RevNeal's Panama Canal Cruise Photos

I've finished selecting which of my 3400 photos to upload, processing them for the internet, and uploading them. I managed to reduce 3.4 GB of photos to 18 MB. :) Not bad, really.

Click Here to View RevNeal's Panama Canal Cruise Photos

Or, go to this web address: http://homepage.mac.com/revneal/panamacanal/Menu18.html

Clicking on the sample photo-thumbs in the index will take you to each album, categorized by topic and port. I've included several albums of photos taken around the Zaandam, of the ship and her various public rooms. Once you've gotten to the albums, clicking on the photo-thumbs will open each photo in a stand-alone window.

It's now time to start writing my review. These photos will help in that project.

Your pictures are fabulous. I still have 4 months to go before I am on the Zaandam. You have made the wait worth it. Thank you so much for posting. I loved every one of them. Thanks again

Karen

Greg, Now I know where you have been. You have been a busy boy:D Putting together this Wonderful Photo Album. Oh I know how time consuming that was. That had to of taken Hours and Hours.:eek: Thanks so much for all your hard work. So far I have only had a chance to review all the Zaandam Tour pictures and HMC but what I have seen so far is absolutely fantastic.

Thanks again, you are such a great asset to this board.

Thanks for such wonderful pictures. They really bring back some great memories.

RevNeal - Spectacular photo treat! Glad to see some green returning at HMC, but could not help but notice that the beach is only half as wide as I remember, that's sad.

Kudos! Bravo! Many thanks! As always, you do us a tremendous service by posting so thoroughly your wonderful pictures. We're booked on the Zaandam next May, and I know after her SOE enhancements that she'll be even more stunning.

Glad to see some green returning at HMC, but could not help but notice that the beach is only half as wide as I remember, that's sad.

I agree ... it is MUCH narrower than I remembered it. My photo's from my last time there confirm our memories.

Thank you for the lovely photos. And thank you even more for the time spent choosing, arranging and uploading them for us. Glad you enjoyed yourselves and gave us something to enjoy as well.

I've finished selecting which of my 3400 photos to upload, processing them for the internet, and uploading them.

Holy cow!!! :eek: At even a minute for one photo, that's over 3-1/2 full days (not counting 8 hours of sleep each night). Did you have any time to eat, play trivia, see a show, or snooze in a deck chair?

RevNeal,

Absolutely stunning photos! It allowed me to redo our Panama Canal cruise on the Ryndam in 2000. With all the pictures you took, I hope you had enough time to enjoy the trip.

Thanks so much for posting these pictures.

Wonderful photos, Rev !! I loved all of your comments too :) hehe

Greg: Thanks for sharing your trip with us. Your pictures are really first rate.

A wonderful treat to see all those photos. Excellent job. But 3,400 photos - did you have time for anything enjoyment!? Thank you for taking the time to take the photos and then to select and arrange them. Superb.

oly cow!!! At even a minute for one photo, that's over 3-1/2 full days (not counting 8 hours of sleep each night). Did you have any time to eat, play trivia, see a show, or snooze in a deck chair?

It's more like an average of about 10 a minute, in bursts of no more than about 2 or 3 minutes at a time. I keep a 512 MB CF Card and a 256 MB XD Picture Card in the camera all the time -- I can put ~250 on the XD Card and ~400 on the CF card. While going through the canal I began the day with both cards blank (I downloaded photos to my laptop every night). I ended Canal day with both cards FULL, and my second 512 MB CF in the camera and still taking pictures at dinner. I took a bit over 1000 photos during Canal day. I tend to take LOTS of multiple shots in an attempt to get just ONE photograph that I like. Due to the bright sunshine I found myself taking photos on automatic, then switching to manuel and trying to get better light and shadow balances. I took similar shots with no zoom, with mid-zoom, with max-zoom, with filters on and off. For any one excellent shot during the Canal day I must have had an average of 3 photos that didn't make the grade. And, of those that did make the grade, only a FEW of those photographs eventually made it onto the internet. Those were either outstanding, OR they were representative photos of which I had few others to choose. For instance, since I can't be in more than one place at a time, I frequently sent Chris to other areas of the ship with my old digital camera in order to get photos of canal operations from different angles. Of my 3400 photos, he must have taken about 200.

Let me give you an illustration of how one can easily rack up 1000+ photos in one day. In one of the locks, after I ran out of power on all 4 batteries of my video camera, I decided to record the descent of the ship in the lock with my digital camera. So ... I took a photo every 5 seconds for the entire time it took the ship to go down one full step. :) That's about 240 - 300 photos. I'm going to eventually put all those shots into a QT video clip. :)

I know ... 3400 photos sounds like a lot. And it is. But, in all truth, I spent the vast majority of my 21 days resting, playing, going on shore excursions, and enjoying myself big time ... and often times without my camera with me. Over the 21 days, 3400 photos would come to 162 per day. There were many days (particularly sea days) when I took fewer than 50 photos. There were several days when I took more than 500 ... sometimes many more.

No, I'm not a professional photographer ... even if I do find myself taking as many photos as the professionals do.

TO: Rev Greg Neal

FROM: Himself

Greg:

You did a really fine job with the pictures. Mt. St> Helen started to act up after you left there. The Panama Canal pictures brought back many memories. I agree with you on Cartagena.

Thanks for sharing them

J

Great pics - I apprecaite the ones of the Oosterdam. I neglected to get many while cruising. I think Igo as many of the Zaandam and Volendam as I did of the ship I was on.

BTW - you did a great job blowing up my pic and finding yourself on it.

-anton-

I would appreciate if you would email me pic 21 unedited. It is the one captioned "The Oosterdam looms large behind us." Maybe I can do the same and find myself up on deck 6.

apgielen@mindspring.com

nice pics Rev

Rev. Greg, I so enjoyed your photos and am really looking forward to your review too! You know what they sometimes say about looking at another persons photos...but really yours is one of the best presentations I have seen (there were lots of oohs and aahs going on on my end!) I could imagine myself there! It appears you and Chris had a fabulous time on this trip! Thanks for taking the time to share it with the rest of us.

revneal,

Your pictures are outstanding and truly tell a story. Thank you for all of the hard work.

RevNeal - Thanks for the pictures! Great presentation. They made me want to start packing and we don't sail until next March. I miss cruising! Thanks again. :)

What wonderful photos Rev! You got us all excited! :)

Thanks for the pictures even though you didn't get many of the Ocean Bar :)

I haven't been to Oche Rios on a cruise in 12-15 years and I remember the the dock that the Zaandam used on your cruise.

RevNeal

Thank you so much for your photos and travelogue. It was particularly thoughtful of you to separate the ports from the ship photos. It made it so easy for me to look at what I was interested in!

My particular favorite (of the ones I looked at), was the daytime shot of the Crow's Nest. The two men napping were the picture of relaxation. Boy, did you capture that feeling!

That will be me on the Oosterdam in 10 days!!!! Thanks again

Beth

WOW! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful pictures with us. It was fun, too, to see two ships we've sailed on, the Oosterdam and the Summit.

Revneal, As a first timer coming up in December, I thank you so much for all the pictures on board. I had a vision in my head but of course, they did no justis to how beautiful everything is. And so now I can have some idea of things. Can you tell me Is the statendam very similar ?? That is the actual ship I will be cruising on, Are the public rooms about the same?? Thank you again-awsome Job:) Christine