Caribbean carnival night cruise

Readers know, because of my "All Aboard!" column, that I enjoy independent travel on the trains of Europe. But when I received an invitation to cruise the Caribbean from Aruba to Panama City aboard the Radisson Diamond cruise ship while temperatures were at freezing in Europe, I started packaging.

Traveling by train, I have down pat. Fun in the Caribbean sun, I had no clue. The invitation by Radisson Seven Seas Cruises caught me so by surprise that I did not even bring my' sun visor, sunblock, sunglasses, walking shorts or sandals. After all, it was February, even in the Caribbean. About two weeks before I departed, I received an elaborate bundle of information plus air tickets arid a cruise ticket in a handsome wallet along with luggage tags.

Caribbean reality

My flight from San Francisco into Miami on American Airlines was fine, but my connection to Aruba was delayed 80 minutes and the flight was bumpy. The taxi situation at Queen Beatrix Airport was chaotic, so it was nearly midnight by the time I checked in at the Radisson Aruba Hotel and Resort (www. radissonaruba.com).

Later, when I mentioned to my cruise companions that I had spent the night in the Radisson Aruba while they were' complaining about their hours-late flights, they all instantly said, "I wish we had done that."

Going for breakfast at the Radisson Aruba, I was ushered into Caribbean reality by the piercing sun, the warm breezes and the sunblock-covered arms and legs of curvaceous women and athletic men.

Aruba seemed very "with it," with new-built restaurants and shopping malls. I had the day to adjust to my 4-hour time change (Aruba is one time zone east of Eastern Standard Time).

Willemstad

Our first call was in Willemstad, Curacao. The Diamond docked so close to the city center that it was, only a, 15-minute Walk across the swing bridge, which they joked was the oldest swinging lady in. town. When the swing bridge is open to allow ships into the harbor, free ferries make frequent crossings from the city center to the piers.

The main industry of Willemstad seemed to be catering to the passengers on the cruise ships. In addition to the Radisson Diamond, Holland America's Zaandam and HapagLloyd's Berlin were in port. Taken' together, these ships discharged a nearly overwhelming nunber of cruise passengers, giving the locals a chance to sell clothes and souvenirs, take the visitors on city tours and tempt to dine in town.

Diamond offered a "Sea and Island Tour," a "Trolley Train Tour," an "Animal Scuba or Snorkeling Encounter" (the diving was not in the ocean but in a tank), a "Curacao Outback Adventure" and a "Discover Curacao Island Tour." I chose the Trolley Train because it was my first visit and it seemed to offer the best view of Willemstad in the shortest time and not because it had the word "train" in it.

The toy train on rubber tires took us up and down narrow streets and stopped at the cathedral and the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere.

Many of the Dutch-gabled houses of Willemstad are painted with brightly colored coats of pigment. It seems that elections in Willemstad are particularly exciting because there are some 18 political parties and each is represented by a distinctive color. When the election campaigning reaches its most frenzied, partisans paint their houses in their candidate's color. If their candidate loses the election, it is wise to repaint.

Houses of perennial losers, have more layers of paint on them than an iguana has scales, and nearby paint store owners have retired to Amsterdam, as the Netherlands Antilles is, still part of the Netherlands, queen and all.

To Cartagena

The Radisson Diamond sailed from Willemstad past the multicolored houses at 6:30 p.m. while the sun was setting. Those passengers with balconies on the port (left) side claimed to have seen the green flash as the sun appeared to be setting into the sea. Later, stars appeared like traffic lights in the sky, bright and round.

Kenny Sales performed his first show of the cruise that night. He described himself as the "Mad Welshman." I don't doubt that he is Welsh because of. his fine singing voice, but he certainly is, not "mad" because he is an excellent comedian in the Don Rickles genre.

As it happened, we arrived in Cartagena on the day the U.S. State Department, unknown to us, had issued an advisory against travel in Colombia. Upon learning this, the Diamond dropped Cartagena from its return itinerary, but the only trace of unrest that I noticed ashore were the few soldier's on the street corners of the Old City and the check of our carry-ons when we reboarded the Diamond.

The Diamond moored near the Royal Princess and the Sun Princess, which had already arrived. Numerous full-day and half-day tours were offered as Cartagena was the most interesting city of the Diamond's itinerary. I chose the "Old Town Walking Tour & San Felipe Fortress."

There really wasn't much walking involved except climbing to the fortress, which was more like mountain climbing. The fortress is one of the most powerful examples, of military architecture in the Spanish colonial period.

The 1533 Ciudad Antigua, or Old Town (www.destinationcartagena.com), on an island, is connected to the mainland by a causeway and surrounded by a colonial wall seven miles long and 40 feet thick in places. The Old Town was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Average temperature is 90[degrees]F., year round.

Among other things, we visited the cathedral; the Jesuit Church of San Juan de Dios, and the Palace of the Inquisition, which was the headquarters of the Spanish Inquisition in South America. The remarkable, narrow streets were overhung with wooded balconies, many covered with red, yellow and purple bougainvillea flowers.

The walking tour ended with a ride to the 400-year-old La Popa monastery perched 500 feet above the town. It offers an amazing panorama over the million-person city, Colombia's fourth largest.

Of no surprise was a, 50-minute stop at Pierino Gallo shopping center, where we battled crowds from the other cruise ships to shop for emeralds, coffee beans to take home, lather and handicrafts.

San Blas Islands

Approaching the San Blas Islands, where we arrived at about noon, I noticed that nearly all those who hadn't been playing bridge, watching movies or listening to the daily orientation lectures were very red, which was the result of lounging on the broad deck and in the swimming pool, which were understandably busy during these warm, sunny tropical days.

In the San Blas Islands, an autonomous region of Panama, the scheduled tour was "Deserted Island Snorkeling," and that island looked very beautiful off starboard, but most took the tender ashore to visit the village and see whether molas suited them. Molas are reverse-applique blouse panels used by women in the traditional Kuna Indian dress and sold as crafts.

We encountered rough seas as lazily we approached the Panama Canal at eight knots, proving that the Diamond rides beautifully.

Gatun Locks

Those who were not already on deck at 6:30 a.m. awoke to the sounds of banging and slamming and rushed to their balconies or on deck to Watch the entrance of the Diamond to the Gatun Locks of the Panama Canal (www.pancanal.com).

At first we could see only the scabby faces of the locks, but, as the water filled the locks, Diamond rose and we could see the cogwheel tug that began to pull us through the lock in three steps, raising us a total of 85 feet. It felt as if I were riding a very slow but very big industrial elevator.

Our transit of the Gatun Locks was completed at about 9 a.m., during breakfast, and we moored on Gatun Lake, one of the largest artificially created bodies of water in the world, and the tender Little Diamond began taking passengers to the Gatun Yacht Club to begin their tours. At the yacht club, snacks and beverages were available without charge, native Indians sold their handicrafts and beautifully costumed dancers performed folkloric shows.

Four different tours were available, including a 20-minute helicopter experience. I chose the "Chagres River Eco Cruise and Rainforest Walk."

We set out for the 40-minute outboard motor cruise on the Chagres River and a 35- to 40-minute walk through the rainforest to see monkeys, sloths, toucans and anything else we could scare up.

We sighted a family of howler monkeys, several species of colorful birds, including kingfishers and graceful blue herons, sloths and iguanas, but wildlife was less abundant than our guide would have preferred, so instead she turned to identifying many of the native trees and flowers.

Panama Canal transit