Day 7
Waking up early for Christmas used to be so easy, but no longer as I found it pretty difficult to drag myself out of bed at 5am on Christmas Eve as we prepared to enter the Panama Canal, without a doubt one of the main selling points of this particular cruise. Yawning, I pulled myself to the bow of the ship which had been opened for passengers to use as a viewpoint, and was already extremely busy at this time in the morning. Waiters were wandering around passing out Panama Rolls, breads filled with custard and desiccated fruit, so at least that was a reason to be up this early!
We were closer to the shores on both sides of the ship than we had ever been as we crawled slowly towards the unnamed bridge at the Caribbean entrance near Colon to the Panama Canal. We moved at a pretty glacial rate waiting for the passenger ship ahead of us to enter the first lock, be raised up, move out of the lock, the water to fall, and then to let us in; which gave me time to check out the Panama Canal souvenirs sale on the Lido Deck, where gifts had been brought on board as we wouldn't be able to buy any on land. I opted for a tiny Panama hat - when in Rome, right?
And so the day followed much like that. After going through the first set of locks, I went and chilled at the back of the boat, watching the jungle scenario go by as we entered into Gatun Lake, a man made lake made by the damming of the Chagres river to form the canal. We cruised slowly through the Gillard Cut where the continental plate had been cut into; under the Centennial Bridge to our next set of locks, the Pedro Miguel locks; and out into Miraflores lake.
Miraflores locks were perhaps the most interesting of the three for two reasons - first in that these are the closest locks to Panama City, and so appeared to be where tourists to the country come to see the Panama Canal in action. As we made our way through the lock, we passed by a building nearly as tall as the ship itself filled to the brim with people rows deep, all looking out to get a view of us going through. Interesting day trip, eh? Secondly, this was the only canal where two ships could go through at the same time, each in their own lock. As a result, we were neck and neck with the Regent Seven Seas Navigator who we'd been tailing through the whole canal, and so it became a bit of a race to see who would make it through their lock first (we did).
Sure enough, it was then time for afternoon tea which was all the more special as we had a bit more to look at than the usual sea on both sides. Dinky sandwiches, teeny scones and a variety of cakes and macaroons to fill us up, topped off with cups of warming tea. I've had afternoon tea in plenty of places in London, but never before on the Panama Canal itself!
We headed back outside for the final leg of our journey through the Canal, watching as the skyscrapers of Panama City floated by, heading under the Bridge of the Americas which connects the Pan American highway, and out into the Pacific Ocean. From 5am to 5pm, we'd spent the whole day in the canal - still technically 'at sea' but a different kind of sea day.
We decided to torture ourselves at Total Body Conditioning (do I mind that OAPs are far, far, far more flexible and fit than me? Nope, gives me hope for the future!) and then for an earlier entertainment evening than usual. We were treated with hugely talented violinist Amy Lee, who told us how it had come to be that a classically trained musician had ended up playing on cruise ships. At an exclusive musical programme, she had been forced to play nothing but classical music; taking the fun out of her love of the violin. Having gone on a cruise with her parents, she decided that to be the optimum career choice which would allow her to travel the world and play what she wanted.
And boy, could she play! We had a great mix of music including Beethoven's Symphony number five, a medley of Michael Jackson songs, Lindsay Stirling, and a tribute to Phantom of the Opera. She had great stage presence, moving about as she shredded the violin (how do they manage to play the notes without stickers showing where their fingers should be?!) What a joy to behold.
I'd hoped to rush to dinner straight after in order to catch a showing of White Christmas in the theatre, but we'd been late to book dinner (never a good idea on Christmas Eve) so weren't seated for another half hour. Furthermore, the food was delicious (butternut squash and apple soup; a scrummy ravioli; and pecan pie to finish) but very slow to come out of the kitchen so there was not a chance that as going to happen.
This was the night that I had to stay up later than usual so I took advantage of the ships version of Netflix where you call the front desk and order a DVD from their vast range, before heading back to the Mainstage for 11pm. Tonight was the Sounds of Christmas Christmas Eve concert featuring the crew choirs, where we had the Volendam singers from our shows sing Hark the Herald Angels Sing; followed by the International Choir of any member of the crew who wanted to join sing Deck the Halls, Jingle Bells, and Let It Snow.
It was then a chance for the more represented nationalities to show off their own choirs, so the Filipino Choir stepped forward to sing some Filipino songs called Ang Pasko Ay Sumapit; Sa Araw Ng Pasko; and Just Love. I loved this as the songs were super poppy and upbeat and showed off the Filipino crews friendly nature.
Another largely represented nationality was that of Indonesia, so the Indonesian Christian Choir sang a beautiful song called Arbab. We had a wonderful soloist lead O Holy Night, which I really enjoyed as you could hear the lovely Indonesian accents coming through on the words, and then they translated a verse into Indonesian. A really special event and a chance to show our appreciation for the staff both for their talent and their hard work.
All the choirs came back together at the end to perform Silent Night, and left the stage to well-deserved rapturous applause. Whilst the weather outside may not have felt too festive, this was a truly wonderful way to bring Christmas cheer to all.
Day 8
Merry Christmas to all! I woke up to a Christmas morning unlike any others I'd had before, opening my curtains to see the Atlantic Ocean stretching before me. First stop of the day was Christmas Mass which I'm sure was less well attended than Midnight Mass the night before, but for those of us whose body clocks remained in a different time zone, this seemed a better option.
We broke our usual mould by heading to the Dining Room for breakfast. Whilst fancier, I felt that there was less of a selection than the Lido's buffet as you were to choose from a menu of set items, so I settled for creamy grits with brown sugar, raisins and almonds; followed by buttermilk pancakes. Somehow having them made in front of you in the Lido made them taste all that much better, so I don't think we'll be returning to Dining Room breakfasts.
As it was the big day, there were special festivities planned and adults and children alike headed to the Mainstage for the arrival of the Big Man. Unrehearsed carol singing which didn't quite fill the time needed in between the Captain's pre-recorded segments about spotting an unidentified flying object overhead was followed by a funny montage of Santa wandering around the ship - playing on the sports court, stopping at the bar, sampling some of the delicacies in the Lido - before he ran to the stage to great cheer from the children.
Subsequently, the little ones (of which there were more than I had expected, but I suppose they'd been spending most of their time in the kids club) lined up to sit on Santa's lap and receive a present, some of which I would actually have been quite happy with! There were a fair few non-children going up on stage too much to the disapproval of members of the audience, but thankfully the elves had enough presents for everyone.
We took a Christmas promenade around the deck to pass the time. Being on this trip has given me a great appreciation of seasons, particularly around Christmastime. It just felt weird to be going out on Christmas Day without being wrapped up in hat and coat; instead heading out in shorts and sunglasses. If you're looking for a great holiday, this could be it; but a festive one, not so much.
As it was an at sea day, we had another America's Test Kitchen session entitled 'We Love Chocolate', so bound to be great. We were taught how to make pot de creme and chewy brownies which looked utterly delicious. Seeing our salivating faces, Chef Maria explained to us why she was unable to share the food she makes with us due to the strict health and safety rules on the ship, at which point three people walked out! Looking at the food was good enough for me, and who knows, maybe I'll test some out myself when I get home.
We headed to the Mainstage for the last of the talks from the onboard naturalist, this one on Costa Rica Essential. He explained more about his country, including the high literacy rate, lack of army, influence of the Spanish colonisation in mixing with the locals to create a much lighter and European skin tone than those of neighbouring countries, the biggest exports (spoiler: number three is coffee, number two bananas, and number one pineapples), and the different states in the country, one of which we would be visiting the following day. This was a great introduction to the country and helped build excitement for our visit there.
EXC Tours took to the stage next to tell us how to Make the Most of Our Time in Puerto Quetzal, Guatamala; and Huatulco, Mexico which were some of our upcoming ports, full of beautiful pictures and explanations about the countries and towns. Having been on the ship a full week by this point, I still hadn't managed to make it to the onboard cinema which had films on rotation three times a day. Christmas Day's film was A Christmas Story about young Ralphie and his dream of procuring a Red Rider Air Rifle for Christmas (you'll shoot your eye out!) This was a pleasant way to spend a bit of Christmas.
It was then time for dinner. Traditional Christmas dinner was on the menu, but I decided to have grilled polenta to start, followed by four cheese ravioli, and pumpkin tart. The catering staff never fail to impress me. We had a special show on the Mainstage in honour of Christmas with two of our previous acts - boyfriend and girlfriend Matt Cairns and Amy Lee. Fantastic as soloists, they were fantastic together, playing songs like White Christmas, Zorba the Greek, and the Devil Went Down to Georgia together; as well as having the chance to play their own stuff, with Amy doing a Riverdance medley and Matt an Eagles medley. Not only were they great musicians, but you could see how much they loved playing with each other - if that's not Christmas, then I don't know what is.
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