Panama Canal

On January 2, you can watch my ship, the Amsterdam, transit the Panama Canal at www.pancanal.com Check it out!

I have settled in on my home-away-from-home on cruise ship the Amsterdam and we headed south from Los Angeles to our first stop, Puerto Vallarta Mexico.

We had two full sea days along the way which were Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The ship festively decorated with 50 Christmas trees adorning all the decks of the ship. On Christmas Eve about 100 crew members formed a choir and held a candlelight service singing Christmas carols from around the world for the passengers who are onboard. On Christmas morning there was eggnog and cookies for everyone as Santa Claus arrived here on the ship! That evening everyone dressed in their Christmas fineries for a formal dinner and caroling and dancing until wee hours. There were many family groups and others just meeting new friends and renewing old acquaintances. It was great fun.

On Saturday we were in Puerto Vallarta. Puerto Vallarta was a fishing village until about 20 years ago when it became a popular beach destination sport for North American vacationers. Fishing is still popular here as a trade as well as for sport. It rained in the morning, then we had a sunny afternoon which was great beach time in this tropical resort area. In the evening a cruising entertainer friend, Janine Gardner, performed her hilarious comedy act. Of course it’s not all fun and games, somewhere in between the events, I talk to people about the options of planning a future cruise with us and have sales targets to meet, reports to send in to my main office in Seattle, presentations to prepare and present.

Sunday was a day at sea. The weather was hot and sunny. In the evening a party was held for the 142 people already on board and staying the cruise around the world. The other 1100 will be boarding the ship next year – January 6, 2010 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

The Grand Itinerary

2010 Grand World Voyage
December 23, 2009 - April 29, 2010
128 Days aboard Holland America Line's ms Amsterdam

Here are the details of where the Grand Voyage will take me. Just click on the link below to see exact dates and times of each port of call. I'll just give you segment details on this website as the whole itinerary may be too much to absorb. Then as the days go by, I will add photos of my port visits.

http://www.hollandamerica.com/find-cruise-vacation/CruiseDetails.action?webItineraryIdForAudit=W9W128&durationCode=&noOfFlexibleMonths=1&portCode=&shipCodeSearch=AM&flexibleMonths=false&pageNumber=1&voyageCode=A952A&destCode=&dateCode=12_2009

12/23/09 Day 1 - I join the ship in the early morning at the port of Long Beach in Southern California.

12/24-25/09 - Days 2 & 3 - We will be at sea these days, sailing south.

12/26/09 - Day 4 - Puerto Vallarta

12/27/09 - Day 5 - Day at Sea (now we start to head east)

12/28/09 - Day 6 - Huatulco, Mexico

12/29/09 - Day 7 - Puerto Chiapas, Mexico

12/30/09 - Day 8 - Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

12/31/09 - Day 9 - Day at Sea - New Year's Eve!

1/1-2/10 - Day 10 & 11 - Fuerte Amador, Panama (Panama City overnight)

1/2/10 - Day 11 - Transiting the Panama Canal (Happy Birthday Dad!)

1/3/10 - Day 12 - Cartagena, Columbia

1/4-5/10 - Day 13 & 14 - Day at Sea

1/6/10 - Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Preparing for a World Voyage

The time is nearing when I will begin my World Voyage. When planning a trip such as this if you are not familiar with foreign travel requirements, it would be very wise to consult with a travel professional to make sure you are well prepared for the travel.

When traveling to foreign countries a passport is needed. A passport is a document issued by the government of the country you are a citizen of. For US citizens, passports cost around $100 per person and is valid for 10 years. Most countries allow you entry into their country if you are carrying a valid passport that will be valid at least six months after your ending travel date. However, some countries require advance approval from them before you visit that country. This is called a visa (This is not a credit card named visa but is a traveler's visa). For my upcoming trip I need a visa to enter China. To obtain visas you must contact an embassy of the country you wish to visit. These can be found on the internet. The procedure to obtain the visa for a specific country will be listed on the web page of the country. For China the nearest embassy to me is in Chicago so I needed to send them my valid passport, completed forms that they provide which are translated into English, proof of my employment, exact entry and exit dates into the country and, of course. payment. For China the cost is approximately $200 and is good for up to one year. Some countries also require certain vaccinations to enter their country. This information is also available on the embassy's website.

Each country does vary so this information needs to be checked out thoroughly. Some countries, (Turkey, Russia) require visas only if you are going to be going ashore on your own without a planned tour escort.

Who in the World is Char Patton

For those wondering who in the world I am, I am a person who grew up in an average suburban family and after raising two children, my daughter Lizzie and my son Alden (who now has his own family, S.O. Char (yes, that's her name too!) and Grandsons Zack & Rhett, and working in business for most of my adult life (so far) now find myself very fortunate in life to have what I consider a dream job. I am employed by a major cruise line that has taken me to over 120 countries!

The cruise line I work for is Holland America Line, based in Seattle Washington. We currently have 14 ships sailing in our fleet ranging in size from 38,000 tons (793 guests) to 88,000 tons (2100 guests). I work onboard one of our "dam" ships (each ship in the fleet has "dam" in the name - Statendam, Maasdam, Ryndam, Prinsendam, Noordam, etc.) for 8 months of the year. This is considered full time employment as when I am onboard, I work 7 days per week. My 8 months on board are not continuous. My contracts range from 2-4 months, with 1-2 months off in between contracts. I have sailed to most areas of the world but find that the more places I visit, the more places I want to visit.

My next contract should be the most exciting so far as it will take me around the world. I begin my journey on December 23, 2009. I will be journalizing my trip as well as my preparation for the trip. Let me know what you would like to hear more about.

What in the World Does Char Do?

My job on the ship is quite simple - I sell cruises! So when people on board are happy and want to do more cruising, they come to see me and I set them up with their next cruise. Our ships have the best itineraries taking people all over the world and since I have been to so many places, I can find just the right trip for people. Here's a photo of me at my desk on the Westerdam, talking with a bright young man who was very curious about all aspects of ships and cruising. At the end of the cruise, he came to see me with his Mother and they booked a future cruise that he had personally selected, right down to the actual stateroom choice and dining options.






This job is really a perfect fit for me but I never realized that I had been training for it for several years. I began work on ships in the Purser department (Purser - keeper of the purse - this is accounting work which I had done all my life). Other experience that helped groom me for the position include secretary to the Captain & Hotel Manager which taught me so much about the things that go on behind the scenes in cruise ship operations. I have been intrigued with Alaska for a number of years and had the opportunity to live for two summers in Skagway, the northern most stop in the inside passge. I was a port agent there which means I was the shoreside rep for all the cruise lines that came into that port. We had 25 cruise ships each week visiting bringing approximately 600,000 visitors per season. And the final experience which led me to my job as Future Cruise Consultant was staying home (not working onboard ships) for four years as a home-based travel agent. All of this opened the door for me to be in this dream job.