Now that Christmas and New Year’s are over, I’ll return to my recap of our recent Panama Canal Cruise. As the sun set over Guatemala on day 8, our ship the Statendam pointed its bow southward and set sail. Days 9 and 10 were a pair of lazy days at sea that are so restful and incredibly relaxing, but afterward neither of us could remember exactly what we did. We found a quiet place on the ship’s deck and read books. (Ted read Nightshade by Ronie Kendig, and I read The Heir by Paul Robertson. Both excellent books, and highly recommended!)

One element of our cruise on Holland America we both enjoyed was the leisure workshops and classes we could attend. On day 9 we sat in on a lecture about the history and construction of the Panama Canal, which was fascinating. I took a cooking class presented by the ship’s executive chef and learned how to make appetizer pizza squares. That evening we went to hear the karaoke singers, and I sat on the edge of my seat the whole time, hoping I’d get selected to sing and at the same time, hoping I wouldn’t. (Oh, the pressure!!!) That was another formal night, so we dressed up and walked around the ship in our finery.

Day 10 was more of the same – a long, leisurely, relaxing day at sea. We kept our eyes fixed on the coastline, glimpsing Panama for the first time. At 7:00 that night we anchored off the coast of Panama. I’ll talk more about that tomorrow.