Locks of fun on a Panama Canal trip

Author: By Richard P. Carpenter, Globe Staff

Date: SUNDAY, September 8, 1996

Page: J1

Section: Travel

On deck, passengers clustered under awnings put up especially for the occasion while stewards circulated, handing out lemonade -- just two thoughtful touches in a cruise filled with many. On the ship's bridge, Capt. Hans Mateboer welcomed aboard the two pilots from Panama who would bear the responsibility for guiding us safely and smoothly through the canal. But it was still the captain's ship, and for him it would be a tense time, what with three sets of locks -- giant watery stairways -- to go through and a mere 4 1/2 feet of clearance on either side of the 101-foot-wide Maasdam.

Passengers, my wife and I among them, watched in fascination as the 7-foot-thick doors to the first lock opened for our ship, then closed. The water slowly rose some 85 feet to elevate the ship to a level equal to that of the next lock. To our left, we could look up and wave at an industrial ship also making the crossing. And all around us, we could see the rich green land of the Central American nation of Panama. Cameras clicked and video cameras whirred.

We had entered the canal in the Atlantic Ocean, and when the 50-mile journey through the waterway was finished eight hours later, we would be in the Pacific. During our passage, 52 million gallons of fresh water -- enough to supply Boston for a day -- would be used and then spill into the sea. And for the privilege of passing the canal, the Maasdam would pay $108,723.94. That's a lot of quarters into the toll booth.

For all of us on board, the canal trip would be an experience to remember, but hardly the only one. This 10-day cruise from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Acapulco, Mexico, would also take us to the Caribbean island of Grand Cayman and the Central American nations of Costa Rica and Guatemala, with all the ports offering stunning sights, sounds and, yes, shopping. Yet more than half our days would be at sea, and when people spend that much time on a ship, it had better be a good one, with comfortable accommodations, lively entertainment and fine dining. The MS Maasdam is such a ship. I seldom hesitate to note less-than-perfect surroundings and service, but on this journey I found something well along the road to perfection.

With our first full day being a sea day, we had plenty of time to get acquainted with the ship, which is just 2 1/2 years old and gleams as brightly as it must have when brand new. The Maasdam, fifth in Holland America Line's 122-year history to carry the name, is 721 feet long and 55,451 gross tons, with 10 passenger decks, 15 public rooms including the Rembrandt Lounge and the Rotterdam Dining Room (both on two levels), two outdoor swimming pools, a health spa, a movie theater, several duty-free shops, a card and puzzle room, a library, a fitness center, walking and jogging decks, a coffee bar and, inevitably, a casino (why oh why do I play? I never win). One small suggestion: While the library does have books of recent vintage, a sprinkling of current best sellers would be welcome, too.

For dining, there is both the casual Lido Restaurant, where the food is served buffet style and the menu is extensive, and the two-level Rotterdam Dining Room, with some 900 Venetian-glass lighting fixtures, curved staircases, a marble fountain, a musicians' ledge perched over the main floor, wide windows looking out to the sea and murals depicting day and night. There are three formal nights, in which wearing a tux gave me at least something in common with James Bond, and a Dutch night, when we sheepishly put on caps or bonnets, and the menu choices included a brisket-and-vegetable dish called hutspot met klapstuk. There are also late-night buffets celebrating the cuisine of different countries and a dessert buffet where the sculpted food items are works of art.

When fully booked, as it often is, the Maasdam carries 1,266 passengers and a crew of 602 that has been well schooled in the three P's -- politeness, promptness and pleasantry. And the crew, largely Indonesian and Filipino, keeps on smiling with the full knowledge that, unlike most cruise lines, Holland America requires no tipping. As the Maasdam's new hotel manager, Frits Gehner, noted, the best part of his job is the happy atmosphere aboard ship.

The 633 staterooms -- a fancy word for cabins -- are done in largely neutral tones and light woods with nautical-themed art on the walls. All have sofas, hairdryers, individually controlled air conditioning, telephones, a multichannel music system and, of course, televisions, which offer movies, ship and port information and CNN. But those passengers in the 149 suites and deluxe staterooms were the envy of the rest of the ship -- not only because they had larger rooms, a VCR (with videos available for borrowing), a whirlpool bath and a minibar but because they had a veranda. Now, a veranda is nice on any ship, offering a private place to relax, sunbathe and see the sea, but on this trip it was a major bonus because the itinerary calls for scenic cruising along the Panama Canal and Costa Rica's Golfo Dulce, or Sweet Gulf.

It had been a busy day. We were pleasantly full after a day of dining. We had munched popcorn and seen a current movie at the Wajang Theater. We had beheld the Grand Atrium, featuring a classy three-deck, 30-foot-high sculpture appropriately named the Glass Pillar -- appropriate because it is fashioned from nearly 2,000 pieces of glass. We had stopped for tea and cappuccino at the Java Cafe (the ship uses Starbucks coffee exclusively). Eventually we would visit the Crow's Nest, where there is music, dancing, karaoke and nights with themes such as The Fifties and Country and Western. But now it was showtime.

If Holland America once had a weak spot, it was its entertainment, and the company was aware of this. So about a year and a half ago, the decision was made to put a tad more razzle and a smidgen more dazzle into the nightly shows, adding colorful costumes designed by Emmy Award winner Bob Mackie along with new choreography, writing, acts and scenic and lighting design. The effort shows, and while not every night in the stylish two-level Rembrandt Lounge was a sizzler, there was a pleasant mix of singing and dancing by the Maasdam Cast, music by the Maasdam Orchestra (both the cast and orchestra are livelier than those names), comedy and variety. Our favorites were the amazing and amusing juggler-comedians Benji Hill and Chuck and singer Gail Nelson, whose voice was so powerful and beautiful that we ended up catching both of her shows that night. Right up there with the professionals, though, were members of the ship's Filipino crew, who one night put on a show of dancing, singing and humor that had the audience on its feet applauding.

You can also file under Entertainment the more than 40 typical shipboard activities, ranging from Bingo (the progressive jackpot topped $2,000 before a novice player claimed it) to team trivia to the zany Shipboard Olympics to viewing vegetable carving to the ever-popular Newlywed and Not-So-Newlywed Game, in which contestants are asked questions such as, ``Where did you first kiss?'' and a lot racier ones, too. My wife and I actually were contestants, and while we may have embarrassed ourselves with some wrong answers, we also became instant shipboard celebrities. ``You still married?'' passengers would ask when they saw us the next day. Someone even called me Lover Boy.

It's all part of the joy of shipboard life. And so is doing nothing, if you choose. There is a peace to being at sea and emptying your mind of worries.

(Hell? We had already been through there. Our particular hell took the form of Boston's Logan Airport during a snowstorm. On the day we were to fly to Fort Lauderdale, the airport closed for a couple of hours, our flight was canceled and long lines and short tempers abounded. I watched in admiration as Delta employee David Evanitz displayed incredible patience dealing with sometimes incredibly impatient passengers. He found us a flight that left late that night, and we arrived at our hotel, the Hyatt Pier 66, at 3:30 a.m. End of problems? Not quite. When we tried to enter our room, we found it already occupied by a man with a European accent who appeared to be both startled and naked. Back to the reservation desk we went, where we learned that the problem occurred for the same reason that every one of the world's problems occur these days: The computers were down. We were given a very nice, unoccupied room, and our troubles were truly at end.)

Two days after Grand Cayman, we were in Cristobal, Panama, with a half-hour stop as the ship prepared to enter the canal. There was no getting off the ship during this pause, but it was a good time to listen to the narration over the loudspeakers by a Panamanian resident and to ponder the history of the canal, which eliminates the need for ships to travel 7,000 extra miles around South America.

Plans were drawn up as early as 1529, but the first major effort to build a canal was made by a French company in the late 19th century. But disease, deaths, scandals and weather ended the effort. Then the United States tried in 1904. Ten years later, at a cost of both $387 million an 6,000 deaths from yellow fever and cholera, the Panama Canal was carved out of the jungle. Included in the system are the world's largest earthen dam and man-made lake. One more superlative: The canal's locks make up the largest concrete structure on Earth.

When we at last left the canal, Panama was still visible. We sailed past green islets, accompanied by the steady music of bird chirps, and past the skyscrapers of Panama City before entering open seas again and heading to Costa Rica. An unexpected treat on our journey was the appearance of a school of frolicking dolphins.

Our day of scenic cruising along Costa Rica's Golfo Dulce -- during which we could see coconuts floating by and, on shore, cattle, beach huts, people and greenery -- was followed by a day in port. Both in Costa Rica and Guatemala, there is little to see where the ship docks except for a few shops, so it is necessary to make your way inland. In the up-to-date nation of Costa Rica, optional tours included the countryside and capital, the rain forest with its thousands of birds and animals -- some passengers reported seeing crocodiles, sloths and monkeys -- and hiking and adventure trips. We chose to see the countryside and the capital of San Jose on an all-day trip, and were not disappointed.

Unlike some places, Costa Rica is not Tourist Land -- you see a real country with a touristy spot just here and there. Thus, we were able to drive by such sights as a man milking his cow in the front yard. But in bustling, low-rise, somewhat cluttered San Jose, we found salespeople aplenty in front of the stops at the lovely Opera House and the National Museum, promoting ocarinas, painted feathers, postcards and discontinued currency. There, too, was a shopping stop in Saarchi, where many of the island's colorful and traditional oxcarts are made.

On a day's trip, of course, we could only see a slice of this land, which, though stretching only 275 miles, includes everything from mountains to deserts to the rain forest to volcanoes to Caribbean beaches to sugar cane fields to plantations where the nation's famous coffee and bananas are grown. Costa Rica is a model of democracy and stability, too, with extremely high literacy and extremely low unemployment.

The picture was somewhat different in Guatemala, our next port, where the gulf between rich and poor can be wide. In most ports, you have a choice of taking the ship's tours or making your own arrangements. But in Guatemala, Holland America recommends taking one of its varied tours, which include flights to Mayan ruins, saying it cannot guarantee the safety and reliability of taxis. I second that advice, but do take a tour. Guatemala's climate is lovely -- in the 70s year round -- and there are mountains, volcanoes and crystal-clear lakes and rivers.

Our daylong visit took us down the sometimes bumpy Pan American Highway past sugar cane fields and factories, rubber trees, women washing clothes in streams, a woman balancing a bucket on her head, trucks where members of extended families rode standing up in the cab, political grafitti, a baptism in a lake, a funeral proceeding down a street and a man walking two black pigs on leashes. The trip was a window on another world, albeit a bus window.

The tour included an hour trip across Lake Atitlan to our choice of either the shopping village of Panajachel or the San Buenaventura de Atitlan Nature Reserve. We picked the latter and saw many of the sights that those on nature tours would see; included are a butterfly sanctuary, an orchid garden, nature trails and a bird refuge.

And do not worry about missing shopping. You will be unable to avoid it. Wherever tourists dismount, they are met by clusters of cheerfully aggressive children, and adults too, waving jewelry and multicolored, intricately stitched bags and blankets. They are willing to bargain but reluctant to take ``no'' for an answer. And if you take their picture, you owe them un dolar.

One last day at sea enjoying the amenities of the Maasdam and then we were in Acapulco and off the ship for good. Some passengers planned to stay in the Mexican resort town for a day or two, but we were due at work the next day, leaving no time for fun in Acapulco. The 40-minute ride to the airport, however, gave us a view of the city's seemingly endless tourist strip, its many hotels and its magnificent beaches and cliffs. Then it was back to Boston and the reality of a world in which no one anticipates your every need and pampers you nonstop.

In all, we had traveled 2,876 nautical miles. It was quite a trip. And quite a ship.

I love cruises, but they are filled with eating opportunities, and in past sailings I have gained 5 to 10 pounds that I definitely did not need. This time, I vowed, things would be different. Before leaving on my 10-day Panama Canal cruise aboard Holland America's MS Maasdam, I stepped on my favorite scale -- the one on which I weigh 5 pounds less than on any other scale -- and recorded a weight of 202 pounds.

It was a challenge indeed, with meals, snacks, teas, late-night buffets and even in-room dining available throughout the day and night. (On this cruise alone, 6,000 meals would be served daily. Passengers wouyld consume 4,150 pounds of beef, 4,050 pounds of fish and lobster and 2,950 pounds of poultry and game.) I had no intention of starving myself, and I certainly didn't, but instead concentrated on lower-fat, lower-calorie dishes and followed up the eating with moderate exercise.

On the Maasdam, this wasn't all that hard to do. Breakfast and lunch offered a variety of choices -- hold the bacon, sausages and hot dogs -- and the five-course, five-star dinners always include a light and healthy selection. Thus, along with the prime rib, filet of beef with frizzled onions or peppercorn steak with demi glace, there are menu entries marked with a heart symbol. Dining on such items as broiled sea bass, cider grilled chicken breast, sesame lemon chicken and grilled fresh monkfish marengo hardly left me feeling underprivileged. And when I was unable to resist an item such as fiesta steak with red and green peppers, the portion was ample enough so that I could eat only half and not go away hungry. In addition, the regular menu includes many chicken and fish choices, and most entrees are available without sauce on request.

Desserts did require a bit more sacrifice. With items such as a big blitz snicker cake, baked Alaska, gateau Jack Daniel's or cappuccino truffle, it was hard to settle for a fruit cup, yogurt, sherbert or custard, but I usually did. And there were also more intriguing light choices such as pineapple tartlet, poppyseed angel cake or apple cinnamon mousse, which did reduce the sacrifice factor.

As for the late-night buffets, I was full enough so that I could avoid them. I did go to the spectacular dessert buffet, but merely to take pictures and to salivate.

Exercise is encouraged (but certainly not required) on the Maasdam through the free Passport to Fitness program. Participants are given ``passports'' that are stamped for participating in deck walks, choosing the light and healthy dishes, etc. People who earn a sufficient number of stamps are rewarded at the end of the cruise with T-shirts, sweatshirts or fanny packs. Because of these prizes, many, many people who confess to not usually exercising on a cruise found themselves joining in. I, however, abhor paperwork, so I decided to forgo the prizes but exercise anyway. Brisk, half-hour walks on the Promenade Deck and constant use of the stairs instead of the ship's eight passenger elevators invigorated me.

As all good things must, the cruise came to an end. Back home the following morning, I stepped on the scale with some trepidation. I needn't have worried, though: I weighed 202 pounds, exactly what I did before the trip.

I was so proud. Yet, even now I find myself thinking that, gee, that cappuccino truffle looked awfully good.

The author reports that even with another cruise under his belt, he now weighs a mere 197 pounds -- on his ``friendly'' scale, at any rate.

Depending upon discounts and the dates sailed, listed prices begin at $1,890 to $3,356 for an inside cabin and reach $6,296 to $10,985 for the luxurious Penthouse Suite. Travel agents have details and may know of special pricings.

The Panama Canal, now run jointly by Panama and the United States, will revert to Panama in the year 2000. Holland America says that, if anything, the change may increase tourism.

Unlike many cruise lines, Holland America does not require tipping. This, however, does not mean that tipping is forbidden, and the stateroom and restaurant service is of such a high level that an average of 80 percent of passengers do tip. Holland America will not provide tipping guidelines, saying how much, or whether, to tip is a very individual matter.

Shore excursions cost from $20 for an hour sail on a glass-bottom boat in Grand Cayman to $354 for flights to, and tours of, the Mayan ruins in Guatemala. Lunch, which often includes popular local dishes, is included on some tours. A $5 fee is collected at the end of visits to the San Buenaventura de Atitlan Nature Reserve in Guatemala. Hint: Bring lipsticks to Guatemala: The women will love you for it.

Spanish is the language of Central America, although English is spoken by many -- but not all -- residents. Lessons in popular Spanish words and phrases are given aboard ship.

There are also shipboard programs for youngsters, with a ratio of one youth coordinator for every 30 children. There is always at least one coordinator aboard.