CHAPTER II
THE VOYAGE TO PANAMA
In 1903, before the United States’ occupation, there was no choice as to means of transport to the Isthmus. A single steamship company, that of the Panama Railroad, dispatched a vessel from New York once a week. Now there are four different lines with as many weekly sailings, besides one from New Orleans, a more convenient point of departure for many south of Mason and Dixon’s line. The four companies, all with headquarters in New York, will gladly furnish the latest information in regard to their own sailing and accommodations as on other points in reference to the tour.
Fares. The lowest fare from New York to Colon, $75.00, to Panama, $78.00, is the same on all lines, better accommodations being provided for a supplementary fee of from $15.00 up. It is wisdom to purchase, if not a ticket for the round trip, one as far at least as Mollendo, $191, as a slight reduction is made on through tickets. Stop-overs are allowed at any of the ports of call, and on the East or West Coasts of South America the journey may, if more convenient, be resumed on certain other lines of steamers without extra charge, save for embarking or disembarking in the small boats.
The respective merits of the four steamship lines to Panama are a matter of opinion. On three of these I have enjoyed the voyage, especially my last in a luxurious suite on the Prinz August Wilhelm of the Atlas Hamburg-American Line.
The old Panama Company claims that its boats are provided with all of the comforts afforded by the others, including rooms with private baths. It has slightly irregular sailings, seven a month, with several steamers making the journey in six days, instead of the seven, eight, or nine occupied by ships of the other lines. Those who prefer American cooking or the shorter voyage will choose one of these ships.
The Royal Mail and the Hamburg-American lines are quite similar to each other in service and accommodations; the boats of the former sail for Colon on alternate Saturdays, calling on the way at Antilla, Cuba, and at Kingston, Jamaica: those of the latter sail every Saturday, touching at Santiago de Cuba and Kingston. The Royal Mail Steamers are scheduled to arrive at Colon on Sunday, eight days from New York, connecting with the P.S.N. boats departing on Monday for the south. But through tickets are good by any of the three lines on the other side; and one may delay on the Isthmus for a few days or weeks of sight-seeing. The Hamburg-American steamers arrive at Colon Monday, one week connecting with a P.S.N. steamer, the next with one of the Peruvian and another of the Chilian Line sailing the same afternoon. No one, however, who is making a pleasure trip should cross the Isthmus without staying over a few days.
The United Fruit Company boasts of a great white fleet with four sailings to Colon a week; two, on Wednesday and Saturday, from New York; and two on the same days from New Orleans. These ships, they say, are the only ones going to Colon which were designed and built especially for tropical service, thus having all of the latest devices for comfort as well as for safety. Among these are bilge keels and automatic water-tight compartments. A wireless equipment as a matter of course the boats of all lines carry; these have also a submarine signal apparatus, to give warning of the proximity of another vessel, and, as an especial feature, lifeboats which with a patent lever may be swung off and lowered by a single man. By the system of ventilation the temperature of the rooms at night may be kept down to 55° if desired, a boon to many on the muggy Caribbean; and the electric lights have the rare quality of burning low. All of the boats on the various lines have pianos and music, most of them cards, checkers, chess, and libraries, the United Fruit Company supplying the latest magazines.
The Saturday steamers of this line from New York call Thursday at Kingston, Jamaica, where they remain until two p.m. Friday. They are due at Colon at noon on Sunday. The Wednesday steamers take a day less for the trip; at Kingston where they arrive on Monday they remain from 7 a.m. till 4 p.m. The Isthmus is reached at 1 p.m. on Wednesday.
Via New Orleans. The opportunity to go by way of New Orleans may appeal, especially in winter, to some who have not visited that city and to those who desire to avoid the possibility of two or three cold stormy days on the sea before entering the regions of perpetual summer. The steamers sail in five days to Colon, the Saturday boats arriving Thursday a.m. and the Wednesday boats Monday morning.
The voyage to Panama, indeed all of the six or seven weeks on the sea, which are a necessary part of this tour, will be likely to prove an agreeable experience even to those who as a rule do not enjoy the ocean. While the waters of the Atlantic may at any season be turbulent and tempestuous, the portions of both oceans which are to be traversed are for the most part so smooth that unless persons are determined to be seasick whether they have occasion or not, it is probable that they will suffer little or none from this unpleasant malady. Ordinarily the sail to Panama, under sunny skies, over unruffled seas, in weather, after a day or two, warm enough for summer clothing, is a pleasure unalloyed. On the Caribbean it may be a trifle muggy and sticky, but if favored with sunshine the wonderful blue of the waters, deeper than that of the Bay of Naples, affords solace. On some of the ships a little dance on deck, if happily under a tropical moon, may be an experience affording delightful memories.