica, so Ron did not feel like he was missing out.  The day was lovely — breezy and warm but not HOT!  Thank you.

Our Crocodile Man Boat Tour guide jumped out of the boat to feed a crocodile, putting on a nice little show for all of us tourists.  We were encouraged NOT to try this at home.