(Back row from left, Karen Ferris-Fearnside, Maureen Woerner, and Bev Valente. In front from left, Barbara Hancher and Doris Stoll. To see more images, visit the album here: http://rc10.ny.aft.org/panama-cruise-fall-2016)
Eighteen people from the RC 10 area took a 17-day cruise from San Francisco to Fort Lauderdale by going through the Panama Canal. The cruise saled from the west coast on Friday, October 7, 2016 on the Celebrity ship Infinity and returned to the east coast on Sunday, October 23rd. The passengers made stops in Mexico at Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia.
The most exciting part of the trip for the participants was going through the Miraflores locks in the Pacific Ocean and sailing through the Gatun Lake to the second set of locks in the Atlantic Ocean. One of our big surprises was seeing that an original locomotive engine that was made by General Electric in Schenectady, was displayed at the Gatun Locks.
The weather and the food was spectacular the entire trip, and the nightly entertainment was superb. There were many activities on board every minute of the day and night and exciting choices for shore excursions. Everyone stayed healthy and we bonded as a group at dinner and throughout the day. We even had a birthday celebration for Joyce Feiring, who was one of our retired teachers traveling with us. We had so much fun that people started asking me immediately when we could do this again! I am grateful that everyone was happy with their experience.
By Karen Ferris-Fearnside