Here are some of my Panama Canal pictures.

We went through the first locks at 7am and reached the Pacific Ocean at 5pm, so you can imagine how many near-identical photos of cranes, trucks and tropical trees are on my camera right now. There was a special vibe that day, with the guest areas completely dead (unusual for a day at sea) except for the open decks, which were crammed with guests being irritated by the other guests who were getting in the way of their cameras.

Today we were in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. About half of my friends went to a Hilton Hotel for food/drink/swimming, and the other half went zip-lining. This activity ranks high on the crew-member grapevine; I’d heard about zip-lining in Costa Rica half a dozen times before my ship reached the port.

The van that took us there had no air conditioning or seatbelts, and there were scuff marks around the bumpers and the bottoms of the doors. The back seats shifted around when the driver made sudden stops or turns (so, basically all the time). It smelled like old-car. However, the sweaty, lurching 45-minute ride was worth it.

On the drive there and back we passed signs of “real life,” and I regretted that we see all these countries for a few hours at a time. There were tons of people biking in the bike lane, waiting for buses, or just sitting on their porches. I wanted to see the insides of the houses, and find out what there is to eat, drink and do for fun.
A lot of people waved as we passed, and I wondered: Were they inwardly mocking the dipshit tourists, or being genuinely friendly?
I didn’t even have time to walk around the port area because of a rehearsal, but here was some of what I saw out the window: