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Panama Cruise--2012: Part 1  Part 2 >> Part 3 >>  Part 4 >> Part 5 >> Part 6 >> Part 7 >> Part 8 >> 
Part 9 >> Part 10 >> Part 11 >> Part 12 >>

We decided to take a Holland America 28-day cruise from Ft. Lauderdale through the Panama Canal to San Diego and back. It's been several months since we returned from our world cruise, also with Holland America, and we find ourselves comparing this ship, the Statendam, with the Amsterdam, the world cruise ship.

This ship is 50' shorter, but it's arranged more or less the same. The Dutch captain, Albert
Schoonderbeek, is the historian for Holland America. 

The nautically themed stained glass walls in the dining area are interesting. There are fresh flower arrangements around the ship, but not nearly so many nor so grand as on the world cruise.

We really love the Van Gogh-like Starry Starry Night theme of the mosaics in the Theater at Sea. The colors are repeated in the rugs and lamps.

  

And speaking of the theater, there is some type of entertainment each night. The best shows happen on the days at sea. This particular one was a "Bob Mackie Night on Broadway" with Mackie-designed costumes and a wide assortment of show numbers.  On the whole, very well done. Over the length of the cruise we enjoyed, virtuoso violin and guitar players, magicians, and other performers including one guy who played a variety of instruments including a turkey baster. 

The mid-ship Lido pool has a retractable roof, so it can be open on sunny days or closed during the rainy ones and at night. It's a pleasant space to hang out in the real air and often with a nice breeze.

On the Amsterdam, the pool sculpture was a pair of bears, while the Statendam has a dolphin sculpture. 

On the world cruise a Chinese Tai Chi master led a full hour of exercise, while here the pseudo Tai Chi is led by the lifestylist for about 25 minutes. (A lifestylist also leads swim exercises, stretches, sit and be fit, and gives lectures on better living. He's in the orange shirt.)  I've been participating in the morning sessions on sea days after a full workout in the fitness room and a light breakfast. 

Our room stewards often provide us with towel animals with our evening chocolate. We thought the elephant was cute.

The travel guide gives lectures on each of our stops, which we attend and so that's a small summary of how we spend our days. 

Now on to the trip...

Our itinerary is fairly simple: from Ft. Lauderdale through the Panama Canal to San Diego and back with a variety of stops. We left at 5:30pm on Friday Oct. 12, and most of the next day we traveled along the northern coast of Cuba.

 

<< Dark clouds hovered over Cuba most of the day. We never got close enough to see anything more than some distant hills.

Our first port of call, Aruba, is the westernmost of the Windward Islands. A local pilot boarded our ship as we approach the docking area.

 

The view from the ship of Oranjestad, our port. The island is about 20 miles long and 6 miles wide at its widest part.

 

 

 

 

 

Aruba is definitely set up as a tourist destination and it calls itself "One happy island" as the sign on the port terminal building indicates. The four-pointed star is to welcome people from all corners of the globe.

The view from the ship of the Oranjestad skyline. The pink confection of a building is left over from colonial days and it now houses stores and offices.

More on the town below...

 

Our stay is short, from 9:30am until 5:30pm. We had heard that snorkeling and diving were good here, but the day was too short for diving and we did not know how we would arrange for snorkeling here on our own. So we were first off the ship and we jumped on a local bus that traveled northward, to check out the situation where the best snorkeling was supposed to be. 

People were friendly and quite helpful including this lady on the bus. >>


The beaches are tropically picturesque.


We loved this iguana. He stopped to pose for Dean before scampering into the wooded area.

The thorny acacia trees, known locally as divi divi trees, are everywhere on the island. 

 

    

As you scan back from the beaches in the dune areas, you can see how dry things are. Aruba has no natural water source, so they built a huge desalinization plant to support the population.

   

California Lighthouse stands near the northernmost end of the island. It was constructed after a ship named USS California was wrecked on this coast. The houses in this section of the island are well-appointed and some have tall cactus fences and many are adorned with tropical flowers.

  

 

Not nearly as large as the iguana, this lizard with its iridescent turquoise spots is almost a foot long.

The snorkel boats are just off shore, so we decided to come back with our gear and just swim out to the reef.

We took this "we are here" photo while waiting for the next bus. It's about a half hour ride and the buses run the circuit once an hour during the day.

 

 

So we did snorkel, but why people raved about it was not evident to us, at least where we were. Yes there were lots of fish, a few sponges, a small moray eel, and a little coral. Maybe if we'd swum farther out, it would have been more interesting.  We took the bus back, took a shower and headed out for an hour of Internet at a Starbucks, a short walk from the dock.

There are many diamond dealers in town and what I didn't notice until I looked at this photo, is how many security cameras are installed. Here are some views of the town of Oranjestad on my way to and from the Starbucks.


The Paddock Restaurant boasts quite an interesting and odd display from an extended VW Beetle to the dinosaur and dairy cow on its roof.

A narrow waterway enters the mall from under this bridge. 
It's sorta like San Antonio, but it was not built for boats. >>

The Starbucks is in an inside/outside mall at the base of a Marriott Hotel. It provided adequate speed. It was good to catch up on email.

 

<< From the other side of the bridge the water leads out to the beautiful harbor that welcomes sailors and cruisers alike.

We'll spend one day at sea and then we'll spend a whole 8 hours going through the canal. We'll be taking photos from every angle...

On to the Panama Canal... >>

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