Clever Magazine, Summer '05 "Panama Canal Cruise " (www.clevermag.com)

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Panama Canal
and the Western Caribbean

by Joyce Wade

The trip of a lifetime: that's what we now call it. We had always wanted to go through the Panama Canal, and this January we finally did it. We boarded the beautiful Coral Princess in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The ship was built in 2001 and was beautiful. We were on Deck 11 and had a balcony room. This trip was unusual due to the shore excursions we selected. We chose options other than strolling and shopping in the port towns, although we did our share of that.

Ports of Call: After a couple days at sea, we arrived at Limon,

Costa Rica

. We had a wonderful day there with a boat ride in the jungle in a very muddy river due to recent heavy rains. The guide did point out several birds and the trip was very interesting.

From there we went by bus to a tram ride over the Rain Forest canopy. The guide could have been a little more knowledgeable, but he was young, and we enjoyed him. His English was excellent, almost without any accent. The tram ride was long, and lasted maybe an hour and was very worthwhile. How many chances do you get to ride in a tram above a Rain Forest?

The Panama Canal traverse began at dawn. Linda, a fellow passenger and good friend, rapped on our door to be sure we were up so we wouldn't miss a thing.

The sun wasn't even up and we raced upstairs to an upper deck with cameras in hand. Ahead of us already in the locks, was another cruise ship, maybe the Carnival. We had coffee and took pictures as we slowly entered the locks and marveled at this engineering wonder. Over a set of three locks, we were elevated 85 ft. into Gatun Lake.

Since our trip was only 10 days, our cruise ship was turning around in Gatun Lake and going back the opposite way in the locks. We opted for a shore excursion that took us by bus in and around Panama City where we went to another pier and boarded a ferry. On the ferry we crossed Gatun Lake and entered the Mira Flores Locks which was a great experience. Being on a smaller vessel allowed us to really get a feel and look at the way the locks work. We were able to even touch the side walls of the Canal. After that trip through those locks were at the mouth of the Pacific. The ferry took us ashore where the bus took us back to our beautiful Coral Princess once again.

Arriving in Georgetown, Grand Cayman, we found a clean and lovely shore lined with beautiful tourist shops. Because it was Sunday, a lot of the shops were closed. We roamed in and out of a few shops picking up souvenir spoons, souvenir shirts, and souvenir shot glasses. I bought a very small Emerald pendant in a jewelry shop for $45. Then it was time to board our "mini-sub" for a great undersea view just offshore. There were 2 shipwrecks buried there, from around the 30's due to a hurricane.

A diver passed by the windows, feeding fish and attracted lots of them making for great pictures.

After the mini-sub we bussed to the Butterfly Farm. It was very pretty and interesting, all in netting of course. The guide was excellent and explained how the entire place was destroyed in the hurricane in Sept. of 2004, but had been completely restored. It was very unique and worthwhile.

After a day at sea, we arrived in Cozumel, Mexico. This was a wonderful trip to the Tulum Ruins, ancient Mayan ruins. The guide on the bus was of Mayan descent and excellent in his history of the Mayans and all they accomplished. The Tulum Ruins area is considered an astronomical ruin. The Mayans figured a way of tracking the planets, like Venus, through cut out windows in the rock dwellings. From this tracking of light at the same time each day, they devised the Mayan Calendar. It was actually based on a 28-day month.

We saw iguanas there, and explored the ruins on our own as well as listening to the guide's explanation. Just over the cliff, at the back of the ruins, is a gorgeous beach. Along the road to the ruins are many top grade resorts with golf and beach access. After the ruins, we were taken by bus, not far away, to the beautiful natural lagoon called Xel-Ha (Shell-Ha). You would have thought Disney created this, but it's a natural phenomenon of rocky shores fed with fresh water at the upper part and ocean water at the lower.

The lagoon was loaded with fish, and nice sandy walking paths with little sandy niches with lounges here and there. Tropical plants along the shore make it look like a movie set, complete with a floating bridge. You could opt to swim with the dolphins or just stroll around and enjoy the scenery. We enjoyed seeing the water, parrots, and having a nice lunch of taquitos with guacamole and margaritas while listening to three guys play the marimba.

Now onto Belize. Belize is a new port for the Princess, and was very interesting. We had booked an airboat ride in an Eco-swamp area. On the bus ride there, the guide explained that the average person in Belize earns about $75 a week. There are about 1 in 5 residents who are American. The residential area is fairly well divided into the poorer area and the not so poor area. The area that is better is inhabited by Americans and also political people in Belize.

The airboat ride was fun, not as good as what we had done in the Florida Everglades a few years ago, but worthwhile. Our guide was funny, a local named Garfield. He knew his birds! We each had a bird guide and he would point out a bird and then point to it on the guide over the roar of the airboat.

All in all, this was the trip of a lifetime and we enjoyed every minute of it, especially the side trips.

We felt we chose the ones that suited our interests the most and enjoyed everything we saw. The ship had many activities posted daily in the Princess Patter. We enjoyed the pottery class, Bingo, the Art Auction, the Night club shows, the spa, various seminars, and the FOOD! Check out Princess cruises for yourself and see what I mean.