WELCOME TO PANAMA CITY - DAY 29

A Look At What Is Happening Today:

Visit To Panama City, Panama ✔ Attend On-Board World Cruise Event ✔  

For those of you who have not yet transited the Panama Canal we would highly recommend it and if you have transited the Canal it is always interesting to repeat this journey.  Some ask where is the best position to view the Canal and our recommendation is to move about the ship to view it from all angles.  Rather then just limiting yourself to one vantage points whether that is the top open deck of the ship or even your own verandah, we would recommend viewing it from the top open deck, and then viewing it from other decks so that you see it from one of the lower decks and that you also view it from the port, and starboard sides as well as from the back of the ship.  

We were back in the Crystal Dining Room last evening.  These were the menus.  The theme of the dinner was Neptune Dinner.

Before dinner, we enjoyed a drink at Palm Court as we enjoyed Panoramic Views of Panama City.  We sailed off of Panama City throughout the evening hours.

We posed for this photo with Jun.

We spoke for quite awhile with a very nice couple whom we first met a couple of years ago on the Serenity.  

Afterwards, we chatted with friends John and Linda in the Crystal Plaza before it was time to go to dinner.

We enjoyed dinner at the Crystal Dining Room. In keeping with the theme of the dinner, the charger plates were part of the overall Neptune Theme. The dinner was terrific and we had a wonderful time being back in the Crystal Dining Room.

 We each began our meal with Salads.  Keith had his standing salad and Anne Marie had a Red Leaf Lettuce Salad.

For her entree, Anne Marie had the surf and turf and Keith had Kosher Chicken.  Anne Marie particularly enjoyed the Lobster which is no surprise for those of you who know how much she enjoyed lobster.

This was the Chicken that Keith had.  He had them leave off the mashed potatoes and instead had a baked potato on the side.  

After many days of seafood, Keith enjoyed the Kosher Chicken.  The chicken was very moist and is very flavorful.  

There was no special occasion but for dessert we each had a slice of a cake and it was delicious.  The other evening  Head Waiter Augusto had asked if we wanted anything special and we said we would be fine with whatever was on the menu.  However, he remembered from last year that Keith enjoyed a particular cake and he said he would special order it for us.

When we arrived back to our room there was another nice set of magnets on our bed along with a note card from World Cruise Hostess Elise Ivy.  Every few days we received nice letters from Elise which she references in the note card.

We slept very well last evening.  It helps that we each exercised for quite a while today.  We were both tired, making it easy to sleep.

Keith was up very early for another workout at the Fitness Center.  Afterwards, it was back for some coffee at the Lido Cafe.  Keith used the time to continue to work on his movie (combination of video clips and photos) for his iMovie Class.

Lido Deck Steward Michael helped Keith with his coffee.  This was the last time Keith would see Michael on this journey as he is going home today for a well-deserved Holiday.  Keith and Michael didn't say goodbye but rather they both said "until next time" and Michael asked Keith to give his best to Anne Marie.  Lido Deck Steward, Ross, joined the ship today.

(Lido Deck Steward Michael)

Anne Marie was also up early to get in most of her one hour walk on the Promenade Deck.

We had breakfast about an hour earlier then usual so we could get ready for an early morning Private Tour booked through Crystal Cruises.

(Rao, working his magic as he starts to put the 

Table Cloth on the table for our Breakfast)

Last year, we were on Crystal Cruises Maiden Port Of Call visit to Panama City when we took a very nice group tour offered by Crystal Cruises so this time we decided to book a private tour through Crystal Cruises so we could revisit a few selected sites and also visit new sites.

The city has a population of close to one million people who live in the downtown area and  the overall population is close to 1.4 million people when including the metropolitan area.

Panama City does feature both the old city along with a very modern skyline of beautifully designed skyscrapers.  

Like some cities around the world including some cities in our own nation even neighborhoods in this city change from block to block where one block might have tall modern buildings and the areas adjacent to it may have luxury homes with slums nearby.

We arranged with Shore Excursion Manager a Private Tour and asked that we visit the Old City, New City and the Colonial City.

After taking the short tender ride over to the tender pier we were met by Shore Excursion Manager Daniel and then we met our driver and tour guide.

We had a private van and our driver was Luis.

Our Tour Guide's name was Errol.  

He was a great guide.  He is pretty much retired but has given tours for many years.  He was born in Panama and is one of eleven siblings.  He has dual citizenship in Panama and the United States having moved to the United States in 1968.  He was drafted into the United States Army in 1969 and served in the Army for twenty-four years and was in three conflicts including the Vietnam War and the United States invasion of Panama.  His wife is from Philadelphia and he has a son and daughter both living in the United States.

As we drove to our first stop which was the old city, Errol gave us a nice overview of Panama and then began to answer many of the questions we had throughout the tour.

Panama has a very strong economy.  Whereas unemployment was over 15% after we gave up control of the Panama Canal, unemployment is now around 6.5%.  The biggest driver of revenue is the Duty Free Zone in Panama City which is focused on companies that sell and buy goods and it is the second biggest Duty Free Zone of the world behind Hong Kong.  Of course the Panama Canal is a big driver of revenue and when the new Locks come on-line that will drive revenue even more.

The President of Panama is elected every five years for one term.  Although relatively small in population, there are nine political parties.  While some of its citizen do not like all of the change the current President has brought about a lot of change particularly in the construction taking place throughout the city and in the infrastructure being put into place including mass transit systems and many roads to address the traffic congestion.

When we arrived to the Old City we walked for quite awhile, while Errol explained the history of the area and also spoke about all of the remnants of buildings that we saw.  We saw a former cathedral, convent, Bishop's House and other buildings.

We saw several large trees including Walnut Trees.  We also saw several Rubber Trees such as the one in this photo.

Throughout the tour, Errol provided valuable information about what we would see.  We also covered so many other subjects including religion.  

We then drove around the new city and Errol pointed out many of the buildings to us and told us all about its history.  With so many tall buildings it was not practical to take photos of them while we were in that part of the city so we are including photos that we took from the colonial city which we visited afterwards.

Our next stop was the Colonial City.  This area had become very run down for years but a major effort to restore the city began about six years ago.  Because of the narrow streets, the close proximity of the buildings, the high standards for renovation which call for the outside of the buildings to conform to the architecture of the past, renovations are taking along time but the results are fabulous.  In another five years or so the work should be largely complete and it will be a big boom for tourism.

During our walk, Errol also showed us the first school he attended.

This photos gives you a feel for overall density and the narrow streets.

Some of the interior of the San Jose Church

An exterior view of another Church.

A great deal of work is being done outside of the Presidential Palace.

All of the streets are being redone literally one brick at a time.

While you see so many of these hats that people think of being Panama Hats, Errol explained to us there are really made in Ecuador.

The tides are very low in the morning and then they rise later in the day.

During the course of the excursion, we also stopped at the Visitor Centre which includes very nicely done archeological displays.  We also drove all around the administrative part of the city where we saw the administrative building for the Panama Canal and the former houses of those from the United States who administered the Panama Canal.  We also stopped to see former General and then Dictator Manuel Noriaga's Residence.

Later in the tour, we also learned of Errol's other talent which is to do artwork.  It was displayed at a cafe called Rene Cafe.  His father was friends with the owner who asked Errol if he would paint artwork for the walls of the Cafe.

All in all it was a wonderful tour and it was fun to visit Panama City for the second time in twelve months and to revisit some area that we visited last year but to see them in more depth as well as to visit new areas.  We look forward to returning here in the future.

When we arrived back to the ship we enjoyed salad entrees for lunch.

Anne Marie walked in the afternoon and Keith exercised.

This evening we will attend the first of two on board World Cruise events.  We will begin the evening with a show and cocktail party and then we will have dinner either in Silk Road or Prego but we will all have the same dinner and the cuisine will not be what is normally served in either one of these venues.

We will post more about this tomorrow.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY............

“The fool wonders.  The wise man asks. “ - Benjamin Franklin

Keith and Anne Marie