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Almost live heading through Panama Canal

capnpugwash

By capnpugwash,
in P&O Cruises ( UK )

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capnpugwash

capnpugwash

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It was Thursday evening, with our separate cases packed and weighed on our bathroom scales, Mrs P 20 kilos and mine a mere 21. I carried them downstairs and was reminded quite how heavy 20 kilos is, very is the word that sprang to mind. Anyway it was all done and we were ready for our 6am departure to Gatwick Airport to catch our first ever charter flight to commence our latest trip.

As we headed up to bed I saw that my wife had put a waterproof jacket over her case, in answer to my question as to why she needs a jacket in the Caribbean, her response was that she might need it at Gatwick getting from the car park. I scoffed and dismissively said that we were using the valet parking service and it was all under cover from the weather. I hope that she was suitably chastened.

On day 1 we arrived at the South Terminal’s valet parking office and as I was loading the bags onto a trolley in the falling snow wearing my rugby shirt over a t-shirt, she stood there wreathed in smiles. Naturally I was magnanimous and insisted that she come and bloody help me. Into the office we marched and having been told that they had no record of a booking for us, five minutes later we were back in the car heading for the North Terminal where I had booked parking and from where our plane was due to depart. That was a first for me, I suppose it could have been worse, I could have gone to Heathrow.

The valet parking at this terminal involves driving up to level 3 in the car park and leaving your car there with the office and I imagine that they will drive it to remote parking, only returning it on the morning of our return. There is a footbridge link to departure level in the terminal which will be great when it is finished. We had to go to the street level and walk through the snow about 75 yards to enter the terminal. More smiles on you know who.

Check-in went smoothly as did boarding. We had paid quite a bit extra for premium seats and we were in 3A and B respectively. We were flying with Thompson Air on a 767. There was plenty of legroom but the seats had solid sides rather than the armrest which can be raised. I may have been on too many cruises but I found the width a bit restrictive, rather like a tight chair. No big deal and for those less padded they would be perfect. In fact my thighs are sore today from the restriction placed upon them, my fault really but I thought you should know, not about my thighs but the pinching seats. The flight was nine and a half hours with a 4 hour time gain. That is long enough for any sane man but with a couple of Bombay and Tonics, sleep kicked in for about half of it. I still haven’t seen Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince from beginning to end, one day perhaps. The flight was fine with good service from friendly attendants; the food was ok as was the entertainment system.

We arrived on time at Bridgetown and parked in the outfield, it is a great arrangement, they bring buses to the plane and you board them. They take you straight to the ship which is about an hour away and your luggage follows separately. Because of the UK weather we landed 3 minutes behind three other flights for the same cruise, so we sat on the plane for 15 minutes and then the bus took us to the docks. Friday afternoon traffic was like New York or London and it took about 80 minutes to make it. We arrived and sat for 30 minutes as the buses in front were processed and boarded the ship. Everyone was moaning but I would rather have waited in the cool of the bus than standing in a dockside shed waiting to be seen. As we arrived, we witnessed the departure of the Barbados Police Steel Band who had finished their allotted gig and were heading home. They really look smart but I couldn’t help wondering if they may have been better employed dealing with the traffic – especially as we didn’t get to hear them.

We have been to Barbados before but normally we dock near the centre of town, today we are in the commercial dock which I guess is because of volume of people and luggage leaving and arriving. Not a particularly attractive location but I suppose that it works.

On board eventually about 4.45pm, a little late and up to our cabin. It is tiny and we are so grateful that we have a balcony. The room is about 18 feet by 9 feet which includes the bathroom and wardrobes. There is about 28 inches of hanging space plus shelves and drawers. We are ok because we didn’t bring our normal quantity; I have 1 jacket and 3 pairs of trousers and the wife had one case rather than her customary three. The shower is reasonable except for the fixed head but there is no room for any towel action once you are in the main bit. Well there is no main bit, about two feet by three feet and don’t trip over the toilet pan.

Hamish Reid is the Captain; I have met him before but can’t remember where or when, he is probably in the same position.

Mrs P had put her swimming costume in her hand baggage so she went off for a swim, whilst I fiddled around in the cabin. We were told to expect luggage up to 3 or 4 hours after arrival so we thought that we would use the buffet for the first night as we were tired. It was fine albeit the restaurant is only about one quarter of the length of the ship. Which seemed small to us. We went to the lifebelt drill at 8.15, although that has turned into a please wash your hands exhortation to limit the D&V virus spreading. I hadn’t forgotten how to put on a lifebelt so we were soon on our way. Having already eaten we went to the cybercafé to book our packages. There is only limited wifi in reception and the cybercafé, nothing in any cabins or other public rooms. A bit archaic I think.

I woke early today and now as 6am approaches we are seeing the pink of dawn as it appears over an anonymous island. We are heading into Grenada in about two hours time, the sea is calm and a perfect day is forecast. I am going to the pool today rather than a tour.

More later.

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rolfecms

rolfecms

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As an American who has never traveled on P&O, I look forward to your well-written travelogues above the Oceana. We're off to the Panama Canal in April (albeit on a different cruiseline) so your dispatches will be keenly anticipated and duly noted.

 

Have a great time!

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capnpugwash

capnpugwash

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Apparently we were in the usual dock area yesterday but as the ship was back to front we were on the wrong side to see the terminal. I stand corrected.

Today was quite warm reaching the high 70’s with strong sun. I had an hour in the pool and had a great time. Later on the clouds built and it rained in the early afternoon but then cleared up and we had a delightful evening.

Dinner was fine, we have a table for 8 and we all chatted nicely and then we went off to the Syndicate Quiz and met two other couples to form a team. One pair were cruising for the first time and the others were old sweats. Well we actually won. Our prize was the normal bottle of wine which we gave to the newbies.

We are on our way to Isla Margarita off the coast of Venezuela, so that may have to be the drink of choice tomorrow.

The night passed without incident and the sea is as calm as can be, it is 5.15am and already quite warm on the balcony. The sky is still inky black but it is full of tiny stars spread across the 180 degrees that I am fortunate enough to be able to see.

I am or perhaps was looking forward to this port as there is a nice beach nearby and I really like sea swimming, yesterday the tour lecturer/advisor lady blithely warned those venturing to the beach that at certain times of the year there was a serious problem with Sand Flies that make the beach their home. Apparently these creatures bite and this is painful and intensely itchy. All important stuff to know, except she neglected to tell us whether February was a bad time or whether we were fine unless we stayed until September! So I am in a quandary whether to go to the beach or use the ship’s pool. Decisions, decisions.

 

We are really enjoying the Oceana, I thought that it was big but it feels slightly larger than Artemis which I like. Nice crew and very pleasant passengers. I think I like this cruising lark.

 

More tomorrow

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sammydo

sammydo

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reading with interest, we have recently returned form Ventura, but i do love the oceana. we chose ventura for its itinery this year, but hubby is determined to do Panama canal, so we are both really interested to hear your report. I prefer the ports, and felt there were too many sea days for my liking on your itinary, but i am going to have to give in next time, but that won,t be too hard if its on the oceana.

have a great time, and hope you dodge the sand flies.

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rolfecms

rolfecms

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I thought Margarhrita was a bit of a dump, those who stayed at the beach near the ship had the best time!"

 

So I take it there are no political issues between Venezuela and the UK that might make a stopover there somewhat risky? (Not sure if the UK is on Mr.Chavez' sh*t list).

 

Looking at cruisett I'm not seeing any other ships stopping there except for the Sea Princess last month: http://cruisett.com/ships.php?ShipID=113&date=18

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Johnthed0g

Johnthed0g

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We thought it was an uncomfortably poor island, some islands have people who live in "shacks" out of choice, ie- "chattel houses" in Barbados, on Margarita we felt it wasn't out of choice. We didn't fancy any of the trips so we opted for a visit to the Dunes resort, nothing special, couldn't imagine spending a holiday there...one woman we spoke to said ''it wasn't bad not that many people have been ill!!''

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capnpugwash

capnpugwash

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We had our breakfast in the Café Jardin which is Marco Pierre White’s fine dining on this ship and Aurora and it really is good. At Dinner there is a supplement to pay but for breakfast, lunch and overnight snacks there is no charge; bacon croissants, Danish pastries and really strong coffee – wonderful.

 

I then went to the cybercafé and managed to get one post off before it all got blocked. There was a great satellite signal but no internet access. So I left it for later.

 

I took the easy route and spent my time on the Oceana leaving the flies to do what flies do best. The sun was so strong; it felt like I was sitting under a hot grill. The water in the pool was nice and cool and the shade of the open pool bar tempted me to a Mai Tai as cocktail of the day and then a couple of Margaritas. Absolutely charming, had a quick lunch of shrimp rolls with white pepper which reminded me of childhood teas with my parents as they were favourite treats. Funny what triggers memories really!

 

I played whist in the afternoon and went back to the cybercafé to try again, I had even less success so I went for a nap to try to recover the lost hours on the flight, Well I got three of them back. My wife, who is employed, meanwhile went to the cybercafé and was speaking to the manager from Cape Town, South Africa about this connectivity situation and he said that in all likelihood the transmissions were being jammed by the Venezuelan Army at the instruction of Mr Chavez, this is the kind of thing that Boss who were the State Security in South Africa would do regularly. He promised that it would all work once we sailed, we shall see today. We went to dinner and the service was so slow that we had to leave before coffee to make our 10.30 appointment at the quiz. Will have to speak to waiter, Anthony, about that. He is a charming man from India but I don’t know any more than that yet.

 

After the quiz at which we showed high mediocrity we went on deck for the party. The music was from Jupiter I think; I had never heard it before and the crowd dancing was 4 enthusiastic entertainment officers and half a dozen young girls. The DJ was playing music he liked and not what the majority of his audience would have danced to. There were 3 to 400 of us older folk still up at that time and we certainly weren’t there for our health.

 

Anyway about 12.30 we headed to our cabin to find half of the Brazilian rain forest on the bed telling us about arrangements for the flight home in 13 days time, the author did have the grace to apologize for reminding us this early so that is something.

 

It is now 7.10am on Day 3 (not including travel day) and we have a sea day as we head to Bonaire, we were due to call at Aruba but P&O tell us there are a lot of ships in that day. Being a trusting guy I checked on AIS or AIT site and could only see 1 other but I could be wrong. I think it could be that we are calling at election time and they think it might provoke some dissent or something like that. It doesn’t matter to me as after Bonaire we head to Curacao which has always sounded very exotic to me. I might even venture ashore.

 

The sea is almost calm and the sky is baby blue with a couple of wisps of cloud, it feels a couple of degrees cooler but that might be my imagination, in my defence we are sailing North, away from the Equator. It is marginal whatever is occurring.

 

More later

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Norfolk Brit

Norfolk Brit

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The sea is almost calm and the sky is baby blue with a couple of wisps of cloud, it feels a couple of degrees cooler but that might be my imagination, in my defence we are sailing North, away from the Equator. It is marginal whatever is occurring.

 

 

My heart bleeds for you, Cap'n, as we all gloomily sit under a torrent of hail, sleet, drizzle, snow...

 

Thanks for another delightful update - I look forward to tomorrow's.

 

Mary:)

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DKNYC

DKNYC

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Hi Captain P and Mrs P

 

Glad you and the rainforest are floating along smoothly. I spent a weeklong land vacation at the Hilton Resort on Margarita Island about 12 years ago. I thought it was quite nice then . They even had a Home Depot store and I didn't notice so much poverty.

 

Denise

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sammydo

sammydo

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have heard good reports on Bonaire, so will be interested to see what you think about it,.... i would have been gutted to lose Aruba though, been there once before, and its on my list of definatley want to go back to !!

 

Love reading your reports, thank-you.

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capnpugwash

capnpugwash

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Yesterday developed into a very warm day and once again people’s folly is in evidence as they stroll around the ship showing off their crimson skin, their backs criss crossed with slightly pinker lines where straps have been in place. Onshore the Europeans deal best with this by removing the offending bikini top. P&O aren’t quite ready for that although it is creeping in subtly. Not that I spend my days perving at the nubile girls around the pools, nubile girls and P&O aren’t often mentioned in the same sentence.

There are several crew members on board who I have met before and one of them, Xavier, is barman in the pool bar where I while away some time in the heat of the day under the shade of the awnings. I decided on a Mai Tai as a fairly safe fruity drink for the lunchtime period. Another barman served me this delicious concoction in what could easily be confused with a pint glass. I had been working on it for about 10 minutes when Xavier spies my half full glass and says “Captain, that looks weak!”. I was too slow, perhaps deliberately, and he topped up the glass within an inch of the top with dark Rum. He had left enough room for 3 additional ice cubes. He returned the drink to me with a mischievous grin saying “Now that looks much better”, I couldn’t argue with an expert. It was obviously very strong and it was the only one that I had, well it was the only one that I was capable of having.

We skipped lunch and after whist we went to afternoon tea, a great tradition and they still serve clotted cream with the scones although I did have to root around for strawberry jam. It was then time for a nap and an hour or so later, suitably refreshed, we dressed for the first formal evening.

It was the Welcome Aboard Cocktail Party, which we avoided and met up with Christine and Joan, a couple of ladies travelling together that I had been chatting to. Very nice company, keen golfers and they drink lager and gin. Kindred spirits really. We then went to dinner and again the food was excellent, a little small perhaps but that is no bad thing if one thinks about it.

I mentioned to our waiter that we needed to speed up the service after the experience of the previous evening. Dinner was 15 minutes late following the party and Anthony, our waiter had us served including coffee by 10pm and at no time were we rushed. Magic really, so we went to the quiz, reached the tie-break question and with good fortune chose the correct year for pound notes ceasing to be legal tender. It is 1988 if you care. So we have a bottle of red French plonk in the cabin which we will sample at a suitable time.

Because we are not travelling great distances our speed is around 11 knots which makes it all seem idyllic with the flat sea, brisk wind and clear blue sky. It is 6.30am now, still dark and off the port side about 4 miles away is a shoreline. It seems too big to be one of the ABC Islands but I am unsure what mainland lies to our west or south west, perhaps it is the north coast of Venezuela. The land has disappeared from view having been left behind and looking forward there is a smallish island which I would guess is Bonaire. It is now 7.45am and we are due to dock at 8am. We have just boarded the Pilot who had to leap onto a wooden stepped rope ladder and climb about 10 steps to reach safety. What a job.

Looking at the port there is a Pullmantur ship called Ocean Dream moored, perhaps it is Dutch, so we are not alone. It looks like an old ship with few balconies and lots of portholes. We are almost next to them and they just made an announcement and whilst I couldn’t work out what the language was, it clearly wasn’t English as that was the second broadcast. Normally the flags being flown give a clue, but not on this one, there is only the “Pilot Required” flag being shown. Very discourteous to Bonaire.

There is a raft of excursions organised, including Kayaking in the mangroves, scuba, snorkelling, quad biking and Butterfly spotting. Not sure why you would pay good money to see butterflies but maybe they transport you to the butterfly zone, beats me. There is something for everyone. The sun is just rising and there is total cloud cover that looks like very thick, very dirty cotton wool pads. It looks too thick to ever burn off but I am sure the sun will do its’ best. 320 sunny days per year in the Dutch Antilles they advertise; well, now is their chance to show me!

More later

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