Well, I am slowly getting ready to embark on a new adventure aboard Holland America's Zuiderdam. This will be a 10 night cruise including a partial Panama Canal transit which is on my husband's bucket list. HAL sent me a casino offer I couldn't refuse and after some discussion we upgraded to a corner aft Neptune Suite with a lovely wrap around balcony. We got a steal and to be truthful, on our 2 previous cruises HAL's casinos sucked, so I really didn't gamble near as much as I normally do. So, Thanks HAL!
We'll be flying to Fort Lauderdale on Thursday afternoon and staying overnight at the Hilton Marina. Hopefully we will be aboard the ship by noon on Friday. Here is our itinerary:
0 18 Mar 2016 Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US 04:00 PM 1 19 Mar 2016 Half Moon Cay, BahamasTR 08:00 AM 02:30 PM 2 20 Mar 2016 At Sea 3 21 Mar 2016 Oranjestad, Aruba 01:00 PM 11:00 PM 4 22 Mar 2016 Willemstad, Curacao 08:00 AM 04:00 PM 5 23 Mar 2016 At Sea 6 24 Mar 2016 Enter Panama Canal Cristobal CO P1 05:00 AM 05:00 AM 6 24 Mar 2016 Cruising Panama Canal and Gatun Lake CO 6 24 Mar 2016 Gatun Lake, Panama SC 09:00 AM 10:00 AM 6 24 Mar 2016 Cruising Gatun Lake and Panama Canal CO 6 24 Mar 2016 Exit Panama Canal Cristobal CO P1 01:00 PM 01:00 PM 6 24 Mar 2016 Colon, Panama 03:00 PM 08:00 PM 7 25 Mar 2016 Puerto Limon (San Jose), Costa Rica PR 06:30 AM 04:00 PM 8 26 Mar 2016 At Sea 9 27 Mar 2016 At Sea 10 28 Mar 2016 Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US 07:00 AM Click to Enlarge
CONTINUE
Port Notes:
CO CRUISING ONLY
PR PASSPORT REQUIRED
P1 CANAL TRANSIT TIMES ARE APPROX
SC SERVICE CALL
TR TENDER REQUIRED
We have rented a Clamshell on Half Moon Cay as Frank is pretty much translucent and has had skin cancer, so I have to keep him out of the sun. I will rent a floating mat and will alternate between the ocean and the clamshell. If the weather cooperates, Frank will grab a catamaran and sail around the bay. I imagine a couple of frozen concoctions will also be consumed by yours truly.
We will likely taxi to a beach for some snorkeling in Aruba, and then have dinner and visit one of the downtown casinos in the evening.
Frank hasn't been to Curacao, so I plan to snag a taxi driver for an island tour and make a couple of beach stops for some more snorkeling. This should be the best snorkeling of the cruise. We will cross the Queen Emma moving pontoon bridge because, well, it is a tourist must do - haha. I might shop although I really am not much of a shopper, so we'll see.
At the Canal the ship will go through the first lock and then anchor in Gatun Lake to let passengers off that have excursions. Frank is taking a long, long excursion that goes through the entire canal to the Pacific Ocean on a ferry, and then goes by bus to the city of Colon, Panama, where the ship will have moved to. I knew I would be a whiny baby complaining about the heat, the long bus ride and anything else that was even slightly annoying, so I decided to just stay onboard the ship & let Frank enjoy his day without my incessant fussing - HHH! I will be perfectly happy going back through the first lock and besides, I figure once you've seen one lock, you've seen them all, right?? I will get off in Colon, find a bar and have myself a local libation & grab a souvenir as I am unlikely to ever get back there again.
In Costa Rica, I think we have decided to take an Aerial Tram tour of the rain forest & if there is time take a boat ride through the Tortuguero Canal. I am too chicken to zip line, and honestly with my fear of heights, the tram should be plenty challenging for me! Our youngest son did a semester abroad in the rainforest here, so we are pretty excited to see it for ourselves. Hopefully we will not get bitten by poisonous snakes or eaten alive by Zika mosquitos!
I have pre-ordered a bottle of Crown to be waiting for me in the suite, and will bring on a couple of bottles of wine. HAL still allows each person one bottle without charging corkage, so we will take advantage of that. No drink package this time as I would like to remember the entire cruise - HHH! We have reserved a few dinners in the specialty restaurants, but may cancel some of them if the main dining room is good. I hear they have a great piano player/comedian onboard, and some other good music to seek out. No doubt I will try my luck in the pathetic little casino, too!
I doubt if we will splurge for internet as the reports are that it is unbearable slow and terribly overpriced, but I will update from Fort Lauderdale, and try to at least make a couple of posts from some of the ports of call. I will do a full report when we get home!
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