One of the highlights of this cruise for us is the crossing through the Panama Canal on Saturday, and their is a sense of excitement on the ship as preparations are underway.
There are a number of webcams along the length of the canal which offer good views of the ship especially on the port side. If you are interested in checking out the web cams, the address is www.pancanal.com . There are a number of tabs to show the various sectors - we are picking up the pilot at 5.00 am our time - about 8.00 pm Saturday evening in Brisbane and we will start to traverse the first lock - Gatun lock - at about 7.00am. - around 10.00pm. Brisbane time. You can also google the Dawn Princess Bridge cam and see the view from the front of the ship.
Many passengers have bought materials to decorate their balconies for the transit - we have a couple of Aussie flags to hang on ours - near the front of deck 11 port side (left) - see if you can find us!!! Yesterday, the photo dept. offered the opportunity to create posters with messages for our families - so I went down to make one for Rob and his fiance Ruth.
We were laughing at all the ‘mature’ adults colouring in their signs - and I jokingly said - ‘all we need now is some glitter and it will be just like kindy’!!! The manager of the photo dept. heard me and suddenly - there appeared a number of large jars of glitter. I had to use some since he bought it for me, so I drew a couple of heart shapes with glitter stuck to them. We walked back through the photo gallery later in the afternoon, and everything - walls, tables, chairs, and the floor was all covered in glitter!! So after a morning full of lots of laughs - Rob and Ruth, here is the poster that you have to look out for - I hope you can see it!!!
The photographers had rented a helicopter to circle the ship and photograph the event. We have a couple of friends who have inside cabins - so we are hosting a Champagne breakfast on our balcony - as we toast our voyage. Hopefully, we will have some great photos to post tomorrow.
This afternoon, we are docking in Colon in Panama, so we plan to get a couple of taxis and go out to the Panama Education Centre and visit the locks from the land side before we pass through on the ship.
As we have a large number of sea days in the next two sectors of the cruise, I won’t be posting a blog every day, unless there is something interesting to write about. For the first time yesterday, we encountered the cruise grouch - you know the type - willing to whinge and groan to anyone who would listen about how bored he was on sea days - luckily we were stuck in the lift with him for only a few minutes - we are so busy on sea days that I can’t imagine ever being bored - in fact we love sea days as a chance to relax, read and take it easy.
On Monday night we went to the steak house for dinner with the group from our dinner table - just for something different - I thought I would take a photo to show you the sizes of the steaks on offer. The waiter brings a tray to the table for steak selection - they range in size from 10 ozs to a massive 22 ozs (more than 600 grams). The quality is excellent - well worth the $20 covercharge.
We had an excellent night - although judging from all the comments the next morning about snoring husbands - seems that most of the men really enjoyed the wine on offer - we all know that women never snore!!!! We were discussing the ‘snoring in a small cabin issue’ and one of the wives admitted that she had spent two hours on the balcony. We joked that there should be a place on the ship to go to for the partners of snorers, especially those without a balcony, and Joanne jokingly suggested the idea to one of the cruise staff. We heard on the Wake Show this morning that they are programming a 2.00am meeting in the Vista lounge for insomniacs and partners of snorers - (bring your own pillow and blanket)!!! -so funny - we might go down just to check it out!!
Yesterday, our kiwi friend Paula celebrated a significant birthday, (I think she just made up the number!!!) and so, we once again enjoyed a celebration at dinner with champagne flowing, the singing waiters and chocolate cake. It was a very special day for her as it also marked a significant landmark in her recovery from serious illness - and a few celebratory tears were shed. We are so lucky to share our table with such a fun loving group - every dinner is filled with lots of laughs - and we are usually the last ones to leave the dining room.
You may remember that I mentioned earlier that the ever optimistic Arnold took his dinner suit trousers to the tailor to be taken IN during the week before we left for the cruise. I have collected on my bet and, unfortunately those trousers will not be making another appearance on this cruise - say no more!
Looking forward to the Panama tomorrow.
Cheers
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