FUN-travel: Panama Canal
November 25, 2009 by Susan Clarke
Day 1 – Sunday, December 6, 2009 – Depart San Diego – 14 days – First Celebrity cruise
Cruising with Dad
- Good News – told by several people, “You’ll love Celebrity”
- Good News – 91 year old dad (looks & acts like 70) wants to take a cruise so we pick this one
- Good News – no flight! Depart San Diego 5:00 pm – only 15 minutes to ship
- Good News – get to experience concierge class for first time
- Good News – sparkling wine, fresh fruit & flowers in room
Day 2 – Monday, December 7, 2009 – Day at Sea – Sunrise 7:22 am – Sunset 5:45 pm
- Bad News – cloudy & cold
- Good News – eat, nap, eat, nap, eat
- Bad News – very bad coffee, must buy cappuccinos
Day 3 – Tuesday, December 8, 2009 – Arrive Cabo San Lucas 10:00 am – Sunrise 6:50 am – Sunset 5:36 pm
- Good News – sunny & warm, cute town, get off ship and walk aroundBad News – already been to Cabo three times
- Good News – go to Mi Casa for best Margaritas, chips, salsa & guacamole
- Good News – great entertainment on ship – singer Alfreda Gerald
Cabo Harbor
FFTK&T (FUN Facts To Know & Tell) – Cabo is on southernmost tip of the 1,000 mile long Baja Peninsula
Day 4 – Wednesday, December 9, 2009 – Day at Sea – Sunrise 6:23 am – Sunset 5:20 pm
Cabo Harbor
- Bad News – day at sea, like to be in ports doing something
- Good News – eat, nap, eat, nap, eat
- Good News –more great entertainment – piano wizard & magician Garin Bader
Day 5 –Thursday, December 10, 2009 – Arrive Acapulco 9:00 am – Sunrise 6:38 am – Sunset 6:07 pm
- Good News – sunny, very warm
- Bad News – humid
- Bad News – been here before, not a clean or pretty city
- Good News – take long walk by beach & see old city fort – Fuerte San Diego
- Good News – great chips, salsa, guacamole & cerveza
- Good News –more great entertainment –Paradise String Quartet
FFTK &T – most famous attraction “clavadistas” (cliff divers) scale rock cliffs more than 150 feet about sea
Fuerte San Diego
Day 6 – Friday, December 11, 2009 – Arrive Huatulco, Mexico 8:00am – Sunrise 6:41 am – Sunset 5:55 pm
Huatulco Harbor
- Good News – adorable port & shops – small town charm
- Good News – walk to city La Crucecita – clean, quaint tree filled Main Square surrounded by shops
- Good News – great chips, salsa, guacamole & cerveza
- Bad News – have to leave at 3:00pm
- Good News – more great entertainment- Alfreda & Garin share stage
Would definitely come back!
Day 7 – Saturday, December 12, 2009 – Day at Sea – Sunrise 6:21 am – Sunset 5:38 pm
Carara National Park
- Bad News – getting bored
- Good News – go to wine tasting, find 3 good California wines
- Good News – table mates next to us in main dining from India have special meals made by Indian chefs onboard, tell our waiter, “We want what they‘re having” – get same wonderful Indian food
Crocodiles
Day 8 –Sunday, December 13, 2009 – arrive Punta Arenas, Costa Rica – Arrive 7:00 am – Sunrise 5:46 am – Sunset 5:20 pm
- Good News – get off ship, walk around port town, shop local vendors along water front
- Bad News – not very cute or clean
- Good News – find tour guide – goto tropical rain forest in Carara National Park, have lunch, walk around 70 year old restored village
- Good News – stop on bridge and see more than a dozen crocodiles in river below
- Good News – have very good dinner in casual dining restaurant
- Good News – more great entertainment – Perry Grant – comedic singer
FFTK &T – Costa Rica has no military, spends that money on education & health care – What a concept!
Day 9 – Monday, December 14, 2009 – Day at Sea- Sunrise 5:43 am – Sunset 5:03 pm
Having FUN!
- Bad News – still feeling bored on days at sea
- Good News – go to Ocean Liners restaurant for dinner
- Good News – great wine, lobster tail & lamb
- Bad News – $30.00 per person service charge
- Good News – entertainment – Sean O’Shea impressionist singer
Day 10 – Tuesday, December 15, 2009 – Panama Canal – Sunrise 6:27 am – Sunset 6:02 pm
Going Through the Locks
- Bad News – have to get up early to experience going through the locks
- Good News – not as early as they told us night before
- Good News – view from heliport front of ship, very interesting
- Bad News – must book tour on ship to get off
- Bad News – take overpriced tour that is not what we thought; spend too much time on bus in traffic
- Good News – get to see Colonial Panama, architecture very French
- Bad News – only 30% of it has been restored
Panama Bridge
FFTK &T – The Panama Canal was completed in 1913, opened in 1914 and operates today just as it has for the last 95 years – New additional canal in process of being built to accommodate bigger ships – Panama is another neutral country with no military that spends that money on education & health care
Day 11– Wednesday, December 16, 2009 – Day at Sea – Sunrise 6:24 am – Sunset 5:50 pm
La Popa Monastery
- Good News – Brunch at Sea, mimosa’s half price
- Bad News – basically same food as buffet, just served in formal dining room with ice carvings
- Good News – get more good Indian food for dinner
- Good News – more great entertainment – Craig Dahn, pianist
Day 12 – Thursday, December 17, 2009 – Arrive Cartagena, Colombia 8:00 am – Sunrise 6:19 am – Sunset 5:44 pm
- Good News – find taxi driver for day, $50 + lunch, love a bargain
- Good News – go to La Popa Monastery, atop highest point, 420 feet, grand view of city
- Good News – next stop, enormous Fortress San Felipe, lots of underground tunnels & cannons
- More Good News – next stop, the Old City, very French & charming with picturesque wooden balconies hanging over narrow streets, bougainvilleas abound
- More Good News – next stop, the new City, Miami Beach of Cartagena, have authentic Columbian lunch, grilled fish with garlic & Aguila Columbian beer
- More Good News – go shopping for souvenirs and emeralds
- Bad News – have to be back on board by 4:45 to depart, need more time
Colonial Cartegena
Would definitely come back!
FFTK &T – Fortress San Felipe is largest Spanish fort in the New World – Emeralds come in 200 shades of green
Sampling Cerveza
Day 13 – Friday, December 18, 2009 – Day at Sea – Sunrise 6:19 am – Sunset 5:31 pm
- Bad News – getting cabin fever again
- Good News – sun comes out, getting warmer
Day 14 – Saturday, December 19, 2009 – Day at Sea – Sunrise 4:49 am – Sunset 9:40 pm
- See Day 13
Day 15 – Sunday, December 20, 2009 – Arrive Miami
- Good News – going to stay and hang out in Miami
- Bad News – it’s cold and Versace’s mansion is closed
Day 16 – Monday, December 21, 2009 – Miami
- Good News – ready to go home
- Royal Caribbean purchased Celebrity
- Bad News – told by previous Celebrity cruisers, “This isn’t the old Celebrity”