Hopefully "Live" Zuiderdam Panama Canal 2015

[Mtn2Sea]

Just noticed I neglected to post my photos of the Queen Emma bridge as well as a ship passing through while we were at Cafe Iguana. Here they are:

 

 

Until later.

 

[Susie51]

I'm continuing to enjoy your live review. I especially liked the Willemstad pictures. They reminded me of my visit to the island.

[Dismomx5]

This is a 'bucket list' cruise for me and I'm enjoying being with you on the cruise. :D The pictures are great, and I'm love to see the On Location pages. Thanks!

[Mtn2Sea]

This morning Hamish, the cruise director, gave a lecture on the building of the Panama Canal. The lower section of the Vista Lounge was full and some people had to sit in the upper section. Between the French and U.S. effort to build the canal, over 25,000 lives were lost. Some facts surrounding the canal: Ships traveling from U.S. East coast to U.S. West coast saves 7872 miles compared to going around Cape Horn. The Atlantic entrance is 22 1/2 miles west of the Pacific entrance. More than 4 1/2 million cubic yards of concrete was used in the construction of the canal and more than 60,000,000 pounds of dynamite was used.

 

On Aug 23, 1928 Richard Halliburton swam the canal, paying a toll of 36 cents, based on his weight of 150 pounds. The Canal runs north and south, not east and west. On September 1 1977, President Carter signed the Panama Canal Treaties that eventually transferred the canal to Panama on December 31, 1999. The canal expansion began in 2007. The first vessel to use the canal was on August 15, 1914 (more than 34 years after French broke ground). The Canal starting operating 24 hours/day in 1963.

 

At the Culinary Arts Center, the Zuiderdam's pastry chef demonstratied the making of HAL's Panama Rolls. We found out that our ship's pastry department uses 600 pounds of flour and 40 pounds of butter each day. All food for our cruise is loaded in Fort Lauderdale, with no food being added at any of our ports. All unused food is ground up and fed to the fish in approved waters. The chef recommended the use of high glucose flour in the recipe. If using "Canadian" flour, which is heavier, you should add extra butter/milk. Someone said "southern U.S." flour is lighter because it works better for biscuits. Here are a couple of photos showing the chef and Annette, the Culinary Arts director as well as the recipe.

 

 

 

 

Until later.

[LSEA]

Thank you for devoting your time and internet minutes to this delightful "live from". I am enjoying it immensely and appreciate your generosity!

[onthegogirl]

I was on the Z'dam last year for this very itinerary. You're review is bringing back so many great memories. Thanks for taking the time. I am glad that the Captain and CD are the same as last year. Loved the atmosphere on this "Happy ship". So I'm looking forward to boarding her for her trans-Atlantic on March 16. Keep her in ship shape please. Thanks.

[Mtn2Sea]

For lunch today, we again went to the main dining room. I ordered the spinach and artichoke dip with "focaccia bread sticks" thinking I was ordering a dip that I would eat with the bread sticks. As you'll see from the photo, I had to change my thinking and use a fork. The dip, however, was outstanding in its flavor. Both DW and I got the Cobb salad - I'm still paying the price for that chocolate brownie stack I had for dessert last night. My resolve to eat light, however, dissolved after eating the salad and I ordered the Chocolate Profiteroles for dessert. They were very good. DW chose the Vanilla Egg Custard instead of her tradition ice cream.

 

Here's the menu.

 

 

Photos showing our lunch for today.

 

 

Until later.

 

 

 

Until later.

[SilvertoGold]

Yum! I love lunch!

 

Great photos! Thanks for remembering!

[Love the beach]

Loving this thread and all the beautiful photos! Thank you!

[Mtn2Sea]

This afternoon, DW went to the Vista Lounge to watch the Dancing With The Stars competition. Today was the largest number of contestants that she's seen in our last four cruises. The dance being performed was the Cha-Cha-Cha. Usually, I only go to the final competition, which normally is the last night of the cruise. While DW was watching the dancers, I walked around the promenade taking a few photos. We went to dinner in the MDR at 6:00 and barely managed to get a table for two (I had to use a lot of charm to get tonight's table). Here's the menu.

 

 

We both ordered the wiener schnitzel and the mango spire. They were both very good.

 

 

Tomorrow we're scheduled to dock in Cartagena, Colombia, at 6:30 AM. We meet up for our excursion at 8:50. We were in Cartagena, Spain, in November, so it'll be interesting comparing the two cities. Until later.

[erewhon]

Thank you for your reports and photos.

 

I will have to try making the Panama Buns.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for keeping us in the loop. Love the looks of the cobb salad.

[Mtn2Sea]

We'll be leaving shortly for our excursion, which is a carriage ride in the old section of Catagena. I just wanted to post today's program before we go on our adventure.

 

 

 

Until later.

[DeeniEncinitas]

Keep those pics coming Robert! Love your reports!

[Mtn2Sea]

Our excursion to see the old city portion of Cartagena left the ship at 9 AM and started with a bus ride of about 15 minutes to the lineup of horses and carriages. Our convoy consisted of six carriages. We were suppose to be in number five, but the driver kept saying four, so we moved back one carriage and that driver also kept saying four. We finally figured out that the driver meant four persons per carriage and was not giving the carriage number. We ended up sharing the carriage with a nice couple from England.

 

Our tour guide, Daniel, had given us a lot of information about Cartagena and Colombia during our bus ride. Catagena was founded in 1533 and was named after Cartagena, Spain. At 1.3 million people, it's larger than its namesake. The old walled city/fortress area has been named a world heritage site by UNESCO. Daniel gave us listening devices to use during the carriage ride; however, if you weren't near him, you couldn't hear his commentary. As a result, we saw various sights, but didn't really know what we were seeing. The carriage ride ended near a tourist shopping area. We looked at some of the shops but returned to the bus early to enjoy its air conditioning. The shopping "opportunity" lasted 40 minutes (more than enough time).

 

While on our way to our next stop, Daniel gave a brief summary of what he said during the carriage ride. The bus stopped near the fortress, Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, for about ten minutes for Daniel to give us some information about the fort and to give us a chance to take some photos. Both at the fort and in the old city, vendors/solicitors were everywhere and were very aggressive. They weren't as bad as the those we've seen in Turkey. I would put their aggressiveness at the level we saw in Egypt. The key is to say no, keep walking and not make eye contact. Both DW and I enjoyed our excursion, but it was tough taking photos because of the movement of the carriage due to the cobblestone streets. Here're my photos from the excursion.

 

 

Until later.

[Mtn2Sea]

Our excursion got back to the ship shortly before noon. After dropping some things off in the cabin, we headed to the MDR. Here's the menu.

 

 

I got the fruit melange, lamb souvlaki and cherry pie.

 

 

 

 

Until later.

[Mtn2Sea]

As we were eating lunch, the ship cast off to begin our journey to Panama. Because of some cable construction in the channel that had been used for our arrival, we used a different channel that gave us some nice views of the city. As you can see in the following photos, Cartagena has a very modern looking skyline.

 

 

 

 

 

Our last view of Colombia as we head out to sea.

 

 

Until later.

[OCruisers]

Thanks, Robert! Will certainly be looking forward to more! :)

LuLu

[Mtn2Sea]

Here's tonight's dinner menu.

 

 

For my appetizer, I chose the crostini, which was a change of pace for me. Normally, I get the fruit selection. For my entree. I chose the pasta dish and DW chose the pork chop. My pasta dish was okay, but was probably the least favorite dinner I've had on the cruise. It was on the bland side. For dessert, I choose the chocolate-strawberry ladyfinger cake - Mostly strawberry with a little chocolate.

 

 

Just about to leave to see the B. B. King group perform in the main theatre. Until later.

[erewhon]

Appreciate you taking time to post during your cruise.

Thank you.

[WNcruiser]

Really enjoying this thread:). Looking forward to the canal and what you do in Costa Rica!

[BillB48]

I don't think anyone on board is watching marine traffic... here is what you look like at about 5:30AM:) (blue icon). Headed towards the Cristobal Breakwater, Gatun Locks is located almost straight ahead at the bottom of the page.

 

[BillB48]

Good morning Gatun!

 

[Mtn2Sea]

We're just leaving the third lock, so go to go, but here's today's program.

 

 

Until later.

[ship2]

Looks like a few of us watched your transit thru the Gatun Locks. Brings back memories of our visit on the Z last November. Have a great trip!!

 

Joe