Wednesday – December 14, 2016
The ship’s clocks were advanced another hour this morning as we traveled southeast. There was a gentle breeze and the sky was mostly cloudy with passing showers – 78 degrees.
Today was rest and relaxation after a couple days of excursions ashore. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, then we saw another presentation of Hooray for Hollywood in the theater. This time it was “Classic Comedies.” Roy Short does a good job of collecting and showing clips from old movies which we remember from years past.
It’s amazing that on a ship filled with 2,000 people we could find quiet corners. I don’t know where the crowds were, but there seemed to be few people out and about. We relaxed in comfortable lounge chairs on the deck and listened to recorded books.
One excellent feature of this ship is that it has about eight laundry rooms on multiple floors. This is great because travelers don’t have to pack as much clothes. I always travel everywhere with one “carry-on” size suitcase regardless of how long I’m traveling. This trip was no exception, although it was a challenge with ‘formal nights.’ The disadvantage to packing light is I have to “do laundry” as I go, so today was a laundry day for me.
In the afternoon we saw a re-run of David McCullough’s excellent 1987 Nova program about the Panama Canal. While it might be a bit dated, the information and historical photos and films were very instructive. The film provided an introduction to our crossing tomorrow.
We saw a growing number of commercial ships on the horizon as the day continued. So we knew we were approaching the Panama Canal. Incredible! Very exciting!!