Panama Canal Cruise 2020 - Day 1
Our Panama Canal Cruise has been in the planning stages for 13 months. At the completion of our Rhine River Cruise in October, 2018, Tauck gave us a $3,000 credit towards our next Tauck adventure. The credit was for the inconvenience caused by the low water level on the Rhine River due to severe droughts in Europe. There was one section of the river that was too shallow for our cruise boat. The captain explained that during WWII the Allies dropped 1,000’s of bombs in the area and many could still be on the river bottom. It would be best to not run aground. We were transferred by bus to another cruise ship up river to continue our cruise from Milan to Amsterdam.
Our Panama Canal Cruise is 12 days which includes sight-seeing in Panama and Costa Rica. We will be onboard the newly launched cruise ship LeDumont D’Urville. She is 720 feet long, was launched in 2019 and carries 180 passengers.
We are flying out of Miami airport to Panama City, Panama. We will spend our two nights in Panama City at the J.W. Marriott hotel and do some local touring. Our long time friends Don and Beth Kress live in Coral Gables which is only a few mikes from the Miami airport. They invited is to spend the night prior to our flight departure and drove us to the airport. We able to park our car in their condo garage which is a huge benefit. We will stay them again when we return.
The flight from Miami to Panama is three hours. The flight is delayed 40 minutes so the maintenance crew can change a tire. It is likely that many of the passengers on our cruise will be on this flight. I am profiling them now.
Upon arrival in Panama City we will greater by a Tauck representative that will escort to our hotel. A welcome reception and dinner is scheduled for 6:30 pm. We will meet and greet our fellow passengers.
Priscilla is reading a book about the construction of the Panama Canal titled Path Between the Seas. It provides insight into challenges faced during the construction. The French were the first to attempt construction beginning in 1884. They went bankrupt due to a mortality rate and engineering issues and the US bought construction rights from France and started construction on in 19004 and completed construction in 1914.
Here is brief overview of our itinerary for this cruise.
Day 1 - arrive in Panama City, Panama and transit to the J.W. Marriott hotel. Cocktail reception and dinner starting at 6:30 pm.
Day 2 - city tour of Panama City to view Spanish colonial architecture and tour of Canal Zone. Dinner on our own.
Day 3 - visit the Gamboa rain forest go on a tram ride. Trip to the Agua Clara lock to watch it operate. Our ship will pass through this lock. In the late after afternoon we will board our ship Le Dumont D’urville.
Day 4 - cruise to the San Blas islands and go ashore by Zodiac tour the Guna tribal Indian village. Swimming and snorkeling on the beach.
Day 5 - eight to ten hour transit of the Panama Canal from east to west and entering the Pacific Ocean. This saves 7,000 miles compared to rounding Cape Horn.
Day 6 - cruise up the west coast of Panama to the Darien region. Go ashore at Playa del Muerto (beach of death) to meet the indigenous people of the Embera tribe.
Day 7 - day at sea.
Day 8 - arrive in Costa Rica. Go ashore at Quepos and go horseback riding in a mountain forest.
Day 9 - cruise to Playa Herradura. Go ashore and go on a jungle walk and Mangrove raise. Captain’s farewell dinner.
Day 10 - cruise ends in Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica. Visit the village of Sarchi and ride in an ox cart. Travel to San Jose and city tour. Stay at the Costa Rica Marriott hotel.
Day 11 - coffee plantation, La Paz waterfall garden and rain forest tour. Farewell dinner
Day 12 - Homeward bound. We return to Miami.
This is our boutique cruise ship the Dumont d’Urville
This is our cruise plan. We will be in the Caribbean prior to transiting the Panama Canal to the Pacific Ocean.