Cruise 2025 - The Rock and Roll Cruise - Part 4 - The Other Panama Canal

 

The iconic Atlantic Bridge
The new Agua Clara locks to the left and the traditional Gatun locks to the right
Which way is your cruise going?

Sunday morning breaks with overcast skies as we approach Colón, Panama, the Caribbean entrance to the world-famous Panama Canal. We feel like old hands at this even though this time we are only going through the new locks at Aqua Clara, not traveling the entire fifty mile canal. The MS Rotterdam is too wide for the old, famous, iconic locks at Gatun that we traversed last year, so we will see the new, wider lock system that went into operation in 2016. The tingling of excitement we felt the first time is replaced with an old peaceful, easy feeling.

A smaller freighter heads toward the Gatun Locks

We are currently farther west than where the other end of the world-famous waterway meets the Pacific Ocean. The canal runs southeast from here, not west. We haven’t changed our clocks and watches back so we are still on Eastern Standard Time, the same as New York or Ft. Lauderdale. My hometown of Miami is further west than we are here. Not by much, I admit, but enough to win bets.

We traversed the entire Panama Canal last year as we sailed from Ft. Lauderdale to Los Angeles, a memorable fifteen-day cruise. This is not a traditional canal in the sense of the canals of Europe or even the Suez Canal, which some of my former neighbors think Carter gave away. It is really a fresh-water lake, formed by damming the Chagres River. The canal is mainly red channel markers across the navigable section of the lake. 

The original locks were the three-tiered Gatun locks on the Caribbean side and the Pedro Miguel and Miralores locks on the Pacific side. New, wider locks at Aqua Clara on the Caribbean entrance and Cocoli on the Pacific side have increased the size of ships that the canal can handle. The newer, bigger cruise ships are simply too big to use the old traditional locks. The iconic Culebra cut, the eight-mile, man-made valley through the Sierra de Veraguas mountains, is on the Pacific side along with the Centennial bridge and the original Bridge of the Americas.

Passengers may disembark while we are anchored on Lake Gatun, taken ashore by a continuous flotilla of tenders to visit the local attractions of the area. The tours are all sponsored by Holland America, so the ship won’t leave Colón without them. No one disembarked on the full transit from Gatun to Panama City, so no one on that cruise had the opportunity to visit the area. 

Several of the passengers we’ve chatted with were unaware we would not see the famous terraced locks at Gatun, with the mechanical mules alongside to keep the boats from scraping the sides of the lock. The new facility at Aqua Clara doesn’t use the lock-side tracks and mechanical, train-like tugs to control the boats, so I am curious to see what else one hundred years of engineering advancement has done to the process. I make sure my camera battery is fully charged, and I have my cellphone on a lanyard to prevent the accidental jostling and joggling from knocking it out of my hand as I head topside in the breaking daylight.

The Atlantic Bridge

The crowd on the top deck is not as large as I expected, and very well behaved. I moved around to see the locks from different angles and realized this passage through the new locks is considerably different from the old locks at Gatun. The massive gates on the new lock do not split open, rather they disappear into the side walls of the lock rather undramatically. They simply slide open. We know they’re massive because a bus drove across the gate in front of us while we waited for the lock to fill with water.

Entering Aqua Clara locks. There is a huge container ship in front of us

Agua Clara only has a single row of locks, dictating one way traffic. The old locks all have
 two side-by-side chambers at each lock

There is no drama with the mules cabled to the boat, climbing alongside the ship, as they simply aren’t used here. Massive skid plates completely line both sides of the lock. The other big difference between the two lock systems is there is only a single row of locks on the new facility, not the side-by-side locks of Gatun. The facility and the grounds are spotlessly clean but the facility seems to be oddly devoid of activity. The only people we see are several photographers and one security guard. 

The boats and gates both move so slowly as to be sleep inducing if it weren’t for the warning bells that could wake the dead, used to signal a gate is about to open. Oddly, the place still seems to be on autopilot. There is a huge control center, much like an airport control tower, on the north side that ominously dominates the area. I’m sure they don’t miss much. Off behind the lock area itself, perched on the hill that overlooks the entire operation, is the visitor center. I’m sure, as impressive as this voyage is, many cruisers are surprised by what they see. Or in this case, what they don’t see.

The amount of cargo on the container ship is astounding.

The guide "mules" have been replaced by massive fenders and bumpers

The lock operation center looks like the control tower of an airport.

 By 10 O’clock, we are anchored just several hundred yards into Lake Gatun, and the tenders are shuttling passengers to the many different tours. One of the tours includes visiting Panama City on the Pacific coast by bus. By the way. Panama City, Panama, is almost eighty miles EAST of Panama City, Florida. I wanted to put a smiley face right here, but moving on…

Anchored in Lake Gatun. The old Gatun locks are to the left, the newer Aqua Clara to the right

Heading back to Colón. Entering the Agua Clara locks from Lake Gatun.

As we glide out the last lock before entering the Caribbean sea, the remaining five of us on the top deck chat and talk a little about what we’ve seen. We slowly cruise past groups of lights, mounted on huge, tall light poles, when I realize the last group of lights, covered in metal, bee-hive style shields, has two, huge seabirds sitting it, one on either side, and watching the waterway. It is the first time I have seen adult Frigates, sometimes called Man-of-War, roosting.

Frigate over Mexico

I found a young, gray Frigate sitting on the edge of an artificial grass terrace on the top deck of the Island Princess last year as we entered Huatulco, Mexico. A ship’s officer told me it isn’t uncommon for the juveniles to tire on long flights and take the first available rest stop they see. What’s better than a patch of green in the middle of an ocean? The adults watching the traffic certainly were not bothered by the massive cruise ship in their neighborhood.

The lock visitor center overlook

Colón, Panama

Docked at Colón, Panama

We dock at the new Cruise port terminal adjacent to the huge, modern, two-story, Colón 2000 Duty Free Mall just at 5:00pm. All of the passengers who took excursions will meet the ship here, apparently while the rest of us shop wildly in an uncontrollable spending frenzy. Or maybe we’ll stroll through the maze of familiar stores and marquees and gawk at the prices. 

Colón, Panama

The huge, modern, two-story, Colón 2000 Duty Free Mall appears to me to be a shrewdly designed, state-of-the-art money separation system. The visually stunning mall was about the only place in Colón those of us who stayed on board really got to visit as we were only moored for several hours. The MS Rotterdam docked to pick up the passengers who had disembarked in Lake Gatun. They were being delivered back to the boat by bus after a day of sightseeing. 

There were several displays in the walkway leading to an interconnected building with tables and stalls overflowing with locally produced art and souvenirs. The vendors stood outside in native dress and costumes, competing with the glitz and glamour of the mall for the attention of the cell-phone addicted tourists. But, the mall did have free Internet, where it took us less than three minutes to catch up with E-mails. Time for dinner and another trip to the Rolling Stones lounge, fast becoming our go-to entertainment of the cruise.

We are delayed in departing as the tour bus from Panama City was overdue. We chatted with a couple only moments after they re-boarded the boat. Tired, hungry, looking quite bedraggled, they vociferously expressed their opinion of not eating or going to the restroom for hours. Other than that, he said, it was a good trip.

Time for the Rolling Stones Lounge.

My blog about our trip through the old locks of the Panama Canal is at: https://piddlepaddler.blogspot.com/2024/11/the-panama-canal-cruise-part-3-transit.html

A 27 minute video of the original Gatun Lock trip is at: https://youtu.be/-ouMXldv7zY the video

Listen Here! 

Next: Puerto Limón 

Previous:  Cartagena

Cruise 2025 - The Rock and Roll Cruise - Part 3 - Cartagena Revisited

 

The deep blue color of the ocean hasn’t changed since our first cruise, nor has the smell of fresh salt air. The satisfaction of seeing the unique color of the deep ocean and breathing in the crisp, clean air is just as intense as thirty years ago. Sitting on the balcony at sea was high on our list back then and it still is. We don’t get to do it often, so when we get the opportunity to enjoy these things, we don’t waste a single moment.

 A day at sea is also a great opportunity to catch up on reading about our strange, convoluted world, such as the just announced sales analysis for new cars and small trucks in 2025. The biggest surprise isn’t the total number of cars and pickup trucks or even who sold them. The biggest surprise is there were more cars sold for over $75,000 than those that cost less than $30,000! My surprise is partly based on the archaic fact I paid $19,200 for my first house, a brand new townhouse in Miami. As of January 5, 2026, the cheapest new car sold in the United States is the 2026 Kia K4, which has a base starting price of $23,385. Inflation has clobbered us so badly, that according to Cox Automotive, “The number of new vehicle models priced under $25,000 has dropped from thirty-six in 2017 to just five in 2026.” The vehicles are basically the same, electronics and AI notwithstanding, the prices are simply up, way, way up. A quick glance at the room menu reminds me parts of cruising have also changed drastically. A glass of Cabernet or Chardonnay is now $18. A beer is now $9. This new world is very expensive by my upbringing, but we have resigned ourselves to enjoying what we like by simply being selective.  

The Main Dining Room - The Rotterdam

We eventually get dressed after sunset and head toward the dining room. Coughing and sneezing are already on the increase, so we ask to be seated by ourselves and notice many of the other diners are doing the same thing. One group that has consistently been seated together has a middle-aged male member who has worn bib overalls and a denim ball cap every single day of the cruise so far. He wears the same attire in the dining room. The maître d' politely reminded a passenger standing in line in front of us on our second day that shorts were inappropriate. The passenger profusely apologized and immediately left to change. Apparently, bib overalls are not as offensive as shorts. Another white, male passenger in his late 60s or early 70s has worn a ball cap in the dining room with his political American idol boldly emblazoned on it. It isn’t red, but wearing a hat, especially a ball or golf cap, in the dining room is in poor taste. Holland America Lines may be somewhat off base with their new marketing targets.

The housekeeping staff on the Rotterdam changes the floor mats in every elevator to match the day of the week. A subtle yet effective way to keep us all from losing all track of sensibilities and schedules. Surprise! It’s Friday already! Five days into the cruise and we still have seven to go. We’ll arrive at Cartagena early tomorrow under cloudy skies. It looks like our bright sunshine will elude us for the next several days, but we haven’t scheduled any port activities so we aren’t worried about weather.

Once again, we end up in the Rolling Stones Lounge listening to the really great band that has caught our ear. Thomaso, from Rome, Flor from Buenos Aires, Steven from St. Louis, Shannon from San Diego, and a young man whose name I never mastered from Tokyo, made up a band that meshed as if they had been playing together for years. They play our style of popular rock music, even briefly touching on R&B. We thought the BB King blues club would be our “hangout,” but they play solid Motown with some soul music tossed in, and they do it very loudly. Just not our style. We tried the main theater in the round and were not impressed with the shows.  

The Virgen del Carmen, patron saint of mariners, stands a foggy vigil at Cartagena 

Slowly, quietly entering the harbor at Cartagena is just as intriguing as the first time we visited here. We are sailing slowly due north, this time shrouded by early morning fog and heavy overcast. The high rises soon appear and within minutes we are secured at the pier.  

I’m fascinated by the order and control Cartagena Port Authority uses to fill the pier with huge tour buses so efficiently. The pier was empty when the first mooring lines were thrown ashore, and filled with buses by the time people started walking toward the welcome garden. We aren’t alone here, either, as the new gleaming Virgin Cruises ship, Brilliant Lady, docks alongside us. Not long after her arrival, a former Holland America ship, the old MS Statendam, now sailing as the Vasco da Gama for the German company, Nicko Cruises, docks on the other side of Brilliant lady. There will be almost 7000 passengers descending on Cartagena, no problem as long as we don’t all stay in the really nice little welcome garden at the end of the dock area.

The State of the Art in cruising: 1993 vs 2025 - The former MS Statendam, now the Vasco Da Gama,
launched in 1993, and the Brilliant Lady, launched in 2025.

Within minutes of mooring, the tour buses have loaded their passengers and have departed the dock

We decided not to go into town for several reasons, one of them is the early 1:30pm All Aboard. We enjoyed the welcome garden at the port entrance the first time we visited Cartagena, so we decided to once again see the colorful birds and perhaps once again feed the monkeys. Unfortunately, it looked like all 7000 visitors were there at once, so after a short, crowded stroll through the pretty center, we headed back to the ship. My blog and photos about our first visit to Cartagena is at: https://piddlepaddler.blogspot.com/2024/11/the-panama-canal-cruise-part-2-cartegena.html

The Guinea hens are still here.

The early departure from Cartagena means we will awaken tomorrow morning at the Caribbean entrance to the Panama Canal. This time we will go through the new locks, then turn around on Lake Gatun and sail back out the same day, waiting for the passengers who take local tours to rejoin the Rotterdam in Colon, Panama.

Time to head back to the ship and relax.

The Original Canal Cruise 2025 - The Rock and Roll Cruise - The Original Panama Canal 

Next: The Other Panama Canal

Previous:  Curacao

Cruise 2025 - The Rock and Roll Cruise - Part 2 - Curacao Revisited

Hiding from over two thousand, four hundred and four other passengers on a ship less than a thousand feet long is really very easy, just stay in your room and order everything from room service. We don’t use room service except for the daily bottles of drinking water, but we do love being on the balcony during sea days. We aren’t hermits, but we love what can only be done while cruising on the open sea and the best place we’ve found to enjoy it is on our balcony. This trip is no exception. 

With Cuba in the background, we enter the tranquil Windward Passage toward Curacao

We head into the appropriately named Windward Passage early on the morning of our second day with a brilliant sunrise to the east just as Cuba comes into sight on the horizon to our west. Ilse and I go up to the open top deck and watch the awakening pool activity two decks below. The Windward Passage, the channel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Sea between Cuba and Hispaniola, has always intrigued me. We’ve sailed it four times now, and while we’re certainly not maritime experts, we’ve come to expect a different type of cruising here from anything else we have experienced. The appropriately named passage is always an interesting part of any cruise headed toward South America or the Panama Canal from the northern hemisphere. While it’s called the Windward Passage for good reason, the introduction, the first section has always been calm for us, almost a cunning lie to seduce unaware sailors. 

The subtle change in the sea as we pass Haiti

Breaking into the open Caribbean south of Haiti several hours later has always been enough to make whichever ship we’ve been on shudder and shake and the Rotterdam is no different. The wooden coat hangers in the closet even rattle. This is as pleasant as any other trip through here, and far from the worst when we had gale-force winds at 54 knots across our bow and fifteen to twenty foot seas while on the Crown Princess. The staircases on the Crown Princess squealed and banged in warped protest and water in the closed off pool deck sloshed higher than than the hand rail on the deck above. This passage was sedate by comparison, but still with enough personality to remind everyone why it is so named. We won’t be coming back this way as we will swing around the other side of Cuba for our return trip.

We are headed toward Curacao, then Cartagena, and a quick stop at Gatun Lake, part of the Panama Canal, then we will visit Georgetown in Grand Cayman, a repeat of our 1993 visit way back in the last century, before heading back to Ft. Lauderdale by way of the Yucatan Channel between Cuba and Mexico.

We had two full sea days – and one time change, ahead one hour – and we are anxiously awaiting our approach to Curacao, a port we really liked visiting way back in 2012. We are soon tied up, and after a nice relaxed breakfast, we head toward town.

Arriving at Willemstad, Curacao

MS Rotterdam, Willemstad, Curacao Dec 2025

The first thing that strikes me as I look across the rolling hills around Willemstadt is the numerous chimneys and smokestakes from the many petroleum processing plants are gone. The facilities are still there, but modernized and no longer conspicuous.

The floating Queen Emma Bridge in the foreground, and the soaring Queen Juliana Bridge in the background, Willemstad, Curacao

The Queen Emma bridge is cool, even if it is over 137 years old. The famous pedestrian bridge started swinging open while we were walking on it and drew oohs and aahs along with probably several thousand cell-phone photos from the pleased, conscripted “passengers.”

The pedestrian only Queen Emma bridge in Willemstad

 

A bridge unexpectedly swinging open is a thought that would normally instill visions of chaos and panic, not the pleasant giggles and laughter that enveloped the bridge. The “Old Swinging Lady” is world famous, and famously slow. It doesn’t raise up like a draw bridge or swing on a pivot like some of the old railroad bridges. Instead, it floats open on a hinge. The pontoon bridge that lifts and falls with the tides has an operator’s shack on the picturesque Punda side of Saint Anna Bay. 

The operator remotely closes the pedestrian gates on either end and starts the diesel motors that slowly propel the bridge away from from the abutment and the bridge “sails” open. Those on the bridge laugh and ride as if at an amusement park, it had enough undulation to make us hold the handrails, but the veterans of Old Swinging Lady didn’t even bother to look up. One woman hopped over the small gap between the bridge and the abutment as the bridge swung closed as she looked at her phone.

The oldest synagogue in the Americas

The famous floating market of Willemstad - Home of the famous three dollar banana

Being the good Samaritan that I try to be, I walked over to a couple sitting in what appeared to be a parked, brand new, locomotive pulling several open, surry-type sightseeing cars. Obviously a tourist tram waiting on passengers. Only this one was the little engine that couldn’t. The middle-aged driver was grinding the starter over and over again, but the shiny new engine only ground away mercilessly. It simply would not start. His wife, I assumed, sitting next to him was obviously getting desperate. They were both well dressed, obviously waiting on ship passengers for a local tour of Punda, on the other side of St. Anne’s from Otrabanda, which incidentally means “the other side.” He stepped down from the driver’s seat as I approached and I asked if I could possibly be of assistance.

“I don’t know,” he answered, “We just got it, it is brand new! It started fine when we drove it here!”

“Probably the choke valve is stuck open,” I answered, based on being from Miami and growing up putting my hand over carburetor throats to start cars and jeeps. I’ve done this many times before. “Well, open the engine cover and let’s see if we can fix this,” I answered.

Surprise, surprise! The fuel injected engine is part of a dedicated towing vehicle, not simply a converted jeep or truck chassis. It is state of the art and beautifully laid out, meticulously painted and labeled. It is spotlessly clean. Every label or tag, however, is written in Chinese. Well, basics still apply, I told myself and began following tubing and air ducts until the intake went out of sight behind the engine.

The woman had called an associate who arrived just as I reached the upper level of my expertise, I believe it’s still called the Peter Principle. I explained my actions to him as he stood quietly, his hands behind his back. He looked at me and said ‘Hmmm,” then reached behind the engine somehow and within a minute or so, said, “Try it now.” After several half-hearted coughs, it started just as a bus showed up and people began climbing into to the waiting tram. The woman came over to me and thanked me profusely, even though I hadn’t fixed it. “He did something inside the air cleaner, so, yes, you did.” By the time she picked up her microphone, they had a full tour loaded and ready to go. I got another big smile and a wave.

"Toto, we're not in Iowa anymore..."

We return to the ship to find another behemoth docked behind us, the Carnival Horizon, a cousin to our Holland America Rotterdam, which adds another 4000 visitors to the port. The third and fourth piers, smaller than the open sea piers, are in town, and are both occupied as well. Moored alongside St. Annabaai is the Crystal Serenity, famous for having been taken by Bahamian authorities several years ago for owing well over four million dollars in outstanding fuel bills, and another, unnamed boutique cruiser docked in front of her. The completely refurbished Crystal Serenity, carrying just over a thousand passengers, is now under new ownership and is operated by Crystal Cruises.

We have dinner and head for the top deck to catch the Thursday evening fireworks. Another great visit to one of our favorite ports.

The 33 minute video of Curacao Revisited is at:  https://youtu.be/E36cn57UG7M

Next –  Cartagena Revisited

Previous: - Back Again