Day 8: Fuerte Amador for Panama City

It is only 8:30pm as I start this post, and we are already settled in our cabin for the evening. We had a relaxing and uneventful day, documented by precious few photos, so this will be brief tonight. 

We were highly amused today by tales from the crew. The Star Princess docked in Fuerte Amador at 9pm last night, and crew members who claimed their passports in advance were able to go ashore until 1am.  This is cause for extreme celebration, especially for the younger ones. Apparently a bar nearby was selling $1 beers and there was a steady line heading that way. I’m happy for them. Those sorts of opportunities happen only rarely. 

I’m sure there were some passengers who also went out last night but we were not among them (I know you’re shocked). It’s now clear to us that this tropical heat packs a punch. Still, we intended to ride the Panama City double decker Hop on Hop off bus today (there are a couple of stops very close to where the ship docks in Fuerte Amador. ($30pp, $22 for seniors)). 

We were up early and went to breakfast in the Sanctuary Restaurant, then made the mistake of going up to Deck 19 on the jogging track to get a good view of the area. G had not yet been up there, and I discovered it only yesterday. With the ship not moving and the sun baking, it was beastly hot up there, and the thought of riding around on the upper deck of a HOHO bus all day started to lose its appeal. We decided to instead just walk off the ship in search of those $1 beers. 

I missed this game up on Deck 19 yesterday

In the Piazza today

While we were leaving the terminal area, G said he thought we should climb the circular road to the top of a nearby hill for the exercise. He’s so funny!  Actually, that’s exactly the kind of thing we did, frequently…15 years ago in the Caribbean (do you recall our forced marches?).  Those days are long behind me, and should be behind him, at least in the Panamanian heat and humidity. 

When we returned to the ship, we settled in what is quickly becoming our favorite area of the ship, the Wake View Terrace. I actually fell asleep in a lounger while G used the pool and hot tub nearby and I ended up in the sun as it shifted around. Luckily, G spotted that and fashioned a pool towel to provide some shade, a very good thing. I’ve would have gotten fried. We were surprised, when we returned to our cabin about 3:30pm, to hear a rehearsal in the Princess Arena with the show band. Tonight’s show was a juggler. We thought we wouldn’t hear drums as we were getting ready for dinner. 

We spent some time in the Elite Lounge (still a weak link in this experience, though we had a guitarist tonight, which was nice) and then had a leisurely dinner in the Sanctuary Restaurant with Somphot and Man. We didn’t intend to go to the Princess Arena juggler show tonight, so there was no need to rush. We ended up instead enjoying a Candlelight Concert by guitarist Kali J in The Dome, and it was fantastic. Such a beautiful venue, with the candles reflecting in the glass ceiling.

Restaurant Manager Ray carving G’s prime rib

A couple of people have emailed asking how we got so lucky to be dining in the Sanctuary Restaurant this cruise. I really can’t say. DRO Claudio is making it happen. We certainly didn’t ask for it, and it never even entered our minds that it might happen. We had never before met Claudio but we do have a common dear friend (in whose debt we will forever remain). But, to us, the real win is that we have a table for two at 5:30pm. There are three more entree options each evening, and G has certainly enjoyed the beef, but, aside from them, the menus are the same and the galley is the same. And we’re getting the same great service we generally seem to get in the dining room. However, the Sanctuary Restaurant when we go is never anywhere near full, and, in fact, is almost empty some nights. It was actually a smart utilization of that space to make it possible for us to dine there. 

Tonight’s Celestial Dining Room menu for comparison:

Once the concert ended, I really didn’t want to eat anything else today, so we were safest back in the cabin. Tomorrow starts five days at sea, and I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to every one of them. 

It’s 9pm and late show just started. Wow, that percussion is loud tonight. For a juggling show?!? Time to break out the ear plugs. Don’t leave home without them!!

Guess who figured out where to best take the scans of the Patter in our inside cabin? No more shadows. It only took a week!

Day 7: Panama Canal

Today was the best day yet!  It was, as we’d expected, hot and mostly sunny, but not steamy-humid, and we had occasional large clouds to give us some reprieve. We took a laid back approach to the transit, and that worked out tremendously well. 

We fell asleep last night with the bridge cam channel on TV, so as we approached the canal and Dr. Engman started narrating from the bridge, it woke us up and we could listen along. About the time we were entering the first of the first Agua Clara lock chambers, we left the cabin to go to the Sanctuary Restaurant. 

Walking across Deck 9, the view from the Piazza as we entered the first lock chamber

We didn’t know that the Sanctuary Restaurant was run a little differently today. Instead of opening for breakfast and then again for lunch, it was open from 8am to 12:30pm for brunch. This featured a combination of menu offerings and a wonderful buffet (and, we were told, anything else we might want could be made to order). Wow!

I know, you didn’t come here for food pics, but, truly, this was a feast. We had fruit and coffee, and left to watch our progress through the Agua Clara lock chambers from different viewing points around the ship. 

We started out behind the Sanctuary Restaurant where there were lots of people but not so many that we couldn’t stand against the railings. In fact, we found that to be the case around the entire ship today. We’ve done the canal transit in ships where people were lined up three deep to watch, and that was definitely not the case today. 

The Star Princess in the Agua Clara lock

Being held in place in the second Agua Clara lock chamber with the Atlantic Bridge across Cthe canal the background

We’re not certain if this drone was from the ship or the canal authorities but we all waved

Looking up at the large balconies on the aft suites

Agua Clara control tower

The floating gate begins to close off the final lock chamber

The lock gate is almost closed

About this time we went our separate ways, and I went up the Deck 19 for the first time this cruise, finding the pickleball,  basketball and shuffleboard courts, the judging/walking track and even what I believe is a splash pad (or maybe just a fountain. I’m not sure). That area also looks over the Sanctuary. There’s a lot of space up there, with ample seating, but it was supposed to house the amusement park-type features intended for this class of ship until that concept was abandoned. It’s a very uncrowded area, even on Panama Canal day. I walked a mile while I was up there but the sun and heat finally forced me to move on. No worries; I’ve been getting in over four miles a day of steps just walking around this ship. 

Going from the Deck 19 midship elevator lobby to the outside deck

Water feature or splash pad? I’m not certain

Looking down at the Sanctuary

Another Sanctuary view

G and I connected again in The Dome where we found two loungers together at 10:30am on Panama Canal day. Amazing!  When this ship layout was first announced, I couldn’t help but think that The Dome was going to be beastly hot on sunny days in tropical climates. It is heavily air conditioned but it is still warm, just not oppressively so. We stayed until about 11:30am and then returned to the Sanctuary Restaurant to have the second half of our brunch. I enjoyed those jumbo shrimp (the waiter told us they’re from The Catch restaurant). 

Our phone batteries were exhausted by then, so we returned to the cabin to recharge as we cruised through Gatun Lake. Dr. Engman had stopped narrating for a while, but we kept our TV on the bridge cam channel to be able to catch him when he started again.  It never rained today, so this was most impressive weather we’ve ever had for a Panama Canal transit. 

97° Real Feel in the shade isn’t bad

The Centennial Bridge from the bridge cam

Tug on our port side as we approached the Cocoli lock

Our phones charged, we went outside again, aft on Deck 9 to the Dining Promenade area. There we found plenty of available comfy seating in the shade, and we stayed there until we had almost reached the Bridge of the Americas. 

Freighter on the Pedro Miguel (old) lock

Ship’s photographer on land taking photos of us on the ship

Panama City has changed enormously since we first saw it 24 years ago

The Cocoli Lock webcam is so close to the lock that the entire ship couldn’t fit in one shot

We went to dinner in the Sanctuary Restaurant later tonight, planning to go to the 9pm performance in the Princess Arena. We’ve decided that we will hear the later show one way or another, and we may as well have a leisurely dinner and attend in person. 

None of the desserts appealed tonight, so I swung by the International Cafe for the first time to see what they were offering. Lots, and it all looked delicious. It’s on the same deck as our cabin. That’s a little dangerous, and I may stop back after the show (but shouldn’t). 

Tonight’s Princess Arena performances were Uptiwn, back with a different show. I’m going to publish this post while we’re waiting so I can crash right afterwards tonight. Today’s sun has left me reddish and worn out, and we will be arriving in Fuerte Amador (for Panama City) in just a few minutes, so we’ll be able to get off tree ship early tomorrow morning. If we want to, that is. 😉

Oh, I almost forgot to add…I mentioned the confusion about whether or not the Star Princess today became the largest cruise ship to ever transit the Panama Canal. The Disney Adventure has more capacity, and it transited in February. But the Star Princess is physically larger, 10 feet longer and 4 feet wider. So it does win the prize!

Both sides of a Panama Canal brochure that was distributed to the cabins