Tour Director Highlights:Bob Neff Tours only offers this special cruise that transits the Panama Canal once every few years. Our small group flew to San Diego to embark on the Holland America Koningsdam ship and headed south to ports in Mexico, Guatemala, and Costa Rica before beginning the journey through the Panama Canal locks. This ship is slightly larger than other Holland America ships, so we had to go through the new, wider locks. The captain reported that this was the first time that the Koningsdam transited the new locks with passengers on board. We could see ships going through the old locks parallel to our pathway. Those locks swing out in two panels, while the new locks slide to the side, allowing 60% of the water to be recycled so as not to deplete the reservoir of water in Gatun Lake. Once in the Caribbean, we visited Aruba and Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas. We thanked the Lord for smooth sailing and lovely weather. Even on a large cruise ship, there are many opportunities for fellowship among our passengers. We found a common daily meeting place in the Lido buffet at breakfast time. We shared experiences, made plans for the day, and had a joyful time. See the captions on each photo for more detail.
[Click on any photo to begin slide show (larger photo, captions at bottom). Enjoy!]
We got a late start from San Diego, so we enjoyed the beautiful city lights from our ship.
This is the map for the first part of our 18-day voyage from San Diego to Fort Lauderdale.
There were many beautiful sandy beaches at our port stops.
And colorful characters to welcome us! Some were larger than life!
Our ship was the Holland America Koningsdam. It is slightly larger than the rest of the fleet at 3,000 passengers. Its sister ship is the Rotterdam, which we met along the journey.
Breaking waves along dramatic cliffs.
Chiapas welcome center at the port.
A welcoming dance performance by locals.
A Mayan cultural dance performance was part of one excursion.
Mayan history displayed in a beautiful stained glass window in the city hall.
Greetings from a traditionally costumed local at port.
This boat for a mangroves tour sure looked scary, but once we balanced the sides, the ride was smooth and safe.
The mangroves were so peaceful and it was a beautiful day for an excursion.
Up close to a parrot at an animal sanctuary.
An interesting tropical animal (I can’t remember what it is called.).
Orphaned raccoons being raised at the animal sanctuary.
An exciting walk through the rain forest over several suspension bridges.
High above the forest floor. The bridges were really safe.
A lucky shot of one of the beautiful butterflies with iridescent blue wings. The blue is only visible when they are in flight.
Great camouflage when they land. The detail in the pattern is awesome.
The ship had great lectures each day. This one was on the Panama Canal, and the overview photo was worth getting a picture.
We traveled through the new canal. Tugboats escorted us ahead and behind while in the locks.
Crossing below the Pan American Highway bridge. We went under 3 high bridges on our transit.
This is one of the new locks. It slides sideways rather than having 2 panels open out as in the old locks.
Here the lock is half open to let us enter when it’s fully open.
Even though these locks are wider, it still felt like we had to squeeze in. Our ship was the first Holland America ship to transit the new locks with passengers on board!
The Culebra Cut is a terraced narrow passage inside the locks at the Pacific entrance.
Our group was small, but we had a lot of fun throughout the tour.
The bow was open as we crossed, and it made for great photo ops.
The guys.
The gals.
Entering the locks on the Atlantic side.
Afternoon tea was an elegant treat on sea days.
A modern design bridge near the Atlantic locks.
The map of the second half of our journey.
We were all treated to a dinner at the specialty Italian restaurant onboard, Canaletto.
I love pelicans!
A Christmas manger scene in port. Everyone was gearing up for Christmas.
A climb up giant boulders afforded a great view of Aruba. The volcano in the distance is extinct.
Aruba’s natural bridge.
Our pathway home to Fort Lauderdale with a stop at Half Moon Cay.
Farewell from all the ship’s staff.
Bob Neff Tours will take you there, and many other places, too.
