Day 74

Day 74 – Aruba to Panama Canal – Saturday 28/7/12

Weather – Sunny 27C – 28C

Sunrise – 6.06am

Sunset – 7.03pm

Time difference - minus 14 hours ex Sydney

After departing Aruba last night Sun Princess set a westerly course through the south Caribbean Sea, passing the Gulf of Venezuela, which leads into Maracaibo, on our port side.

Rest Day sea day today, and boy do we need it after yesterday !!!. The Captain reported today that both of the patients, who were evacuated from the ship by the US Coast Guard helicopters a few days ago, are out of intensive care, and are recovering well in the San Juan hospital that they were airlifted to, so that is great news. He also mentioned that the gastro numbers are down, with the hope that the day after tomorrow the special procedures currently in place will be relaxed – hopefully, no promises :)

I went to a lecture today on the operations of the Panama Canal, in readiness for the big day tomorrow. For those interested, we have been given the approximate times that we will be at various points along the canal tomorrow. The times will not be confirmed until tomorrow, and I dont how many webcams that have operating along the canal, so they maybe a little out. We will be putting our clocks back another hour when we go to bed tonight, so that will make it minus 15 hours from Sydney/Brisbane time, and minus 13 hours from Perth time.

So in Panama time, we will should be at:

Gatun Lock entry – 0615 - (Syd/Bris – 9.15pm, Perth 7.15pm)

Gatun Lock exit – 0740 - (Syd/Bris – 10.40pm, Perth 8.40pm)

Gamboal entry – 1120 - (Syd/Bris – 2.20am, Perth 12.20am)

Gamboal exit – 1150 - (Syd/ Bris – 2.50am, Perth 12.50am)

Centennial Bridge – 1255 - (Syd/Bris – 3.55am, Perth 1.55am)

Opedro Miguel Lock – 1300 - (Syd/Bris – 4.00am, Perth 2.00am)

Mira Flores Lock – 1410 - (Syd/Bris – 5.10am, Perth 3.10am)

Bridge of Americas – 1530 - (Syd/Bris – 6.30am, Perth 4.30am)

At 1630 we will be hooked up to a fuel bunkering operation at Balboa Anchorage for Bunkers for about 4 hours to refuel,

A quiet day on board again today, gave us a chance to sleep in (Donna) and rest our weary bodies from an active day yesterday. This of course also means much socialising at various points across the ship. We revisited Trivia for the first time since mid June – new team, same result :) CC group had a get together this afternoon, which is always nice as we get to catch up with people that we dont always see around the ship.

There seems to be an increasing amount of complaints about stuff on the ship, and sometimes I do wonder if we are on a different cruise to the people we are talking with at times. Maybe there is a limit to the number of days on a cruise that the average person can experience, after which the glass becomes half empty, rather than half full. Or perhaps because we have such a large social group that we interact with, which we thoroughly enjoy, it keeps our frame of mind positive, so our glass is usually half full.

We have had the odd day when your having a bit of a downer, or feeling a bit off, your gunna get that on a cruise that is nearly 4 months long, just like you would at home over a four month period, but the next day is a Bran Nue Day (pardon the pun). There are many days when Donna would give anything to be sitting with her grandson and daughter in Royal Brisbane Hospital, than be on a ship on the other side of the world, it is the nature of a long absence from family that you get homesick a little, and sometimes a lot, and I dont know if this is effecting the enjoyment of the cruise for some people or not, but there are folk who are not having the best of times, and dont mind telling anyone who will listen.

I personally noticed a change in the atmosphere on the ship once we left Dover, From Sydney to Dover the ship always seemed to be 'alive' with positivity and merriment being dominant, perhaps because we had fantastic weather all the way, and the whole ship, indoors and outdoors, was being used to its best. Or perhaps because the itinerary was full of lots of 'big ticket' ports, dunno, but after Dover, it has been not so positive and merry at times.

The weather, when at sea, between Dover and Halifax was cold, and the outer decks were deserted, so everyone was confined indoors. The gastro broke out quite extensively, so the sanitisation procedures were put in place, which slowed service down in all the meal areas, as self service was stopped. There is probably no one single thing that is causing complaints from some, but there does seem to be more folks not happy now, than before Dover. Personally I think it is all about expectations, and how they may have altered as the journey has progressed.

Whatever, we are having the holiday of a lifetime, every port is a new port, which is a new adventure, and we are feel quite privileged to be a part of this cruise, and the experiences that we are having, the places we are seeing, and the friendships we are making, and we will let others sweat the small stuff.

At midnight we passed Punta Gallinas, on the northern coast of Colombia. We will steer a south-westerly heading and maintain approximately a 12 mile minimum distance from the coast of Colombia, passing Barranquilla at 11am. Tomorrow morning at 5am we will embark the Panama Canal Pilot as we enter the outer breakwater.