Turtles06

Yes, definitely not made from beavers, and absolutely delicious. 🙂 (Many flavors from which to choose. This is Nutella. Yum.)

Somehow I suspected they might not be for you. 😂 We fell in love with them, though. And it’s a good thing they can’t be found anywhere near where we live. 😂

The time for a full transit varies, given the traffic, sometimes mechanical issues, etc. A full transit transit can take 8-12 hours. Even if your ship docks that evening at Fuerte Amador on Dec. 4 (and it's not clear if or when it will from your itinerary), don't expect that you will have time for doing much of anything that evening. Don't you have a full day there the next day, Dec. 5? If you want to see ships going through the Miraflores Locks, your best bet will be to get to the Visitors Center early on Dec. 5, when ships that are transiting northbound will be making their way through the Pacific Locks. Also, keep in mind that no one knows yet what condition the cruise terminal at Fuerte Amador will be in by early December. Hopefully, finished, with cabs available, etc. But if Panama runs into more construction delays, you might find yourself needing to take a shuttle bus to a central location I hope not.

Apologies for being late to the table here, but since your cruise is still in the future, I just want to add my own recommendation to stay in Halifax, given your interests. I think you would find the Immigration Museum particularly worthwhile to visit. Besides the history presented there, the Museum openly celebrates the diversity of Canada’s immigrant peoples and their importance to the country. It also owns up to shameful episodes in Canadian history, including the turning away of the St. Louis, which I don’t think our country does, at least not in the same way. We were very moved by our visit to the Museum, and spent more time there than we thought we would. We love Halifax. Beautiful walk along the waterfront, with many food choices, including Beaver Tails. 😊 And plenty more places of interest, including the Citadel, the Botanical Gardens, and the “Titanic” Cemetery.

Have you also asked over in the Celebrity forum? And it would be helpful, here, if you would post Celebrity's description of the excursion, so that folks who are familiar with the Canal can at least offer some thoughts. And yes, it's hot in Panama. No surprise. Panama City is at 8.9* N latitude.

I had to do exactly that yesterday on my iPhone and iPad because of the white screen on the app. The good news is that the app on my phone is finally working with FaceID.

I've never done it, just read about it often here on CC. (Sometimes these small-vessel transits are booked as shorex by folks doing partial transits of the Canal, so one reads about them that way. The vessel goes through the locks that the cruise ship did not.) Hopefully, someone with personal knowledge will reply to you. (I would think it would have to be booked in advance, to guarantee a spot.) In the meantime, take a look at the offerings on Trip Advisor, you might find something to look into. (Obviously, I'm not personally recommending anything, having not taken any of these tours.) https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Products-g294480-d299921-Panama_Canal-Panama_City_Panama_Province.html (I've transited the Canal four times, all on cruise ships. I personally think it would be interesting to have the perspective from a small vessel, too. Keep in mind, though, that it's a long hot day, and may be especially tiring or too much after you've just done a full transit.) Enjoy whatever you decide to do!

Same here, but that was a number of years ago for us. What's in Port says there will be a shuttle bus from the ship to town for 10E, as well as a public bus. https://www.whatsinport.com/La-Pallice-La-Rochelle.htm

I’m sorry this has happened to your wife and I hope her recovery goes well. PLEASE have your wife talk to her orthopod and find out exactly what she is permitted and not permitted to do on this trip. Regardless of possible cast covers, the doctor may say the arm should not be immersed in water. And perhaps some activities (e.g., getting in and out of a pool or the ocean) present too much risk of falling. Folks on CC are great, but there are questions here that should be discussed with your wife’s doctor. I hope you both have an enjoyable trip.

We loved our tour with Dora some years ago. On a return visit to Cartagena, we took an early morning cab to the Fortaleza and toured it on our own. Very interesting experience, and beautiful views from the top.

Looking forward to it!

It was a few years ago, but the best fish and chips we've ever had were in Alesund, which I see is one of your ports. A little take out/sit outside place called Jafs right in the middle of town along the water. It bills its fish and chips as "probably the best in the world." I can't substantiate that claim, but they were really terrific. 🙂 Alesund is beautiful, especially the view from Mt. Aksla, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Your well-written comment above also helps explain why many doctors, including my own, will not prescribe Paxlovid to their patients "just in case" they need it on a trip. Too many variables, some of which could be very serious. Also, if I'm not mistaken, a positive covid test is required in order for Paxlovid to be prescribed.

If you haven’t already done so, it would also be good to ask your questions over in the NCL forum.

Take a look at suggestions made in other threads. There are a number of options. You could, for example, go to the Miraflores Visitors Center, and (if a properly timed visit) see ships coming through the locks and wander through the exhibits (which I hope will be open). You could take a ferry-sized vessel back through the original Pacific locks, which might be of special interest to you since the Joy will have gone through the new locks. You might also want to consider seeing some of Panama City itself, such as Casco Antiguo. Glad you are reading The Path Between the Seas, that’s the best preparation! Enjoy your trip!

Just the opposite of what is true. It’s usually several days of symptoms before there’s enough viral load in your body to be detected by home antigen tests, making false negatives a concern with those tests.

Have a great time!! Looking forward to your reports.

A piggyback question -- we'll be staying one post-cruise Saturday night in late July at the Amsterdam Marriott Hotel across from the Leidseplein. Our flight back to the U.S leaves the next day, Sunday, around 1pm. Since it's a Sunday, should we be okay taking a cab to Schiphol? Thanks!

I'm not intending to rank travel types here, just pointing out some differences. Thanks to the generosity of my beloved aunt, my wife and I were privileged to have been able to take an expedition cruise to Antarctica. It's a mistake to say this is (just) about "seeing penguins." It is so much more than that. Among other things, the ice in Antarctica is a living, breathing thing. One probably can't fully appreciate this until you are at water level in a small zodiac, coming up to a berg, or gliding slowly around one. And it's also about being up close and personal not just with penguins, but also with whales and seals. For example, pulling up in a zodiac to an ice floe with a leopard seal staring you right in the face. Or having a minke whale swim right by or under your zodiac. It's extraordinary. I think some people may think zodiacs are used just to get people ashore and back, but that's not the case. Zodiac cruising was a significant and thrilling part of our trip, and it was in many respects as interesting and as fascinating as actually walking on the continent. None of this is to say that folks shouldn't take a drive-by cruise to Antarctica. It sounds like a wonderful and very rewarding experience. I just want to note that it's not the same experience as an expedition. If anyone is interested, my detailed account of our expedition cruise, with lots of photos and preparation tips, is here: https://antarcticjourney.wordpress.com/ One of my favorite photos I've ever taken:

Thanks. Posting in the HAL forum got me the current info.

Much appreciated! That map will definitely come in handy. 🙂 Unfortunately, according to folks over in the HAL forum who have recently docked at Jektevik (as well as in 2022), there are no longer any shuttles within the port area nor to the tourist area (except for guests with mobility issues).

Thank you for your information about your experience in Bergen. I totally agree with you about the need for HAL to be transparent about what is going on in a particular port and to provide passengers with accurate and helpful information. Shuttle buses from "remote" piers would be great if they can be arranged. I was disappointed this Spring with HAL's lack of transparency about our scheduled upcoming port call to Stavanger in July on the Rotterdam. Months ago, those of us on our Roll Call learned from the Stavanger port's official web site and its mooring plans and other information on line that we would not be docked at Stavanger at all, but in Sandnes, about 16km away and a drive of some 20 minutes or so. One person even got a notice from HAL that their HAL shorex out of Stavanger had been cancelled due to an itinerary change to Sandnes, but no official itinerary change by HAL was given to any of us. When folks called HAL to ask about this, we were told that there was no change, and we would be docking in Stavanger. I even spoke with a Supervisor who was quite unpleasant to me and pretty much said I shouldn't believe a port's web site or anything I read on social media -- HAL's own email canceling a Stavanger shorex because of an itinerary change to Sandnes! (She pretty much questioned the credibility of the Roll Call member's screen shot of the HAL email!) Rather than passively accept HAL's denials, several of us on our Roll Call proactively arranged transportation from Sandnes to Stavanger so that we could still take a private shorex we had scheduled out of Stavanger. And then, well over a month later, big surprise -- HAL sent out emails notifying everyone of an itinerary change from Stavanger to Sandnes! I was extremely disappointed by HAL's customer service and the lack of transparency with guests over where the ship was going to dock. And now that the change is official, there is no indication that HAL will provide any transportation to Stavanger from Sandnes, nor any information about how to get to Stavanger for those who may need it. I hope people are not surprised about how far away it is.

Thank you for the reply. Yes, I read the other links, and it sounded like quite the weather day! Of course, Bergen is known for its rain. 🙂 (We'll be prepared!)

Thanks. Have you been there this year? (That was certainly the case in April during the World Cruise, per the links above.)

A totally respectful question -- I've been to Antigua twice and am not aware of any church there where you can do that (I could have missed it) -- any chance you may have confused your recollection with visiting the Cathedral in León, Nicaragua (from Corinto) -- very well known for climbing to the white roof and seeing the volcanoes in the distance?